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Ancient minhag

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proudmom ↓

Fri, Oct 07 2005, 10:10 am

Has anyone else heard of this?

An ancient minhag was recently uncovered that can prolong your life and help

you vanquish your yezer hara.

When searching through an old geniza for manuscripts, a yeshiva student
found an old gemara. Pressed between the pages was a handwritten document,
an Ethical Will left by a great Rabbi who lived several hundred years ago,
Rabbi Yom Tov Shteinkopf (the Ritsh) who lived in the Moldavian city of
Raatch. The document tells a fascinating story of how the Ritsh
re-discovered this precious minhag.

The minhag is to keep your little (pinky) finger away from the knife handle
when you cut the challah on Shabbos. Your little finger should protrude away

from the knife at this time.

The reason for the minhag is that the challah is compared to the stones of
the holy altar (mizbeach) in the bet hamikdash. The stone sof the mizbeach
were not to come in contact with metal, since metal implements shorten a
persons life, while the mizbeach leangthens it. When you keep the pinkie
out it demonstrates that you are not using the knife wholeheartedly and that

you would not be using a knife at all on the Challas if you could.

sarahnurit

Wed, Nov 02 2005, 5:13 pm

interesting! But why then do we use a knife at all, if there is the possibility to use our hands?

↑ proudmom ↓

Wed, Nov 02 2005, 5:18 pm

I really dont know

Rivka

Thu, Nov 03 2005, 7:46 pm

Hmm, I don't cut the challah.

chen

Fri, Nov 04 2005, 1:32 pm

could that be a reason for pull-apart challah?

ForeverYoung ↓
Guest

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 1:49 pm

Shulhan keMizbeah -
table is like a mizbeah

therefore, challah symbolizing mizbeah sounds fishy.

Proudmom, do u have sources for this story?

↑ proudmom ↓

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 2:07 pm

Quote:

Proudmom, do u have sources for this story?

I have the source but I dont know how to add a pic.

↑ proudmom ↓

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 2:12 pm

I figured it out.

TzenaRena ↓

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 2:15 pm

ForeverYoung wrote:

Shulhan keMizbeah -
table is like a mizbeah
therefore, challah symbolizing mizbeah sounds fishy.

Why? Can't numerous things be compared to something? (a little like Windows , where there are so many ways to open the same file?). And can you bring a source for the shulchan is compared to mizbeach?

How about the pasuk es korbani lachmi l'ishai.....there you have a connection of "lechem" and "korban", which indeed has a connection to mizbeach!. [/quote]

↑ TzenaRena

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 2:28 pm

sarahnurit wrote:

interesting! But why then do we use a knife at all, if there is the possibility to use our hands?

the answer is in the document. It is because it is a disgrace (for the challah) to tear it.

supermom ↓

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:12 pm

for those of you who read the document in hebrew and understood it can you please explain it to me and others that don't understand it?

↑ ForeverYoung ↓
Guest

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:24 pm

Quote:

Pressed between the pages was a handwritten document,

as far as I can see, the document in the picture is typed

SaraYehudis, b/c bread IS a corban.

↑ ForeverYoung ↓
Guest

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:26 pm

are there any Gadolim/ Talmidey chahamim who confirmed this?

↑ ForeverYoung ↓
Guest

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:34 pm

Also, Proudmom, where did you get this pic & info from?

So far it sounds made up to me - handwritten note that is typed so neatly on an old piece of parchment

↑ proudmom

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:39 pm

I got it as an email and did you see my first post

Quote:

Has anyone else heard of this?

↑ ForeverYoung
Guest

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 3:55 pm

sorry if it sounded as if I'm investigating you -
I'm trying to investigate the news. Wink

sarahd ↓

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 4:00 pm

Supermom: Basically, he says that on his way back from EY to his hometown he was captured by pirates. The head pirate's son was very ill and the pirate had a sefer of refuos and segulos that he had stolen from another Jew. He gave it to the Ritsh and asked him if he could find a cure for his son in it. The Ritsh spent many heavenly hours looking through it - he said it was an ancient book with segulos handed down from the neviim and tzaddikim kadmonim. Eventually he found a cure for the pirate's son and then he was released. Unfortunately, the only thing he could remember from the sefer was this segulah about cutting the challah.

There's more in the beginning and the end about how much he begs his children to stand strong against the heresy and secularism that was raging in the Jewish community of his time.

roza

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 4:00 pm

Quote:

...that can prolong your life and help

you vanquish your yezer hara.

...

so easily...wow

↑ sarahd

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 4:02 pm

FY, I don't think anyone is claiming that the document in the picture is the original. The heading alone was obviously not written by the author of the will.

↑ supermom

Mon, Nov 07 2005, 4:12 pm

ForeverYoung wrote:

Also, Proudmom, where did you get this pic & info from?

So far it sounds made up to me - handwritten note that is typed so neatly on an old piece of parchment

boy

are you sure you don't work in the police station as a detective? Wink

sarahd thanks for the explaination interesting.....

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