YOM KIPPUR COMPENDIUM #1

 

Rashi quotes from the תשובת הגאונים. "On Erev Rosh Hashana they swung the new bean plant 7 times around the head of the child and  said זה חליפתי etc. Afterward, the plant gets thrown into the river". The מגן אברהם (O. Ch 605) writes that this Rashi  (תשובת הגאונים) is the original מקור (source) for כפרות as we know it today. The original Minhag of כפרות was solely for the protection of the children that they shouldn't die.  A person bringing a קרבן doesn't need to match his or her gender  to the gender of the קרבן Why is it important when doing כפרות to have the gender of the chicken be the same as the gender of the person? ie: a rooster (male) for a male & a hen (female) for a female The טור writes, that one of the reasons for using chickens is because it is called גבר the same word as גבר a man. The גבר (rooster) will replace the גבר (man) and die instead of the man. The יעב"ץ writes, he doesn't understand why the use of female chickens for females. Hens (female chickens) are not called גברת. Perhaps the original Minhag was only for males to insist of having a rooster, being it has an additional advantage of both being called גבר. It didn't make a difference for women, and both genders were acceptable. At a later stage, women mistakenly thought that being males insisted on roosters they too should insist on hens. If the above סברא (the only time gender matters is for a man to be using a rooster) is true we can understand why those who do כפרות with fish don't care about the gender of the fish. Both genders of fish are not called גבר therefore it doesn't matter. אמבצי ----------------------------------------------------------------------- HOW כפרות PROTECTS FROM DEATH? We find in the גמרא the concept of confusing the Satan (כדי לערבב השטן) We also find a similar case of שינוי השם changing the name of a חולה. (sick person) The original Minhag of כפרות was also the same idea. It was done for the protection of the children if there  was ח"ו a גזירה for the זרע (child)  to die we confuse the  שטן with a different זרע (seed) the bean plant which gets thrown in the river. At a later stage when the Minhag כפרות started for adults, they wouldn't use the flower pot with bean זרע. They used a גבר (chicken) instead to confuse the שטן so not the גבר the man will die but the גבר the chicken. The יעב"ץ writes, he doesn't understand why the use of female chickens for females. Hens (female chickens) are not called גברת. אמבצי ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SUCCAH 28a שיחת מלאכי השרת רש"י - לא ידענא מאי היא רש"י writes that he doesn't what  שיחת מלאכי השרת is The רשב"ם ב"ב קל"ד  writes "להשביעם" - understanding the language of the מלאכים to force a שבועה on them. Kabbalists had a  practice of forcing an oath on the מלאכים ( משביעין את המלאכים ). The Kabbalist claimed that Hashem permits the מלאכים  to do as they are commanded (by humans) even if the recipients are not worthy and have no זכויות for the favor.    There used to be a Minhag for חזנים to force an oath on the מלאכים. The חזנים were concerned, that an עין הרע would cause them to lose their voice during Davening. (ימים נוראים)    The חזנים had a Nusach they said, before saying המלך.   בשם שמעי' -------(שמות של מלאכים)---- אני פלוני בן פלוני משביע אני עליכם שתסייעו לי שאתפלל היום בקול רם ונעים וערב ואל יחר גרוני ואל ילאה רוחי וכוחי (In the name of the מלאכים --- I Ploni the son of Ploni, place a שבועה on you (מלאכים) that you will help me to Daven today with a voice that is loud, pleasant, and sweet, and my throat shouldn’t anger (cough) and my spirit and strength shouldn’t tire.)   The לבוש (O.Ch.584) was against this השבעה (oath). He claims it is wrong to believe that one can force   Hashem to accept his Tefillos. The acceptance of Tefillos is dependent on the כוונת הלב, and not by force. The לבוש was also critical of the חזנים for saying the Nusach right before המלך.  After ברוך שאמר is considered a הפסק.  The לבוש suggested eliminating this Nusach.  and if not possible, then it should be said before ברוך שאמר. Perhaps, the מחלוקת between the לבוש & מקובלים goes back to רש"י & רשב"ם אמבצי   WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE TRYING TO SAY? Of all the Tefilos & Piyutim in the entire Machzor, the most controversial and unclear Nusach is the Kol Nidrei. The (שיטה מקובצת (נדרים כ"ג writes that the origin of the Kol Nidrei goes back to the אנשי כנסת הגדולה. The טור quotes מחלוקת גאונים וראשונים on what exactly are we trying to accomplish with the Kol Nidrei. Are we trying to abolish the past Nedarim, if so how does it do so? Or is it for the future and then we have a totally corrupt Nusach? Therefore both רב האי גאון & רב נטרונאי גאון hold not to say the Kol Nidrei. The Levush* writes that there is another problem with the Nusach. It starts out with a (--לשון יחיד (דאינדרנא ie: I made a Neder and switches to (--לשון רבים (נדרנא ie: Our Nedarim. (Halachically problematic) The Levush writes he attempted to have the Chazan change & correct the words but wasn't successful.  The Chazanim claimed their tune wouldn't fit the (new) words. (The Chazanim believe the words need to fit the tune and not the tune fits the words.) The Levush suggests that individuals should say his corrected version quietly and not rely on the Chazan's (Machzor's) Nusach which has no meaning and is like a bird's chirping.  For some reason, we don't follow the Levush and stick to the Nusach in the Machzor even with all its faults. *The Bach tries to defend the לשון רבים Did you know? (211) *According to Mori V'Rabi Harav Hagaon R. Shlomo Miller Shlita   The Minhag to stand when the Aron Kodesh is open is only applicable to men. There is no need for women in Ezra’s Nashim to stand while the Aron Kodesh is open. *Heard from  הרה"ג ר' יהודה גשטטנר שליט"א ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you know? (212)   Men should remove their Rolex & their wedding band R. Akiva Eiger in the הגהות quotes from the Sefer תיבת גומא    (פרי מגדים)  The Minhag of not wearing gold jewelry on Yom Kippur is only applicable to men. Women didn't sin with the gold, therefore, they may wear gold. The תיבת גומא concludes "So as not to differentiate, Women should also avoid wearing gold". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did you know? (80) According to the Shulchan Aruch Harav, it would seem, when saying בשכמל"ו (Baruch Sheim Kevod-)on Yom Kippur, it is commendable to be said while standing. We imitate the Malochim by saying it loud and by standing. (in most shuls it's not done) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Shulchan Aruch (O. Ch. 63: 2 )   Someone, who is sitting and is מחמיר to stand up for קריאת שמע, is called an “עברין” (sinner) Mishna V’rurah s.k. 8   "The אליה רבא in the name of the מהרש"ל, “On Yom Kippur everyone* agrees, you are allowed to stand up for קריאת שמע. ( to imitate the מלאכים)”   *The פרי מגדים disagrees