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another change positively affecting Yidden – decline in business travel with ensuring kashrus, davening and sholom bayis problems. Some forecasted that it will come back for competitive reasons – when one supplier goes to drink with the client, others would need to follow. Not sure this happened. I see travel back but there is less of it. Nobody expects you anymore to jump on a plane for an one hour conversation, or at least you can politely decline.
why bump? I thought this was settled. Did Munkach move to to Area C or join the government?
CTL, I also wanted to reply but then, Little Froggie is probably not yet in the workforce so why disturb his fantasies?
The way WFH transformed the work environment is still an unfinished story. For the Jews specifically, there are now so many places where you have no problems with erev shabbos, taking chol hamoed off, staying away from pritzut and social drinking, healthy home diet instead of brown bag lunches, ability to learn with the kids during the day, and take Florida workations.
Bigger point is – employees always liked WFH, but employers, esp middle managers, were afraid of letting it happen. It seems that there was no productivity decline overall, probably a combination of two factors:
1) productive people are even more productive without constant control and inane meetings
2) non-productive people are equally not productive at home and not interfering with the rest.it is a cultural thing – when powerful people start putting their pronouns in signatures and bios, it creates pressure on the masses to follow to be liked by the boss, and then remaining ones stand out. One of my kids was asked what his pronoun is, and he replied “I do not have one”
I don’t know much about PCS, but you might also want to look at wider choices: there are now quite a number of reputable online colleges with good degree programs. You do not generally need to interact with strangers and the class deadlines are easy to manage around yomim tovim, way easier than in in-person colleges.
Are they paid salary and get insurance while this is going on? I hope not and that would be a good reason to hope this ends soon.
> like asking an alcoholic if he works for the bar he’s in
I was recently “served” by a coffee shop worker who woke up, asking me to repeat the order, and then yawned while making coffee. I suggested that he might need the coffee himself (themselves?!). He replied that he does not drink coffee…
This is a serious hesaron. If the country does not have Hamedaber, is it even human!?
The poll is not fully reflecting the options. I simply picked up the highest age because nothing higher was available.
The available choices may subtly influence the answers. For example, bike stores put a $1000 bike and others for $300. They really sell the $300 ones, but the buyers feel that they made a rational choice by avoiding the most expensive one.
Rambam suggests job -> house -> marriage unless you are a fool. I am sure someone will point out that this Rambam is also outdated.
by the way, search engines personalizes things. So, if you usually search for “exciting news” will (probably) bring you a rogachever chidush if you usually look for tosfos and something else if you look up different material. [I did not experiment with this, so try on your own risk[
And they have information not only from the search itself but also from other corners of internet that resell your history.
n0 > Find a senior posek who approves of thirty year olds that can’t remember what their father did but will pick up any chumra in the newest publication.
As Avira says, the yeshiva movement raises up average observance level by establishing their own norms. It generally achieves the intended purpose and saved several generations of Yidden not just from spitting on their jackets but from outright assimilation. Of course, with such tremendous growth, most of the 2nd and 3rd generation of teachers are the product of the system and your call for remembering what their parents do falls on deaf ears. How do we combine successes of large-scale education with keeping deeper Jewish values?
huju,
I don’t think Jews in general, or even shomer shabbos Jews as a group are more anti-vaccine than other groups of American popoulation. We are just more visible, and maybe our middah of koshe oref plays some role too. An interesting question is – what explains specific clusters of anti-everything among Yidden. Not for the purpose of publishing in WaPo, but in order to understand ourselves.n0 > Anything which depends on the surrounding norms, is intrinsically subjective
First, implementation of all mitzvos bein adam l’havero are subjective to begin with – they depend on how the other person will be affected. What is honor for one, is a dishonor for another. So, this “subjective” is not a chiddush.
Maybe you mean “subjective” as a danger of deciding what to do on your own, with a great danger of rationalizing either kulos or chumros, whatever fits your current state of mind. This is, of course, a great danger and that is indeed why we often have often rules that limt our “creativity” – a bird belongs to the house if there are less than 50 amos, etc.
On a personal note, my nature is mostly to contradict norms, so you can rely on me when I call for following the norms 🙂 In most cases, when I bring the idea of following norms, it is either direct from the sources or something I heard form a Rav. I don’t tend to come up with chidushim calling for unity. I need to work more on that…
Avira > chazal say that sholom is bad for reshoim, it lets them sin more. I don’t see how you can call it an independently important calue.
you are getting carried away. If you play a shot game every time you mention “sholom” in your davening, you’ll be drunk by Mussaf. And we end with “talmidei chachomim merabim sholom b’olam”, which I see as one of the criteria for a T. Ch. – you are one if you increase sholom (NOT an only one).
I think YWN also ran a halachic discussion about this. I understood this as: lying is forbidden to non-Jews and while you can acknowledge this guy and rely on his vote, you should try to find other partners when looking for political allies.
On the positive side, this guy may have a been a Berdichever chosid: look, how openly he admits all his aveiros. On the negative side, this seems to be part of the modern trend when all aveiros are not just tolerated in private or overlooked with understanding that “everyone is human”, but proudly paraded in front of the public.
Not only Dems, but Reps should have found this during the primary. American system rightfully does not criminalize such behavior but presumes that open public discourse will deal with such cases. If this is a one-off miss that will warn people that is fine, but not if the next guy will point to this one as a precedent.
Not to defend, but to explain:
Famous “man bites dog” bias? Who would be surprised that some uneducated refugees from Africa are afraid of needles? Nobody in DC is going to take their clue from these poor souls. It may be worth mentioning as this could cause an outbreak, but not deserving a picture.
Same behavior from members of “am chacham venavon” who spend their lives learning intricate machlokes of Abaye ve Rava surely deserves attention and an interest in understanding their position. And a picture for those who would not believe this unless they saw it.
If a person can reach retrospection by any means possible, it is great. R Dessler says that everyone is trying to get up the “sulam Yaakov” and those who do not have proper means to do so would use any
crutch they can find.Some review their action when going to sleep (“do not remind a Talmid Chochom about his aveira he did yesterday, as he surely did teshuva overnight”); or you can do it by Rosh Hodesh or by the financial quarter…
Definitely, an end of the tax year should bring thoughts about mis-spent time and money, charity deductions one did not use, wrong stocks and ideas he bought in the last year … One should also shutter at the thought – how he will be seen by people if the Congress were to publish his tax forms.
Alter from Kelm had a piece of wood in his bread and he thought that nobody cares about this, while the Pharaoh’s baker got into such a trouble, and we should always think how our actions matter in front of the King…
Our daf yomi group was pondering who are all these people who habitually pledge not to eat this or that. Mashechet Nedarim surely had in mind people making NY resolutions- or some other cultural traditions that take over people … so, it seems that making such makes one almost a rasha.
Is there a kosher way to do NY resolutions that do not sound like nedorim?
Rashi says that Yosef hints to brothers that he speaks loshon kodesh. r Twersky asks what is so special about ivrit!? after all, they had an interpreter who also spoke it… his answer: loshon kodesh is about speaking in a kodesh way… so if you claim you speak it, please make sure you actually do
YO has benefit over CS of living after 200 years of chadash
FYI – Currently there is a spike of Omicron XBB variant with high reinfections, especially those who had pre-omicron virus or vaccine.
Figure 1 in paper below shows antibody response from different vaccines to different strains 15 to 40 days after vaccination. One old booster was somewhat effective to previous BA.x and BQ.x strains but not to XBB. Two old ones and one new bivalent booster still effective for XBB.
See:
Neutralization against BA.2.75.2, BQ.1.1, and XBB from mRNA Bivalent Booster
letter to NEJM December 21, 2022 DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2214293Israeli right includes a lot of “masorti” that includes Sephardim who even if not fully observant are pro-datiim. Others might be economic and politically right-wing and, and the same time, “not religious”. Left includes commies and former commies that are built on ANTI-religious ideology. ANTI is different from “NOT” and “PRO”
Avira > Takah, we aren’t going to have to work when moshiach comes – we’re all going to sit and learn
I recall Rambam says that the main change will be that Jews will not be subjugated to others. So, we will all work for our own businesses.
Nitel nacht, like Saturnalia before it, correlates with shortest day of the year. So, backwards Russkies celebrating it in January is minhag taut and need to be abolished. hope that still remaining chief rabbis of rushia can deliver this message to the chief rasha. although it seems to be sakono nefoshos lately to contradict them, so maybe russian yidden should continue doing nittel nacht in January l’darchei sholom v’briut.
We can’t complain about anti-semitism much if politicians are lying that they are Jewish … So, we don’t need to worry about Cohens pretending to be Joneses, but rather Joneses, or least Santi, pretending to be Cohens.
They may be haters they are, but it may also be a fact that some groups pay less than others. Answering “Because they pay taxes and income tax according to the law” is a dishonest misdirection.
How do you bring sholom between these worrying parties?
Either you need to convince the chilonim that your spiritual contribution is worthy his tax contribution or simply reduce taxes for everyone, use private contributions to maintain your society. In both cases, you can then hope to bring other Israelis closer to the Torah.There is an idea of directing bad middos towards constructive purposes – say, making a potential murderer a shoichet. Maybe you can find a calling that allows for some constructive venting: a shadachan, a business consultant, a psychologist, a novel writer …
this challenge of balancing of extra 5 haverei Knesset … maybe we should go back to a coalition of 61 with 2 heads and 10 differing views
what about the story of Berdichever and a guy who was smoking on shabbos?
n0 > Something that depends on the praxis of the surrounding society is not one bit objective.
Sholom is an objective Torah value (that, according to Kotzker, does not always go well with Emes, but this is a different story). To achieve sholom, one is required to follow the norms/majority/accepted behaviors. For example, see Mishna Pesachim that one is required to follow chumros of the place one is visiting (as well as his own).
many indeed differentiate between learning and mussar. For example, Steipler recommended R Twersky to take precautions when in medical school by, among other things, (1) learning w/ a hevruta at least 2 hours a day, (2) learn mussar or chasidus for at least 15 (or 30?) minutes a day
R Salanter, when asked what to learn in one avaiable hour – Gemora or Mussar – answered: Mussar, as it will help you to find another hour. Of course, you can just learn Mussar from Gemora and satisfy both opinions. (I am using here another R Salanter’s exchange:
– what is your source for this?
– Gemora.
– I can’t find it in Gemora
– It _is_ in _my_ GemoraAvira > we don’t see MO people going into yeshivos
It may be nitpicking, but this is not a good expression if you stop to think about it.
Nedarim analyzes various expressions according to lashon bnei adam, including different meanings at different times and places, some of which are shown to be different from how a word is used in Tanach. Nobody seems to raise objections and considers all local dialects legitimate. Any of the amoraim or later commentators object to “illegitimate” version of loshon hakoidesh?
Just don’t call me late for dinner
RebE, this is a different interpretation. Question seems to be – is Esav evil in nature, or does he has a positive side that gets dominated by negative ones and environment he puts himself in.
Avira > “Usually it’s something excessive that nobody around you does.”
n0> Please use an objective standard.it is an objective standard. Fitting in the community is a Torah value (that I find hard :). Torah allows for social pressures. Shalom is a Torah value and it is achieved by people following the norms. R Steinsaltz writes that one of the reasons of nervous breakdown in EY is that you have people from multiple very different cultures in the same bus every day annoying each other by their mannerisms.
huju > There is not much that can be done, and Biden has done them.
The first and main thing he did – he discouraged investment in oil industry. I am not going to list specific examples, it is all of the taken together. Current investment requires a hope of future returns.
Second – he (his state dept thinkers) had a theory that we should not scare Putin too much at the beginning. “If we escalate, and then he disregards, then we have nothing left short of nuclear, better start a little, so that he will be afraid of the rest”. This was a spectacular failure, we let Putin down by making him think that he can get away with murder.
3. Related – rescinding opposition to NordStream 2, prolonging German commitment to Russian hydrocarbs and, again, letting Putin think that Europe will have to listen to his diktat.
4. Destroying relationship with Saudis right when we needed their help.
5. Starting inflation 6. Denying inflation. 7. Boasting that inflation is over before it is over risking prolonging it.
> Anyone like him.
It says – many tried to be like him and failed.
youall should realize that nobody will value your group by the seforim you say you learned, but by your behavior.
Could not buy gas today because I bought bread today.
catch > It is unhealthy to allow yourself to become so immersed in political commentary that you lose sight of your own true values.
I third this. r Twersky talks about Yitzhak understanding that this is not Esav by voice. That is, Esav, despite his respectful behavior towards his Father, still was talking to him harshly. He, apparently, could not discard the language he was used to with his friends. R Tersky concludes that we should be careful not to bring language from the outside inside our houses. Same applies to YWN.
And I did hear people in summer camps in Catskills some time ago talking to R Kamenetsky there.
Gadol, a good question. I do not hear much about going to vacations from most Rabbis I know. Usually, a reason to cancel a class is a bar mitzva or a trip to Israel. I heard descriptions of summer trips to mountains when their kids were young. Maybe I am in a wrong crowd.
Old yishuv had high spiritual achievements, but their economic situation was dire. They were collecting for poor in EY all over Europe, whether poor or rich. I believe part of the lack of economic prospects was hostility of local population, limiting what and where Jews could do business.
If you do want to blame Zionists, I think a case can be made that they put priority on ideological land acquisition v. economic development. At some point in 20-30s, the donors wanted to spend money on developing Tel-Aviv into a manufacturing center that would create jobs and bring more people in. Instead, money were spent on kibutzim that were not economically productive.
Looking back at Delta/Omicron period (Sep 21 – Feb 22) – that was the longest high-death period in US (taking 1K out of 3K per mln total covid deaths) was the time when boosters started:
US started at significant numbers in October and took it to 30% of population
Israel had 40% of population boosted by Oct 1,
UK started as slow as US but got to 60% of population, others similar or higher.It is suggestive that slow/lack of boosters contributed to higher mortality during this period, but not a clear proof: UK had peaks before that could have contributed to immunity, some other countries – Poland, Hungary also had peaks (but much shorter ones).
Avram,
I do realize Bourla is presenting his side of the story, of course. The thing about such books is that the books is visible and personal, it is not a casual interview, so authors generally adhere to facts that are known publicly or to other people outside of their close circle. So, I would trust him on such facts. To his credit, for example, he brings put a couple (not much more 🙂 of favorable episodes about Trump/Kushner/Bibi, despite overall feeling that his politics is different. And he brings negative stories during Biden admin, but does not connect dots to the top…As I said, I do not recall now whether he was attacked privately or publicly about the booster and he mentions that they turned around quickly after digesting Israeli data. I think it is a believable story illustrating a mixture of emotions and political leanings interacting with facts and responsibilities.
This story also means, exactly as you say, that before getting Israeli data, Pfizer thought that the vaccine is effective against Delta – and it partially was.
Lostspark > I do not have enough time to do research on every decision I make that’s why I’m supposed to trust professionals. Professionals have taken advantage of that trust enough times that the unwashed working and uneducated masses are becoming wise to it.
Lostspark, I am with you on that. I see 2 separate questions here: specific trust on covid, especially during early lack of information, and general trust of authorities.
On first one, I know some Rabbis who found a reliable frum public helath professional and listened and referred questions to him. For me, R Meyer Twersky’s letter sounded right – in the time of confusion, it is not enough to follow one doctor, but you need to select a safest of several opinions.
generally, I think, the problem of, especially American, medicine, is a rule-based approach. You give a pill or cut something off and the problem is solved. Nedorim ~50 bring up a doctor who refuses to treat a patient who is eating a bad diet for a sick person – a hard squash. So, you would often need to combine seichel with medical advise. For example, I was told by an observant allergologist that certain test should not be done – it will produce a long list of products to avoid without serious benefit.
At the same time, modern medicine produced undeniable benefits and the testing procedures in US are working. Many researchers complain that they are too slow and expensive delaying treatments.
So, you need to look at the data case-by-case, you can’t make overall judgment.
Syag > So you didn’t really mean we should think for ourselves. You meant we should make a decision that had sources that had logical support in your eyes
Right. Sorry for the confusion. I define “think” along this dictionary definition “using thought or rational judgment; intelligent”. If you mean “think for ourselves” as “being free to have any opinions we want”, this is not what I was talking about.
I think I quoted above a recent analysis from Yale showing higher mortality among Republican voters after introduction of the vaccine [developed under Republican president]. I don’t know whether this is a fully veritable paper, but I am not sure what “thinking” can be done ignoring such evidence.
Again, as I described, it well may be that you live in the information environment where other information sources are used to the degree that contradicting information is simply discounted.
But back to my original statement that you guys are responding. If you can provide an alternative history of your thinking on this topic, I’ll be happy to hear.
Avira, as I said, you are probably right, I used incorrect term, thanks for the correction.
To clarify, his sevorah was not to eat healthy, but he was given money for the purpose of improving health, so spending his money otherwise would be geneiva.
As to eating healthy, I pointed above to Nedorim seemingly approving of a doctor who refuses to treat patient who is eating things inappropriate for a sick person.