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“Ronald Reagan…no scandals,just leadership. “
You forgot Iran Contra — the biggest scandal of the past 30 years!
“About Jefferson’s economic model charliehall does shudder?”
No, because Jefferson is dead and so is the chattel slavery he supported. He was brilliant but horribly wrong on so many things.
Hamilton, OTOH, was an abolitionist.
I’m headed to Canada tomorrow for a week and look forward to the visit. Anyone here from Vancouver or Victoria?
“You cannot deny the anti-Israel attitudes of people central to the anti-apartheid movement, like Desmond Tutu”
Tutu has lost all his moral integrity. It is a shame.
“Also, why do you think so many whites, including Jews, had to leave South Africa”
A lot of whites, including Jews, had to leave South Africa because they feared the violence of the South African security forces. It was a police state that terrorized people who disagreed with it. And even fleeing the country did not render you safe, for like the Pinochet regime in Chile, it was willing to assassinate its enemies even once they had left the country. (See Ruth First for an example.)
“the ANC is a member of the Socialist International”
So is Tony Blair! So was Francois Mitterand!!! Both were great friends of the Jewish people and of Israel. Can the guilt-by-pejoritive stuff, Daniel!
“the violence that Mandela and his cronies caused. “
Not “caused”. SA didn’t have a real police force when the ANC took over; the “police” were really about torturing dissidents than fighting crime. If you believe the official statistics, homicide rates have dropped by 50% since the ANC took over.
“a civil war that they started.
(do I have my history correct here?)”
Only partly. The ANC attempted for years to change the Apartheid system through peaceful democratic means. But the response from the Apartheid leaders was to deny them the right to vote, with eventual plans to strip them of their citizenship! They probably learned this from the Nazis whom so many had supported during WW2. So the ANC did start an “armed struggle” and Mandela was indeed guilty of being part of that (hence his 27 years in prison, originally a death sentence). But the ANC never put a lot of effort into its “armed struggle”, preferring to arrange for a worldwide sanctions and divestment effort. Which worked.
Mandela does get a lot of credit. After 27 years in horrible prisons, who could have blamed him had he demanded revenge? But he not only called for reconciliation, he disassociated himself from some of the ANC’s extremists (including his then-wife). Unfortunately, his successors have been ordinary politicians who have not served the country well.
Also worthy of note is that the idea that Mandela is anti-Semitic or anti-Israel has been debunked. Again, he could have demanded revenge given that Israel did give support to the Apartheid regime (WHAT were they thinking?). But he did not. (Note that many of the people responsible for the Apartheid system had, in the words of Reagan State Department official Chester Crocker, “supported the wrong side” during World War II.)
Other best Presidents: Lincoln, and the two Roosevelts. Obama has a chance to be ranked among them if the economy continues to improve and he continues to be lucky in foreign policy.
George Washington, for all the reasons given, and some others:
He realized that the US at the time he became President was an economic backwater, and that the only other person who understood this and knew what to do about it was Alexander Hamilton. He put Hamilton in charge of the economy and the US has since thrived. I shudder to think what the US would look like today had we followed Jefferson’s economic model.
Similarly, as the top General in the Continental Army, he listened to others (including Hamilton, then a staff officer) and in particularly to Rochambeau. In the summer of 1781, Washington wanted to attack New York, thinking he could finally dislodge the British garrison here. He was probably right, as the French had notably increased the size of the military forces available to Washington. But Rochambeau realized that he had the chance to trap Cornwallis in Virginia, and Washington yielded. The rest is history.
” not being allowed to daven Mincha just because that is what the commander decided”
Actually, the halachah is that if your employer doesn’t give you the time off, it is asur to daven minchah! You can probably make it up with tashlumin; consult an IDF rav.
“being told to do things that are mechalal Shabbos”
IDF being mechalah Shabat in many if not most cases would be pikuach nefesh. We learned this one the hard way with the Maccabees as they originally decided not to fight on Shabat, and got massacred.
“the army does not go out of the way to get mehadrin food”
So eat the non-mehadrin food! When you are in the IDF you no longer follow the halachic rulings of the community you are from; you follow the IDF’s rulings. And you don’t call your former rav to ask whether you should obey an order.
That said, the IDF really should do more to respect the religious traditions of all soldiers. Even though many rabbis (including mine) are meikel on kol isha, there was no excuse for prohibiting frum soldiers from quietly excusing themselves when a female singer was performing. Ten minutes for a minchah minyan should rarely be an issue unless someone is shooting at us. And Rabbinut Mehadrin food is readily available throughout Israel; why can’t the IDF offer it? The IDF has well qualified Orthodox rabbis; why can’t it follow them?
Two years ago I popped into a shul in Paris where the French Jews were making a kiddush in honor of Bastille Day. If the Jews of France can make a kiddush IN shul on that country’s national holiday, kal v’chomer we should do at least as much for a country that has treated Jews far better.
“It is never appropriate to make a Nazi comparison (except maybe in describing Soviet Russia or Pol Pot and other mass murders).”
I might add Nazi wannabes like David Duke, but the point is very well taken!
“The real poll was that the people of California passed Prop 8.”
Actually, the real poll was the 2010 California Gubernatorial election. Jerry Brown, while Attorney General, chose not to defend Prop 8 in court. Californians enthusiastically supported that decision by electing him governor by a landslide — by a much larger margin than had approved Prop 8 in the first place. (Maybe they changed their minds?) Interestingly, Brown’s 2010 Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, now supports same sex marriage, too.
“The DOMA case was about a federal law that defines marriage for all federal purposes as being between one man and one woman. The Court held this unconstitutional as a deprivation of the rights of those who want to marry someone of the same gender. This was a substantive ruling.”
This is one that split Movement Conservatives. On the one hand, they hate gays (or at least they feel they have to pretend that they do; I don’t think their heart is in this one). On the other hand, they also hate the Estate Tax and the plaintiff was a woman who was trying to get a refund of over $300,000 she had paid in Estate Tax.
That said, the budget cuts to Torah institutions do cause me to shudder. DL institutions are getting hit just as bad. The DL and charedim ought to be allies here but the acrimony between the two parties is so great that I doubt this will happen. There have been overtures from some DL rabbis, but the charedi leaders don’t seem to be much interested.
‘The non-Charaidi (including many Dati, including most of the populace (even if not those beholden to the Charaidim)) feel seriously threatened by the “power” of the Charaidim’
Had the charedim not abused their power this situation might be different. Datim are furious over the disrespect that the Charedi rabbis have expressed towards their institutions and leaders. I’m sorry, but HaBayit HaYehudi is NOT a party of gentiles, and Rabbi David Stav is a distinguished talmid chacham supported by the leading gedolim of the Religious Zionist world. And the charedi leadership on the conversion issue has been a shanda, putting Tropper in charge of conversions for the entire world, and endorsing Rav Sherman’s outrageous complete rewriting of halachah to pasuling massive numbers of conversions without investigations.
“Everyone agrees, however, that no one after Ravina and R’ Ashi can argue on the Amoraim. “
Rambam and Tosafot seem to argue on the Amoraim a lot. And there are things in the Gaonim that don’t have any source in Chazal. Chas v’shalom we consider any of them to be apikorsim!
At one point dimes were made of more valuable silver, while nickels and pennies were copper alloys, but today all US coins have the value they have because people accept them as such; they are fiat currency just like paper money.
Limes were the reason Great Britain became the greatest world power!
Scurvy, caused by vitamin C deficiency, plagued seamen for centuries in early modern times, as they ate no fresh food on voyages. James Lind, a Scottish Royal Navy surgeon, conducted studies in the 18th century that proved that eating citrus fruit prevented scurvy. It took several decades for the ultra-traditionalist Royal Navy to take action, but eventually all Royal Navy ships started carrying citrus juice and the seamen themselves became known as “limeys”. The healthier seamen make the British Navy invincible.
There is a Torah connection here: Lind’s study was unusual in that he compared seaman who ate citrus to those who did not. That was the second study in human history that used a comparison group. The first such study was over 2,000 years earlier and is described in the first perek of Sefer Daniel in which his vegetarian diet was healthier than the King’s meat diet. For some reason this methodology was ignored by everyone, even Chazal, until the 18th century.
“I heard a psak from Rav Schachter of all people that if the Conservative edim were shomer shabbat and believed in Torah min hashamayim, than the conversion is good. “
I heard something like that in the name of Rav Schachter from my own rav; IIRC the qualification was that the “Conservative” dayanim had to be fully observant, not just Shabat observant. Of course, if you are fully observant and profess belief in Torah Mi Sinai, you are actually Orthodox regardless of what you call yourself.
“What a shanda! I followed Linzer’s daf yomi for meseches nida and it was loaded with prost language, the jargon of his audience and students no doubt. And his daf yomi shiur included women. He has no eidelkeit and that separates the real talmudei chachamim and roshei yeshiva from the imposters.”
I attended Rabbi Linzer’s daf yomi shiur IN PERSON for almost all of meseches nida. I was there and I take strong exception to your outrageous comments. Rabbi Linzer is a tremendous talmid chacham and he treats the subject matter without cutting corners or apologetics. Much of nida is very detailed and graphic and it requires accurate language to be used if you want to learn it. I personally teach medical students very non-tzniut stuff and you would not ever want to be treated by a doctor whose professor cut corners on language.
And yes, Rabbi Linzer’s daf yomi shiur is attended by women. My wife is now a regular attendee. What is the problem with that?
“the Poskim of that day who opposed Rav Goren used are exactly the OPPOSITE of the reasons given now to support Rav Sherman. “
Correct. Except that Rav Goren pasuled a single conversion after an investigation. No reasonable person could object to that. Rav Sherman pasuled thousands of conversions without hearing the individuals involved. There is no basis in halachah for doing that, and the talmud has horrible things to say about dayanim who decide cases without hearing from all parties involved. Rav Sherman should have the status of a Reform Rabbi and fortunately the Dati judge on the Israeli Supreme Court overturned his outrageous decision.
I’m not a rabbi, but frozen fruits and vegetables are generally washed, and frozen right in the fields immediately after they are picked, so they don’t have the same chance to develop insect infestations the way fresh vegetables do.
The OU response was awful, referring to nonexistent “Judeo-Christian ethics”.
“Not like the U.S. is going to admit what that was.”
The US still does not know what it was for sure, because Pollard refused to talk and Israel still hasn’t fessed up.
“However, his 25 year sentence is excessive, as most others who spy for an ally get a maximum of 7 years.”
Pollard’s sentence was life with a possibility of parole after ten years. But he has never applied for parole. He will be released on November 21, 2015, after serving 30 years. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg spied for an ally and got the death penalty for that, so by that standard Pollard got off easy.
I use an ordinary non-electric toothbrush, with ordinary toothpaste. Not all poskim permit such; CYLOR.
Traitor.
He has given (or sold) secrets to China. We just don’t know *exactly* what he gave them, and whether (or how much) he was paid.
“100 years ago there was not a single thought by anyone that a woman had an active role in the Shul”
Ever hear of Rebecca Gratz? She lived a bit longer than 100 years ago!
Advisory Board of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (from their web site):
Rabbi Yehuda Amital, zt”l, Founding Rosh HaYeshiva, Yeshivat Har Etzion
Rabbi Saul J. Berman
Rabbi Yoel Bin-Nun, Rosh haYeshiva, Yeshivat HaKibbutz HaDati
Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, Rosh HaYeshiva, Yeshivat Ma’alei Gilboa
Rabbi Dr. Rafael Grossman, The Fort Lee Shul – Fort Lee, NJ
Rabbi Menachem Hakohen, Chief Rabbi of Romania
Rabbi Dr. Benny Ish-Shalom, Founder & Director, Beit Morasha
Rabbi Meir Lichtenstein, Yeshivat Kibbutz HaDati
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, Director, Tanakh Study Center
Rabbi Simcha Krauss, RaM, Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi
Rabbi Yaakov Nagen, Rosh Metivta at Yeshiva Hesder Otniel
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Dean, Ohr Torah Stone Institute, Chief Rabbi of Efrat
Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, Professor of Judaic Studies, Bar Ilan; author of Minhagei Yisrael
Rabbi Joel Tessler, Beth Sholom Congregation – Potomac, Maryland
Some of those rabbis are among the most respected Dati Leumi rabbis anywhere. Several are prominent Roshei Yeshivot and one is Past President and current Chairman of the Executive, Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel. Are you calling all them apikorsim?
Yes, YCT isn’t charedi, although one of its core faculty is from a charedi background. Are you saying that all non-charedi yeshivot are full of apkiorsim?
“How can write this?”
I was correcting someone’s facts and explaining how I knew it.
” YCT is causing spiritual death causing people to be ?????????.”
And precisely how are Rabbis Weiss, Lopatin, Linzer, Helfgot, Katz, and Love apikorsim? Has any of them ever denied Torah Mi Sinai? Or any of Rambam’s 13 ikkarim? (Not that the Orthodox world follow’s all of them.) Are any of them anything other than careful in observant of all mitzvot that apply to them? Rabbis Lopatin and Helfgot are featured on the Rabbinical Council of America official web site; are you saying that the Rabbinical Council of America is composed of apikorsim?.
“Adelson’s money mostly comes from a Casino in Macau. “
His company also owns casinos in Las Vegas, NV, and in Bethlehem, PA.
“I am sure they spend less per capita on police”
Conservatives sometimes forget that government can save lives.
“lose to 70% is in NYC”
Wrong. NYC has 8.2 million of NY State’s 19.4 million people. Or is arithmetic “liberal propganda”?
“This whole private sale claim has been disproven many times.”
No, it hasn’t. In most of the US, anyone can buy any firearm through a private sale without a background check. That is the law. The NRA thinks that convicted felons, persons who are dangerously mentally ill, and terrorist wannabes ought to be able to amass unlimited arsenals without the government know about it.
Or are you one of the crazies who thinks that the US government is more dangerous than Al Qaeda?
“No gun laws would keep guns away from criminals as they don’t buy guns in stores.”
Of course not. They can buy them privately with no background check almost everywhere in the US.
“Somehow, we refrain from massacring each other down here.”
North Carolina’s homicide rate is 25% higher than that of New York.
“How many frum institutions were built with money from people like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel”
The Florida Jewish Museum in Miami Beach is a former synagogue that had Meyer Lansky as a member; he supposedly contributed much money to the shul. Lansky himself always insisted that he lost virtually his entire wealth to Castro.
” Howard Jonas has contributed money to the great bizayon haTorah and michshoilim, YCT and yeshivas Maharat.”
I attended the Yeshivat Maharat commencement last week and Mr. Jonas’ name did not appear on the contributors list.
“Much worse than making money gambling or selling cigarettes.”
Supporting Orthodox Yeshivot like YCT is a mitzvah. Making money by gambling or selling things that kill Jews is asur. How many Jewish lives have been ruined by Mr. Adelson’s casinos, and how many Jewish lives have been ended Mr. Tisch’s tobacco? YCT alumni bring people to Torah, giving them life.
“It’s a complete fallacy that Adelson spent more on Romney’s campaign than he does on charity. He gives and has been giving close to $50 million a year for birthright and MASA each year for years.
Some basic arithmetic and research skills would be helpful. “
We know of $92,796,625 that Adelson and his wife gave to Republican candidates and political action committees last election from public records. (It took me less than five minutes of internet searches to find that number.) And that doesn’t count unknown tens of millions of dollars they gave to 501(c)(4) groups that don’t have to report their donors. I could give links but the site does not permit it.
Howard Jonas is a frum billionaire who lives in my neighborhood. Actually, I may need to amend that statement as he has given away so much money he may have lost his billionaire status. The HQ of his main business venture, IDT, has a synagogue; he has a son and a son-in-law who are rabbis. He is also a total mensch and hosts huge numbers of Jews for Shabat.
“James Tisch is on the board of the Mesorah Foundation”
Much (not all) of the Tisch family fortune comes from selling tobacco, which kills millions every year.
“I don’t think Adelson is Orthodox, although he finances a lot of causes that many frum Jews hold by.”
He makes his money from gambling, an occupation Jews are supposed to avoid, and his casinos are open on Shabat and serve non-kosher food. He does give a lot of money from his ill-gotten gains to Jewish causes but he gave spent even more in an unsuccessful attempt to elect Mitt Romney President of the US.
Vermont has essentially no gun laws. You can concealed or open carry anywhere except a school, a courthouse, or a federal building. And there are a huge number of places that sell firearms, places you would never expect including computer stores and clothing stores. Just pass the federal background check before buying a handgun, and don’t even think about taking the firearm you buy in Vermont back to NY before getting the right permit.
This is really useful information that we should not forget.
Minor point: A lake MIGHT be a kosher mikveh, but it would take special expertise in both halachah and in geology/hydrology to determine if it is, and that status can change during the season. The post’s advice not to ever assume that a lake is a kosher mikveh is well taken unless you can find a rabbi who is an expert in both who has checked out the particular lake for the time you are intending to use it, or a rabbi who has a hydrologist on call who can check out the lake alongside the rabbi. (I’m actually unaware of any rabbi who fits such a description; does anyone know of any?)
It should be note that Rav Lichtenstein is supporting Rabbi Stav’s candidacy for Chief Rabbi, as reported right here on YWN:
“The Chief Rabbis is for the Chilonim and the government not for the Charedim”
If that were really the case, the charedim would not be trying to influence the election for Chief Rabbi.
“Stand up to these 3 people who run the RCA and say: Not in my name.”
Do you really think that Chacham Ovadiah was justified what he said about Rabbi Stav?
If so, please explain what Rabbi Stav has done to justify being likened to an idolater.
If not, please state precisely what should have been done to counter.
I post under my real name and make no secret of who I am or where I work.
The OP is correct. There is almost never any reason to avoid vaccinating your children. None of the vaccines used today in the US carry a high probability of any major risk any more. And the diseases they prevent can cause death, permanent intellectual disability, permanent paralysis, deafness, sterility, and a host of other problems.
“Pruzbul won’t work in Yemos Hamashiach because it only works for Sh’mittah D’rabannan, not Sh’mittah D’oraisa.”
You are confusing Prozbul with Heter Mechirah, which does rely on the fact that Shmittah is D’Rabbanan in our times according to most opinions. When Prozbul was created, we were still observing Shmittah D’Oraita as the Temple was still standing; it will therefore continue to work when the Third Temple is in operation.
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik z’tz’l paskened that the laws of stam yeinam did not apply to persons in the process of conversion, as they have already renounced idolatry by declaring their intention to become Jews. I once say one of his talmidim open a bottle of non-mevushal wine, hand it to a goy who was in the process of converting, and instruct the goy to pour it into his kiddush cup. The talmid then made kiddush on the wine and gave it to everyone at the table!
“there was a candidate for Congress in NY who was a Wiccan and he was endorsed by much of the Orthodox Jewish community (He lost the election) “
And we just had a candidate for President of the United States who was a polytheist, and nevertheless was endorsed by much of the Orthodox Jewish community.
“why is it so important to us that candidates are heterosexual and are against same gender marriage”
It isn’t. Mike Bloomberg won the frum parts of NYC in landslides. I was in Williamsburg 5 days before the 2005 election and I’ve never seen as many campaign signs for a single candidate in any neighborhood.
“If Christine Quinn becomes mayor how long will it take before she is invited to visit a Yeshiva in Borough park”
The only time I’ve ever seen Christine Quinn live was at an even in an Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan. In any case, it should be pointed out that unlike many Jewish politicians who are married to non-Jews, she is violating no issurim because both she and her partner are non-Jews and the Noachide laws do not include a prohibition of sex between two non-Jewish women.
“And what in the world do you mean that they would turn anti-semitic? “
They will blast Israel for not allowing all of its citizens to have firearms and will criticize the US for adopting foreign (Israeli) ideas.
“Do you naturally assume that your political opponents are anti-semitic?”
Only the anti-Israel ones.