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1) A knife, grinder, food processor, blender or other cutting device which is designated for meat (i.e. was used with hot meat or was used to grind meat and a sharp food together), should not be used for fish before ensuring thatthe cutting device is thoroughly cleaned and devoid of any meat particles.
The same applies to a cutting device that is designated for fish, before using it for meat.
2) M'Ikar HaDin (according to the letter of the law) it is permissible to grind fish and onions (or other sharp foods) together in a meat blender. (See Taz to Yoreh Deah Siman 95:3 and Shu"t Shevet Haleivi Vol. 6 Siman 111)
However, some people are careful to avoid doing so, as they are concerned forthe danger ofmeat and fish evenvia absorption froma sharp food. (See Chavas Da'as Siman 95:3 in Biurim, Darchei Teshuva Siman 1116:27. This was also the minhag of the Steipler Zatzal)
Therefore, if possible, it is best to grind up the sharp food separately and add it to the ground fish afterwards.
Another alternative is to cook the onion (or other sharp food) first for a few minutes until it loses its status as a sharp food, and then add it to the grinder.
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URGENT REQUEST TO STOP EXECUTION OF A FELLOW JEW
Florida Governor Crist signed the death warrant of a Jewish inmate that has been on death row for 25 years. The death sentence is scheduled for February 16th at 6:00pm.
There are several very compelling and mitigating factors which are outlined below. Alan Dershowitz met with the Governor asking him to grant a 60 day stay so a proper clemency application can be prepared.The Governor said he would consider.
Prominent Rabbonim from across the world have strongly encouraged this effort. Some of the more than 200 Rabbis that have signed to the petition are:
Rabbi Zwiebel (Agudath Israel of America) Rabbi Steve Weil (OU) Rabbi Krinsky (Lubavitch International) Rabbi Lerner (National Council of Young Israel) Rabbi Tenenbaum (Rabbinical Alliance of America) Rabbi Lipskar (Shul Bal Harbor) Rabbi Weberman (President of Orthodox Rabbinical Council S FL) Rabbi Leibel Shapiro (Rov - Chabad Miami) Rabbi Goldberg (Boca Raton Synagogue) Rabbi Davis (Young Israel Hollywood)
Time if of essence, as the scheduled execution is only 8 days away RL.
Martin Grossman on the day of his Bar Mitzvah.
BACKGROUND
We respectfully and urgently request 60-day stay of execution to enable us to prepare and present a properly formed commutation request as part of a new clemency hearing in Martin Grossman's case. We feel an especially urgent duty to do so given the fact that no such petition was filed on Martin's behalf in the last 20 years, and during that time, the law has changed, new facts have come to light, new circumstances have been discovered, and Martin Grossman has changed enormously. We believe that if we are given a chance to prepare and present a comprehensive clemency petition, the State of Florida Executive Clemency Board will decide to commute Martin Grossman's sentence to life without parole.
There is no question that Martin Grossman committed an act of murder, not only robbing Margaret Parks of her life and her future, but also robbing Margaret's family of their beloved daughter and sister. Having counseled Martin and providing spiritual guidance to him over the course of 20 years in prison, we can state unequivocally that it is a crime for which he takes full responsibility and for which he lives (as he should) with tremendous daily guilt and remorse. He has spoken often of the anguish and devastation he must have wreaked upon her family, and his complete impotence in being able to do nothing to relieve it.
Martin Grossman had served time in prison as a teenager for breaking . He was on parole when, high on drugs and alcohol, went into the woods with a friend, shooting off stolen handguns, obviously a parole violation. A 26 year old female Fish and Wildlife officer, Peggy Parks, stopped them. Martin, terrified of being violated and sent back to prison began begging her not to report him. When she took the radio to report him, Martin panicked, and began a struggle to pull the radio away. She pulled her gun and he took away her gun and shot her. He received the death sentence.
MITIGATING FACTORS:
Martin Grossman, who has an IQ of 77 (making him borderline retarded) was 19 years old at the time. He was a poorly educated, highly medicated and drug dependent young delinquent.
-Martin was a drug addict. He had been taking prescription barbiturates (Phenobarbital) for seizures since early childhood and developed an addiction to other prescription and illegal drugs. On the night of the struggle that was resulted in Margarets death, Martin was on all kinds of drugs including PCP, Cocaine, Crystal Meth and other pills that clouded his judgement.
-Martin had a tragic childhood and adolescence. His father was ill for many years. Martin, who had been diagnosed with seizures at age 4, was expected to help with the more uncomfortable duties looking after his father which included bathing and cleaning, watching him to make sure that he was not slipping into a coma. When Martin was orphaned at 14, his mother retreated, became delusional and developed her own drug dependencies. . As an adolescent he shopped for medications in his mother's medicine cabinet and was a heavy user of Phenobarbital, valium among others. By age 15 he had dropped out of school having failed repeatedly. Feeling responsible for his mother but the futility of being unable to help, he became a paranoid and incredibly unconfident young man. He spent his life trying to prove himself to his peers - mainly younger than him.
-Martin's unequivocal contrition and changed nature - Rabbi Katz with the Aleph Institute has been Martin's spiritual advisor for the past 15 years and testifies that Martin has truly turned his life around and struggles daily for repentance. "He is now a 'solid, humble human being' far from the disturbed youth who shot Margaret Parks over 25 years ago" says Rabbi Katz. Testimonies from fellow inmates and guards attest to the tremendous remorse Martin continues to express. He has become observant in prison.
-False Testimony - Charles Brewer, a fellow inmate in 1985 gave testimony for the government. Subsequently he provided a very disturbing affidavit that states that his testimony was tempered and driven even falsely by the government. What is most disturbing is that he appears to have been a critical witness without whom the government, bringing into question whether the strength of the case without Brewer who admits his testimony was tainted and procured. Moreover, without Parks, the case relied on such witnesses as Brewer, Taylor, and others who all had something to gain by lying or embellishing, which may have at the very least made the difference between life and the death sentence. -Death Penalty reserved for "worst of worst". Only 3% of people convicted of murder are sentenced to death. Although any murder is despicable, capital punishment is generally reserved for cold, calculated, heinous murders. This is a case of drugged up, mildly retarded teenager who panicked, not a cold calculated murder -Crime was NOT premeditated in the sense that he did not set out to kill anyone much less an officer of the law: A drug-addicted, intellectually slow and emotionally immature youth on probation shot Margaret Parks after she surprised him and threatened to report him for breaching probation. He panicked trying to retrieve the gun she confiscated and after a struggle which he unquestionably started, but during which Officer Parks drew her weapon and fired, he gained control of her weapon (not the one she had confiscated) and fired shooting her to death. Martin did not make any deliberate decision to kill. -We are not advocating for his release. We are only requesting a new clemency hearing. Clemency would spare him from being executed - but he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
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QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER:
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers. Taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Todaywebsite.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
I learned(from the Artscroll Tzedaka and Maaser sefer by R. Taub, p.68), that it is preferable to give Tzedaka during the day. It is also preferable to give Tzedaka before Tefila.
Is there an issue about putting change in the pushka before maariv or is it better to do so just before shacharis and mincha?
Answer:
Yes, it is important to give Tzedakah before davening, as the Pasuk says "V'ani B'Tzedek Echezeh Panechah- I will perform Tzedakah before seeing Hashem's face [i.e. praying] "(Tehilim 17:15)
The Ya'avetz writes that this should not be done before Maariv as that is not an opportune time for Tzedakah. The Arizal also used to not give Tzedakah before Maariv as he maintained it was a time of din (judgement).
The Chasam Sofer, however, used to give a coin to Tzedaka before each and every tefilah, including before Maariv. (Minhagei Chasam Sofer Perek 1:7)
Each person should follow their own custom, and both customs have on whom to rely.
Our holy sages, the Chazal tell us
תנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן עולם הבא, שנאמר הליכות עולם לו, אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות - one who studies [at least two] Halachos daily is assured a portion in Olam Haba - the world to come. (:מגילה כ"ח )
Important Numbers
