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Aaq, i think the fact that the gemara says that we’re concerned that he directed his bracha to Har Grizim indicates that we’re talking about actual kusim, who worshipped the mountain.
Im not sure it’s a question of shituf or a question of which kusim believed in complete avodah zara. Either way, all evangelicals believe in avodah zara, which is different from kusim, because some clearly would make brachos to Hashem Himself.
The gemara, brought in shu”a, says that when you hear half of a bracha made by a kusi, you don’t answer amen (we’re talking about brochos, shehakol, birkas hashavhar…) because he might have directed the bracha at Har Grizim. This is because it is known that some kusim believe in Hashem, but many are believers in shituf, as far as i know.
Evangelicals believe in the Trinity. There’s no doubt who they’re referring to when making blessings. But I’m not talking about blessings here – Christian speakers like to have their audience respond Amen to statements that they make which they want affirmation of. I believe the pastor said something he wanted a show of support for, but to use the word Amen to an idolator in a public mass gathering of Jews is a chilul Hashem. Having him speak at all is also a chilul Hashem.
It should be noted that reportedly, at least a large amount of those assembled “gave an amen” to an evangelical pastor who requested it. A pastor whose religion teaches that most of those assembled and everyone on this forum is condemned for all eternity for not accepting their mangod.
There’s a big difference between the rabbis march on Washington during the war and today’s matzvav.
Asking, begging for help during the Holocaust on behalf of a humanitarian cause is different than flying a foreign countrys flag and demanding that the United States assist that country, even though the intent of many demonstrators is that the US help Israel defend its citizens, namely acheinu bnei yisroel.
The rabbis march would only anger goyim who are already extremely antisemitic; this rally could play into the dual loyalty stereotype and other tropes which some goyim might be on the fence about.
The agudah was pretty pareve in its statement, and it isn’t as if all pf the mostzes signed a letter…there are different shitos on this particular rally.
I’ve never seen a more galvanized and violent anti israel left wing before. In light of what’s going on in the streets and colleges, my feeling is that there might be a sakanah in the rally – what better place to find a huge amount of jews and maximize….rachmana litzlan, especially when the anti Israel groups contain potential terrorists.
Marx, it’s a valid point, but liberals contribute far more to the moral decay of society with their policies.
It’s the lesser of two evils, especially since he has a soft spot for Jews
“lying, racist, repeat-adulterer”
I see nothing on this list which contravenes a non jewish man’s halachik obligations.
Trump did a lot for the Jewish people. He freed rubashkin and pollard, he made Jewish-ness into a protected class under title 9, (which was nationalistic, but he can’t be expected to know that) he made the most pro Israel moves of any president in the modern era, including the Abraham Accords, without making Israel give up anything (like in Oslo or camp David).
to be fair to him, the criticism might be that he didn’t do enough to distance himself from antisemites, but this is more because he doesn’t want to sacrifice any of his votes, not because he is sympathetic to them – trump was a big donor to Jewish causes before entering politics. I don’t see any logic in the conclusion that he is himself Antisemitic or that he intentionally fans the flames of jew hatred
Avi Schnall is no different than any other frum elected official who has been endorsed by rabbonim, as in, daas Torah. That includes Kalman Yeger, Simcha Eichenstein, Simcha Felder, and many others. Avi Schnall’s endorsement would not cause people to question daas torah, because daas torah never stated that all frum politicians must be Republicans, only that when voting for non frum or non jewish candidates, one should typically vote Republican. Rav miller didn’t say that there are never situations where one can’t vote Republican, just this is the typical correct decision because Republicans tend to be closer to(or rather, less distant from) Torah values.
Worthy of note is that zionism, which is jewish nationalism – the idea that jews are a nation because of things besides the Torah (land, language, kinship, culture…) is not mentioned at all in aim habanim. He talks exclusively about the mitzvah of yishuv haaretz and loving eretz yisroel. Not only does he not talk about a state, but he also does not talk about nationalism whatsoever. So in no way was he a zionist.
Someone can even think that the jews returning to the land is a harbinger for the geulah and not in any way be zionistic. However those who do believe that tend to be zionistic from my experience.
Da, i have a new policy about not getting into arguments like this right now. I am pained beyond words every i see and hear the news about acheinu bnei yisroel hanesunim betzara. I don’t care which yarmulka they’re wearing or what ideologies they have right now. We’re being hunted down like chayos hasadeh. I’ve been yotzei the chiyuv macha’ah enough times on here already.
I’m explaining the satmar shitah because someone said that the radical NK has something to do with them, that’s all. Bli neder I’m only going to post explanatory things going forward.
Satmar chasidim are well aware that the medina prevents the geulah, but we have absolutely no right to endanger yidden to bring the geulah. Same way we can’t kill or endanger jews who are guilty of lashon hora/sinas chinam, which is the main prevention of the geulah.
It just means we’ll have to wait even longer, perhaps; or maybe Hashem will be choser tachas kisei kvodo and go lifnin mishuras hadin and bring the geulah anyway.
Sechel, i explained the radical faction of NKs attempt at halachikally justifying themselves. It’s hogsash, and it has absolutely nothing to do with satmar or other Torah jews who denounce the state and zionism. Satmar distanced themselves even from the ehrlich, normal NK in Yerushalayim – they say the radicals are completely off the derech.
Common – rav drillman is a rosh yeshiva. If the story is true, it has a lot more weight than yankel feferkorn(rightfully) throwing things at them.
Multiple batei din have put them in cherem.
Damoshe, merely meeting antisemites isn’t the issue – rav yosef chaim zonnenfeld sent yaakov dehaan hy”d to do that too…rabban yochanan Ben zakkai pleaded with Vespasian for mercy; this has a lot of precedent.
The issue is what they’re saying at those meetings. If all they did was say to have mercy on the Jews living in Israel because a great number aren’t zionists, that would have been fine. What they do is, seemingly, condone the violence and show support for Iran’s genocidal goal, because they think they must do so in order to get rid of the state by any means necessary.
And that’s what they do when they march with the genocidal “from the river…” people.It needs to be stressed that this is a very, very small number of people. Neturei karta are mostly Yerushalmis in meah shaarim who would never engage in these activities. It’s a rag tag group of mostly baalei teshuva who were led down this road. There’s only about 50 of them in the world, but they have a large media presence.
Their founder was a big tzadik, rav amram blau, who was known in Yerushalayim to take in the most disturbed, poor people who no one wanted to have a shaychus with. He’d give them fresh clothes and a hot meal.
A kanoi leshem shomayim can be identified by how he treats people and if he gets angry at other, non leshem shomayim things. Rav amram was a very big tzadik who loved Hashem, and couldn’t stand the pollution of eretz yisroel with tumah. But he’d never endanger even one Jewish life to achieve his goals.
Lake, Jews in those countries are forced to take that stance, but they are not justifying Hamas. They live in countries where they would be in mortal danger if they show support for Jews living in Israel.
What NK(or rather, the tiny, miniscule fraction of NK) does in America and England is far different. They are essentially condoning terror attacks in their view that Jewish lives can be sacrificed to dismantle the state.
Truthfully, that faction of NK are the flipside of zionists, with the eame core problem. Zionists claim that the state is so important and vital to the Jewish people that it can justify the loss of Jewish life, while the NK faction says that eradicating the state is so important that it justifies the loss of Jewish life.
They call this horseshoe theory; two radical ideas on opposite ends of the spectrum really are the same in practice.
Radical NK decided that the halacha follows the maharal(or rav yonasan eybeshuts, i forget which) who says that the 3 shavuos are yehereg velo yaavor. Who gave them the authority to pasken that way? They themselves did. And then they think that yehereg velo yaavor means that they can put OTHER people in danger, when it is only used to require one’s self to give up their own life if faced with the 3 chamuros. If goyim would force us on pain of death to violate the shvuos, that shitah holds we must let them kill us – but we cannot put other jews in danger to prevent them from violating them…plus the shevuos were already violated, and jews living there(including NK!) Is not a violation.
The attacks have definitely brought yidden together.
If it hasn’t been clear, I’ve not been interested in getting involved in controversial topics since it’s happened.
I’m not one to jump at current events and assume things, but I have a strong feeling that the geulah is coming soon.
Rocky, i disagree.
It’s mainly chasidim who approach tzadikim for advice in business, and the baal hatanya was against this, because money is totally bidei shomayim.Daas Torah is seeking the Torah’s guidance in life decisions, including which community to live in, which job or business to get involved in(not what investment to make, see above… rather to understand one’s inclinations…a rebbe can tell you if you’re going yo be a good doctor, lawyer, etc..), shiduchim, how much gashmius is too much..how to relate to relatives and how to deal eith relationships, especially shalom bayis – do you know how many marriages have been saved because both husband and wife agreed to blindly follow the decision of their daas torah? It’s unbelievable.
ותנח עליו רוח עיצ-, the Torah confers on its diligent students proper advice.
And gadol hador, thanks for that medrash; i was not aware of it before.
Hashem wants yidden to not be there.
הפך לבו לשנא עמו
Welcome to the Torah world – we’ve been waiting for you
When people point out that the state doesn’t keep jews safe, they respond by saying “how dare you politicize a tragedy!
Same people:
“The Holocaust wouldn’t have happened if we had a state ”
Why is it only ok for zionists to politicize tragedies – with some added kefirah that Hashem’s decree wouldn’t have transpired if only we were able to stop it with guns.
I recommend R. Aryeh Carnel’s “siyata legamara,” known as the “little white book” in yeshivos. It has a great list of common terms which if memorized, make learning gemara a lot easier.
Also, slow down a lot. You’re not mechuyav to do daf or amud yomi; I found with myself and my talmidim that the more times you go over the gemara, or the sefer you’re learning, the clearer it becomes both in translation and pshat.
What might have come to you quicker in your yeshiva/kolel days might take longer now, if your mind is on other things, but be patient with yourself.
You also need to completely clear your mind of other considerations when you approach your seder; when you were in yeshiva, most likely the only thing you had to worry about was whether or not the cook would serve one of the “bad suppers” that every yeshiva has, forcing you to order pizza if you wanted a meal that evening. I’m exaggerating, as everyone has a “pekel,”but in general, a yeshiva bochurs mind is a lot clearer than when one needs to go to work. So before you start, picture yourself in beis medrash with nothing but the blatt gemara mattering to you. Your work is done, your mortgage and car are paid, your kids and wife are asleep, your boss gave you a paid sabbatical – there’s nothing that you need to do now but this seder.
The chofetz chaim says there’s a remez to this on the pasuk of vehayu hadvarim hae’leh – a person might think, there’s so much to learn! How can i even begin? So the pasuk says ha’eleh – only these words, this daf,this sugya, only this matters now, then the yatzer hora tells you all of your daagos, and for this, the pasuk says hayom – only today, only this seder exists,, nothing else.
Avram, i think you meant erusin and nisuin – erusin and kidushin are the same thing
Marx – and I’m the one who gets accused of “sinat chinam” all the time – keep on proving the yeshiva world right!
I have a lot to say on this matter, both from a daas torah mesorah and from my experience with children, but i do not wish to offend the OP – there’s no limit to the potential of every individual, and those who rise above their disadvantageous circumstances are heros, admirable, and amazing people. I’ll make a new thread with my observations and what I’ve heard from my rebbeim on the subject, to be read at OPs discretion.
Mdd, it started way before that; it’s brought in the rema! The issue is eretz yisroel; until the last Lubavitcher rebbe, no one refrained from sleeping in a sukkah in eretz yisroel, because there is no issue of mitztayer there.
Emunas, At least we now know where we stand; you’re not claiming that chabad holds like your view of the baal hatanya – you just essentially formed your own Hasidic ideology based on your own reading of seforim that were meant to be given over to chasidim of a particular rebbe.
As for why he doesn’t say to not spend hours on chasidus, he also doesn’t say to not stand on your head while singing mah yedidus – he says what you “should” do and מכלל הן אתה שומע לאו, he gives a step by step guide to how to spend one’s day in learning and does not mention chasidus or kabalah, except for mussar. Granted he doesn’t give a time allotment, but it’s clear from the amount of time necessary to learn kol hatorah kulah that he wouldn’t advocate for it, and if he did, it would have been mentioned in the curriculum for Torah study, but it’s completely left out.
As for changing his mind, he’d have to say so openly for such a claim to begin to be taken seriously. He doesn’t, so just as the ramchal extoled mussar but never said to spend hours a day on it, the baal hatanya can sing the praises of chasidus and it has no bearing on how much time he believed should be spent.
I do agree that just like mussar, the amount of chasidus a person should learn depends on themselves; this is exactly why rav chaim brisker was against a mussar seder, because he said that some need more, and some need less – as in, some need 10 minutes, and some need 40, or maybe an hour, but more than that is almost certainly bitul Torah.
Can anyone really profess that chabad did not undergo a significant metamorphosis under the last Lubavitcher rebbe? That’s why i refer to it as neo chabad.
Old chabad were extremely separate from goyin, antizionist, presumably wouldn’t do kiruv with goyin, would sleep in a sukkah in eretz yisroel, would wash for shalosh seudos, wouldn’t pray to a rebbe, carry around his picture and think he knows their thoughts, and many, many other things. Regarding the omniscient thing and hiskashrus, the last Lubavitcher rebbe admitted he didn’t see it in sifrei chasidus and it’s a chush that he gets from them.
Hence, i refer to present day chabad Lubavitch as neo-chabad.
It’s all in perek 2 of hilchos talmud torah, where he says how much we have to toil to know kol hatorah kulah, which he says is mikrah mishnah and talmud…once a person knows the material, he’s supposed to spend the rest of his time on svara, lashos and terutzim, what we call “lomdus”
במה דברים אמורים בתחלת תלמודו של אדם אבל כשיגדיל בחכמה
וירבה בה במאד ולא יהיה צריך לא ללמוד תורה שבכתב ולא לעסוק תמיד בתורה שבע”פ מפני שכבר חזר על לימודו פעמים רבות מאד עד שנחקק היטב בזכרונו כל התורה שבכתב ושבע”פ כולה אזי יקרא בעתים מזומנים תורה שבכתב ודברי תורה שבע”פ כדי שלא ישכח דבר מדיני התורה ויפנה כל ימיו לעיון התלמוד לסבור סברות בהלכות ולפלפל בהן בקושיות ופירוקים לירד לעומק הסברות וטעמי ההלכות להבין דבר מתוך דבר ולדמות דבר לדבר ולחדש חידושי הלכות רבות לפי רוחב שיש בלבו וישוב דעתו כמו שאמרו ליגמר אינש והדר ליסבר.He’s talking about someone who was not taught, and this is how he is supposed to teach himself. Someone who has a chinuch, is supposed to go from mikrah, to mishnah, to gemara, like chazal say in avos. Then he says to be meshalesh, but not in equal times, because he says gemara is a lot harder than mikrah.
Nowhere in any of the prescribed times or limudim is there any mention of chasidus. Not one. The only time he mentions it is when he says to learn kabalah-based mussar seforim, but he clearly says that it’s a side thing.
As for the rashab – alecha lehavi raya. If he in fact did that, then fine; you’d also have to ask a few questions once we verify the story:
Did all Lubavitcher boys go to this Yeshiva, or was it like elsewhere in Europe, where only yechidim did, and if so, what was bis reason – and why did he have to institute it? When he made the change, what was before, what caused it, and what happened afterwards? Then we can see if there’s any way of applying what he may have done to our times.
Because when i see chabad boys learnihg chasidus for hours, all i see is that it makes them confused about basic yiddishkeit and way too conceptual, while influencing their way of thinking halachikally. They also don’t really know what they’re talking about, because if you ask enough times “what does ain sof mean,” and proceed to ask what the definition is of the words they use to describe it, you’ll see that they’re not actually knowledgeable about kabalah….since it’s, after all, kabalah!
Sense, or maybe the strong government would further oppress charedim and force them all into the shmad army?
Mdd, the DC was talking about all gedolei torah in every generation, that when one learns Torah lishma, they are guided by Hashem to understand the sugya properly.
Regarding hashgocha in the Torah transmitted through gedolei yisroel, the chazon ish says the same thing about using kisvei yad of rishonim to overturn achronimc’s Torah; he says that whatever the achronim had was min hashomayim intended to be transmitted to us, and we cannot change it.
And yes, i think if a yid believes differently, it ultimately amounts to a belief that the Torah is hefker, that we’re just riding through history without hashgocha, perhaps sinning because our poskim may have erred
As for ayin panim latorah, that’s from our perspective; what was “wrong” in the eyes of one posek is because he learned the sugya differently, but to us, both are divrei elokim chaim.
Mdd, poskim can argue because ayin panim latorah.
As for how it applies to every talmid chacham, see shu”t divrei chaim YD 242(i forgot the exact number) where he says that it’s apikorsus to say that the ohr hachaim was not written with ruach hakodesh.
Mdd, i think the shu”a harav was written with ruach hakodesh the same way i believe every gadol in every generation is guided by ruach hakodesh, because that’s what chazal say in numerous places, like in gittin(daf…5?) with rebbe evyasar.
As for changes in psak, following what he said in the siddur makes sense, and poskim change their shitos all the time – my issue is with what was said that chabad(or rather, this poster) can ignore a halacha in shu”a harav just because it was written earlier in the baal hatanya’s life, without him paskening differently. It was the posters own opinion(and perhaps their rabbi) that we in our time can decide what psakim to follow and what not to, based on our understanding of chasidus.
I don’t see how there’s verbal abuse in anything i wrote, but if you’re offended, it’s probably best not to be on here, or to engage in discussions with anyone outside of crown heights. I simply raised objections to what was said here based on clear sources and reasoning; if that is “abuse,” i really don’t know what to tell you.
Also, are you implying that the shu “a harav was not written with ruach hakodesh? Because i believe it was, and that Hashem guided the baal hatanya to learn the sugya of hilchos talmud torah and to reach the correct rulings on that subject. Do you think he was mistaken? If so, have you not violated your own principles?
I think you’re misunderstanding me as doubting kabalah, chas veshalom – otherwise i don’t understand why you quote gedolim who simply extole the greatness of kabalah. I never questioned the divinity of chochmas hakabalah. I said that no gedolim have advocated spending hours on it if you’re not a master of shas and poskim and that remains true regardless of how great kabalah is. Just because something is very holy doesn’t mean you can skip the less “fun” parts of shor she’nagach es haparah, negaim, and karbonos.
Emunas, here’s the question – which gedolim say to spend a substantial amount of time on chasidus when one is not a massive talmid chacham, against the psak of your very own posek achriti – please name a posek, not statements in the kisvei Arizal (which the baal hatanya was well aware of) or a contemporary mekubal – a posek, someone like rav landau in bnei brak, who is Lubavitch, for instance.
You can’t, because they don’t exist.
And this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Lubavitcher take the heiligeh words of the baal hatanya and say that they don’t apply in halacha! Ths shu”a harav IS Lubavitch halacha, not only in chabad but in chassidishe circles everywhere, and even in litvishe circles, his shitos are taken very seriously, as the mishnah beruruah quotes him extensively.
Truly amazing. Did the Lubavitcher poskim who followed the baal hatanya, such as the tzemach tzedek, ever make this distinction between the shu”a harav and what the baal hatanya held “later in life”? Or is this just your own pretzel of an answer of how to get around a glaring, huge hole in your ideology – the rosh verishon of chabad did not hold of learning chasidus for hours a day, and that’s that.
There’s no “chiyuv” in halacha to learn kabalah until one masters shas and poskim. Many Achronim recommended learning it for yiras shomayim,and it’s true that the Arizal held that generations in our time need it – but how much do they need it? He never said to spend hours on it before one masters shas. Ever.
And what he meant about tefilah being “ikar” has been discussed at length in the past; it’s a gross misrepresentation, besides the fact that no poskim take it that way in halacha, as talmud torah’s status in haladha vis a vis other mitzvos does not change, because halacha doesn’t change. We’re not reform. Again, the shu “a harav quotes talmud torah kneged kulam word for word from the rambam, that there’s no mitzvah even among the “keneged kulams” that is equal to Torah. And the shu”a harav knew the Arizal plenty more than we do.
Not only that, but in tanya perek 5 and 25 he goes through the importance of Torah, and doesn’t say it’s any less “nowadays”.
The shu”a harav clearly lays out how to learn; tanach, shas and poskim all day and night until you know everything clearly; and he says you should learn sifrei mussar based on medrashim and kabalah, but spending hours on mussar was unthinkable
Emunas, which gedolim disagree with the halacha outlined in shulchan aruch, nosei keilim and shulchan aruch harav?
I’m not dismissing what gedolim say – please tell me which gedolim said to ignore what the poskim say and learn chasidus for hours upon hours a day.
If such questions make you uncomfortable, to the point where you do not wish to speak with someone who casts doubts on your feelings-based halachik decisions, maybe that should tell you something about how secure you are in said beliefs? When someone asks me to justify a yeshiva custom, I don’t feel threatened, i simply answer the question and give the relevant sources; if i don’t know the sources, I’ll say that, but i am secure enough in my mesorah to speak with people who are coming from a different perspective.
Emunas, you and your Rabbi might feel like 2/3 1/3 is a good balance, but you’ve yet to address the simple fact that halacha disagrees with your feelings. The shulchan aruch harav, who os considered the “baal shmatsa,” or preeminent authority on hilchos talmud torah in even the yeshiva world, rules what one must learn, and chasidus/kabalah is NOT on the menu for people who are not experts in shas and poskim in terms of obligations. If you’re a man, you need to spend as much time as you have on shas and poskim, and learn chasidus for no more than an hour or so, if it’s for mussar, if it’s for yedios, then it has to be without a seder, which the taz rules in OC 307; more would be bitul Torah.
And if you’re a woman, well…if a woman can’t learn gemara, I can’t fathom how she’d be allowed to learn kabalah.
And there’s only one group as far as i know which advocates for hours to be spent on chasidus, and that’s neo chabad
Emunas, can you please explain why the shu”a harav does not say to have a “balanced” seder of nigleh and nistar, with hours of chasidus as is done in neo chabad?
Cs, outside of chabad, you will not find rabbonim teaching to have a balanced seder of nigleh and nistar. Even in shu”a harav, the baal hatanya does not say that in hilchos talmud torah.
Chaz say that only one who is a full fledged talmid chacham will uave to answer in shomayim for not learning maysoh merkava; we are not commanded to learn nistar until we are experts in nigleh.
Chasidus, much like a mussar seder, is for 30 minutes to an hour at most during a 12 hour a day learning schedule.
Neo-chabad spending so much time on chasidus is part of why they have veered from mesoras hachasidus.
The gemara in brochos darshens v’asafta deganecha as referring to when we’re not zocheh; when we are zocheh, our work is done for us by goyim so we can learn and be oved Hashem freely
Mdd, everyone goes, but few stay.
Ctl, do you think a person is given more schar in shomayim for supporting their family than for excelling un Torah? The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but for some people, they are unable to do both.
Marx, plenty of kolel guys take courses at night, i know several who went into the skilled trades, others open businesses..plus as the klal grows and more children are born, they need more rebbeim.
People misunderstand the size of the kollel population; it’s a fraction of the klal, especially if you count chasidim, which hire very yeshivish litvishe for upper grade gemara shiurim.
Lake, in the event that conventional medicine doesn’t work and a competent psychiatrist wants to try marijuana for extreme mental health cases, I’d imagine rav Moshe would allow it, because his reasons given are overindulgence, not letting you learn and work, etc… These are things that people with such problems do not need to be concerned with until they get better.
But i don’t think he would allow it as a permanent solution, and i don’t think qualified doctors look at it that way either.
Sact, rav Moshe feinstein ruled that marijuana is forbidden, for a number of reasons.
Da, that’s correct! I was thinking of Melody lanes; it’s been quite a while…
Either way bowling alley weren’t exactly known for their yirei shomayim clientele (no offense to you, just in general)
Sact – what I saw that night was one anecdotal example; my overall dealings with people, including in my role as an educator of religiously disenfranchised youth, has been consistently seeing the spiritual greatness of even the lower elements of the Jewish people. I do believe as a yid that the Torah has a power to elevate people above such problems, but it is when people forsake it that they fall prey, harder than non jews or secular jews..as the say ,”the bigger they come the harder they fall”
Damoshe, maple lanes is not in boro park. It’s in sunset park; totally different area. He wouldn’t have been selling drugs on 13th avenue; it just wouldn’t fly.
I’m well aware of the proliferation of marijuana use in new york, particularly after it was decriminalized and basically legalized, with pot shops opening up right in our own backyard. Of very serious concern is that these places aren’t regulated, and drug cartels have been known to lace marijuana with deadlu drugs, such as fentanyl, on occasion.
It’s something people used to understand as being totally degenerate, and would make one a complete outcast. Times are changing, and drug use is only one part of it. Edited
Sact – the way to phrase this would be “most marijuana use happens in public schools, but most public school kids don’t take marijuana.”
The dangers of being exposed to marijuana use and eventual usage is higher in areas where it is available and among non jewisy populations in general. Just because you went there and didn’t smoke pot is like looking at an 80 year old chain smoker and saying “you see, you can smoke till you’re 80 ahd be healthy,”
It’s illogical.
As for the old American Jewish line of “we’re not mystified by alcohol,” my dad used to say that too. Is there truth to it? Maybe, but that’s of little solace to people plagued by alcohol addiction or abuse.
Aaq, it depended greatly on the individual; there were many people that rav belsky would allow to go to college, but didn’t encourage it – remember that for many people, college is a given, and they’re not interested in remaining in learning even though they might have experienced some success in yeshiva.
My point was that if someone had little experience learning and absorbing hashkofa, for reasons that range from laziness, to emotional issues, to learning disabilities…i don’t believe rav belskys “not being gores” heter would apply to them, because they’re very susceptible.