----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Kaplan
To: Geoff Branch
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 7:03 PM
Subject: Calling all Talmudic Scholars
Happy Pesach!
Michael Bader, a well respected San Francisco psychoanalyst and a
member of the Board of Trustees of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue (and frequently
published author in the pages of TIKKUN) has brought the following question
to our community, and hopes that its best Talmudic scholars might think more
about it:
Is it okay to take Viagra on Shabbat?
There are two differing schools of thought on whether you can take
Viagra on Shabbat: Beit Shammai forbids the ingestion of Viagra on Shabbat,
lest one violates the infraction of erecting a structure("boneh"). Beit
Hillel
says do not read it as "boneh" but as "boner," and permits the ingestion of
Viagra before sundown so long as the Kabbalat Shabbat takes less than
one half hour to complete, the kids are asleep, and your wife doesn't have
a headache.
And what bracha does one say before taking the Viagra pill?
There is a choice of four blessings:
1. Borei p'ri ha-eitz - blessing over the fruit of the tree;
2. Boruch Atah HaShem zokeif k'fuffim - straightens those who are
bent;
3. Ya'aleh v'yavo - arise and come;
4. Boruch Atah HaShem mechayei hameitim - raises the dead.
Here is a little follow up to the above...
Yes, the anti-impotence drug has been found to contain a tiny amount of
animal matter, rendering it - one would think - treif. But, Rabbi
Abraham Blumenkrantz, an American Kashrut expert, says that, as a medication
that adds pleasure to the Sabbath (not to mention the rest of the week), it
is permissible. But it is banned during Pesach - along with all other agents
causing things to rise!
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