Q&A: Several Questions
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Several Questions
Question
- I heard someone rule that if a convert says he will be vegetarian no matter what happens (that is, even if the Passover sacrifice returns), it is impossible to convert him, because he is declaring that he does not accept one of the commandments. What do you think of this ruling?
- I heard someone rule that testimony cannot be accepted from someone who smokes, because he is destroying himself knowingly. What do you think of this ruling?
- Do you really want to go back to offering sacrifices? Doesn’t it seem a bit primitive to you?
- What do you think of the custom of reading the Portion of Zakhor many times with different cantillation melodies? Doesn’t that demean the Torah scroll, the synagogue, and the congregation?
Answer
- If he understands that he is obligated, but says he will not be able to live up to it, there is no problem.
- Nonsense. By this silly criterion, anyone who drives a car is also destroying himself knowingly.
- Absolutely not.
- No.
2. This ruling was said in the name of Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. The claim is that even one cigarette definitely shortens a person’s life.