Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I’ve written in the past that we had our twins through fertility treatments. Unfortunately, one of the issues we encountered during those treatments was miscarriages. My wife had a few of them early in the pregnancies. Due to that, we didn’t tell ANYONE what was going on, with the exception of our Rav (since fertility treatments can bring up all sorts of interesting shailos). When the doctor told us that we were mostly out of the “danger zone”, we told parents. It was towards the end of the first trimester. We waited a bit longer to tell siblings.
My brother told me that he and his wife told parents as soon as they got a positive pregnancy test.Joseph, when it’s a minhag shtus, there’s no need to follow it.
Joseph, it’s not in the Igros that R’ Moshe released. It’s in the volume released years after his death. He didn’t select the teshuvos that were included in it.
Joseph, when R’ Moshe said b’shaas hadchak, it was in response to a unique case. In the teshuvos which he chose to include in the Igros Moshe, he never mentioned that part. He was matir it in general.
Vinegar is good to use in a marinade to get tender meats, as it can cause some of the connective tissue to break down, which tenderizes the meat. However, using vinegar as the ONLY liquid probably wouldn’t be a great idea. When the tissue breaks down, it also causes a loss of moisture from the meat, which will dry it out. Make sure to add salt. Salt minimizes the loss of moisture, so your meat will stay juicy.
There are a few reasons.
First of all, the Sifre (I believe quoted by the Ramban) says that a Navi is required to issue the command to build the Beis haMikdash. We don’t have that now, and won’t until Mashiach comes.
The Chinuch says that the majority of Jews must live in Eretz Yisrael, and it should be a sovereign Jewish nation. That is given as a reason why the 2nd Beis haMikdash was considered weak from the start – most people didn’t come from Bavel, and it wasn’t controlled by the Jews. The Gemara says the Shechinah wasn’t there for those reasons.
Until Mashiach comes and gathers the Jews together, we won’t have the prerequisites to build a new Beis haMikdash. Mashiach will be a king, and Eliyahu will be the Navi. We will have the gathering of the exiles to Eretz Yisrael. May it happen speedily in our days!In the 1700s, most Jewish people were actually illiterate. That was why the Baal Shem Tov completely departed from traditional Judaism, and founded Chassidus. He felt that since Jews weren’t capable of learning Torah, they needed a different way to serve Hashem. So no, most people in the 1700s in Eastern Europe did not spend hours per day learning.
Besides, if you’re going to count that, then shouldn’t you count the baal habatim in Israel now who learn Daf Yomi, who attend shiurim in the morning and evening, but thankfully don’t need government assistance to live?He started his own chassidus, and declared himself a Rebbe? What a joke. A Rebbe is supposed to be chosen by the followers. How many followers does this guy have?
Mazal tov to Joseph! He finally agreed that Modern Orthodox is considered frum! He wrote “Because within the frum spectrum MO/DL are the left-wing flank.”. So he finally considers MO to be within the frum spectrum!
Carlebach’s Ki Va Moed was taken from a non-Jewish song called “Mare, Take Me Home”.
I believe R’ Dovid Feinstein does. R’ Hershel Schachter probably does as well.
R’ Hershel Schachter shlita holds that since there’s nothing to lose by wearing it, you should wear the techeiles nowadays.
R’ Elyashiv zt”l was against it, as he held we did not have a mesorah for it, and so shouldn’t do it.
R’ Chaim Kanievsky shlita holds that we won’t get techeiles until Mashiach comes, so the one we have is wrong. He also says, however, that he feels there is room to disagree with his view, and that if someone believes it is the correct techeiles, they have a chiyuv to wear it. (This differs from R’ Elyashiv, who said that even if we believed it was correct, we shouldn’t wear it due to a lack of mesorah for it.)
At the end of the day, as usual, one should ask their own Rav what to do, as there are gedolim on both sides of the issue on whom to rely.
The Yetzer Harah is smart. He says, “So don’t smoke on Shabbos, only the rest of the week!” You’re right – really nobody should smoke at all. When you abstain on Shabbos, it makes you feel good about it, and you don’t think about the other days. That’s the Yetzer Harah’s goal.
There was a Haggadah that was used in the Vishnitz community in Israel that said when you eat the Matzah, you should picture the Rebbe in your mind and think about him. Is that a problem?
My shul has a rule that only on the Yomim Noraim are there reserved seats. For the rest of the year, the only seats that are reserved are the Rav’s.
I don’t think people are bashing those who want to increase observance of tznius. Increasing observance means having more people follow the halachic rules.
The issue people have is when others start changing the rules, and adding on stringency after stringency. There are halachos that define tznius. Let’s stick to them.Yitzchokm, I haven’t seen the actual letter from him, but I’ve seen/heard it quoted by many different Rabbonim. If you do some research on your own, you’ll find it.
Joseph: perhaps if there was more mingling at weddings, the shidduch crisis wouldn’t be as bad. R’ Breuer zt”l wrote in a letter that he encouraged mixed seating especially for younger people, as mitzvah goreres mitzvah, and shidduchim could come about at a wedding.
As for your point about a man walking into the women’s section – you are wrong, the women don’t need to stop dancing. The man has an obligation not to be there, and he should leave. It’s on him, not on the women.Winnie, I was always taught that the Mada portion has value by itself because EVERYTHING is in the Torah – we just don’t always recognize it as such. However, we still recognize that Hashem and the Torah are the supreme authority.
I guess TIDE would allow the secular learning only as far as it’s needed for a specific purpose – for parnassah, or to help understand the sugyah you are learning at the time.
Torah U’Madah, as I understand, says to learn all you can, because it’s all part of the Torah, whether you can see where it is or not. Just remember that it’s all part of the Torah, and remember that we must always follow the Torah.Joseph, Schindler was arrested multiple times for public drunkenness. He also committed adultery many times, and even had children with a someone who was not his wife, while he was married. His wife ended up leaving him.
Joseph, do you have a source for that claim?
It depends. The Rambam defines a tzadik as someone whose zechusim are more than their aveiros. According to that definition, anyone can be a tzadik – we just don’t know how Hashem views each person and judges their actions, so we don’t know who is or isn’t a tzadik. We can make assumptions based on what we do see, but we may not be correct.
Chassidim usually use the definition given by the Baal HaTanya. Chassidim believe that a tzadik is someone who was selected for the role by Hashem. The role can’t be attained by a person, it needs to be a gift from Hashem. The tzadik has their human instincts for any inclinations completely subdued, and experiences pure d’veykus. The tzadik’s job is to act as a vehicle to raise up others, to help them get closer to Hashem.
According to the chassidic definition, almost nobody can become a tzadik – only a few people who Hashem picked. That doesn’t mean you can’t be a good, caring person, of course!
I know someone who is descended from Native Americans, who became a geyores. Does that count?
I remember R’ Bender speaking about Jewish levush. He said it’s like one sign of a kosher animal – the split hooves. It’s the external sign of being a Jew. An animal needs both signs, internal and external, to be kosher. We have a term for having only the external sign – pig feet, or in Yiddish, chazzer fissel (did I get that right?). If you have only the dress, but don’t live the Torah way, it’s worthless. I still can hear his voice in my head – “LOOK AT ME!!! I’M KOSHER!!! With the black hat, and the white shirt and black jacket – you’re like the pig showing that he thinks he’s kosher! Without the inside, you’re nothing!”
Joseph, you can wear the biggest kippah, but when you’re rotten inside, you’re like a pig showing off its hooves.The Steipler zt”l said not to make a brachah, as the Gemara says an eclipse is a siman ra.
Joseph: first of all, Ivrit is spoken internationally. Jews speak it in Israel, in the US, in Europe, etc. It’s spoken all over the world.
When I was in yeshiva as a kid, we learned Chumash and translated it into Yiddish. The problem was that there was no language I was familiar with to relate it to. I didn’t understand the Hebrew, and I didn’t understand the Yiddish. So I knew that Hebrew word A equaled Yiddish word B, but I had no idea what they meant!
My kids learn Chumash by translating it into Modern Hebrew as well as English. So now they are learning both Biblical and Modern Hebrew, and they understand it because they are also translating to English.Joseph, you say learning Yiddish helps to communicate with Jews around the world. I think that most Jews actually don’t speak Yiddish. You’re probably more likely to share Ivrit as a common language than Yiddish.
CTLAWYER: at least some of your post got through. Mine was deleted entirely.
I’m not aware of this movement. Does that mean it’s a failure?
Joseph, it’s not all of Eretz Yisrael that is makpid on burying the same day, it’s only Yerushalayim. They sometimes delay for the kavod of the mes, so that more people can attend the funeral.
Elizabeth, NJ is not a chassidish community. It’s under the leadership of HaRav Teitz shlita, who is as Litvish as they come!
A friend told me that a chassidish community will be starting soon in Linden, NJ – apparently they’re buying some land, and getting zoning approvals for a school.Joseph, they’ve had suicides because the people who are coming to them are depressed from the way they were treated. Look at the most recent case – a girl died just a few weeks ago from an overdose. She had some learning disabilities and was kicked out of her school. Her parents were told by other schools that threats were made – if their daughter joined, other parents would pull their kids out! Is this really the world we live in? Is this how we should be looking at others? The principals and parents who were against her have her blood on their hands! They humiliated her, with their holier than thou attitude, and pushed her to leave Judaism, caused depression, and now she is dead. But I’m sure they think it was ok, because they didn’t want their daughter to have someone with a disability in the same school.
Footsteps exists because our system is broken. It takes children, our most prized possession, and tries to cram them into a mold. If they don’t fit, they are discarded, with no regard for their future.
Just another thing to mourn today.I am reminded about what R’ Belsky zt”l wrote regarding A Capella music:
Lately, it has become a trend to take every possible pleasure that one can think of and figure out ways to make them permissible at all times. Whether it is the imitation of non-kosher foods, making all chometzdike delicacies kosher l’Pesach, or other similar things, we find this attitude now more than ever. People cannot live for one minute with compromising on pleasures that they are used to or wish to experience. Often, the heteirim to permit such activities are, at best, based on very weak reasoning.One such example is the desire to listen to music during Sefirah and The Three Weeks. It has become a trend to produce “Sefirah tapes,” referred to musically as “a cappella“. The wide acceptance of such tapes has not been with rabbinic approval. Indeed, many of the gedolei rabbonim have ruled that one should not listen to this type of music during Sefirah and The Three Weeks. Unfortunately, because the music albums are being sold in the stores, people think that they must be glatt kosher. If they aren’t acceptable, people say, why would a Jewish store sell them?
His words regarding this likely apply to massive siyumim/events as well. The 9 Days are a time for mourning – not finding ways around the rules.
I remember learning that when making a siyum during the 9 days, one shouldn’t invite extra people. I believe the language used is that one should only invite those who would be invited if the siyum were made at a different time of year.
The Rav who gave the shiur where I heard this said that there are restaurants who have someone come in every night of the 9 days to make a siyum, so that they can sell their usual menus, and not lose a week’s worth of business. He said this is 100% wrong, as in many cases, you don’t know the person making the siyum at all!Joseph, you are falling to a new low this time. A letter is talking about dinei nifashos, and you choose to focus on which parent should write the letter, who it should be addressed to, and whether the school is required to handle it.
I repeat: this is DINEI NIFASHOS. A child being bullied in school can have long-term effects. I DON”T CARE WHICH PARENT WRITES THE LETTER!!! Joseph, you are the very definition of a chossid shoteh. I really don’t know why the mods still tolerate you – if it were up to me, I would have banned you a long time ago.
Whether the local laws require reporting or not shouldn’t matter. The school has a halachic responsibility to act on it. End of story.
So Joseph, basically, you’re saying that Yiddish and Modern Ivrit have the same status – a language that is used by Jews, which separates us from non-Jews?
Please don’t argue that Ivrit is used by secular Jews, because for many, many years, so was Yiddish. There even used to be Yiddish theaters in NYC. Nowadays, Yiddish is actually seeing a revival among secular Jews, who view it as part of their cultural history, and therefore are studying it again.Joseph, the correct “shprach” would be Hebrew, as it has holiness to it. Yiddish has no holiness whatsoever.
I haven’t been called for jury duty since 2004. At the time I tried to get out because I was a student, and didn’t want to miss classes. If I was called now, I would have no issue serving on a jury. Why would I? My employer pays for any time you miss due to jury duty, so there’s no financial concern. It’s a responsibility that comes with living in our great country, and I think I might even find it interesting!
I think the real question here should be “Why is BMG the default option?”
I once had someone tell me he was going to BMG because “it’s the thing to do”. I asked him, “Is it the best place for you?” He said “I don’t know.”
Having a big place which churns out products like a factory, with no thought to individuality within its ranks, is one of the biggest issues we have in the frum world today. We have a rule of chanoch l’naar al pi darko. Every person needs individual attention. We also have asei l’cha Rav – have a Rebbe! Do you think you get a real kesher with a Rebbe in BMG? I have 3 brothers who went through BMG, and none of them has a lasting kesher with their Rabbeim/Rosh Chaburah from there. One is still close with R’ Altusky (from Darchei) and one is still close with R’ Bender. The 3rd, as far as I know, isn’t as close with either one of them, but does have a kesher with his Rav. I see the same thing with many of my cousins who went through BMG – the Rebbe they’re close with, who they consider their main Rebbe, isn’t from BMG.Regarding what R’ Bender said:
Does he think it needs to change? I guess so, but the question is how. I can tell you what he does.
He established a special gemach specifically for alumni of Darchei. He also set up a program to teach vocational skills to both kollel members and community members who are in need. They can learn plumbing, electrical work, and other skills. They have classes in computer skills. You can start taking advantage while a kollel member – they have classes scheduled at times that can work for most people. I believe the cost is also significantly reduced for kollel members.I have 2 brothers, as well as my closest friend from high school, who had to deal with this issue. One brother and the friend both have a lot of resentment towards the yeshiva system now, for not informing them how difficult it would be when they finally needed to go support their families.
My friend asked R’ Bender about it, and he replied, “You’re right, it’s a big problem! I try to help out my talmidim, but there needs to be a change, we need to do something to help out everyone!”The Mishna in Avos say that learning without working leads to sin. Just in case the words of the Mishna aren’t enough for you, it’s now been shown to be true.
But go ahead, bury your head in the sand and claim it’s a huge kiddush Hashem.DY, I checked the album. I had that as a kid. Never liked it that much. I’ll try listening to it again.
Joe, Shapiro is also friends with Gilad Atzmon, who has proclaimed that he follows a strict diet – “I eat anything but kosher”. He is willing to deal with someone who hates everything Jewish in order to bash Israel.
Shapiro has never said anything against NK, and has publicly bashed Israel, in front of non-Jews. He is inciting non-Jews against Jews, and likely can be considered a rotzeach.As for Feif Un, we aren’t neighbors. We are friends, and used to be co-workers. I met him in college. I also introduced him to Rabbi Bender, who he now admires very much.
Shapiro is one of Joseph’s heroes because he is a member of Neturei Karta. He stands with the enemies of the Jewish people, and deserves no respect at all.
DY, was that London album the one with “The Forgotten Princess”? I think that’s an awesome album!
Here’s what happened:
The owner of the property needed to do some work, and decided to do it on Shabbos. Being that the owner isn’t Jewish, that’s not a problem (the restaurant rents the space.) The issue was that the workers were given access to the restaurant and its kitchen, and were completely unsupervised.
The OK told the owners of Basil that this was an issue, as the workers could have used ovens to heat their lunches. There are cameras in the kitchen, so they requested the video footage from the property owner. They asked Basil to remain closed until they reviewed the video. Basil didn’t want to miss any days, so they opened against the OK’s wishes. Therefore, the OK pulled the hechsher.Or so I was told by someone “in the business”.