Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
1. If you are an Ashkenazi and are marrying an Ashkenazi, you are marrying a cousin. If you go back a mere 50 generations, we are all cousins, probably many times over. Most of us have a common ancestor going back a few centuries at most.
2. Halacha always allowed marriage of even first cousins (both cousins have a common grandparents). Canon law, which combined Jewish law and Roman law, was more restrictive since they took some Roman rules on counting relationships, added it to some Jewish law rules, and came up with a partial ban on marriage between first and second cousins (far more restrictive than either Jewish or Roman law), some of which made it into Anglo-American law though this has largely vanished. That’s where “degrees” and “once removed” comes from.
3. Marriages of even first cousins are hardly unknown in frum communities.
4. Some people have suggested that marriage between cousins raises the liklihood of birth defects since they are likely to share negative recessive traits (which only are displayed if two people marry with the same recessive traits).
Many people feel that we are neglecting our daughters’ education, especially in Torah studies. The traditional girls curriculum is designed for a frum housewife who has only limited contact with anyone outside our community, and for most women, that isn’t a “real world” scenario.
We probably should upgrade the curriculum, though the girls (not the women) will scream that it will result in a much longer school day, Sunday classes, etc.
“Crocs” (cheap plastic shoes that are more like slippers than shoes) are superinformal. So are canvass shoes or the old-fashioned cloth sneakers (which are enjoying renewed popularity).
One can get very formal looking non-leather shoes that look just like leather even though they are”man made” (meaning, glorified plastic). Then everyone will come to you and remind you that wearing leather shoes is prohbiited. You can’t win.
Nu!
Of course they are. That’s why in Jewish law, and almost everyone else’s law, they get rights earlier. In virtually every society they marry earlier. A girl has to be be ready for motherhood much earlier than a boy needs to be ready for fatherhood. Remember that the average man is substantially older than his bride. If girls weren’t more mature, it would go very badly for the babies, and the culture (or species) with immature mommies would go extinct.
If I come across a credit card in the trash, and use it, am I not guilty of theft? If I find the key to your house, and go in and help myself to a meal, is that not a crime? If the waitress overhears that you are going on vacation and forgot to lock the door (wife tell husband in restaurant “I thought you locked up! Oh well, it’s a safe neighnorhood, why go back) – is she not liable if she accepts your invitation to use her house.
In fact, virtually all “Insider trading” cases involve directors, employees, or their agents – not homeless people and waitresses (even ignoring that very few homeless people can raise the money to buy securities).
Insider trading. In halachic terms, the offense is that of a disloyal shliach, who is hired to serve as the shliach (agent) and someone, typically in return for agreed upon compensation, and instead the shliach “double crosses” the person who hired him and make a big profit at his boss’s expense. — In halacha, this would be solely a matter of damages for breaching a contract of agency (using English terminology). In the United States, this has always been considered criminal, and since the money involved is so great they have made this into a serious crime if the agency involves ownership of large corporations (which are critical to the American economic system). Halacha respects the right of a goyish king (in this case, the American people who exercise sovereignty over their own country through elected leaders) to criminalize behavior that in halacha would be prohibited but not criminal — What popa_bar_abba may not understand, and something many people on Wall Street are infamous for ignoring, is that the owners of corporations are the shareholders, and the managers (which includes employees and contractors such as outside law firms) are hired agents of the shareholders and owe a duty to be loyal to their bosses and not enrich themselves at shareholder expense.
Why is theft any different if you wear a suit and tie? If I steal from a grocer by grabbing money from his cash register, how is that different than forging his name on a check (except that in the latter case, he might get his money back if he notices in time)?
There is no legal definition of “white collar crime” in either halacha or American law. The crime is typically fraud or theft.
Why are you called a Jew? How do you know you are from the tribe of Judah? You are at least as likely to from Levi, Benjamin, or stragglers from the other tribe. Based on DNA, most of your ancestry is probably from converts (at least on the female side). However we use the term Jews.
We call millions of people “Indians” even though they have no connection to India.
It’s been a convention for millenia to refer to the Arabs as “Yismaelim”. While their is probably a connection for the Arabs who live near Eretz Yisrael, most are descended from whomever was living there when the Arabs conquered them (e.g. Iraqis are descended from Babylonians, Palestinians are descended from Hellinized Jews, Greeks and Romans- and of course the Egyptians are descended from the ancient Egyptians though the “white” Egyptians who run the country are largely of Arab descent).
1. The Republicans have been complaining for a long time that just under 50% of the country pays no income tax, and sees the government as a rich uncle to be ripped off. Observe many frum Democrats who are addicted to all sorts of “benefits” that they don’t have to pay for.
2. The Democrats are arguing that it is a good thing for half the country to be dependent of welfare.
3.Conservatives will reply that it’s no accident that the classic book critical of this philosophy was entitled “The road to serfdom”, arguing that welfare dependence strips individuals of their freedom, leaving them as well fed slaves.
If you don’t need books from the “canon” of literature considered worthy of being taught in universities (and tested on for college admission), consider historical fiction and science fiction. The problem is you won’t have “cheat” books available.
The past was hardly better. Obviously the physical aspects were horrible (no antibiotics, most children died before reaching adulthood, childbirth was frequently fatal). Genocide is now considered a crime (200 years ago it was considered “normal” policy, and frequently used in by the Europeans, among others). You might complain about morals, but until recently one could buy a female slave (use your imagination for the rest, this is a frum website). Standards of living were so low that for many Jews the price of being frum we to live near starvations (people would go off the derekh to get fed, today they go off the derekh to be comfortably middle class). The concept of “Freedom of religion” is accepted in much of the world – 300 years ago it was considered to be a form perversion.
Thus we are an unfortunate generation. Our accomplishments will be judged by what we could accomplish given the ideal conditions we live under. To we have anything that compares favorably with the rishonim and the achronim?
A pet cat is privately owned property of someone, so you are destroying their property.
While feral cats may seem like a pest, they really don’t live off garbage. They live off rodents. Rodents are quite bad. Some have said a major factor in the introduction of the Bubonic plague (Black Death) in parts of Europe was a wave of “cat killing” (the Christians decided they were really witches).
Killing some insects may raise a similar problem. For example, most spiders are harmless to humans, they eat meany mean and nasty (from a human perspective) insects.
Then of course, there is the halachic issue of causing unnecessary pain to animals, which would apply even to animals that are annoying or dangerous to humans, and all the more so to those that are beneficials (such as ones that kill rats, or mosquitoes).
Good (meaning dry) wine goes bad quickly. Cheap (meaning sweet) wine lasts longer, especially if refrigerated.
They outgrow being roudy. Then you’ll find Shabbos to dull, but not to worry, children who are grown up enough to act like mentsches, mean grandchildren (and payback time, you can tell them about how their parents were even more wild).
1. It isn’t “stealing” if the government allows it. Food stamps and WIC are programs that, in practice, encourage many people to become “addicted” to government programs – the infamous “welfare dependancy.” Other similar programs are social security and medicaid.
2. To the extent they help the poor, they are probably good ideas.
3. They definitely benefit orthodox Jews.
4. Especially since they are not sustainable and are not being paid for, they are probably a bad idea in the long run economically.
5. They help explain why so many frum Jews vote Democratic. Good efficient government just isn’t in our economic interests.
Poster (who asked: What about the fact that he is spending well beyond and creating debts that can’t be payed?
Also, what is this talk that he is turning america into a communist country). Many people spend well beyond their means and create unpayable debts. Jewish communities historically did so. Yes, it may bankrupt the country in 10 years, but at least my kid will get fed, my road will be paved, etc. Remember the story of the the fool offering to teach the king’s dog to talk. Most Yidden deal with the most immediate problem.
Obama would hardly qualify as a communist. He’s pro-gay, all for the “crony” version of capitalism (why do you thinks the bankers supported him in 2008), etc. He’s basically a typical “Jewish” liberal in temrs of positions on all issues, which is probably why he has overhwhelming support from the non-frum Jews. Given tht communism finally disappeared over 20 years ago, those who accuse him of being a communist are probably too young to have ever met a real communist (they really should have saved a few to put in museums).
While I strongly favor the Republicans, one needs to remember that:
1. While Obama’s economic policy are bad, and in the long run perhaps disasterously so, for the United States as a whole, they are good for most frum Jews. Many frum people, especially Bnei Torah, benefit from Pell grants, WIC, food stamps, SCHIPS, transit subsidies, etc.
2. While Obama is anti-Israel, somewhat, most frum Jews correctly believe that the survival of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael is largely a function of Ha-Shem, not the American government.
3. While the Democratic party’s support for “gay rights” and “abortion” are clearly against Torah, even for a Ben Noach, it doesn’t affect us. Anyone in our community who wants to be “gay” will already be well “off the derekh”, and not our problem. Few frum women would want an abortion. The truth is that being a parent conveys high status in our community. Childless people are objects of pity. This is the opposite of the secular world. So its hard for us get excited over Obama’s left wing social views (though I’m bothered that his science advisor was in favor of “one child policies” earlier in his career) since they don’t affect us.
Especially if made abroad, you should look for the “Shatnez-free” label or be prepared to send it for testing.
Definitely the United States mint. The Israeli mint probably borrows money to finance its operations (i.e. borrows money to pay for minting coins, which it repays with it sells the coins), which raises a shailoh of ribis.
Children always find things to be new and exciting. Old people remember from before.
You contractually agreed to follow the school rules. By halacha, adults can enter into contracts. If the child, if under Bar MItzvah, is the only one to agree with the rules, the school has no authority since the child is a katan.
lesschumras: We’re here, are we not. We have survived. Where are the Romans? Where are the Egyptians? Ever run into an Austro-Hungarians? or a Czarist? or a real Nazis (other than the clowns who are the neo-nazis)? Throughout the world there are whole nations known only from archeology, yet we survive. The Celts were once the domiant group in all of western Europe – they survive as quaint minorities in a few fringe areas, with little left of their language and culture. The American Indians once ruled a continent with a civilization that managed to surpass the Europeans in some areas – now they survive as memories of people who are 1/32 Indian and in reservations which are in some ways no more than nice concentration camps in remote areas.
You are greedy to expect that HaShem should let us live like rich kings in what is only a mere corridor. We should be grateful that he has allowed us to survive in spite of enormous odds.
Murphy’s law is that whatever can go wrong will. In our history we see the opposite. HaShem causes things to go right even against all earthly logic. Purim is the classic example.
If Murphy’s Law held true, the Nazis would have taken Palestine and destroyed all its Jews (one battle going the other way), or would have stayed in control a bit longer in Europe wiping out most survivors (against, almost happened, but HaShem intervened to prevent it). In the seder, we celebrate that Murphy’s law doesn’t apply to the Jews.
There are many possibilities. THe most likely, in my estimation, is that the Hilonim will choose to tolerate Israel becoming increasing frum and re-focus their efforts on preserving the rights of the hiloni (which include non-Jewish no-Arab goyim) to autonomy (they can have their own secular institutions but not impose their will on society as a whole). In that scenario, the army would not attempt to draft hareidim (or anyone else), but rely on inducements to enlist (such as meaningful accomodation of halacha in all units, money, etc.). Remember that there will soon be, and perhaps already is, a Shomer Shabbos majority – and certainly there is so if you only count Jews. Also the gap between Religious Zionists and Hareidim has shrunk – they learn the same Torah, often in the same institutions, agree on most issues (at least compared to the hiloni elites) and both increasingly hate the Israeli ruling class.
The other possibilities are traumatic. One is that Israel will so weaken itself that it will collapse. Another possibility is that once Orthodox Jews take over, they may find it easier to deal with the Muslims than with the Hilonim We would insist on keeping an army but perhaps being less “in your face” about it, and on Jews being able to live anywhere they want – but would accept Islam replacing western Euro-American culture as the dominant force in society – frum Jews of all flavor really want to be able to live in peace as frum Jews in Eretz Yisrael but don’t attach importance to being able to rule over the goyim or do things like force abortion, gay rights, etc. on them. The Muslims who lost property would get paid off, and the country would be a large Islamic Arab state albeit with a well armed Jewish minority. Muslims really hate be rules by non-Muslims, but the rest is negotiable.
Then of course, Israel will keep fighting, increasingly weakened, and will end up being wiped out militarily. Note the increasing movement in many western countries to object to bris milah and kashruth – this is a cover for renewed anti-semitism. The zionists should not expect help from abroad.
The headline is an example of “yellow journalism”. Saying an eid is pasul means you are holding that the marriage is invalid, such as when one is trying to prevent a child from being a mamzer or prevent a woman from being an agunah. These are legal rulings.
Picking an eid for the wedding is a social activity, not really a legal one, and the Rav’s statement was political not halachic. If it were necessary to uphold the validity of a marriage (as occurs if the husband dies and one wants the surviving woman to be a widow rather than a girlfriend), I seriously doubt he would hold the marriage invalid.
1. It should be in Hebrew. Many Americans have trouble using non-Roman fonts.
2. The website should have it, near its header at the top of the page as part of its logo.
The “g” is “god particle” should be lower case since it does not refer to any sort of diety. They are using the work to mean a basic sub-atomic particle from which all others are constructed. It is a bit chutzpahdik to call it such, but it does NOT refer in any way to “G-d”.
A “basic particle” is similar to saying that the basic element of Hebrew (and any other) writing system is a “dot” — put enough dots together and you can create any letter. No big hiddush.
Such research has led to many useful inventions in the past (radio, electronics, and nuclear energy being the most important commercially), which is why governments and private companies fund it. Whether basic scientific research is cost effective is a different matter, but certainly it is not ridculous to believe that it may, or may not, be worth the money.
The “lingua franca” of Jews has always been Hebrew. Yiddish was always for popular literature such as novels, lashon hora, or books for people lacking the skills to read serious Jewish literature which was and is in Hebrew. Even during Yiddish’s “golden age” in the late 19th and early 20th century, most serious Jewish books were written in Hebrew. Remember that the period in which Yiddish-speakers were a majority of Jews lasted a relatively short time (perhaps from the 17th century until the 1940s) – okay, that’s a short time by Jewish standards.
However Yiddish as a living language is an important aspect of the Ashkenazi Hareidi community, but there are very few tools for learning it other than to pick up some children’s books and hang out in neighborhoods where the kids are talking Yiddish to each other. We could probably use some frum materials for learning Yiddish, since the secular (YIVO-style) materials reflect the long dead dialect of the secular Yiddishists (learning it can be useful, however I wouldn’t want to learn Shakespearean English if my goal was to read and speak to modern day Americans).
If the goyish army will execute you for disobeying orders, it probably is acceptable to be medallel Shabbos (possible exception would be if they were targetting Jews in order to force Jews to go off the derekh – then one is required to die rather than do even the most minor averah).
In an actual situation of pikuach nefesh (actually quite rare, even for combat soldiers) you can preserve your own life, regardless (with exceptions that might involve avodah zarah or killing an innocent person, in which case preservation of your own life does not take precedence).
In a country like the United States or Israel, where a soldier disobeying order will at worst be thrown in jail, and probably given an undesirable discharge, there is never a heter to be mehallel Shabbos other than in a situation of pikuach nefesh.
Remember the typical sitation would be an order operate electric equipment or do paperwork in a training exercise or as part of routine garrison duty. Combat situations are rare even for combat soldiers.
The formal classes (such as YIVO’s) are of limited value since the course materials were designed by secular Jews and reflect the Yiddish spoken among the frei Jews 100 years ago. It is for all purposes a dead dialect. Sometimes the changes are comical (if you remember Sen. D’Amato, he used a Yiddish phrase he had picked up to try to win frum votes – the phrase was a reasonable insult from the Lower East Side, but a gross obscenity in frum Yiddish – which is how be became a lobbyist instead of a senator).
If you know Hebrew, you already know at least a third of the Yiddish word stock. If you know German, you probably know another 50% (English, is related to Germany, so knowing English gives you 10% of the vocabulary. Modern (meaning frum) Yiddish is a lot more like English than it was 150 years ago in terms of grammar.
There are a lot of children’s books produced by the frum Yiddish communities that reflect the 21st century Yiddish that is still a living language, and using them to learn the language should be fun. Whle there isn’t much online, there are analog audio materials (CDs) produced by and for the frum Yiddish speakers, or you can visit a place where Yiddish is spoken (places in Brooklyn, Antwerp, places in Eretz Yisrael).
He came across as an idiot since humans don’t have the capacity to “shut down” a pregnancy other than through abortion (or at least a “morning after” pill). There are some animals that do have such a capacity, but Ha-Shem saw fit not to give it to our species.
The Democrats are trying to attach his words to Romney but it will backfire since the rest of the Republicans clearly repudiated him, and they can “pay back” easily by quoting some of the stupid things that Obama’s supporters said. On the other hand, false attribution make the speaker seem like a dumb bully (remember the attempts to attribute things said by Obama’s “pastor” to him).
Increasing that isn’t the case. Among Jews who don’t keep Shabbos or Kashruth, the liklihood is that they will intermarry, and that half of those children will be goyim (and the other half will have no-Jewish surnames). This has been going on for several generations in the case of America (referring to East Europoean, even longer for the pre-civil war German immigrants or the pre-revolution Sefardim), and due to the high immigration of goyim with Jewish ancestors for the former USSR, it’s been a demographic factor in Eretz Yisrael for a generation.
We are approaching the situation where the person you meet with Jewish ancestry is no more likely to be Jewish than any other non-frum person you meet.
And how does one propose to get rid of the zionists and the goyim (especially the non-Arab ones)? Are you suggest we should take up guns and start shooting them? They aren’t going to go peacefully. They’ve been struggling for over a century to create a homeland where Jews can live free from (as they see it) the twin evils of anti-semitism and Torah. They aren’t going to quit now.
1. There is a great liklihood there will be much blame to share, and they want the Hareidim to share the blame. Netanyau knows he’s in over his head, and wants to cover his you know what.
2. Heavy casulties will probably necessitate massive reserve callups and conscription of many people now exempt. If the rabbanim are pro-war, it will be easier to draft yeshiva students and frum women. It’s one thing to say “why should we die for your war, which we advised you against” and another thing to refuse to fight in a war you had endorsed (similar to the “chicken hawks” in the USA).
Since credit card (and most other debts) are denominated in fiat money (money with nothing backing it except faith in the issuing government), and meshiach coming will undermine faith in all existing governments, the money itself will become worthless. This is one reason why frum Jews usually have been more concerned with building up stable assets, such as zechus from learning and mitsvos, since assets based on this world lose value in the long run.
It’s a mitzvah to wear your best clothes on Shabbos, so if you own more than one pair of shoes (not everyone does), one should wear the better one on Shabbos.
It is unlikely anyone was ever executed for “adultery” since people normally don’t do that sort of stuff with witnesses (not to mention warning).
Many Hasidim wear knitted yarmulkes? Clearly there is no halachic issue involved in one style of yarmulke over another.
All clothes are somewhat political. Wearing a double-breasted suit with a homburg projects a different image than a three-button jacket with a fedora, and a different image than not wearing a jacket and wearing a baseball cap. This has a lot to do with fashion, not halacha.
Some people make a point of not using credit cards (using a debit card than can handle credit transactions instead), or taking out loans. It is possible to survive without a mortgage, student loans, car loans, credit cards, etc. Also one probably doesn’t want to ever own stock. One can assume that in most corporations have Jewish owners (shareholders) and customers (who routinely buy on credit, with interest).
This limits investment opportunities to buying unleveraged commodities or small businesses that don’t engage in credit transactions (as a borrower or lender).
I believe most orthodox Jews hold that corporations aren’t people, so there’s no problem, or that our “money” is really a negotiable security of no set value, and that the halachas apply only to the sorts of money they had in the past, which were coins with intrinsic value (paper money, and in particular paper money backed only faith in the government, is a new invention).
In the United States there is freedom of contract (assuming you are working for a private employer), and you are free to make your own deal. Remember that the government probably considers it to be “income” if you get a car for personal use, and will want to find a way to tax you on it.
If you define “zionist” in the way that the Israeli ruling class does, namely as one in favor in establishing a secular state in Eretz Yisrael in which Jews can fully participate without having to deny their Jewishness, and without have to observe Torah and Mitzvos – no Orthodox Jews can be a zionist.
The Dati Leumi has a different definition, but they don’t run Eretz Yisrael. No Dati Leumi has ever been even a serious candidate for a leadership position in the government. They appear to be “suckers” who serve a secular elite that behind their backs regards them as fools.
He’s in favor of fiscal responsibility, and is otherwise a moderate conservative (similar to Romney). Like Obama and Biden, and unlike Romney, he never had an honest job in his life (i.e. a career politician). Nice guy. Religious Catholic. Pro-life. Tea Party likes him.
If you feel the goal of frum political life is to get as many handouts fom the goyim, you’ll probably prefer Obama and the Democrats.
If you are concerned that printing money for unsustainable programs will undermine the economy, you’ll love him.
Artscroll is a for profit-business. They make marketing decisions, which presumably are based on what will sell. There is a Jewish folk-tradition (I don’t think you;ll find it in halachic sefarim) that the true Gedolei ha-Dor are secret tzadikkim, who since they are secret never have biographies written about them.
1. You don’t start as a manager (unless its a family owned business).
2. From a “frum” perspective, the same issues in a B.A. or B.S. arise in getting an associate’s degree, or even a training program at a college. Most of the problems for frum people also arise in a non-academic apprenticeship program if it is one run by and primarily serving goyim. Most of the jobs listed in the first posting require some form of academic training, or some form of apprenticeship – which are not available within our community.
3. With no formal academic training outside of yeshiva/seminary, one can often get an entry level job in the medical field (as an assistant to an assistant doing jobs professionals refuse to do – such as helping people use the bathroom). Retailing at the lowest level is usually an open field, and if you are good, you can rise (think Walmart’s, or a pushcart operator growing the business into a major chain) . The military requires no training or experience. Almost all the jobs taken by illegal immigrants since American citizens refuse to do them can be taken by anyone who has no training (manual labor, food service, gardening, house cleaning, child care).
4. If you don’t like the idea of going to “college” (or any other goyish school or trainng program), you probably don’t want to work with and for goyim. That usually means working solely within the Jewish community. In return for low pay, you don’t have to worry about Shabbos, Kashrut or being in an environmnt with widespread dubious sexual behaviors (some of which are illegal, some not). For much of the frum community, the hassles of working for the goyim aren’t worth the money.
1. The local Vaad is Star-K. If you don’t hold by Halav yisrael, there are a few extra places under supervision. There are a wide variety of restaurants, all concentrated in a single neighborhood (Upper Park Heights-Pikesville). There is only one small cafe outside the frum area.
2. There are plenty of shuls of all types (okay, there is no Yiddish-speaking Misnagdid shul, no Teimani minyan).
3. Remember that Baltimore-Washington is equivalent to Brooklyn-Manhattan. Washington has a separate Vaad, with some overlap.
4. Baltimore is only fair for shopping. For a streimel, one needs to go to New York. It does have a large kosher supermarket.
At least she is better dressed than the “Beach Volleyball” team – and in all fairness, she is too young to be blamed for how she was brought up.
Why would anyone want a trophy that you can’t display?
I believe it became popular since the traditional Jewish symbol, the seven-arm menorah, was considered “too Jewish”. A “lion” might be more appropriate for Eretz Yisrael, but the current regime wouldn’t want to remind people that they are usurpers by using the seal of the royal house (which could easily have been represented by a regency if a Jewish state was ever established there).
Six pointed stars are common in many cultures iconography. American police often wear them. They almost ended up in the American flag.
If I wanted to be a soldier, I would join an army. Otherwise it is quite illegal to go around shooting people, no matter how justified you are. Of course there are practical problems for frum Jews – Shabbos, kashrus, whether specific acts violate halacha since its very clear that the “superior orders” defense doesn’t apply under Torah law since HaShem is always superior to your comanding officer, and issues about whether an individual soldier is responsible for averios done by other soldiers just because he’s part of the army (if an army lets you be frum, but coerces other soldiers to do things contrary to halacha, are you guilty as an accomplice).
If I wanted to learn Torah full time, I’ld join a kollel. The problem is that kollels (unlike armies) pay poorly and I wish to be middle class. While I know that learning Torah is the ikar for our survival, but being a bit hasidische I’ld say there’s room for a baal ha-bayis now and them.
Unless you are quite affluent, the widow (and unmarried daughters) are likely to get everything. For middle class people, the wife’s kesubah (which by halacha is a lien on the husband’s property, rather than a share of the estate) is probably greater than the net worth of the estate.
I doubt anyone would include government insurance and pensions (such as social security and anything you receive covered by ERISA) as part of the estate. Houses are trickier since land belongs to the crown, and all you own are rights to live on it conditioned on following their rules (which in America translates into a rule that the widow gets clear ownership of the house if you bought it jointly – and since it is the state that is granting you the right to the land, Dina Malchusa probably applies).
Also remember that by halacha the sons inherit subject to a requirement to support the mother (American law allows kid to dump their parents on welfare and walk away, halacha doesn’t), so if the mother is alive, the sons are, to use legalese, receiving the estate subject to a condition.