Avram in MD

Little Froggie,

I doubt anyone here drive a 1996

You’re right, I don’t drive a 1996. I drive a 1992. I’m guessing it has around 230K miles, but I cannot tell you for sure because the odometer was broken for a number of years. Original engine. Other than the heat, pretty much nothing else works anymore. Some of the gears are acting up, and I’m hoping the car doesn’t need a clutch job before I stop needing the car.

Neville ChaimBerlin,

That’s not trolling. When David Duke publishes his Antisemitism, it’s not trolling; he really believes the stuff. It riles people up because he’s a jerk, not a troll.

Your definition is simply not correct. Using anti-Semites as an example like you did, an infamous neo-Nazi Web site makes itself a base for what it calls a “troll army” to attack prominent Jews in the media. The neo-Nazis on that site thus really do believe what they are saying, yet refer to themselves as trolls. Additionally, governments, organizations, and political factions are increasingly resorting to online trolling as a means to advance their agendas or products.

I understand that you may be concerned about someone with honestly held controversial views who unintentionally disrupts a forum or engenders highly emotional responses being labeled a troll perhaps unfairly, or people using troll as an ad hominem to attack those with differing positions, but your redefinition of the term is much too narrow. I would broaden the definition of troll to mean someone on an online forum who attempts to provoke, surreptitiously influence (e.g., caution trolls, or sockpuppetry), or cause pain, regardless of what his/her true views are.

Yes it does, but “trolling” is not CR specific slang. It’s a popular internet slang word which just happens to be misused a lot on this site.

I’ve typically seen it used correctly here, and with a few exceptions, those identified as trolls are usually rightly identified.

Rabbi of Crawley,

The fact that you think that Jordan and Lebanon (!!!) are nice, safe places to visit does not bode well for our impressions of Britain. Like someone from Canada saying that Chicago is not so cold.

Joseph,

you didn’t add much in your last comment other than hot air

I’m only responding to the material I’m given. Try writing something more substantive than baseless insinuations and fallacious statements, and maybe you’ll get more than hot air in response.

What “tact” is lacking in explaining it? Kohanim are more chashuv and important than Yisroelim. … You see saying all that as tactless?

Yeah, that was pretty tactless. And in a world iy”H soon where we feel pulled towards the ketores, towards offering our own korbonos, and towards experiencing closeness with Hashem in the kodesh kodashim, you might want to work on that delivery when talking to your children.

Those same principles between a Kohein and Yisroel apply between a man and a woman.

Yet the man and woman case seems to be the only one that interests you. Why is that?

When the goy came to R’ Hillel and challenged him to explain the entire Torah while he stood on one foot, he did not say, “if a man and a woman both need saving but you can only save one, the man comes before the woman. That’s the Torah, the rest is commentary, now go learn it.” What did R’ Hillel say?

Regarding establishing a state, the issue is the Three Oaths.

Who said anything about establishing a state? Is someone else named Avram posting in this thread, and I can’t see his posts?

How does saying the Halacha regarding men and women provoke goyim?

You answered your own question pretty well, so if you really care, you can go back and reread your own post. However, that’s your argument, not mine. I’m not concerned with provoking the goyim in this thread. I’m concerned about protecting the Torah’s honor, and not making it into a spade for anyone’s misogynistic dig. By responding to your points regarding bris mila and shechita, I was just pointing out an interesting contradiction in your approach to Jewish interactions with the non-Jewish world.

Joseph,

While your characterization is completely inaccurate, as I haven’t mentioned this Halacha in years (provide a few links to several examples if you feel otherwise)

Whatever. See: https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/saving-a-mans-life-first for example. You’ve probably had to lay off the topic for a while to keep the mods from blocking your posts.

If someone were to repeatedly bring up in the CR in numerous threads halachos about …

Yayin nesech is certainly not controversial to discuss in the beis medrash. But consider what the Agagi did with those halachos when he went to King Ahashverosh and said, “if a fly falls into a Jew’s cup of wine, he will pluck it out and drink the wine, but if the king touches a Jew’s wine, he’ll dump it out!” That statement was 100% factual, but due to the context it was cited as an example of Haman’s evil.

If instead of this Halacha I had cited the Halacha about the requirement to save a Kohein before a Yisroel would your reaction have been as equally vocal

You just destroyed your own argument. I would have brought this up had you not. We do not have a kohen constantly reminding us of this halacha on the CR. If we did, we’d probably think there was something mentally wrong with him.

Lightbrite,

Solaro: Aren’t bugs animals? Maybe it would be considered meat, like chicken?

Fish are animals, but their meat is pareve. Locusts would be treated like fish. Basar v’chalav (laws of meat and dairy) apply only to the animals included in the Torah D’oraisa prohibition (kosher domesticated animals) and the rabbinical extension of the prohibition (e.g., “wild” animals, fowl).

Syag Lchochma,

but some in my neck of the woods are waiting with bated breath for that extra $80 in their paycheck so they can buy some amoxicillin.

Anyone paying $80 for amoxicillin is getting fleeced and the pharmacy may be doing something illegal. Even without insurance, a typical course of amoxicillin should cost around $15.

That said, I agree with you that Obamacare has not been all positive. My insurance premiums have gone up quite a bit, and prescription coverage has become poorer – though some of that may be because the cost of some drugs has skyrocketed. There are quite a few quirks and inconsistencies in the law; for example, the main driver for keeping insurance prices down in Obamacare is an influx of young, healthy policyholders via the mandate, but this influx is limited by the law itself, because it allows children to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. Given the benefits of the law, however, I favor well thought out adjustments and modifications rather than repeal. Just axing the mandate will do nothing but make things worse.

Sechel HaYashar,

I agree with you that religion in general, and Yiddishkeit in particular, are endangered by the political climate. And you have articulately expressed the dangers presented by recent trends among secular Democrats. I think it’s unwise, however, to turn a blind eye to the dangers coming from Republican politics, however, which are co-opting religion for political purposes. Even if the Republican platform was closer to representing Jewish values than the Democratic platform, which I don’t believe, closer is not necessarily better. Open Orthodoxy is closer to Judaism than Reform, but presents a greater danger to the frum world.

Why do we have to choose a party which is “closer to our ideals”? Both are too far from our ideals for that to even be a consideration. We need to vote for candidates who we think will make the best officials – all the while realizing that lev m’lochim v’sarim b’yad Hashem, but we still need to go through the motions.

This.

We don’t vote for “parties”, we vote for candidates. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are my “team.” My team is klal Yisroel, and our mission is to serve Hashem, not score political points on the backs of perceived opponents.

For those with sensitivities to certain chemical fragrances, scented dryer sheets and detergents are awful. Sometimes I have to cross the street to avoid the fragrances when dryers are running in people’s houses.

MTAB,

For each date, he had to take her out of the town so nobody would see her. So he had to plan out dates out of town and drive there after his hour drive.

So this is a little bit strange, and the young man can certainly factor this in when considering whether he wants a second date or not. Or he can talk with the young lady about it and maybe gain some perspective. But ultimately it was his choice to go with it, and a mature adult takes responsibility for his decisions.

The family is furious at me for enabling the whole thing. And I hear their point. But their fury really should be directed at the system which uses up the boys.

Wait, the family is furious? And at YOU for the young man deciding to go on a third date? Sounds like this young lady really dodged a bullet.

MTAB,

Let me see if I understand. The guy asks the girl out or calls the shadchan who gives him a number. He makes the call, then must ask her out, then must travel to her, then must think of something wonderful to do and it can’t be in her neighborhood because someone might see her, then he must pay for the wonderful activity and the whole time make sure she is perfectly comfy in all ways. And if he stumbles in any these steps, then she must run because obviously he is an axe murderer. Her job is to judge him.

That’s a whole lot of whining. Look, do you want to eat? If yes, then you must find a source of income, travel to the store, pick out what wonderful foods you can find and afford, buy it, shlep it home, put it away, prepare a meal, go to the table, and eat it. And cleaning up after yourself is a bonus. The way of the world is that you have to put in effort. Does a young man want a wife? Then he must put in the effort. Be a man.

Do I have it right? Wonderful system.

What would you suggest? Going to bars like non-Jews? Have the young women call the men and set up the dates? I doubt men would fare better in that situation.

do you have sons? You want them to go through this nonsense?

Please Hashem.

Chabadshlucha,

There really was a plan a. However what I said still stands.

You said that the etz pri hadaas was essentially a set-up. By this do you mean that, despite the fact that Hashem told Adam to not eat from the tree, He meant for them to? Sorry, I have a hard time believing that our Creator, who commanded us not to put a stumbling block before the blind, and who said through His prophet, “choose life!” would desire a sin and the death it brought.

Sounds like you never heard of the concept before.

I have, but never from an Orthodox Jew.

So I guess it could be another discussion if you want. I may need hypo on up the sources though, so is this only foreign to avrammd? Abs others can fill in?

Go right ahead.

I second Kirkland Signature (Costco) as good quality non “name” brand paper towels.

BaltimoreMaven,

Calm down, this is the CoffeeRoom.

litvishechossid,

Just wondering. Does anyone think the landing was real or not.

Real.

The technology they used was less than an iphone 5. How is that possible?

Apples and oranges. Your iPhone5 can’t drive you to the store, but the automobile, which has been around in some form since 1886, can.

Their equipment moonwalkers and all looked like they were wrapped in aluminum foil and created in an arts and crafts project. If it really occured then it is mighty impressive.

None of the equipment looked like that to me. Have you seen any of it in person, e.g., at the Kennedy Space Center in FL, or the Air and Space Museums in DC? Keep in mind that whatever the astronauts took to the moon had to be launched up there from Earth. They couldn’t bring the kitchen sink with them! There had to be a balance between the safety threshold and the weight threshold. So aesthetics took a backseat to functionality. Maybe some day in the future humans will be able to wield sleek, powerful looking spacecraft.

If they did it back in 69 using practically an iphone 5, why cant they do it today? Isnt technology much more advanced?

Computing technology is certainly orders of magnitude more advanced, but other technologies such as rockets, spacecraft, etc. are not much more advanced. The Apollo Program was extremely rushed, and there was a gigantic budget, so a lot of waste was tolerated. Huge Saturn V rockets launched 3-part spacecraft, only 1 part of which returned to Earth and was not reused.

The Space Shuttle program was an attempt to bring down the costs of space travel yet still transport heavy items to orbit via reusable vehicles, but it was still extremely expensive. The fuel tanks couldn’t be reused (they burned up on re-entry), the solid fuel booster rockets had to be found in the ocean and repaired/refurbished, and the shuttles themselves required extensive maintenance and took large amounts of time to become spaceworthy again after a mission. The high costs of the shuttle program probably hampered other things NASA could have been doing. And NASA’s budget is a fraction of what it was during the space race with the USSR.

Is it odd that humanity left a footprint on the otherwise untouched and pure moon?

It’s amazing!

Take a picture of your dog chewing up a stick in the back yard, and you with the menora and latkes. Sticks are for dogs, Chanukah is for Jewish humans. You’ll both be happy 😁

I think they’re talking about the thread title, which was kind of strange, not Rav Miller’s words, which were not.

Lilmod Ulelamaid,

In the US (at least in the NY area), people tend to keep the heat on very high in the winter (not sure why people want to be hotter in the winter than in the summer, but whatever..),

When our system is set for the furnace, we keep the thermostat at 68 degrees. When it’s set for air conditioning, the thermostat is set to 74 degrees, though sometimes we pull it down to 72 on Fridays to counter all of the heat rising from the kitchen. So our house is almost never warmer in the winter than it is in the summer. I’d imagine most people set their thermostats similarly. Otherwise, the heating bills would be outrageous.

770Chabad,

Why about zionist?

Try it, you’ll find out.

They’re valiant, but not the best tacticians. If they want to put a stop to the Chabad storm on the CR, they should open a few Zionist/anti-Zionist threads, or Tzniyus threads. Problem solved.

Meno,

What (frum) community is fighting over sports?

Frum communities where there are sports teams that are actually good. Unlike yours, apparently. >:)

Chabadshlucha,

The Rebbe definitely fulfilled the first four: he started the momentous baal teshuva movement as waged the wars of Hashem against assimilation the continuation of which is ongoing by his over 5000 shluchim. And all it takes to qualify is sincere effort, not complete success as that is the first of the conditions for Moshiach vadai

You can’t have it both ways. Did he fulfill it, and there are no longer any non-observant Jews and the enemies of our people are vanquished? Or did he not fulfill it? You can’t say he fulfilled it, but then say he did not, but sincere effort was all that was needed. For me to be a grocery shopper I have to go to the store and shop. I cannot drive halfway there and then be called a grocery shopper because I made a sincere effort to get to the store.

Chabadshlucha,

So when I say chassidus 101 I am referring to Chabad chassidus.

For the purposes of respectful interactions, it’s probably best to write out Chabad chassidus when interacting with Jews who are not Lubavitchers. If someone explained a non-Chabad idea to you and told you he was explaining Judaism to you, you’d probably be offended.

Joseph,

ChabadShlucha: When do you plan on answering the questions in the very first post (the OP) of this thread?

Well, before I answer that, we need to make sure that we have an understanding of what we mean by “question”. To facilitate this, I will present a 15 shiurim course on the subject for you lucky participants in this thread over the next week or so. Once that is completed and there are no further questions, we can address your questions. Except that since I just said there are no further questions, there will be nothing to address. Any questions?

If they haven’t already, demand that the collection agency first contact you in writing. First contact should never be by phone, and do not give out any personal information over the phone. The collection agency must provide you their name, telephone number, name of the creditor, the amount owed, when the debt was incurred, and who is responsible for the debt. You can also send them letters specifying how you want or don’t want to be contacted. If they are repeatedly calling you, calling you late at night, threatening you, or publicizing your debt to anyone other than a credit score agency, their behavior is likely illegal. Keep records of all communications and interactions and contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.