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Shabbat Parashat Lech Lecha| 5768

Lech Lecha | 8 Cheshvan 5768 | 06/12/2007

Keeping Clean Feet

Avraham went out to battle to save his nephew, Lot, and chased the retreating powerful coalition of the four Mesopotamian kings “until Chova, which is to the left (north) of Damascus” (Bereishit 14:15). This event is alluded to by difficult p’sukim in Yeshaya (41:2-3): “Who awakened righteousness from the east, He will call him to his feet, He will give before him nations and kings will be lowered … he will chase them and pass peace, a way with his feet he will not come.”

P'ninat Mishpat

Case: A man awaiting serious surgery wrote a handwritten, unsigned will that awarded much of his property to his wife should he die. The man died days after the surgery, and his widow produced the will. The pertinent part of the will reads: “If something, Heaven forbid, happens to me, everything in the house belongs to my wife and none of my brothers has permission to touch them. The second half of the stores in the commercial center, are also, Heaven forbid, given to my wife.” The deceased’s brothers, who are inheritors on whatever the will does not halachically cover reject the will’s validity.

Moreshet Shaul

[We saw last time some major sources on the concept of not acting differently than others. One relates to avoiding machloket while another is based on the pasuk of lo titgod’du (creating different factions) which Rashi explains as looking like there are two Torahs. We continue developing a thesis after skipping much detailed analysis of the sources.]

Ask the Rabbi

Question: It is now common for religious teenage boys to shave their heads with a shaver, leaving a shadow of hair 2-3 millimeters long. Does this violate lo takifu (removing peyot)?

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