An Erev Pesach Omission
It’s always difficult to make the transition from the festive atmosphere of Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed to the ordinary days of the summer. In Eretz Yisroel, the secular government decided to schedule a day of remembrance for the Holocaust at the end of the month of Nissan, at a time when the halacha prohibits mourning or delivering eulogies. The country will be remembering the Holocaust this week and then next week will be observing Yom Hazikaron, the official day of remembrance for fallen IDF soldiers and the victims of war and terror. The next day, in the middle of Sefiras Ha’Omer, will be Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s celebration of its independence. This legal holiday, as well, has been moved up this year from the fifth of Iyar (which falls on Shabbos) to the third.
I will tell you that we had a wonderful Yom Tov here in Israel. I always find myself deeply moved when all the preparations finally come to an end and the Yom Tov arrives. In a flash, we are transformed from slaves into free men.
Let me share an interesting story with you. During the week before Pesach this year, I met Rav Yonasan Katzburg in my shul in Givat Shaul. Rav Katzburg is a prominent rov in my neighborhood and a maggid shiur in a yeshiva in Yerushalayim, as well as a son-in-law of Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl. He approached me with great enthusiasm and said, “I just spent two hours with Rav Nebenzahl, and he answered dozens of questions for me. I transcribed all the answers and gave the text to him for review, and he corrected all of my errors. I have a genuine treasure trove of information here.” The topic of these questions, he revealed, was the special halachos pertaining to a situation when erev Pesach falls on Shabbos. “But I am afraid to publish some of the answers,” he added. I asked for an example of a psak that he was hesitant to publish, and he named one.
Well, I didn’t publish it in Eretz Yisroel, but for my weekly column for Yated Neeman in America, I decided to disregard his request and to publish the sensational psak. And then something most unusual happened: For the first time in many years, the column wasn’t published at all. On the Sunday before Pesach, the very day when I wrote my column and sent it to the newspaper for publication, the translator’s father passed away and my article could not be translated. (I write this column in Hebrew; I cannot take credit for the English text!) Naturally, I went to be menachem avel and heard wonderful things about the niftar, who would surely be deserving of an article in his own right. In any event, the unauthorized publication of Rav Nebenzahl’s psak was thwarted by the workings of Heavenly hashgocha.
I could write at great length about the events of this Chol Hamoed, but space constraints will not allow me to do so. I will tell you only about one particular shiur that I enjoyed greatly. In my neighborhood of Givat Shaul, there was a yeshivas bein hazemanim program in the yeshiva and kollel headed by Rav Yisroel Meir Druk (Tiferes Yisroel), which featured a shiur every day before Mincha. It was a source of great pleasure to attend the shiurim; I relished this experience of simcha during the holiday. And there were hundreds of other shiurim like it throughout the country. Such is the nature of Chol Hamoed in Eretz Yisroel.
Pesach Products Lining the Streets
The days leading up to Pesach are a time of major tzedokah activity in Israel, with large-scale distributions of food and other products for the holiday taking place throughout the country. Every community, every neighborhood, and almost every shul, not to mention every chassidus, has its own “chalukah.” These initiatives allow many families to stock their homes with most of the products needed for the holiday, either for free or at subsidized prices. There are many areas throughout Yerushalayim that are transformed into distribution centers during the period before Pesach. The recipients drive up with empty cars and then exit on the other end with their vehicles overflowing with Pesach supplies.
These massive distributions have spawned a number of jokes, such as this one: A husband turned to his wife and said, “I think we are going to have to go to a hotel for Pesach this year.”
“Why do you say that?” she asked.
“Because our house is so full of Pesach food that there is nowhere for us to move!” he replied, indicating the bags of potato starch, cartons of eggs, and innumerable other products littering their home. “We have nowhere to sleep, and we certainly won’t have anywhere for a long table for the Seder.”
And here is another one: A yungerman announced to a friend one day, “I am buying a lottery ticket this year. I must win the lottery before next Pesach!”
“What will you do with your winnings?” his friend inquired.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he replied. “I’ll pay for a van to collect all the food from the various distributions, so that my children and I will not have to carry heavy packages!”
In addition to the distributions, there are also neighborhood sales—a brilliant concept that is the brainchild of an acquaintance of mine. The idea is relatively simple: When an entire community pools their purchase power, the prices are bound to drop. These group purchases have proven effective at reducing costs by a staggering 30 to 40 percent, making these programs a major financial boon for the average family and yielding millions of shekels in savings for the community as a whole.
In my community of Givat Shaul, the neighborhood sale occupies an entire street. Rechov Kotler in Givat Shaul becomes completely impassable during the days before Pesach, on account of the proliferation of cartons and sacks of goods. Every purchaser arrives with a list of items he has ordered (and paid for) and then makes his way up and down the street collecting the products—bottles of grape juice, cans of preserves, matzos, vegetables, fruits, disposable utensils, and more. The process is a remarkable sight to behold. Entire families can be seen walking along the street, equipped with multiple shopping carts or baby strollers that are filled to capacity. But as the Yom Tov draws near, the neighborhood is transformed once again, as the sanctity of Pesach fills the air.
Since I have mentioned Rechov Kotler, let me share an interesting story with you. One of the residents of this street is Rav Elbaz, the rov of Herzog Hospital. Many years ago, Rav Elbaz mailed a letter to Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach with a halachic question and enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope for Rav Shlomo Zalman’s response. When the answer came in the mail, Rav Elbaz observed that Rav Shlomo Zalman had made a minor adjustment in his address. While he had written it as “Rechov Kotler 7,” Rav Shlomo Zalman had emended the address to read “Rechov Rav Kotler 7.”
Netanyahu Returns from Washington and Heads to Court
As you may have heard, Prime Minister Netanyahu recently traveled to Hungary and then to America. Given the frenetic pace of events in Israel, one could be forgiven for thinking that this took place many weeks ago, but it was actually quite recent. His visit to Hungary attracted a good deal of attention on account of the arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Netanyahu received an official invitation to visit Hungary, and the Hungarian government assured him that they would not honor the warrant; instead, the country withdrew from the ICC. This served to tarnish the ICC’s public image and perhaps signified an effort to curry favor with President Trump as well. The pictures of Netanyahu’s visit to Hungary were quite moving, especially the image of his visit to the Shoes on the Danube Promenade memorial in Budapest. This memorial is located at the site where hundreds of Jews were brutally thrown into the Danube River while tied to each other to ensure that they would drown. Some of them were shot to guarantee their deaths, and it has been reported that the Danube River turned red from the victims’ blood. My father-in-law was there was a young boy; he and his family managed to escape from the Nazis on the Kastner train, together with the Satmar Rebbe.
While he was in Hungary, Netanyahu received an invitation to visit President Trump in the White House. In a show of complete absurdity, Netanyahu’s attorneys needed to receive approval for this trip from the court in Tel Aviv, where he was scheduled to testify on Monday and Wednesday. If Netanyahu traveled to Washington, he would not be able to appear in court at least on that Monday. To make matters worse, the prosecution moved to deny his request. The state, as represented by the prosecuting attorneys, seemed to feel that there was no need for the prime minister to travel to Washington, despite the high stakes of this visit: The fate of the hostages in Gaza was on the table, the Iranian nuclear threat was slated to be discussed as well, and Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump also dealt with the tariffs placed on Israeli exports to the United States. The prosecution was willing to compromise only in exchange for Netanyahu’s agreement to schedule additional days of testimony during Chol Hamoed. If you think this sounds like utter madness, then you are absolutely right. As soon as he returned to Israel, the prime minister was forced to hurry from the airport to the courtroom.
Certain recent events might shed light on the urgency of Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump. First of all, Iran has been intensifying its threats against Israel while turning a deaf ear to Trump’s warnings. Trump and Netanyahu discussed Iran’s nuclear program, although there is still much debate as to exactly what the president said to the Israeli premier. In addition, America is continuing to provide arms to Israel. While we don’t know exactly what is happening, it seems that America knows something about Israel and Iran that the rest of us do not know. And the Houthis are still firing missiles at Israel as well. I cannot help but think about the posuk, “Hallelu es Hashem kol goyim—Praise Hashem, all the nations.” Why does the posuk adjure the nations of the world to praise Hashem? Because they are the only ones who know everything that they have plotted to inflict on the Jewish people, and the degree to which Hashem has saved us from them. Hashem often saves us from peril while we are completely oblivious to the danger that was facing us!
A Nation Torn by the Hostages’ Plight
During Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, he was in contact with Steve Witkoff, the White House envoy who is responsible for the talks concerning the hostages in Gaza. One does not need to be a genius to draw the conclusion that the issue of the hostages was discussed. Meanwhile, Hamas is continuing to release new videos that repeatedly send shock waves through the Israeli public and torment the captives’ families. This, of course, is part of the terror group’s strategy to pressure Netanyahu and the Israeli government into making concessions. One of the hostages who appeared in those videos was Eden Alexander, the American citizen held hostage in Gaza, who addressed President Trump on the recording. Another video released on Chol Hamoed featured the hostage Ram Breslavski, and a third video, which was publicized at the end of the Yom Tov, showed Elkanah Bochbot. All of these videos are heartrending, but the last one was unbearable. Bochbot was directed by his captors to pretend that he was speaking to his wife and son on the telephone. The propaganda videos serve to promote Hamas’s cause; each one ends with an image of an hourglass with the sand running out, while the terrorists warn that the hostages will be released only in the context of a deal and not through military pressure.
As for the prospect of a deal, Hamas is insisting on an agreement that will include a complete end to the war, with international guarantees that Israel will not resume the fighting after all the hostages are released. On the night after Yom Tov, Netanyahu publicized a statement informing the nation that he would not accept that condition. Meanwhile, the hostages’ families are exerting enormous pressure to advance a deal at any cost; they have been appealing to President Trump through every possible channel, including interviews in the American media. As far as they are concerned, the United States should negotiate directly with Hamas and then impose its agreement on Israel.
During his visit to Hungary, Netanyahu spoke about a video released by Hamas that showed the hostages Bar Kuperstein and Maxim Herkin. “I would like to offer my personal sympathy and encouragement to the families of the hostages, who have been exposed to psychological warfare and propaganda once again,” Netanyahu said. “Your loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are working at this very moment to secure their release. We will not give up, and with Hashem’s help, we will succeed.”
Sadly, anti-Semitism reared its head in Hungary as well during Netanyahu’s visit. On Friday night, when Netanyahu was in Budapest, two French citizens tore down 17 Israeli flags that had been hung on the famous Chain Bridge. The flags, which had been placed on the bridge in honor of the prime minister’s visit, were ripped by the vandals and thrown into the water.
Jerusalem Post Editor Arrested
Here in Israel, the Shin Bet seems to be hard at work creating sensational news stories. First, there was the investigation dubbed “Qatar-gate,” which resulted in the arrests of two of Netanyahu’s close associates: Yonasan Urich, the prime minister’s spokesman, and Eli Feldstein, who was already under house arrest due to a previous criminal case. The two men are accused of having received payments from Qatar, which were channeled to them by publicists and activists in America, in exchange for promoting Qatar’s public image in Israel. Was this bribery? Was it actually a salary, given that the two were not being paid by Netanyahu’s office? Did they somehow jeopardize Israeli security by highlighting Qatar’s role in the hostage talks (as opposed to that of Egypt, for instance)? All these questions are debatable. For the time being, Urich and Feldstein have been placed under house arrest. It is widely believed that the head of the Shin Bet and the attorney general are pursuing this case out of spite against Netanyahu.
Meanwhile, outrage is spreading in Israel over the fact that Zvika Klein, chief editor of the Jerusalem Post, was questioned under warning by the police. Klein, who wears a yarmulke, is a refined and affable gentleman. He was initially told that he had been summoned to serve as a witness against the two defendants, but then he was informed that he was considered a suspect as well. That night, he was released to house arrest. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara explained that Klein is suspected of being part of the circle of bribery involving Qatar—in other words, he is suspected of having received money from the Qatari government. The allegations enraged Klein, along with the rest of the media.
In an impassioned column in his newspaper, Klein laid out the story as he experienced it: “My name is Zvika Klein. I am the editor-in-chief of this newspaper you’re reading. This week, I was arrested. I was placed under house arrest. In an instant, I went from a public servant to a suspect. Not even in my worst nightmares could I have imagined this. I wasn’t always a journalist. I was born in Chicago to a warm, Zionist family. My parents were Charles and Beverly Klein….” Klein goes on to relate that his family moved to Israel in 1985, driven by Zionistic idealism. During his army service, Klein served as head of the religious and chareidi desk in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. This led him to a career in the media, where he served as a correspondent for Jewish affairs—an area that he invented and turned into a recognized concept. I personally benefited from Zvika Klein’s assistance on a number of occasions; despite his dizzying success, he remained humble and unassuming. Two years ago, he became the editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post after having joined its staff as a correspondent.
The main point of his narrative comes later in the column: “During my testimony, I was informed that I was now being questioned under caution. My phone was taken without a warrant or explanation. I was interrogated for about 12 hours, alone, without contact with my wife – who was abroad – and without being able to speak to my children for many hours. The conditions were harsh. When leaks from the investigation began to emerge—and they are still emerging as I write these lines—I couldn’t respond. I was prohibited from speaking to the media. My good name was damaged, even before the truth could come out.” Klein’s account continues further, but that paragraph neatly captures the gist of the situation. This week, after Pesach, Klein protested that the police still haven’t returned his cell phone, despite the absence of a court order. That phone contains all of his journalistic sources, and he is livid. And his fury is shared by many others. If anyone tells you that Israel is a police state, you can now understand why they feel that is true.
Trouble for the Shin Bet Jewish Department
The Shin Bet, Israel’s espionage agency, includes a department dedicated to preventing what is known as “Jewish terror”—in other words, violence perpetrated by hilltop youths and other “extremists” on the right. On motzoei Shabbos, the media published a recording of the head of the Jewish department speaking with the police commander of the Shai (Yehuda and Shomron) district, in which the Shin Bet official can be heard referring to these right-wing activists with revolting terminology. The official is also heard instructing the police commander (who isn’t even subordinate to him) to arrest right-wing activists even if there is no legal justification for doing so. “We always detain them, even without evidence,” he said. The official, identified only as A., can also be heard telling the police commander to “put them in the cells with the mice.” This recording reflected very poorly on the Shin Bet and its Jewish department.
It is fairly easy to guess how this recording came to light. Avishai Muallem, the former police commander in Yehuda and Shomron, has been suspended from duty for a long time, after he was accused of harming the interests of the police by following Minister Ben-Gvir’s orders. Muallem insists that his suspension was politically motivated and was solely due to his refusal to serve as a rubber stamp for the Shin Bet’s decisions. A few days ago, the Department of Internal Police Investigations finally returned his cell phone, and the incriminating recordings have since come to light. It shouldn’t be too hard to make the connection between the cell phone’s return and the release of the recordings, which were clearly stored in it. And Muallem has every reason in the world to expose the wrongdoing of the Shin Bet and the head of its Jewish department. I would not be surprised in the slightest if more recordings, which are even more incriminating, surface in the coming days. This affair has amplified the criticism against the director of the Shin Bet and will likely accelerate the closing of the case against Avishai Muallem. In the coming days, the Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on the petitions calling for Bar’s dismissal to be withdrawn. This week, the government and the Shin Bet filed affidavits at the judges’ request. Regardless of their decision, it is likely that the judges will find themselves in a morass of controversy.
The Shin Bet chief’s main argument is that his dismissal was orchestrated to torpedo the Qatar-gate investigation. Netanyahu has already proven, however, that he decided to dismiss Ronen Bar long before the investigation began. Bar also claims that Netanyahu is retaliating against him for refusing to sign a document confirming that the prime minister cannot testify in Tel Aviv for too many days due to the national security situation. Netanyahu, for his part, insists that Bar is being dismissed because he failed in his position and the government no longer has faith in him; he maintains that it has nothing to do with any personal score that he might wish to settle with Bar. The prime minister has also called on the judges to refrain from interfering in this matter, which he insists is entirely within the government’s purview.
Leaked Documents from the Shin Bet
The ugly, politically charged comments made by the head of the Jewish department in the Shin Bet drew outraged reactions from many directions—except, of course, from the opposition. The opposition also kept its silence over the arrest of Zvika Klein. But the Prime Minister’s Office denounced the Shin Bet. “The outrageous recording of the head of the Jewish department of the Shin Bet is a direct danger to democracy,” Netanyahu’s staff declared in a statement. “In light of this recording, the prime minister will demand a thorough investigation of the activities of the Jewish department of the Shin Bet. It is inconceivable for the citizens of a state of law to be arrested without evidence and placed in detention cells in a cruel and illegal manner. Only in dark regimes does the secret service operate in such a dangerous fashion.”
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich called for the head of the Jewish department to be fired on the same day and for him to be investigated and tried for his crimes. “And the same should be done to Ronen Bar, who has caused and continues to cause terrible damage to the agency and has crushed the public’s faith in it,” Smotrich added for good measure.
In response, the Shin Bet wrote, “All of our operations are carried out in accordance with the law and under supervision.” At the same time, they agreed that the department head’s comments were inappropriate. The department head personally announced that he was removing himself from duty. “I misspoke in a way that is not fitting for my values or the values of my service,” he said, “and therefore, to make it possible for a thorough investigation to take place, I am suspending myself from duty until a thorough inquiry has been conducted.”
Ronen Bar vowed to spearhead an investigation, but the Prime Minister’s Office took issue with his statement: “The head of the Shin Bet, who has been dismissed from his position, is not fit to investigate the serious case of the director of the Jewish department who was recorded acting in violation of the law, since he is also involved in it…. The new director of the Shin Bet who will be appointed to replace him will be the one to deal with this serious problem.”
This might have seemed to be the end of the Shin Bet’s woes, but there was still more to come. During Pesach, another scandal erupted, when it was revealed that a Shin Bet official in the reserves has been detained in the dungeons of the Shin Bet for a long period of time. The reservist is suspected of leaking classified information to a journalist (Amit Segal) and an elected official (Amichai Chikli). A debate unfolded in the court between the representatives of the DIPI, which is also charged with investigating the Shin Bet, as to whether the leaked documents represented a threat to national security. One document, which stirred a major uproar, revealed that the director of the Shin Bet had ordered an investigation into Itamar Ben-Gvir on the suspicion that he was allowing “Kahanists” to infiltrate the police force. Another document revealed that the Shin Bet had released only partial results of its internal investigation into the October 7 massacre, to obscure the role of the director of the Shin Bet in the tragic mishaps of that day. These are politically charged issues, and most of the public is convinced that the detained Shin Bet official actually performed a major public service by exposing the agency’s misconduct. Moreover, it is rumored that the director of the Shin Bet has been exploiting his power to take revenge against the officer who exposed his actions. At the same time, the Shin Bet argues that any officer who violates the agency’s confidence and leaks classified material must be punished. This story is far from over, and some claim that the detained Shin Bet officer, whose name has already been published on social media, will even be promoted!
Bircas Ha’Ilanos on Shabbos
But let us set aside the political scandals and move on to more important matters—such as the question of whether bircas ha’ilanos may be recited on Shabbos.
Rav Yaakov Sinai is a son-in-law of Rav Moshe Yosef and therefore a grandson through marriage of Rav Ovadiah Yosef. He is also an acclaimed public speaker who regularly enthralls his audiences. Rav Sinai is an expert on every area of the Torah; he delivers numerous shiurim and has even been discovered by the IDF; he recently delivered a shiur on the halachos of Pesach at the Tel Hashomer IDF base, with special emphasis on the shailos that arise for a soldier in the army. At the end of the shiur, Rav Yaakov and his audience davened together for the well-being of the soldiers and the hostages in Gaza, and then they recited bircas ha’ilanos together. I commented to him that when I recited the brocha, I discovered that the Sephardic version of the brocha is very long and includes a tefillah for the neshamos that have been reincarnated in plants.
“It occurred to me that this might explain the halachic view that the brocha should not be recited on Shabbos,” I remarked. “If it effects a tikkun for the souls, then any form of tikkun is prohibited on Shabbos.”
That was all it took for Rav Yaakov to launch into a brief but highly erudite discourse on the subject. “The Kaf Hachaim offers two explanations as to why the brocha should not be recited on Shabbos,” he said. “One explanation is that there is a concern that one might come to remove a flower from the tree; however, Rav Ovadiah Yosef rejects this explanation. The Gemara states in Maseches Sukkah that it is permissible to smell a hadas (myrtle branch) that is attached to a tree on Shabbos, and there is no concern that one might detach it. This is because a hadas is used to provide fragrance and can serve that purpose while it is attached to the tree, unlike an esrog, which is primarily meant to be consumed; that is why the Shulchan Aruch rules that one must be concerned about the possibility of detaching an esrog from a tree. Since there is no requirement to touch the flowers when reciting bircas ha’ilanos, there is no need for concern that one might detach them. The Kaf Hachaim offers another reason, based on Kabbolah, that it is considered borer, since we extract the sparks of kedushah and the neshamos housed in the trees. These concepts are beyond our understanding, but he explains that it is similar to separating the good from the bad for use at a later time, and therefore he rules that it should not be done on Shabbos. The Ben Ish Chai likewise takes a stringent position on this subject in his haggadah. Rav Ovadiah Yosef disagreed, since our halachic rulings follow the peshat rather than Kabbalistic considerations. In Chazon Ovadiah, he quotes the Chasam Sofer’s statement that anyone who mixes divrei Torah with words of Kabbolah is in violation of the prohibition to plant kilayim. Therefore, it is permitted to recite bircas ha’ilanos on Shabbos. This psak is also echoed by the Steipler and Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Indeed, Rav Ovadiah once recited the brocha on Shabbos when it coincided with Rosh Chodesh Nissan.”
What Would We Do Without Uri Maklev?
I have many more things to report to you, but I am reaching the end of my allotted space. But let me briefly touch on a few important stories. First, the United Nations extended the term of its special emissary to the Palestinian area, who is a blatant anti-Semite. Second, the draft issue is continuing to cause havoc; at the beginning of the week, two yeshiva bochurim were arrested at Ben Gurion Airport, one of whom is a baal teshuvah and a talmid in Yeshivas Kiryat Malachi, whose life revolves around the Torah.
There are other topics that deserve to be mentioned as well, such as the police brutality in Mea Shearim, the protestors who scattered pitas outside the home of Minister Idit Silman on Pesach, and the massive crowds that gathered at the Kosel over Pesach, including several survivors of captivity in Gaza and the new ambassador Mike Huckabee, who placed a note in the Kosel that had been given to him by President Trump.
Speaking of the Kosel, I received a telephone call from a friend just one hour before the beginning of the final Yom Tov of Pesach. He informed me that he was returning home from the Kosel and that hundreds of people were waiting at the bus stop just outside the gate below the Kosel plaza, with no buses in sight. The police were permitting only one bus every fifteen minutes to pass through the checkpoint. “Hundreds of people will be stranded here for Yom Tov,” he exclaimed tearfully. My friend and his family were already on a bus. All I needed to do was to notify Uri Maklev, the deputy minister of transportation and the veteran government official who has long been known as the champion of the average citizen. I soon discovered that Maklev had been informed about the situation several hours earlier, and he had ordered a massive bottleneck cleared up at that time. Evidently, the bottleneck had developed again. According to an eyewitness, the problem was due to a single policewoman, who was apparently not the sharpest pencil in the case. And the crowding became even worse due to the combination of Chol Hamoed, erev Yom Tov, and the fact that it was also Friday, a day of religious significance for Muslims, and a holiday for Christians as well. Half an hour before Yom Tov, Maklev’s aide sent me a photograph of an empty bus stop. “The last bus has been released, the bus stop is empty, and everyone has gone home,” a police officer had written with satisfaction.
To which I would respond: That is very nice, but what would we have done without Uri Maklev?
Dangerous Envelopes Sent to Chareidi MKs
There is also much that I could write about the public petitions both for and against the fighting in Gaza. (The ongoing combat is opposed by former air force officials, many of them quite elderly, while the petitions in favor of the fighting have been signed by members of the armored corps, most of them still serving in the reserves.) There is also an unsettling phenomenon taking place: A number of members of the Knesset, mainly chareidim, received suspicious envelopes containing a strange-looking substance. The origin of the envelopes and the mysterious senders’ motives are unclear. There is also much to write about the Knesset recess and this year’s Yom HaShoah, which marks the passage of 80 years since the Holocaust. But let me return to the topic with which I began this column: Pesach.
I have written in the past about Rav Uri Zohar’s meticulous observance of every detail of halacha. His family members tell me that Rav Uri didn’t consider himself machmir; he was simply fastidious in observing halacha. In fact, he was enamored with halacha and pursued it out of love; for that reason, he used a cup of water to wash his hands in their entirety for mayim acharonim. In his early years, Rav Uri commented to Rav Zilberman that he would be content to sit at the very back of Gan Eden, even if it meant feeling the heat of Gehinnom on his back. But as the years passed, Rav Uri clearly set his sights much higher. For instance, although El Al planes are equipped with cups for netilas yadayim today, Rav Uri used to bring his own cup on every flight. When I asked his family to describe his observance of Pesach, they replied, “The Seder night was very meaningful to him. He learned and prepared the Haggadah in advance with great focus and in a state of elevation, and he seemed to be surrounded by light. He once said that the Seder night gives us the opportunity to redeem ourselves and experience personal liberation. His behavior wasn’t a matter of observing chumros; he derived personal benefit from it. It liberated him from personal servitude, from his enslavement to habit and to physicality and from the subjugation to the yetzer hora.”
Rav Uri was once told that there might be a halachic objection to returning a spoonful of ground coffee to a can, since coffee cans are not toveled for use. Alarmed by this revelation, he instructed his family members to take care to avoid this. I recently discovered that Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl was asked about this issue, and he responded that coffee may be returned to a can, since it is considered part of the same use. In addition, Rav Wosner was asked about returning wine to a glass bottle; he ruled that this is permissible, and he added that it is certainly permissible to return coffee to a can. On the other hand, Rav Nissim Karelitz ruled stringently regarding both a wine bottle and a coffee can.
