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The name Alter is becoming more popular in my circles as many people are naming their sons after the Rosh Yeshiva ZTL, Alter Chanoch Henach. Most people call the kids Henach or Chanoch, I have not heard of anyone yet who calls his kid Alter.
shlomozalman wrote:
I beg to differ. Other than spiffy clothing and learning some mussar, there is little in common. The greatest of the Slabodka talmidim, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky,Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman,and Rav Yitzchok Hutner, all could claim to have headed yeshivas in the Slabodka tradition. In Slabodka there was no specific derech in learning (a quote from Rav Kaminetsky), and they certainly didn’t spend a whole zman on just a few blot. So to claim that Chofetz Chaim is a throwback to Slabodka is not true.
1. Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky ZT”L, when encouraging the yeshiva to open up a branch in Miami Beach, told Rabbi Bentzion Chait YBLC”T that The Rosh Hayeshiva, Rav Henoch Leibowitz ZT”L, and his father were the ONLY ones who ran a Yeshiva in the derech of Slabodka. Rav Ruderman ZT”L never claimed to be running a Slabodka-style yeshiva. Rav Aharon Kotler ZT”L, his focus on Torah “lishmah” as opposed to going out and making a difference in the world, and his kana’us were NOT Slabodka style. Rav Aharon ZT”L never claimed to be following the Slabodka style either. Rav Hutner ZT”L switched to Machshavah because he felt that Americans couldn’t handle mussar. Rav Kaminetzky ZT”L never headed a yeshiva- he was always an employee and was under someone else’s thumb. However, he spoke very approvingly about the fact that the yeshiva kept up the Slabodka Mesorah of mussar. In fact, he encouraged the yeshiva to open a branch in Miami despite the fact that a relative of his already had a yeshiva there! You can speak to Rabbi Bentzion Chait to verify this, or speak to one of Rav Kaminetzky’s sons.
Slabodka for many (including Rav Dovid ZT”L) was a “finishing school”. Rav Dovid ZT”L went there after getting his Derech Halimud from the Grana”T in Radin. Chofetz Chaim doesn’t claim to follow Slabodka’s derech in limud. The shiurim by Rav Moshe Mordechai Epstein ZT”L were bekiyus-oriented, and many from Slabodka went to the other non-mussar Slabodka yeshiva, Knesses Beis Yitzchok (which later relocated to Kaminetz) to hear shiur from Rav Baruch Ber ZT”L. The Alter of Slabodka ZT”L was very much into the belief that talmidim should develop in their own way, and that the yeshiva shouldn’t be a “sdoym betel” where the inhabitants are shrunk or stretched to fit the mold. So Slabodka didn’t have a derech halimud. What it DID have, however, was a derech of mussar, hashkafah, and seichel, and that is what Chofetz Chaim claims to follow. Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel ZT”L told Rav Henoch Leibowitz ZT”L that his father Rav Dovid Leibowitz ZT”L was one of the closest talmidim of The Alter ZT”L. It makes sense, then, that Rav Dovid would try to follow in his illustrious Rebbe’s footsteps.
shlomozalman wrote:
Did the students in Slabodka also go to college at night? No. Do they switch yeshivas in Chofetz Chaim every year or so? In Slabodka they did. Does Chofetz Chaim encourage their students to hear shiurim of gedolim in neighboring yeshivas? In Slabodka they did. Does Chofetz Chaim send out groups of boys to strengthen mussar in nonmussar yeshivas? In Slabodka they did. Besides, how many chess masters came out of Chofetz Chaim? In Slabodka it was what they did in their spare time. I suggest you read some books on Slabodka and yeshivas in Europe in general, you will see very little in common with Chofetz Chaim.
There was no college in Europe that was easy to attend. However, the Alter of Slabodka was not opposed to people making a parnassah. Chofetz Chaim does send its talmidim out to strengthen branches. However, the days when people begged the Alter to send talmidim to establish their yeshiva or break the hold of the anti-mussarniks is over. Following in the tradition of a school doesn’t mean a bling mimicry. it means, “What would the Alter do if he were here?”, and applying the wisdom to new situations. Today’s Chofetz Chaim talmidim play basketball in their spare time, or read Yeshiva World. Different dor, same mesorah. Why should recreational activities be mimicked? We don’t wear canes or top hats anymore, even though they did it in Slabodka. Bottom line- If Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky could declare that Chofetz Chaim is the only place following the Slabodka mesorah, then I have no problem saying it.
Koheles 7:10
Here is an answer written by a friend of mine:
The Rosh Hayeshiva zt”l didn’t want “brainwashed” students. He wanted students who could think for themselves while still respecting Daas Torah. The derech halimud is designed to teach people analytical and critical thinking skills-the exact opposite of a brainwashed automaton.
Another crucial aspect to the yeshiva is its imparted hashkafah. This means that since chachamim are able to see and understand things that lay people cannot, it pays to listen to what they have to say.
The proof is in the pudding, of course. Let us examine some of his hashkafa in light of current issues facing klal yisroel. We’ll see how krum his viewpoints really are, and if they improve or worsen the situation.
The Rosh hayeshiva zt”l was a big believer in everyone having a kesher with a rebbe. Compare this to today’s situation where many crucial decisions in regards to shidduchim and divorce are made by individuals themselves or their chevra, as they have no rebbe.
The Rosh hayeshiva zt”l felt that people need to learn mussar every day, even great rabbonim, to avoid the snares of the yetzer hara. Compare this to the big chillul Hashem roiling the Jewish blogosphere.
The Rosh Hayeshiva zt”l said that one must be scrupulously honest with taxes, and one should never defraud another entity even if it’s gentile. Compare this to the sad matzav in the summer when many frum people were arrested for fraud. How many fathers would be home with their children instead of in jail if they had my rebbe zt”l as their rebbe?
The Rosh Yeshiva’s litmus test for every action was, even if it’s legal, how would it look on the front page of the New York Times? Compare this to some of the incidents that actually made the front page of the Times-intercine fighting, massive chilulei hashem caused by hareidi protests turned violent, etc. How much less chillul Hashem would there be if they were following my Rosh yeshiva zt”l?
EDITED
I dressed as a girl one Purim, I think it was 7th grade. It was a great costume. I wore a fancy dress that my sister had grown out of and one of my mother’s shaitels. I have a picture of me with a yeshivish friend of mine from that Purim. I showed it to him (and his kalla) at his Sheva Brachos 🙂
21 Teves, 5769 Vol. 10, No. 13 Parashas Shmos
We must conclude that Moshe really would have seized the chance to do this mitzvah even if there were others that were ready and able to kill the Egyptian. The lack of response by other Jews did not determine whether Moshe would react, but rather how he would react. Moshe would not have acted with the same intensity had he known that other people were available. The Midrash is explaining that Moshe surveyed the scene and saw no one else ready to act. This knowledge did not make him hesitant, feeling alone and unsure. Instead, seeing this state of affairs filled him with courage and strength. He focused on the fact that he was the only one willing to save his Jewish brother. This knowledge only caused Moshe to increase his zealous fervor.
There are many great heartfelt songs. I usually enjoy songs more when they have nice, inspiring words to go along with a nice tune. As Abie Rotenberg says in “We’ve Got the Music” (Journeys 3), “One thing we must keep in mind/A Jewish song of any kind/Is only precious if and when/it brings us closer to Hashem.”
So in no particular order I am going to list a bunch of inspirational songs that I enjoy.
I’ll start with “Acheinu” from Abie Rotenberg’s album, Lev Vanefesh. This song is a t’filla to Hashem to have mercy on our brothers who are in tzar. I think that he wrote it during one of the Israeli wars. There are a few other beautiful songs in that album including A Jewel and Ki Hinei. I also like Mi Ban Siach and Adon Olam from Lev Vanefesh II.
Continuing with Abie Rotenberg, although the Marvelous Middos Machine is a kids tape, the Sinas Chinam song is a very nice song which I listen to all the time. The Shalom and T’shuva songs are nice too. The rest of the songs (as well as the stories) are nice, but this is about heartfelt songs so I listed these.
Then there are the Dveykus albums which are also full of great, heartfelt songs. To list a few from each album:
Dveykus 1 – Lev Tahor, Tzoma Nafshi, K’ayol, Achas Shoalti, Hinei Yomim…
Dveykus 2 – Gam Ki Eilech, Kol B’rama, Kol Dodi… In A’vinkeleh is also a very nice song although I don’t really understand Yiddish, but I like Shwekeys new English version.
Dveykus 3 – Na’ar Hayisi, Hinei Anochi, B’sheim Hashem, Habain Yakir Li…
Dveykus 4 – Shema Koleinu, Hamalach, Ani Maamin, Shalom Rav, B’Rosh Hashana…
All of the Abie Rotenberg compositions sung by Shwekey are great. One of my favorite is Eternity from Oorah’s 2006 CD. When I hear this song, I often think of a friend of mine who was sick with cancer at the time that this song came out. I can picture his mother’s pain as she davened for him. I know that they have the same emunah as is described in the song that his neshama is now “soaring high unchained and free”. The concept of eternity is described as “not for a day, a month, a year”. It puts into perspective, how fleeting the tzaros of this world are. Whether they last a day, a month, a year, or even a lifetime, it is still nothing compared to the reward in the next world which is forever. Sometimes we might feel “chained” by our tzaros, but we have to realize that it is only temporary and in the next world our neshamos will be “unchained and free” for all of eternity. (Video link), (Lyrics link)
Another great song is Carlebach’s Eilecha. It was sung by Pirchei at HASC 2. It is also sung by Shloimy Daskal in his new album Project Relax 2. Although I haven’t heard the whole album yet it sounds like it is very good. I like a lot of the songs there and I like Shloimy Daskal. Back to Eilecha, when the Rosh Yeshiva of my yeshiva, R’ Henach Leibowitz ZT”L was alive, we would often to go to his apartment on Friday nights and sing with him. This was one of the songs we used to sing. It was very inspirational to be sitting with a group of guys singing this song with the Rosh Yeshiva. As we would sing the high part with the words, “shema Hashem v’chaneini” I felt Hashem right there with us listening to our singing and ready to be “ozer li”.
One of my favorite kumtzitz songs is Tov L’hodos. I think it was originally from Shalheves Boys Choir. I always liked this song. One time we were singing it at a kumtzitz and it was the end of a long, hard day and I was exhausted, barely able to move, but I had that song in my head as I got up afterward and it inspired me to be able to get through the rest of the day, ignoring the pain and exhaustion. It inspired me to think of how we should always be thanking Hashem, morning and evening just for being able to get through the day.
Back to the great Abie Rotenberg, he has 2 Aish albums with Shlomo Simcha with some great songs including Ilan Ilan, Mi Adir, M’heira (composed by Baruch Levine), Habeit, and Yedid Nefesh. My favorite songs are Ritzei and Birchas Habayis from Aish 2. The latter was composed by Baruch Levine and is one of my favorite songs. I also really like the original words to the tune from Lost in Lazer Land. (Lyrics link)
I’m sure I could list many more great, heartfelt songs from Miami Boys Choir, Shalsheles, Shlomo Carlebach, etc. But, I will end with Shalsheles’s Esa Einei and Nochi Krohn’s Vinikaisi and Mah Rabu.
By the way, if you purchase music from MostlyMusic through any of the links above (or use this link to purchase anything from the site) my yeshiva will get a percentage of the sale.
This reminds me of this article I posted awhile ago
Yeshiva World has a picture of the couple who got into the White House without credentials (with the wife removed for tznius purposes) click here for pic
chesedname wrote:
the winner would be somone we don’t know.
in my eyes the jew of the decade is the simple yid who davens 3 times a day without talking in shul, makes an honest living, has no need to out do his neighbor, gives his 10% without awards, is home for his family at night and with all that manages to learn an hour or 2.
I somewhat agree with this. There are probably many simple Jews like this but on the other hand, there is a huge zchus in being osek bitzarchai tzibbur. There are some people who on the outside seem like simple Jews who make an honest living, learn some Torah, etc, but actually do a lot of hidden chessed as well, it is one of those who should be the Jew of the decade. The Jew of the decade might even be someone who is known as a big askan, etc but whose true greatness is not known because he actually does so much more than the public knows.
Will this ever be available on the actual radio rather than just online? It would be nice to be able to listen to this when not online, in the car, etc.
9 Teves, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 11 Parashas Vayigash
[Yosef]
[for your strength and security]All rights reserved. For more information call (818) 505-7999 or e-mail [email protected]
18 Kislev, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 8 Parashas Vayishlach
[Yaakov]
[in royal garments]
Are we cognizant of the transcendent dignity of the Torah, and of our own greatness as the chosen people? The Torah that we study and obey elevates us head and shoulders above the masses. Let us not lower ourselves to the standards of society and stoop to seek their approval and acceptance. The more Torah we learn and mitzvos we perform, the more honored and regal we become. As the princely sons and daughters of the King of kings, we should view ourselves accordingly, and act in a manner befitting our noble and royal stature.
Both Facebook and Twitter can be used for business or family purposes. If used in the right way they can be very good (as Haifagirl pointed out about staying in touch with family). I once attended a conference in which a lot of stuff was done through twitter, the conference organizers posted updates and people attending were able to answer questions and post stuff, etc. I felt that this was a very good use of the technology (though even this conference had some interesting issues whith people abusing it but that is another story). On the other hand, the way people use it to socialize can be very dangerous. People can become friends with random people online which can lead to all sorts of problems. Teenagers (and non-teens as well) who don’t think about the consequences of their actions can get themselves into a lot of trouble. I feel that parents should definitely not let their children use these things except with very strict supervision. If you want to keep in touch with family so the parents should create a family account that they have access to and they should make sure that they themselves understand all the settings and know how to check what their kids are doing.
There was actually a true story about a guy who gets pulled over for making a left at an intersection that had a “No left turn” sign. He rolls down his window and tells the cop (in his best Russian accent), “Officer, I come to the intersection, I vanted to make right turn, but the sign says, ‘no! left turn.'” the officer told him that if he can say that again with a stright face he would let him off, vicach hava!
This is supposed to be a nightly dvar Torah thread. What happened to everyone?
11 Kislev, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 7 Parashas Vayeitzei
4 Kislev, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 6 Parashas Toldos
27 Cheshvan, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 5 Parashas Chayei Sarah
I don’t have a blackberry but I do have a browser on my phone that I sometimes try to use for YW. The PDA version of the site doesn’t work on my browser but my browser uses Google to reformat the page for the phone. Sometimes it will skip to the main content and just have a link to “go to top of page”. Other times it gives me the page from the top. It is very slow and hard to use so I don’t use it often.
A friend of mine told me that his Rebbi discussed the 40 days at the Kossel inyan with R. Eliezer Pluchinski, zt”l, who said there is an inyan, and they even discussed specific details, such as making sure to have only ONE thing that you pray for, and that going before mincha and staying for maariv does NOT count for 2 separate days out of the 40.
He said that the Rabbi of his shul has publicly stated that he puts little stock into the media’s announcements of R. Eliyashiv’s opinions since they often get it wrong.
Mussar HaTorah
20 Cheshvan, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 4 Parashas Vaeira
You should be rejoicing!
13 Cheshvan, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 3 Parashas Lech Lecha
Let us step back and examine the situation: Avraham Avinu, the paradigm of kindness and the epitome of selflessness, has a disagreement take place between his shepherds and those of Lot. The Torah does not report any anger between Avraham and Lot themselves, rather that Avraham approaches Lot, and proposes a way to keep their shepherds from bickering. His idea is accepted by Lot and they settle the issue in a calm and peaceful way by agreeing to separate from each other. The problem was solved in a quick and reasonable manner.
How delicate and sensitive is the emotional response of a human being! Even our forefather Avraham would have been somewhat affected by some lingering hard feelings over their past disagreement, despite all his love for Lot and his kindness towards any person. Avraham felt that for him to properly exert himself to the required degree, he would first need a session of mussar study. Avraham needed to take a moment for introspection; time to concentrate on the special bond and relationship he shared with Lot. Only after this deliberation could Avraham summon all his energy and zeal to save Lot.
Passing requires 4 correct answers
1) How long did the Hundred Years’ War Last?
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
5) What is a camel’s hair brush made of?
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are Named after what animal?
7) What was King George VI’s first name?
8) What color is a purple finch?
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?
Remember, you need 4 correct answers to pass
ANSWERS TO THE QUIZ
1) How long did the Hundred Years War Last?
116 years
2) Which country makes Panama hats?
Ecuador
3) From which animal do we get cat gut?
Sheep and Horses
4) In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?
November
5) What is a camel’s hair brush made of?
Squirrel fur
6) The Canary Islands in the Pacific are Named after what animal?
Dogs
7) What was King George VI’s first name?
Albert
8) What color is a purple finch?
Crimson
9) Where are Chinese gooseberries from?
New Zealand
10) What is the color of the black box in a commercial airplane?
Orange (of course)
What do you mean, You failed? Me, too.
(And if you try to tell me you passed, you lie!)
Pass this on to some brilliant friends, so they may feel useless too.
His friends and family have put out divrei Torah and Mussar for the Yomin Tovim. Below are links to the ones I have posted previously in the Coffee Room.
The name of this publication takes on the name ALIYOS REFOEL ZEV as an aliyah to his Neshomah, and with the Tefilah to bring Aliyah and inspiration to all those that read it.
?????? ???? ????? ????? ?’ ???? ??? “?? ?? ?’ ???? ??? ? “?
Asara B’Teves: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/ywn-coffee-room-nightly-dvar-torah/page/2#post-24777
Tisha B’av: http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/ywn-coffee-room-nightly-dvar-torah/page/32#post-89465
Someone in my Yeshiva has created a web page with links to many online stores that the yeshiva guys commonly shop at and when shopping through these links a portion of the purchase will be donated back to the Yeshiva. This way, people can help the yeshiva without spending any more than they were already planning to spend.
Many web sites (such as Amazon) offer this option of becoming an affiliate through their own web site and others (such as Diapers.com) do it through a service such as Google Affiliates. If you have some time you can try to set up a similar program for a tzedaks of your choice. Of course, it will only be worth your time if you can get a lot of people to shop through the links.
You can visit the site and help my yeshiva as well by purchasing through the links at http://tinyurl.com/yzdrsa
I run a small lending gemach in my Yeshiva. I slowly put aside money over the years and also collected money from a few people and now have enough to be able to lend people. Different gemachs have different rules. I lend as little as a dollar at a time and sometimes will lend a few hundred depending on the need and the amount of funds available.
- Here are a few ideas of Gemachs I have seen in Yeshiva:
- Bill Change
- Quarters
- AA Batteries
- Power Tools
- Check Cashing
- Car and GPS (for dating)
- MetroCard
- Folding Tables / Chairs
- Folding Bed
- Iron
- Medicine
- Office Supplies
6 Cheshvan, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 2 Parashas Noach
My Mother thinks that the black davening jackets worn by Yeshivish people don’t match the black pants. You can’t wear a black jacket with black pants unless it is a suit. Many people who I have spoken to disagree with this and apparently most Yeshivish people either also disagree or just don’t care.
Mussar HaTorah
26 Tishrei, 5770 Vol. 11, No. 1 Parashas Bereishis
Let us use these Torah lessons to learn about our weaknesses, and rise above them, to acknowledge and take the blame for our mistakes. Humility and honesty will open the gates of self-improvement for us and allow us to use the gift of teshuva to bring ourselves ever closer to our Creator.
23 Tishrei, 5770 Vol. 10, No. 49 Simchas Torah
True optimism and simcha does not come from ignoring the reality that we are flesh and blood, and ultimately destined to die. It comes from confronting death and mortality with a positive and constructive attitude. Life in this world is, as our sages teach us (Avos 4:21), only a relatively brief journey, an entranceway to the eternal World-to-Come. Our challenge is to avoid the distractions, the empty facades of this world; to use every moment we have here to prepare and improve ourselves, perfecting our neshamos so they can come close to our Creator in our real destination, the next world. Moshe was telling the Jews not to be misled and not to get involved with the foolish trinkets of this world. In truth, his words were the greatest consolation because they served to guide them on the right path. He reminded the Jews of their true purpose in life, which is the source of genuine happiness and joy, satisfaction and fulfillment.
Catskill Corn Maze
(about 90 mins from Monsey)
$10 adult, $5 kids (5-11), 4 and under free
Mon-Fri 10am-10pm
1375 Hurley Mt. Road
Hurley, NY 12443
(845) 338-7276
And in my Yeshiva they have a rule that cell phones cannot be “seen” in the Bais Medrash. It goes without saying that they shouldn’t be ringing (I almost always keep mine on vibrate) but they also cause a lot of bittul Torah when people are constantly checking text messages and answering calls. People think twice about answering now that it requires walking out of the Bais Medrash.
One day, when the Rabbi got up to speak between Mincha and Maariv, someone in my shul took out a piece of paper and handed it to the guy next to him. It read, “This is an important text message”.
Side note: I once heard that ‘facetious’ is the only word in the English language that contains all of the vowels in order.
The Small Succah – A Yiddish folksong
By: Eli Birnbaum
A Yiddish folksong in Yiddish and in English. Take your guitar and sing!
A sukkaleh, quite small,
Wooden planks for each wall;
Lovingly I stood them upright.
I laid thatch as a ceiling
And now, filled with deep feeling,
I sit in my sukkaleh at night.
A chill wind attacks,
Blowing through the cracks;
The candles, they flicker and yearn.
It’s so strange a thing
That as the Kiddush I sing,
The flames, calmed, now quietly burn.
In comes my daughter,
Bearing hot food and water;
Worry on her face like a pall.
She just stands there shaking
And, her voice nearly breaking,
Says “Tattenyu, the sukkah’s going to fall!”
Dear daughter, don’t fret;
It hasn’t fallen yet.
The sukkah will be fine, understand.
There have been many such fears,
For nigh two thousand years;
Yet the sukkahleh continues to stand.
The Small Succah – A Yiddish folksong
(Am)A succah, a (E7)small (Am)one
From boards (E7)so cheap(Am)
(C)I have made myself a (C)Succah(E7) (Am)I’ve cove(G)red the roof(Am)
(Am)with a li(Dm)ttle Sch(Am)ach,
(Am)sitting in the S(E7)uccah by night(Am)
(Yiddish)
(Am)A sukkele a kl(E7)ein(Am)eh
Fun braitelech gem(E7)ein(Am)eh,
(C)Hub ich mir (Dm)a Sukelle Ge(C)mac(E7)ht,
(Am)Tzudeck dem d(G)ach (Am)
Mit a bissel(Dm)e Schach,(Am)
Zitz ich mir(E7) a Sukkele (Am)banacht
A vind a kaltin,
bluz duch die shpaltin,
un die lichtelich
zei leshin zich fill,
Es is mir a chiddush
vie ich machen Kiddush,
un die lichtelich zei brennen
gantz shtill.
Tzum ershten gericht
mit ah blassem gezicht,
breinkt mir mayn tochteral arain
Zie schtell zich avek
Un zaukt mit shreck,
Tatele, Die sukele falt bald ayn.
Zay nisht kein naar
Hub nisht kein tzar,
zul dir die sukkele nit tun baang,
Es is shoin dar
bald tzvei toisant yaar,
un die Sukkeleh zie shtait nuch gantz
lang.
I’ve seen an ophthalmologist’s plate that says “Eyen Tov”
We also used to sing “don’t pay back a band-aid…”
Jothar, it seems that you are weong about lotto being a tax on the stupid based on this article:
A Can Of Coke Is The Real “Tax On Stupid People”
Scenario I: You’re walking down the street with a friend when you remember that there’s a Mega Millions drawing that night. “One second,” you say, “I’m going to stop into this store and buy a lottery ticket for $1.”
If your friend is like many people, you’ll get a haranguing about how stupid that is, about how the lotto is just a tax on the poor, the desperate, and the stupid, and how you’re much better just putting your money into a bank.
Scenario II: You’re walking down the street, and you’re feeling thirsty. “One second,” you say, “I’m going to stop into this store and buy a can of Coke.”
“Cool,” says your friend.
But really, which is the tax on the stupid, the lottery ticket or the can of Coke? Most people reflexively say the lottery ticket, as WSJ numbers guy Carl Bialik reminds us today. But consider. In the first scenario, you’re out $1, in exchange you get a brief chance to fantasize, and the very remote chance of getting rich, plus a little tension while they pull the numbers.
In the second scenario, you’re out $1, you get a brief sugar high, followed by a crash, followed by tooth decay, sugar addiction, and then obesity, if you make a habit out of it. Clearly the Coke is worse in every way. If someone asked you whether they should buy a lotto ticket every day, or a Coke every day, you’d have to suggest the lotto ticket. Its superiority isn’t even in doubt.
Probably the reason people freak out over the lotto ticket is because the presence of math seems to make the analysis very clear, and they’re thinking about it strictly as an investment, and since there are so obviously better investments to make, the lottery ticket is dumb.
But for one thing, lottery ticket buyers probably aren’t thinking of them as investments, and really, regardless of how they view them, the fact is there are a lot dumber things you can do with $1, including buying a can full of sugar water. That’s the real tax on the stupid.
I turn off my phone because of the way the alarm works. If the phone is on, the alarm will keep ringing until it is turned off. If the phone is off it rings for a few minutes and then stops. So I turn it off in order to be able to use the alarm to wake me up on Shabbos. If I wasn’t using the alarm I would probably turn it off to save the battery anyway.
We started 7:15 both days. About a 20 minute break both days. First day there was a bris before the break, 2nd day a speech after the break. We finished about 1:45 first day, 2:30 2nd day IIRC
Welcome to the 70’s!
Mussar HaTorah
1 Tishrei, 5770 Vol. 10, No. 47 Rosh HaShana
I used to be very addicted to Coke. I stopped about 2 years ago around Yom Kippur. Rabbi Shafier gave a Shmuz about preparing for Yom Kippur and mentioned that there were some people who used to stop drinking caffeine weeks before in order that they wouldn’t get a headache on Yom Kippur so that they can daven properly. I realized that I was never able to function well on fast days and even other days of the year, if I didn’t have caffeine in the morning I would get a headache so I was dependent on it so I stopped. I still drink a lot of Sprite and other non-caffeinated sodas but not as much as I used to drink Coke and I drink a lot more water now. It’s great on fast days when I don’t get headaches anymore and even on other days I used to have to have some at some point in the morning or I would get a headache. Whether or not I am healthier now it is certainly less of a burden to not “have to” have caffeine in the morning
Good evening to you and how you be? It’s 6:31 and 56 seconds (factor in your own 7 second delay) and we’re getting ready for a 2 hour shmooz…
