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I admittedly have very little knowledge about this topic; however, it seems to me that policies such as “iron clad no TV access”, while well intentioned, are essentially blind criteria that weed out without requiring any effort on the part of the school. From what I’ve read, a yeshiva used to examine each prospective talmid – ask them questions, get to know them. That way, the school could prepare to teach the student appropriately, and if for some reason it was not a good situation to admit the student, e.g., he held strong opinions that the rebbe felt was dangerous to the spiritual well being of other students, then another solution could be found.
DaMoshe,
He once told me that there are times he regrets becoming frum again, just because he hears from so many people how being Modern Orthodox is against halachah, how being a Zionist is apikorsis, etc. He said, “If I’m doing wrong anyway, if I’m an apikores anyway, why should I bother trying?
In this world, there is nothing that anyone can do that someone else won’t disagree with. If a person has explored the options and made a choice, why favor the opinions of those who disagree with that choice instead of associating with those who would make the same choice? There are billions of Christians and Muslims who think we are all wrong about our religion; many of them believe we are going to burn in the afterlife because of it. Should I abandon Judaism because they say this to me?
If you are MO, Hareidim will disagree with you. If you are Hareidi, MO will disagree with you. If you became Chabad, Satmar would disagree with you. If you became Satmar, Breslov would disagree with you. I have heard religious Zionists insinuate that Jews who do not say hallel on Yom Yerushalayim may potentially face consequences after 120 because they did not appreciate Hashem’s miracles performed for them. I have heard others state that Jews not living in eretz Yisroel will have a diminished status when Moshiach comes and may not be allowed into the land at all because they didn’t appreciate it. Should non-Zionist Hareidim stop being frum because this was said about them?
My point is, serve Hashem with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your strength. That’s the best any human can hope to do, and Hashem is far more gracious and compassionate than humans.
rebyidd23,
The ketchup-hating taking the place of any other problems, without ketchup, we’re practically perfect.
Granted, ketchup haters probably have an easier time with the laundry.
One of the true evils of ketchup is that it is distributed in tiny packets or hard to pour bottles. Gallon jugs or converted cement mixers would be more suited to supply sufficient ketchup for french fries and chicken nuggets. 🙂
Little Froggie,
Anyone specific?
No worries, trolls and immature children are mammals, not amphibians. 🙂
oomis,
I would agree 100% were it not for the fact that unfortunately in too many cases,though not all, the type of man who would refuse (as per halachic mandate) to give his wife a GET, is probably not the safest bet for strengthening that marriage.
You make an excellent point. Clearly a fundamental part of creating good marriages is educating young women and men about taking time to watch out for potential warning signs of abusive tendencies. Gila Manolson has an excellent section about this in one of her books about dating.
zahavasdad,
Hebrew Institute of Riverdale is the smallest shul in Riverdale.
I know I’m about to prove a variation of Godwin’s Law here, but … by your logic, since Al Qaida is one of the smallest groups in the Islamic world, they have little influence outside of their sphere and nobody should worry about them, right?
notasheep,
For those who are attacking me
I apologize for making you feel attacked. I think we had very different interpretations of the example you gave from the book. In end end, your personal example was no different than what I or any other normal parent would do. I wasn’t objecting to saying no to a baby, in fact, I think it’s very important to communicate with them what’s going on verbally as it’s done (no no, this is dangerous, or, I’m going to change your diaper now). I was objecting to the idea of exploiting baby’s natural curiosity to create a punishment situation in order to “train” him. I should have made it more clear throughout the discussion that my issue was with the book, so I apologize.
my point was that many people will put a review on something they have heard about merely to discredit it, when they have not read it themselves.
I absolutely agree with your sentiment here; but unfortunately in the case of this particular book, the raging reviewers are on the right track.
I agree with you that there is a dangerous trend towards permissiveness among many parents, and that parental authority is under assault in the present culture. I don’t think that “To Train Up a Child” advocates an accurate or healthy depiction of traditional parenting, however. Traditional parenting is built on a foundation of closeness and understanding a child’s behaviors and abilities. Sometimes food or water can solve a problem, sometimes a change of activities or location. Sometimes punishment is necessary. Many parents in today’s culture have little emotional connection with their children, so they have no ability to really interpret a situation from their child’s perspective. For these people, a punishment-centric approach is very dangerous and very well can lead to abuse.
notasheep,
people should check it up for themselves
I do not believe that any book that advocates ‘beating children into submission’ would even get published in a country such as America
Ok…
From the Web site of the author of that book (regarding the book’s suggestion to spank with quarter-inch PVC type tubing in order to maximize pain without bruising):
A swift whack with the plastic tubing would sting but not bruise. Give ten licks at a time, more if the child resists.
I think I’m done checking it up. Things like that evidently do get published in a country like America.
zahavasdad,
We have wandered far from the original point that brought me into this thread. You imply that since you are not personally impacted by the activities of the open orthodox movement and since they seem to be few in number, then people on this site are not affected by them and hence have no reason to discuss them. This is not true; posters in the CR including the OP have been affected.
I asked how you were impacted by an alleged bicycle ban in a Chassidish community so that you felt it worth opening a discussion; you didn’t answer, but I’ll assume that somehow you were affected other than through hearsay. If you can open a discussion about something affecting you, then why not any other poster?
BTW – One angle of approach to alleviate the tragedy of agunas is to strengthen marriages and reduce separations. I don’t have an opinion on the “smartphone” asifa, but given that unfettered access to the Internet opens a risk for falling into behaviors detrimental to marriages, it would seem likely that the organizers were partly motivated by a desire to reduce the tragedy of divorce, and by extension, agunas.
Also, I agree that more discussion and action are needed to resolve aguna issues, but the problem is a uniquely personal one, with wide differences case by case. Certainly there are universal changes that can be made, but the problem is quite complex, and there is considerable variance regarding what should be done. If you have good ideas, please by all means open threads about them and I’m sure spirited discussion will follow. Perhaps even moreso than bike bans.
Mammele,
I believe parents have the ability to set rules and enforce them WHEN THEY CONSIDER SOMETHING IMPORTANT.
Absolutely. How a parent interacts with a child, including enforcing rules, should be age appropriate. A parent of a very young child should put breakable or dangerous objects out of reach. Muktzeh toys should ideally be put away before Shabbos, out of sight, out of mind.
Feif Un,
I am sorry that you feel so pained by posts here, and although I have participated in some of the threads you have mentioned and probably not on the side that you’d prefer, I hope that none of my words specifically have caused you offense. I know nothing about RCA press releases, so I did not comment on that aspect – I got involved in the discussion further down.
I’d like to point something out that I have seen from your previous posts about the bias in the CR. You state that you are furious with the CR for allowing criticism and insults towards Modern Orthodox institutions because that is disrespectful, but you also attempt to hurl abuse towards Chassidish and Yeshivish institutions, and react with additional anger when those attempts are blocked by the moderators. It comes across to me, and hopefully this is not what you intend, that your problem isn’t with insulting rabbonim per say, but that this site allows your rabbonim to be insulted but not the rabbonim you want to insult. In other words, it’s less about the insulting itself and more about the inconsistent standard. If the site dropped all moderation and allowed any and all rabbonim to be insulted at whim, would you really be appeased?
I agree with you that many posts on this site go beyond the line in terms of insulting Orthodox rabbis. However, I think that your efforts to counter the problem would be more successful if you held that such activity is wrong across the board. In other words, rather than trying to legalize all bashing, work towards making all bashing illegal. Why do you get so upset to see your rabbonim and institutions insulted, when a CR littered with your blocked and edited posts indicates that you would do the same thing to others’ rabbonim and institutions if allowed the opportunity?
One final point – you are correct that sock puppeteering dramatically inflates the appearance of anti-MO sentiment on these boards. I think everyone focuses on “Joseph” so much that they don’t realize that there are other trolls and immature kids who exist and post here.
Since you claim YCT has spreasd everywhere, Please tell us how many “Bochrim” do they have.
This isn’t the nineteenth century, influence is not confined to Florsheims on the ground.
How many of their “Bochrim” or Rabbat’s have gotten actual pulpit positions.
The number is increasing rapidly.
Most MO shuls are afflied with either or both the OU and NCYI
MO shuls are not the only Jewish game in (out of) town.
The only people who are affectred by YCT are the people on the fridnges who are not going to BMG anyway.
I disagree.
About the Agunahs, Instead of condeming YCT, where is the Asifa for agunahs, Most of us know Agunahs. Come up with an answer instead of complaing. There are Asifas for all sorts of things. You can easily make one for Agunahs.
I absolutely agree with your charge to do something about it. What I don’t agree with is the strange idea you have that a person cannot simultaneously try to do something about a problem while finding another approach dangerous and wrong.
Suppose we have a kindergarten class where the children are clutching onto the toys and books and refusing to share with each other. A teacher decides to resolve this problem by permitting children to yank toys away from other children who are not sharing. If I disagree with the teacher, does that mean I don’t care about the lack of sharing in the class?
notasheep,
children that age [6 to 8 years] will NOT understand not to touch private property if they haven’t been taught the concept from a young age.
This makes no sense to me. If children cannot learn new concepts unless they were taught them at a “young” age, then how could they ever learn Torah, or to read, or math, or any complex subject?
As to your assertion that children below 12 months will not understand the meaning of the word no
I never intended to say an infant wouldn’t understand the meaning of the word no in the sense of parental disapproval – I’m saying that they might get confused as to why you are saying no or expressing disapproval.
I have also said no to an infant trying to explore an electrical socket, and he definitely noticed my no and gave me attention, but then went back to the socket. As he reached for it the next few times, I said no while moving him away from the light socket, and he gave me bewildered looks and kept returning to it.
At that point I have a choice: I could go the “To Train Up a Child” route, interpret his behavior as intransigence, engage in a power struggle with him until he fears my wrath and looks at me for approval before touching anything ever again (i.e., understands the meaning of no). Or I could simply block his access to the socket and we both move on with our lives with no trauma. By the time the child was 2, he could understand my instructions clearly, understand some of the reasoning behind it (he could get hurt) and also perceive that there would be consequences for disobeying.
And since I have acutally studied child development,
So you perceive no conflict between the “To Train Up a Child” model and your knowledge of child development?
I can tell you that from about six months of age babies are beginning to comprehend language and not just inflection,
And I can tell you that babies in the womb are beginning to comprehend language and not just inflection (newborns recognize their parent’s language as distinct from foreign languages, they recognize familiar voices, tones, and many other things such as music). I can also tell you that language comprehension has little relevance to what we’re talking about, which are worldly concepts such as object permanence, memory, cause and effect.
After the parent says ‘no’, they move the object out of reach.
So you are advocating doing something completely different from what’s described in “To Train Up a Child”. Based on your example from the book, you would leave the object within reach of the child and escalate your reaction until the baby breaks from fear. I’m glad that we’re not as far apart on these issues as it seems.
And why should the child become afraid of that object rather than learning it is untouchable?
And why wouldn’t the baby become afraid of the object, or the yelling and hitting parent? Different babies are going to interpret things differently.
notasheep,
but there was no punishment involved,
For most babies, the firm “no” will likely cause confusion, and they won’t necessarily connect it to touching a specific object. What does the parent do when the infant touches it after the “no”?
merely teaching the child that there are some things they can’t touch (which they can understand from a young age).
Please define young age – I was assuming we were discussing infants (e.g., < 12 months) here. I don’t believe that an infant can be effectively taught that there are some things they “can’t” touch (toy vs. not a toy); rather they learn to be afraid of certain things and people.
my two year old understands that she is not allowed to play with them
There is a universe of difference between an infant and a two year old. I agree that a two year old (who can climb and access far more objects than an infant, and say no!) should be instructed to not touch certain things. But, as you say, sometimes 2-year olds behave differently when hungry, tired, or sick. What should be done in those cases?
some of these kids are six, seven or eight years old
That sounds like a serious discipline issue, not a result of these children lacking the same objects in their house. A 6 to 8-year old child certainly is old enough to understand concepts like personal property, private and public, touch and don’t touch.
zahavasdad,
Because of my employment situtation I am forced to defend people who appear on the front page of the NY post.
What does that mean?
Those communities are alot larger than the small one in Riverdale.
A misdirection play. YCT is spearheading a movement that is actively attempting to alter the Orthodox Jewish world. They are active in numerous cities across North America. Population and influence do not necessarily correlate.
And frankly I do have close ties to the Charedi community, stronger than you know, so they do affect me more than Riverdale does where I have none.
So how does the alleged bicycle ban affect you personally?
Also, just because you are not personally affected by the activities of the open orthodox movement, you extrapolate that nobody else here is?
notasheep,
The example I read was explaining how to teach a very young child (an infant) not to touch something by placing the object near them and then telling them ‘no’ very firmly when they try to reach out for it. After a few tries they understand and no longer touch.
In my opinion, that would be a horrible way to teach an infant. G-d instilled in infants a deep curiosity about their surroundings. They have an intense desire to explore, touch, and taste everything they see. This is the only way a baby can learn so quickly about his or her surroundings. To purposely place something within reach of a baby and punish them for exploring it is not only cruel, it discourages the natural curiosity that engenders later intelligence and learning.
I know a response to this could be, what about Hashem placing the etz hadaas tov v’ra in gan eden where Adam Harishon could eat from it, but that case is completely dissimilar. The whole point of the etz hadaas was that Adam had the ability to listen to Hashem’s command and obey it. Hashem did not place that tree in the garden, wait for Adam to eat from it, and then punish him and say “NOW you know!” A baby has no ability to understand “do not touch this” before the fact. The only way you could communicate that to them is to let them do it and then punish them – and that is cruel and wrong. If there is something they should not touch, put it out of reach. When they reach an age of understanding, then you can tell them not to touch and warn them of the consequences.
DaasYochid,
Notasheep, the premise of the book seems to be that kids are little annoying brats who need to be beaten into submission. I didn’t read the book, but a lot of people who submitted reviews on Amazon seem to think so.
I believe the author of <i>To Train Up a Child</i> is Amish. Based on what I know of the book, the premise is not that kids are annoying brats, but that disciplining a child is similar to training animals – instilling habits based on fear and reward, rather than nurturing and encouraging the soul.
Sam2,
Apparently this is the sort of drivel the Post always writes, but Frum Jews are only upset now that the target of a moronic article was a Frum Jew.
Actually, it seems like most frum Jews already considered the Post to be sleazy and full of despicable articles. Your point would only make sense if frum Jews considered other articles fine up to this point – but that’s not the case.
Where was all the outrage when they called non-Jewish murder victims deserving? Are we really so insensitive to others’ pain?
That’s an unfair accusation. It’s natural to have a greater visceral reaction when your own family is under attack.
zahavasdad,
The issue of Mamzer was brought up by others not me
It was brought up by popa-bar-abba, presumably because the same “beis din” that enacts the conversions also handles divorces.
For the record, I do not live in Riverdale and have nothing to do with YCT or Avi Weiss, but I find it fascinating that some are so obessessed with him and ignore issues in their own house.
A classic double standard. Despite the fact that you are not chassidish and are not personally affected by issues in their communities, you had no problem opening a thread to hem and haw over bicycle banning hearsay; however, you wonder over this thread?
He has no affect on my life, and frankly he shouldnt have any affect on yours.
It’s wrong to assume that something happening in one area will not ultimately have an effect in other areas. Also, PBA started this thread and has stated numerous times that he is personally affected by the activities of this movement.
jbaldy22,
Whether the yeshivos were right in this case or not was not (I dont think) damoshe’s point.
I think it was his point, otherwise why would he bring up this story, declare it sad, and say that he doesn’t envy the cheshbon of the schools who threw “him” out?
DaMoshe,
Thanks for your response.
I do know, however, that the kid wasn’t just tossed out. The school found an appropriate place for him, and worked with the new school to get him settled in. That is how it should be handled.
I agree.
Are you sure that the yeshivos mentioned in your OP didn’t do anything similar?
I hope that this child you mentioned thrives in his new environment, but suppose as a thought experiment he became violent again at the new school and needed to get moved to a third school, and then a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and then to a Yeshiva in a different town? And some years later, that child with a violent past, now a man managing a business, tells a frum man in a resort dining hall that he was kicked out of 7 yeshivos that couldn’t handle him, and he will never be Orthodox because of that. Should that frum man imply that your school’s hanhala will face hellfire for the way he handled the violent kid?
WIY,
Is it my problem that your joke has no punchline?
Is that like the no soap radio joke?
DaMoshe,
I think it is great that you and your wife were friendly with this gentleman and his friend, and that you invited them for Shabbos. The fact that he approached you after seeing you unwrapping kosher food indicates that he still feels a connection to Judaism, even if there is a lot of hurt.
I disagree, however, with the blanket judgement you passed on the Yeshivos after hearing his story. I do not see how you could have gleaned sufficient information from restaurant chatter to be able to pass such judgement with “after 120 years” type language.
He then named 5 or 6 well-known yeshivos in Brooklyn. He continued, “I went to all of those, and got thrown out of all of them, because they decided they couldn’t handle me, and the difficult background I came from.”
To get thrown out of 5 or 6 schools, plus an “away” yeshiva, is quite a feat. Couldn’t handle me? At what point do we move beyond your stereotype of kid victim and heartless hanhalas, and consider the possibility that sometimes a young person’s behavior can be dangerous to himself or others, and that expulsion may be a necessary, albeit highly unfortunate, course of action? When do we stop blaming our circumstances on others, and start taking personal responsibility for our actions?
But this is the result of throwing kids out of yeshiva!
Or maybe, just maybe, it was the result of his bad choices and his bad behavior.
I heard from my Rosh Yeshiva, R’ Bender, how his Rebbe, R’ Shmuel Berenbaum, reacted when someone suggested a kid should be thrown out – he yelled at the guy! He said you don’t know the harm that can be caused by doing that!
That is a nice story, and I’m sure that R’ Berenbaum’s reaction was totally appropriate given the specific situation. I’m not sure that it is appropriate to project one situation into another, however. Sometimes a rock should be struck, and sometimes it should be spoken to.
I was saddened by this guy’s story. I don’t envy the responsibility that the schools who threw him out have on their shoulders. When the hanhalah are judged after 120 years, this will be part of what is brought up.
Would you be sad if a yeshiva expelled a student who repeatedly beat up your child? What about a child who brought a gun to school? Or pressured your child to use drugs? Should he be allowed to stay and sit next to your child every day, because cv’s he might go OTD if he’s expelled?
rationalfrummie,
I am admittedly a beginner at learning gemara. From the way I have understood of bedikas chometz and bittul chometz, I personally do not see a contradiction in the Rashis you provided.
1. Nullification is sufficent to fulfill the d’oraisa requirement regarding chometz (Tosafos above)
2. If nullification is done alone, however, there is a risk that the person will later come across some chometz that he finds very difficult to consider nullified, so a bedika should be done as well as nullification derabbanan. (1st Rashi)
3. No contradiction in the 2nd Rashi if he sees the bedika as d’rabbanan.
4. On the other hand, bedika should not be done alone, because it would be very difficult to be sure you got everything (2nd Rashi).
Does this make sense, or am I not understanding something correctly?
Have a good Shabbos!
keepitcoming,
This is the way I understand it:
When we bring a korban to Hashem, we should bring an unblemished, beautiful animal – the best that we have. Now that we have no Beis Hamikdash, we follow the words of the prophet Hoshea, “let our lips substitute for bulls.” So our prayers, our words of praise, requests, and thanksgiving, are like korbonos to Hashem. In that light, the words of tehillim, pure and beautiful, represent some of the choicest offerings that we can bring.
newhusband,
I’m going to get a housecleaner for the sake of shalom bayis,
It might do better for your shalom bayis if you see this decision as an opportunity to bring pleasure to your wife (selfless), rather than to avoid arguments that you resent (selfish).
but I have a feeling it will solve the symptoms (dirty home), but not the underlying problem (caring for the home). How do I deal with that issue is what I am looking to figure out.
Why on earth do you think that you can ascertain holistic “underlying problems” with your wife’s attitudes towards the home after less than a year of marriage, where for all but one month of that time she has been pregnant? Honestly, I think it’s possible that the root of your problem is that you are blowing these “minor” disagreements way out of proportion and using them to make sweeping conclusions about your home and marriage. No wonder your wife cries when you have a disagreement – she tells you that she doesn’t like cleaning and wants household help and you imply that your marriage will be irrevocably harmed because she’s an unfit wife and mother in your eyes! Even if you didn’t say it, she can feel it with your “hints”. Stop judging what kind of mother your wife will be before your baby is even born, and what kind of wife she’ll be 1, 5, or 10 years down the road!
My advice to you:
1. Take almost nothing your wife says or does personally during pregnancy. I think you are seriously underestimating how pregnancy affects your wife. She is changing inside and out, and that can make anyone feel very insecure. She doesn’t want to clean up now, but for all you know, once the nesting instinct kicks into high gear, she may feel like you don’t care enough about the house!
2. Deal with the present issues during any discussion or disagreement, not future speculations. Whatever you decide for how to keep things clean now, make that decision considering only the current needs, and stop extrapolating what it means to your marriage years down the road – especially for issues regarding parenthood. Don’t judge things that you haven’t even seen yet.
3. From what you have written in this thread, you obviously see cleaning the house as a burden to yourself, using words like “significant” and “chores”. So why does it bother you that your wife sees it in the same light?
4. Instead of dropping “hints” (disapproval and disconnection), start cleaning and engage your wife with conversation while you do it (connection). Any chore is more fun when you have company, and you will likely end up sharing yourselves and the jobs more.
5. Notice and express appreciation for what she does.
I don’t want to fix the symptoms by throwing money at the problem today because its going to morph into a bigger problem tomorrow.
You are not a navi – stick to the present.
I feel very open-minded on trying different things to change the dynamic in the home but at the same time giving in anytime my wife wants something will only make me upset.
Stop viewing things as “me vs. her”. A happy wife is a huge win for you. Instead of keeping score and focusing on whether you or she have had your way, focus on solving the problem at hand.
I don’t want to resent her,
Then don’t. You are in complete control of your feelings.
charliehall,
Given that the fedora wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, it is really difficult to argue that it is halachically required.
Please don’t beat up the straw man, he did nothing to you:-)
I don’t think that anybody here, even the nuts (and those pretending to be nuts to discredit the positions they disagree with), are arguing that a fedora is halachically required. A lot of black hats worn by chareidim aren’t even fedoras (no pinches or crease on the crown, for example).
The arguments here seem to be:
1. Is there a halachic requirement to wear a hat when davening?
2. Are black hats somehow more special than others?
I sympathize with those making the argument that the clothes should not bespeak the man, because in reality, they do not. It is also reality, however, that human beings are not telepathic and cannot see into the depths of another’s soul in the span of a few minutes. Therefore, every human culture utilizes clothing to make statements about status, temperament, and association, to allow the wearer to transmit information about themselves to others. In other words, the clothes do not bespeak the man, but they do bespeak what the man wants others to see. If you do not believe me, go to a job interview in jeans and a t-shirt and tell the hiring manager that your choice of clothes doesn’t reflect on how well you can work.
Like it or not, there is a culture within Orthodox Judaism that identifies as Yeshivish, and wears white shirts and black jackets and hats as a part of this cultural identification. Orthodox Jews who wear kippa srugas are also making a cultural statement (e.g., modern Orthodox, Zionist, etc). There is value in identification with a culture, so it’s certainly not silly for a person to wear clothing that identifies himself with the culture he chooses. This does not mean that a person wearing the headgear of one culture is more religious than anyone else; the clothes cannot tell us that. It does tell us with whom the person identifies, however.
So to the people who are saying that clothing doesn’t matter: you have human behavior since the dawn of civilization at odds with you.
Veltz Meshugener,
I think I’m getting what you did – very clever! It does underscore that when you provide the level of detail that you did about a person, others can figure out who it was 🙂
Bar Shattya,
The main thing to keep in mind is to stay away from the people who think dieting should be done in a healthy way. Seriously. A tiny bit of logic aught to help you. People who eat healthy don’t lose weight. If they did people would just disappear into nothingness by eating healthy. But they don’t. Healthy people stay the same weight. If you want to lose weight you have to do something unhealthy.
Your statement is cute, but incorrect. If it were true, than we’d see people who ate in an unhealthy way gain wait until they exploded. A person’s weight maintenance is determined in part by how much he consumes (calories in) and how much he exercises (calories out). If either of those factors change, the person’s weight will change in response and then reach a new equilibrium.
Veltz Meshugener,
This is an example of what I mean. Suppose the OP were phrased this way (everything here came from the OP except what I have italicized):
So a fellow came by my place and sat down on a chair by himself, and it broke. The chair was not weak or broken prior to this. Should I ask him to pay for it?
I am very happy to have him as a neighbor and I don’t want him to avoid coming to my house. OTOH, I will run out of chairs if this keeps up.
WWYD?
Note that details important to the question (e.g., the state of the chair before he sat) were added, and details unimportant to the question, but could identify this neighbor, were left out.
Veltz Meshugener,
The problem with learning shmiras halashon is that it turns out everything is forbidden.
From my vantage point, the L”H problem here is not that the OP mentioned that a neighbor broke one of his chairs and asked whether he should ask the neighbor to pay for the damages since he wants to remain on good terms. That type of situation happens all of the time and the question phrased that way carries no risk of embarrassing or identifying anyone.
The problem with this OP, however, is all of the personal details supplied, such as the approximate time the person moved in, the number of children he has, his social habits, and additionally some unusual and unique features of the incident that have no bearing on the question but would render it recognizable to anyone reading this thread who was there or knows this person. None of these details were needed to ask the question, so given the fact that they carry the risk of embarrassing this neighbor, they should not have been supplied. Five details that, standing alone, couldn’t identify someone specifically may very well identify that person when taken together.
If I had a vote, it would be to edit the OP to remove the details, but keep the question.
WIY,
A few thoughts I have that I work on in my own life, and hopefully may be helpful to you:
1.) Don’t diet – the popular conception of dieting in the U.S. is taking a hatchet to our intake and suffering until some goal is reached. Like in “Garfield” comics where the cat eats everything in sight, and then for one week, Jon feeds him nothing but a carrot for supper. That’s a recipe for failure, since the underlying habits are not being changed, and the diet is unsustainable for the long term. As soon as the diet is over, the bad stuff comes right back. Realistic lifestyle changes, not dieting, is needed.
2.) Fill your space with good choices – all of us tend to take the path of least resistance and eat what is easily available to us. So remove junk food from your pantry and replace it with healthy, ready-to-eat foods such as carrot sticks, apples, grapes, celery, yogurt, whole grain crackers, bananas, etc. You can’t cheat with something that’s not there, and healthy snacks can satisfy hunger without guilt.
3.) Don’t get over-hungry – When we get really hungry, we tend to make poorer food choices. Plan ahead, have a healthy snack, and keep yourself from getting to the point of “I need a bite NOW!” before you even start making supper.
4.) If you drink soda – stop. Sodas add toxic amounts of sugar to our diets. It’s like a blitz on the pancreas. Water has no calories and is what our bodies are really after anyway when thirsty. If you did nothing but remove soda from your diet, then you have accomplished a big step. Diet sodas may not have sugar, but the artificial junk isn’t good for you either.
5.) This is my biggest challenge personally – control portion sizes and eat slowly. I am a fast eater by nature, and can finish off a third helping by the time my wife is done with her first. Fast eating results in overeating – the stomach can’t even register fullness before too much has gone down the hatch. Focus on chewing thoroughly and enjoying the food. It may help to decide in advance what and how much you plan to eat, and to arrange it on your plate so that you know when you are finished. Then get up from the table. Many times I continue eating without even thinking about what I’m doing!
6.) When you do eat something “bad”, don’t feel guilty. Nobody becomes obese from one piece of cake. If we tell ourselves that we can never eat this or that, then internal resentment and a sense that this is all too hard starts to build up. Instead of eliminating the desserts we love completely, set a realistic limit. That way, instead of thinking “Poor me, I can’t eat this”, we think “ok, I can eat this now instead of the brownie later…is it worth it?” Decide, enjoy (or enjoy something else later), and move on.
7.) Exercise is key to health. This is a big challenge for me because I have a sedentary office job. Take walks, sit on the floor, stretch your muscles, start small and slowly build up. The times I was most successful exercising have been when I was able to make it a part of the daily routine. I would walk to the next nearest subway stop – adding just 15 minutes to my commute, but 15 minutes of exercise. Park farther away, take a walk when coming or going, it doesn’t have to be an interruption.
Have a great Shabbos!
gavra_at_work,
I don’t buy the “He was not normal” argument.
I have not read much about the incident, but the details I have read seem to point towards mental instability. That steeping in the seething nastiness of the Israeli political climate may have provided a focus or justification for his actions in his mind is a good question. Where a “normal” but misguided person may vilify, an unstable person may act violently. He probably did view himself as upholding some sort of religious honor, but I don’t think his thought processes were rational as you suggest with your question.
dafyomi2711,
I think during the days when the Talmud Yerushalmi was compiled, Aramaic was the common language in Eretz Yisroel as well as in Babylon. As for why the Aramaic might be harder to understand, perhaps the dialects are different?
WolfishMusings,
there are far too many people who depend too much on me (although whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I suppose, is debatable)
It’s a good thing. And it goes much deeper than dependence.
Granted, I can be self-critical (perhaps to the extreme), and even further granted that I don’t particularly like myself very much,
Self criticism can be healthy and helpful, just like a baseball coach’s criticisms can help his players improve their game. Don’t let it lead to self-loathing, however. The very fact that you consider the merits of your actions at all demonstrates that you have character and sensitivity. If nothing else, trust your wife’s judgement: she picked well.
but I said I would limit my self-deprecatory comments on this site and, I believe, I’ve adhered to that.
Most of the self deprecating comments I have seen you make here come in response to the extremist blanket statements or judgements of others – not seemingly from an internal dislike for your behavior. On the contrary, you usually seemed to be comfortable with your behaviors and decisions. That’s why I have previously assumed that you were using the self deprecation as a rhetorical device to attack such blanket, extreme statements.
A simplistic example:
ExtremoBob: Pirkei Avos says al tarbe sicha im haisha, therefore anyone who says “good morning” to a woman is going to that hot place!
WolfishMusings: Well, I’d better stock up on sunscreen and fans, because I said good morning to my wife this morning, and I plan to do so tomorrow!
If, however, you are indeed internalizing some of the crazy statements that unthinking people make, please note that what you are doing is not self-criticism. Where would we be had Moshe Rabbeinu internalized the insult hurled at him by a Jew that he was at fault for worsening the Jews’ lot after speaking to Paroh?
jewishfeminist02,
I have no idea if your post is in response to what I wrote, so I apologize if it wasn’t, but here is my response if it was.
Why is it that when people ask halachic questions, everyone responds with “DON’T TRY TO PASKEN FROM THE CR!!!!” even when it’s clear that the person is not actually asking for psak…
I do not believe that I have ever made that statement. I find the halachic discussions on this forum quite thought provoking, with the full knowledge that any questions of practical application must go to my rav.
but on the other hand, we are uber comfortable with making assumptions and jumping to conclusions and offering unsolicited judgments regarding people’s personal lives?
On the contrary. I have thought about writing what I did above for a long time, and I felt unsure about whether it was wise, and I worried about whether I was rushing to judgement about the situation, misjudging things, or whether it was out of line for me to comment about another poster’s [potential] personal situation. I am certainly not “uber” comfortable. I am uncomfortable.
The fact is, unless we know a poster personally, we know nothing about them except what they post. Therefore, to try and judge a poster personally would be silly. That’s why I made as much of an attempt as possible to comment only on what has been posted – without extrapolation.
Ideally I agree with you that it’s best to comment on posts and not the posters; however, when we are talking about depression and suicide I feel there is an exception due to the risk, G-d forbid. I am not trained to handle such situations, and I have no idea whether my words were helpful or would have any impact if my fears were true (and I pray that they weren’t harmful), but I feel strongly that silence would be worse.
Once, I heard one of my children upstairs yell for help, and upon reaching her I saw that she was pretending with dolls in the midst of a game. Even if I thought she was playing, I would still go to her, because there is a possibility that she really needed help. Talking about depression and suicide can be academic, or it can be a call for help.
rebdoniel,
And wallflower, having a paternal grandmother whose parents emigrated here from Aleppo, I can make such claims with full confidence and with full knowledge of the realities at play.
Having a connection to a community does not give you the authority or the right to tar that community as a whole.
DaasYochid wrote:
Wolf, considering that you’ve started at least six threads about suicide (that’s what I found on the first page of your profile), I could understand how someone could think the topic fascinates you.
WolfishMusings responded:
Yes, but that’s over the span of what? Four years?
I don’t think six conversations over four years is a sign of obsession. Heck, I often have more than six conversations about Excel, SQL Server and photography over the course of any given week. Does that make me obsessed with them?
WolfishMusings,
Your response to DaasYochid was not logical. If a person has 100 conversations and 94 of them are normal, but 6 of them discuss assassinating a government official with quite a bit of detail, I would imagine that the secret service would take notice. Also, if a person takes 100 trips driving a car and causes crashes during 6 of those trips, would you feel safe with his driving? We are not looking for a plurality here to diagnose the fascination. Something as extreme as suicide mentioned even once should give us pause.
During the time that I have read and posted on this site, I have seen you discuss feelings of inadequacy (I am a sinner, etc.), sadness (e.g., on Shabbos), and suicide. These are serious warning signs. Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing whether these posts are intended as satire (you claimed they were not) or to make a tongue-in-cheek statement about the reality of extreme views expressed on this site (you have not closed the door on this possibility). Some of your examples, such as claiming you are a sinner for talking during laining when you serve as baal koreh, or taking “rule” type statements and denying the possibility of exceptions, seem to point towards those above interpretations of your posts, but your persistence and denials of satire make your body of posts somewhat unsettling to me.
No matter what is said by keyboard kanoim with multiple usernames on this site, Hashem loves you. Every breath that you take and every beat of your heart is proof of that love. Your family loves you and needs you. I may be way off base here, and I apologize if I cause you any pain or offense, but if you are feeling despair, you owe it to yourself and your family to reach out for assistance.
Joseph
This post discusses Joseph in the context of the CR. For other uses, see Joseph (disambiguation).
Joseph is an epithet used to describe any poster for which Poe’s Law applies. Some apply the label Joseph to any poster exhibiting troll-like behavior, especially posters who create multiple usernames or attempt to elicit personal information from other posters.
Outsider,
How does this statement:
I don’t want to appear like I’m putting anyone down
coexist with this one?
I am absolutely amazed by the lack of scientific, literary, and other academic knowledge possessed by many (most?) Yeshiva guys.
I know it’s not their way to study “worldly” things, but on the Outside, if you argue against the world’s age, you are a total religious anomaly.
If you make the claim that you are an “outsider”, meaning that you haven’t lived within the Orthodox Jewish or “Yeshiva” world, then where did you acquire the data to make the claim that most Yeshiva bochrim are ignorant of scientific, literary, or other academic knowledge? Stereotyping?
Also, why do you single out this specific group, when ignorance of basic literature, history, and science is epidemic in the U.S. as a whole?
Sam2,
Your question in the title of this thread is beyond my pay grade for sure.
I’m not sure if this is just sucking up to the Frum community because it contradicts just about everything he said before this, … Maybe.
I don’t think what you quoted above contradicts anything he said earlier. Rather, it is a very clever but disingenuous attempt to make it look like he upholds the same faith as other Orthodox Jews. Whether he actually does or not remains a mystery. I’ll elaborate below.
I believe in Torah Min Ha-Shamayim, that the Torah is from heaven, and that the entirety of the book is nevua (prophecy) and represents the encounter between God and the people of Israel
We would have to ask him what “from heaven” and “nevua” mean to him, because it is likely he defines these things in a different manner from traditional Jewish understandings. We’ll see one of these strange definitions in the very next quote.
I believe in Torah mi-Sinai, meaning the uniqueness of the Torah as being of a higher order than any other work in its level of divine encounter.
That’s a very convoluted definition of Torah mi-Sinai, since nothing about Sinai is even mentioned. Torah mi-Sinai simply means “Torah from Sinai.” He says nothing about Moshe Rabbeinu or his actual receipt of the Torah as a historical event, which is the only aspect of Torah mi-Sinai that would posit the Torah’s superiority over any other prophecy. Without Moshe Rabbeinu speaking to G-d “face to face” and receiving the Torah directly from Hashem, there can be no argument made for “the uniqueness of the Torah as being of a higher order than any other work in its level of divine encounter.” It would just be a book written by “divinely inspired men” on the shelf with all the other books written by “divinely inspired men”, G-d forbid. A strange omission indeed.
The story of the revelation at Sinai in the Torah I understand as a narrative depiction of a deeper truth
A cloaked way perhaps of saying “not to be taken literally”…
Finally a true statement, but he doesn’t arrive at this result from Torah mi-Sinai, so I honestly can’t say how he does arrive at it, or even whether his definition of “G-d’s book” is the same as mine.
This is perhaps the most disingenuous statement in the quotation you provided. Note “meant to be as it is today” is NOT the same thing as “I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses”, and “I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be changed, and that there will never be another given by G-d” (quotation of the ikkarim emunah are from the OU). In fact, by utilizing the word “meant”, the implication is very clear that he holds the Torah has changed, G-d forbid.
What on earth does he mean by “develop organically”? It certainly does not seem to equate with the traditional notions of mesora.
The only salient point I could garner from these quotations is that Farber thinks the Torah is spiritually special. We can not derive that he thinks the Torah was authored by G-d and not Man, nor can we say that he believes there was any kind of literal encounter between the Divine and Israel at Har Sinai.
OhTeeDee,
whether the calendar is fixed or not the concept that it may or may not be yuntiff *today* makes it all seem arbitrary.
I don’t see it as arbitrary at all. The date of Yom Tov was set by the Sanhedrin once the length of the previous month was determined (either 29 or 30 days). Therefore each festival had a fixed date. Whether people observed one or both possible days depending on where they lived makes no difference to the actual date and length of the festival.
Unlike Shabbos, whose dates are fixed by Hashem, the festivals were given to us to set within a framework (briefly, the first month must come in spring time, the Pesach is offered on the 14th of that month, the festival of matzos then follows from the 15th to 21st, Shavuous is 50 days after the morrow of the rest of that festival, Rosh Hashana on the 1st of the 7th month, Y”K on the 10th, Sukkos on the 15-21st, Shemini Atzeres on the 22nd. Other than that (and telling us in last week’s parsha that we should use the sun, moon, and stars to set our calendar), we have a say in how it’s done. It may seem a bit disconcerting, but Hashem bestowed our people with holiness through these festivals, and we actually have the ability to make the days holy. That’s why the Yom Tov bracha days “mikadesh Yisroel v’hazmanim” – Hashem makes Yisroel holy, and Yisroel makes the zmanim holy.
The fact specifically that today there is no safeik at all (and when there was did people really fast 2 days for yom kippur) AND no mechanism in place to acknowledge that the 2 day yuntiff “doesn’t apply” anymore.
You seem to be assuming that the reason we still observe both possible Yom Yov days in the diaspora is because there was no mechanism to overturn the previous ruling. I don’t think that is the case. The later sages chose to continue the practice because they didn’t see the problem in simply utilitarian terms. In other words, the uncertainty of when Tom Tov fell was caused because of a deficiency (living in the diaspora), so even though the calendar is fixed, at the end of the day, living in the diaspora is still a deficiency.
In terms of the moment in time when it did apply, the sages who created an “8th day” even for those in diaspora who cannot get the news of rosh chodesh – i believe were doing so in direct objection to the (perfect) Torah.
Nobody created an 8th day. We observe the last date of Pesach on 21 Nissan due to the 7 day festival that started on the 15th – we just assume that the 1st of the month could have been either 30 or 31 days after the start of the previous month. If you are considering yourself to be observing an 8th day of Pesach, then you are not looking at the halacha correctly. In Sukkos mussaf, we recite the offerings for the first day of the festival on both the first two days of observed Yom Tov, because we treat each day as if it could be Yom Tov. In the diaspora on the “3rd” day (after the two day Yom Tov), we recite the offerings for both the 2nd and 3rd days of the festival. Nothing new is being added.
In the simplest form, you cannot say that due to logistics Hashem really wants X even though he said Y! If anything it proves that the Torah, in its time wasn’t scalable to a global world.
The Torah is perfect, but it was never intended to be scalable to the globe. Hashem gave us the Torah and intended for us to live in Eretz Yisroel. Therefore, the halachos are designed for that area. Outside of Eretz Yisroel, many mitzvos lose their applicability. In Eretz Yisroel, grain harvesting is possible at Pesach time, and Jews are obligated to bring an omer offering. In Russia, however, crops are barely out of dormancy. The Torah was not written with Russia in mind. On Shemini Atzeres we daven for rain, but for Jews in Florida, the onset of the dry season begins a month or two later. The Torah was not written with Florida in mind. Hashem wants us to live in Eretz Yisroel, but due to our aveiros, we were exiled and now live in lands “out of sync” with our holy Torah. Having to observe both possible days that Yom Tov can fall out is just one manifestation of this imbalance in the system. Don’t blame the Torah, blame the exile.
The idea that “we would all be amish” is something I chuckle about, since essentially we ARE amish on shabbos and yuntiff.
Huh? I suddenly use no electricity (no lights left on, no timers, no A/C, no Shabbos alarm clock, no blech on an electric stove, no electric urn) on Shabbos, and trade my car in for a horse and buggy (which we don’t use on Shabbos either)? Your comment makes no sense to me. I think a hard-core Amish person witnessing Shabbos observance would say it looked and felt very different from his lifestyle.
There was never anything prohibiting the use of technology as the amish did
That wasn’t quite my point. You implied that halacha freeze-framed in the 19th Century. If that was the case, then there would have been no way for halacha to deal with technology on Shabbos.
but there is a certain resistance to using it, within the confines of halacha, on shabbos. For example putting a light on, which i believe falls under the av of boneh but couldnt possibly be anything close to what boneh IS (or was in the mishkan). This is the understanding and application of a halacha that let’s face it, has NO precedent in jewish history/law (how could it. times change and not everything could be covered). so has halacha “dealt” with this or just outlawed it for lack of understanding?
I think you may have it backwards. Early treatment of electric devices tended to permit them, but once greater knowledge of how those devices worked, then they became forbidden. It actually was the increased understanding that led to the restrictions, not a lack.
What’s interesting to me is that the sages forbade the use of electrical devices on Shabbos – which seems silly to you because the melachos deal with things like hammering and sewing. But Hashem tells me to not work on Shabbos, and in my job I do not hammer or sew – I use electronic devices. Through remote connectivity, I can stay home and work a full day without doing anything but interact with electronic devices – so thank G-d they are forbidden on Shabbos!
Re: fridges, I honestly do not know how it is muttar to open one on shabbos. It is 40 degrees in there and 72 degrees in the room. you open the fridge, 20 seconds later the thing kicks on. You walk into a room with central air. by definition your presence warms the air, miniscule as that may be. the AC kicks on. Is this any better than turning on a light?
Discuss this with a rabbi. It’s not like they didn’t think of any of this!
OhTeeDee,
The fact that there is no mechanism in place to change things (that seemingly no longer apply/make sense
To you?
) doesn’t seem like a problem with the system?
Observing Yom Tov over two days in the diaspora makes sense to me. So why should I believe that it should be changed?
for 2500 years there were tannaim/amoraim/rishonim tweaking halacha, most of which applies halacha li’mayseh today. Weren’t they “reforming” (i know…a very bad word 🙂 the direction of the torah.
No, not reforming. When the U.S. Supreme Court makes a ruling, in an ideal sense we do not say that they are reforming the U.S. Constitution (e.g., “hey, lets throw this clause out”). Rather, they are applying the Constitution to their case at hand. This is similar to what the sages do – they apply Torah principles to a situation in order to figure out what to do. Different sages may make different applications, but it is not reformation.
I am not saying rejecting torah she’bal peh, all i’m saying is that if halacha is a living, breathing idea why did it stop changing (except to make life HARDER) 150 years ago?
This is a false argument. Blechs on electric stovetops, hearing aids, timers, air conditioners, refrigerators, etc. did not exist 150 years ago, yet our living halacha has dealt with all of these things (mostly to make life EASIER, by the way). If halacha stopped changing 150 years ago, then we’d still be living as people did 150 years ago, like the Amish. But we don’t, because halacha does deal with changes in the world. It seems possible that your perception of a lack of halachic adaptation is not due to an actual lack of adaptation, but to your dislike of how it has adapted.
OhTeeDee,
I mean, there is no safek yom anymore, this we know.
So from this statement, it seems that your problem with 2 day Yom Tovs is that we now utilize a fixed calendar, so it follows that when Rosh Chodesh was declared by the Sanhedrin, you wouldn’t have objections, right?
For example, the torah specifically says that succos is an 8 day holiday
<nitpick>Actually, by the Torah Sukkos is 7 days, as we are commanded to sit in Sukkos for 7 days. The 8th day is a new Yom Tov.</nitpick>
so next friday A. why aren’t you oiver on baal toisif?
Your argument here doesn’t make sense to me, because it would also apply to the times before our calendar was fixed, and from your initial statement, you only seem to have a problem with this after the fixed calendar. Back when Rosh Chodesh was declared by the Sanhedrin, and word of the declaration may not have reached the far flung communities in time for Yom Tov, keeping “eight” days of Pesach still would have been problematic according to your argument, because the Torah commanded seven!
Pesach and Sukkos are seven day festivals. Rosh Hashana, Shavuos, and Shemini Atzeres are one day festivals. This remains true to this day, in the diaspora as well as in Eretz Yisroel. The sages who declared the months also decreed that in the diaspora, both possible days that Yom Tov could fall out based on the synodic month should be observed as Yom Tov, even though one of those days is not Yom Tov.
and B. Shouldn’t you be putting on tfillin? C. Shouldn’t you be doing hakafos (the real ones) on Thursday
The same sages who told us when to lay tefillin and to do hakafos also told us how to observe Yom Tov in the diaspora. Where’s the contradiction?
Toi,
most important thing(s) to do are to observe the 5 inuyim and not be chayiv karress.
My guess is that Rav Miller ZT”L and the OP took it as a given that the restrictions of Yom Kippur would be observed, and were addressing what ideas and thoughts of the day were the most important.
Yungerman from Lakewood,
so I can’t bring myself to do tshuva for aveiros that I do not believe in.
What do I do?
Your problem is not isolated to people with doubts – it is a universal issue. When a person sins, most of the time he is not thinking “heh heh heh, I know I’m doing wrong but I’m doing it anyway!” Usually there are two conflicting desires within a person (I should give the $5 in my pocket to that poor person, but I really want to use it to buy some french fries later), a noble desire and a base desire, and the person rationalizes a way to fulfill the base desire, sometimes even convincing himself that he’s doing the right thing (the poor person will just probably buy alcohol with it anyway). So, in a way, at the time of the commission of the aveira, the person “does not believe in the aveira” as you said.
So how should you “deal” with Yom Kippur? The same way that all Jews should. Take some time to examine your actions (and the motivations for your actions) during the past year and decide whether all of those actions reflect the type of person you would like to be. Usually when we pare down our rationalizations, the true, base motivations for a lot of our actions can make us feel embarrassed. Feel regret for these failures, but tell yourself and Hashem that they do not reflect who you are. Think of something realistic you can do during the upcoming year that will help you to come closer to being the person you truly want to be. Pray for the time, health, and ability to do this work.
Please G-d I should be able to do all of this myself as well and that we will all have a year of sweet goodness.
This name is already taken,
Assuming you have downloaded the file from the Web and saved it somewhere, perhaps you can open a blank OpenOffice spreadsheet, then choose insert -> sheet from file, then choose your CSV file? You might have to play with the formatting to get it right.
Good luck!
jewishfeminist02,
I have heard that there are people in minyanim
People are people, and I’m sure that every minyan of every stripe has its share of interesting characters!
who will correct the way others wear their tefillin, either by verbally advising them or even physically reaching over to adjust the person’s straps. Does this actually happen? And if so, what do you think– is it appropriate or not?
If my tefillin were pushed askew, I would ultimately appreciate someone quietly telling me – though I would also feel a bit embarrassed. I probably wouldn’t mind him adjusting it for me if he asked first, since it would save me the extra seconds to get my mirror. If he didn’t ask first before touching them, however, I would feel very uncomfortable (and probably wonder if he were mentally stable).
If the issue the person had was with my custom, I would just say, “thanks for the advice, but this is how I learned to put them on” and move on. If it were an issue like what LevAryehBoy described, I would hopefully just say “thank you.”
I personally wouldn’t correct somebody else. With the tallis going on and off the head, standing, sitting, etc., tefillin are likely to shift during davening. I’m sure most people periodically check to make sure they are still in their proper place. Therefore it’s very likely that the man with his tefillin askew will correct the issue himself in short order.
assurnet wrote:
Actually the Gemara in Sukkot discusses different human actions that bring about eclipses… I’m not quite sure I would describe Chazal as “arbitrary.” And as a disclaimer, just because we can now map the schedule of such astrological events in advance isn’t a stirah to the Gemara…
lakewood001,
How is it not a Stira? I’m asking sincerely.
I can think of several possible answers.
First, I think for the purposes of the Gemara, it’s not the occurrence of the eclipse that is important, but the observation of it. Just because an eclipse occurs does not mean that people in a given location will see it. Cloud cover, for example, can render a lunar eclipse and most solar eclipses invisible. A total solar eclipse would be viewed quite differently under cloud cover than on a clear day.
Second, if G-d created and controls the universe, including all of the physical laws, and He knows the future and the hearts of Man, then it would follow that the laws of physics and history would work together such that eclipses occur and are observed over regions where such behavior occurs.