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SJS,
I never did, but I do intend to try them. Maybe I’ll roast them with the chicken on Shabbos because my kids like eating that, so it’s a good way to get them to try it.
rachelli, I think you’re thinking of gouda, which is indeed a cheese.
SJS,
OK, you read my mind. I’d list you, oomis, and The Wolf. But I’d like to make it four, since I’d also like to meet ICOT.
Zalman,
Thank you for sharing that. The Igros Moshe quoted by GAW seems less absolute, unless I am misunderstanding.
SJS,
I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear. I didn’t mean to say that natural family planning is against halacha, and I never asked a rav about this. I just meant that practically speaking, if one is using natural family planning as the only method of preventing pregnancy, it seems to me that this would be a difficult method to use while keeping the halachos of taharas hamishpacha.
For those who maintain that any form of birth control is prohibited when used for childbirth spacing, what about mothers nursing their babies? Generally speaking, mothers who nurse their babies for a year or two (as recommended in the
Torah) are less likely to become pregnant for several months to a year after giving birth than those who don’t.
SJS,
From what I understand about natural family planning as a contraceptive method, practically speaking it isn’t compatible with halacha.
Charles R. Darwin,
What are your criteria for a good zoo? Why do the zoos in your OP make the list? I’m interested in your opinion.
To the extent that not learning Torah on nittel nacht is due to the danger of going outside, it would seem that learning at home is permissible (hundreds of years ago many people did not have seforim at home so if they could not go out to the bais medrash they couldn’t learn, but b”h this is no longer the case).
Joseph,
I think it’s generally true, except for years that are divisible by 100 (such as 2000 or 2100).
To add to Feif Un’s point:
In former times most women who nursed their babies (and most women did) did not ovulate until they weaned their babies. Some of the halachos mentioned in the Gemara about nursing mothers are based on this fact. Since most babies nursed for a year at least, babies were born further apart. Of course today many women ovulate while nursing (perhaps because of different lifestyles/ diets or different nursing patterns), and most babies don’t nurse that long, so women can now have babies much closer together than was formerly possible.
Consider that most women in TaNach did not have many children, certainly not as many as many families today (Leah and Peninah are obvious exceptions to this). Most men who had many children had multiple wives and/ or concubines.
KeepInEntertained, Dr. Jerry Burger recently conducted an updated version of Milgram’s famous study & obtained much the same results. This rebuts the argument that people have changed since the 1960’s and would not behave the same way today.
brooklyn19,
As people get older and mature, the colors often clarify.
dd,
This is an issue that’s come up before and bothers me as well. I noted in another thread that all people are created b’tzelem Elokim, and we as Jews are not reflecting our greatness by referring to people as savages or using racial epiphets (in yiddish or english). However, given the skeptical/ negative reaction I received there and in other posts, I’ve mostly given up on this.
I’ve decided to take my own quote above to heart.
squeak,
Are you referring to C.S. Lewis’ Narnia series?
eyesopen,
My husband did learn in kollel during the first two years we were married. He arranged to take time off from school to do this. Neither my parents nor his were able to provide financial support, but we did not expect them to do this. B”H I found a job that supported our family (we did not take the small stipend offered by the kollel either). We didn’t need cleaning help, since there was only us and our baby, and B”H my husband did not have to take on other work.
I really admire you and the other people I know who learn in kollel for so long, and take on so many jobs to do this.
dd,
Actually the quote is: “Never wrestle with a pig. You’ll just get dirty and the pig will enjoy it.” Just sayin’.
SJS were you able to pick up anything at CVS Sunday or Monday? All the A&H cleaner was gone at mine but I picked up some other stuff (but I’m not as good as you since I rolled $43 in ecbs from Thanksgiving and paid $1 out of pocket).
bored@work,
Is it possible those attending the shiur did not want to pass their cell phones up because they didn’t want other people to see their contacts/ text messages? I rarely use my cell phone (I have one in case someone from my kids’ schools needs to contact me when I’m out) but I prefer to keep my info private.
Why would someone want to know where red light cameras are? I understand that people feel that they can safely exceed posted speed limits, but why would someone think it’s safe to run a red light?
WolfishMusings,
Thanks for correcting me about Tom Cruise. Actually I didn’t bother checking whether Cruise or Joel finished high school, because I didn’t think they are relevant to the discussion. Obviously I should have checked though.
brooklyn19,
Albert Einstein dropped out of high school after he wrote his first scientific work, but later attended college. I don’t think his “dropping out” is comparable to what we’re discussing here, because most of those dropping out of yeshiva don’t plan to attend college. Even if they did, most colleges today require a high school diploma or GED.
Orville Wright did not finish high school; Wilbur did but didn’t receive his diploma. However, it may be harder to succeed today without a high school education than it was 100 years ago.
While Billy Joel and Tom Cruise have had successful careers without finishing high school, I don’t think most yeshiva students are interested in these types of careers (as tzippi noted).
notpashut, that’s what I’d guess, but I wasn’t sure if there was an issue with Volvo as well.
brooklyn19, I think you’re kidding, but in case you’re not, people definitely knew when the solstice was–they developed sophisticated devices that determined when solstice occurred based on the sun hitting a certain spot. So there must have been some reason for the Church to change the date to 12/25, and I think my theory fits.
BTW, the use of fir trees as a holiday symbol is based on the concept that evergreens don’t lose their leaves in the fall as deciduous trees do, so they represent the coming of spring.
Actually I think chasid-of-Hashem was correct when he mentioned that January 1st celebrated the circumcision of jesus, since this was indeed the case (this was changed in the 1960’s). Joseph and jphone mentioned that x-mas was celebrated in December to coincide with the pagan solstice. One might wonder, then, why x-mas would be celebrated 12/25 when the solstice occurs 12/22. Perhaps this adjustment was made so that the January 1st holiday, which was already celebrated as the Roman New Year, would occur a week after x-mas and could then be celebrated as the circumcision also.
jphone, why would someone avoid purchasing a Volvo?
lesschumras,
Easter was historically a dangerous time of year for Jews not only because of the death of Jesus but also because Easter is always timed to take place around Pesach. This meant that besides dealing with the fallout from Easter Passion Plays and the like the Jewish community also had the danger of blood libels.
yros, “lol” stands for “laughing out loud”
oomis1105, I believe you are thinking of “The Road Not Taken”. “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” ends with “miles to go before I sleep”. I liked them both a lot too.
It is popular, but I don’t know if I’d call it the most famous American poem.
OK, new question: The temperature outside is 34 degrees F, with a wind chill of 25 degrees F. If you leave a cup of water outside for several hours, will it freeze? Explain.
brooklyn19,
It’s in N’viim Rishonim. And this person was definitely pushed.
BTW the latin root “fenestra” is similar to the German/ Yiddish fenster, meaning window. (Although I learned the word in elementary school, when I learned about the incident in Tanach, I didn’t figure out the etymology until years later).
brooklyn19, you wrote: “what does defenestrate mean?”
No one answered that one…I guess it got tossed out the window.
Bonus question: Who in Tanach was defenestrated?
I should’ve cut typing too; my grades would’ve been about the same. Later when I was working I learned to touch-type fairly well though.
ICOT: It wasn’t that tricky, and you guessed correctly, though not for the right reason. I just wrote “Senator” Paul Simon because people always confuse the two. Walt Whitman (died 1892) did not write a biography of Lincoln, though he did write many Lincoln poems after his assasination. “O Captain! My Captain!” may be the most famous, but “When Lilacs Last in the Door Yard Bloom’d” is more typical of Whitman’s style.
Dale Carnegie wrote _Lincoln the Unknown_, the poet Carl Sandburg wrote a biography for children as well as a multivolume biography for adults. Paul Simon wrote a number of historical books, so it’s not surprising that he wrote one about Lincoln, given that both gained national prominence while working in the same city.
If you’re interested you can find the text of “All Summer in a Day” online.
brooklyn19, I wasn’t required to remember it, but did anyways in a vain attempt to improve my word-per-minute rate.
brooklyn19, I really did figure it out right away. But I was required to take typing in high school.
brooklyn19, sorry, that isn’t right.
ICOT, I much preferred Bradbury to Asimov, especially when it came to full-length works. “All Summer in a Day” is an elementary school staple, but if you haven’t read it yet definitely check it out. Never heard of Jack Finney, but I may check out his stories.
Are you going to try my multiple choice question on the previous page? Obviously it’s a trick question.
Joseph,
Sorry, not only am I not as imaginative as you, I’m also apparently not as well educated. I’ll have to remain ignorant on this one.
Joseph,
The only meaning I can guess is that because the car was dark-colored, it was difficult to see (perhaps it was nighttime) & therefore mazal77 touched it while parking. Regrettably, my imagination may not be as vivid as yours.
Sorry, hit return too soon on my previous post. Here’s the new question I promised:
Which of these people did not write a biography of Abraham Lincoln:
1. Senator Paul Simon
2. Walt Whitman
3. Carl Sandburg
4. Dale Carnegie
ICOT,
The actual cause of death for Asimov wasn’t revealed until years after his death.
And now for something completely different:
mazal77,
What’s a “shvartze car”? I’m sorry your car was broken into, but how do you know who did it?
charlie brown,
I don’t know the answer to your first question. But regarding your second question, the “x” is meant to represent the Greek letter “chi”, which stands for “Christ”. So both words mean the same thing, and xmas is just an ancient abbreviation for Christmas.
ICOT, I preferred Asimov’s short stories to his full-length works. As far as his work having a “philosophical streak”, I think any good work of science fiction has some kind of “philosophical streak”, whether it’s by Asimov or Bradbury or Clarke.
I didn’t know that Asimov helped found MENSA, but then until a couple of years ago I thought he died of heart failure. It’s true he had a massive ego, but he seems to have had a right to it. At least more so than, say, Harlan Ellison.
ICOT, that’s right. Are you a science fiction fan?
Which author published books under in every major category of the Dewey Decimal system, except philosophy?
intellegent,
One idea for an anniversary gift for a spouse is to prepare his/ her favorite supper & present it as elegantly as possible. A nice card is appropriate too (even a dollar store card is good if one writes a thoughtful message inside).
ICOT, true. But that’s hardly the same as a person dying. And if the reporter would have shown more common sense, the dog (and the vehicle it was in) would’ve survived too.
Yanky55, Edy’s cookie dough ice cream is better.
oomis1105, thanks for sharing the recipe.
SJS, I think I’ll try your second method.
Note to mod: I started typing this reply & hit return too soon. Would you please remove the earlier duplicate post? Thank you.
The film of the Tacoma Narrows bridge collapse is a staple of high school physics classes, a graphic illustration of the importance of analyzing natural frequency & resonance in designing structures (everyone got off the bridge in time).
oomis1105, would you be willing to share your cheesecake recipe?
SJS, how do you prepare brussel sprouts?
What structure was known as “Galloping Gertie”?