akuperma

The biggest threat to American Jews come from the ultra-secular non-orthodox Jews. In American they are perhaps 1% of the country, but even where they are important locally their ability to make mischief (e.g. ban bris milah, ban yeshivos, punish Jews for not support “gay rights, etc.”) is limited by America’s constitution and tradition of “rule of law”. In Eretz Yisrael, secular Jews are the majority, and their quasi-constitution as interpreted by the zionist courts is devoted to “freedom from religion”.

Even with Democrats in charge, America is in no danger of being overrun by its enemies or of being destroyed. Medinat Yisrael exists only for so long as the Muslims keep fighting each other – if they unite then Israel would be unlikely to survive. Remember two or three well placed nuclear bombs would wipe out most of the population of Israel.

If you take into account that Israel is 1/40 the size of the US, terrorism and crime in Israel are far more dangerous and disruptive than in America.

Re: Dog food

1. You aren’t allowed to serve the pet milk mixed with meat – a hecksher means not having to read the small print

2. It’s easier than having separate utensils for serving the pet

?

Avi K: While you (and perhaps myself) would like a Cruz presidency, the reality is that with Cruz we are likely to get Clinton presidency. Cruz has managed to alienate much of the establishment by things such as forcing a shutdown which ends up costing the taxpayers lots of money and accomplished nothing. Cruz isn’t as bed as Trump, but he hasn’t had much success at working with those he disagrees with. — Neither Cruz nor Rubio will impact on the non-Cuban Hispanic vote (by analogy, will Clinton do well among Jews by appealing to the Euro-American vote???). — Carson is current in fourth place, and is the only one of the top candidates who hasn’t alienated anyone. He’s an outsider, a conservative, a religious fanatic (but not from a church with a reputation for disrespecting other religious minorities). Like it or not, the only alternative to Clinton is Carson.

Is one arguing that a Jews who is receiving “welfare” is accepting Tsadakkah from goyim (which assumes the government have the din of “goyim” since in most places the majority of the voters are non-Jews)? Does one distinguish between programs designed to be nice to poor people (food stamps, WIC, Section eight, Medicaid) from those with ulterior motives (subsidized college tuition, free roads, subsidized transit systems, free trash pickups)?

Is one arguing for/against the idea that the government (i.e. the voters, who in America control the government) should vote to tax themselves in order to help the poor?

Lack of economies of scale. Small stores have higher costs relative to sales.

A Jewish equivalent of Sears or Walmart would result in lower prices, but eena place like Brookklyn would have trouble providing enough business.

Archeologists have founds remnants of tefillin going back to ancient times. Neither Rashi nor Rabeinu Tam invented anything.

Their names are attached to a debate on tefillin that probably goes back to antiquity as well, and refers to their advocacy of particular opinions, not the creation of anything new.

charliehall:

1. Climate varies. You just admitted it. All the “panic” is based on the assumption that the climate in the early modern period was the “normal” when in fact it was unusually cold. The climate alarmists are similar to someone who notices that temperatures in July are higher than Feburary and expect the increase will continue indefinitely.

2. Global warming will lead to less intensive storms since the difference between regions will be less. Bad zoning is what caused the damage from Sandy and Katrina. If one builds in a flood plain or on the coast, one has to expect floods and storms.

3. Think about all the people living in the area between Long Island and Connecticut when it flooded (it used to be a plain). And the poor people in Alaska who could no longer visit their family in Siberia. And look how disruptive it was when the land between Dover and Calais flooded. Do you believe that was caused by cavemen buring too much carbon?

charliehall: 1) Do you have a reason to believe he didn’t have his kids vaccinated? 2) If he’s an anti-Semite, how does he get along with his son-in-law; 3) If he’s a nativist, he’s self-hating since he’s definitely a descendant of Ellis Island, rather than “old stock”; 4) Most Americans are opposed to castrating the world’s economy in the hope that it will reverse a global warming trend that has been going on consistently since prehistoric times, and will probably continue regardless of what the American taxpayers do, and frankly isn’t such a bad thing (warmer weather means less snow and ice, less floods in the spring, milder hurricane seasons due to a decrease in temperature differentials between tropics and temperate climates, less need for people to flee south for the winter, longer growing seasons);5) Why should the Federal government have a special program for 9-11 responders since they are covered under their employer’s health care and workers’ compensation programs. — Enjoy being mad at Trump for being politically incorrect, as he might become less entertaining as the election approaches based on what polls tell him to say and what his scrip writers give him to work with.

He is reprising his role as a “jerk” from his television show. His “character” was good for ratings, and is good for ratings now. Whether that will get him elected president is a different issue. Other actors who have gone into politics, e.g. Al Franken, gave up their role when they went into politics (Ronald Reagan for the most part didn’t, but one should note that Reagan had been typecast as a “nice guy” so he didn’t really need to change). Whether Mr. Trump is a “jerk” in real life is questionable, since jerks rarely are successful in business relationships.

It is quite possible that over the course of the election Trump will change his character to be more “presidential” (nice guy, thoughtful, etc.) – for him it is only a matter of acting and writing. It’s also possible the one of the other three candidate who appear to be serious at this point (based on preliminary polling), Cruz, Rubio and Carson, might become more “out spoken” and angry, in otherwords Trump-like.

One should note that based on polling, Cruz, Rubio and Carson are running even with Clinton, whereas Trump would lose by a landslide, and as the primaries get closer that may prove to be a deciding factor (why channel yhour anger in a way that elects Hillary, if there are other almost as angry alternatives).

Warmer weather means less snow, meaning fewer floods when the snow melts – but less runoff replenishing reservoirs. Warmer weather is good for animals who suffer high mortality over the winter (but more fawns making it to be yearlings means more pesty deer), and a lot of annoying small pests thrive with the warmer winters.

Of course, a warm December doesn’t prove we’ll have a warm March.

Define a racist.

Any Jews who holds there are different biological “races” is adopting the theory of there having been multiple creations, and is clearly an apikores. Any human being can convert. In America, “racist” usually means believing that some people belong to an “inferior” race based on physical characteristics (such as skin color).

If you define racism more broadly as including a belief that your own ethnic, religious or cultural group is superior (reflecting how racism is defined elsewhere), most people have pride in their own. All nationalism, by definition, is racist.

as if something is this world isn’t hashgacha pratis?

We are loyal to Ha-Shem. Centuries and millenia ago, before there were Americans or Zionists, we were Yidden and Ha-Shem was our king. Centuries and millenia from now, when only historians know what an American or a Zionist were, we will still be Yidden and Ha-SHem will still be our king.

In countries such as the United States, where the nation exists be virtue of a contract between the government and the governed, being adherents to such a contract poses no halachic issue, and if the government ever goes off the derekh, then the contract is batul. In other countries (most of them) where the government is based on a concept of loyalty based on birth or ancestry, it is more of a problem since such countries expect loyalty based soley on where you were born or your ancestry.

If the Israeli goverment (a.k.a. “the zionists”) were to attempt to ban Torah education, conscript women, require all students to attend government school, ban Bris Milah, etc., actions that are advocated by many secular Jews in Eretz Yisrael and elsewhere, and were also implemented by the Misyavanim who were running the government in Eretz Yisrael as clients for the Greek regime based in what is now Syria – then it would clearly a a Milhemes Mitzvah to oppose them and the Hareidim would be ready to put down their sefarim and go to war (as opposed to the current political and real estate dispute with the Yismaelim, which isn’t about Torah or Mitsvos, and should be treated as any other dispute about dinei mamonos with a submission to arbitration).

Hopefully it will never come to that. The chareidi gedolim are all opposed to killing Jews, even if they are non-religious and/or zionists. It would take an extreme provocation (banning bris milah, closing down yeshivos, perhaps conscription of boys and girls) to cause the hareidim to follow the route of the Hasmoneaim and go to war against the modern day Misyavanim (who currently run the government in Eretz Yisrael).

Another factor is that after the Misyavanim (in control of the government in Eretz Yisrael) lost, they were able to call in the local Greek army from Syria. The zionists have no outside help they can count on as most of the world considers them to be criminals. Indeed, if the haredim were willing and able to take up arms against the zionists, it would be the frum insurgents who most likely could find outside allies from the many countries at war with the zionists.

While in an Israel in which Lapid was Prime Minister and Avidgdor Lieberman was the principle opposition, it could create a situation in which instead of throwing dirty diaper or lighting trash can the hareidim would be forced to armed rebellion – that is an unlikely scenario.

Plus the goyim have recently discoverd the probability of there being multiple universes (so I guess its okay to talk about since in the past that was only something that came up in kabbalah’dik literature).

If people wore their hair “long” no one would notice that the hairline is changing. The fault lies in modern styles.The most effective treatment is to take a time machine and encourage your father to marry a woman’s whose father never went bald. Another alternative is to wear a hat.

Unlike problems such as getting fat (which you can do something about), there is little one can do. The problem wasn’t so severe in the past since most people died before they went bald – so if one avoids such things as vaccines and antibiotics and surgery that requires anesthetics you are likely to avoid significant hair loss.

There will always be a need for people to deal with the ???? ????? and that includes dealing the government and the local community. It is very easy to tell if a community activist or politician someone is doing so ?????? since those are the ones driving old cars, arguing with tuition committees and whose spouse are urging them to concentrate on their day job and let others run the community.

edited by mod

As we have observed, being on both sides of the equation depending on place and time, neighborhoods are constantly changing, and the newcomers think the place is getting better and the old times think the places is going downhill.And a lot of people whine about it. This is to be expected and no one should get all worked up about it.

If someone is planning to work for “Big law” and get rich, the right degree from the right school matters. If someone is planning on “hanging out a shingle” serving the local community, all that matters is the persons competence and ability to market themselves, along with admission from the bar (which is most states requires an accredited bachelors degree and a degree from an accredited law school though some states allow “reading law” as an alternative). While “big law” may be increasingly tight since oversupply wipes out the impact of retiring boomers, and they were overpaid as it is with the result that paralegals and “outsourcing” to contract lawyers are replacing overpaid associates – if someone wants to work in a largely frum environment they should plan on being a “small” law pracitioner in which case any law school will be adequate and avoiding crushing debt is important.

Also, if someone is planning to go into “small law” having trained as a paralegal might not be so dumb since they’ll be doing a lot of things that paralegals do in the “big law” world.

If your goal is to practice law in the United States, you will need a bachelors that is accredited by the an agency recognized by the United States, meaning one of the regional accreditation agencies. If you are presenting any other equivalent, you should confirm that it will be accepted by discussing it with the Board of Law Examiners in the state you want to practice in, and get them to say so in writing. Note the law schools will often admit a student who they know is ineligible to take the Bar exam (on the theory its the student right to spend their money as they wish, even though the student may be under the erroneous assumption they will be a lawyer after graduation).

To succeed in law school, you should have good English langauge skills, especially in writing, and at least a vague idea of American history and government (otherwise you may make a fool of yourself).

This all assumes you want to be a lawyer because you think its a fun thing to do for a living. If you believe its a sure route to a comfortable economic situation, in spite of it not being what you want to do for living, you are making a whooper of a mistake.

1. Many of the refugees are Christians, and there are no Arab Christian countries. In terms of finding a friendly church, America is probably their best bet. Most European countries are ultra-secular with an official established church and not much toleration for anything other than the official government religion. The only middle eastern country where Christians are not persecuted in Israel.

2. Many are losers in the “Arab Spring” which tried to establish western style democracy in the middle east, and failed miserably. There are no western-style democratic countries in the middle east for them to flee to. The only secular Muslim country in the middle east was Turkey, and they’ve turned politically Islamist. Lebanon is basically jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

3. Preventing terrorists from posing as refugees is a real problem but hardly one that is hard to surmount.

1. If one is independently wealthy, and can afford to learn full time, college is clearly an extra. For most of us, that isn’t an option. If you can manage a job working as a teacher (or similar occupation) within the frum community, that is another option (albeit not a financially rewarding one).

2. All secular work involves bitual Torah. College plays the same role as a traditional apprenticeship. In some career you start at the bottom and work your way up. In others one needs to go to college first.

3. If one feels unable to associate with non-Jews but still wants a career that requires a college degree, distance education degrees exist and some of quite reputatble (e.g. Maryland’s University College, New York’s Empire State College, etc.).

You do realize that the streets in Brooklyn were laid out over a century ago when much of Kings County (this was pre-merger) was farmland, and even in urban areas (downtown Brooklyn was already urban), few people owned private vehicles.

The obvious solution is to tear down most of the houses and replace the people with cows and horses. If one can’t stand modern traffic, move to a remote suburb, or at least a city that was laid out after the invention of automobiles.