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Joseph, America still has registration so it can draft people at any time. The fact that it can make do with an all-volunteer army is davka due to the nuclear deterrent. Just as Russia can wipe America off the map America can wipe Russia off the map. This kept the two countries from a hot war that could have occurred twice (during the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban missile crisis). Moreover, America has a huge pool of citizens almost its own continent and is at peace with both its neighbors. Israel has approximately the size and population of NJ with enemies on most of its borders.
Akuperma, those newspapers cater to the non-observant public. BTW, when a restaurant in Raanana became shomer Shabbat one of the Meretz city councilors announced a boycott. He was immediately rebuked by his own party.Not to mention that there are two yeshivot gehohot in TA (one in the north and one in the south) which are doing great kiruv work. Not to mention Rosh Yehudi right off Dizengoff.
As for when Israel will be majority observant, it will not be in ten years unless you count those who make kidush and hamoetzi on leil Shabbat, have a formal family meal and then watch TV. However, it will not be long.
Chebbybin, why do you think that you can disagree with the Gemara? As for your doctor and rav you do not know why the doctor was allowed lechatchila (as opposed to being driven by a goy) or why the rav thought that he could hitch. See Shemirat Shabbat k’Hilkata 32,78 that a healthy person cannot eat the leftovers of food that was cooked for a sick person on Shabbat.
Member, he ia a daat yachid.
Charlie,
Don’t worry. The Chareidim are becoming more nationalistic and the RZs are becoming more oriented towards learning. I heard from Rav Yeshayahu Steinberger in the names of both Rav Kook and Rav Soloveichik that this is the meaning of Yehezkel’s statement that Yosef’s stick will unite with Yehuda’s stick. Yosef was fully involved in the general society (Mizrahi) and Yehuda established a state within a state in Goshen )Aguda).
As for your demographic question, First of all the UTJ, Shas and Yachad (which did not pass the threshold for representation) together received a total of 13,7% for a total of thirteen seats. Add to that the working Chareidim who voted for either Bayit Yehudi or Likud (the latter has a Chareidi faction) because they did not feel represented by any of the Chareidi parties. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics the Chareidi growth rate was 5% and the non-Chareidi Jewish growth rate 1.2%. Even if there is a 20% OTD rate (the high estimate, which does not take into account Chareidim who become RZ) that still means that the Chareidim are growing faster than the non-Chareidim.
I have heard of finding kulot called “doing somersaults in the air”.
@Duvidmeir, I heard it in Israeli Hebrew: ??? ??? ??????? ??????.Rabbi of Berlin, the driver does melachot d’Oraita.
Cherybim, we cannot learn halachot from a mmaaseh rav (Baba Batra 130b). You do not know the reason why the “chosuv rav” thought that it was permissible to him (nor why the doctor drove himself instead of calling an ambulance driven by a goy, which is the preferred method – and, in fact, the nurses in my community ride to and from the hospital in a clearly marked van driven by someone who is not halachically Jewish).
Rabbi of Berlin, you can also frame anything as uvda s’chol, immodest or moshav leitzim? Rav Yaakov Emden says this about petting a dog (Sheilot Yaavetz 17 at the end- http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1408&st=&pgnum=41). If you cannot tell what is normative look around and see what frum people are doing. As for the difference between an escalator and a train, an escalator is a staircase that moves. Starting it probably does not involve any Torah prohibition and everyone can see that it is constantly running. Moreover, the shul is a private place and the gabbaim can put up a sign stating that it runs constantly on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
The racial angle is in the eyes of the statistician. A Washington Post study found that an equal number of blacks and whites were shot by police but cited the fact that there are many more whites than blacks. A Harvard study published in Commentary only looked at incidents that might have justified deadly force and found that blacks are actually less likely to be shot by police.
Iacisrmma, what about if there is an eruv?
Charlie, Rabbi Pruzansky makes a great deal of sense. Unlike those who do avoda zara to secular liberalism. Not to mention those who give all the reasons in the world why Crooked Hillary should be indicted and then recommend not indicting her.
Rav Moshe (IM YD 1:44) says that it is a zilzul of Shabbat and is prohibited even for a mitzva. Rav Ovadia (Yehaveh Da’at 6:16) concurs. Now it should definitely be prohibited a smart cards are used. An escalator that is constantly running, however, should be like a Shabbbat elevator. Maybe even easier as everyone sees that it is constantly running. these are different as the consensus is that no Torah prohibition is violated. Rav Shlomo Zalman reported even said that there is no prohibition at all (except for turning on incandescent lights) but the minhag is to be machmir. Moreover, riding on buses and trains is an egregiously weekday activity not in keeping with the sanctity of Shabbat. BTW, in Israel there is a motorized buggy called a kalnoa. For disabled or elderly people there is a Shabbat attachment that runs it on gramma. There is one man in my community who uses it and another whose Fillipino aide drives one without the attachment (so far as I know as it does not have the sign “mitkan Shabbat”).
CTL,
1. Why not require that kids go around with armed guards? It seems to me that “helicopter parenting” is getting way out of hand. The persecution of free-range parents by “child welfare” busybodies (where are they in real cases of abuse?) is the perfect example of a choking bureaucracy.
2. In both the US and Israel telephone service has been deregulated with great success.See the Cato Institutes’ paper “What Happens When Local Phone Service
Is Deregulated?” on-line. Crony capitalism only benefits the cronies.
3. Was CT a better state then or now?
Miamilawyer,
1. It cannot be known what percentage of American blacks are descendants of slave owners . As for Bnei Noach yichus is through the father that would make them Brtish.
2. According to many economists, the welfare state is responsible for entrenched black poverty as it encourages the breakup of families. Regarding the current situation, many observers blame identity politics. Libertarians have jumped on this bandwagon and blamed a general collectivist mentality. IMHO, this seems logical. If you look at the person across from you as another individual you relate to him differently than if you look at him as part of an enemy group. Thus, the generals did not allow a repeat of the first WW1 Xmas truce when Allied and German soldiers fraternized with each other.
CTL,
1. Are they schools or prisons?
2. My experience with central government workers is that they do not care about anything. They just want to collect salaries for a minimal effort. Of course, one can also say that they give equally bad service regardless of political affiliation. When people know you it is hard for them to be unresponsive. Conversely, if someone is a problem neighbor it is easier to deal with him as he wants them to remain responsive to him. In fact, one double settlement (there were two founding groups, one baalei-batish and one yeshivish so they made two separate settlements one right next to the other) united so that it could become a town and run its own municipal affairs.
3. You are assuming that there should be state-allocated franchises. I am in favor of free enterprise.
Health,
1. How many do you have? You have sounded at various times like Joseph and HaKatan.
2. So why didn’t you write that it was not a good idea to have a liberal President?
CTL, non-residents in general receive police and fire protection. Should there be a unified world police force to spread the cost “equitably”. Does it matter that non-residents spend money in the town (if your town is like my settlement the kids buy in the local mini-market during breaks). The fact of the matter is that central bureaucracies are more inefficient and less responsive to the citizens’ needs than local officials. I recommend the article “The Secret of Swiss Success Is Decentralization” at fee.org (I would type a link but I still do not know if the policy has been completely or only partially changed).
CTL, you praised local officials as being efficient and dedicated.(after full disclosure on your negia). In my experience on both sides of the desk the inefficiency and laziness that sometimes crosses the line of robbery of bureaucrats is inversely proportional to the level of government from local to national.Moreover, contrary to what you claim, even without these problems a central government cannot give the individual solutions that are necessary but play to the lowest common denominator.
Perhaps because of this Rambam only enumerates four jobs for the central government: national security, fighting crime, upholding Torah and meting out justice (although each province and locality also had its own system of battei din, as Rambam himself discusses at the beginning Hilchot Sanhedrin). Tzedaka is given over to local communities (and, in fact, Rav Cherlow wrote in the name of Rav Kook that this is because of the inability of a central government’s clerks to give each individual an appropriate solution).
CTL, you are, in fact, supporting the conservative view that services (those that should not be privatized) should be as local as possible. As for not being paid, one can also say that it creates conflicts of interest as officials must have business interests in order to live.
Moderator, please clarify the policy on posting links.
It is at our discretion. If a moderator is familiar with the content and context of a link, he or she may decide to allow it.
Additionally, if it contains other links it is less likely to be approved
See “Halachic Issues CommonlyEncountered During a Hotel Stay on Shabbat
and Yom Tov” Rabbi Joshua Flug (on-line) regarding the above issues. With the proliferation of motion detectors and surveillance cameras it will probably become necessary to adopt the lenient opinions insofar as public places and hotel rooms are concerned. Of course, in one’s own home one should be machmir.
147, there is also a positive mitzva of shevita. Doing something not in the spirit of Shabbat is violating this mitzva.
1. Nobody after Chazal, or perhaps the Geonim,can create a new halacha for all of Am Yisrael. However, the mara d’atra can create a takkana for his community. Moreover, obligatory minahim can spring up from the people. The classic examples are not eating kitniyot (which some Rishonim opposed) or gebruchts (which the Gra strongly opposed) during Pesach.
2. The Shela HaKadosh mentions that some had a minhag to only speak Hebrew on Shabbat. However, it never caught on. Perhaps because people’s conversational Hebrew was not good.
3. Regarding umbrellas, according to the Chatam Sofer (Responsa OC 72 – http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14663&st=&pgnum=54) it is not even an isur d’rabbanan. The Biur Halacha (315,7 d”h tefach) says:
“????? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ?????? ??”? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ?????”.
The Chazon Ish says that it is tikkun man and avsha milta (which I do not understand as that generally refers to noise) and adds that even in our time there is the power to make decrees for all of Am Yisrael (which is also very puzzling as there has no been a Sanhedrin for over 1,500 years).
However, the universal minahg is not to use it on Shabbat or Yom Tov (interestingly, certain types of hats which almost definitely have the din of tents are allowed because of minhag – Mishna Berura 301,151-152).
DY, I do not understand what “chadash assur min haTorah” has to do with it. I also do not understand the problem with the rider’s body moving. This is also true of walking. As for the Shailat Yaakov, he is talking about a place where there is no eruv. The problem of possibly going outside the techum also might not apply today as the area of continuous houses is enormous.
According to some poskim if your weight influences the amount of electricity used it is prohibited. Certainly if it was started by or for a Jew (or even if the majority of the users are Jewish).
The Ben ish Hai allowed it, and an acquaintance of mine told me that in his youth in Ntanya the Sepharadim rode bicycles to shul on Shabbat. However, Rav Mordechai Eliahu, who was a great-nephew of his, said that he was talking about a certain type of bicycle that was driven by an Arab – and even on that he rescinded his heter. I also heard that Rav Chaim Zimmerman was very upset with the reason for prohibiting it (maybe the chain will break and one will come to fix it) because there is no power to make new gezerot. However, today it is prohibited either because of that reason or uvda d’chol or minhag Yisrael. Regarding a tricycle, Shemirat Shabbat k’Chilkata (16,17) explicitly states that it is permitted in the home or even outside where there is an eruv as it is a toy. However, he says that it is a good idea to remove the bell.
Time, wrong. He was a Michigan(d)er. I doubt if he had Jewish neighbors as at that time there were restrictive covenants that barred selling to Jews. He would certailny have lived i such a neighborhood as he even thought that there were too many Jews in baseball.
Gavra, I was told by someone who was there that when Rav Moshe went to Catskills he wore a Panama hat.
Health, maybe because we were weak in the will to fight.
Time (BTW, ‘truth” in Russian is “pravda”),you forgot gerontocracy – the rule of the elderly.
Mdd, the Sephardi ketuba says that he will not take another wife without her permission. In any case, everywhere it is mentioned in Tanach there is trouble in the family. Once an Arab bragged to an acquaintance of mine that he is allowed four wives. He replied that that means four mothers-in-law. the Arab sighed.
Nisht, the point is that he compared writing a song to inventing a machine.
Here is the passage that is relevant to this thread:
????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ?? ????? ???? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ?????????? ??? ?????? ???. ??”? ?? ???????? ?? ????? ??? ???? ??? ??? ?????
Charlie, the good kings were not tyrants. There were also enlightened monarchs among the other nations. However, they were few and far between. Moreover, even a non-monarch can be a tyrant. Rav Lior said that the form of government does not so much matter. A good person will be a good king or PM and a bad person will be a tyant.
The were also kollelim before WW2 but they were restricted to the most advanced learners. In Lithuania there were also “kibbutzim” (!) which functioned like extended retreats today.
Joseph, in Israel there is also Chardal (Chareidi Leumi).
Gavra, actually the perush is Rashbam not Rashi. he is correct that the diagonal of a five by five square is similar to that of a four by six rectangle (the former is the square root of 50 and the latter the square root of 52)). I do not understand how Tosafot made the mistake that the former is greater then the latter, especially as they know that the the area is greater. They are also very close regarding the diagonal of the four by six (the difference can be put down to a scribal error). Chazal definitely knew the Pythagorean theorem as in several places they say that the diagonal of a one by one square is 1.4.
In any case, this is not Halacha but Geometry.
Akuperma, fanatics are in the eye of the beholder.
Joseph, you have an uncanny knack for being wrong. The term came to distinguish observant Jews from the non-observant (Chofshi’im). BTW, the English equivalent “Quaker” was originally a derogatory term used by King George I to William Penn, who would not take his hat off in deference to the king. Penn told the King that instead of worrying about silly thing like hats, he should be “Quaking before the Lord.” The King then responded “Get this quaker out of here!”
.??? ????? ??, ?
?? ????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ????????, ???? ????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ???? ?????
?????? ??????. ???: ????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??????. ????? ?????.
.??? ???? ???, ?
???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ???????, ??? ????? ????? ???”? ?????? ????? ???????; ???
????? ?????, ??? ???: ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??”?? ????? ?????. ???? ???? ???
??? ??? ????? ?????? ???, ??? ??? ??? ????? ???, ??? ??? ??? ??”? ????? ????; ???
????? ?????, ??? ???: ??? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ??”? ???? ???? ????? ?????. ????
???? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?? ???, ??? ????? ????, ??? ???: ??? ?????? ???
???? ???, ???? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ?????! ????? ?????.
?? ??”? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?
??? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ???????? ?????? ???, ??? ???? ???? ??????
???? ?????? ??????? ??????.
??”? ??? ????? ?, ?
?????? ????? ?? ?????.
??? ???? ??? ?, ??? ????, ???
??? ???? ????? ??? ??? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ?????.
??? ???? (????? ???? ???, ??? ?, ???? ??)
?????? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???, ???? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ???? ????? ????, ???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ????, ??? ???? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ???????, ?? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????? ???????, ???? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?????. ??? ?????, ?? ????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ?? ?? ??? ?????, ?? ????
???? ???.
Rav Moshe was asked if it is permissible to play his songs. He replied that being that his songs have no kedusha it would be the same as using a machine made by a mumar. I suspect that he specifically meant a car as he was from Russia and the Russian word for “car” is “machina”. In fact, Henry Ford ym”s enabled the average person to afford a car with his assembly line.
Truth, on the contrary. Maskilim ignored Rambam in favor of Spinoza.
Joseph so does the RCA.
Neville, I think that the evolving position on abuse is an example.
DY, the Mharshal (Chochmat Shlomo Sanhedrin 52) says that that does not apply if there is no nafka mina l’dina – and does so himself. Moreover, nobody ever died from a kashia. Resolving it is not arguing but clarifying.
Truth, no but my guess is as good as yours. Of course, we do the mitzvot because Hashem said so but there is also “nishma”. BTW, Rambam says that sacrifices were because of primitive practices.
Chareidim means “those who quake” (at Hashem’s word) and appears in Nevi’im. Rav Kook was opposed to such words as they prevent teshuva. Some who has this label thinks that it means that he is A-OK. The same can be said for “Chassidim” as was noted in an article on problems in that community.
DY, actually it was around before. “Charlemagne” means “Charles the Great”. While one of the Baalei Tosefort is Rabbenu Peter I do not know of a Charlie.
Dbrim, you heard wrong or you remember wrong. See the Wikipedia article on the Jewish tailor Jacob W. Davis under the title “The birth of jeans”
Gavra, Rav Falk is known to be extremely machmir. This has been a hallmark of popular halacha books since Rav Neuwirh was forced to retract leniencies in the first edition of “Shemirat Shabbat K’Hilchata” after being attacked and threatened with a cherem on the book. Read “UNDERSTANDING TZNIUT: Modern Controversies in the Jewish Community” by Rabbi Rabbi Yehuda Henkin also. If you have a practical question ask your LOR.
Charlie, are you now paskening for Moslems too. Why are we the only ones who get to have a chumra of the month club?
Popa, if he was someone named Charlie he did not have the status of Rabbenu Nissim even if he was a talmid.
Time, are you are a prophet that you know Hashem’s reasons? Perhaps a possible reason behind slavery, a dependent personality, has been sufficiently eradicated. However, it has not been completely eradicated. We have people who commit crimes in order to go back to prison as well as those who enslave themselves to phony “mekubalim” and an exaggerated idea of daat Torah that began with the Chassidic relationship to the rebbe.
Charlie, who is this professor and what is his proof? The Tzitz eliezer accepts it and those poskim who are meikal do not seem to dispute that the Ran wrote it. They simply hold like Rambam.
??”? ??? ??? (?????? ???? ???) ?’ ?
?”? ????? “???? ????” ?”? ????? ?????????, ????? ???? ?????, ???’ ???? ?????, ??? ??????? ????’ ??? ????? ???? ????? ?? ???. – ?”? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ??”?, ????”? ???? ??”? ??? ????, ???? ???? ??. ??? ?? ????, ????? ??????? ???? ?????? ???? ????, ??? ?”? ????”? ??? ???, ????? ????, ?? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ?????. – ?”? ?????? ????? ?”? ??, ??? ????? ????”? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ?? ????? ??”?. ??? ??? ??? ???? ????, ???? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??”? ??? ????? ???? ?????. ?? ?? ?”? ???”? ?? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ????’ ???? ???? ??? ????? ???”?. – ????”? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????, ?? ????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?????.
Sam, at that time there was a chumra to say ah”a. At least that is what the teshuva says to the best of my recollection. Bli neder I will look it up when I have time.
Gettingholld, I would say the opposite. Because they did not consider it a”z they attended. Rambam’s statement could either mean that they attended but did not pray or that they got out of attending. BTW, Rav Kook says that a shochet can say “Allh hu akbar” (Gd is great) when shechting for Moslems, as they demanded during one period.