"ועתה אעלה נא ואקברה את אבי" (נ', ה')
Great recipe - wrong place?
In the early days of the State of Israel, there was a man who came to Kibbutz Na’an named Yakov Topor. He worked as a baker there and went on to become famous in the kibbutz, and eventually in many parts of Israel for his delicious cinnamon yeast cake. It became known as “Yankele’s yeast cake”.
He and his wife guarded the secret recipe until their deaths. When they passed away, the children decided to engrave the recipe on the tombstone (instead of a more traditional text)!
He and his wife guarded the secret recipe until their deaths. When they passed away, the children decided to engrave the recipe on the tombstone (instead of a more traditional text)!
The children decided to ask Rav Zilbershtein:
Is it forbidden to keep the tombstone and should we replace it?
Answer:
Rav Zilbershtein told the children that although it IS assur (forbidden) to get hanaah (pleasure/benefit) from a tombstone, that is NOT the case here. If the tombstone were shaped like a chair or a bed where people would actually sit or lie down on it, then that would be assur. In this circumstance, any benefit (such as writing down the recipe to use later) would be indirect and thus not assur.
The Rav acknowledged that although they may be embarrassed it still it is not necessary or justifiable to replace the stone, which would be very costly. He mentioned the possibility of including a suggestion near the recipe to prepare the recipe for a Siyum or in the honor of Shabbos.
*****
"פחז כמים אל תותר"
רש"י: הפחז והבהלה אשר מהרת להראות כעסך כמים הללו הממהרים למרוצתם, לכך אל תטול את מה שהיה ראוי לך.
Car parked in the wrong place
Reuven was on his way to an important business meeting. He became more and more desperate searching for a parking spot and not finding one. Finally, he found a perfect empty spot… almost too good to be true! What Reuven didn’t realize was that it WAS too good to be true; it was actually a private parking space which belonged to Shimon. When Shimon came home and saw that his parking space was occupied, he became furious; he was fed up with people parking in his private space. He didn’t know who the car belonged to. He tried to open the door to see whose car it was, but the door was locked. Shimon then used a bit of force trying to open the door until …he accidently broke the door handle. At that moment, Reuven returned to his car. Reuven called out to Shimon “what are you doing to my car!?” Shimon replied “what are YOU doing in MY parking space!? I was trying to identify the owner of the car to call him to move it”. Reuven apologized for his unintentional mistake but informed Shimon that he is called for a Din Torah for breaking my door.
Is Shimon obligated to pay for breaking the door?
Answer:
Rav Chaim Eideles: Although Reuven should have been more careful where he parks, Shimon had no right to damage the car, even if the damage occurred accidentally.Therefore, Shimon has to pay for the damage.
