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I saw a psak written up a while ago that I think was from R’ Sternbuch, although I might be mistaken on that. He said that when it says we must be dressed appropriately for davening, it means internally – meaning we must be in the proper mindset. He said it doesn’t refer to clothing.
Here’s another halachah that it says straight out in the Shulchan Aruch: you’re not allowed to kiss your child in shul.
volvie: Yes, Batchi is uncle, and neini is aunt. These words are also said after the name, not before.
I once had my carbon monoxide alarm go off on a Yom Tov. One of the firefighters who came (yes, I called 911 on Yom Tov for it!) told me that any time you leave a flame on, you need to leave a window open. Since then, I leave my kitchen window open, and I haven’t had any problems.
Just to note (for Yomim Tovim at least), if your oven has a pilot light (as opposed to an electric ignition), R’ Shachter holds that you can shut the oven or burner completely, because the flame isn’t being extinguished. It’s only being shrunk back down to the pilot. In such a case, for safety purposes, you should shut the burner whenever you’re not using it.
I used to shop at a Jewish-owned grocery store nearby. I stopped because their prices are significantly higher than the big stores like Shop Rite and Path Mark. In Shop Rite, I can buy Kedem grape juice for $3 per bottle. The Jewish store charges $6.50. For chicken cutlets, the Jewish store charges 6.99/lb. Shop Rite charges 5.99/lb. Why should I go broke shopping at a store that raises the prices because they know they’re the only Jewish grocery in town?
Yes, Dr. Pepper, that was me 🙂
Respect needs to be earned.
I have some friends who tell their kids to say “Mr. Feif Un”. I ask them just to call me by my first name. Some do, some say no, they want their kids to learn respect.
Tzedakah organizations will call me and ask “Is this Rabbi Feif Un?” I reply no, that would be my brother. I’m Mr. Feif Un. You need to know what you are. Giving people false titles doesn’t give respect, it takes it away.
When I was younger, in elementary school, all male teachers were called “Rabbi”. We clearly recognized that many of them were not Rabbis. That took away from the title of Rabbi, and leads to thinking less of those that do deserve the title.
mw13, it wasn’t that they had different names, language, and clothing – it was that they didn’t change it.
Chassidish levush comes from the dress of the nobles in Europe. Hats and jackets also were adapted from recent culture (although I’m not sure exactly where). Language? Yiddish was adapted mostly from German, with other European languages thrown in. Definitely not Jewish in origin. Names are the only thing that remained mostly the same – and even some names are taken from other sources. The name Gittel comes from German for “good”. I recently heard from someone named Shira who was told by R’ Chaim Kanievsky to switch her name to Sarah, as Shira is not really a Jewish name – it’s just a Hebrew word that people decided to use as a name. Many names we use now have no basis in Judaism.
artchill, I’ve heard Rabbi Bender speak many times about how he goes together with R’ Harbater knocking on doors to raise money for his yeshiva. He doesn’t think it’s below him. He also constantly speaks about how Rabbeim deserve higher salaries.
Before asking if it’s ok for the Rabbeim to strike, how about asking if it’s ok for the yeshiva not to pay them on time! Doesn’t the posuk say that you’re required to pay a worker at the end of the day? I’m sure that if you make up to pay weekly, monthly, etc. that it’s ok, but you’re not allowed to pay late! The Torah says so.
Rabbi Yaakov Bender has spoken about this publicly many times. Recordings are out there if you want to hear it. He says that yeshivos who don’t pay on time are stealing!
mw13: I originally wrote the name of the person, but it was edited out.
I was told by someone from Kehillah Kashrus in Brooklyn, that on powdered milk there is no need to get cholov Yisrael. He specifically mentioned Entenmann’s, because their products are made with powdered milk. His exact words were, “I’d have their products in my house if only they weren’t so fattening!”
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Imma613, who says that we hold like Rashi?
I don’t think it’s a Midrash that says she was 3, I think it’s Rashi. There’s a Sifrei that says she was 14.
Rashi’s reasoning is that her birth is mentioned immediately after the Akeidah, so he implies it happened at the same time – as is the case with the death of Sarah. Yitzchak was 37, and Sarah was 127. Since Yitzchak married at 40, Rashi says Rivkah was 3.
The Ibn Ezra writes that Yitzchak was 13 at the akeidah, which means it would be another 24 years until Sarah died. In that case, all the events mentioned there didn’t occur at the same time, so there is no way of knowing how old Rivkah was at her wedding.
It is also brought down (I have to check exactly where) that forbidding things which should be allowed is a big no-no.
cantoresq, what do you know about Kisvarda? My grandfather was from that town!
bombmaniac, in the shul where m father davened, people who aren’t married are not allowed to daven for the amud. I davened for years at a “bochur’s minyan”. The davening was definitely faster than where my father davened, but then again, that shul was known to have a slow davening. There was less talking where I davened that where my father davened. But the biggest benefit, IMO, was that I learned to daven for the amud. Now, years later, I am often asked to daven, and it’s thanks to that minyan that I know how.
There is a rule that we don’t make one gezeirah on top of another; basically, if something is a chumrah to prevent you from transgressing something, we don’t put an additional chumrah on top of that.
Most of the things (if not everything) which can come from mixed seating is a chumrah. Forbidding mixed seating would be a gezeirah al gezeirah.
At simchos, separate seating is something that started recently. Look at pictures of the gedolim from the previous generation. When they made weddings, they were mixed seating.
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Yanky55, your UPS driver doesn’t work on Shabbos. Maybe he’s not a goy!
You can buy the whole set – my father in law bought me a set when I got engaged.
blockhead: Sometimes I’ll walk into my parents house after they had pizza for supper. ‘ll just grab a left over slice and eat it without even sitting down. Would you classify that as a meal?
hello99, there are opinions which differ from the MA rearding pas haba’ah b’kisnin. I don’t remember exactly who, as it’s been a number of years since I learned the sugyah. I believe we don’t pasken like the MA in this case – certainly the Rav I learned it with (who works in the kashrus industry) said that pizza is pas haba’ah b’kisnin.
The Mishna Berurah says that you should wear a hat and jacket to davening because that was the respectful mode of dress in those days – i.e. if you were going to visit the president, you would have worn a hat and jacket. In modern times, this is not the case. If anything, in many places considered “respectful” areas, such as a courtroom, you’re not allowed to wear a hat. Therefore, the MB’s opinion of wearing a hat and jacket doesn’t apply today.
I once learned this sugyah with a prominent Rav in Brooklyn. Here are the issues:
When something is made with flour, it depends on what else goes into it. If it’s made as a standard bread, it always requires a hamotzi. If it has ingredients to give it a flavor other than standard bread (even if it’s not mixed directly into the dough), it’s called pas habah b’kisnin. Pas habah b’kisnin does not require a hamotzi unless you’re koveia seudah on it. Pizza, because it has sauce and cheese on it, falls into this category. That is why many people say that you only need to make hamotzi if you have 2 slices or more. However, that refers to fresh pizza. Many frozen pizzas, or pizza bagels, are made differently. They make the dough and bake it without anything else on it. They then put on sauce and cheese and immediately flash-freeze it. In such a case, it’s not pas habah b’kisnin, as the bread was baked without anything else on it. Once it’s considered bread, it doesn’t change status easily (there are some ways it can, but the pizza isn’t one of them.)
Therefore, having one slice, if you’re not koveia seudah on it, does not require a hamotzi.
charliehall, a Young Israel actually isn’t allowed to have a woman serve as president. There was one recently that elected a woman, and the NCYI voted to expel the shul from its membership because of it.
While it’s important to support Israel, it’s also very important to support the country you live in. Dinah D’malchusah does mean something, you know, and he broke that.
If Obama grants him a pardon because of Jewish lobbying, it would be a public relations nightmare for him. He’d be accused of giving in to Jews and releasing a convicted spy just because some Jews asked him to. That, I think, is the biggest reason that it won’t happen.
I feel for Pollard. However, all this pressure to let him go free only makes us look bad to the rest of the US.
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I think Rabbi Brazil made a typographical error – I think it’s daf 98, not 88.
I’ve been in my Rosh Yeshiva’s house many times, and he has wedding pictures from his kids (with their wives) all over the walls of his living room.
But squeak, if the attacker comes with 3 vs. the defenders 2, they are each rolling 2 dice, and the defender would have the advantage, not the attacker. The attacker only gains the advantage when he rolls more dice than the defender does.
squeak, one for one is not correct for Risk. If you assume a 3 vs 2 roll, there are 7,776 possible roll combinations. 2,890 have the attacker winning twice (37.2%). 2,275 have the defender winning twice (29.3%). 2,611 have each winning once (33.6%). As you can see, the attacker in a 3 vs. 2 roll has the advantage. If the same number of dice are being rolled, the defender has an advantage. Therefore, one eliminates one is not a good idea.
I enjoy playing Settlers. Another game I’ve enjoyed is called Ticket to Ride.
emoticon, why must it be a joke?
mosherose, who are you to make such a judgment? They clearly hold that it’s not a lav. Are you a posek that you can argue with them?
emoticon: this isn’t a bowl of cereal that nobody knows for sure. There’s a rule of Torah lo Bashamayim he. If it’s paskened that the areas are ok, then they’re ok! There are big poskim to rely on. There’s no question of right or wrong when in comes to a psak halachah – the psak is, by definition, right!
mosherose: Are you a posek? I doubt it. Many knowledgeable Rabbonim have said that it’s ok to go up as long as you know where the off-limits areas are. Who are you to argue with them?
Unfortunately, there are people like this. They call themselves frum. They dress like Jews, but it’s all chazer fissel – they show their external signs of kashrus, while internally, they’re completely treif.
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emoticon, read what I posted in the Daas Torah thread. There are no poskim that any other posek is not allowed to argue with. There are Rabbi’s who hold it’s allowed to go up on the Har Habayis.
Don’t expect a lot of money.
Trying my best: I wasn’t arguing over whether the Rav was greater than R’ Moshe or not. I was upset over the disrespect shown by torahyid. He emphasized the word Dr. and left off Rabbi. He then asked if you’d trust a PhD over R’ Mosh. He completely ignored the fact that R’ Soloveitchik was an enormous gadol. I’m sure torahyid’s Rebbe would give it to him over the head if he knew what he wrote. You may disagree with him, but don’t you dare insult him like that! Many people disagree with some rabbonim over numerous issues. How would people react if I’d write about them the way that torahyid wrote about the Rav zt”l (not that I’d do it). torahyid, you need to change your name. You definitely don’t represent Torah.
All this talk of following your posek and Rabbi shopping make good points and is an interesting topic, but it doesn’t have much to do with the original question in the thread. The question was why do people still eat chalav stam?
I think that question was answered. Better tasting products most of the time, cheaper cost, and milk that lasts much longer without spoiling. (Perdue chicken may be better tasting, cheaper, and last longer than kosher chicken, but that too doesn’t have much to do with the original question in the thread.)
Mods, I think this thread can be closed now.
torahyid: You insult someone you know nothing about. The Rav zt”l was a member of the Moetzes. R’ Hutner zt”l said that the Rav was one of the gedolei hador. He was a gaon on a level you don’t understand. How dare you insult him like that!
emoticon613: Why can’t you argue with R’ Elyashiv and R’ Chaim Kanievsky? There are big Rabbonim who say it’s ok to go up.
so right: yet when I wrote what my Rosh Yeshiva said, I was questioned whether he’s on the same level as R’ Moshe.
Mod-80: I’m not sure. I do know that when I wrote something that my Rosh Yeshiva said, trying my best asked if he’s on the stature of R’ Moshe.
I don’t think anyone alive today is on the stature of R’ Moshe zt”l. However, according to R’ Moshe’s teshuvah, I don’t think he needs to be.
hereorthere: Most people just ask their Rav. Many Rabbonim will give heterim based on many different poskim. That isn’t “posek shopping”. I don’t know anyone who eats cholov stam whose Rav is against it. The heter from R’ Moshe is given by all Rabbonim who allow it (which is almost everyone).
R’ Moshe Feinstein wrote the following in the Igros Moshe (OC 109, Page 173, bottom of the right hand column):
?? ????? ???? ???”? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ??? ????? ????.
In modern times (he wrote it over 50 years ago – how much more so today!), there is nobody on the level of a gadol that it is forbidden to argue with.
Trying my best: The letter was in Rabbi Forst’s sefer. I didn’t know it’s in the Igros Moshe.