Post-Shavout Post! Oh, I'm so Corny!
I wanted to post something about Shavout before Shavout for Steve (our self-proclaimed Secular Meshiach and Real Kohen) who called to ask me to, but between repairing a cheese cake, cleaning my room, buying my mom beautiful flowers, and cleaning my room, I had no time. So here I am, after Shavout, ready to post something about the holiday we just had.
This Shavout was the first time I managed to succeed in my quest to stay up all night learning. Although we were scheduled to receive the Torah in the morning at Har Sinai, most of us slept in late. To compensate for that and show that we really appreciate this wonderful gift we were given, it's customary for Jews to stay up all Shavout night studying Torah so that we will be up early in the morning.
My cousin invited lots of girls over to her house for a night of learning, and I have to say that it was mamish beautiful. My cousin and I studied dina d’malchuta dina from R'Shechter's article in one of the Journals of Halacha and Contemporary Society from Goodness only knows what year. I'm so immature that I couldn't hold back my sheepish little I-feel-special grin every time I read "dina d'malchuta dina" for the first few pages of the essay. Please don't ask me any questions about it though, because we still have the final three pages to go.
After falling asleep during Shemonah Esray and Halleh at the vaseekin minyan around the corner from my house, my cousin and I walked home (she and I live on the same block with one house between us) to collapse into bed. I fell asleep around 6ish, wondering if I was supposed to say shema al hamitta. I ended up poskining (how d'you like that--so many Jewish words!) that I wasn't supposed to because since I had already davened shacharit, my sleep was going to be considered as though it were a nap and naps don't get shemaed and in any case, it's a lot worse to say HaShem's name in vain than it is to neglect saying Shema. So that was that.
I'll just say that one of the most interesting things I learned is that if someone has an illegal business (not that one should assume someone's business is illegal) you are not supposed to buy from them because you're making it appealing to them to run their business illegally (not paying their taxes, etc.) which falls under Lifnei Iver (that one should not place a stumbling block in front of a blind person). It's a very American concept that what a person does is up to them and their own little privacy, but in Judaism, it's kol arevim ze lazeh, that each of us is responsible for each other. To be honest, I never thought of things that way before.
This is a really choppy post. Oy.
This Shavout was the first time I managed to succeed in my quest to stay up all night learning. Although we were scheduled to receive the Torah in the morning at Har Sinai, most of us slept in late. To compensate for that and show that we really appreciate this wonderful gift we were given, it's customary for Jews to stay up all Shavout night studying Torah so that we will be up early in the morning.
My cousin invited lots of girls over to her house for a night of learning, and I have to say that it was mamish beautiful. My cousin and I studied dina d’malchuta dina from R'Shechter's article in one of the Journals of Halacha and Contemporary Society from Goodness only knows what year. I'm so immature that I couldn't hold back my sheepish little I-feel-special grin every time I read "dina d'malchuta dina" for the first few pages of the essay. Please don't ask me any questions about it though, because we still have the final three pages to go.
After falling asleep during Shemonah Esray and Halleh at the vaseekin minyan around the corner from my house, my cousin and I walked home (she and I live on the same block with one house between us) to collapse into bed. I fell asleep around 6ish, wondering if I was supposed to say shema al hamitta. I ended up poskining (how d'you like that--so many Jewish words!) that I wasn't supposed to because since I had already davened shacharit, my sleep was going to be considered as though it were a nap and naps don't get shemaed and in any case, it's a lot worse to say HaShem's name in vain than it is to neglect saying Shema. So that was that.
I'll just say that one of the most interesting things I learned is that if someone has an illegal business (not that one should assume someone's business is illegal) you are not supposed to buy from them because you're making it appealing to them to run their business illegally (not paying their taxes, etc.) which falls under Lifnei Iver (that one should not place a stumbling block in front of a blind person). It's a very American concept that what a person does is up to them and their own little privacy, but in Judaism, it's kol arevim ze lazeh, that each of us is responsible for each other. To be honest, I never thought of things that way before.
This is a really choppy post. Oy.
posted by BrownsvilleGirl at 11:05 PM
3 Shpeils
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so i heard this really awsome d'var torah about why we stay up learning all night, even though we're all tired out, and how "wouuldn't be it be more effective to learn when you're more functionable." all this mystical reasons behind it.
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Dude--that's because we all woke up later than we were supposed to! That's why we stay up really early, so that we can be up early. I think I had far too many vague pronouns for that to make sense. Comprende?
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Hi this is Randy's rebbi- By the way, saying shma is NEVER saying Hashem's name in vain. It is a pasuk in the Torah, you can say it all day and get credit for learning Torah every time you say it!
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