Thursday, June 2, 2011

Can one brush his teeth on Shabbos?

Vol. 1 Iss. 29

פרשת נשא
 There will be a special TBT program Shavous night in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim. Details will follow.

      Dvar Torah

              By: Rabbi Goldman

 

 

    

        The Mishna in Pirkei Avos tells us that when someone dedicates himself to Torah, then he is saved from being involved in other endeavors.
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that there are two different concepts that are included in this mishna: First of all there are many different situations that we may encounter in life which may keep us busy all of the time and we may often be too busy to do what we would like to be doing. Hashem tells us that there is a special zechus that if we are spend our time learning Torah then we will not have many of these frustrating distractions. A second lesson that the Mishna is teaching us is when a person spends his time learning, he will often develop an appreciation for what is really important in life. That includes the recognition that it is not important to be involved in luxuries. Once we recognize that, we now do not have a need to spend time and energy in order to access those luxuries.  

       When we compare the two possibilities- of either having the ability to be satisfied without too much (but also not having the means to acquire too much); or, to have a need for "a lot" but to have the ability to work hard to fill those needs. It seems that as long as the person is really happy with "less" then it's much better because the time and energy that is necessary to work for more, can be avoided.
Shavuos may be a time to focus on what is important and to try to find as much time for Torah as we can!

 

 

        Dvar Halacha

       By: R' Chananya Berman

Question:   Is one permitted to brush his teeth on Shabbos?

Discussion:   Last week we discussed the melacha of smoothing (ממרח) in regards to using soap. A related topic is brushing teeth. However, there are other things to be concerned about even where smoothing is not a problem. First we will discuss a situation when the person is using toothpaste. Using toothpaste would not be allowed under any circumstances (Iggros Moshe vol. 1 chapter 112). This is because you are smoothing the paste on your teeth. 

    Using a dry or wet toothbrush  

     If a person wants to brush his teeth with out toothpaste then there are two other issues that come up. If the brush is dry the one would be allowed to use it as long as his gums do not bleed when he brushes them. If they occasionally bleed one should ask a rav. 

        There is a dispute in a situation where one's gums do not bleed and one wants to use a liquid (either water, or some sort of liquid tooth cleaner) to brush his teeth. According to Rav Moshe zt"l (ibid.) one should not use any liquid because this would be a problem of squeezing (שחיטה). According to Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurebach one would be allowed to use a liquid on the toothbrush (Minchas Shlomo vol. 2 chapter 25:3). We are only discussing a regular toothbrush. If one has a "Shabbos toothbrush" they should ask their rav if there is a problem of "squeezing" with that toothbrush.

 

Summary:  

      Toothpaste may never be used on Shabbos because of "smoothing". A dry brush that will cause bleeding should not be used. However, if no bleeding then one may use it. There is a dispute as to whether one may use a liquid on his toothbrush or not.

 

      

 

 

 

 

For all practical questions please ask your Rav.

 

 

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Food For Thought

We celebrate the holiday of Shavous as the time of receiving the Torah, however, when the Torah discusses the holiday it does not mention this aspect at all. Furthermore, every other holiday has a "practical" mitzvah associated with it (Shofar, Lulav etc.). Shavous has no "practical" mitzvah associated with it. Why is this holiday different?   

 

 

Gemara Shiur 30 Min before Shacharis, given by Rabbi  Goldman.

Halacha Shiur preceding maariv at Ahavas Yisroel 9:00-9:30 Monday and Thursday, given by R' Chananya Berman.  

For any comments or suggestion please email Kollelboker@hotmail.com or speak to Rabbi Goldman

These times are for NYC only 

 For times out of NYC please click  Myzmanim.com

Shabbos zimanim are:

Candle lighting                 8:03

Sh'kea                             8:21

Sof Zman Kriyas shma   9:09

Mogen Avroham             8:33

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