Do you have a bentscher app on your i-pod? Does it contain 'cookies'? If so, does anyone know how to kasher it for Pesach? The best advice I've found so far was that it cannot be kashered and must be 'blended'.
Of course, if you purchase the Sefiros app that will kasher your i-pod and then you can try to stick all the pieces back together.
(this post is a joke, by the way, please do not try this at home. And your i-pod is fine, unless you also use it as a tablemat)
David Sedley's Thoughts and Musings (and some audio shiurim too)
Showing posts with label pesach cleaning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pesach cleaning. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 02, 2007
Burning chametz
Tomorrow morning (well, this morning actually - right now it is 3:30 am, but I'm not sure what time it will say when I post the blog or what time zone the blog is in) we will go outside and burn our chametz.
I know this is an important mitzvah, and encourage everyone to participate, but it can also be dangerous. There is actually a real fire involved !! (shock! horror!). Fire can be dangerous.
I was just looking at the yeshivaworld website. These are the rules for burning chametz in Monsey:
Monday April 2nd, 2007, Time: 6:30AM - 11:47AM. Location: Monsey Park & Ride/Drive-In Theater, Route 59. (The burning is for chometz only.) Children can visit the burn site only if accompanied by a responsible adult. Please wrap chometz in paper bags only. You will not be allowed to burn any chometz that is brought in plastic bags or aluminum foil. Accelerants will not be allowed. Plastic bottles, glass bottles and aerosol cans will not be permitted at the burn site.
There are several things that are slightly different than what they will be here in Yerusashalayim:
children - in monsey they must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Here they light the fire, stoke the fire, throw things in the fire, and sometimes even put out the fire at the end. And when I say children, I mean under 10. More than once I have been afraid to leave a bonfire because there were children poking at it with sticks, and no adults in sight! Hopefully this year will be different.
wrap chometz in paper bags! I don't think paper bags exist in this country, but if they did it would be a big improvement on the kinds of materials that people try and burn usually. The fire usually has all sorts of interesting (and probably carcinogenic) colours. Bread comes in a bag. So it must be a mitzvah to burn the bread and burn the bag, right? Hopefully this year will be different.
Accelerants will not be allowed - the truth is that with accelerants and other stuff people usually wait until lag ba'omer to really have fun with their fire. Burning chametz is just the 'warm up' (pun intended). At least burning chametz is a mitzvah. Hopefully this year will be different.
Plastic bottles, glass bottles and aerosol cans - I'm really hoping this year will be different over here
At the seder the kids will ask 4 questions about the differences between seder night and the rest of the year. I just hope and pray that the parents of those kids realise the importance of the mitzvah of burning chametz responsibly, and the even greater importance of the mitzvah of not putting life at risk. In 4 ways may this year be different than all other years.
Chag Sameach and happy, safe, burning
PS Don't get me wrong - I am as big a pyromaniac as the next bloke, but I don't want to risk anyone else's life or kids' life because of my irresponsibility.
PPS Apologies if this is too harsh. I am exhausted and still have lots to do. Just taking a short coffee/ blogging break.
Same to you too.
I know this is an important mitzvah, and encourage everyone to participate, but it can also be dangerous. There is actually a real fire involved !! (shock! horror!). Fire can be dangerous.
I was just looking at the yeshivaworld website. These are the rules for burning chametz in Monsey:
Monday April 2nd, 2007, Time: 6:30AM - 11:47AM. Location: Monsey Park & Ride/Drive-In Theater, Route 59. (The burning is for chometz only.) Children can visit the burn site only if accompanied by a responsible adult. Please wrap chometz in paper bags only. You will not be allowed to burn any chometz that is brought in plastic bags or aluminum foil. Accelerants will not be allowed. Plastic bottles, glass bottles and aerosol cans will not be permitted at the burn site.
There are several things that are slightly different than what they will be here in Yerusashalayim:
children - in monsey they must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Here they light the fire, stoke the fire, throw things in the fire, and sometimes even put out the fire at the end. And when I say children, I mean under 10. More than once I have been afraid to leave a bonfire because there were children poking at it with sticks, and no adults in sight! Hopefully this year will be different.
wrap chometz in paper bags! I don't think paper bags exist in this country, but if they did it would be a big improvement on the kinds of materials that people try and burn usually. The fire usually has all sorts of interesting (and probably carcinogenic) colours. Bread comes in a bag. So it must be a mitzvah to burn the bread and burn the bag, right? Hopefully this year will be different.
Accelerants will not be allowed - the truth is that with accelerants and other stuff people usually wait until lag ba'omer to really have fun with their fire. Burning chametz is just the 'warm up' (pun intended). At least burning chametz is a mitzvah. Hopefully this year will be different.
Plastic bottles, glass bottles and aerosol cans - I'm really hoping this year will be different over here
At the seder the kids will ask 4 questions about the differences between seder night and the rest of the year. I just hope and pray that the parents of those kids realise the importance of the mitzvah of burning chametz responsibly, and the even greater importance of the mitzvah of not putting life at risk. In 4 ways may this year be different than all other years.
Chag Sameach and happy, safe, burning
PS Don't get me wrong - I am as big a pyromaniac as the next bloke, but I don't want to risk anyone else's life or kids' life because of my irresponsibility.
PPS Apologies if this is too harsh. I am exhausted and still have lots to do. Just taking a short coffee/ blogging break.
Same to you too.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
A more meaningful bedikat chametz
I had been meaning to write a final follow up to the kitten saga, with my 'Jerry Springer' thoughts on the matter. Perhaps I'll get a chance at some point. But right now I've discovered how to make bedikat chametz so much more meaningful - you can read what I wrote over here: www.torahlab.org/thestorysofar.php
Check it out to also see why I haven't written a few more blogs than I would have wanted.
When everything is going crazy with erev Pesach, pregnant wife and sick kids it is always important to keep the priorities straight. And of course at the moment that means 'Do New Zealand have a chance in the cricket world cup'? (And if you are an American just imagine that cricket is a little bit like rounders, but with only one team getting the points at a time, and with a different shape bad, field, ball - oh yes, and with wickets everywhere as well)
Send me an e-mail if you like the chametz blog (rabbisedley@gmail.com) or leave a message.
Have a Chag Kasher v'Sameach and may you have an easier time getting rid of your chametz than I did.
David Sedley
Check it out to also see why I haven't written a few more blogs than I would have wanted.
When everything is going crazy with erev Pesach, pregnant wife and sick kids it is always important to keep the priorities straight. And of course at the moment that means 'Do New Zealand have a chance in the cricket world cup'? (And if you are an American just imagine that cricket is a little bit like rounders, but with only one team getting the points at a time, and with a different shape bad, field, ball - oh yes, and with wickets everywhere as well)
Send me an e-mail if you like the chametz blog (rabbisedley@gmail.com) or leave a message.
Have a Chag Kasher v'Sameach and may you have an easier time getting rid of your chametz than I did.
David Sedley
Monday, March 26, 2007
11 o'clock feeding
I've just finished the 11:00 pm feeding of the kittens (I know I seem to have a one track mind at the moment, but it helps take my mind of the panic of Pesach cleaning and the worry of when my wife will give birth - and how we will organise a Pesach brit if we need one).
All I can say is that G-d is amazing! I know everything is from evolution, and kittens are the way they are because more of their ancestors survived being this little, helpless and cute than those who were big, ugly and self sufficient. I know that Dawkins, Gould and Douglas Adams would say that the G-d myth is just to make us feel better about ourselves (although according to two of those G-d and religion were the worst inventions of humanity). BUT still, when G-d made, or allowed to evolve, or formed or breathed life into, or whatever it is that He did, He did it very well. So tiny, completely helpless, yet they somehow survive in nature and continue to reproduce. (Was that an argument against G-d's involvement? Surely He could have done it better I hear you asking. Well just leave me alone. It is 11:00pm and I still have tons of work to do and another feeding in 3 more hours!)
Another thing I don't understand is how anyone could be cruel to these animals. The consensus from most people we asked yesterday was that we should just put these kittens back outside and leave them to die. Nature is supposed to be cruel, they probably won't survive anyway, Jerusalem doesn't need any more cats. These claims are all true, but still, how is it possible to not feel for these creatures?
What astounds me more is why religious kids are terrified of animals, and how the system raises them without any kind of awareness of sensitivity to animals or the mitzvah of tza'ar ba'alei chaim. If nothing else (and there is a lot else) at least my Avi has learnt from these kittens that he can't have his cornflakes in the morning before he gets the bottle and feeds the kittens. That is a big and important message for an 11 year old. It is a Halacha that is probably foreign to most kids, since they don't grow up with animals or any sense of what it means to care for a pet. I know there are many explanations and reasons, financial, halachic, cultural etc. most of them very valid. But it is a pity that nothing is being done to rectify the situation. Why is nobody giving animal awareness classes? Why do adults not interfere when they see children chasing after terrified little cats or dogs (or doing worse to them)? Why do parents not take their children to see animals and interact with them in different settings?
Just thinking while listening to the squeaking of two very cute (and very mortal) 2 day old kittens. I would like to show you a video of them, but the quality didn't come out very well, so instead I'll leave you with something entirely different, from Aish Hatorah (which really made me laugh) about what I should really be doing now instead of dealing with kittens:
All I can say is that G-d is amazing! I know everything is from evolution, and kittens are the way they are because more of their ancestors survived being this little, helpless and cute than those who were big, ugly and self sufficient. I know that Dawkins, Gould and Douglas Adams would say that the G-d myth is just to make us feel better about ourselves (although according to two of those G-d and religion were the worst inventions of humanity). BUT still, when G-d made, or allowed to evolve, or formed or breathed life into, or whatever it is that He did, He did it very well. So tiny, completely helpless, yet they somehow survive in nature and continue to reproduce. (Was that an argument against G-d's involvement? Surely He could have done it better I hear you asking. Well just leave me alone. It is 11:00pm and I still have tons of work to do and another feeding in 3 more hours!)
Another thing I don't understand is how anyone could be cruel to these animals. The consensus from most people we asked yesterday was that we should just put these kittens back outside and leave them to die. Nature is supposed to be cruel, they probably won't survive anyway, Jerusalem doesn't need any more cats. These claims are all true, but still, how is it possible to not feel for these creatures?
What astounds me more is why religious kids are terrified of animals, and how the system raises them without any kind of awareness of sensitivity to animals or the mitzvah of tza'ar ba'alei chaim. If nothing else (and there is a lot else) at least my Avi has learnt from these kittens that he can't have his cornflakes in the morning before he gets the bottle and feeds the kittens. That is a big and important message for an 11 year old. It is a Halacha that is probably foreign to most kids, since they don't grow up with animals or any sense of what it means to care for a pet. I know there are many explanations and reasons, financial, halachic, cultural etc. most of them very valid. But it is a pity that nothing is being done to rectify the situation. Why is nobody giving animal awareness classes? Why do adults not interfere when they see children chasing after terrified little cats or dogs (or doing worse to them)? Why do parents not take their children to see animals and interact with them in different settings?
Just thinking while listening to the squeaking of two very cute (and very mortal) 2 day old kittens. I would like to show you a video of them, but the quality didn't come out very well, so instead I'll leave you with something entirely different, from Aish Hatorah (which really made me laugh) about what I should really be doing now instead of dealing with kittens:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)