Always_Ask_Questions

Avira> are you familiar with שומר פתאים ה”?

you seem to used this several times. I am not sure that a community that styles itself as all-Torah-learning can use this excuse. You seem to be saying that one can be a Talmid Chochom but ignorant in other matters and that’ ok. I don’t think this is what Shmuel thought.

Dr Pepper, President now advises Ukraine to stop destroying Russian oil infrastructure that might increase gas prices and further decline Biden’s reelection chances

akuperma > While he made many mistakes, at least he put much thoughtfulness and intelligence into them.

Right, Obama and his crew were willing to spend month figuring out how to make Obamacare work or debugging the crushing website. Generally, trying to change society at the core. Biden people simply apply old assumptions to new problems; nimble at the corners trying to see who to give money to like Ahashverosh. At this point, nobody is expecting more from the administration. Obamacare crash was in the news; Biden’s “simplified” FAFSA site apparently not working for 6 months – no news. Mainstream media writes that Administration is trying yet another way to forgive student loans despite previous one declared illegal by the Supreme Court, openly mentioning that despite a long procedure required by law, they are hopeful to finish this before the election. Some pollsters trying to predict election mention that Biden events, such as State of the Union – are not affecting the polls in either way because nobody is listening to him. Sad.

> at the time of Rebbi Shimon. Bar Yohai no rainbow was seen.

how do we understand that? At the time of R Shimon, he had to hide in the caves from prosecution … So, if we live under Nazis and Commies but no rainbows and earthquakes – this is the reward?

RebE, exactly. R Yohanan went mad without having someone to argue with after Resh Lakish petirah. This room is definitely precenting that for many of us!

huju,
every shtar can be evaluated on the market even if it is not liquid. DJT can get a loan using DJT shares as a collateral, for example. Or sell them now with the transaction date when he can do it. It is a davar that is already b’olam, I think, so it will be kosher.

coffee > eclipse will happen on Monday, Rosh Chodesh is on Tuesday

molad is not an astronomical observation, but simply adding a fixed average lunar month time that may be hours off a “real” rosh chodesh.

On that note, is it necessary to announce a rosh chodesh (or to go to listen to it), as everyone is going to see it and reminded multiple times before that by the media?

> This was a direct attempt at shmad.

In some cases, it might have been. In specific cases, I read and talked with people about, all communities, non-religious and religious, were also interested in money paid for hosting the orphans. Not everything is about ruchniyos, especially in difficult times.

Biden says that “it is a land of possibilities”, Trump makes opportunity a possibility.

I am thankful to this site that enables, and enforces, anonymous and civil discussions on controversial . There is a good reason, not just desire to troll, that many discussions are so harsh. It is rarely possible to have discussions between different shitos in person. First, people tend nowadays to live among those with the same opinions and hat fashion. Second, many would be reluctant to ask hard questions of people they know personally. Who wants to have a shidduch ruined just because you are curious about Zionism …

So, the fact that many/most posters do not seem to change their minds is not just a sign of our stubbornness, but also that many come here with well developed opinions that are not easily destroyed by a contact with opposite opinions. Still, I think people at least modulate their opinions in view of what others are saying.

This is also a great place to practice “what to answer an apikoiros” in case you would encounter one IRL, HvS.

I also hope that people who hold by the opinion that most hoi polloi should not go to college or get exposed to different opinions, but think that they are the ones who cna handle it, ask their posek first.

When we discuss a thesis: how many haredim qualify as full-time Talmidei Chachamim to be exempt, can we agree on the following answer:
between 5% and 95% of them?

Not 0, as there are T’Ch we will all agree on, and not 100, as there are people who are not learning, not capable of learning, working on a side, do not have right middos, etc.

Anyone disagrees?

I think WSJ OpEd noted Biden’s use of “possibilities” instead of more traditional “opportunities”. Opportunities means you can achieve something. Possibilities means something can happen to you – you can get a loan forgiven or a get a tax deduction…

yankel > Huge Masses of Sephardi Jews lost their heritage ,courtesy of our State…
> Without political Zionism, the Arabs and the British could/ would have been more accommodating to Jewish immigration

We now have a benefit of hindsight. Let’s use it (but not think that we are smarter than people who were making decision at the time, of course).

We now see how Arab countries developed over decades. Some of that was tied into Israel, but most went independent of that – oil monopolies; kings and mild dictators at best; otherwise – socialists; tribal warfare; Islamic fundamentalists; terrorists. Without Israel, Sephardi Jews would live in those countries, and Jews in Palestine would be under a similar regime. Maybe some would have escaped to Americas, Europe and Africa. Think of Aleppo Jews being prosecuted by ISIS like Yazidis were – or by Assad senior or juinior… Under Khomeini … Qaddafi …

Non-religious Ashkenazi Jews who went to kibbutzim might by now have grandchildren in yeshivos and tzahal. Their cousins who went to Americas are pretty likely to have grandchildren at pro-Hamas demonstrations…

All Ashkenazi Jews who did not make it to Palestine before WW2, and those who would be stuck in DP camps and in Soviet Gulag. Many Ukrainians and Russian in Western DP camps after Nazi camps were deported back to USSR where they went straight to Soviet camps (for being traitors and not fighting till death). If not Israel, many eastern europian Jews would have gone from the DP camps in the same direction. Many Polish Jews who did not take Soviet citizenship when in Soviet captivity returned to Poland and then were able to go to Israel, or left USSR with Polish Anders Army (like Menachem Begin). We are talking large number of people here. (True, some of the saved Polish children from religious families were forced to go to anti-religious kibbutzim – not so much because kibbutzim wanted to re-educate them, but every community taking children was paid a stipend, so all communities competed for having more of them).

I think these numbers add up to a positive, if we look at them without prejudice.

CTL, I think the right word is political appointees. Not everyone is from Obama’s team. Sullivan is Hillary’s man. What does unite most of them, that they are all second fiddles, who rose up through political world behind their masters. None of them are independent thinkers or leaders. Most presidents had such people on their team. I think this is a main reason for group-think mistakes that they make – they all think alike and are predictable in their organizational and political responses. This is especially bad against the enemies who use this predictability to their advantage.

jackk, you forgot to mention that Mr. Biden did not find any vaccines when he entered the office. Special council found them behind the classified documents under the Chevy Bolt in the garage. Frankly, it is said that someone just copies/pastes campaign materials into this heilicke group, as if we can’t find them ourselves.

Can DJT, and other holders, buy some options or other instrument that will protect him/them from market fluctuations? Similar how airlines buy options to protect themselves from oil price increases?

How expensive would that be?

This way he can keep most of his capital till the time he can cash it.

My mesorah going back to my ancestors in Chelm gubernia is to never eat machine matzos or drive a car or browse internet. I deliver all my posts to YWN headquarters using Pony Express.

yankel > If we could have stopped zionism and the medina from taking off , at the time, I think on the balance we should have stopped them .

And, then, what – keep even more Jews in Russia and Poland so that they could be killed by Commies or Nazis or join Commies?

This is not the first eclipse in YWN history

TIMELY – Fascinating Article From 1962 About The Chofetz Chaim & The Solar Eclipse Translated Into English

Eclipse Brocha?

Sending to seminaries is not voluntary as the girls believe b’emuna shleima, influenced by their teachers and wise peers, that not going there will lead them to a life without friends and shidduchim.

Sherut leumi could be a good idea and could be started as a volunteer service, encouraged by chachomim and organized in a proper way. Surely, there are a multitudes of way to do chesed that satisfy both charedi and medina requirements.

Ok, and then how many of those 18 y o qualify under this definition?

yankel, will wait, but you can start by simply saying what your current assumptions are what is T’Ch to whom halochos are applicable. you surely had something in mind when referring to it.

yankel,
I am not deciding anything here, just trying to understand the issue. entitlement attitude does not start & end with a specific issue of draft. Before going to exemptions, let’s start from the beginning – what are person’s position & obligation towards a community and a country. If you agree that you part of the community, then certain obligation might apply or not. Say, Bava Basra says town dwellers need to contribute to protection. T’Ch do not need protection and thus only contribute to upkeep and not security.

One major question here is who is a T’Ch here. As you mention above, you are thinking of a vulnerable 18-y.o. with 4 years of yeshiva. We are bnot talking about exempting Roshe Yeshivos.

There is YD 243:2, for example. What does it say?

There are many mailos of a T’Ch not all of them strictly halachik,. Here is a couple that might be halachik:
If you see a T’Ch doing aveira in the evening (sic!), do not reprimand him in the morning as he surely did teshuva. So, anyone who did not do teshuva for an aveira for a day is not T’Ch?

Just came up in B’M daf: you can give T’Ch his lost object without simanim if he is only known to change his words re: learning, bed, having good dinners. So, anyone who said something crooked unjustified is not a T’Ch for this halakha….

All of that does not mean that there are no good reasons to keep 18-yo away from non-religious army. But if you appreciate that you have an obligation and looking to justify avoiding spiritual dangers, then start actively working on alternatives that could at least partially compensate. Organize fully chareidi units; help with training; work in cyber security; take jobs from people who are deployed (major limitation of Israeli army is that most large operations have to be quick to return people to work, can’t afford a standing army …); work more than others to pay for the things that even Talmidei Chachamim are supposed to pay – roads, water, electricity … If you don’t, that is what I call “entitlement attitude”.

Square root may be not rational, but he is real.

yankel> exempt talmidei hahamim from contributing funds to the defense of the city they inhabit .

So, it seems to me that there are two possible approaches to justify non-participation:
(1) medina is built by non/anti-religious people, many mitzvos do not apply towards them, so l’hathila there is no shared obligation, we are protecting ourselves from them
(2) halachik exemptions for Talmidei Chachamim

On (1), I appreciate historical and cultural tradition, with religious community being confronted by various ideologies. I do not think it applies to current day government and, even more, population. Israel is full of non-charedi shomer shabbos and stam masorti people, they are represented in the government, and mitzvos apply towards them for sure. Many, many of the other ones are tinokos shenishba (by earlier generations of anti-religious). These are people you will daven with together in a minyan at the kosel, so other mitzvos also apply.

On (2), maybe we can have a serious discussion what this implies. Who qualifies; what obligations and non-obligations are T’Ch entitled to; do they need agreement of others or can T’Ch demand their rights. Many, manhy questions here. For example, same Bava Basra brings an example of R Yehuda’s student who refused to admit his learning in order to get food during famine. This seems to be the opposite of the entitlement attitude.