המעין

Table of Contents
"No one is in a position to know the details of this and similar things until they have come to pass"...  / The Editor 2
Identifying Leaves of an Unknown Autograph Composition of R. Avraham ben haRambam / Adiel Breuer 3
An Explanation of the Author of the Seridei Esh on 'Shenayim Ochazin BeTalit' / Rav Avraham Abba Weingort 8
Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kokhva – A Study in the Sages' Relationship to Rebellion and Its Implications for Our Generation / Rav Netanel Arye 12
The Wording of Sefirat HaOmer / Rav Aharon Beck 23
When Did Our Forefathers' Descent into Egypt Begin? / Rav Nathan Kamenetsky 28
The Sockets of the Tabernacle and the Craft of Building [Melechet Bone] / Rav Yitzchak Meir Yavetz 36
The Ephod, the Stones of the Breastplate and the Shamir / Prof. Zohar Amar 41

Halakha and Realia
Tattoo on the Arm of a Kohen / Zvi Ryzman 60
Towards the Meaning of the Phrase "Humra Yeteira" in the Works of Maimonides / Rav Yehuda Zoldan 68

Memorials
Rav Yehuda Cooperman zt"l in the Wilderness of Sinai / Rav Yoel Catane 72
"That the Name of Heaven Be Beloved Because of You" – Prof. David Merzbach z"l / Samuel Merzbach 75
On Rav Dr. Rafael Benjamin Posen z"l / Rav Mordechai Greenberg, Rav Yaakov Laufer 79

Responses and Comments
'They will not Continue to See them Anymore' / Rav Yoel Peretz, rejoinder - Rav Shemaria Gershuni; The Chronology of the Persian Emperors and the Era of the Return to Zion / Rav Yossi Briner; Elucidating the Opinion of Rav S. Z. Auerbach zt"l Concerning Converts in Our Time / Rav Aharon Goldberg; More on the Significance of the Days of Hanukkah / Rav Eliezer Lerner; Concerning the Recital of the Names of the Ten Sons of Haman Aloud by the Congregation / Rav Boaz Mordechai, Moshe Hadad; A Halakhic Basis for Modesty in Women's Dress – Reply / Prof. Nadav Shnerb, Rejoinder to the Reply - Rav Yehoshua Inbal; Sale of a House in the Land of Israel to a Non-Jew in an Emergency Situation / Avi Kalman; Are Opponents of the 'Leniency by Sale' [heter mekhira] is Violation of Halakha? / Rav Moshe Petrower; Does the Blessing of "I will command my blessing" Apply When the Sabbatical Year is only Derabanan? / Rav Yehoshua Ben Meir 82

Editorial review of Recent Torani Publications / Rav Yoel Catane 114

Survey of This Issue

Welcome to Issue 217 – Nissan 5776 of HaMa'ayan. As you can see, this issue differs slightly from previous issues in appearance and organization in accordance with the renewal that the Shlomo Aumann Institute is currently undergoing. Inter alia, the section describing new Torani books received and the English abstracts have been substantially abridged.
As usual, this issue features diversified topics addressed by a heterogeneous assemblage of authors, among them: identifying an ancient manuscript of Maimonides' son Avraham, and newly published novellae of Rav Weinberg zt"l, author of the Seridei Eish, attitude to the Bar Kokhva Revolt and halakhot of counting the omer, narrative-historical clarification of the beginning of our forefathers' descent to Egypt and clarifications concerning the Tabernacle and its implements, laws of 'lifting of the hands' to confer blessing for a priest [kohen] whose hands are tattooed, and correction of a widespread error in the understanding of the rules of the menstruant [niddah], as well as eulogies for three precious personalities who have recently passed away: Prof. David Merzbach, among the longtime subscribers of HaMa'ayan, and Rav Cooperman and Rav Posen, both of them among the longtime contributing authors of HaMa'ayan, all three of them prominent 'Torah im Derekh Eretz' [implementing Gd's will in the real world] figures, spirited activists, each in his own field, who merited to exert great influence on the life of Torah in the Land and to raise upright generations in the newly constructed Land of Israel. The Responses and Comments section is greatly expanded this time, and includes brief comments on matters raised in previous issues as well as several extensive discussions: on the topics of women's modesty, the correct relationship to 'leniency by sale' [of the Land to ameliorate Sabbatical restrictions], our Sages' chronology, and more. The authors are, as stated, from across the Torani (Torah-oriented) spectrum, among them young students along with prominent rabbinic scholars, Torani men of science and bookmen of every stripe, young teachers (ramim) and businessmen who occupy themselves with Torah, from the Land of Israel and overseas. I am in great distress over the dozens [!] of good, important articles whose publication we have been again forced to reject due to space limitations in each issue.
The editors of HaMa'ayan and the directors of the Yeshivat Sha`alvim and Shlomo Aumann Institute wish our subscribers and readers a happy and kosher Passover, good tidings to one and all, and may we soon merit to eat 'the offerings and the Paschal sacrifices'.
Yoel Catane