<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 9.00.8112.16447"></HEAD>
<BODY style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt" id=role_body
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 rightMargin=7 topMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: Rafi and Shifra Goldmeier
<goldmeier.family@gmail.com><BR><BR><BR>>> there is an obligation to
stop learning torah for a talmid chochoms <BR>funeral, until he has at least
600,000 attending.<BR><BR>My question is does that include creating a situation
when people will <BR>also not learn the next day? People didn't get home until 3
am, or 5 am, <BR>and clearly would not be able to learn the next day after being
up all <BR>night. My kids all went late to school and missed enough learning to
<BR>prompt my question. I did not work efficiently today - if not for the
<BR>fact that i work mostly for myself, I would have had a shailoh of
<BR>short-changing a boss. So, is the next days bittul torah also included
<BR>in that halacha or only the bittul torah at the time of the funeral?
<<<BR><BR>kol tuv<BR>Rafi Goldmeier<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Everyone should make up the missed learning (due to missed
sleep) during the hours that they would not have otherwise been
learning. They should give up their Shabbos nap this week if
necessary.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for "creating a situation when people will also not learn the next day"
it was not human beings who "created" this situation. It is not in
the hands of any human being to determine what time a tzaddik will die, and
since it is a long-standing rule that a body is never left overnight in
Yerushalayim, the midnight levaya was also not really in the hands of human
beings.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Your kids will remember all their lives that they were at the levaya of Rav
Elyashiv. The crowds they saw will engrave in their memories a picture
of the kovod that Klal Yisrael gives to its great ones. This is
a rare opportunity that must be taken when it comes. Instead of sourly
expressing regret at the late start to the school day, you should emphasize to
your kids the amazing zechus they had to be in Yerushalayim at such a time and
to witness what they witnessed.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I reject completely the validity of this subject line: "bittul torah
for a talmid chochom's levaya." The mitzva of halvayas hames
especially in such a case is not bittul Torah, and the time it takes
to get home from the levaya also is not bittul Torah. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Some people consider basketball or other exercise to be an unwarranted
waste of time when youngsters could be learning every moment of every day.
Others believe that a break from learning can help youngsters go back to their
learning later refreshed and healthy, with a new enthusiasm. I am with the
latter group. And if a break for exercise is worthwhile, kal vechomer a
thousand times a break from learning in order to have the inspiration of
seeing crowds of people being melave a great tzaddik to his final resting
place. The fact that this all took place in the middle of the night when
people would otherwise have been home in their beds adds all the more to the
inspiration and mystique of the event. Everyone who saw this levaya will
return to their learning with a fresh infusion of inspiration and enthusiasm for
Torah learning.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><STRONG>--Toby Katz<BR>=============</STRONG><BR>Romney -- good
values, good family, good
hair<BR><BR><BR>-------------------------------------------------------------------
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>