🔥 Remilk and Halachic Status of Lab-Created “Milk” – Remilk is an Israeli product that **copies the gene for cow milk protein (BLG)** and inserts it into yeast, which through fermentation produces **milk-identical proteins**. – These proteins are then blended with **non-animal fats, sugars, vitamins, and minerals** to create dairy-like products with **no lactose, cholesterol, hormones, or antibiotics**. – The company claims there is **no cow or animal source at all** in the process; it is positioned as “milk without cows.” – They report **Israeli kosher pareve certification**, including from **Badatz Igud Rabbanim** and the **Chief Rabbinate of Israel**, and advertise that it is **halachically pareve**. – Contrast with **lab-grown meat**: – Lab meat often begins with cells taken from animals; this raises **“yotzei min ha’asur asur”** issues and questions of **shechita / issur cheilev / ever min hachai**, etc. – Remilk claims to avoid these because it **does not start from animal tissue**. – Assuming the factual claim is correct (no animal source), halachically it can be treated as **kosher pareve** with no issue of “yotzei min ha’asur.” – However, there is a major **mar’it ayin concern** when used with meat: – It **tastes, looks, and functions like real milk**, including curdling and cheese-making. – Chazal imposed mar’it ayin restrictions on **human milk with meat**: • Human milk is technically kosher (not “gidulei ha’aretz”) and not basar bechalav. • Yet **cooking meat in human milk** is rabbinically forbidden because it looks like meat-and-milk. • If only a small amount of human milk is mixed and is not visible, one may rely on bitul; e.g., rinsing a baby bottle of breast milk in a fleishig sink is permitted. – Parallel cases: • **Dam dagim (fish blood)** is kosher but must be served with **scales visible** to avoid mar’it ayin. • **Almond milk with meat**: Gemara and Rambam say to place **almonds next to it** so observers recognize it is not dairy. • Some discuss whether the same applies to human milk; Rambam is more lenient by **chicken with almond milk**, since chicken-and-milk is only derabbanan. – For Remilk, which **fully mimics dairy**, mar’it ayin is potentially stronger than with almond milk, which is essentially “nut juice.” – Practical implication: – **Drinking Remilk alone** is halachically fine (assuming valid supervision). – **Using it with meat / at a fleishig meal / in a fleishig restaurant** raises mar’it ayin concerns, at least **until the product becomes widely known** and recognized as pareve. – Once a practice/product is widely recognized, mar’it ayin can fade (analogy: Rav Schachter’s comment that once it was common for visibly religious Jews to have **kosher food delivered to non-kosher venues**, observers no longer assume they are eating non-kosher food). 📖 Women and Obligation in Kriat HaTorah (Torah Reading) – Question: If a woman comes late to shul and leining has already started: – Should she **delay her own Shacharit** to listen to kriat haTorah? – If she’s in the middle of **Pesukei DeZimra or between Pesukei DeZimra and Shema**, should she pause to listen? – Background question: **Is kriat haTorah a chovat yachid or only chovat hatzibur?** – Some hold it’s mainly a **communal obligation**: if a tzibur already read, an individual who missed is **not required** to seek out another minyan. – Some report that Rav Soloveitchik would sometimes organize a **special minyan for kriat haTorah** (e.g., on a plane), implying he related to it as a serious **individual need**, at least for himself. – Are women obligated? – **Magen Avraham** (cited in **Mishnah Berurah O.C. 282:11**) states that **women are obligated to hear kriat haTorah**, despite being exempt from general Talmud Torah, because this is a **specific takanah** of public Torah reading. – Other poskim (e.g., **Alter Rebbe, Sefer HaChinuch style approaches**) say women are **exempt** from kriat haTorah. – Mishnah Berurah quotes the Magen Avraham but notes: • **“Ein no’hagos l’hizaher b’zeh”** – women are not careful to fulfill this. • Some women even have the **custom to leave** during kriat haTorah. – Common practice: women are **not treated as strictly obligated** to hear leining. – If a woman is present during kriat haTorah: – **Piskei Teshuvot** notes she should not **talk, disturb, or disrespect** the Torah reading. – Implication: if she is in shul and staying in the room, she ideally **should listen** and not treat the time as background for unrelated activity. – Practical answers: – She is **not obligated** to delay her entire davening to catch leining, given the prevalent psak and minhag that women are not bound to kriat haTorah like men. – If she is already davening and will otherwise **miss key parts like Shema or Shemoneh Esrei**, she can **continue her tefillah** and not pause for leining. – There is no strict requirement for women to sacrifice their personal tefillah structure to hear leining, though **if she is free and present**, it is better to **listen respectfully**. 🙏 Purpose of Tefillah vs. Outcomes (When Davening “Doesn’t Work”) – Question: If **non-daveners sometimes get what they want** and daveners sometimes do not, what is the purpose of tefillah? – The assumption that **“tefillah’s purpose is to get what I want”** is incorrect. – Hashem already **knows what we want** without our asking. – Asking is primarily **an act of recognition**: acknowledging that all needs are provided **only by Hashem**. – Sources and ideas: – Rabbeinu Yonah (end of Berachot) describes tefillah as a way to **declare dependence on Hashem**, not just a wish-list mechanism. – Chazal: Hashem made the **Avot and Imahot barren** because “**mit’aveh le-tefillatan shel tzadikim**” – He wanted their tefillot, not merely the result. – Rashi on the creation narrative: rain was withheld until **there was a human being to daven for it**, showing that **tefillah is a built-in condition** for certain blessings. – Primary purpose of tefillah: **relationship and connection** with Hashem. – It is structured time in which a person stands **in front of the Creator**, speaking and being present with Him. – Just as in human relationships, approaching others primarily with a **“what can I get out of you”** mindset undermines the relationship, so too with Hashem. – Happiness and tefillah: – Human beings ultimately seek **happiness**, not any specific object. – Research and common experience show that **giving** often brings more happiness than receiving. – A deep relationship with Hashem, built through tefillah, is a **fundamental path to happiness**, more than getting particular outcomes. – When tefillah seems unanswered: – Tefillah is not a **contractual guarantee** for particular outcomes. – Its value lies in **closeness, recognition, humility, and avodah**, even when events unfold differently than hoped. 🚽 Shabbat: Tearing Toilet Paper vs. Using a Towel – Scenario: On Shabbat, in the bathroom, there is **no tissue or prepared toilet paper**. Two apparent options: – Tear regular toilet paper now. – Use a **cloth hand towel** that will need to be washed later. – Halachic issues: – **Tearing toilet paper on Shabbat**: • Cutting paper to usable size is akin to the melacha of **“mechatech”** or **“makeh b’patish”** (giving final form). • At minimum, it is **mekalkel / derabbanan**, but if torn **to a specific size and on perforations**, many hold it may be **mechatech de’oraita**. • Ideal practice: **pre-tear** toilet paper before Shabbat. – But there is also **kavod habriyot**: • Gemara in Shabbat and Beitzah allows handling normally-muktzeh **stones for wiping**, because **kavod habriyot pushes aside certain derabbanan prohibitions**. • Tosafot (Sukkah 11b) extend kavod habriyot also to some other derabbanan issues (e.g., certain hotza’ah derabbanan when absolutely necessary). • Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah adopt that **kavod habriyot can override some rabbinic restrictions** in this context. – Practical ruling for this case: – **Using a cloth towel** for wiping is **not allowed**; it involves **soiling fabric in a way that necessitates laundering**, raising issues of **melaben (washing/whitening)** and intentional creation of strong cleaning need. – **Tearing toilet paper** is the **preferable and only viable option** here, but: • **Do not tear along the perforations** to avoid obvious mechatech. • **Use a shinui** (change of manner) to downgrade the prohibition: e.g., tear with **elbows, foot, or back of hand**, not in the usual way. • Many poskim (Tzitz Eliezer, Mishneh Halachot, Az Nidberu) advise that because tearing may be **close to de’oraita**, one should **always employ a shinui**. • With **kavod habriyot** and a **shinui**, the act is treated as a **double-derabbanan** that can be pushed aside for basic human dignity. 💼 Married Woman’s LinkedIn Photo with Uncovered Hair – Question: A woman recently married, now covering her hair, still has a **LinkedIn profile photo from before marriage** with uncovere
