Patri: I think you misunderstood the Gemorah in Sanhadrin. There was clothing that was specifically for Jews; it was a yellow badge, long undergarments, or wear clothing that were black or dark blue color; and all this was not in the time of Shmad that the goyim instituted to keep Jews separate ( a broacha in disguise). Under Muslim rule, women had to wear a black and a red shoe, and each woman had to have a small brass bell on her neck or shoe. These all became distinctive Jewish clothing over time, like the shtraimel today. In the time of Shmad, even these clothing one cannot change once they become a levush of a Jew. The Rambam (Hilchos Avodah Zarah 11:1): specifically states that the clothing referred to in the gemorah are clothing specifically for goyim; like you had in the olden days. Today, where there is no real distinction between a Jews clothing and a Goy (I am not talking about rednecks or bikers guys), I do not think you can argue, based on that gemorah, that there is no issur of dressing fashionably. Maybe be a waste of money and an issur of Baal Tashchus of well earned money:)

Hakatan:

shmoel: You continually ignore that Touro has the same clubs and funds them.

Patri: As a follow up, if you need to read YU content, please visit http://www.yutorah.org/index.cfm which is run my Rabbonim and not college kids.

Hakatan: I think Matan1 stated HALACHIK standards. Yes, while you may feel having opposite genders sitting around the table is not up to your Standards and the Yeshiva standards, it in no way reflects any halachik standards that are inferior. Halachikly, there is no issue. Our Gedolim went to weddings with mixed genders where everyone is dressed up, here in a college environment, I would have to assume it is much better. In addition, while the Yated and Hamodea might not give reviews on Pubs, again, halachiklly there is no issue.

I also think the whole tznius conversation is a mute point to make since tznius is not a way of dress which a lot of people are mistakenly assume. Tznius is a way of life which incorporates attitude, dress, conversations etc in any given society. For example, go to Yemen and your wife, daughter or mother would be considered untznius in the Jewish community. You can argue about your Rosh Yeshivous and Gedolim say they are tzniusdik, but to them, you are not tznius and they would probably not marry into your family for being MO. Or closer to home, if your wife does not wear a hat on top of her shaitel, she is untzneus according to the Munkatch Chassdism.

So while you might not agree with the YU/MO derech, it is a halachiklly permitted derech. True, it is not the Yeshiva Derech, but it is nonetheless a derech to Hashem.

shmoel: You might have missing my other post, so here goes..

A college can not discriminate and must accept everyone. Even Touro Hakodosh has a Toeva club…. I wonder if Rabbonim will come out against Touro.

http://www.touro.edu/EDGRAD/EAC/otherareas/bh_sept28_packet_need_for_LGBTO_youth.asp

And Touro even funds these groups:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touro_University_Gay%E2%80%93Straight_Alliance. (I know wiki is not a good source, but the actual sources are listed on bottom of the page).

SO I guess now people should consider Touro without a Bais Medrish or YU that has a Bais Medrish. Since they both fund all types of clubs.

Popa: By the time you go to Graduate school, you should already have your own Administrative Assistant 🙂 Actually, my grad school graded our papers on content, writing style, use of language and brevity.

Health: Please do not confuse respect with Hate. I don’t care enough about Touro to even put forth any hate emotions. I am stating my experience and as it indicates, I do not respect it. However, B’h it’s LH and not Mozyzi Shem Rah, cause that would mean I also lied. And yes, I went to the one on Ave J and probably knew about 50% of the guys. I stand by what I said.

Also, the same halacha issues you have in coed schools you have working. I can’t fathom what halacha issues you are referring to, but I realize it’s never to late to create a new chumrah.

What college have you went to where they had class on shabbos?!! I went to undergad and grad school and NEVER had a class or exam on shabbos!! You either take weekday classes, night classes or weekend classes. If you are not signed up for a weekend class, you NEVER have class on shabbos. As far as Yom Tov, why is it any different than anything else in life. Yes, you can take off, but you are still responsible for what happens! Do you use that excuse at work? “Sorry, I was off for my holiday so I missed the deadline.” No, you get the work done before Yom Tov starts and follow up after Yom Tov.

The only “maileah” Touro had was it did not require SAT’s. I am forever grateful for that 🙂

Greatest: Obviously, you can not comprehend what I am asking you for the fifth time so forget it. Enjoy your Touro Education, for everyone else, look else where. This is exactly what I referred to when I said Touro is another 4 years of High School where people insult and speak to one another in condescending tone of voice. Thanks for proving my point.

akuperma: Nicely summed up.

WIY: I do have a large family and as I explained it is an effort one must make. Look at it this way, you either spend money on a babysitter and coffee to go out for an hour or two, or you will be spending it on therapists or c’v divorce lawyers. It’s not the difficult to see which the cheaper and preferred option is. People make excuses why they cannot go out. As you explained, you have simchas to attend. How often do you attend simchas? If you can find time and money to go out for family or friends simchas, you can go out with your spouse. Just as an FYI, if we do have a simcha, we usually leave after dinner and some dancing and spend some time talking in the car or sitting in Starbucks for a half an hour.

There is a misconception among the frum community that once you are married you can stop dating. This is the issue! Kids or no kids, it is important for couples to just go out. I make it a point to go out with my wife once a week; even if it is just for coffee. A lot of issues and stress can easily be overcome by just connecting on an adult level, and not just around kids.

Wolf: I agree, the tuition should be based on what HKBH provides me to pay for tuition. Since this is a separate chesbon from my regular income, one can assume it is also a separate expense; thus, the money left over from my regular expenses we can assume is meant for Tuition. This being the case, tuition should not be more than a few hundred dollars a month since that is all that HKBH allotted for tuition.

In addition, we should not pay 100k for Rabbayim since their parnassa comes from HKBH and they should not rely on mankind to subsidize what HKBH provides.

Payos (behind the ear) should be cut off (unless you are a Brisker which makes it the bushier the better), and leave a side burn like Elvis. A small enough chup so the hat could carefully hang on an angle on the head, but not to much of an angle where it will look bumish.

shmendrick, I agree with you!

I told my tution comittee that they are my “tzara” which obligated me from refraining to having more children!

This Shayleah is on anything produced by nochrim and opened on Shabbos. Entermains, Lolaya Nishmas, Hostess Bakery, etc where they are massed produced in the midwest. A better question would be is who turns onthe oven if for whatever reason they go out on shabbos? These are all questions the hashgocha agencies think about and find solutions.

Naysberg

Please list ONE mitzvah D’ Rabbanan they violate. Please do not list chumras.

“Absolutely INCORRECT. That is not the history of MO – MO was started as a way to keep pre-WW2 Americans who wanted to retain some standard of shmiras hamitzvos from falling off altogether. Rav Soloveichik was a pessimist who felt Yiddishkeit had to be diluted to meet the demands of American life.”

That is abolutely INCORRECT. MO started because FRIM jews did not know how to survive outside the shtatel. They came to America and was lost. Rav Soloveichik taught them how to be a frum jew and do the avodas hashem no matter what country one lives in. I actually laughed out loud that there is a notion of “Yeshivish Lite”. Most of them are commonly known as BUMS!

Health- ANYONE can argue on R’ Moshe zt’l! Just because he was a gadol does not mean everyone follows his psak. A great example is carrying in Boro Park, a place R’ Moshe assured, but yet you have THOUSANDS of frum Jews (maybe chassidim are the new Mo) carrying every shabbos. You have hundreds of Sefardim carrying on Ocean Parkway!!

Hakatan: Just to clarify, Modern Orthodoxy also had Daas Torah, just not yours.

The reason why MO has a higher OTD rate then other groups is because all the yeshivish, litvish and chassidish boys and girls who are frustrated with the insular way of life they are forced to lead got fed up and found a more enlightening derech to Hashem. Unfortunately, after years of being forced to observe the mitzvous instead of teaching them how to love it, all the mitzvous seem abhorrent and they go off the derech completely. You should think of MO has the Jewish Safety Net which is the last step before people go completely off.

I would have to ask my wife first.

I would be interested in knowing the makur of Tznius. Where in the Torah does it describe the lengths and clothing sytle that is considered minHatorah permissible?

The issue here is not with the husband looking at certain sites, but the cause of him looking at those sites. Yes, every man has a tayvah, but it is different to act upon it. For all those who suggest a wife going to a Rov, I would be the first to inform all of you that if my wife ever embarrassed me like that, I would ask for a divorce; and I told her this. If there is an issue she wants to discuss, she should come to me first before talking about it to anyone else. I just find it amusing that couples share the same home, but find it difficult sharing their thoughts and feelings.

Second, as mentioned, before, a Rov is not a marriage counselor and cannot help a couple in the time of need. Yes, he can discuss the halachos, avaros, punishments, etc, but not the cause.

The question everyone should be asking is why is he looking at those sites? What is driving him there? Most likely, there is a fundamental issue in their marriage that only a professional, certified marriage counselor can discuss and resolve.

And if looking at those sites cause alarm enough for a divorce, then the couple should get divorced since it seems the wife does not love her husband enough to help him through this time. The divorce is bound to happen sooner a later; either with him looking at sites, not wearing his black hat in the bathroom, or any other action that she deems inappropriate. My suggestion would be for him to divorce her because as they get older he might get sick and she would not know how to handle it either.

Sam2 Well said!!

Toi: African Americans wear black hats too, so according to your arguments a nice jewish boy should not wear it anymore.

Sam2: If the bread was baked commercially it is not asser. Bishul Akum was created against home baked goods.

Health: here is the link to the StarK’s website that discusses Bishul Akum and the heter of the light bulb.

http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-issues-pas.htm

I wore a skirt on Purim. Boy was i cold. I give women a lot o credit wearing it in the winter.

A Yarmulka is a minhag, so I do not think it is a davar shel bkdusha. To prove, we kiss tzitis. We kiss Tefelin. We kiss a siddur. Do we kiss a yarmulka when it falls on the floor? Can we remove tzitis when wearing a four corner beged when going to work? We can remove a yarmulka.

So there is no issue putting ANYTHING on a yarmulka. If you want to argue ‘Se Pasht Nish’…that is a totally different argument.