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October 14, 2021 11:17 pm at 11:17 pm #2016282aposhiteyidParticipant
whata do people think about non jewish books- im saying even when its “kosher” content
October 14, 2021 11:26 pm at 11:26 pm #2016284ujmParticipantGoyishe books are assur because of seforim chitzonim. The Mishna in Sanhedrin 10:1 that says a person loses his Olam Haboa by reading the wrong books since it corrupts his mind.
October 15, 2021 7:13 am at 7:13 am #2016385Zaphod BeeblebroxParticipantFirst of all, what’s considered ‘the wrong books’? Clearly we don’t hold that all non Jewish books are assur or no one would be able to go to college where there is always textbooks and required reading. Some would argue that it’s assur to go to college anyway, but that’s not the question here. So if we’re talking about novels, the fact is that contrary to what many would have you believe, there are a ton of absolutely clean books out there and personally I see no problem with them. I think we can all agree that it is healthy and necessary for people to be educated, literate, to have a decent vocabulary and to be generally proficient in their language, all of which reading accomplishes, it would seem that not only is there nothing wrong with English novels, but rather that they should be recommended. Additionally, the source that ujm brought does not exist as far as I could find, at least not in that place.
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October 15, 2021 7:50 am at 7:50 am #2016393🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantChai – I hope you are aware that Jews don’t determine what is right or wrong based on your feelings and opinions.
October 15, 2021 8:18 am at 8:18 am #2016409Zaphod BeeblebroxParticipantI am indeed aware of that. That doesn’t change the fact of what I said. Obviously, most parents would rather their kid read nice jewish books. However, in a case where they fail to interest the kid, what’s wrong with a clean English book if it will only do good?
October 15, 2021 8:22 am at 8:22 am #2016412🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantHow do you decide if a book is appropriate?
October 15, 2021 9:23 am at 9:23 am #2016417LostsparkParticipantSo all the engineering material I refer to needs to be written by a yid? What is the point you are trying to get across?
October 15, 2021 10:13 am at 10:13 am #2016426commonsaychelParticipantNo one is forcing you to read anything, the meanwhile lets be busy with complicated issues like what better Fanta or Coke
October 15, 2021 10:16 am at 10:16 am #2016428yaakov doeParticipantWho has time for goyish books. Seforim and Yeshiva world should keep you occupied.
October 15, 2021 10:35 am at 10:35 am #2016431Zaphod BeeblebroxParticipantA book is appropriate if it is lacking in inappropriate material.
October 15, 2021 10:40 am at 10:40 am #2016434🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantSounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this.
October 15, 2021 2:01 pm at 2:01 pm #2016464Yserbius123ParticipantOn one hand, I understand and respect people who reject any non-Jewish book (and censor even Jewish ones) from their homes. On the other hand, I can never see myself doing that.
October 15, 2021 2:03 pm at 2:03 pm #2016467Yabia OmerParticipantWhy is Mishpacha magazine allowed? It’s full of advertisements. Is that appropriate for Shabbos? What about all the gashmiyus?
October 15, 2021 4:28 pm at 4:28 pm #2016481Yserbius123Participant@Yabia-Omer I think that there’s an unacknowledged danger in “kosher” literature and media in that you think that everything in it is OK and normal and worry about spending the price of a small house to cloth and feed your family for Yom Tov.
October 15, 2021 4:36 pm at 4:36 pm #2016493🍫Syag LchochmaParticipantWell that’s a pretty ignorant comment.
Generally you can tell who is actually not reading the jewish books by the rude/derogatory/untrue descriptors and comments they use to describe them, as if they read them, to excuse themselves from reading the stuff they shouldn’t.
October 15, 2021 6:20 pm at 6:20 pm #2016498GadolhadorahParticipant“Why is Mishpacha magazine allowed?”
YO: I haven’t seen an edition of Mishpacha in a while but my recollection is that the stuff they advertise doesn’t rate high on the Gashmiyus Meter.October 16, 2021 8:51 pm at 8:51 pm #2016496Amil ZolaParticipantI read non Jewish writing. Primarily non fiction. I had watched a film about a master watchmaker (The Watchmakers Apprentice). This led me to read a book that explains the determination of longitude (called Longitude, by Dava Sobel). Which led me to reading Mercator (Nicholas Crane), which fits the trajectory perfectly.
October 16, 2021 8:53 pm at 8:53 pm #2016497AviraDeArahParticipantI quoted the shu”a in OC, 307 16 which forbids secular novels that do not contain any inappropriate content, because of al tifnu snd moshav leitzim. He speaks out in the same seif that if the content has divrei chesek, what we would call romance, then it is even more assur. He also says that novels or literature that has value for yiras shomayim are permitted, quoting Josephus as an example. Rav Hirsch purportedly ecommended reading the german writer schiller, saying that he has Jewish values.
Why the yeshivos emphasize bitul torah in these discussions is mind boggling
October 16, 2021 9:02 pm at 9:02 pm #2016534shlucha22ParticipantWhen the maskilim wanted to spread their ideas around, they didnt publish books telling everyone their philosophy, they printed “innocent” books, that planted ideas and questions in the minds of their readers. Im not saying that there isnt a such a thing as a non jewish book that is ok but you really cant know what ideas you/your family can pick up…
October 16, 2021 10:52 pm at 10:52 pm #2016676ujmParticipantSome people don’t care if a book is prohibited by Halacha to be read. If they want to read it, then the heck with Halacha.
October 17, 2021 7:35 am at 7:35 am #2016690Always_Ask_QuestionsParticipantRav Hirsch gave a speech on 100th birthday of Schiller with a bracha, I think it was published in English 10+ years ago… My favorite poet Henrich Heine was somewhat skeptical of Schiller, at least in his (Heine’s) later years when feeling more Jewish. Enjoy the verse:
Cholent, spark of Heaven’s lightninge!
Daughter of Elysium!”
That’s what Schiller would have written
If he’d ever tasted cholent.October 17, 2021 7:39 am at 7:39 am #2016708Shimon NodelParticipantDon’t read any books. Simple. You’ll turn out just great!
October 17, 2021 7:41 am at 7:41 am #2016714Shimon NodelParticipantIf you think reading goyish books is a problem, then you can’t read the articles from YWN that are posted from the AP. Why should articles be different than books?
October 17, 2021 7:44 am at 7:44 am #2016781ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤParticipantShimon, i must agree
October 17, 2021 2:50 pm at 2:50 pm #2016895AviraDeArahParticipantNovels are different than nonfiction. Nonfiction books are not explicitly forbidden by shu”a (see above), and might fall under xhochma which is allowed be’akrai, meaning here and there
October 17, 2021 4:42 pm at 4:42 pm #2016974Shimon NodelParticipantAvirah, I read goyish books for chochma, but I read it here and there and another there. So am I over the allowed quantity?
October 17, 2021 6:24 pm at 6:24 pm #2017011ujmParticipantThe Rama 246:4 rules explicitly that it is absolutely prohibited according to Halachah to engage in a curriculum of secular studies. To read secular studies now and then, is permitted, he says. The source of the Rama is the Yerushalmi Sanhedrin.
October 17, 2021 6:45 pm at 6:45 pm #2017041AviraDeArahParticipantThat’s the rema in yoreh deah**
October 17, 2021 6:46 pm at 6:46 pm #2017061AviraDeArahParticipantI wish i could rattle off mareh mekomos on non-controversial issues as much as I can about MO, chabad, zionism, college and lther issues… I’m being honest
October 17, 2021 7:23 pm at 7:23 pm #2017091eidelmeidelParticipanthonestly because its such a ta’ava for many many… and ppl seem to be constantly defending their choices…
it leads me to believe that their is a niggling feeling in back of everyone’s minds that it ain’t the ideal thingOctober 17, 2021 10:10 pm at 10:10 pm #2017159Shimon NodelParticipantEidel, so don’t ever read any books. Problem solved. Am I wrong?
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