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Everything you always wanted to know about Judaism,
but were too afraid to ask!
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Questions about Shabbat,
in no particular order.
Why
do we refer to the bread used on Shabbat and
Yom Tov as Challah?
Historically, Jewish women would bake this bread
themselves in honour of the Shabbat. Weekday
bread, on the other hand, was generally purchased
from a communal baker known as a ‘Nachtom’
in Hebrew. When one bakes a quantity of dough
oneself there is a mitzvah to separate ‘challah’
(the portion of the Kohen) and either give it
to the priest or allow it to be burned. Thus
the Sabbath loaves became synonymous with this
commandment and assumed its name. RL
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Why
do we light at least two candles on Friday night?
The reason has to do with the fact that
the commandment to sanctify the Shabbat occurs
twice in the Torah – once in the first
statement of the ten commandments (‘zachor’)
and once in the repetition of the same (‘shamor’).
The lighting of candles is the first act of
sanctification and therefore should encompass
and remind us of the two commands. RL
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Whenever
I go out for dinner on a Friday night, I have
to leave my Shabbat candles burning but I don’t
like doing this as I feel it is a fire hazard.
Do you have any suggestions about how I can
make this a safer mitzvah?
I share your concern regarding the potential
fire hazard involved in leaving candles completely
unattended. There are, however, a number of
practical suggestions.
One can light at one’s host’s home
before Shabbat - as the main mitzvah is to be
near the candles during the evening meal. If
one chooses this option, then one should also
ensure that the lights are left on in the home
in order to be able to function normally upon
one’s return. This is because the second
important reason for the Shabbat lights is to
make sure that people can see their way around
the house without having to stumble over each
other on what should be a day of rest and enjoyment.
Another approach is to light candles in a fire-safe
location. In this connection, I have heard it
said that oil lamps with floating wicks are
safer than wax candles because, if they ever
tip over, they invariably go out immediately.
For double reassurance, one could certainly
place the lights on a very large metal tray
or even standing in water to remove the risk
of anything possibly catching alight.
Some authorities permit the use of an electric
filament bulb instead of a candle in circumstances
where there is danger or where fire lighting
is prohibited -such as in hospital or a hotel.
Of course, if absolutely necessary, the mitzvah
can also be delegated to someone else [like
the woman of your host family] by way of a verbal
instruction and the giving of a small sum of
money toward the cost of the candles. RL
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I fully
keep Shabbat and kosher, but I don’t cover
my hair and I wear trousers. Am I a hypocrite?
Judaism is not a zero-sum game – i.e.
an all or nothing prospect. Along the pathway
to becoming as observant as we can possibly
be, one invariably has to transition through
many stages and phases of self-compromise. It
is only when we create a virtue of our inconsistencies
that we become hypocrites. In the meantime,
gradual spiritual growth entails doing as much
as one can at a pace that is sustainable with
a clear end-goal of coming closer to the correct
ideal.
On the issue of hair covering there is not
too much further to say. But on the question
of women wearing trousers - while this practice
has been shunned within most Orthodox circles
because of the view that the profile of the
thigh, even if fully covered, is immodest, and
that trousers are a quintessentially male garment;
nevertheless, there is at least one opinion
that argues that as long as the trousers are
made for women and loose in cut, then this may
be permitted. An interesting practice in certain
circles in Israel, which seems entirely to avoid
the problems of tzniut and the issue of a male
mode of dress, is simply to wear a skirt over
the trousers. RL
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