For those of you who are also curious about the results (I can’t be the only one, can I?) I thought I would share the following, which I will paste below and was on the website of the American Zionist Movement:

The U.S. Area Election Committee voted to delay calculation of the votes until disputes regarding the registration list have been resolved. We anticipate being able to release the results of the election in early June. Even then there may be disputes awaiting adjudication in Jerusalem. Everyone would like to see results and they will be released as soon as possible. Watch this website for more information.

Thank you, Reb Yid, but as the elections are now closed, there is no reason to try to convince anyone to vote or not to vote. However, is anyone aware of the results? If they have not yet been published, is anyone aware of when and where they will be available?

Thanks!

For those who have not yet started and are interested, the official mishna yomi cycle (two mishnayos a day) is starting a new seder this week. Nezikin starts with the first two mishnayos of Bava Kama this Friday.

I heard that the reason for this minhag is that one is not allowed to benefit from the chanuka licht. Not doing tasks during this time makes sure that one is not using the lights. If this is the case, one could argue, that this would apply to things that require light, but not to things that don’t require the use of ligh. One could also argue that, b’zman hazeh, when we have well-lit homes and there is no worry about using the lights inappropriately, then it would also not apply.

Of course, there are other reasons brought down, such as the fact that a big part of the nes happened through a woman. So, in either case, go with the family minhag and/or ask a posek.

“One should not point out or make it obvious that Harchakos are not being held of at the time, as it is a lack of Tznius”

I was told in chasan classes that the tznius issue is NOT whether your wife is now a nidda, but which night she is going to the mikva. I was told there is nothing wrong with being or not being a nida, and it is not untznius if others know. After all, if you pass your wife the keys, it is obvious she is not a nidda, and if you put the baby down on the sidewalk, it is obvious that she is a nida. Unless someone is watching and making a mental note each day to see when I start handing her the keys directly, people will not know when she went to the mikva, and this no breach of tznius. (And if people are actually doing that, then I think that THEY have a problem.) I have never heard that one needs to (or even should) keep harchokos in public at all times.

Regarding actual displays of affection with one’s spouse (e.g. hand-holding), I would love to see a source. It seems to me to be slightly distateful, but not such an outrageous display or pritzus that it needs to be reprimanded, but that seems to me to be a societal issue, and would probably be different depending on one’s community.

Regarding displays of affection with one’s child (other than in shul, as mentioned above), I would think (hope) that, especially with the obvious difference in age, anyone who sees such a display by a frum person would be dan l’chaf z’chus that it is the child, and not suspect one of inappropriate conduct, but again, this could differ by community.

Finally, the OP requested sources, and none have been given, so it seems to me that all posts (inculding mine!) are personal conjecture based on each person’s feelings and/or community standards and not halachic. Still waiting to see sources!

I once heard that the fact that minhag olam is to call the day lag BAomer is a proof that the correct way to count each night is LAomer. After all, we know that if one says the number of the day before counting, he can no longer count with a bracha. So can one say, before counting, tonight is LagBaOmer? Only if the PROPER way to count is LAomer. Then, by saying LagBaOmer, he will not have properly counted and can then still count with a bracha. Therefore, since the proper way to count is LAomer, the minhag arose to call the day Lag BAomer so as to avoid such a problem. (Yes, this probably belongs on the Purim Torah thread….)

My personal minhag each night is to count twice (I say the bracha only once.). I say HaYom Yom Echad LaOmer. HaYom Yom Echad BaOmer. I know that, in truth, one is yotzei either way, but for two extra seconds each night, why not be yotzai both shitos?

No Modern Orthodox Rabbi ever advocated those things either. Are there people who do it? Unfortunately, yes. That doesn’t mean it’s the “official party line” of Modern Orthodoxy. Chances are, if Modern Orthodoxy didn’t exist, those people wouldn’t be keeping kosher or Shabbos at all either.

Can I add that according to the Conservative “party line”, you should be shomer shabbos and kashrus, however most who identify as “conservative” are not.

Hoshana Raba, being the seventh day of succos, is still succos, so the esrog should still be huktzeh l’mitzva, and thus asur for hana’a. I’ve heard of biting it off (though never with any source) as a segula for having a boy, but after yom tov, not on hoshana raba. Any thoughts on this?