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The Chatam Sofer, Aruch Laner, Rabbi Maroof, and Little Old Me (special thanks to: Rabbi Jachter)

After concluding my longest post-title yet, I commence my post: In this post I suggested that the machloket in the Mishna between the Chakhamim and R' Shimon could be explained as a chukoteihem / Avoda Zara dichotomy (in other words, is tatooing an example of chukoteihem or Avoda Zara ). In this comment , Rabbi Maroof suggested a simpler ma'aseh / cheftza dichotomy. At first I thought the Rambam was a proof to his approach and then became convinced it was actually a disproof. In Rabbi Jachter's third article on cosmetic tattoos he presages our argument and also my first and second ways of understanding the Rambam: It is possible, however, that one violates the prohibition of Kitovet Kaaka on a biblical level only if one’s intention is for idolatry, even according to the opinion of the Chachamim. Recall that the Rambam and Tur write that the reason for the Kitovet Kaaka prohibition is to avoid idolatry. Indeed, the Chatam Sofer (commentary to Gittin 20b s.v

Stick Figures

Before the "words" there was the "stick-figure". By 11th grade I was in RS's gemara class. I had heard about his "stick-figures" from some of my friends who had already attended his Talmud class the year before. When we would discuss an issue in the Talmud he would diagram out the issue on the board in the form of "stick-figures". Lengthy discussions were had on how to represent seemingly simple halakhic acts in a form akin to a choreographer's notation system. The major difference was that we also had to represent the mental states involved in each action. Much time was spent getting them just right. What I did not realize at the time was that "stick-figuring" was a method of exploring and becoming aware of our "souls". Later in the year he introduced us to Maimonides' Eight (Introductory) Chapters to Pirkei Avot . Maimonides' main focus was the "soul". However, it read more like biology a

Clarification of Kushya

Concerning the kushya mentioned in April 4th's post: During a discussion with Nachum I realized that I had not read the halacha carefully. It is significant that the Rambam's case is a renter. When one is renting from a Jew he may not remove the m'zuzot upon leaving; when he is renting from a non-Jew he must. It would seem to follow that if one sold one's house to a fellow Jew it would be permitted to take the m'zuzot . I have not done extensive research to see if everyone agrees that this halacha only applies in the case of a rental but a quick scan of the Aruch HaShulchan ( Siman 291) seems to bear out my contention. The solution to the kushya mentioned in the previous post must explain this.

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