charliehall

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  • in reply to: Montreal Canada #717393
    charliehall
    Participant

    There are some great kosher Moroccan restaurants in Montreal. The city has two kashrut Vaads — one Ashkenazic and one Sefardic. The Moroccan restaurants are naturally Sefardic.

    Take your family an hour north, go to a cross country ski area, get some lessons, and enjoy the best outdoor recreation ever invented. Great exercise, much less expensive, and safer than downhill skiing.

    in reply to: Demographics of Orthodox Jewry #959461
    charliehall
    Participant

    There is a lot of overlap in those categorizations.

    in reply to: Girls' Taste in Dating Process #717110
    charliehall
    Participant

    shelo asani single.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716974
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Charliehall, I don’t think you and I are disagreeing much”

    I think you are correct.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716973
    charliehall
    Participant

    “shouldn’t you also take his word that a city needs 10 batlanim?”

    I’m not of stature to argue on a Rambam! What do other rishonim say? How does the shulchan aruch rule? I’ve honestly never studied this one.

    “bes din of 23”

    I am quite sure that we do not have 23 men with yadin yadin semichah so that would be impossible in my community.

    “a single melamed for the entire community”

    Baruch HaShem we are blessed with many wonderful teachers in several Jewish preschools, a modern orthodox elementary/jr. high school, a modern orthodox high school, and two traditional boys’ yeshivot.

    “Does riverdale have a tanner?”

    Not that I’m aware of. I don’t think the local zoning would permit it.

    “You teach at Einstein?”

    Yes. I’m easy to find on their internet site. I post under my real name.

    in reply to: Your Dream-Ticket for 2012 #903303
    charliehall
    Participant

    Dave Hirsch,

    I guess I should add that I hope that the Republicans nominate the people they truly think will be the best President and Vice President. (And remember that the qualification for Vice President is that you can be a good President.)

    in reply to: Over moderation #760852
    charliehall
    Participant

    I don’t own the site. The site owners can do what they want in terms of moderation. If I don’t like it I am free to start my own competing site.

    in reply to: Your Dream-Ticket for 2012 #903302
    charliehall
    Participant

    Dave Hirsch,

    As I’m not a Republican, I don’t think I should be telling Republicans what they should be doing for their nomination.

    Ender,

    A serious third party candidacy would clearly hurt the Democrats more. It is actually one of the Lichtman keys. The Republicans would need one additional and they would win.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716970
    charliehall
    Participant

    “don’t know anyone who is a real, solid talmid chochom, who did not first spend a while exclusively involved in learning.”

    I don’t know of any either, but some did not do the full time learning until after graduating from college.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716969
    charliehall
    Participant

    “That is impossible today. Medical school and residency is far more than full time work. “

    I partially withdraw that statement. There actually exist programs where one can earn an MD and a JD. However, it lengthens the time commitment substantially.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716968
    charliehall
    Participant

    “A 10-member kollel is part of the necessary infrastructure of a kehilla. “

    I’m not so sure. Riverdale thrived for decades without one. We now have two, plus a rabbinical school.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716967
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Yechezkel, Rav Sololovetchik and Rav Hutner were certainly giants of their generation, but they only went to university after they had mastered much if not all of shas and poskim.”

    I’ve often pointed that out — and the same is true of the pre-modern university educated rabbis such as Rambam and Sforno. In our times, Rav Lichtenstein and Rav Tendler were already Roshei Yeshivot when they started their doctoral training — but they both had earned undergraduate degrees earlier.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716966
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Why don’t you go to a medical school and tell them they could really learn the same amount of medicine even if they go to law school at the same time. I am sure you will be able to dig up a few people who did negotiate that successfully.”

    That is impossible today. Medical school and residency is far more than full time work. The commitment is a minimum of seven years.

    That said, the amount of Torah learning that takes place at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is amazing. I am proud to be on the faculty.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716965
    charliehall
    Participant

    “I highly doubt there was even a small minority of university education during the times of the rishonim (AND TO THEN BECOME A RISHON???!!!!) especially since anti-semetism was rampant in those days.”

    Yes, anti-Semitism was rampant, but less so in Italy than in Western and Eastern Europe. All the examples I’ve found of Jews attending university in pre-modern times were in Italy or the Muslim world. Most Christian universities did not permit Jews to enroll.

    Sforno earned a medical degree at the University of Rome. You can look it up.

    Rambam is considered to be an alumnus by the University of Al-Karaouine in Fez, Morocco, although at that time universities in the Muslim world did not grant formal degrees. He studied Greek and Islamic philosophy there (and in his later writings argues on both).

    “you’re better off going to yeshiva halfday and university the other than YU”

    The YU undergraduate program (for men) is yeshiva the first part of the day and university in the afternoon. How is YU less kosher than other universities?

    “you have quoted the only 3 gedolim in history who ever did “

    Rambam and Sforno weren’t gedolim?

    Rav Hildesheimer, Rav Herzog, Rav Hutner, and the Lubavicher Rebbe weren’t gedolim????

    in reply to: Your Dream-Ticket for 2012 #903297
    charliehall
    Participant

    Obama-Biden will easily win.

    Prof. Alan Lichtman of American University has a method of predicting the popular vote winner in Presidential elections. It has a 100% success record in every election from 1860 to 2008. Only the Harlem Globetrotters and the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team have similar streaks going right now.

    The method identifies 13 keys. If six favor the party out of power, it wins. However, only four favor the Republicans right now and it isn’t clear how two of them are going to change, especially since the tax deal will have the effect of stimulating the economy.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716944
    charliehall
    Participant

    “If you think that half a day is the right amount, you should say so.”

    I think learning part of the day and working part of the day is the ideal.

    So did Rambam.

    And this applies even to talmidei chachamim, who should spread their knowledge through teaching and writing.

    in reply to: Yeshiva v College (Gavra) #716941
    charliehall
    Participant

    Yeshiva and university are not mutually exclusive. Starting in the time of the rishonim, many Jews went to university after years in yeshiva and some became gedolim. Starting in the early 20th century it became possible to do yeshiva and university simultaneously at places like YU and Touro.

    For some, university education can enhance ones Torah. That was certainly true of Rav Hirsch (who didn’t even complete a degree), Rav Soloveitchik, and Rav Lichtenstein. But university is not for everyone; I would not recommend it to those who aren’t mature nor to those whose faith is shaky.

    in reply to: North Dakota – For SJS and others #717030
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Where else would a yid need to go? “

    Rav Hirsch took a trip to the Alps. He was asked why he should waste his time doing such a thing. He responded that he thought that when he made it to Olam HaBah, HaShem might ask if he (Rav Hirsch) had seen His (HaShem’s) Alps.

    That applies to the many natural wonders all over the world. For example, the Grand Canyon is as close as is possible to a natural proof of HaShem’s existence as one could imagine. Niagara Falls is an example of how no matter how much humans can try to screw it up, it is possible for HaShem’s beauty to come through. I could go on and on….

    in reply to: North Dakota – For SJS and others #717029
    charliehall
    Participant

    Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in North Dakota.

    in reply to: Would you stop and pick up a penny? #719932
    charliehall
    Participant

    I walked right past a nickel yesterday and did not pick it up. It wasn’t mine.

    in reply to: Favorite Jewish Speakers? #717169
    charliehall
    Participant

    Rabbi Menachem Liebtag. Always challenges what we (incorrectly) think we know.

    in reply to: Orthodox/Hasidic Borough Park, Brooklyn Voted Republican #716452
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Isn’t it possible that they actually oppose it? Does everyone who has a different opinion have to have bad intentions?”

    After constant Republican pandering on 9/11 one might have thought that they would actually support something that would help the survivors.

    “I believe your problem with Mr. Geshtetner is not what he wrote about the holocaust, its what he writes about the damocrats. “

    You excuse his Nazi comments????

    Regarding his general positions, see my comments and those of others here. He didn’t seem to have a clue:

    http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=50200

    in reply to: Machoah for Kovod HaTorah #718187
    charliehall
    Participant

    popa is right.

    The IDF has openly Gay men and women serving, as do most of our NATO allies — with no problems. If NATO ever mobilizes, American servicemen will be taking orders from Gay NATO officers.

    in reply to: OU Kashrut in Israel #716683
    charliehall
    Participant

    I see again that the laws of lashan hara do not apply to kashrut organizations.

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877495
    charliehall
    Participant

    “I apologize.”

    Apology accepted.

    “your ilk “

    Uh, my “ilk” is observant Jews who believe in God and try to follow His Torah. Including the parts that I’ve mentioned in this thread.

    ” ignores the cost on the consumers of sorting their trash, and also ignores the environmental costs of landfilling”

    True. It takes a few seconds each week for me to open the recycling bin rather than the trash can!

    “Try hiring people to sort it at the landfill and see if it is still cheaper. “

    That would likely require a tax increase. And the contamination of recyclables with the real trash will reduce the value of the recyclables, increasing the costs even more.

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877489
    charliehall
    Participant

    “We don’t want you to inherit a world run by Arabs and Russians. “

    Given our unwillingnes to conserve, this may be inevitable.

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877488
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Recycling does not make economic sense, as is not cheaper than landfills.”

    You obviously haven’t tried to find land for a new landfill in the NY area. Where do you live? I want to buy the lot next to you and put a landfill there since you don’t seem to have a problem with environmental destruction.

    ” If it was cheaper, we would do it without your ilk’s end of the world rants.

    This is a malicious lie. I have never given an “end of the world” rant here or elsewhere. I await your apology.

    in reply to: Orthodox/Hasidic Borough Park, Brooklyn Voted Republican #716448
    charliehall
    Participant

    If anyone wants to know why we don’t elect Republicans here in NYC, look no further than this:

    9/11 Health Bill Fails Senate Vote

    Not a single Republican was willing to buck the special interests who control the party to support the 9/11 responders. Not one. When the chips are down, you can count on the Republicans to talk the talk, but not to walk the walk.

    in reply to: Orthodox/Hasidic Borough Park, Brooklyn Voted Republican #716447
    charliehall
    Participant
    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877481
    charliehall
    Participant

    “we usually do it for a reason. Like saving money. “

    Economists have a term for that: Externalities. That is a cost to society that is not captured in the market. If you can destroy property (private or common) yet not have to pay for it, you have gained an unfair economic advantage. It really isn’t a savings.

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877480
    charliehall
    Participant

    metrodriver,

    I’m not a fanatic about it, but global warming is happening and we should take it seriously. I drive a Subaru Impreza, take public transit whenever I can (more time to learn Torah!) and own a 1700 square foot “mansion” that is well insulated.

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877479
    charliehall
    Participant

    Recycling makes *economic* sense. much of the plastic and paper produced in the us is partially from recycled fiber — despite no mandate to do this. Recycling is also cheaper than burying trash in landfills so if you think reducing taxes is a mitzvah then recycling would be a mitzvah. Recycling plastic also reduces US use of oil which means the Arab and Venezuelan anti-Semites get a little less money from us, so that might well make it a mitzvah!

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877470
    charliehall
    Participant

    “That is a crime against a person, not the planet.”

    And against HaShem! Too many of us take mitzvot bein adam l’chaveiro lightly.

    in reply to: Fire in Israel!! #715620
    charliehall
    Participant

    Dave,

    Why do I want to have beer with people who knowingly spread lies about me?

    in reply to: Eco Mitzvahs? #877464
    charliehall
    Participant

    “I don’t see how hashem would care if we take care of the world or turn it into a garbage dump. “

    Actually there are specific halachot that prohibit one from adversely impacting others and pollution is one of the things we are restricted from doing. If you even negatively impact my view from my window, that may be actionable in beit din. Kal v’chomer put a garbage dump next to my home.

    in reply to: Telescope invented to validate Hashem's supervision #715765
    charliehall
    Participant

    Of course HaShem causes inventions to be invented at the time they are invented! I’m surprised anyone here could think otherwise.

    As far as the reasons for HaShem’s ways, I am not able to speculate.

    in reply to: Fire in Israel!! #715618
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Charlie, I apologize if there’s something to apologize for. “

    That’s not an apology.

    in reply to: Places Near Chicago To Go Skiing #715552
    charliehall
    Participant

    Anyone else here like cross country skiing?

    in reply to: Fire in Israel!! #715616
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Charlie Hall claims that we are to blame for being too supportive of the Republican Party and the conservatives.”

    That’s a lie and you know it. I await your retraction and apology.

    in reply to: Why not Obama? #715183
    charliehall
    Participant

    It will be interesting to see all the people here who blast Obama for his lack of experience all praising Sarah Palin’s candidacy a year from now.

    in reply to: How Do I Kasher A Microwave? #716408
    charliehall
    Participant

    “I got the same psak as AinOhdMilvado. “

    So did I.

    in reply to: Obama Just Doesn't Get It: It's the economy, stupid! #717244
    charliehall
    Participant

    “That downturn in the economy came about from a bubble bursting; tax cuts had nothing to do with it. I remember talking with a good friend of mine before the 2000 elections (as the dot coms were tanking). He is a staunch democrat, like yourself. He had the intellectual honesty to say that the next president, from either party, is going to inherit an economy that is going to falter. “

    True. My point was that the tax cuts did not prevent the contined decline even after the bubble burst. And then the Bush administration and their Republican allies in Congress proceded to create an even bigger bubble that was followed by an even bigger bust.

    “YOU CAN’T KEEP SPENDING MONEY YOU DON’T HAVE!!! Even a kid knows that. Who gave him the keys to the bank! No you can’t keep extending unemployment!”

    All you have to do to pay for the unemployment extension is to let SOME of the Bush tax cuts expire.

    “Can’t there be a sliding scale so people can go back to work and get some assistance until they are making enough to stand on their own?”

    You clearly don’t understand the US welfare system today. It was completely revised under Clinton; you can’t stay on for life anymore.

    “And as long as Obama keeps extending unemployment people are willing to sit back and collect it without attempting to go back into the workforce.”

    You clearly don’t understand unemployment compensation, either: You have to be actively seeking work in order to get it.

    “Those who are working as the taxes go up and up when they try to bring down the deficit.”

    Uh, actually Obama’s stimulus plan included numerous tax cuts. It also included a lot of aid to state and local governments so that they would not have to raise taxes. Today the Republicans are preventing an extension of this aid.

    in reply to: Obama Just Doesn't Get It: It's the economy, stupid! #717243
    charliehall
    Participant

    “What do you see as the purpose of gov’t and how does that get carried out?”

    I personally like the “five mems” of Jabotinsky (no left winger he!):

    Mazon (Food)

    Maon (Dwelling)

    Malbush (Clothing)

    Marpeh (Medical Care)

    Moreh(Teacher)

    All these are halachic obligations on a community. Regarding how they get carried out, there are many models and I’m not dogmatic.

    in reply to: A Letter I Sent To Hadassa Chapters in US & UK #714901
    charliehall
    Participant

    “I’m not a doctor.”

    Please do not make unsubstantiated claims. As I said, I know nothing about this particular case, but the condition you describe is real (although rare). To say it is non-existent is the height of irresponsibility and causes me to doubt the remainder of your facts.

    in reply to: Obama Just Doesn't Get It: It's the economy, stupid! #717239
    charliehall
    Participant

    “Else it will move to countries with lower tax rates along with the good jobs.”

    That strategy — of attracting jobs with low tax rates — was tried in Ireland. Look how well it worked — the country is a basket case. I recently checked real estate prices in the nice Dublin neighborhood near the synagogue. They have dropped about 2/3 since I was there in the summer of 2009.

    in reply to: Obama Just Doesn't Get It: It's the economy, stupid! #717238
    charliehall
    Participant

    “if the economy is doing so well, how come there is so much unemployment?”

    You didn’t read my comment. I gave you the answer: “Private sector employment increased last month for the tenth month in a row. “

    Republicans are deliberately trying to create more unemployment by cutting the public sector, particularly at the state and local level. The long term effect of such policies can be seen in Israel with its nearly non-existent fire departments. But that is the direction that much of the US is headed.

    And in a fit of cruelty, they cut unemployment benefits.

    “First of all, there is a reason Republicans don’t want unemployment benefits to go up – they believe it gives people a reason not to go to work. If unemployment benefits were kept at their previous levels, they reason, more people would swallow their pride and take whatever work they could find.”

    You’ve just proven my point on cruelty. In much of the US there is no work that anyone can find.

    “Even socialist Canada has a maximum federal tax rate of only 29%.”

    True. But provincial income tax rates can be as high as 17.5% (kicking in at only $93,000 in Nova Scotia). And you can’t deduct mortgage interest from your taxes. And there is a national sales tax of 5%, plus provincial sales taxes that can also be as high as 10%.

    “I don’t care about the GDP driven up by more government spending (expenditure). “

    Well you should if you care about jobs. Police officers, firefighters, teachers and social workers are of direct benefit to all of us. Just look at what happened in Israel when a place doesn’t have firefighters. Or, most close to home to New York City in the 1970s when cuts to public safety resulted in much of the city burning. We could easily get there again if your polices are adopted.

    “What did FDR promote and promise when he ran for president?”

    Spending cuts. Fortunately he realized that was a stupid idea.

    “The stock market crash in 2000 was far greater than that in 1929, but a 10 year great depression did not ensue. “

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked on 1/7/2000 at 11522.56. It then declined to a low of 7891.08 on 2/28/2003 — more than a year and a half after the Bush tax cuts were enacted. So much for their efficacy at stimulating the economy. (And by the way the Bush tax cuts were supposed to expire in a few weeks.)

    Meanwhile back on September 3, 1929, the DJIA had closed at 381.17. On July 8, 1932 it closed at 41.22. (The previous low had been back in the 1890s.) Your claimed that a 32% drop was greater than an 89% drop. Not.

    in reply to: A Letter I Sent To Hadassa Chapters in US & UK #714896
    charliehall
    Participant

    I don’t know any specifics of this case, but the msseeker is incorrect when he says Munchausen by proxy is “non-existant”. My wife saw a very sad case of it a number of years ago.

    in reply to: Obama Just Doesn't Get It: It's the economy, stupid! #717233
    charliehall
    Participant

    Yawn. More Republican disinformation. I might as well be watching Fox News — but I have to thank Mr. Hirsch since I don’t have a television and don’t know from day to day the current Republican talking points.

    Actually, the recession ended in June 2009, helped in part by Obama’s policies. The economy had shrunk by an incredible 16% in real terms over the preceding year and a half. (So much for the effectiveness of the Bush tax cuts.) Private sector employment increased last month for the tenth month in a row.

    But conservatives have made it impossible for the President to continue his polices. Just this week, they cut millions off of unemployment insurance. And state and local governments are laying off police officers, firefighters, teachers, and social workers even though they had nothing to do with the economic troubles. One of the most important parts of the 2009 stimulus package was that it helped cash-strapped state and local governments to avoid this.

    A major problem is that in much of the country, asset values (such as housing prices) have plummeted back to sane levels. But that means that many people owe far more on their homes than the homes are worth. Again, conservatives have refused to allow the continuation of Obama’s policies to stimulate the real estate market or of Democratic proposals to allow restructuring of home mortgages. Some even have suggested that we should allow foreclosures without proper documentation — when it was partly loans without proper documentation that got us into this mess in the first place!

    Conservatives think that if they can continue to keep the economy down, it will help defeat President Obama in 2012. And they value tax cuts to millionaires more than relief to those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. They are totaly hypocrites when they call for extensions of unemployment to be paid for when they are willing to spend far more on tax cuts without paying for them! And they want to obstruct all other government business in order to get their way.

    Unfortunately, they might succeed.

    in reply to: Why Is There Tragedy In Israel? #715096
    charliehall
    Participant

    AinOhdMilvado,

    Russia experienced horrific fires this past summer that were hundreds of times more extensive than the one currently in Israel. I hope their experience proves valuable.

    in reply to: Appropriate Workplaces For Women #715233
    charliehall
    Participant

    The burden is on the machmirim here to come up with an economic model that works.

Viewing 50 posts - 3,601 through 3,650 (of 4,468 total)