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This deadlock can easily be overcome. New Hope and Likud have the same exact values. The only reason New Hope exists is because of a personal problem with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu makes the following offer to New Hope; join us and I promise to never run again in another election for the rest of my life, New Hope will get what it wants: an end to the reign of King Netanyahu. You will then have a right-wing government as follows: Likud 30 + Shas 9 + Yamina 7 + UTJ 7 + New Hope 6 + Religious Zionist 6 = 65.
Netanyahu can then “leave on his own terms” and work over the course of the next government to set up his chosen successor. New Hope would achieve its goals of ending the Netanyahu run, the people of Israel who have now voted over and over again for a right/religious government can get what they want, Lieberman will become irrelevant and disappear overnight – its a win/win/win/win.
ujm: so would it be true then that when organizations and people target a person for not giving a get, what they are really doing is targeting him for being a msareiv but essentially they are permitted to target him? would it not also then be true that if, lets say, a mother of a “get refuser” is given a hazmonos beis din but she is msareiv (or is it msarevet?) beis din then the mother must suffer the same negative consequences?
ujm: what if the husband refuses to go to beis din? because that is what happens in 99% of aguna cases. then how long after he refuses to go to beis din is he considered a “get refuser?” or he plays the system by agreeing to one beis din and then setting a trial date and then not showing up and arguing that he wants a different beis din (which is not even permitted by halacha). what then?
You gave a very nice halachic explanation but it is not very practical.
syag: whats more, a lot of women who first enter the world of divorce are very frightened that they will become agunas and this fear, perhaps, causes them to jump the gun so to speak, and start howling about a get, long before the time comes. ive seen that happen a lot.
CTLawyer: lets not pretend art had anything to do with the music. He was a tag along because of his golden voice. You’re quoting Paul.
Baltimore Maven: I havent looked at the crc article being cited here by others in a long while but i remember a footnote in it saying r’ heineman was mattir although i think in practice the star k does not allow it in order to placate the kanoyim.
Also, I have previously heard the arguments by those who claimed that r’ moshe was not really mattir and did not find them very compelling at all. I have a longer list of those who were mattir but I only write those that it was publicized that they were mattir.
Harambam hilchot Maachlot Asurot 11:15 is clearly mattir. The Gemoroh Avoda Zara, daf chaf tes, which he bases his ruling on also is pretty clear that it is permitted. The S”A in siman kuf lamed zayin, sif daled also is meikil.
Gadolhadora: that is not how halacha is made.
according to rav moshe, rav miller, rav heineman, rav ovadia (and others) it is ok. according to rav belsky it is not ok.
San Francisco.
charliehall: we have seen two giant assaults on our democracy this past week. a bunch of hillbillys committing the low level crime of trespass and the four largest tech corporations banding together to silence thought. Which was, in your view, poses a greater threat to (1) liberty and (2) yidden?
An Israeli Yid: Its funny because I know a number of american chareidi gedolim who wear tekhelet under their clothing and hide it away for the same reason R’ Belsky mentioned. I find it funny when I hear their talmidim go off the rails defending the (really nonsensical, imo) position that its assur to wear it. I do not divulge what i know in honor and reverence of the gedolim but i still find it hysterical.
ujm, trump is a good man and a great president but he had nothing in the world to do with this. pollard served his full 30 years and then his full 5 years probation. i have found no evidence, anywhere, which supports your claim that it was “widely” expected that pollard’s parole was going to be extended – nor did I hear anything of that sort mentioned at any time in the past – and this is an issue that is close to my heart and which i follow closely.
participant: to avoid the fine, no one will get tested and people who could have been treated early will die because they did not get tested.
that is the shortest reason among a very long list of reasons why this may be the worst idea i ever heard of in my life to address any problem ever. The worst.
Abba S is right on point! I was thinking the same thing.
OP wrote: “Time for the Trump cult to admit that it lost. Badly” – i do wish trump would stop with the stolen election nonsense BUT those people you call the “trump cult” are actually half of the population of the US and 75-80% of Jews in this country (please note, i do not consider most american jews to be jews -as they are not halachic jews nor do they have any affiliation to judaism nor do they practice any religion- hence the 75-80% number). they are not a cult. they are half of america and most of the people you associate with. they include intelligent, smart, rational, caring men and women. they are your chavrussa, your shochet, your doctor, your neighbor and your rabbi.
Trump did not lose badly by any measure. 10,000 votes here and 10,000 there. statistically, it was a tie. it went to game 7 and biden won in extra innings. half of this country will feel like they do not have a president for the next four years just like half of this country did not have one the last four.
OP, like many democrats and republicans alike, has a very difficult time acknowledging the strength and popularity of the other side. The failure to acknowledge the existence and legitimacy of the other side is as dangerous to the future of this country as trump’s failure to acknowledge that he lost. People like OP (and Trump, for that matter) need to stop tearing this country apart at the seams.
A more appropriate analogy would be Achashverosh. A rude, self-centered clown who fell tuchis-backwards into policies that saved the jews from the anti-Semites and began the process that led to the rebuilding of yerushalayim and the temple. Maybe that’s what the definitely not blind gedolim see.
do we also have to wear it down to our knees the way he does?
wolf: leave it up to god to allocate where your prayers go and whom they benefit. just because you think you are saying a prayer “for such and such” does not make it so.
ujm: there is a custom not to say kaddish before you are required to do so but it is not halacha. in fact, al pi din, kaddish is just a prayer and anyone can pray.
wolf: it says “kol haneshama tehalel yah” that includes you.
Achashverosh had a lousy personality but his policy was good for the jews. If the story of purim happened in some enlightened western town instead of shushan there would have been a loud cry from certain segments of the jewish population to reject the assistance of such a flawed character.
I agree. The media points to the imperfections of the candidates and labels them evil. This is true of all politicians. How many times have you heard trump or Biden or Hillary are evil? They are not evil just imperfect.
Do you know when we will get a perfect candidate? When Mashiach comes. Until then we will always be choosing from a group of imperfect people.
Gadolhadorah: I reject this idea that we are choosing the lesser of two evils or that we did so last time. The same bogus media that sullies Trump has sullied the reputation of two long-time public servants. Yes, none of them are perfect but that does not make them evil. Trump is not evil. Biden is not evil. Hillary is not evil. I wish people would stop with this nonsense. I will be voting based on hakaras hatov principles and daas torah for an imperfect man who has done some great things. I also like the other candidate’s character and moderate approach to government and can see myself voting for him, too, if not for the aforementioned reasons.
Always_Ask_Questions: I really appreciated your post. I find it hysterical that these people who purposely stunt their science education at the fourth grade now come forward and pontificate about a brand new virus that no one knows anything about. What a bunch of funny people. Like how they don’t want to wear masks because they don’t want to look funny but the men walk around in public with white tights and a fur hat in summer with no shame. Funny people.
That said, I would encourage 11219 and all the others to lift these gzeiros which ARE unfairly targeting MY funny people by doing a simple thing: every single person who already had the virus in March/April should go today and get tested. Not a one can be positive. You will dilute the positives and get your percentage to where they claim it needs to be in order for them to leave us alone.
Most reform “jews” claim to be liberal, tolerant and loving of others but there is no belief system that is more the opposite of these ideals than reform’s idea that judaism is “tikkun olam.” as if the jews are the only ones who want to make the world a better place and as if you cannot be a good human unless you are a tikkun-olam-jew. There are many, many more good-hearted people trying to improve the world who are christian and muslim than there are such people who are jews. the jews do not have a copyright on being good-doers.
I once heard r’lamm ztl explain it this way: God made a covenant with noach, avraham avinu and moshe rabbenu. With noach, applicable to all mankind: be a good person and make the world a better place; with avraham: love for the land of israel and with moshe, the torah. to be a yid, you need all three, but the first one is not exclusively jewish.
jack and charliehall: the quotes from the standup bit mcinnis did in israel in 2017 are not fair. he was in israel on a pro-israel comedy tour and was doing standup comedy. yes, it was beyond our tastes for humor but it did not cross the line that is accepted (letza’areinu harav) as valid in the comedy circles. Among my sins, I enjoy listening to the comedy stations on siriusxm all the time and trust me, this is par for the course. I suppose people see it as acceptable because it is in the context of someone trying to be funny and is clearly someone overexaggerating things for the sake of humor. Whatever the case, it was very clearly said tongue in cheek and when taken in context was not hate speech. Mcinnis is not an anti-Semite.
tachles: i very much liked president obama but he completely undermined the arab spring which was a real opportunity for change in the middle east. instead, he empowered the muslim brotherhood and iran for no noticeable reason. while obama was a huge supporter of israel and i am grateful for it, trump goes far and above. in other words, trump can tell the difference between good and evil while president obama could not. and biden is to left of obama on foreign policy and israel (shamelessly condemning israel for building apartments in ramot and gilo, for example).
jerusalem and the golan is tachles. UAE and Bahrain is tachles. reducing the tax burden on large families is tachles. rubashkin is tachles. justice reform is tachles. creating the best economy of my working life is tachles.
as for the proud boys, i do not view them as a white supremist organization.
i am, like most decent people, disturbed by trump’s strongman, bullying tactics but i will hold my nose and vote for tachles.
Wallace: You have repeatedly criticized the vice president for not specifically calling out antifa and other extremist groups. Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in a number of these cities, as we saw in Kenosha and as we’ve seen in Portland?
Trump: **Sure, I’m willing to do that.**
Wallace: Are you prepared to specifically—?
Biden: Do it.
Trump: I would say almost everything I see is from the left wing, not from the right wing.
Wallace: So what are you saying?
Trump: I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace.
Wallace: Well, then do it, sir.
Biden: Say it. Do it. Say it.
Trump: You want to call them—what do you want to call them? Give me a name. Give me a name.
Wallace: White supremacists and—
Trump: Who would you like me to condemn?
Biden: Proud Boys.
Wallace: —and Proud Boys.
Biden: Proud Boys.
Trump: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, I’ll tell you what. Somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left. Because this is not a right-wing problem. This is a left-wing problem.
lets be fair. trump was asked to denounce white supremacy and he did. he then instructed proud boys to stand down and standby. perhaps like me, trump does not view the proud boys as a white supremacy organization.
my takeaway from last night: trump was a bully and reminded me why i dislike his personality and hope and pray none of my children look up to him as a role model. at times, i felt bad for biden who just looked like an old man being bullied. as biden spoken i learned that he is really not a very articulate person and i also began to fear putting this recovery into his hands. even more than the fear i have of trusting biden with the recovery, i began to yearn for a recovery in the hand of a trump presidency, whose strength projected poorly in general but well in when it came to the economy. I also saw trump speak enough about liberal causes, like justice reform, that assuaged my overall left-leaning politics. i began to see a vote for biden as taking a huge risk economically, in order to further liberal agendas I believe in. Sof davar, the decision on my vote, which is ultimately based on hakarat hatov, did not change.
Akuperma: I respectfully disagree with your analysis from a tax/welfare perspective for the following reasons:
1) Child tax credit – Under prior administrations, the child tax credit was $1k per child. Under Trump it became $2k. Under the prior administration, the credit began to dissipate at an income of $150k. Under Trump it dissipates at $400k. We all know that frum families can use the child tax credit not only because of the size of frum families but also because frum families are generally at a much higher income than the general population. The direct savings to the frum world is tremendous and quite frankly the savings trickle on to the mosdos. A frum person with 7 kids and an income of $200k is putting an actual $14,000 directly into his own pocket because of Trump.
2) Assistance: while government assistance is helpful, it is much more vital to people without a community structure. BH we have each and other and Satmar. We believe in chessed. We believe is Tzedaka. We take care of our own.
So while there certainly will be many frum Jews who did not benefit from the Trump structure, when taken as as a whole, Trump’s tax plan fits much better with the frum community.
Hakatan: I suggest you read as much Amir Hetzroni as your stomach can tolerate. He very much holds the views that the Brisker Rav (rightfully) was thinking about when talking about the Zionists and (rightfully) abhorred. He very much stands for all the values rejected by the Torah world when Zionism was created. But he calls himself either “post Zionist” or “anti zionist.” That is because in his mind, the state of Israel represents Zionism and he is against the current values of the state of Israel.
So if a person (Chetzroni) who subscribes, to the T, to all of the horrible things that you accuse Zionism of being, considers himself anti-Zionist because he is anti-Israel, this means that today, the State of Israel is the antitheses all of the horrible things you think of when you hear the word Zionist.
In essence, this is yet another piece of evidence that Zionism ended when the state of Israel was created. The evidence is actually overwhelming but I am afraid that to lay it all bare is not appropriate for a Coffee Room post.
You will not understand this post after the first read – it would be unfair of me to expect you to be able to. I suggest you read as much Hetzroni as you can and then come back and re-read this post and then you will be the first person to move to Israel – the land slowly but surely becoming more and more, every day, the land of Torah and Kedusha and Am Yisrael.
HaKatan: The Zionists were members of an organization that was started in Europe in the 1897 and ended in 1948 with the creation of the state of Israel. The organization’s stated purpose was to the create a homeland of the Jews. With the creation of the state, the purpose of the organization became moot.
Many people who were members of this Zionist organization went on to take ruling positions in the state of Israel but most of them are now dead. There are some people, born after Zionism ended in 1948, who subscribe to the same values of this now defunct organization but they are very few in number.
In fact, the values of the Zionists are now widely accepted, in Israel, as corrupt and disgusting. As proof, take a look at how the Israeli public views the one person who, to this day, proudly continues to proclaim these values as truths: Professor Amir Chetzroni. He is a pariah.
Those people in power in Israel today are made up of a wide variety of Jews and non-Jews, most of them do not hold any of the same values as that organization that was established in 1897. And, despite the horrible things the Zionists envisioned for Israel, it is trending in the right direction, not only economically and socially but also religiously. The Zionists had their plans but ultimately, Hashem laughed.
Like Hiroo Onoda, the Japanese soldier who was not told that World War 2 ended until 1974, some people never got the memo that the war against Zionism is over. We won. You can put down your weapon and instead roll up your sleeves and help the rest of us continue to make the State of Israel what Hashem wants it to be.
Someone in Monsey: The medina exists only in your own mind. The moment you recognize that you are nothing more than a modern day Hiroo Onoda, you will find peace and sanity.
N0mesora: anything is possible. But suggesting that Israel was willing to put up with a nuclear Iran in order to gain a fiscal edge sounds much like a conspiracy theory and I’m not very big on those. I’d like to believe Israel thinks that the Iran deal brought Iran closer to a bomb.
Rev al sharpton called those who call t defund the police latte liberals who debate academic theories and lack the perspective of being “on the ground.” Those who defend Obama on the Iran deal sound very much the same to me.
Charliehall: besides anti semites, the state of Israel also prefers the current situation (as does SA).
jackk: The Israelis and Saudis have much more at stake than you do, wouldn’t you agree? And would you not also agree that the Israelis and Saudis understood, with reasonable certainty, that by pulling out of the deal, Iran will, in fact, expand its stockpile of enriched uranium? This did not surprise the Israelis or Saudis – they probably expected this. And still, they preferred this over the Iran deal because as bad as Iran stockpiling enriched uranium sounds to you and me, the Iran deal sounded worse to the Israelis and Saudis.
Of course not every frum jew is pro-trump but an overwhelming majority of frum jews will vote for trump, whether they are pro trump or not, whether they are liberal or conservative or neither, they will vote trump. The frum vote is more lined up behind trump than any prior presidential candidate since Reagan. There will be frum jews, many of them, who will vote Biden – there is nothing wrong with that – we all must respect each other’s votes and opinions – but this one is not even close – most frum jews, across the entire conservadox/blackhat spectrum will vote for trump in November.
I would imagine playing with your tzitzit is in the category of מתעסק and would be permitted in all circumstances according to all of the דעות irrespective of whether separating the strings is permitted or not (see the last few lines of masechet shabbat, as an example).
R’ Ovadia held that you can (and should) separate the strings on shabbat except for the first time wearing the tallit – if it is on shabbat you cannot separate the strings. I am going off of memory so I do not have a source. Sorry.
I will withhold judgment. The incident looks terrible from the two videos I saw but I think it only fair to let the investigation run its course. I can see a scenario where the officers opened fired because they feared for the lives of the children in the car. It may be unlikely but there is no need to rush to judgment. (Unlike the George Floyd incident where there was no possible justification for the officer’s behavior). Can’t we just wait and see how this develops?
When MO was the only version of frumkeit that embraced higher education and a Baal Bayit lifestyle, many frum Jews would have no choice but to camp out beneath their tents. But now that such a large percentage of the haredi yeshivish world also embraces some from of higher education and a majority of “black hat” boys end up in the business world, MO has less to offer.
Additionally, the quality and capability of the MO/YI rabbonim is on a steep decline, in my view. With few exceptions, the Rabbi Yudins and Rabbi Schonfelds and Rabbi Lerners are being replaced by rabbis who are more akin to kiruv rabbis or political talking heads than poskim and talmidei chachomim. There is a serious religious leadership problem, which trickles down.
Op written by a rebbe who never paid tuition.
Jackk: Islam is not a race. Islam is a religion and not a race.
You may want to point to those statements and call trump a bigot (I don’t think he is one) but those statements are not evidence of racism.
In fact, I never heard trump say a racist thing and accusations that he is a racist are simply not supported by any evidence.
Sam klein: black hats can be made of felt or wool. Within felt there is beaver felt, rabbit and for the truly discerning, mink. A good rabbit fur felt costs at least 100, probably closer to 150. A good beaver is twice that and a good mink is twice that. If you want a brand name, expect to pay for it, like everything else.
The difference between one type and the other type is pretty visible to the naked eye and after six months the wool felt will not look anywhere near as nice as a fur felt. A beaver felt will look new for 25 years.
the best prices and selection are at stores that cater to the jewish markets because the consumer is usually a lot more knowledgeable.
A secret of mine: if you really know the hat market, buy on ebay. even second hand. huge savings.
stop and frisk.
Dear mklyb: this virus was never a threat to young people (and the fear mongering (edited) you’ve been watching over the past few months which highlight exceptional cases in young people is just feeding you fiction premised on statistical nullities). An environment where young people are detached from those as risk and placed in their own protected bubble is the ideal way to move forward safely making sleepaway camps much safer than day camps.
takahmamash: not exactly. traditionally it was may 15 to sep 15. i suggest you study about the straw hat riots of 1922. fascinating stuff.
Joseph: the conflicting data would make more sense if we explain that most of the felonies the blacks are convicted of are drug offenses and not violent.
By1212: amalek and the 70 umot are nationalities not race. I actually do not know what the word race actually means.
Joseph: I suppose if a new 600,000 are added to the figure each year that number may make sense but that seems highly unlikely. Or maybe a large number of felonies were non violent? צ”ע
I was using milhouse figure that half of violent crimes are committed by blacks then I worked backwards and that’s what I got. 37.2 million blacks, 600,000 criminals.
My instinct tells me that the percentage of blacks who commit violent crimes is well below 10% for the little my instinct is worth.
joseph: i just punched in the numbers. Could be they are inaccurate and its possible my math is off. Where did I go wrong?
Another thought I had after I wrote that post, there is a concept in Halacha called Miut Hamatzui or significant minority. The most stringent opinion I have seen (like R’ Vaye’s) is that Miut Hamatzui is 10%. Anything less is halachacly insignificant.
Milhouse: There were 1.2 mm violent crimes in the US in 2018 (the last year I found stats on). Lets say 600,000 of those were committed by blacks. Lets further assume that each crime committed by a black person was committed by a different person. That means in 2018, 600,000 blacks committed violent crimes. There was a population of 37.2 million blacks in the US in 2018. So that means that 1.6% of the black population was criminally violent in 2018. Does that mean, then, that it justifiable to assume that when you run into a stam black person you have a statistical reason to suspect he MAY be a violent criminal? Or is a person who believes that 98.4% of a race should be tainted with the wrongs of 1.6% inherently a racist?
The little I know: I don’t think you’re reading my posts. I know there are many reasons to be against an Arab state. I can give you a few dozen more reasons that you missed. But the right never offers any alternative. Ok, you don’t like the two state solution. Fine. So what is the plan? The right has never pushed a different idea.
Eliminating local police will only make police brutality a bigger problem because the void will be filled by county or state police. Local police tend to hire police officers from the local area and tend to engage in community policing (where officers get to know their beat and become a part of that community). If you bring in officers who are foreign to the community (like state and county), you will increase the likelihood of police brutality.