A Ger’s Conflicting Shailah
May, 2018
Post lag b’omer, leading up to Shavous, is a season for many simchos. Such events, be they weddings, bar mitzvos, etc., afford me a wonderful opportunity. As we know, rabbanim are segregated to their own table –although I was once accidently placed at the children’s table, and, while a story for a different time, we actually had great conversations!
Often it is too noisy to have lengthy exchanges with such lofty colleagues, but when there are lulls in the music I like to discuss interesting recent shailos. Often other rabbanim would have already dealt with such an issue, or, will have fascinating insight into the question.
By a recent event, I was speaking to a rav about a shabbos bris we had over sefira and the shailah if, as with a typical Shabbos bris, av harachamim should be omitted from mussaf. Because this teffilah for kedoshim was composed after the first crusades of 1096 –events that were born during the days of sefira – we general recite it during these days, even on rosh chodesh. Would we say it even by a Shabbos bris?
After discussing the various sources who speak of the matter, he shared a separate interesting shailah he received. I responded in kind. We went back and forth until we found ourselves discussing some of our more fascinating shailos.
While some of these questions are not for print –either due to complexity, privacy or other reasons –I did share with him the one shailah I think about most often this time of year. It may even be my most favorite shailah –as it relates to nesinas hatorah.
The process of conversion today is, seemingly, far more rigorous and far lengthier than in years past. There is a reason for this. On the one hand a rav wants the process to be painless, although rigorous. Chazal have often described the dangers of pushing potential converts away – in one instance even blaming the birth of Amalek on that very misconduct (Shabbos 88). Indeed, the basic halacha teaches that one need only teach them a ‘few mitzvos’, some light and some more serious ones. Hillel famously converted someone after he simply requested to learn more about the kohein gadol (Tosphos, Yevamus 24b with shu’t Rav Akiva Eiger # 41. Cf. Maharsha to Shabbos 31a).
Most prominently, we learn from Rus and her conversation with Naomi that a minimal amount of Torah knowledge is all that is necessary. Indeed, chazal further teach that one of the positive goals in our being so spread out in galus is to bring many converts into the fold (Pesachim 87b).
Yet, on the other hand we are taught the dangers of accepting those who are unworthy, the fear of those who come with ulterior motives, and the ills caused by a beis din that accepts a ger too quickly (see Yevamus 109b with Meiri). Some even recommend waiting a full year from the day one expresses their wish to convert in order to assure all parties that this is the right thing to do (See Mishnas Rebbe Eliezar that this has been the longstanding custom of batei dinnim). And, most famously, we are commanded to inform the potential convert of the difficulty of abiding by the Torah (Yevamus 47b) and the hardships of the Jewish nation (Shulchan Aruch 268).
So, and for a number of reasons, many rabbanim today not only teach a tremendous amount of halacha and hashkafa to potential converts, but they also administer a test. While many argue that teaching Torah in such detail to an –at present – non-Jew is problematic, others argue that in our times it is the only way to investigate their seriousness (See Igros Moshe 3:90).
With this in mind, several years ago a man walked into shul. He was from Cuba, raised in a fundamentalist Christian family. Having studied the bible since his youth, he came to the conclusion that yiddeshkeit is the only truth.
Long story short, over the course of a few years we learned everything together, from the aleph-bais to hilchos shabbos. Throughout, we were in touch with a beis din in Cleveland with whom I kept abreast of his growth.
A few years into his studies and living with the community, I felt it was time to complete his gerus. He made an apartment with the beis din, and took off to Cleveland.
After all the sacrifice, the learning, the day finally came. I was sitting in my office when his text came through “Geyur geyarti!!”, I became a ger.
More amazing than this text was a phone call I received from him just several hours later.
It was close to midnight when my phone lit up. Nervous that something serious happened on his trip back, I anxiously picked up the pone. “Are you ok?”
Everything was fine, baruch Hashem, but he had a shailah, his first as a Jew.
“Rabbi, I arrived back about an hour ago. I was so hungry, but all the stores are closed. So, I opened my freezer and took out some leftovers. I placed them in the microwave to defrost and reheat.
“I am now sitting in front of the food about to eat when I realized that I have a serious issue.
“All this food was cooked when I was a gentile, making it bishul akum!”
This was a fascinating shailah, and it demonstrated his level of knowledge even on his first day as a yid!
Can it be that one’s own food becomes forbidden after gerus?
There is logic both ways. Indeed, two likkutim that I own on gerus come to opposite conclusions. Gerus K’Hilchasah (p. 69) rules that such food is forbidden –after all, was not this food cooked by a non Jew?
However, Mishnas HaGer by Rav Moshe Klein (son of Rav Menahse Klein, p. 175) disagrees.
He points out that the two main reasons for the prohibition of bishul akum do not seem to apply here. Rashi (Avodah Zara 38a) focuses on the concern with eating from non-Jews becoming common, thus leading to a great risk of something non-Kosher being eaten. Tosfos (37b) explains the chief concern as being to prevent intermarriage.
According to either view, the concern here is non existent. Indeed, we find in other cases (like a choleh on Shabbos who has a non-Jew cook for him) where many rishonim allow such food for others once cooked b’heter (e.g. Bedek HaBayis 3:7).
It was only later that I realized the connection to Shavuos.
One of the minhagim on this yom tov is to eat dairy (see Rema 494). Any number of reasons are given for this minhag. One sefer I own (Otzar HaYidios, Eisenberger, Shavuos ed. p. 69-71) brings twenty-six reasons found in sefarim!
One of the famous explanations is brought in the Mishneh Berrura (ad loc. sif kattan 12). There the Chofetz Chaim explains that after nesinas hatorah we went back to our tents to eat. However, since we just received hilchos shechita we were not yet proficient in these laws to have meat right away, so we simply ate dairy.
However, this approach to the minhag is challenged. The Chofetz Chaim later in life pointed out (Likutei Halachos, end of Chullin) that if we follow the view that the Torah was given on Shabbos then they could not schecht even if they wanted to and knew how!
To explain the first approach, the sefer Geulas Yisroel (a collection of Torah from the Baal Shem Tov and early rebbes –its authorship is disputed and unclear) brings a fascinating approach: already by marah the tzivuy of Shabbos was given, so indeed they were not surprised by their inability to shecht, and perhaps they prepared food before Shabbos. Rather, they could not eat their prepared food because it was slaughtered and cooked while they were non Jews!
This may have been the very first instance of the shailah I brought above!
But it gets more complicated. The Shelal Rav (Shavous, p. 211) is not satisfied with the above approach.
For, how could their solution have been to eat dairy at har Sinai –it was milked when they were non-Jews, making it choluv akum?!
Perhaps then, we can say that 1-they could not shecht fresh meat due either to it being Shabbos or because they were not yet proficient in the halachos of shechita, and, 2 -they could eat their dairy products for, as the Mishnas HaGer suggested above, when the reasons for a gezeira are so clearly not present, and when it was made b’heter, it becomes permissible to eat.
From the first moments of mattan Torah the beauty and complexity of Torah was present!
Ah Gutt Yom Tov!
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