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Neville, I am surely self-aware. I know my IQ, SAT, GRE, and chess ELO and this keeps me from being too humble!
The serious part of my joke is the idea that I, and other erliche yidden over centuries, would not dare to dress like Talmidei Chachamim. Nowadays, suddenly people who have no self-awareness not only have no problem dressing up, they also consider it inappropriate and “untraditional” to dress otherwise.
R Schach writes that Arab hate towards arriving Zionists was min hashamayim. Otherwise, thy would have ended up going to Universities of Cairo and Beirut and intermarried. If this were to happen, I am pretty sure Chabad would have a shaliach on Cairo campus. As far as I know, Dubai was so far safe. I did not really follow it closely or contemplated vacationing there, but I heard that lots of Israelis were excited to go there, given lack of other local options.
But referring back to R Schach, maybe further peace agreements are contingent on Israelis becoming more observant. Maybe next round of Abraham accords should condition tourist visas on learning Mishna.
HaKatan, thanks for acknowledging that gedolim addressed R Kook respectfully. I never heard before that they did it because of politics. Is this your idea or is this an accepted theory in your circles? Let’s examine: what years did it start? Do you have examples of gedolim of yours that give similar titles to any people who are clearly not kosher?
> why look at stories? Look at sefarim kedoshim
Let’s clarify what we discuss here. There is a differences between disagreeing and disrespecting. Clearly, many rabonim in Jewish history had vehement disagreements, often expressed in seforim. This happens and it is not surprising that this is happening in the turbulent times we live. This happens with much simpler issues. For example, R Gershon Kamenetsky describes in detail how R Eliashev issued a psak banning his book based on incorrect information. Both the ban and the disagreement with the ban no way diminishes mutual respect between them.
I think sefaria is run by computer professionals, trying to create useful products. I still think that core texts and commentaries are kosher, while additional sites like sheets are created by users and are not supervised. As Menachem pointed that default Tanach translation is a little OTD, this means one needs to define the version you want.
I wish there was a cleaner delineation. Say, different site for the unauthoritative materials.
Gadol, I agree with your idea, he can probably even take a bus for the time he spent on this and go visit Canada with his family. I am just pushing this further – every problem is a business opportunity.
I would not criticize him for pardoning his son (aside: same as I would not criticize for poor Mexicans coming to babysit lakewood kinderlach), but I would criticize him for having hutzpah to declare multiple times that he is not going to do that and the, doubling down in a statement saying that “he is keeping his word”. Maybe you can say that he sincerely believed that he is not going to pardon him, and then changed his mind when confronted with reality – and irate wife and son (reports are that everything was decided by family and defense lawyers, no staffers were aware). Maybe, even Hunter hinted that he could rat out the Family in exchange for the pardon from the next President on Jan 21?!
Several nekudos on this story:
1) Hunter will not be able to take the 5th and will have to answer questions if called by Congress
2) I wonder if there are state taxes he did not pay? Foreign problems? Would Ukraine be interested in prosecuting Burisma corruption in exchange for some F-16s or even 35s?
3) pardon extended back to Jan 1, 2014. Could it be that he was planning corrupt actions right after the election between Nov and Jan 2014?
4) there are other family members – big guy’s brother and his wifeNeville, we are all very comfortable talking to each other, while so many Jews with weird views are out there. There are lots of non-O publications and authors who write something Jewish-related.
Participant, presumably Chofetz Chaim did not think that R Kook is exempt from loshon hora laws in this case, which is some info. But look above, a couple of other references that those who disagree did not try disproving.
for example, is there or not a letter from Hazon Ish starting with “HaRav HaRoshi HaGaon Rav”? Can someone verify?
Non-political> Why did you decide that the Halacha follows R’ Yehudah vs. the Tana Kama (Stam Mishna)?
Re: Kiddushin 29 and 31. Other than the idea of learning Torah only, I think range of opinions in other places is either (1) trade or (2) trade and business is also OK … for example, last page of Kiddushin goes thru what kind of trades are good, no suggestions of business. for a simple answer, this is a great place to be machmir, as tanna kamma is not forbidding a trade! We are talking about danger of your children going OTD to become a bandit! I would sell a spodnik and use proceeds to pay tuition.
But to your question: quoting from online pages, so that you could look up sources, sorry 🙂
Gra (60): We learn from R. Yehudah.Aruch ha’Shulchan (OC 156:1): A trade is a good thing. Many err and say that it is disgraceful. One is obligated to teach his son a trade. Many Tana’im and Amora’im had trades. The Medrash (Bereishis Rabah 74) says that Melachah is dearer than Zechus Avos.
Shulchan Aruch (OC 306:6): On Shabbos, one may discuss Shamayim’s desires, e.g. to arrange to hire someone to teach a trade to his son. One may discuss if he wants to be hired, but one may not hire him or mention the wage. Magen Avraham (13): This is a Mitzvah, for if he has no trade, he will steal.
Rif and Rosh (12a and 1:40): One must teach a trade to his son. R. Yehudah says, if one does not do so, it is as if he teaches him robbery.
pro-business – more in modern context
Igros Moshe (OC 2:111 DH b’Davar): Income is decided on Rosh Hashanah, but Hash-m decreed that people will receive it only through work or business
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At the end, this is of course highly personal and depends on current society conditions. I do see a number of people who neglected to get a profession and rely on business and miracles and many of them are not comfortable in life, worry, and have yetzer hara to do things in improper way (for a mild version, see a nearby thread on people hiring illegals because “there are no other options”).DaMoshe > man has an obligation to daven with a minyan.
There are always limits. For example, R Soloveitchik paskened that one can not go into a Conservagogue to hear shofar even if there is no other option. So, one can see if a chasid (shoteh) thinks that black hat is meduoraita to daven without the minyan if the tenth person is wearing a baseball cap.
Gra reference was to
Rema (YD 246:21): If one learns Torah without working, this causes sin and in the end he will steal.Hm, I usually use it for Gemora and related texts and did not see anything like that … Mine default translation for tanach shows as “revised JPS 2023”. Obviously, a recent addition.
And in another option to download data, there are many options, include the one you mention gender-sensitive JPS along many respected ones. Is “revised JPS 2023” the gendered one? If you are right, this is unfortunate. Possibly they simply default to JPS and then take latest, and it is more on JPS for going that route? Or maybe, they indeed went to increase their market share …
After you log in with your username, if you select a text, then on the right “translations” gives you a list of translations for this posuk. After you click on “select” on another translation, that became a default translation for all other books of Tanach
I also did not see much difference between JPS 2023 and JPS 1985 in several pesukim I looked at, none of them refer to Hashem as they/them.
I think he was happy because people who humiliated him by forcing him to step down lost. He feels more affinity to T – especially now when he also complains about judicial prosecution.
So, President Biden pardoned three turkeys, including his son. I think this settles an issue of credibility and all complains by his supporters of credibility of others,= – as he repeatedly said that he will not do this. There seemingly were no changes in circumstances for hatoras nedorim and did not gbother to appeal to beis din anyway . The only l’tzad zhus explanation I have is that the President does not recall saying that he will not pardon his son, or that he is not his son …
ok, same page nas a quote from an author I can stand by. R Wein knows his (our) history and he is not ideological
in his review of this work, Rav Berel Wein stated, “There is so much about Rav Kook that is misunderstood and misportrayed in the Jewish world, that a book that portrays him accurately is invaluable and necessary. This is such a book.”
In a letter from the Chazon Ish to Rav Kook that is seen on p. 374 of this work, we see that the Chazon Ish opened by saying, “HaRav HaRoshi HaGaon Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, Hod K’vod Maran Shlita.”and this is easy to check (although the site has a caveat – “early on”, so maybe opinions changed after)
“Reb Shlomo Zalman’s classic work Me’orei Esh contains approbations from Rav Abba Yaakov Borochov, Rav Isser Zalman Meltzer, and Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook. The approbation which appears first is that of Rav Kook.”
“Considering Reb Shlomo Zalman’s aversion to matters of a political nature, it was startlingly unusual when he intervened in the internal affairs of a particular organization. Needless to say, the Gaon’s advice was always sought and welcomed, but in the area of organization politics, no one had ever succeeded in eliciting his response in the past. The issue at hand was whether to accept a certain candidate for a key position in this Torah organization. Reb Shlomo Zalman had recommended not to accept the nominee. His unprecedented intervention was triggered by the fact that the candidate in question always referred to Rav Kook as simply ‘Kook.’”
Dubai is not Egypt. Not that I am advocating vacationing there, and the shaliach there was on a holy mission.
Gadol, I don’t think so. I started buying this way in the early days of internet, when it became possible to quickly find dealerships. I collected fax numbers and faxed them a spec I wanted and then confirmed with a quick phone calls. Ended up with a 2 hour ride to a different state, but it was worth it, at a time.
I am surprised that the closest deal from southern NJ is almost in Canada, though. Should be able to find a good dealer closer to home. Maybe one person stumbled on it, and others followed. It is not that wrong – halocha says to reward a good merchant with your business. That is, if you stayed in a hotel and you liked it, you should stay there next time also. From the description above, it seems that the misunderstanding is not that great. Or maybe yetzer hara to exploit a loophole won …
So, just put a standard agreement, run it by a lawyer – indicating time and method of delivery, and penalties for delay and see if all community members could use it with this dealership. If that does not work out – get on email/phone’/fax and find a reasonable dealer somewhere within 2 hours from you. I would think further south and west should also work. You can even become a middleman, helping your community members in selecting cars and ensuring delivery.
somejew, you don’t need to latch on R Kook in that list, you can start with gedolim more acceptable to you.
And this was discussed before here, there should be a lot of references if you search CR for R Kook. Here is quick one from internet search, I do not know how genuine this is, I am not an expert on R Kook, but there is a book and page that you can get and make your conclusion. Let us know what you think after you read this book, please!
“R. Yitzchak Gerstenkorn, the founder of B’nei Brak, told this story: In 5694 (1934), the Rav [i.e., Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook] was invited to the groundbreaking ceremony of the Beit Yosef (Novardok) Yeshiva in B’nei Brak…At the ceremony, which the Chazon Ish also attended, Rav Kook spoke at length…Throughout the Rav’s address, the large crowd sat quietly in their seats–everyone but the Chazon Ish. He remained standing throughout the speech, listening attentively to every word. He only sat down when the Rav finished speaking and took his own seat.”
“R. Tzvi Kagan, who was present at the event, added this revealing piece of information: When the Rav’s address began to draw out, people approached the Chazon Ish and suggested that he sit down. The revered rabbi refused, however, saying, ‘The Torah is standing!’”
from An Angel Among Men, by Simcha Raz, p.375; translated by Rav Moshe D. Lichtman
yechiell is a good indicator of qualities of Bibi, Trump, and everyone else he does not like. The more far-fetched his accusation more, the better that person is doing. Do you not see the whole world blooming after the election? Stock market is up, hezbollah surrendered, Russian ruble falling, Ukraine publicly agrees to a reasonable peace plan (that is, based on T’s stated position it is either quick peace or full support of UKR if Russia disagrees), Syria and Georgia rebelled against pro-Iran/pro-Russian governments, all 2 months before the elections.
Hey, hey, I designed a couple of web pages in the 1990s, do not touch that kedusha! Ironically, one Rebbetzin did not agree to post a photo of her family, whether for tzniyus or ayn hara ideas, so we had just the rav’s photo …. ironically – given how many photos are streamed now everywhere
Neville > llegal immigration is a crime.
I think we need to be humane towards such people, especially when they are coming to work. Of course, concentration of such illegals inevitably creates crime around them – people who smuggle them, house them, etc.
I am very perplexed by posters who claim “all gedolim say”. First they exclude those gedolim who are 100% against their shitah – how could they be gedolim if they are against gedolim (no true Scotsman fallacy); second, as Chaim posts, they are also excluding those who are acknowledged within their community who had different views.
Ltzad zchus, I presume they were not aware of these two problems, so they post here, which is great for an exchange of ideas, and then get opposite opinions – and then what? They either double-down or – mostly – ignore this information. I wish they clarify themselves – are they going back to beis medrash and find those opposite opinions? are they going into therapy? quitting internet? I rarely see these conversations coming to some meeting of mind about range of acceptable positions.
This is sort of a gray area, as many people in the country hire such aid. Still, as religious Jews live as a homogeneous community, this becomes visible to the outsiders. Possibly there is a whatsapp group for migrants directing them to Jewish towns for employment and maybe exploitation by people who move them. Probably, tracked by ICE also.
Why not start with a position: I want to live Torah-true life without doing questionable thing, and after that consider your other option. Most people spend so much to maintain Torah lifestyle – food, housing, schools, hats, why not start with the basics first?
You don’t need to ask someone whether they are illegal, you simply ask for ssn and everify. As an accountant you should know how to hire people legally
Duvid> In the army of a genuine Malchus Yisroel Torah Jews will be the first to join like Matisyahu Kohen Gadol and his sons.
a very good point. But, in my recollection, Matisyahu was not invited to join a pre-kashered military unit – he started his own. Your idea is great and you should pursue it: start Torah-true units, hire your own trainers, supervise your own kashrus, then come as a functioning unit to partner with the Tzahal. If you feel that Tzahal is not cooperating, you can start your army in parts of EY that are not yet reached by Tzahal – Hevron unit or South Litani unit or Gaza brigade.
SQRT > they might be surrounded by people who hate them?
just don’t go to Detroit games. Otherwise, you should be surrounded by a friendly crowd.
Why not open an erliche dealership in Lakewood NJ that will provide similar convenient options to members of the community?
I am with coffee, the current admin lead the world on a down trajectory, something have to be done, and we had only one other choice. Feel free to criticize specific T’s ideas, it is healthy. Lately, the country gets into trouble only when D-s are in power and nobody dares criticize them.
can you be both for protecting the borders and then show chessed and hire those who are here and do honest work?
2 arguments for locking the borders:
1) the country wants a say in who we are letting in – more professionals/less criminals
2) we want less immigrants in general1st argument does not contradict hiring those who came thru – you are essentially doing the vetting. You are not supporting criminals and those who do not want to work, you presumably find nice people that you let into your house.
Neville, I think, hebrewbooks has lots of hebrew books indeed (as advertised in the name!) BUT without links to other commentaries and search options.
Otzar Hahochma has more capabilities.Neville, not sure which posts was last for you, but I let you treat all my posts as jokes.
> he slow-walked critical Trump prosecutions
There is an impression that prosecutions were timed to go jointly in time for elections. It just did not look random that all of them were coming up at the same time. They just underestimated the tenacity of the other side by a couple of months.
interjection, wages depend on the market conditions – both supply and demand. I personally saw years ago in midwest, a small group of very “observant” families hiring russian (Jewish) immigrants for way below minimal wage. Those ladies probably would not have any employment otherwise, but it still looked gross.
In your current case, first there is very low unemployment right now, and it may be that you live in a high-cost area, and it maybe that you live in an area with many people like you who are looking to hire someone, so demand is high.
Putting aside dina d’malchuso and current hot politics. What is the obligation here? On one hand, in classicil halocha, we prefer money to stay in Jewish hands, idolaters are not going to do anything good with it. So, when, say, two Jews are trying to get business from a poretz, you are forbidden to try to lure the customer away by lowering your prices. But, on the other hand, here we have poor people who came here to feed their families and to send money back to their relatives. Maybe we should pay them same, or almost same, you would pay a legal resident.
As your link says, “sheets”. Sefaria has classical texts, and then they allow users to create their own sheets. The texts are reliable.
I don’t think they are policing the sheets, at least not too heavily. I usually go from texts, and usually see sheets consisting of references to the texts.If you are a user yourself, you should know this difference. If you are using sefaria for school, put a filter on https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/.
here are thoughts about T’s influence on wars against Israel from a lefty “newspaper”:
Iran’s swing from tough talk to a more conciliatory tone in just a few weeks’ time has its roots in developments at home and abroad.
Five Iranian officials, one of them a Revolutionary Guards member, and two former officials said the decision to recalibrate was prompted by Mr. Trump winning the Nov. 5 election, with concerns about an unpredictable leader who, in his first term, pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran.
But it was also driven by Israel’s decimation in Lebanon of Hezbollah — the closest and most important of Iran’s militant allies — and by economic crises at home, where the currency has dropped steadily against the dollar and an energy shortage looms as winter approaches. …[current Iranian officials] said Iran suspended plans to strike Israel following Mr. Trump’s election because it did not want to exacerbate tensions with the incoming administration, which was already lining up cabinet nominees who were hostile to Iran and staunch supporters of Israel. Mr. Trump’s stated plans to end the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, however, appealed to Iran, the officials said.
Coffee, the practice seems to be widespread way above special circumstances. And in my neighborhood, people who have difficulties get help from Jewish teens.
Maybe CR can go to post-censorship: posters who pass enough and after basic keyword or chatGPT check get their posts posted automatically, and then reviewed if there are complaints (maybe have a complaint button). After being post-censored, the poster goes back into pre-censorship pool.
Another option: the post is released to certain readers first and if they do not complain, posted for everyone.
Eli > please demand every verbal concession in writing, including any promises of delivery, and a time frame in which it will occur.
Eli, hope you get it going. It seems that you were signing a 5-digit dollar contract, you should obviously put things in writing. As you experience showed, it is pretty easy to force the terms after they are signed.
Neville > If someone were anti-hat, but also anti-mask, they would get a pass in my book, but I doubt that’s the case. For those who aren’t, they need to take a serious look at themselves and whom they are having respect for in the world: fellow frum Torah-observant yidden, or blue-haired, atheist, commie scientists who believe there are 72 genders and that everyone should be psychotically germaphobic.
This is crazy. Torah observant yidden wore multi-colored clothes, caps, and turbans centuries before someone decided that black hats are in.
And this is against the gemorah too – that advises not to impersonate Talmid Chacham and to close windows or flee during an epidemics.
DaMoshe > common: Do you really not see a difference? There is no chiyuv to have liquor at a kiddush.
Really? Not in my Sh’A. Now I see that I have something common with common.
defense pick is being accused of being insanely pro-Israel.
common> this is not about minhagim this is about common
But what can I do – my humbleness exceeds my courtesy. If I feel I am not at the level of Talmidei Chachamim and me dressing like that would be hutzpah and hillul Hashem, does it mean I am not allowed to daven with Talmidei Chachamim and with people who have no problem dressing like Talmidei Chachamim?
I was never told by a Talmid Chacham that I should leave davening because my presence or dress offends him. So, this settles the first item. From a kal vahomer, the second group should not object either.
And indeed why should my humbleness be offensive to someone anyway? I am not asking them to take their shtreimels off. Next, you’ll throw reb Zusya out of your shul.
>Rav Elchonon refused to even step into the YU building when invited, when he was in the United States.
This was apparently a minority opinion at a time. R Schkop, R Kotler, and many others were not avoiding Yeshiva college building. Also, looking into that further – it seems that Rav Elchonon personally read German philosophy (Kant) and Russian newspapers … apparently, he opposed teaching Torah and science in the same building.
Relevant to this topic, when discussing great Jewish figures, R Spektor [RIETS named after him] is a great one (future Chofetz Chaim came to him for hashgoha), and he supported Chovevei Tzion.
> trying to force them out of the Bais Medrash
> We want to protect everyone, learners AND non-learnersa stira, or a silly attempt at gnivas daas. But if you are such a tzaddik why not protect everyone in EY and call to disband tzahal?
I am not sure I understand motivation of people who try to fool someone else in an anonymous debate. You are not getting any benefits in this world ..
If you think you get some brownie points in olam haboh for lying, something is wrong with your hashkofah. Hashem’s signing cert is “emes”.anonJ> It’s difficult to equate pre-Holocaust positions to what Reb Elchonon Wasserman might might have held had he survived.
a very good point. In general, it is a very different thing to have an attitude towards an idea, a hopeful development, and a de-facto successful country with actual “people an animals” (Yona)
R Eliashev (at least) once said (on a minor topic) “I do not have ruach hakodesh”. I don’t know about others, but possible some of them also did not. So, their opinions towards early Zionists may not be the same as now several generations later.
Look (repeating myself) at Bava Basra description of development of educational system – it is purely pragmatic: different systems are tried over several generations until a successful one is developed. So, T’Ch did not always have ruach hakodesh then also, but it did not stop them from acting. They did not say – see, schools are bad, let’s keep everyone ignorami.
Apply same approach to Medinah – Rabbonim saw early problems, made political decisions, this was repeated several times, situation now is a result of time passed and their actions. It is a practical question what to do now, and reverting to old opinions in new circumstances is not an answer.
Litvish > one who said “Kook Shnook” was not the Chofetz Chaim
I just wanted to ask whether Chofetz Chaim was known to use such language towards anyone else. I saw his writings about non-religious organizations and his words are sometimes strong but never silly. I don’t know about oral usage, of course.
DaMoshe > When the Rav passed away, the minhag was changed.
If we were talking about some other issue, like the color of the socks or form of the hat – such a statement will be unthinkable. But here – nobody protested the honor of the Rav?!
coffee, our liberal kanoyim think that they know better what is good for Israel than the elected Israeli PM
Common, I am all for respecting minhagim, but just because something is very popular does not make it into a legit minhag. If the generation many of us remember would not dress up as T’Ch unless they are sure of their learning and behavior, it is worthy to emulate them despite social pressure.
Your position seems to call for dressing like Reform when visiting (although visiting is forbidden per se, so my question is purely theoretical).