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Neshomah Orchestra is great and their prices are very reasonable. I’ve heard them at a number of chasunahs and they are very leibidig without blasting your eardrums.
Sorry, yummy cupcake, there are two things I forgot.
I have no idea what your computer background is, but knowing Microsoft Excel can be a plus, although it’s not a must. Some familiarity with HTML is a plus, too.
yummy cupcake:
Copywriting usually involves writing copy for websites, but it can include writing for actual catalogs, too. Other things it might include are writing press releases and sales letters letters. Essentially, it’s promotional writing.
As anyone who’s ever bought anything via Internet has noticed, any website – be it a bookstore, clothing store, furniture store, someone selling health products, you name it – has a description for each product they sell. Often, aside from the individual descriptions, the products are divided into broader categories, which also need copy. Although online stores need the most copywriting, organizations need copy for their websites as well. Essentially, there are two things copywriting entails: getting people to the website (that’s where SEO – search engine optimization comes in), and once they’re there, convincing them to buy, donate, whatever. It may sound boring on paper, but the truth is that there’s a lot of creativity involved.
Taking a proofreading course is a good step in the right direction as is a course in editing (they’re not the same thing). A technical writing course is probably a must (full disclosure: I work in copywriting from my home, but when I started they just trained you on the job. Today you probably need some courses before anyone will hire you). Also, since the writing is for the web, you need to know something about SEO – the more you know, the better, so a course in that subject is a major plus.
I hope that information helps you. If you have any more questions, feel free to post them; I will IYH check to see, and will try to answer you as best I can.
Again, lots of hatzlachah!
yummy cupcake:
I second NOMTW’s assessment – you really sound sweet, nice, fun and sincere!
As far as ideas – I think Nechomah’s idea of event/party planner might be a good one. You say you are creative, and the courses are geared to helping the students develop their creativity. More and more people are turning to event planners to help take the pressure of them when planning simchahs. This is not necessarily a matter of making things fancy and going overboard, either; even planning and executing a modest simchah takes a lot of time and work.
If you love writing, you might consider copywriting – again, you don’t need a college degree, just a good set of courses in copywriting and SEO (search engine optimization). This can also be a good option for the future because a) there are both part time and full-time jobs available and b) many times you can work from home. Grant writing might also be worth a try, although for that companies might be looking for some kind of college degree. Grant writing can also be a very high-pressure job because there are serious deadlines involved – I know that for some government grants, for example, there is a month or even less from the times the grants are announced until the writing has to be completed and submitted.
In general, if you love writing, you have spare time and you’re not afraid of rejection, you can try writing pieces and submitting them. Creative writing courses might also work for you. But I wouldn’t count on this as a real parnassah, because it can take years to develop your style and find a niche for yourself in the publications world.
One more idea is secretarial work. This sounds boring, but it need not be. Secretaries in schools can have a lot of fun, and believe it or not they can also have a very positive influence on the students. You don’t need a college degree for this, but you do need to have thorough courses in computers – Microsoft Office, usually – writing emails, Internet searches, etc,. and some knowledge in computer graphics is a definite plus even if it’s not a must. And of course, if you work in a school, you get the added plus of having paid vacation for all Yomim Tovim, something that is not a given in either copywriting or grant writing.
Whatever path you choose, whether it be one of the above or something else you hit upon, may Hashem bless you with much hatzlachah!
To musser zoger:
I hope your first question was a joke.
To answer your second, there are really two answers. There are two degrees of gebrochts: water and mei peiros. Water is the one everyone avoids, i.e. matzos coming in contact with anything containing or made with water – soup, gefilte fish, jelly, etc. etc. With regard to mei peiros, there are people who do eat matzos with foods made with mei peiros but no water. Charoses is an example of the latter.
With regard to those who refrain from mei peiros as well, the minhag of koreich is obviously stronger.
Naysberg:
A wife can ask for a divorce, she just can’t give one. So it would seem that the divorce process still, in some way at least, can initiate with the wife.
Also – only the husband can give a get, but the wife has to accept it. If she refuses, it can lead to a very long and messy process. I personally know of more than one man who was stuck for 10-15 years because the wife refused to accept the get. And yes, there is a heter meah rabbonim, but valid ones are very hard to come by.
May I ask a question?
How did this discussion morph from the poster’s question – a query asking how and if the tradition of eating non-gebrochts on Acharon shel Pesach can be worked out this year – to a wholesale discussion on the validity of the minhag of not eating gebrochts?
Have we really descended to the point where we cannot handle minhagim that are different from our own?
The minhag of not eating gebrochts is not a recent phenomenon, nor are its roots of disputed origin. Those who keep it are right to keep it and to safeguard it. Those who don’t, don’t. Why is this becoming such an issue?
As to those who ask, if one doesn’t eat gebrochts all week of Pesach, how can they do so on Acharon shel Pesach, the answer is this: Because it is a chumrah. And in order to show that it is a chumrah and not me’ikar hadin, in chutz la’Aretz it has become a tradition to davka eat gebrochts on acharon shel Pesach. In EY, there is no such minhag as all days of Yom Tov are d’oraisa.
As far as hand vs. machine, one thing is certain:
Most people who don’t eat gebrochts don’t eat machine matzah, either. Not all, but most.
Oh, and as for the tefach issue – for those who hold that way, it means that a man may say devarim shebikdushah in front of a woman if up to a tefach is showing. It has nothing to do with the parameters of tznius that women are obligated to keep.
It is correct that the knee has to be covered in any position – standing, sitting with/without knees crossed, walking, going up stairs, etc. Best bet (other than trying the skirt on and doing all those things and having your mother/sister/a friend watch to make sure your knees are covered): Measure the distance between the bottom of your knee and your ankle. Make sure the skirt hits halfway between and you’ll be fine.
If you want to buy skirts without trying them on in the store, so measure from your waistline to that half-point, write down the measurement and then take a tape measure to the store – if the skirt matches that measure from the waistline down, it should be fine. Hatzlachah!
I too have held out on posting here because my opinion is that this should not be a public thread at all.
However, HaKatan’s post pushed me over the edge.
“IF the rumors I’ve read are true, I do NOT believe that there is any mikor in our holy Torah for these practices, and therefore these “chumros” are misguided and wrong and there is NO basis to say “that’s their mesorah and it’s okay”. Far from it, in fact.”
I have no idea what you heard or didn’t hear. But it doesn’t matter. The above statement implies that you are better positioned to judge what is a misguided chumrah and what is not than the Admorim of Ger.
The Beis Yisroel zy”a was a gadol, a kadosh and a tahor according to anyone’s opinion. Yes, the Steipler’s, too. Gedolei olam disagree all the time. This is not a chiddush. Besides which, it is not at all clear that the much-touted letter the Steipler wrote – IF he wrote it (there are serious claims that he did not) – was ever intended for the public’s eyes. It was written to an individual.
What should be clear to all of us is that we should back off when dealing with chumros, hanhagos, minhagim etc. enacted by Gedolei Yisroel, and we certainly should not be mocking, denigrating, or sneering, much of which has unfortunately been done on this thread.
I will not get into the halachic/hashkafic aspect – as others have noted, I don’t know you well enough for that. If, however, you generally do not allow your children to watch secular movies, then there’s no reason for the Wizard of Oz to be an exception.
As far as your kids – there are definitely scary parts. The Wicked Witch and her soldiers (whatever they’re called, I’ve forgotten) can be very scary for small children. So can the flying monkeys. And there is some element of violence – the Wicked Witch of the East who’s crushed by Dorothy’s house at the beginning, the kidnapping of everyone to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, and of course Dorothy’s killing the Wicked Witch (albeit unintentionally) by accidentally spritzing her with water while saving the Scarecrow who caught on fire.
There might be more, I don’t know – it’s for sure been over 25 years since I saw it!
Mr. Hershi:
1)Quality and longevity of the piece, 2) Resale value. Costume jewelry has no resale value, whereas gold and diamonds do.
I’m not saying I buy real jewelry, just that those are 2 good reasons why people do.
To Wolf:
The thing is that on FB, all those who are “friends” in the Facebook sense are not necessarily “friends” in the sense of a friendship the way we would think of one outside of Facebook. Therefore, the jealousy issue is a real one.
Beyond that, IMHO, if a chosson-kallah are from those groups in klal Yisroel that hold of communication during the engagement, they still should not be doing it on Facebook. This is a relationship that’s in a very delicate stage; way too easy to mess it up like that.
Re: The story about the Satmar Rav, I have also heard the story just that it involved Reb Moshe, not Rav Aharon Kotler. It has nothing to do, however, with the Satmar Rebbe’s minhag per se. In Satmar, as in other branches of Chassidus such as Tzanz and Amshinov – the minhag is to hold Rabbeinu Tam k’din, meaning – that they hold both shkia and tzeis according to Rabbeinu Tam.
The way I heard the above-mentioned story is that the reason Reb Moshe asked the Satmar Rebbe to stop driving after the earlier shkia is because Shemiras Shabbos in America was a major problem and he was choshesh that people seeing a gadol driving after shkia would complicate things further.
While today one doesn’t see many Chassidim doing melachah after the earlier shkia, those who hold Rabbeinu Tam k’din will wash for Shalosh Seudos, daven Minchah, etc. after the earlier shkia yet before Rabbeinu Tam’s shkia. The converse is also true – they will not do melachah or break a fast before Rabbeinu Tam’s tzeis.
Anyone who wishes to pick a bone with Rabbeinu Tam is welcome. But don’t tell Chassidim that they are being oveir aveiros because you hold differently.
As far as teachers, their hours, and the fact that they get off chol hamoed, etc., please let me clarify something for all those who feel that teachers get off easy.
First of all, a teacher who finishes the day at 4-4:30 has at least the same workday as any 9-5 job – as teachers start their days sometime between 7:45-8:30am.
Secondly, when a teacher finishes at 4 or 4:30, his or her day is far from over. They do not leave their work at the office. There are tests to grade, papers to mark, homework to check, lessons to prepare, parents to call…
With all this in mind – including the lower salary range and, in many cases, the late paychecks – I don’t think it’s fair to speak as though teachers have the easy life because they get off Yom Tov and chol hamoed, or even summer vacation. Teaching requires an emotional investment and energy that does not exist in other professions. If we want them to be able to recoup their energy and have koach for our kids, these vacations are not too much to ask.
And, no I am not a teacher. I am just a parent who appreciates what they do.
People who rent apartments are not automatically listed in Bezek’s phone directory, so it could be that the fact that they’re not listed means nothing.
Does it say where in Beit Shemesh? If you know the area, you can contact a Rav there and try to find out some more about the family. Or try to track down the Monsey address and see who lives there.
Hatzlacha!
Whether or not Rav Elyashiv shlita penned that statement, the issue – and there is an issue – is NOT one of everyone having to be in kollel.
The issue is whether or not it is a good idea to send an 18 year-old bochur into the Nachal Chareidi or not.
It is true that the Nachal Chareidi is overwhelmingly not chareidi. And the recent specter of soldiers being penalized for walking out rather than hearing kol isha – these were top soldiers in officer training, and they were dismissed – gives tremendous weight to what is and has always been one of the main obstacles to sending boys to the army: That there is an anti-religious agenda there.
If Rav Elyashiv did write this letter, please note that there was no reference to married men making a living, to any of the myriad vocational training programs that are available to chareidi men and women, or even to married men going to the army, as many who already have 3 or 4 children do.