CTRebbe

I believe that Rav Shmuel probably did tell bachurim to not register for the draft, but do we have any public statement from him or reliable testimony that he supports the (Chilul Shem Shomayim) protests?

Mentsch-Women do not need to spend a dime on their date. I don’t know of a single male that would notice if a woman got a professional manicure. Women only do that for themsleves. As far as I know, most women know how to do their own hair. There need not be anything called “date clothing”- just take a nice outfit from your existent wardrobe. You are also able to wear the same outfit for every first date-nobody will know the difference. Jewelry is usually borrowed from a friend or relative. One can argue that women spend more time preparing for a date but cost is not one of them.

I think the only positive outcome of this conversation would be if the girls would lower their expectations as to how much the guys spend on the date. i.e. If all he did on a fourth date is go for a walk in the park and buy drinks or ice cream don’t come back and say “I don’t know what is wrong with this guy. He is such a cheapskate. When will he spend money on me?”

I have to agree with CTL about the pejorative term-non observant. Let us try to avoid the term and forget the semantics. Returning to the issue raised, I feel that we are too far gone to end intermarriage, it is almost like fighting gravity. That does not mean we should give up. It is easy for everyone to say “yeah let some kiruv organization take care of it or let Torah Umesorah figure it out. For those of you who know anything about OOT life TU has essentially given up on the OOT communities and is primarily focused on the more right of center yeshivos (sorry to burst your bubble but R. Shraga Feivel Mendelovitz has been gone for many years and the last 30 years or so has taken the organization in a different direction). Yes, (co-ed) day schools can play a very key role in bringing back many and kiruv organizations are struggling to fight the assimilation giant with pea shooters. In order to increase our effectiveness as many frum Jews as possible need to be involved by following the lead of project inspire, and giving money, time and expertise to organizations doing G-d’s work in kiruv and helping OOT day schools (there are other organizations that have picked up TU’s slack). No one should say “some one will take care of it”-do it yourself. If you don’t have the money or skills then minimally cry out to our Father in Heaven to save His children.

I know its hard to believe, but people could exists outside of google. I don’t think DeCarte said “I am googled therefore I am”

Gavra- unless you are speaking from personal experience, I believe your numbers are way off. If you need someone to put you in contact with a good accountant and financial planner I am sure that your friends in the YW coffee room can do that. I think that a person making 400k a year most likely has wrong is a less than glatt hashkafa that I can spend without limits.

DerShteygingYid- I don’t know where you live but I would appreciate you sharing it with us so that all Rabbeim can move to your gan eden hatachton. I have never heard of a place where Rabbeim get double what public school teachers make-and I yes I have been in the Jewish day school business for a while.

As general perspective, Dr. Marvin Schick who is probably the biggest maven on day schools in America (may he live and be well), also sees the current model of sustaining yeshivos as unsustainable. It seems that the only way to keep things going is for those in our communities who make big money and waste it on lavish things (20 piece orchestras at weddings, 70k on pesach vacations etc) need to step up to the plate. I know its easy for us little guys to tell others how to spend their money, but we can all try to show some revulsion when we see people spend a ton of $ on a simcha. While you are inhaling that extra helping at the shmorg try to look at the baal simcha as a nebach who was given money without sufficient brains to match.

My point about supporting married children was not only about tuition discounts but it also affect donation dollars. Yeshivas rely heavily on donations. If all of your maaser is being used to provide your kid with a late model camry and bugaboo stroller, you will not have much left to provide your alma matter, your children’s alma matter or your grandchildren’s current school with the donations that they need to pay Rabbeim’s salaries. I guess before we attack the current kollel lifestyle we should really attack the general opulent spending amongst frum Jews. The issue of children’s support is that affects even families that can not afford it.

I am surprised that no one on this thread has blamed the kollel system as hurting the yeshiva ketanas. Not that I am saying that we should not have the kollelim, but if it is taken for granted that any kid that gets married today can expect to have both sides chip in in the thousands of dollars every year, how can that not affect thier ability to pay full tuition for younger siblings? (unless I am missing something and everyone else out there can afford to pay both full tuition and 10k plus in supporting married children)

Kosher food is not necessarily more expensive out of town. I have found the prices in Monsey to be more expensive than OOT. Tuition is also cheaper because the cost of living is lower(if you can’t survive on a middle income salary how do you think your kid’s Rebbe is making it?). Also a big factor to consider is the fact that there is less pressure to “keep up with the Cohen’s”, hence cheaper simchas, clothes children’s “needs” etc. Living two hours away from family is also not necessarily living away from family although granted it may make babysitting more complicated. The yeshivos are just as good if not better outside of NY. Ask anyone living in places like Cleveland, Waterbury, Detroit, Baltimore etc. And yes, the Almighty finds jobs for people all over.

I believe it was made made by Rabbi Benny Wielgus but I could be wrong. For those who are unfamiliar with the tape (that’s what we used to call them) I feel that it is by far the best children’s tape out there. I only wish that they would have made more and also video versions. It was a perfect blend of the humor, education and entertainment. It tells the entire story with midrashing and chazal in an enjoyable way for children and adults. I loved it so much that I used it in my classroom for a number of years and created a question worksheet to go along with it as a way of teaching the story of the megilah.