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RE, it doesn’t say not.
Is a Sephardi a Yid?
Milhouse, so what do you think id the reason? Suppose there is a gathering to which anyone can come but for whatever reason it is clear that only as few will actually come. Now suppose that someone sends invitations to everyone in the phone book with a Jewish-sounding name. Would the former require a mechitza but the latter not? BTW, as I posted, he only says that there should be a mechitza lechatchila but adds that if people will not come otherwise it need not be cancelled.
Milhouse, actually he wrote that if one or two women come to a shiva house the men can daven there without a mechiutza. He did say what you said about a derasha but only lechatchila (OC 8:11). I still don;t undertstand what difference an invitation made. Maybe he thought that since the derasha was meant for kiruv purposes the women might not dress properly. One could say that כלל הציבור means that the general public would come.
BTW, I asked a rav who is a talmid of Rav Soloveichik and he said that RS’s motzaei Shabbat shiurim in Boston had mixed seating. He did say that when Rav Schachter came to speak at his shul he said that he “preferred” separate seating but did not say that there should be a mechitza.
Milhouse, I read his teshuva on weddings and he does not say that there. If you cannot come up with a quote I will assume that it does not exist. In fact, there is no reason why an invitation should make a difference. Here is the quote from his teshuva on weddings. BTW, the Levush says in the Likutim that in his day they already had mixed seating and says that they were used to being around women in business so it was no big deal.
Milhouse, where does he say that an invitation is required? BMG, he only says that regarding tefilla and at a מקום קיבוץ, which he does not define (he explicitly says that weddings do not even require separate seating and all of his children had mixed-seating weddings).
Rav Soloveichik not only allowed women to learn Gemara but inaugurated the bet midrash at Stern College. He reasoned that today women have high-level secular educations so they need similar Torah education. This was really just a continuation of Bet Yaakov, which was also a big chiddush when it started. Whether it is permissible or not to have a mixed shiur is a question for a posek. Most of the shiurim at the OU Israel Center are mixed so I presume that there are those who allow it. In some communities there is separate seating with or without a mechitza.
It beats breaking the window, releasing the emergency brake and pushing it out. Once someone blocked the main path *there was a roundabout way) from my apartment to the main road. I wrote in large letters בור ברשות הרבים ע’ בבא קמא דף כח עמ’ א and put the paper under his windshield wipers. End of problem.
RR44,
1. Are you saying that German Jews should not have opposed Hitler ym”s in the last few elections in Weimar Germany? As for leaving the country, polls already stated that. They also said that Hitler would not do everything he said once he was a leader as happens with many politicians.
2. Actually, Rav Chaim Ozer and the Brisker Rav lived in what was then eastern Poland. At first it was under Soviet occupation. The former died before the German attack (which was actually Hitler’s first unbelievable mistake, the second being declaring war on the US). The fact that many gedolim were tragically wrong about not leaving is another discussion.
3. I can think of several past and present leaders who are not outspoken antisemites or even closet antisemites. Trump. Reagan. LBJ. JFK. Macron. Thatcher.Joseph, what about trolls?
CTRebbe, am I correct in assuming that the last half percent understand neither English nor Yiddish?
The Meshech Chochma says that if Jews think that Berlin (or NY or Monsey or Lakewood) is their Jerusalem a great storm will come to uproot them.
Rambam says explicitly in his introduction to Shemoneh Perakim that he learned from non-Jewish writings. There is wisdom among the other nations. Sometimes they even say more or lessthe same as rabbinic sources. For example, John Adams said that the US Constitution is only appropriate for a religious and moral people, The Netziv says in He’emek Devar that the mitzva to appoint a king was conditioned on the people asking for one because some generations need a king and some need a republican form of government. Great minds really do think alike.
L’havdil
The reason for the minhag was that Jews were too poor to have many sefarim in their homes and it was dangerous to be outside at night. The first part no longer applies. The second applies every night in Brooklyn.
CS, what are Torah values? What about a book that accepts the scientific theory of the age the universe and resolves the apparent conflict with Torah? As for novels, their interpretation is up for grabs. Once Agnon (what about his books or Shalom Aleichem’s?) was asked what he meant by something he wrote. He referred the questioner to a well-known literary critic. What about a non-Jewish book about someone overcoming obstacles?
Lakewhut, on the contrary, a very large percentage of Israelis are “traditional” which often means kiddush and hamotzi on Shabbat followed by TV/going to a soccer game, keeping kosher and even taharat hamishpacha. As for measuring OTD, in the RZ sector, in particular on settlements, many young people stay in the community and play by the rules in public while doing what they want in private. Do they count as OTDs?
How about coming home to Israel or at least starting to plan? That is the biggest avodat Hashem and includes everything else. According to Ramban all your avoda in Chul is onky practice.
Joseph, it’s referring to someone whose objects are blocking your property. In any case, there is no issue of mesira in a democracy. It is a partnership of all of the citizens, both Jews and non-Jews. Even in authoritarian regimes t is permitted to turn over someone who is a public nuisance.
RD, even you know that he is Jewish you can do anything legal to clear away his car. According to Halacha you can break his window, release the brake and push it away. The Gemara discusses this on Baba Kama 28a (daf koach).
RE,
1. Shaul did not prohibit it. Hashem prohibited it – and Shaul violated orders.
2. The order to Shaul was a one-time mitzva.
2. Who says that that was the reason?
4. Not all of the enemies were Amalekites. Many were opportunists.SpiderJerusalem, you have it backwards. Dogs and cats are honest. Pigs are hypocrits. They put their feet forward in a pretence that they are kosher. In fact, there is a Yiddish expression for a hypocrit “pigs have kosher feet”.
K, you are correct. Only a gadol like Rav Kook can say it – and part of being a gadol is being an original thinker. Chazal say it regarding the אשת יפת תואר. We also see at the end of Megillat Esther it is noted that the Jews did not take booty. Yet in the Chumash it is clear that it was permitted.
K, as a matter of fact, Rav Kook says that many things the Torah permitted were only meant to be temporary measures to ameliorate conditions which were too ingrained to be prohibited immediately or for emergency situations. Chazal, in fact, say that a man should not marry off his minor daughter. Tosafot explains that it was done in their time because of special conditions. Among these were the אשת יפת תואר and slavery. Similarly, in the time before the social safety net selling one’s daughter was a way to get her out of poverty where the father could not support her. Thus, whether or not it is wrong is subjective.
RD, who gave you a heter to read that publication? The fact of the matter is that many olim from Russia (in Russia, BTW, a Russian, that is to say his ID card lists him a “Russki” is someone who is ethnically Russian whereas a Jew is listed as a Yevrei – Hebrew) are Chareidim or RZ.
Eliezer, what does that have to do with anything here? As for the subject of the thread, there are many rabbanim who use WhatsApp and SMS to answer questions. There is a Shabbat pamphlet here in Israel that features a WhatsApp advice column by a rav.
Mod, I did not write all. I just asked about those who do. If that is smearing this whole thread is smearing.
The Rebbe has a smartphone because he is smart. So fare as “domeh l’malach” is concerned, the Chatam Sofer says that just as a malach does not advance the rebbe gives up his advancement to teach.
Smearing a population of klei kodesh based of a very minority group’s misbehavior is more about personal bias than truth.
edited
The EH is mainly Hungarian Yerushalmi Chassidim but there are different factions. There is even a Sephardic Eida Chareidit. There is a Wikipedia article in Hebrew if you are interested.
ZSK, why stop there? It is obvious that the tzaddi was originally pronounced as a hard “s” as in Arabic. The word in the Gemara for “stadium” is אצטדיון with the alef being added because our ancestors could not pronounce a sheva nach at the beginning of a word. One of the Baalei Tosafot is רבי אליעזר ממץ. In French it is pronounced “Messe”. In the neighboring German dialect, however, it is pronounced “Mets”. Apparently migration eastward caused Ashkenazim to change their pronunciation.
It is natural for language to have pronunciation differences. For example, “cancel” is pronounced “concel” in some places. Moreover, pronunciation of Hebrew was influenced by local languages. In the case of tav/sav it is apparently a hardening or softening of thav (which is the Yemenite pronunciation). We see, in fact, that this is the transliteration in Latin letters (e.h. Ruth). As for kamatz and patach, it is clear that the original difference was slight as Rabbenu Bachye warns against pronouncing them identically. It seems that some groups exaggerated the difference to avoid this whereas others gave up (although Rav Ovadia, Rav Kassin and others say that knowledgeable Sephardim differentiate).
Only if you are a Vulcan.
Charlie, wrong. The quotas for Germany and Austria were far from filled. However, the Breckinridge Long ym”s sent instructions to throw up every possible bureaucratic obstacle.
GRATEFULBLAC. JFK admitted that he was at fault. If so many people are the subject of conspiracy theories one could also say that he was doing many things right. However, he was a failure in the sense that he could not get bills through Congress. It took wheeler-dealer LBJ to do that. BTW, LBJ was a cynical, crooked politician. He won a Congressional election with more votes than registered voters. He also said in private about the Civil rights Act of 1964 that “now the n—–s will vote Democratic for 200 years”. On the other hand, he saved many Jews during the Thirties. Some say that his maternal great=grandparents were Jewish, which, of course, would have made him halachically Jewish.
Yserbius, Grant did teshuva. He offered Joseph Seligman the Treasury Department. If Seligman had accepted he would have been the first Jewish cabinet member. Grant also was the first President to attend a synagogue dedication and expressed regret for his expulsion of Jews during the Civil War. However, he did not know how to choose people and was surrounded by corrupt individuals.
Benignuman, on the other hand Wilson appointed the first Supreme Court Justice (Brandeis) over blatant antisemitic objections – he also appointed the first Jewish professors to Princeton. He also explicitly denigrated the Constitution, and especially the system of checks and balances, and fostered the administrative state. BTW, Lincoln also refused to listen to Chief Justice Roger Taney in Ex Parte Merryman and even wrote a letter telling him that it would have been a violation of his (Lincoln’s) oath of office to comply.
Dor, the SA says (OC 124:6) that it is much worse. His sin is greater than he can bear and he should be told off. The MB (s”k 27) brings down that several shuls were destroyed because of this. The Tosofot Tom Tov blamed the Chmielnitzky massacres on it and wrote a special “mi sheberach” for those who do not talk. It is even forbidden to talk about Torah (Aruch haShulchan seif 12) or learn quietly (MB s”k 17). The Kaf haChaim says (s”k 37) that the shul police should give the talkers many punishments and embarrass them in public.
Eliahu, on the contrary, in shul it is prohibited to show love for anyone but Hashem (Rema, OC 98:1). Moreoevr, it is prohibited to hold anything other than a siddur because the person will concentrate on not dropping it rather than davening. This is even true in other parts of the service as it is disrespectful towards Hashem (Shulchan Aruch 96:1, Mishnah Berurah 96:1 and 5, based on Talmidei Rabbeinu Yonah, Taz).
CTL, that just shows the silliness of these laws. Of course, NYS takes the cake banning discrimination on the basis of facial hair or ethnic hair style. However, just as government may accommodate religion (e.g. by allowing time off due to religious observance) sp too should this option be allowed. Having written that, Rav Moshe ruled(IM EH 2:14) that there is no prohibition even on the NYC sardine cans (the subway) as any touching is non-affectionate.
Eliahu, you are correct although some people have a tefilla app. It even pops up things like “Yaaleh v’Yavo” on the proper days. I did see one opinion though that if the phone part is not turned off it is like holding something other than a siddur while davening. While we are on that subject, what about people who hold small children while davening?
1. All Rav Heller says is that it counts as a prayer. So he gets a merit but what about the demerit of not praying when the Halacha tells him to?
2. As for preparation, what would a king say to someone who excused his chronic lateness for audiences by saying that he had to practice his speech? It was because of things like this that he Gra put them in cherem. BTW, in “All for the Boss” Ruchama Schein mentions that her father once asked a rebbe why he did not daven according to the zemanim. He replied that he was ill and was not able to daven on time. Rav Herman then asked what was the excuse of his chassidim. The rebbe replied “Chazal say that if someone has yirat Shemayim people listen to him. So you tell them”.
3. Even if someone started before chatzot it would have to be an awfully long Amida to take him almost to Mincha time, especially in the summer. Perhaps they are dyslexic.
Eliezer,
1. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 8:2) only says that it is “correct”. That it is to say, it is a good custom to be yotzi all opinions (Aruch haShulchan seif 6) . The Mishna Berura (s”k 4 says that someone who was never married should not.
2. The SA says until chatzot. The Rema says that after chatzot it is prohibited. The Mishna Berura (s”k 7) brings the opinion you cited and rejects it with both hands. Even one second after chatzxot is too late. The Aruch haShulchan (seif 14) also says that after chatzot one may not daven Shacharit. Rather one should first daven Mincha and then daven tashlumim.
In any case, I think that something is very wrong if there are two large minyanim doing that.
Joseph, cite a source that says that one may daven Shacharit when it is almost time for Mincha.