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Your welcome mazca! Sometimes I feel that nobody reads my posts, so it’s nice to see such a rewarding response.
estherh, I think that in some situations “seeing the good” means that we should recognize that everything comes from Hashem, and is therefore for the best. But in my opinion it’s all right to also acknowledge that we cannot currently recognize the good in a particular situation, and that Hashem doesn’t expect that we will always be able to do so. And as I posted before, I think we’re also permitted to protect ourselves from repeated encounters with negative people.
Jewess, some Pillsbury products are kosher, cholov stam. Refrigerated rolls don’t have a hechsher, but some of the refrigerated cookie dough does, as do many of the dry mix products.
So you’re saying that if someone has to become crazy, it should be the mother & not the father, so the father can learn? But wouldn’t the childcare provider also be crazy, since she is also working (the playgroup/ childcare center/ children’s home is a workplace for her)? Personally, I’d prefer for my child’s primary care provider to be sane.
Tell me, do you really believe that working in a frum workplace makes people crazy? If so, how is this insanity manifested?
Joseph, you wrote (or copied) that even a frum workplace is a bad place for a Jewish man, and included a moshol that implies that the workplace makes people crazy. In what way are Jewish women better suited for the insanity-inducing workplace than Jewish men? Does the second X chromosome protect women from becoming insane in the workplace while they work to support their husbands in kollel?
SJS, I was thinking of that too. Except for meat/ poultry, cheese is one of the most expensive foods I buy. If Kraft cheese had a hechsher, that would help a lot, especially with the great promos on Kraft & Nabisco that seem to run every summer and fall.
mazca, in my opinion there is no element of “being a fool” in this case, because a favorable judgement only changes how one views the elderly woman (assuming estherh does not encounter her again). But in general, I don’t think judging favorably requires one to expose himself repeatedly to negative situations, especially if someone feels threatened physically/ emotionally/ mentally.
I remember learning a vort on the words “Tamim Tiheya in HaShem Elokecha”, you should be “simple” with Hashem–this means that one should be trusting with Hashem, with simple, unquestioning emuna. The vort I heard in the name of one gadol is that this is telling us that we display this simple emuna towards Hashem, but not towards other people. If I recall correctly, this vort is from the Chafetz Chaim. It seems to me that there’s a powerful lesson to learn here: even the Chofetz Chaim, who epitomized ahavas yisrael, believes that we should recognize that other people aren’t perfect, and protect ourselves as necessary.
A600KiloBear, PowerAde also comes in a sugar-free version, PowerAde Zero; so does Gatorade.
goody613, thanks for your reply.
havesomeseichel, thank you for your post. As I noted, laws regulating homeschooling vary from state to state. Most states do require parents to file a curriculum. However, many states do not require homeschooled students to file homework or take any type of test, and in many states parents do not need any certification or training to homeschool. Many states also don’t require homeschoolers to work with a public school or any other institution. Some states specifically exempt parents from teaching material which goes against their religious beliefs, which might indeed be construed to allow parents to use only “artscroll biographies and works of fiction”.
I am not trying to denigrate the education of your homeschooled acquaintances. But you should be aware that not all states regulate homeschooling so rigorously, and their experience is not universal. You can google “homeschooling laws” for more information.
I do agree that homeschooling does not seem to be popular in the general frum population.
AZ, I do agree that the age gap is a significant issue. However, I have observed that among my classmates who married young (age 20 or younger), most of them married men several years older. My classmates who married when they were older–around age 24-27–married men who were only slightly older or younger than they were. One classmate married at age 27, to a man 5 years younger. Have you observed this phenomenon in your research?
artchill, why do you assume that women who move out of town to further their education consider themselves superior to others? I know many women who’ve moved from smaller cities (such as Chicago, Cleveland, or cities with smaller Jewish communities) to the NTC area. Most of them moved for both educational/ job reasons & for shidduch purposes. The women I’ve met don’t have a superior attitude about this. Apparently your experiences are different.
I only mentioned the fact that many women move for shidduch purposes (especially if they are older than the average single), so your 2% data point may be artificially low (what is your source for this, by the way?)
artchill, you wrote, “In Chicago the age 27+ ?is less than 2%”
Is this including women who have moved to other cities for shidduch purposes, and are still single?
mw13, the erev rav were not Jewish, they were Egyptians who joined Bnai Yisrael for opportunistic reasons. Are you implying that those chareidim who rioted are not Jewish either? If you are not implying that (and though I disagree with their actions, I don’t doubt that they are Jewish), then your analogy is faulty.
Just-a-guy, please keep in mind that many posters, expecially those who’ve been here longer, agree with you but choose not to engage in pitched “debates”.
When I was pregnant with my first child, I was very sensitive to smells, and found that many of the smells I encountered during my workday triggered nausea. For some reason wearing a small amount of perfume helped me get through the day without succumbing to morning sickness. I’m sure the four co-workers who shared my cubicle (not to mention my colleagues in the surrounding cubes) appreciated this.
Health, thanks for sharing your opinion. My daughter did indeed have an endoscopy which confirmed a diagnosis of celiac disease. I would not have committed her to a such a restrictive lifetime diet otherwise (and her physician would not have advocated doing so either), especially because she experienced no GI symptoms.
That said, if people do experience relief from IBS symptoms on a GF diet, I would not tell them to stop, even without a diagnosis of celiac disease. It’s possible their is link between gluten (or a similar substance) and celiac, and that this link is not well-understood. For years scientists thought chronic fatigue syndrome was psychosomatic; new research links it to the XMLV virus, which is associated with prostate cancer.
I’ve never met anyone who committed to a GF diet because it’s a “fad”. According to Dr. Alessio Fasano, about 1% of Americans have celiac disease.
ir, my situation really is different form yours, in that my daughter has no GI symptoms (she didn’t even gain much weight on a GF diet though her TTGs improved), so the GF diet is not self-reinforcing for her at all. That’s why I try to make the GF diet easier for her by showing her that for most cakes, cookies, etc there are tasty GF equivalents out there. She is very conscientious about avoiding gluten away from home but I want her to feel she has plenty of choices at home.
Thanks Joseph. Goody613, what is your source for the claim that there used to be a law requiring people to go to college?
havesomeseichel, I’m sure you are aware that most states also allow parents to educate their children at home. Curriculum and testing requirements vary from state to state.
ir, that must have been difficult. It sounds like some of your children don’t need a GF diet. Do they eat gluten outside the home?
A gluten-free diet for all of us simply wasn’t practical–my other children would’ve had a very difficult time with it, and most of them don’t eat enough anyway, so restricting their diets to GF food would not have been healthy. It sounds like it worked out wonderfully for your family though. Kol Hakavod!
Joseph, I can’t find more information about this online. Would you be able to tell us more about this? Copying & pasting is fine.
goody613, what law? Was this a law in the United States, or in another country? Please give a source for this.
I agree with mepal regarding shells under gowns. If I did saw someone wearing a sleeveless gown with a contrasting shell underneath, I’d probably think that she preferred not to invest the time/ money to have it altered, or actually preferred to wear it that way (though I’d prefer not to wear that myself because I don’t like the way it looks). And if I thought anything about the woman’s tznius, it would probably be, “it’s a kiddush haShem to see women who are eager to fulfill the mitzvah of tznius, even if it means they are perceived as compromising fashion”. Not to go all Reb Levi Yitzchok m’Berditchev on you.
NY Mom, I do agree that teenaged girls need to be careful of they way they dress both for tznius reasons and safety reasons.
ir, thanks for the recipe. Since I only have one family member who is GF, & everyone else eats gluten, I do prefer easy recipes/ mixes, and I often buy ready-made products. She usually has oatmeal or french toast for breakfast (I use Ener-G rice bread), but I’ll keep the pancake recipe in mind to use when I have more time to cook.
Was the transition to GF difficult for your family? Or were they more accepting because they knew a GF diet helped them feel better? My dd never had any GI symptoms, but she has been GF for 2/3 of her life & is generally very accepting of the diet. I try to find as many “mainstream” foods as possible that she can eat, even if they are not healthful (our “shabbos cereal” is Fruity Pebbles, since this is one of the few cereal that contains no wheat or barley malt). Also. we do eat cholov stam so she has more food options than otherwise.
mazca, I agree that those behavioral guidelines are appropriate ones for both men and women.
A600KiloBear, you wrote:
“BS”D
EVERY SINGLE frum doctor I know is in it for the parnosso and the “my son in law the doctor” prestige.
They admit it, though some regret it now because of de facto income caps through insurance reimbursement systems that do not make medicine all that attractive to parents of large families.”
I have several relatives who are physicians, and personally know about a dozen other frum physicians. None of them entered the medical field for the prestige; there is very little prestige in being bossed by nurses and bullied by attendings. All of the frum doctors I know chose the profession both to earn a living and to help others. Many of them do have large families; I know one frum physician with 15 children.
As other posters have noted, the best doctors (and many of the frum doctors I know are in this category) don’t just put in the minimum amount of work, but will put in the extra research/ consulting/ testing work required to diagnose the problem. Since doctors are not reimbursed for most of this work, they do this work to help their patients, not for the money.
And mybat, I’ve seen many physicians work for free. Whenever someone approaches a doctor on shabbos/ erev shabbos/ yom tov to have his kid’s ear examined for a possible infection, shift a child’s elbow/ shoulder back into place, or see if an ER visit is required, that doctor is working for free. When someone tells a doctor about his situation and the doctor advises whether a visit to a spcialist is required (and if so, which specialist), that doctor is working for free. Frum doctors do this frequently.
starwolf and Just-a-Guy said it more eloquently than I did, really, but I just wanted to add my personal experience observing practicing physicians.
Jothar, is that why the book was banned?
Jothar, which students did this study survey? Did the students attend local colleges as commuters, or did they attend colleges far from home? If the latter, did they live on campus or in frum communities off-campus?
I knew about a dozen other frum people who attended my commuter college. They all remained at the same level of religious observance, though one pharmacy student who’d attended a co-ed high school now supports a husband in kollel.
I would recommend that someone attending a co-ed college should try to find one close to home, so he can commute. If he must attend college in another city, in my opinion it would be best to choose a college near a frum community & to live within the community rather than on campus.
squeak, I don’t know if any of them are kosher. Luckily my daughter is nowhere near 21 yet.
feivel, I’ve read a lot about gluten-free diets & talked to a lot of people about them. I’ve yet to encounter anyone who thinks there is a “gluten allergy” separate from gluten intolerance (though many of those who don’t know much about celiac disease do describe it as an allergy). Very few people would go on a gluten-free diet on a whim or due to “indulgence” or “opulence”. Really there are few diets less indulgent or opulent than a GF diet, especially for someone who’s already eating kosher. I know I posted this point before but I’d repeat myself eighty times because a GF diet is difficult enough; no celiac should have to deal with ignorant or condescending attitudes besides.
truthsharer, thanks for pointing that out. For those with health spending accounts, many plans allow one to use account funds toward the purchase of gluten-free foods, even if they don’t equal 2% or 7% of income.
ir, I’m not sure about how to obtain oat flour; I once saw it in someone’s house but don’t buy it myself, since my daughter eats the oat matza all year round. Rabbi Kestenbaum’s website is http://www.glutenfreeoatmatzas.com so you may want to contact him.
I also like Arrowhead & Bob’s Red Mill products. Thanks for the tip about Trader Joe’s pasta. Where do you buy bean flour for the flour mix you described? Do you just substitute that mix for regular flour, or do you add any other ingredients ike xantham gum?
If you remember the name of the GF wrap, please let me know. I’ve never found one. My daughter likes corn tortillas, but they tend to be brittle at room temperature.
I usually buy bread for my daughter instead of baking my own. She likes ener-g bread & rolls. That walrus bread sounds great though.
yankdownunder, spelt is not gluten-free, though it may be a suitable substitute for those with wheat allergies.
squeak, I’ve read about GF beer made from corn.
ir, my daughter really liked the Betty Crocker cookies. I haven’t made the cakes or brownies yet. They do call for eggs so you would need to substitute for those.
Do you use oats? If so, there is oat matza/ matza meal & oat flour available (Rabbi Kestenbaum). We do use oats because my daughter’s GI said it was all right, & her TTGs (she gets the blood test every 6 months or so) have been fine since a year after her diagnosis.
I’d be most interested in simple recipes/ substitutions or tips about gluten-free (GF) products you’ve tried & liked. I use mixes/ prepared products for most of her food, since the rest of my family is not GF. My daughter really likes Tinkyada brown rice pasta–it doesn’t collapse into a gelatinous mass as many GF pastas do.
We also stock up on non-gebrochts products around pesach time, and I look for pesach items on clearance afterwards. One aspect of pesach that I really love is that it’s the one time of year we can all easily adhere to a GF diet by eating non-Gebrochts (except for matza of course).
Mod-80, regarding your use of the word “facetious”, this quote seems appropriate here: “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.”
ir, have you tried the cookbooks of Betty Hagman? Also, many pesach cookbooks have recipes that can be adapted, though you’d probably have to use egg replacer (I don’t have personal experience with this).
Do you have any prepared products that you like? I am always on the lookout for new ones. I just discovered a new line of gluten-free mixes from Betty Crocker; unlike the regular products in the line, these are pareve.
What recipes do you use?
feivel, just for your information, the correct term is “gluten intolerance”, not “gluten allergy”. If someone with celiac disease eats wheat, barley, spelt, or rye (or derivatives of these), the villi in the small intestine are damaged, causing malabsorption of nutrients. This is what causes the intestinal symptoms, poor growth/ weight loss, and other symptoms (including infertility & osteoperosis) associated with celiac disease.
Celiac disease is screened for using an antibody test & confirmed through an endoscopy to check for the intestinal damage associated with gluten consumption in celiacs. Based on screenings, 1 in 150 Americans are thought to have celiac disease.
I’ve read a lot about celiac disease & gluten-free diets, and have not encountered any “grassroots knowledge base” that believes gluten is harmful for everyone. This doesn’t even make sense, since the four gluten-containing grains are a basic part of most diets.
There are lots of people who experience various intestinal symptoms & attribute these to gluten intolerance. Also, there are those who believe that autistic symptoms can be cured by following a gluten-free diet. Personally I don’t think there’s medical evidence for the latter (unless the autistic child also has celiac), but I don’t think that parents desperate to find a way to help an autistic child are “sick, opulent, or corpulent”.
Also, I’d like to reiterate that there is nothing “indulgent” or “self-obsessed” about having to tell a 4-year-old that she’ll can’t eat her favorite cereal anymore, or telling a 6-year-old that she can’t eat the birthday cake at her friend’s party.
ir, I would be interested in gluten-free recipes. My oldest child was diagnosed with celiac 8 years ago & has been gluten-free since. The rest of us do eat gluten though.
feivel, as other posters have noted, celiac disease is not an “American mishagos”. Celiac symptoms were first observed almost two thousand years ago, but the definitive link between wheat (and other grains) and celiac was first noted during the Dutch famine of 1944. And believe me, if you’d ever attempted to follow a gluten-free diet, you’d quickly realize there is nothing “indulgent” about it.
Sorry, kapusta, but that isn’t true. People do absorb aluminum from their environment, but very little from aluminum foil or cooking utensils. If you are trying to avoid aluminum, though, you should monitor your consumption of antacids (many of which contain aluminum) and other medications that contain antacids (such as buffered aspirin).
working, another way to keep the avocado from turning brown is to store it with the pit inside. But why do you say that packaging food in silver foil is unhealthy?
Mod 42, thanks for posting that. Even though that perek seems to refer to Har HaZeisim & there’s no mention of anyone being swallowed up, it’s the closest reference in Tanach that I can think of.
postsemgirl, I think he just wrote that line to be dramatic.
Joseph, the lyrics are from MBD’s song “Yerushayim is not for Sale”, which is about the Mormon university built on Har HaTzofim; it was generally assumed that the location was chosen to target Jews for proselytizing. That’s why the song mentions Utah.
postsemgirl, in my opinion those lyrics lend themselves to being mistaken, since the line, “before the mountain top opens wide to swallow you inside” seems to come out of nowhere. It doesn’t really fit with any incident in Jewish or Mormon history.
A600KiloBear, you claim that starwolf’s source is biased. What is your source for the assertion that most medical advances are funded by industry? And which industries are funding these advances?
It is likely true that research for many new drug therapies is funded privately. But the basic science that is behind most medical advances is funded publicly by the NIH. Consider the past 20 or so Nobel Laureates in medicine & physiology: most of their research was not funded by industry.
Poshite Yid, your reply to me seems inconsistent. First you argue that science is “kfirah” because it’s based on observations. Then you quote Rashi regarding the presence of every yid at matan torah. Rashi is actually pointing out that we know matan torah happened because we were there–our own personal observations aka the scientific method.
Like haifagirl, I find that knowledge inspires my emuna much more than ignorance (though I am more interested in physics than chemistry). Obviously your mileage may vary.
Poshite Yid 613, it seems from your posts that you feel the study of science from textbooks or formal coursework is unnecessary because it’s “disgusting”, “brainwracking”, and “boring”, and therefore far inferior to learning about science through their own observations of nature. However, these science books (minus the assumptions about the origins of the life, the universe, and everything) are simply the observations of many scientists. In fact, many people find the study of science to be personally fascinating and challenging, and more intellectually satisfying than learning solely through their own observations. This study of the world around us, whether through formal study of science or through our personal observations, can lead to increased appreciation of the niflaos haBorei.
NY Mom, some bunk beds have guard rails on one side only. Our bunk beds are this type, so we put them against a wall.
Dr. Pepper, that’s a nice moshul. It would definitely apply if the course under consideration is required so that one may finish a degree that will allow him to earn a parnosah. But in your moshul, only those who absolutely need to go somewhere should drive when the streets are icy; everyone else is advised to stay home. The course ames is considering is not a requirement but one that she feels with strengthen her emuna. That said, I do agree with your conclusion.
Mazel Tov! How are you feeling?
ICOT, I did get the year incorrect. As you mentioned, North Korea was already in violation of its 1994 agreement by the time the Prize recipients were considered in 2002. So why would the Nobel Prize committee have considered North Korea in awarding the prize? That doesn’t make sense. Given that Menachem Begin & Anwar Sadat were awarded the Peace Prize in 1978 (President Carter was nominated after the deadline), it does make sense that the committee felt that Carter was due for a prize (even though the committee does not usually recognize mediators, President Clinton received the 1998 prize for his role in Northern Ireland). It’s also possible that his meeting with Fidel Castro earlier in 2002 influenced the committee’s decision. Announcing the award in 2002 was obviously politically motivated by world events at the time, especially the developing war in Iraq which was not generally popular. Based on the facts above, I think Mr. Will’s interpretation is incorrect.
The award speech does mention that not all of Carter’s efforts were successful–probably a reference to the North Korean agreement.