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Showing posts with label Rav Dov Lior. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rav Dov Lior. Show all posts

Apr 20, 2023

Interesting Psak: hallel with a bracha the night of Yom Haatzmaut

Kipa is reporting that Rav Dov Lior, former Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba, has just issued a psak to say Hallel with a bracha even by the night of Yom Haatzmaut, not just by day.

Rav Lior says that until now he said to say Hallel without a bracha at night even though he felt it was right to say the bracha but he was concerned of the opinions opposed to that of Rav Goren. Now, Rav Lior says, he has changed his mind and says we should act according to the psak of Rav Goren on this. The reason to say Hallel at night with a bracha is to acknowledge and appreciate the great miracle, but also to commemorate the end of the British Manadate that happened at midnight on this date, which began the reign of the kingdom of Israel.



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Jan 25, 2016

Interesting Psak: HaEtz on chocolate

Rav Dov Lior has issued a psak that when eating chocolate, the correct bracha would be "Borei Pri HaEtz" rather than the Shehakol bracha we generally make. Rav Lior says this regarding all chocolates today, even chocolate that doesn't have a majority cacao.

Rav Lior's psak is based on the Mishna Brura, as the way we eat chocolate is the normal way to eat the product, and for this it was grown.

Rav Lior's psak is not new. Many before him have held this opinion. He is definitely paskening against the common custom, and should not expect too many people to change their behavior in this.

And that is not the most interesting part of the psak, in my opinion. It is the following..

Rav Lior added that for those who are uncomfortable or unclear about saying the Haetz bracha, if they eat chocolate with hazelnuts or walnuts inside, the bracha would definitely be Haetz, and one should make the bracha on the nut and have in mind to also include the chocolate. Also, white chocolate would be shehakol as it is not recognizable as chocolate, similar to the state of sugar.
source: Srugim

I admit I have made the same shehakol on chocolate with nuts as I make on chocolate without nuts. I was not aware of the difference in halacha. Do other people, who make shehakol on plain chocolate, make haetz on chocolate with nuts?

'.


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Dec 10, 2014

Interesting Psak: concern for Jews who don't prepare halachically for Har Habayit

Rav Dov Lior issued an interesting psak in the "ask the rabbi" section of Yeshiva.org.il .

The question asked was if the public debate around the issue of Har Haayit perhaps causes people to ascend Temple mount without proper halachic preparation, non-religious people who perhaps don't go to the mikva before ascending or maybe are not careful about only walking in the permitted areas - perhaps that justifies closing the entire Har Habayit to Jews (and Arabs)? if for every ten Jews that go up properly and are careful even just one is not and gets kareis, then perhaps it should be closed off completely.

This question has really been dealt with before, and I have heard the negative response, that ascending Har Habayit is prohibited for this very reason - even if you or I go up properly, other people might not. Rav Lior's answer is one I had not heard before in this context.

Rav Lior responded by saying that this is a question that deserves a question in response... and that is, if Jews do not ascend Har Habayit, would that cause the State to also close the Har to the Arabs as well? He leaves it hanging, but his question is really rhetorical - obviously the State will not close it for Arabs.

So, Rav Lior says, those who don't ask rabbonim, don't care, and those that care are mostly bnei torah. Closing Har Habayit from Jewish access is much worse than the concern of the people who will go up improperly. We have to safeguard the place and save it.

So, according to Rav Lior, Jews accessing Har Habayit properly is more important and necessary than being concerned about the people who go up without proper halachic preparation being obligated in kareis.


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May 7, 2013

Bennet does not listen to rabbonim

So, one of the big news items of the day is that Rav Dov Lior has accused Naftali Bennet of not listening to the rabbonim.

The specific claim is that Bennet is working to advance the candidacy of Rav Dovid Stav for Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, rather than support the deal with Shas that would promote Rav Ariel for Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi. Supposedly Rav Lior has every intention to fight Bennet on this and against the possibility of expanding the election board as doing so might end up including inappropriate people on the board.

Putting aside for a moment the discussion of this being a conflict between Tekuma and Mafdal, and it might indicate the beginning of a split.... there really is nothing new here.

Habayit HaYehudi, as much as their predecessors in the form fo the Mafdal, have never claimed they listen to rabbonim. As a matter of fact, they have claimed exactly the opposite - that they specifically do not listen to the rabbonim. They have said time and again that they do ask for advice from their rabbonim, they take counsel with the rabbonim, but they have no obligation to follow any advice given./ It is advice, and sometimes they might follow it, and other times they might not.

I do not know if Rav Lior expected Habayit Hayehudi to suddenly change its stripes, but there is really nothing new about this. Bennet does not listen to rabbonim. That is true. He never claimed to.





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Jul 5, 2011

Rabbi Shalom Gold: Torah Law is Above Any Other Law (video)

Rabbi Shalom Gold: Torah Law is Above Any Other Law



Harav Lior B'Yadeinu! HaRav Lior B'Yadeinu!

Jul 4, 2011

Quote Of The Day

Quote Of The Day

The struggle against the establishment of Torat Yisrael in the world did not start in our generation, but was even in the time of Avraham Avinu. Against Avraham they also conducted an investigation, and they threw him into a furnace. So it was throughout the generations, the battle against truth continues to this very day...
The Jewish people need to return to its ancestral lands. All the terrorists around us need to be resettled in their original lands. Give them the right of return to their original lands and only then will we have peace and security...
The avoda zara of our generation is democracy. Once it was the Baal, and the Ashtarot, and now it is democracy. Where democracy has become the style of governance, it has turned into a value. That is good for people who live a life of promiscuity, as they don't want to control themselves..

   -Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba Dov Lior

Jul 3, 2011

Arresting Rav Lior and Rav Yosef

Last week Rav Dov Lior was detained/arrested for a brief amount of time for questioning as part of the investigation into the book "Torat HaMelech" that is being called hateful and inciting to violence.

This morning Rav Yaakov Yosef was also detained/arrested for a brief amount of time for questioning regarding the same issue. Rav Yosef was only detained for a few minutes, asked a couple questions quickly and then released.

Is it possible the real reason to detain/arrest these rabbonim was to create a precedent for the future? It seems to have been completely unnecessary in this instance, but if all they wanted was to create a precedence, perhaps it makes sense...

Jun 29, 2011

Why Can't A Rabbi Respond To The Police Summons?

There is a lot that can be discussed regarding the arrest of Rav Dov Lior yesterday. There are many aspects to the incident worth discussing, such as; the State's clamping down on halachic discussion, Rav Lior only wrote approbation to book and is not the actual author, why is this such an issue, freedom of speech, incitement, who is above the law, and more. I only want to talk about one point from this whole situation. That is, why could Rav Lior not go in for questioning.

I am not saying Rav Lior should have been arrested, not even saying he should have been called in for questioning (he should not have been), and it looks like the State was looking to pick a fight (I dont know if they were or were not, but it looks like they were).

After all is said and done, whether right or wrong, Rav Lior was called in for questioning by the police and he refused  to go. He did say, to his credit, that he would answer questions if they came to him, so he was not turning it into an anti-State issue, but he did refuse to respond to the police summons.

So I was thinking about this and I could not come up with a satisfying understanding of how this works. Why is it that a rabbi, and Rav Lior is not just any rabbi so I am not asking about him specifically but because of him, thinks that he doesn't have to go to the police to respond to a summons. I don't think rabbis think they are above the law, rather there is some organic respect that must be afforded to the bearer of the title that would excuse them from such "common" things.

So what is it about the title "rabbi" that makes people think they are excused? If a person was old, frail and infirm, I could understand asking the police to come to that person's house to ask the questions rather than making him go to the police. But just because the person bears the title "rabbi", why can he not show up to the police station? 

I bear the title rabbi before my name, though nobody uses it except for my mother (hi, Mom), so if the police should call me in for questioning about something, could I create a ruckus and refuse to go? What kind "rabbi" can do this? any rabbi? a teacher? a rosh yeshiva? a city rabbi? a shul rabbi? Who has to respond and go to the police, and for whom is it considered disrespectful?


Feb 8, 2011

Silencing The Right

I see this whole issue with Rav Lior being called in by the police for questioning regarding the approbation he wrote for the book that discussed the halacha of killing non-Jews during wartime to really be two distinct issues:

  1. can rabbis say things that are deemed as racist, regardless of whether or not they are simply discussing halacha/torah/theology/etc.?
  2. Can rabbis be called in for questioning or is that considered disrespectful to the rabbis?
Personally, I see nothing wrong with a rabbi being called in for questioning. I dont think it is disrespectful, if they are either suspected of wrongdoing or if they can possibly assist the police with information, witness, character assessment, etc. Being called in to the police itself I don't see as an issue that involves kavod. If he is needed to help the police he should go, and if he is suspected of wrongdoing he should not be deserving of that kavod he is demanding (doesn't Pirkei Avos say to make sure one's actions are not suspect?)

Regarding the first issue, they should definitely be given leeway. When every professor can shoot off his mouth and say horrible things about right-wingers, settlers, religious people, haredim, etc and not be taken in for questioning or for incitement, or racist expression, rabbis should not be treated any worse. There is clearly an inequal application of the law being used as to who gets called in when. 

As well, the content under discussion was not written to incite to murder anyone, as it was a purely "theoretical" halachic debate. And, Rav Lior did not write it - he only gave the book an approbation.

I don't know the intention of the author when he picked the topic he chose to write about. Was he intending to provoke? To incite? To discuss? I don't know. Perhaps authors should be more discerning and sensitive to the realities of today's world when choosing their topics. Despite that, choosing to debate a torah concept and halachic point in a book should not be grounds for incitement. What's next - anybody who dares to write a book about intermarriage will be brought in for promoting racism? What about a book on the topic of killing out Amalek? There is no shortage of topics in the Torah that can be attacked under this guise.

While taking in a rabbi for questioning does not necessarily have to be an issue of kavod, the issue here is that they are trying to silence people who have said nothing wrong. Rav Lior should probably even go to the police proudly and say he has nothing to hide, he will not hide behind the cloth of the clergy and explain what he did, though I understand not cooperating as well. The police and authorities are simply trying to silence the right wing rabbis.

Dec 30, 2010

Interesting Psak: No Non-Jewish Artificial Insemination

Let me start off by pointing out that I am far from an expert in fertility treatments and their relevant halachos. (it doest really need to be said, as I am not an expert on pretty much every topic I choose to write about.)

I also apologize in advance and feel it necessary to say that I have no intention to hurt anybody's feelings or sensitivities. I am writing the below from a halachic discussion and anybody in such a situation should consult with their own mentors and rabbis about what the proper course of action is and should find success.

I always understood that certain fertility treatments, such as artificial insemination and the like, are better of being done with a non-jewish donor. The reason being that if the donor was Jewish, the child would have a problem marrying when he or she grows up, as every other person might be a sibling or relative, as the donor might have gone on and had other children. With the donation coming from a non-Jew, there is no concern about siblings at any future point of marriage.

Rav Dov Lior, the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba and one of the leading poskim in the Dati Leumi community, has paskened recently that one should avoid taking the donation from a non-Jew and when necessary it would be better to adopt Jewish orphans.

Rav Lior says the reason to avoid the donation of a non-Jew is because the qualities and behaviors of the person transfer from father to child. if the father is not Jewish his barbaric and cruel qualities and behaviors will transfer to the child. A Jewish child, Rav Lior says, contains qualities inherent within of kindness and mercy, and even if the child did not receive a proper education, genetically he still carries those traits.

Another interesting point discussed by Rav Lior is the phenomenon of single women, religious women who are getting on in years and have decided use fertility treatments to get pregnant and no longer wait until marriage. Rav Lior said this should not be done as we should not respond to her requests when they will cause harm to someone else. Rav Lior said doing so causes harm to the child, as he will grow up without a father to look up to and, as Rav Lior says. such a child cannot be 100% normal.

Rav Lior's opinion seems pretty extreme to me. He is writing off converts with his explanation by saying non-Jews are automatically cruel and barbaric - it is genetic. If converts are ok because a person qualities are dependant on environment, nurture and education, so such children being raised in a Jewish home should also be ok, at least as ok as anybody else. It seems Rav Lior is deciding in the famous debate of nature or nurture, that nature is the overwhelming determining factor and no matter what else is done, the genetics will always remain "bad" and the child will have bad qualities within his personality.

Dec 27, 2010

Interesting Psak: Amen Parties

A common new minhag is the Amen Party. That is where a group of people get together, usually a group of women, and set out different food items. They then take turns going around the tabel making brachos on the foods and everyone else responding amen. The Amen Party is meant to generate merit, by answering so many amens in groups, and effect God's good graces in granting success, wealth, parnassa, shidduchim, having children, etc. You name the problem and the Amen Party will solve it. I don't know if there is any documented success, but the groups of people at least try it.

I don't know what can really be wrong with it, even if the women made it up. They are simply making brachos and answering amen. It seems silly to me to come up with these things, but "whatever floats your boat" as they say.

Rav Dov Lior, the Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba, was asked his opinion about Amen Parties. Rav Lior responded that there is no source for such a thing, and we don't find in the words and writings of Chaza"l that they held such things as Amen Meals or Amen Parties. That being the case, one should be wary and cautious of such parties, and stay away.

Rav Lior said that the passuk of "Lo Sassuru" - not turning after your own hearts desires includes not making up new ways to serve God. If it is not found in Chaza"l, one should be wary. (source: Srugim)

Jul 12, 2010

Interesting Psak: firing and hiring

Rav Dov Lior issued an interesting psak, with a caveat.

There is a move to push legislation to create benefits and incentive packages to promote haredim entering the workforce in larger numbers. Part of such incentives would be tax benefits and subsidies for companies that would hire haredi employees.

Rav Dov Lior paskened that one is allowed to fire an employee, and hire in his place a haredi employee in order to take advantage of these benefits. The caveat is that while it is allowed, it is not moral to do so.

Rav Lior said, in his radio show, that an employer has the right to choose him employees, and to base his decisions on financial concerns.

Another caveat Rav Lior added is that while the employer has the right to fire and hire like this, the haredi guy looking for a job cannot be the instigator in looking to take someone else's job. However, if the Haredi fellow is more qualified for the job, or more dedicated, or more driven, or any other reason that might make the Haredi fellow a better fit for the job, than all the caveats fall away. the caveats only apply when the sole reason to hire him is for the financial benefits.

Jun 17, 2010

The halachic issues of the Mondeal


The main halachic question should be, I think, if the vuvuzela is kosher to be used as a shofar on Rosh Hashana.

As far as I can tell it would not be kosher. Mostly because it would be putting the baal tokiei'a into a great sakana as he drives everyone mad with the monotonous vuvuzela blow, they might turn on him and beat him senseless.

There were some questions that were asked regarding the halachic aspects of watching the Mondeal, aka World Cup.

We will go in halachic order. One question, presented to Rav Baruch Efrati of Bar Ilan University, is whether there is any halachic problem with watching the Mondeal in general.

Rav Efrati's answer was that there is no problem with watching the Mondeal once in a while. The sport is not a violent one (that statement seems to not be including the behavior of the fans), nor is it based on negative values. Watching the Mondeal can be considered a blessed part of a happy life whose foundation is serving Hashem.

The second question posed was to Rav Dov Lior. The question was whether one could record the games that are broadcast on Sabbos, to be watched after Shabbos.

Rav Lior's answer was that the only way it can be done is by setting up all the recording equipment and television before Shabbos. That seemed obvious that you cannot turn it no on Shabbos, so you must have a timer set to turn it on. In addition, Rav Lior says, you can only set it to record from a foreign broadcast and not an Israeli broadcast that uses Jews working on Shabbos. As long as the satellite station or sports cable station does not employ Jews, your recording the broadcast will not be causing chilul shabbos.

Enjoy the game!

May 27, 2010

DL women in the workforce

Rav Dov Lior, while publicizing words of support for Rav Levanon's position against women taking public roles of leadership (at least on a frum yishuv such as Alon Shvut), has expanded the relevance of the discussion and has added his thoughts on women in the workplace in general.

Rav Lior added that women should be ideally staying home and taking care of the house and raising the children. That alone is a 24 hour a day job, and having that as one's focus is nothing to be ashamed of. If it is necessary, for parnassah purposes, there are hetterim for the woman to go out and work, but it is not preferred. As a matter of fact, Rav Lior says, the increasing levels of violence among the youth is because of the mothers lack of focus in the direction of the house and family and more to the outside, the workforce.

Rav Lior stresses this has nothing to do with berating a womans abilities. The woman is fully capable of any job, at least I understand that he believes this from what he says, but her focus is meant to be inwards, to the family, rather than outwards towards the external forces.

The only surprise, to me at least, in this recent discussion, is that these leaders, these rabbonim, are leaders of a community that prides itself on the women being so much more progressive and involved in leadership in every way, and now suddenly they, the rabbonim leading this community (not all of them perhaps but these are among the top level rabbonim of the Dati Leumi community, are speaking out about how this is not the way it is meant to be.

Nov 27, 2007

pointless statement of the day

In anticipation of the Annapolis conference in which Ehud Olmert is expected to offer much of the Land of Israel to the lowest bidder, the Association of Rabbis for the People and Land of Israel (I have never before heard of this association, which means nothing) held a conference yesterday to come out with a joint decision and statement of position regarding what Olmert is expected to effect in Annapolis.

Rabbi Dov Lior said, according to Ynet, "We must cleanse the country of Arabs and resettle them in the countries where they came from, If this means we have to pay them, we will. Without doing so, we will never enjoy peace in our land."

This statement of his is coming under the usual criticism. He is a racist. He is guilty of incitement. he should be investigated. etc.

Statements put out by this and any other right wing organization can and will be largely ignored. They will only be used as fodder for accusing the right wing public of being racist. No statement they can ever put out will ever be taken seriously or considered seriously, and therefore such conferences and association are pretty much worthless.

I am not sure what the appropriate arena for right wing activism is. We have already seen the ineffectiveness of any and all groups to thwart or derail or even just draw away support for left wing policy. No amount or type of protest swayed Ariel Sharon, none will sway Olmert, and the general public continues to imbibe the press statements put out by Olmert's spin doctors and media advisers as of they were holy writ and everything else should be ignored.

The country has become one that is controlled by Public Relations experts and actual policy debate with content is abandoned. As a result we had Ehud Olmert putting out conflicting statements in the weeks leading up to Annapolis.

According to one Annapolis is just a simple meeting - nothing more than that and nothing will happen. Then he puts out a statement how this is the most exciting breakthrough in recent past giving us a true chance for peace.

Then he puts out statements how Ramon's plan to divide Jerusalem is just that - Ramon's plan; Ramon has no authority and his plan has not been accepted by the government and when Ramon talks about it he represents nobody but himself. Then he puts out a statement saying we can and should split Jerusalem for reasons x, y and z.

Then he puts out statements how Annapolis is really nothing big and nobody should be concerned, it is just a way to get talks going... etc.

Olmert gives out nothing of substance and no real information. He only says things his media people allow him to say considering how it will affect his standing in public opinion, world opinion, his image, his investigations, how coalition, etc.

Do we really have any idea what Olmert is planning to do in Annapolis? No, because he has put out so many conflicting statements we really have no idea. he probably does not even know. When it happens he will decide what is best and then he will tell us what he wants to tell us. And his media advisers will formulate exactly what needs to be said and how it should be said, and they will sell it based on their decision.

So right wing debate and trying to deal with the actual issues is pointless because the public buys what Olmert's media advisers sell them. After that anybody who wants to disagree is either an unrealistic right wing fanatic or somebody who is racist and borderline treasonous.

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