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I live in NY-17, not NY-09, so I don’t get a vote in this election. But I’d vote for Weprin. Those who claim to support Israel need to think about how the US will be able to help Israel in the future if it doesn’t have much of a military any more, which is what will happen if the Tea Party-inspired budget cut triggers take effect. Turner seems clueless about this problem. He also won’t commit to preserving Medicare.
Another inspiring movie that is perfectly kosher is “Lonely Man of Faith”, a biography of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik z’tz’l. (His essay of the same name is also worth learning.)
” no movie running in the theatures in the last 20 years have been kosher.”
Ushpizin wasn’t kosher? Why not??? I found it quite inspiring.
“If someone who makes yiddishkeit harder than it’s supposed to be acting meritorious?”
Maybe, maybe not. We should all have a rav who can guide us as to what chumrot to take on in order to further our own spiritual growth. And we should NEVER demand that others take on our own chumrot.
“My suggestion to the kids (if OP is pushy about taking the down payment) is don’t touch this money with a 10 foot pole and instead pay your landlord’s mortgage in a place which is physically very far from OP. “
Good idea — geographical relocations can do wonders for shalom bayit.
“to clarify its illegal to give anyone more than $10,000 without reporting it to the IRS. You can give someone $1 Million dollars as long as you tell the IRS and they pay income tax on it.”
The $10,000 was recently raised to $13,000. But you don’t pay income tax on amounts over that, but gift tax, with rates as high as 35%.
“Financially it doesnt make sense for us to give money thats irreplaceable and might end up in places we dont want it to. “
The money will go where HaShem wants it to. Halachically, if your daughter and son-in-law get divorced, she is entitled to her ketubah payment and nothing more from assets accumulated during the marriage. And your daughter is not entitled to inherit your property unless you have no sons.
“Buy the house yourselves, and transfer equity to the children on a schedule”
That would also probably be subject to gift tax.
“as they pay the mortgage/rent.”
And if they get fed up with your controlling behavior, they can stop paying the mortgage and YOU will get foreclosed upon.
I feel sorry for your daughter and future son-in-law.
” the Poskim hold that (in a case that abortion is Muttar) it should be done by a Yid.”
My wife once asked a shilah of a prominent talmid chacham if she could teach medical residents how to perform abortions. To her surprise (mine, too) the answer was yes. The reason given was that because abortions were sometimes mandated, it was essential that there be physicians who knew how to perform them.
“163 million missing girls. Talk about a shidduch crisis.”
This is a huge problem. However, in the US and a few other countries, many statistics indicate that there may actually be a *preference* for girls.
“a Jewish Doctor should do the surgery”
Safe non-surgical abortions are now widely available using the drugs methotrexate or mifepristone combined with misoprostol. And they can be done as soon as a woman knows she is pregant, easily within the first 40 days after conception.
” there is no heter of pikuach nefesh for a goy”
An unopposed gemara in Sanhedrin states that there is nothing permitted to a Jew that is prohibited to a non-Jew. The difference is that the penalty for a non-Jew can be greater; for example, non-Jews are permitted to have a death penalty for petty theft.
“the late Rabbi Eliezer Waldenberg,an esteemed religious judge of the Supreme Rabbinic Court in Jerusalem,who permitted Tay-Sachs abortions through the end of the second trimester”
So did Rov Soloveitchik z’tz’l. Others who have held similarly include Rabbi Shaul Yisraeli z’tz’l, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, and Rabbi Levy Yitzhak Halperin. Here is Rav Aviner’s opinion: http://www.ravaviner.com/search?q=abortion
I am not familiar with Rav Ovadiah Yosef’s position on this.
“The P’sak in most places in America accords with Rav Moshe. “
Actually, in the rare cases when Rov Soloveitchik z’tz’l publicly disagreed with his cousin Rav Moshe z’tz’l, most American communities follow Rov Soloveitchik — because almost all their rabbis have earned semichah from either Rov Soloveitchik z’tz’l or one of his talmidim.
“R’ Schwalb was alos criticizing MO (TuM) rejection of the austritt principle, which is so central to TIDE.”
The reason MO rejected Austritt was that its intellectual founders were Rabbis Reines, Weinberg, and Soloveitchik. Rabbi Reines was from Lithuania, and Rabbis Weinberg and Soloveitchik were from Poland, where the previous generations of gedolim had never adopted austritt.
“Engagement is a non Jewish concept.”
That is not exactly true, as we have the institutions of the Kidushin, the Tenaim, and now the Vort.
I would not overstate the influence of the author of adversus judaeos. The Western Church did not adopt his philosophy but followed his contemporary Augustine, who while not a friend was not as hostile. And the fact that the author of adversus judaeos is still considered one of the leading lights of the Eastern Church did not prevent numerous clergy of that church in Greece and Bulgaria from saving numerous Jews from the Shoah.
” Do you have answers for the basic contradictions between Torah and science?”
Any apparent contradictions are only because we don’t understand Torah well enough, or we don’t understand science well enough. I certainly am not a great enough scientist and even more certainly not a great enough talmid chacham to be able to address this adequately. I can say though that science can only address questions regarding the physical universe and can say nothing regarding the spiritual universe. It can neither prove nor disprove God or Torah. And there is plenty in science that is unexplained, although it is nihilism to use that fact to dismiss all of science.
“Welcome, charliehall!”
Thanks! I’m trying to spend less time on the Internet and more time with my family and in the beit midrash.
Rather than this argument that is not going to convince anyone of anything, why not a thread on what you appreciate and have learned from the Torah derechs that you don’t personally follow?
“Even in Amercia, until the 1940’s, all drashas were in Yiddish. “
This is not true; the Jewish community in New York heard sermons in English at least as early as the 1780s. I personally have a copy of a sermon in English from 1789. (And this was decades before the Reform movement.)
“some Gedolim feel he erred in his ways”
Sources?
I will take this opportunity to state that I am enjoying my retirement, spending more time with my family and in the beit midrash, and repeat my Sherman pledge.
Our vort was not claustrophobic because we didn’t have one. We also didn’t have tenaim. We did have a nice “friends meet the bride” pot luck in my hometown and a “friends meet the groom” pot luck in hers. Also a nice wedding and Baruch HaShem a nice marriage.
“i always assumed that you couldn’t blow out the match because you had been mekabel shabbos after you lit the candles”
Before I was married, and even today on the occasions when I need to light Shabat candles myself, I recite the bracha before lighting having in mind that I am not accepting Shabat yet. And I can and do put out the match.
“There is nothing radical in the holy words of chazal.”
To the contrary, there is EVERYTHING radical in the holy words of Chazal compared to almost every society in the world. Communal authorities were obligated to provide education, food, and health care for those who cannot afford it, and also to maintain public works. Women and slaves are to be treated as humans, not as chattel. A system of government is set up that is not biased towards the wealthy and powerful. And the rabbis themselves can make changes in the rules — the “Tikun HaOlam” in Gittin — when the rules are creating injustice. Some of this is directly from the Torah, but some are rabbinic decrees such as the mandate for schools from the time of Ben Gamla.
“Anyone who fiddles with chazal is radical.”
I was not fiddling, chas v’shalom.
“Tikun olam as referred to in maseches gittin has nothing at all to do with the krumkeiten of the reform.”
I didn’t say that it did! The Reform movement fails to appreciate the beauty and power of the Torah She Bal Peh and one of the best manifestations of these are those examples in Gittin.
“Who says that (Rabbi?) Dr. Hall was saying anything about reform?”
For the record, I am not a rabbi, but I did earn a Ph.D. The OP didn’t mention Reform. With their misuse of the term, we can forget that it was Chazal who first referred to “Tikun HaOlam”.
If a Jew stole $3000 from you, you should take him to beit din. It will help him to atone.
It is in the Mishnah in Gittin chapter 4. It refers to something far more radical than anything the Reform movement would propose today.
I can direct you to some synagogue social halls in the Bronx that can handle around 350-400.
Baruch Dayan HaEmet.
Any idea of a suspect or a motive.
Advice I give to everyone I hear who is getting married:
(1) Do things the way you want them, not the way others’ want. This is YOUR wedding, not your parents’, not your in-laws’.
(2) Don’t spend too much money.
Can you have this event in a shul social hall? They can be much less expensive.
“Mosholu Rebbe for…Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx”
You are serious??? There is only one shul left near Mosholu Parkway, the Young Israel. Its rabbi is Rabbi Zevulun Charlop of YU and he is now quite elderly. Where is the Mosholu Rebbe now (geographically)?
There is also a small shul on Mosholu Avenue in the Bronx, its rabbi is Rabbi Mayer Twersky of YU. His father was the Talner Rebbe of Brookline, Rabbi Dr. Isidore Twersky z’tz’l, who was also a prominent professor at Harvard.
What resources did you use when learning or reviewing tefillah? I don’t know if it will work for others, but it has helped me to have had a strong intellectual treatment of the purpose, structure, and order of our prayers, and how they are so central a statement of Jewish “theology”. (I put it in quotes because it is really something that Christians put a lot of emphasis on and I don’t think that is exactly comparable to anything in Judaism.)
Three resources that have been particularly helpful to me that I can recommend:
‘??? ? by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato. There is an English-Hebrew version with a translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z’tz’l published by Feldheim. I went through multiple detailed passes through it with a rabbi. The last section is about tefillah but it builds on everything earlier in the sefer.
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ commentary in the recently published Koren Hebrew/English siddur.
The commentary by Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l in recently published machzorim for the Yomim Noraim.
Not only have these enhanced my intellectual understanding of what the prayers are about, and to Whom I am addressing my prayers, it helps me with I’m in one of those minyans where it seems that everyone is just going through the motions at best. I can often shut them out, concentrate on the words, and talk to God rather than to the Shul Talkers. They also increased my admiration of our great sages who commissioned these brilliant prayers.
I hope this might help someone.
All the best!
Charlie
Yes, but rarely. I watched a movie on my return flight from Europe last week.
“Welcome to Europe!”
I’ll take Europe’s homicide rates to America’s any day.
There ARE community mental health clinics. But they are being cut back, and with the federal government about to be cut even more, services will become even more difficult to find.
In general, to be successful in a personal service business, you have to be able to charge a lot which means you need quite wealthy clients and need to work very hard, with long hours. I don’t know about personal training specifically but I can’t imagine it would be any different.
Good luck!
“Average position pays over 120,000 CHF/year, and income
tax here is only about 10-15% depending on where you reside.”
So you just pay US income tax. What is the problem?
(And so much for the canard that taxes in Europe are astronomical.)
The couple may have deliberately tried to conceive nine months before their birthdays.
“Good percentage of people in Europe are making over $90,000/year,
especially now with the very low dollar. e.g. Who in Switzerland
makes less then 72,000 CHF a year?”
In that case, you can take the foreign tax credit or the foreign tax deduction.
“Chein: See above. If you have a conflicting source, quote it.”
His source is the Magen Avraham. But it is a Daat Yachid. And to quote it as if it is the halachah is to distort Torah. Among those who differ:
Rambam
Tur
Shulchan Aruch
Rav Chaim of Brisk
Mishnah Berurah
Aruch HaShulchan
“Women/girls are potur of mitzvos shehazeman grama”
Rambam and Shulchan Aruch say that tefillah is NOT a mitzvah asei shehazeman grama!
“Furthermore, nobody has identified a rabbi who is trained in forensic investigations, knows how to connect and preserve evidence, and can compel both testimony from witnesses and the collection of evidence.”
Still waiting for such a rabbi to be identified.
The Catholic Church has been destroyed in parts of the world by its unwillingness to deal with the problem of abusive clergy. This should be a warning for us.
“Nevertheless, my previous comment on those who descend from someone who was a Hungarian citizen any time from 1920 on (when its modern day borders came into existence after the first world war) are citizens automatically (and therefore need not naturalize) still stands.”
I wasn’t arguing.
‘Many other countries (especially in Europe) have similar “jus sanguinis” citizenship laws.’
In fact most of the Eastern Hemisphere has “jus sanguinis”. However, “jus soli” — citizenship by virtue of being born in the country — is the rule in almost every Western Hemisphere country.
The US has both — jus soli is in the US Constitution, and jus sanguinis is established by Act of Congress. Canada and Mexico have almost identical laws. (Jus sanguinis is why Barack Obama would have been a US Citizen by birth even had he been born in Kenya.)
From the Wikipedia article on Hungarian nationality law:
“The existing Hungarian nationality law dates from 1993. Prior to this date, rules for acquisition and loss of Hungarian citizenship may have been different. With the new Hungarian nationality law, by January 2011, every person who was a Hungarian citizen or is a descendant of a people who was a Hungarian citizen before 1920, and speaks Hungarian may apply to become a Hungarian citizen even if he or she does not live in Hungary.”
“The 2011 Hungarian Citizenship law allows all ethnic Hungarians to apply for simplified naturalisation if they are able to prove knowledge of the Hungarian Language and provide evidence that he or she does indeed have Hungarian ancestry.”
“US is the only country in the world that taxes
foreign earned income”
True, but most of us don’t make enough money to be taxed by the US.
A negative of dual citizenship is that you can be subject to obligations such as military service and jury duty in either country.
“Does it bother anybody that A. Winehouse is being cremated”
Yes.
“where were you 5 years ago, last year, last week”
I have volunteered many hours for a organization that helps Jewish alcoholics, addicts, and their families.
‘Assuming there is I would quietly go to your boss and explain and ask if it could be held there. If you do it with grace there is a decent chance he will say “Sure no problem”.’
At a recent out of town trip, the university that was hosting me wanted to treat me to lunch on campus. I directed them to the web site of the local Vaad and they ordered sandwiches from a local kosher caterer. They were so happy with the service and the low price that they plan to use the kosher caterer in the future even for events where nobody keeps kosher!
“I don’t daven because I have a lot of anger at GD right now for a lot of the things that are happening”
I’m reminded of the Jews at Auschwitz who put God on trial for letting the Shoah happen. After testimony they found God guilty.
They then davened Maariv.
There are times when I have felt disconnected, lonely, tired, or angrey, and have only davened because I have been commanded to. Part of being Jewish is submitting myself to the will of HaShem, to the halachah. As others have noted, the overwhelming majority of halachic authorities have ruled that women are chayev to daven the Shemoneh Esrei. Our tefillah is our opportunity to connect to God, to talk to God, to plea to God, and even to beg of God. The Shemoneh Esrei is an absolutely brilliant text, beginning with an acknowledgement of to whom we are speaking, and continuing with a very logical ordering of requests. It includes an opportunity for us to each express needs, wants, desires, and petitions individually. I am not one to judge your situation, which may be far worse than anything that I have ever experienced, but when I have found myself in difficult circumstances, I have found that prayer does help.
I wish you the best.
“Would it not be maris ayin to actually eat in a treif restaurant?”
Not according to my rabbis in this case. And a big deal was made of my special meal; everyone knew I wasn’t eating from the restaurant’s buffet.
To those who think that a not guilty by reason of insanity acquittal will be easy on the defendant, consider John Hinckley, who shot Ronald Reagan. Hinckley has been in a hospital for the criminally insane for over 30 years, longer than he would have spent in prison had he been found guilty.
Chein, you are being rather callous both with the parnassah of thousands of Jews, and also with the opinions of some gedolim who have paskened that it is a chiyuv to report suspected abuse to the secular authorities rather than to a rabbi.
Furthermore, nobody has identified a rabbi who is trained in forensic investigations, knows how to connect and preserve evidence, and can compel both testimony from witnesses and the collection of evidence.