Showing posts with label Arukh ha-Shulhan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arukh ha-Shulhan. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Mezuzot in Places of Business?

Question:
Does one install mezuzot on the doorways of one's business?

Answer:
We do not answer questions of practical halakhah. I suggest that you consult with a halakhic authority.
For your own theoretical knowledge, I can tell you it seems that while the question appears to be dependent on an argument mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 11a), the present day consensus seems to be that mezuzot should be put up in places of business – though, possibly without the recital of the usual blessing. This is based on the opinion found in Yoma (ibid.) and subsequently codified in the Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh Deah, chpt. 286, paragraph 1) that warehouses (such as) for wine or oil are obligated in mezuzah. I saw this ruling expressed in the work Pithe Mezuzot by Yisakhar Hazan [(Betar Ilit : Yisakhar Hazan), 5766] both in his commentary on the Shulhan Arukh’s laws of mezuzah entitled Pithe Mezuzot (see chpt. 286, notes 9-11) and in his summary of the laws of mezuzah entitled Bet Mezuzah (see chpt. 8, p.205-208). The same opinion is also expressed in the work Shaare Mezuzah by Shemuel Yosef Shtitsburg [(Bet Shemesh : Shemuel Yosef Shtitsburg, 2008)] – see chpt.6 paragraph 1 and see note 1 (ibid.) where he references the Arukh ha-Shulhan (chpt. 286, paragraph 28 – see also Arukh ha-Shulhan, ibid. paragraph 4).

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Batyah or Bityah

The name Batyah is a common Hebrew female given name. The source of the name is the daughter of Pharaoh who drew Mosheh from the water when he was an infant and raised him like a son. The midrash in Vayikra Rabah (chpt.1 , paragraph 3, s.v. ve-eleh bene Bityah) homiletically interprets her name as being composed of two words: “bat” and “Yah” meaning “daughter of God”. God says to Batyah that just as Mosheh was not her actual son but she called him son (and took care of him as one), so too, even though Batyah is not God’s daughter (i.e. she was not born a Jew), He refers to her as His daughter. Rabbi Betsalel Majersdorf, Technical Services Librarian at Jewish Theological Seminary, pointed me to the work Arukh ha-Shulhan by Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel Epstein. Rabbi Epstein opines (Arukh ha-Shulhan, Even ha-Ezer, chpt.129, “shemot nashim”, s.v. [b] Basha) that notwithstanding the common practice (and the homiletic teaching of the midrash) the proper pronunciation of this name is Bityah (with a hirik under the letter bet) and not Batyah (with a patah under the letter bet). He reasons that the only time this name is mentioned in the Bible is in Divre ha-Yamim I 4:18 where it is given as Bityah bat Par’oh. An edition of the Bible based on authoritative Masoretic sources (especially the Aleppo Codex) was printed by Mosad ha-Rav Kuk in 1977 under the editorship of Mordechai Breuer. I examined this edition and found that the reading was, indeed, Bityah.