catch yourself

Many years ago, “Yankel”, a guy in the Yeshiva I learned in (in Eretz Yisrael) got engaged shortly after Shavuos. I went back to the States for the summer.
That Elul, I bumped into Yankel. After wishing him a hartzige Mazel Tov, we shmoozed about where he was living, etc.
After a five minute conversation, I continued on my way and met “Shmuly”.
He says, “Such a shame about Yankel!”

Turns out, they didn’t even make it through Sheva Berachos…

“Reb” Eliezer

My statement was that “it should also be noted that according to שלחן ערוך, you may not be able to daven later if you missed the zman במזיד.” [I assume this is the part of my post you refer to.]

Your response: “catch yourself, what you sayng is incorrect according to the interpretation of the O’CH 89 MB s’k 6.”

I’ll readily acknowledge that I misattributed the reference. The correct reference should be to the very Mishna Berura that you notated.

The Mishna Berura there says that if a person missed zman Tefila במזיד, it’s best for him to Daven בתורת נדבה (with a תנאי to cover the possible חיוב), since it is possible that he is no longer able to Daven the required Tefila.

This discussion is specifically about a person who missed zman Tefila במזיד and now wants to Daven before חצות. Please note that if he did not Daven before חצות he will not be allowed to Daven Mincha twice.

Also noteworthy is the fact that the Mishna Berura does not agree that a person who missed the zman can still Daven Shacharis during the half hour after Chatzos. B’dieved, he says that if you did, you should not Daven Mincha twice.

@ujm

In a published Teshuva about your question, Rav Moshe Feinstein writes that it is not our responsibility to understand the actions of Gedolim, but that we must follow Shulchan Aruch.

“Reb” Eliezer

Your blatant disregard for Halacha is shocking. The Gemara and the Halacha are both crystal clear that you ***must*** daven before סוף זמן תפלה. Davening after the זמן is בדיעבד. The fact that if a person did not do so, he may still be able to salvage some aspect of תפלה does not change this basic requirement (it should also be noted that according to שלחן ערוך, you may not be able to daven later if you missed the zman במזיד).

Additionally, you dismiss the difference as if it were negligible, and you have the temerity to ascribe your mistake to the Gemara. What concept do you have of the difference between שכר תפלה בזמנה and שכר תפלה?

@Yserbius – Halacha is not woke.

If someone says, “As an עם הארץ, I do not feel I should have an opinion…” that’s one thing.

Do you think that only potatoes can have an opinion on whether it should be muttar to use peelers on Yom Tov?

Why shouldn’t a man have an opinion on a Halachic question that is practically relevant only to women?

Should your Rav (who is a man) be precluded from ruling on Niddah shaylos?

This Mezuza vort is. like so much else, something that sounds good in a speech but doesn’t really hold water.

That’s not what a compromise is.

We are careful to fulfill both shitos with Mezuza, like in so many other areas of Halacha.

Of course compromise is good, in מילי דעלמא. Like all Midos, “easygoing” has applications both לצד הטוב and לצד הרע. It is not good to compromise on מילי דשמיא.

Compromise for compromise’s sake is not laudable. Compromise for the purpose of being מרבה שלום is good, as long as the שלום in question is רצון השם.

For years we could not see eye to eye about grilled chicken versus schnitzel. After extensive (and expensive) therapy, we worked out a supper schedule in which we compromised. On alternate weeks, we have the schnitzel my wife prefers with the side of my choice, or my grilled chicken with the side of her choice.

This worked reasonably well for years, but then one week we had a Bar Mitzvah on a grilled chicken night, which upset the balance. We are currently in late stage negotiations about how to recalibrate.

To be fair, you can’t consider Charliehall (or anyone else) a hypocrite unless he’s on record saying, as Cuomo did, that he believes Dr. Ford.

The truth is that it’s right to reserve judgment for both Kavanaugh and Cuomo until they each enjoy due process.

The fact that Cuomo is responsible for thousands of deaths does not mean that he is also therefore guilty of whatever someone might allege.

Have you ever had a real conversation with someone “on the other side of the aisle?”

My Rav is a well known and highly regarded Talmid Chacham and Posek. He is also a full-fledged liberal Democrat. I doubt he has ever voted Republican. He is not alone.

Are you suggesting that such people are not Orthodox Jews?

Why not, indeed.

It was no less coherent than some other posts…

Somehow, people who believe this kind of garbage never imagine that the “experts” who promote the conspiracy theories have their own vested interests.

In response to CTL, GH, et al

Rush Limbaugh was bombastic, provocative, and partisan to the extreme.
Michael Che is bombastic, provocative, and partisan to the extreme.

The difference is that Rush was unquestionably one of the most talented political entertainers of his time, and Michael Che is… Michael Che.

I don’t agree with either of their viewpoints, and I think there is a lot of merit to the argument that Rush was one of the catalysts of the hyper-partisanship which currently holds our country hostage. This does not detract from Rush’s talent level (which was enormous), and the fact that someone might agree with Che does not mean that he has any talent (he’s pathetic).

My favorite is one I saw in Ta’amei Haminhagim

He asks, how do you know that a Gematria is allowed to be off by 1?

A: It’s an explicit Pasuk:

אפרים ומנשה כראובן ושמעון יהיו לי

אפרים ומנשה = 732
ראובן ושמעון = 731

This is about as intelligent a suggestion as, “Pants, meet Skirt.”

In the out of town community where I live, our schools have been open this entire school year, albeit with sporadic closings of specific classes.
We have implemented a containment protocol which includes all staff and students wearing masks except when eating or during recess. Each class has maintained its own bubble, with no mixing of classes allowed during lunch, recess, or any other time.
School does not seem to be a major source of spread, judging by who did and didn’t get the virus within each class.
Our Shuls (with varying degrees of strictness) still maintain social distancing and mask wearing policies, and some even still require registration for Minyanim. Our stores (both the Jewish-owned ones and the non-Jewish-owned ones) still require mask wearing and social distancing.

I was in the NY/NJ area several times recently, and in most places it’s as if there is no virus. This has to be the bigger issue than opening the schools. Indeed, it would seem to make the question of opening schools a joke. Why not open the schools if everything else (restaurants, shuls, weddings, shopping, etc) is business as usual?

The Gedolei Eretz Yisrael that you referenced were discussing whether to open school in context of a strict lockdown in the rest of society.

“Yaakov only opposed ShImon and Levi’s action because it almost got them in trouble with local populous, he didn’t object to them in principle.”

Well, that’s kind of the point. The fact that they were Halachically correct in their treatment of Shechem did not override the practical consideration of not offending the locals.

Chushim is a different situation because Eisav was also not a local, and the Cana’anim probably viewed it as an internal feud among a foreign family. In any case, if he was actually a Cheresh (as it seems from Chazal), he wouldn’t have been responsible for his actions, so a reprimand or criticism would have been out of place.
I haven’t seen it “inside” in quite a while, but I don’t remember a commendation; what’s the source for that?

Wow.

Tell whichever side you can that for a couple of hundred extra bucks (a drop in the bucket of wedding expenses), they can earn the appreciation of their son- or daughter-in-law by paying the extra expense. The trick is, they have to do it B’sever Panim Yafos.

Think about all the extra time they will get to spend with the grandchildren, IYH…

You can be humorous and friendly at the same time.

Try something like, “as dangerous as crawling across the African Savannah in a sheep costume.”

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Try replacing the subject of the joke with your own group. If you would find the “joke” offensive, don’t use it on anyone else, either.

Example: “About as safe as wearing a “Blue Lives Matter” t-shirt to a ‘mostly peaceful protest’ about the death of George Floyd.”

Gadolhadorah

I know it was meant as a lighthearted attempt at humor, but I still feel I must protest.

As a proud “Litvak”, I take umbrage at the insinuation that I would attack someone who comes into my Shul waving a yellow flag and singing “Yechi…”

What I (and, I think, just about everyone else who Davens at the same Shul) would do is either ignore the guy completely, or give him a friendly greeting and offer him a drink or something (depending on what else I was doing at the time).

I certainly would not take any action against the unfortunate fellow.

I haven’t researched the issue, so I don’t have hard statistics. In my experience, and based on conversations with the professionals that I know (psychologists and social workers), the incidence of inappropriately medicating is currently extremely low.

What evidence do you have that “in majority of the case, it is done inappropriately?”

Overmedication occurs frequently in the beginning of treatment, as the psychiatrist works to determine the appropriate dose.

In all my years as a student (in the 1980’s and 1990’s) and as a Rebbe (the past decade or so), I have only known one Rebbe who hit a student. He was wrong.

I know more than a few parents who hit, and nearly all of them are wrong, as well.

It is an extremely rare situation that calls for corporal punishment in an educational setting (whether in school or at home), and even in such situations it is often not the correct course of action.

Spanking a child who truly needs to be medicated is like spanking a child who has diabetes. It’s cruel and abusive, and absolutely ineffective.

If you want to help a child, give him medication if he needs it.

As a Rebbe, I am loathe to ask parents to have their son evaluated for medication. I know that as a parent, it would be a difficult phone call to receive.

I have seen the downside of medication in some of my students over the years. I know that overmedicating can completely turn off a child’s personality and make him somewhat of a robot. Nobody wants this, and doctors, parents, teachers and Rebbeim work together to find the right dose.

Even so, I can tell you that the downside is far outweighed by the benefits.

Schools, teachers, and Rebbeim do not want to medicate students who don’t need it, and they would be unable to do so in any case. The diagnosis of ADHD is based on a very large amount of data that is collected from parents, Rebbeim, teachers, therapists, and the child himself.

Talk to a psychologist. You’ll find out that there is no real benefit to a child to withhold necessary medication from him.

Thomas and Alito, who dissented to the majority decision not to hear the case, did so not on the merits of the case, but because of their long-standing position that SCOTUS, as the court of original jurisdiction, must hear cases in which both litigants are states.

Presumably, after hearing the case, the court would have dismissed it unanimously.