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Health wrote: “It depends why you’re not learning Gemorra. If it’s because you don’t believe in Torah Sheh Bal Peh, then you are OTD!
If it’s because you were never taught how to learn Gemorra, then you’re not Otd.”
There are many other reasons than those two (e.g. you enjoy Nach more, it is easier to get published in Nach, etc.). If it is anything other than the first reason, you are not OTD.
FDR was not a great President (IMHO), he was given nearly a carte blanche and the policies that he pushed resulted in an extended depression (including a double-dip) and unwielding, inefficient administrative state that we have today.
He also turned away the St. Louis and didn’t take relatively easy steps to stop the trains to Auschwitz and save thousands and thousands of Hungarian Jews.
Since when does doing aveiros (alone) make one OTD? A person that does aveiros out of tayvah, like smoking, watching movies, etc. (assuming they are in fact assur), is not off the derech.
What kind of shiurim are you looking for? There are a lot great sites.
Sparkly,
Re: boys and girls talking.
It depends on what you meant by “talking.” If you mean “hello, goodbye” and that’s it, there is nothing wrong. Similarly, business talk if they work in the same company, or are trying to sell/buy something in a store is not a problem. Flirtatious/Fun talk is absolutely forbidden outside of the context of dating (although I am not certain on the basis and parameters of the dating heter).
??????? ????? ??????????? ???????????? ????? ?????. ???????? ??????? ????????? ??? ??????????? ????????? ?????????? ??????? ????????????. ???????? ???????? ???????, ??????? ??????? ???????????? ??? ????????? ???????????. Shulchan Aruch Even Ha’Ezer 21:1
According to most, this issur is Rabbinic as a fence to prevent issurei d’oraisah.
First of all, I don’t think you realize how evil Assad has been. Although in the long run, ISIS in Syria might be worse, Assad has tortured and killed even more Syrian civilians. The US should have intervened on behalf of the Free Syrian army right away and although the FSA has committed atrocities also, they are not in the same league as Assad and ISIS. Furthermore, Russia should (and falsely claimed they would) stop Assad from bombing (including chemically) civilians, but Russia has not stopped them but helped them.
I think that Obama was morally weak on Syria, he failed to do the right thing and the Syrian population is suffering because of it. Russia went ahead and deliberately did the wrong thing. Obama was shev v’al taaseh, Russia was kum v’aseh.
On Iran, that Russia has been bad for a while isn’t an excuse for them to continue to be bad. Putin is actively selling Iran missiles and nuclear tech. Russia is now allied (in the practical sense) with Iran and Assad (Assad is backed by Iran).
On Ukraine, I didn’t know that Obama was involved in the coup. I have to look into it more. Other than taking Crimea by force, what Putin done to outdo Obama.
Most importantly, from a moral perspective, Putin has made himself a dictator, he assassinates journalists and other who criticize him, and he has crackeddown on the fredom his peoplel
It depends on what you mean by “better.” If you mean advancing his country’s interests in foreign affairs, even if those interests are evil, then Putin.
If you mean better in the moral sense for his country, then Obama.
For example:
Obama stood by as Syrian civilians were massacred = Bad
Putin aided the Syrian government in massacring its civilians = Worse
Obama negotiating nuclear treaty with Iran and lifting sanctions = Bad
Putin giving them nuclear technology and missiles = Worse
Lilmod,
My point was not that nobody holds that you have to cover until the knees regardless of community standards, as I said this is implied (strongly, but not quite explicit) in the Mishna Berurah. My point was that the Shulchan Aruch (Mechaber and Rema) and many other earlier halachic sources do not hold like the Mishna Berurah.
So you are incorrect (and TRUEBT is right) in listing your 4 items of tznius as being “according to all opinions” and communities that have more lax tznius standards than ours have amudei olam upon which to rely.
Only number 3 on your list is close to “all opinions” (it is required according to 99.9% of halachic opinions).
Lilmod,
The Pri Megadim you are referring to is not discussing a chiyuv for a woman to cover her legs/knees. He is discussing the issur for someone else to say krias shema in front of uncovered legs. Whether or not legs are different than other parts of the body for this halacha is a machlokes Rishonim and Acharonim (based on different ways of learning the Gemara in Brachos). The Shulchan Aruch and the Rema pasken (like the Rambam) that there is no difference. The Taz, the Pri Megadim, and the Mishnah Berurah hold that shok is different and more chamur.
The Pri Megadim may also hold that there is issur to uncover legs (I don’t know), but that Pri Megadim is not discussing such an issur. The Mishna Berurah implies that woman have a chiyuv to cover their legs until and including the knee.
I don’t have access to the other sources you have cited but you might want to make sure that they are talking what is required to be covered and not just what you can say krias shema.
GAW,
That is incorrect. Sewing in the market is a reference to uncovering arms. ????? ????: ??? ?? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???????? ???? ??? Kesubos 72b.
Joseph,
You wrote: “He quotes the Rambam, who he describes as “the father of philosophy” in our religion, in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, stating that a person may not learn philosophy until after he has “filled his stomach” with Shas and Poskim, which are the things, and only the things, that bring us Olam Habah.”
The Rambam says that about learning Kabalah (i.e. Maaseh Merkava), not philosophy.
???? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? ?? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???”? ?????? ??? ??? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ???? ???”? ?????? ?? ??????? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ??? ???? ??? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???. (Yesodei Hatorah 4:13)
The Shulchan Aruch does not discuss the length of women’s skirts. Nor does the Shulchan Aruch bring down the halacha of “shok b’isha erva.” Rather the Bais Yosef (Orach Chaim 75) holds that shok is just an example of a body part that is normally covered. The Shulchan Aruch (and the Rambam and others) hold that any body part that is normally covered but is now uncovered is a problem of erva and other people cannot daven in front of it. So according to the Shulchan Aruch (others disagree) whether or not legs are erva depends on the norms in the community in which you are located. See also, Aruch Hashulchan 75.
Now, there is a separate halacha of tznius norms called Daas Yehudis. This is the tznius practices of b’nos Yisroel. The Mishna in Kesubos lists a couple of such practices but does not include covering legs. Therefore, whether and how much legs NEED (obviously a person can choose a higher personal standard of tznius) to be covered (and the corresponding skirt length) for tznius reasons depends on the norms of Jewish community in which you live.
Huju is correct. Health, you don’t need to worry about a libel suit.
Meno and Joseph,
Your questions are the same as the question the Roman asked Rabbi Akiva about circumcision.
Joseph,
You can overcome it with mitzvos and tefillah.
Joseph,
The concept of “mazal” as it appears in Shas.
In this case in particular, people presume that because there is a person that you are supposed to marry as pre-ordained by the bas kol before you are born, your marriage to that person must be happy and loving. This is a mistake. A person can have mazal that he should be poor, mazal that he should be stupid, mazal that he should be sick. His bechira in life is then dealing with those unfortunate situations (or in some cases overcoming his mazal). So too with his “bashert.” Just because she is pre-ordained for him doesn’t mean that the marriage will be easy, pleasant or loving. It could be that his lot in life is to deal with a difficult marriage.
You missed the best writing game of all . . . Balderdash!
Any game that would normally involve writing would be uvda d’chol.
It is a misunderstanding. There is a concept of “bashert” meaning a person you are destined to marry but that doesn’t mean you can only be successfully married to that person for two distinct reasons:
1. You have bechira and can make a marriage work with many people. Moreover your destiny may be to have a difficult marriage with the person you were meant to be with.
2. A person can break their fate and get a spouse that they deserve (better or worse than they destined spouse). ???
??????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ??? ?????. See Sotah 2a.
But without a car, won’t she walk more places and be out for everyone to see even more than if she is safely ensconced in a car?
I would think that walking, taking a bus, taking a subway, or taking a cab would all be less tzniyusdik.
I might be missing something having not read all the previous pages. But even taking Joseph’s interpretation of the Rambam, what does that have to do with driving. Even if a woman only goes out once or twice a month, why can’t she drive?
Driving is simply a more efficient mode of transportation.
jewishfeminist,
By calling the references or other people who know the person in question. How to start calling? try first come first serve, or eeny meeny miney moe. The personal sections of the resumes carry very little meaning and can be misleading.
Jewishfeminist,
People should not be deciding whether or not they are interested based on a resume. That is ridiculously shortsighted. Resume writeups are usually canned and are almost certainly written with other people’s help and input about what is best. To get to know a person you need to go out with them.
The resume serves the purpose of eliminating the obvious without needing to go through a lengthy calling around process. That is the only purpose it should serve.
zahavasdad,
They wouldn’t be disobeying Rav Kanievsky. They would just be following their own rabbonim. That being said, I am skeptical that Rav Kanievsky would hold that women could halachically not drive nowadays. And if he does hold that, he is certainly a daas yochid on the matter.
Given how awful Trump is, and how disliked Hillary is, if Johnson could get on the debate stage he would have a legitimate shot at winning the conservative anti-Trump states like Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming.
The purpose of a shidduch resume should not be anything other than providing the vital statistics. Everything else sounds self-serving and weird.
Put together a resume that looks like a work resume. Have a short (two lines or less) Hobbies & Interests section at the bottom.
The posuk says that there were more than 120 thousand people that don’t know their right from their left. Rashi and others understand that to mean 120 thousand children. If you assume a 2:1 ratio between adults and children, there were more than 180 thousand people in Ninveh at the time.
Thanks for the clarification. That makes more sense.
When did Rav Elyashiv say that not being a young Earth creationist is apikorsus?
As an aside, the whole idea of ikarrim according to the Brisker Rav is that for these beliefs being mistaken doesn’t help, nebach an apikorus is ocheit an apikorus.
I can’t imagine that Rav Elyashiv held that the age of the Earth is one of the ikkarei emunah (none of the Rishonim that I know of include it or anything like it). So not having a mistaken belief about it would not be apikorsus, it would just be a mistake.
I like the phrase “drunk the kook-ade” in reference to Trump followers.
To paraphrase PJ O’Rourke, Hillary is liar but she is a liar within the normal political parameters. Hillary is wrong about most things but she is wrong within normal parameters.
In other words, Hillary is a Democrat politician like most other democrat politicians. Trump is a vain, unstable con-man who lies with incredible impunity to a degree heretofore unseen in Presidential politics. He is Democrat’s funhouse mirror image of a Republican with no care for Constitutional limits, or fealty to any ideal greater than himself.
Vote Libertarian or some other third-party. And if you live in a swing state, vote Clinton to make sure that Donald Trump does not take the Presidency.
Sam2,
If that is “what police are supposed to do in this situation” there is a serious problem with police protocol. That’s a shoot first and ask questions later philosophy which unnecessarily gets people killed. How many people who are planning on shooting cops tell the cops in advance that they have a legal gun? Also it is very likely that the cop asked him for his license and registration already, that is the first thing they ask for. The cop panicked and a man is dead. It is incredibly tragic.
I don’t think, however, that this is racial thing except for maybe in the sense that blacks get pulled over more. There are too many cops around for all of them to be good at their jobs and there are plenty of unarmed white (and other races) people that get killed by cops as well. But there is definitely a perception out there that this happens only to black people or at least far more frequently to black people. It is this perception that has fueled violence against police, creating a cycle of violence where the police are more nervous and therefore more likely to kill people.
Not nice to call your kid “it.”
With respect to hand washing we are more meikel. Whether or not something is chotzetz depends on whether you are makpid on it for hand washing. See Rama Orech Chaim 161:1. So a woman’s nails don’t need to be perfect the way they would need to be be for mikvah, they just need to be in the realm of normal.
Daas Yochid & Sam,
As Sam wrote properly done nail polish (as opposed to chipped or old) is certainly miut v’eino makpid and not a chatzizah m’ikkur hadin. And, as Daas Yochid wrote, Ashkenazim (following Rama in Yoreh Deah 198:1) are makpid not to be tovel even with things that are not a chatzizah. Arguably this includes nail polish.
However, in Yoreh Deah 198:17 the Shulchan Aruch writes that ????? ????????????? ?????????? ??? ????????? ????????? ???????? ???????, ?????? ??????. And the Rama does not argue but rather adds that the same rule applies to shochet whose hands are blood stained because the norm of shochtim is not to be makpid. The Rashba gives two reasons for being meikil by hair and makeup: 1. the woman specifically wants them so they are even better than miut v’eino makpid and become part of guf (halachically); and 2. they lack mamushus. The Rashba has to give these reasons because hair dye is not a miut but ruba (we consider hair as if it’s own unit).
Therefore, even Ashekenazim are meikel by hair dye despite the Rama in 198:1. Presumably, because it is given a din of the guf itself. If so, then Ashkenazim should also be meikel by nail polish because the woman specifically wants it there and it becomes part of her guf. (On the other hand, nail polish has more mamashus than hair dye, so arguably the second reason of the Rashba doesn’t apply).
Regardless of the actual halacha, it is very uncommon for ashkenazi women to wear nail polish to the mikvah (and many mikvaos or mikvah ladies don’t allow it). So it remains a reasonable explanation for why Yeshivish women do not put on nail polish.
I always thought that the reason the Yeshivish world doesn’t wear nail polish is because it requires time and effort to remove it properly for tevilah and therefore a woman would not wear nail polish in the days leading up to tevilah.
Now, because they won’t wear it leading up to tevilah, putting on nail polish is indication that the woman has recently gone to the mikvah and publicizing that fact is viewed as untzniusdik.
My understanding from my rebbi is as follows:
Riding a bicycle is uvda d’chol according to many poskim. The reason it is uvda d’chol is because the typical use of bicycle involves occasional melocha (fixing the chain) or issur (going out of the techum). Activities which can be done without melocha or issue but are typically done in ways that include melocha or issur are forbidden on Shabbos as uvda d’chol. This is not a new gezeira but simply the application of parameters of uvdin d’chol.
I refuse to get involved in this discussion.
Ubiquitin,
The reason no one can come up with an example of a widespread practice of a minhag ta’os/shtus is because those that poskim universally condemned were discontinued. I can give many examples of things that I think are a minhag shtus but there is likely going to be someone out there that disagrees, or else they probably wouldn’t still be done. The only minhagei shtus that you will find today that satisfy your criteria are those that are only done by a small group of (uninformed) people. For example, it is the practice of some Jews to eat in non-kosher vegetarian restaurants. This is certainly forbidden because of bishul akum. That this is the practice of an entire community doesn’t make it mutar; their minhag cannot be oker the halacha.
DY,
Mikar hadin, bliyos from an aino ben yomo pot are mutar. We don’t do it l’chatchila but the food is not treif. If the people doing the cooking don’t have any issue with gebrochts, the person who is makpid can eat because after the fact the food would be mutar.
The halachic psak I received on this question was that Gebrochts is not more chamur than tarfus. Therefore, if the keilim have not been used for hot Gebrochts within 24 hours, it is mutar.
So you just need to be careful to track the use of the pots from day to day.
The statement that a minhag trumps halacha is a bit misleading. Where there are multiple legitimate halachic positions and there is a minhag comports with one of them, we will follow the minhag, even if the majority position is against the minhag.
In other words, a minhag without any halachic support is a minhag shtus or minhag taus. A minhag with halachic support, however, can override the normal klalei horaah and the halacha would follow the minhag.
Rashi explains that the reason it wasn’t good for man to be one being because then it would appear that there were 2 domains with ????? ???? ??? ???? ???????? ???? ?? ???, ??? ???? ???????? ???? ?? ???.
Therefore, Hashem separated man into two being male and female, with the female either aiding or fighting the male, neither of which is sufficient on its own.
I think that in some contexts, when someone says “stop being so frum,” they mean in the sense of ???-?????? ??????? ???????? (Koheles 7:16)
I think that the Dear Son and the Dear Daugher books are very good and I think both parties should read both books.
In terms of hilchos nidah and tznius, the chosson and kallah should agree on rov to whom they will ask shailos in advance and just agree to follow his psak.
All chosson and kallah teachers (especially kallah teachers) should tell their students that there are many different shittos and approaches in these matters and that they should not get upset because of they are hearing something from their spouse that sounds different than what they were taught.
I am pretty sure the Rambam says that it is asur but it depends on societal norms. Ask a shailah halacha l’maysah.
mw13,
Many societies have names that mean life (e.g. Vivian, Ankur) or lion (e.g. Abbas, Osama) or deer (e.g. Fawn, Oscar, Darby) or bear (e.g. Orson, Bernard, Arthur, Bjorn).
Abba_S,
There is a case against East Ramapo right now on just that issue. But the reality is that East Ramapo wasn’t fighting the parents as hard because they calculated that it was cheaper for them to just give in (i.e. court costs plust public school were more than paying for KJ).
L’maysah East Ramapo has created a high quality special needs program within one of its public schools that has yiddish-speaking (i.e. frum) teachers.
Joseph,
It isn’t materially different than your rephrase. I had only read the first page of the thread when I posted that.
As to you second question, I have two reasons:
1) It is not clear to me that CS is muttar. Rav Moshe’s heter was a chiddush, not universally accepted, and Rav Moshe himself felt that if a person was capable he should be machmir.
2) Even if klapei shmaya it is mutar, if you are machmir because you think that there is a solid argument to be machmir then the self-control of your tayva will benefit your soul and you should get “schar halicha.”
Joseph,
I think you should rephrase the question with only one person. The same person can choose to each only CY (bli neder) or choose to regularly eat CS. All else being equal, is there any spiritual advantage to eating only CY?
I think the answer is, clearly, yes.
Daas,
Yes. I mixed up who was saying what.
Sam,
The Shulchan Aruch only considers it derech chiba for the man, because when it is the man who is sick (and his taiva is therefore limited) his wife can treat him if there is no one else available. Y”D 195:15.
edited
DaasYochid,
The case the Bais Yosef is dealing with is where the wife (who is a nidda) will die if her husband doesn’t give her medical care.
edited