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Sorry, I wrote OC, which was a mistake – I meant Choshen Mishpat.
Reb Eliezer, look in the Igros Moshe where he says it’s murder. The Meiri says the reason Beis Din can’t give the death penalty for abortion is because even death can’t atone for such a sin. We don’t give the death penalty unless it is a kapparah for the sin.
I’m not too upset about the election outcome. Yes, Trump lost, but the Republicans gained seats in Congress. I believe Biden/Harris will be absolutely horrible. Historically, in the midterms, the opposition party (opposition to the Presidency) gains seats in Congress. I’m looking forward to a larger Red Wave than occurred in 2010. Then, I hope Nikki Haley decides to run in 2024.
I don’t know if Biden is senile or not. All I know is that having Democrats in charge is bad for the country. They stand for killing unborn babies (which R’ Moshe Feinstein said is murder), pushing the LGBTQ agenda, ruining local economies by adding more and more welfare… how can any Jew support a Democrat?
Defend Chabad: I hope you’re correct, and Mashiach does come this year. I’m just curious, though – if he doesn’t come, what affect will that have on you? Unfortunately, there are times when someone has a deep-seated belief, and when it’s proven wrong, they can throw other beliefs away, or sink into a depression,
health: how do I rely on my local posek for life and death questions? I’ve only once had to ask such a question. I asked my Rav at the time, and he asked to speak to the doctor to get some details. We gave the doctor permission to speak to him, and he got the required information. He was able to give us a psak.
I did once have a very complex shailah, although it wasn’t dinei nefashos. I asked my Rav, who told me he couldn’t answer it. He suggested I ask Rabbi Willig. I called Rabbi Willig, who told me, “I’m not touching that shailah with a ten-foot pole! The only Rav in America who should pasken that is R’ Dovid Feinstein. Ask him!”
I spent weeks trying to reach him, until my Rav actually met him at a funeral. He was able to ask the shailah, and get an answer for me.A good Rav should know when he could and when he can not answer a question. If he can’t answer, he should be able to refer you to someone else who can answer it.
There aren’t many songs that really withstand the test of time, and are still frequently sang years after their release. Even popular songs mentioned above (such as Racheim) aren’t used much anymore. Here are some that I believe have withstood the test:
Acheinu (actually from Lev v’Nefesh, not from Dveykus, although still Abie Rottenberg)
Hamalach Hagoel (Dveykus 4)
Shalom Aleichem (Regesh 3)
V’zakeini (Baruch Levine)
Machnisei Rachamim (I believe originally from Shlomo Simcha?)
Just One Shabbos (MBD)
Mama Rochel (Journeys)
Memories (Journeys)The only way to have a minyan currently is if a family has a minyan on their own. If they all live together anyway, they can daven together.
You’re not selling the chametz when you exchange the pen, gartel, or anything else. You are appointing the Rav to be your Shaliach to sell the chametz on your behalf.
Joseph: It’s been reported on multiple sites, so I’m not sure which one you’re referring to.
Joseph: If you had a psak from R’ Hershel Schachter saying so, then I’d listen, as my Rav is a student of his.
I asked since you seemed to be following R’ Aharon Feldman (at least your earlier posts were quoting him). Since he changed his stance, you had the rug pulled out from under you. Will you still follow him?Joseph, the letter from R’ Chaim has now been confirmed. He wrote “Kedai meod lehatzbia.” Will you now be mevatel yourself to the wisdom of R’ Chaim and vote for a frum party in the election?
Joseph, were you talking to yourself again? Is that where you heard that from?
Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger, one of the editors of the Yated, spoke with R’ Feldman. R’ Feldman told him that he was being mevatel to R’ Chaim and withdrawing his opposition.Joseph, there are now reports that R’ Feldman has withdrawn his opposition to voting, due to the psak from R’ Chaim Kanievsky.
Joseph: you’re twisting the words of R’ Feldman.
He said that R’ Brudny withdrew his statement of the MOETZES supporting voting. R’ Brudny still personally supports voting, but he’s not issuing any statements on behalf of the Moetzes.
R’ Brudny and R’ Kaminetsky actually reaffirmed their support, and they are now supported by R’ Chaim Kanievsky.
Joseph, will you now attack R’ Chaim for encouraging people to vote?My kids used to have one. It was red and yellow, and said “Little Tikes” on it. It even had these googly eyes on the front!
R’ Yaakov Bender shlita often tells a story about his Rebbe, R’ Shmuel Berenbaum zt”l. There was a bochur in the Mir who developed a gambling problem. He ended up drawing in others in an attempt to deal with his own mounting debt.
R’ Bender, along with a few other elder bochurim, approached the Rosh Yeshiva, and told him about the situation, and they told him they felt the boy must be expelled. They weren’t prepared for the response that followed. R’ Berenbaum yelled at them, “Did you fast 40 taneisim before making such a decision?!?! How can you decide dinei nefashos without fasting for 40 days?”
R’ Berenbaum worked closely with the bochur, and he eventually turned his life around, and became a well-known talmud chacham (of course, R’ Bender never says who he is.)We in the CR can’t say someone should be kicked out of a school.
Sara Schenirer wrote in her diaries that she studied Gemara, as part of the Chok l’Yisrael. Chok l’Yisrael had a daily portion of Chumash, Navi, Mishnayos, and Gemara, and she went through all of it.
Most big Rabbonim don’t learn Daf Yomi, they are learning along with their yeshiva, and whatever is being done that zman.
I would much prefer to hear from some of the maggidei shiur who are baalei batim, who are much more likely to inspire others to learn. When a Rosh Yeshiva gets up and speaks about it, I’m not inspired. When someone who gets up at 5:00 am every day to attend a 5:30 shiur, before davening an early Shacharis, is the one speaking, I find it much more inspirational. I can relate to someone like that much more, as I’m in a similar situation.I don’t think the rioters are being ignored. Per the story on YWN’s front page, 136 people were arrested.
I don’t see why you need to have a nice response here. This coworker is putting down Orthodox beliefs.
I would have responded, “I’m glad you had a good experience, but I don’t appreciate the insult to my beliefs. Saying that Conservative is better than Orthodox is inappropriate. I don’t try to convince you that my beliefs are better than yours, and I’d appreciate you showing me the same level of respect.”EphraimBarLevi: Actually, R’ Hershel Schachter says that galus doesn’t mean being away from Eretz Yisrael. He says it’s a lack of gilui shechinah. So even though we have Eretz Yisrael now, doesn’t mean the people there aren’t in galus – until the full geulah, when the shechinah will dwell among us in the Beis haMikdash, we are all in galus.
The whole piece about it is in the sefer R’ Schachter on the Parshah. I don’t recall which parshah it’s written for, and I don’t have the sefer with me now to check.According to religious Zionists, galus is definitely not over, even for those living in Israel. We believe that the State of Israel is part of the geulah, but it’s not complete.
When the Old City was retaken in 1967, what did Rabbi Goren do? He made a brachah of Menachem Tzion u’voneh Yerushalayim. He recognized that our geulah was still not complete, since Yerushalayim is not completely rebuilt yet. Zionists in Israel still say Leshana haba’a b’Yerushalayim. If they believed that galus was over, why would they say that?
As for non-religious Zionists, do they really believe in galus at all? After all, they don’t believe in Shabbos, kosher, taharas hamishpacha, and many other things, so why would you really take their opinion into account?I fulfilled a special mitzvah on Shavuos night this year.
Unfortunately, on Friday night I had a health scare and had to be rushed to the hospital. I spent the entire night and part of the morning there before being released, with a lot of medication to use.
In the shul, one of the members is a doctor, who was aware of what was happening (I had spoken to him after davening on Friday night, when I started feeling lousy.) He came over to me after Mincha on Shabbos and told me, “If you’re thinking of trying to stay up tonight, forget it! Doctor’s orders, you go straight to bed!”
So I fulfilled the mitzvah of safeguarding my health, and made sure to add in extra learning time during the day.We don’t need Mashiach to come in order to bring a korbon Pesach.
There are records of R’ Yechiel m’Paris, who traveled to Eretz Yisrael to try and bring a korbon Pesach. However, he couldn’t determine the exact location of the mizbeach, so it didn’t happen.
Later, R’ Akiva Eiger asked his son-in-law, the Chasam Sofer, if he could convince the Sultan to allow Jews to go on the Har haBayis to bring a korbon Pesach. The Chasam Sofer replied that the Sultan would never allow Jews to bring any sacrifices on the Har haBayis, so it couldn’t happen. However, the Chasam Sofer clearly wrote that we are allowed to bring a korbon Pesach from a halachic perspective.Neville – you are incorrect. I avoid most music during sefirah (I was taught that classical music is permissible, as is slow music which won’t lead to dancing), and I observe Yom haAtzmaut.
Chacham Ovadia Yosef held to say Hallel without a bracha (see Teshuvot Yabia Omer 6:41)
In the morning, I usually eat whatever the shul is serving at the siyum – I’ve had a bagel, I’ve had donuts, cake, it all depends on where I am for Pesach.
For lunch, my mother used to make a Shepard’s Pie. I haven’t been home for Pesach in a few years, so my wife hasn’t had to prepare lunch. When we were by her family, it was shnitzel (with potato starch coating, not matzah meal, don’t worry!) and some potatoes.
This year, I’ll be at home, but I’m not sure what my wife has planned.I went to a store in Monsey who was having a special. I got from the Monsey Matzah Bakery, under R’ Yechiel Steinmetz, for $17/lb.
Doesn’t it cause a lot of smoke in your kitchen? My oven smokes on self clean even if there’s nothing in it. I’d think that having food in it would only make it worse, and can also potentially be a fire hazard.
R’ Belsky zt”l wrote a teshuva where he says it can be used. It’s not just watered down Grape Juice.
It is extremely useful for diabetics, as it contains significantly less sugar than most other products. I know many who use this exclusively for kiddush and arba kosos.R’ Herschel Schachter has a fascinating piece on this idea.
He writes that the definition of galus is the deprivation of gilui Shechina. The full gilui didn’t come until Matan Torah, so the geulah wasn’t complete until then. There were stages to it, it began with Pesach, but didn’t end until we had the Shechinah.He notes that we’re told that we are destined to be redeemed in Nissan, but we also say b’chol yom sheyavo – Mashiach can come any day. The contradiction is answered that the 3rd Beis HaMikdash won’t be dedicated until Nissan. So while Mashiach can come at any time, our redemption won’t be complete until we have the gilui Shechinah, with the new Beis haMikdash, in Nissan.
R’ Pinchas Teitz zt”l used to use a banana. I believe the minhag is continued by his children.
Yes, R’ Breuer wrote it. Do some research, it’s not hard to find.
Freddfish, I’m not sure what you’re asking.
There is a letter from R’ Yosef Breuer zt”l regarding the issue of mixed seating at weddings. He wrote that it is completely permissible, but he understands that people want to be machmir. However, even if you are machmir, he said that specifically young people who are of marriageable age should have mixed seating at weddings, since mitzvah goreres mitzvah, and shidduchim could come from it.
While I think Trump is doing well in many regards, he is still not close to being one of the greatest. He has added significant amounts to our national debt (which, IMO, is the biggest issue facing our nation today). Had he balanced the budget, I would have ranked him as one of the best.
The story of R’ Moshe throwing up is pure fabrication. I have a friend who is close with R’ Dovid Feinstein, and I asked him to find out the truth behind it. He asked R’ Dovid, who laughed. He said, “If my father threw up the milk, it must have been spoiled! He wouldn’t vomit from it otherwise.”
R’ Dovid is not makpid on chalav Yisrael, despite what Joseph may claim.
I also have a neighbor who lived right across the street from R’ Moshe when he was young. He’s also one of the few people in my community who are makpid on chalav Yisrael. When his father was visiting for a Shabbos, I once asked him why. He said that R’ Moshe told him personally that he considered him to be a baal nefesh, and that he should be machmir. He didn’t say anything about shas hadchak.R’ Moshe zt”l picked his teshuvos for the Igros very carefully. They were meant to apply to the klal as a whole, and not just for specific cases. Letters or teshuvos that he wrote which are NOT in the Igros aren’t necessarily intended for the entire public.
The teshuvos which R’ Moshe put into the Igros Moshe don’t say anything about shas hadchak for using chalav ha’Companies. One letter which states it was written to a yeshiva which was thinking of using chalav haCompanies due to the cost of chalav Yisrael. R’ Moshe held strongly that a yeshiva should use chalav Yisrael, so he wrote it should only be done b’shas hadchak.
Any teshuva which states shas hadchak was not meant for the public. It’s only modern-day kanoim, who are trying to show how holy they are, who are now pushing this agenda, trying to claim that R’ Moshe was really opposed to it.DY: If that’s the case, then fine, give them the funding. But what about the schools (mostly chassidic) that don’t outperform the public schools? The schools where the kids come out barely able to read English? I think all their funding should be pulled.
For the schools with no secular education at all (such as Satmar), I think the truancy piece should be enforced as well.The OU was involved in efforts against the requirements.
I happen to agree with part of the law, but strongly disagree with a different part.
If private schools don’t offer enough time studying secular subjects, then they should not be eligible for government funding. I oppose the part where students of these schools would be considered truant.It’s on Cross Currents. Unfortunately, we can’t post links here.
Teach NYS just released a statement about the issue. They said they didn’t say anything before now because they wanted confirmation on what they believed to be correct. Here is what they said:
To: Teach NYS Member Schools
On November 20th, 2018, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) issued its Substantial Equivalency Guidance regarding curriculum requirements for non-public schools. Since the issuance of this Guidance, TEACH NYS, a project of the Orthodox Union, has been working with our school partners, leadership and advocates in Albany to understand and begin to address these requirements and enforcement measures. Concurrently, we have been communicating with government officials and others in Albany to help them understand and address the myriad issues relating to the guidance.
In summary response to the questions our member schools are asking, there are two issues that we are prepared to report on now. First, with regard to high schools, NYSED’s Guidance provides that all registered high schools are already in compliance and have no further obligations. Virtually all of the high schools in the TEACH NYS network are registered with NYSED. Second, in response to our inquiries, NYSED provided written clarification that the mandatory units of daily secular study are not more than one per grade for core subjects (English, Math, Social Studies and Science). This translates to 3.5 required hours of required instruction per day (not counting physical education) for grades 7-8. We held off distributing this important information until we could confirm this clarification at senior levels of NYSED – which we received from multiple sources at NYSED yesterday.
Philosophically, we believe that there are additional open issues that need to be addressed. First, we are extremely concerned about government regulation of the curriculum of religious day schools and Yeshivas. Our educational institutions should have the right to fashion our children’s education in a manner consistent with our Torah values and a curriculum that fosters the inculcation of such values and our religious tenets. Second, we are extremely concerned that the locus of enforcement authority with respect to State mandates sits with local school authorities. To the extent that workable guidelines are to be formulated, they require clarity and consistency which can only be achieved by centralized formulation and implementation.
Process concerns us also. Subsequent to the issuance of the November 20th Guidance, a number of organizations, coalition partners, heads of school and Roshei Yeshiva appropriately reached out to NYSED to seek clarification on a number of issues. Teach NYS likewise reached out to NYSED. While some of our questions have been answered, we have been in contact with our coalition partners, including prominent Roshei Yeshiva, and are advised that others, including these prominent Roshei Yeshiva, have made specific inquiries and requests that have yet to be responded to. We have urged NYSED to reach out to all parties to deal with these inquiries; an open discussion with all parties is important to avoid further aggravating an already difficult and confusing situation. Lastly, we note that the written responses we received from NYSED (which are set forth in full below) were accompanied by a commitment by NYSED to incorporate this and other clarifications into its Guidance. To date, no such revised Guidance has been issued. We urge NYSED, in the strongest terms possible, to clarify its Guidance as it has committed to do.
To conclude: We have been, and remain extremely concerned by state regulation of Yeshiva and day school curriculum. We strongly believe that any enforcement of the Guidance should be at the State and not local level. We call upon NYSED to issue their revised Guidance forthwith, and to make a concerted effort to engage with all organizations and groups that seek to engage with them.
Moving forward: Over the coming months, Teach NYS will work together with our coalition partners to seek appropriate clarifications and modifications of the Guidance and will continue to report to you on a regular basis with respect to our progress. In the interim, if there are any questions regarding this advisory, or any other aspects of the Guidance, please feel free to contact Maury Litwack, our Executive Director, with any questions.
Set forth below are the details of our correspondence with NYSED.
QUESTION: How many hours of instruction are required per day?
Based on the mandatory units of study found in “Appendix A”, Teach NYS informed NYSED that the new Substantial Equivalency Guidance requires at least 7.2 hours of instruction each day for grades 7 and 8. 7.2 hours far exceed the NYS compulsory education law requirement of 5.5 hours. Teach NYS informed NYSED of this inconsistency in the Guidance and requested an explanation.ANSWER: NYSED responded by email informing us that the language in “Appendix A” of the Guidance was not clear and would be clarified to explain that students are to receive such instruction by the end of grade 8.
For example, two units of study for English language arts must be completed by the end of grade 8 (one unit in grade 7 and one unit in grade 8). Two units of study in English language arts are not required in each grade, 7 and 8. This pertains to all of the requirements, with the exception of library and information skills. What this means is that a school must only offer a minimum of 180 minutes per week (around 36 minutes per subject per day) of English, Math, Social Studies and Science for grades 7 and 8.
QUESTION: Teach NYS informed NYSED that the law only requires grades 7 and 8 to meet the units of study hourly requirements; the units of study do not apply to grades 5 and 6. Teach NYS requested that NYSED confirm that grades 5 and 6 are not required to meet the units of study requirement or provide an explanation with the supporting regulation.
ANSWER: NYSED responded that they will work through how to resolve differences in the structure of State intermediate learning standards and current regulation. A clarification will be posted shortly.
Additional Views
Judaic Curriculum and Equivalency: It continues to remain unclear which parts of our Judaic studies curriculum will satisfy the New York Learning Standards based equivalency requirements as determined by NYSED Guidance. The NYSED Guidance states: “In nonpublic schools, the unit of study requirements may be met, or their equivalents may be met, by the incorporation of the State learning standards of such subjects into the syllabi for other courses. Such integration must be documented in writing and kept on file at the school.”
How this Guidance will be applied remains to be clarified.Non-academic subjects: Further discussion is warranted to determine the specifics of non-academic subjects like Career Development and Occupational Studies and physical education, among others.
Let’s assume this is a serious question.
How do you define Daas Baal haBaatim? Do you mean to ask if we believe that someone who isn’t a Rabbi is worthy of asking opinions from? Absolutely. I have a neighbor who is a pediatrician. If one of my kids is sick on a weekend (when their regular doctor’s office is closed), we may ask her opinion, or have her do a throat culture (if it seems like it may be strep). Another friend of mine is a plumber. If I have a plumbing issue, I’ll ask his opinion on how to handle it.
Will I ask their opinion in halachic matters? No. They have no background/education in halachic matters, so why would I? For halachic matters, I ask the Rav of my shul.It’s no longer in Linden, it moved to Union I believe.
Wow, this got a lot of responses, when it’s really a very simple answer:
It’s a machlokes. Everyone should ask their own Rav, and follow their own tradition. For example, Chaim Berlin students should NOT have a Thanksgiving dinner, while YU students may.Neville: Yes, I do believe that MO people who may not be strict in one area will ask a shailah in the areas where they are more strict. You mentioned tznius – just remember that most of the “rules” that the yeshivish and chassidish people follow in that area are chumros, not halachos. Most MO people (at least the ones I know) follow halachah, but many don’t take on the chumros which were accepted by the yeshivish community.
AWOB: R’ Moshe was not universally followed in all areas. For example, most don’t follow his position regarding Shabbos clocks. Satmar opposed his views on many fertility treatments, and even held that many children who were the results of those treatments are considered mamzeirim. (My children, who resulted from IVF, would not be acceptable to Satmar). Many don’t follow his views regarding an Eruv in Brooklyn.
I don’t know why someone would assume that MO don’t ask shailos. We definitely do, all the time! Now, we may limit our asking to actual halachic cases, as we don’t always ask a Rav for practical advice – for example, if a doctor recommends that I have surgery, I won’t ask my Rav about it. I may get a second opinion from another knowledgeable doctor, but my Rav doesn’t know medicine!
My Rav has also told me when to ask someone who is at a higher level than him. I once had a difficult shailah which he declined to answer – he referred me to Rabbi Willig. Rabbi Willig also declined to answer, and he told me “I believe there are only two poskim who will answer this for you. One of them told me that in such cases, he is always nervous about it so he tries to be machmir. The other is R’ Dovid Feinstein, who I know really weighs the factors in the individual case, and will give the appropriate psak for that case. I suggest you ask him!”
So you’re wrong about that. As for having sources from prominent poskim, most MO Rabbonim have semichah from YU, and were taught by R’ Schachter, R’ Willig, and other giants. They definitely have the proper backgrounds!In both cases you’re showing that you don’t believe in Judaism. Conversion also shows that you believe in another religion. So I’d say it’s pretty clear that conversion is worse – it’s OTD taken to the next step.