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Toi: I’ve never heard them make that claim now.
I agree with Logician. This story might make you feel better, but come on, we know it’s not always the case. Sometimes it might be like this:
A Conversation With Hashem…
Me (in a tizzy) : Hashem, can I ask you something
HASHEM: Sure.
Me: Promise you won’t get mad?
HASHEM: I promise.
Me (frustrated): Why did you let so much stuff happen to me today?
HASHEM: What do you mean?
Me: Well I woke up late,
HASHEM: Yes
Me: My car took forever to start,
HASHEM: Okay….
Me (growling): At lunch, they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait
HASHEM: Hmmmm..
Me: On the way home, my phone went dead, just as I picked up a call
HASHEM: All right
Me (loudly): And to top it all off, when I got home, I just wanted to soak
my feet in my foot massager and relax, but it wouldn’t work. Nothing went
right today! Why did you do that?
HASHEM: Well let me see….. last night you went to sleep late, right?
Me (humbled): Oh…
HASHEM: I didn’t let your car start because last week you were very angry about slow moving traffic. I wanted to show you that your car is a blessing.
Me (ashamed): …………
HASHEM: The other day you got mad when supper was something you didn’t like, so today you had to wait for the food you did like.
Me (embarrassed): Oh…..
HASHEM: Your phone went dead because you’ve recently been using it to spread a lot of lashon hara. If you use it for the wring things, I can take it away.
Me (softly): I see Hashem
HASHEM: Oh and that foot massager – you used your feet to take you to places you shouldn’t have gone, so you didn’t deserve a massage.
Me: I’m sorry Hashem.
HASHEM: Good, that’s the first part of teshuva. Just trust me that everything I do has a purpose, and it spares you from a worse punishment later.
Me: I WILL trust you Hashem
HASHEM: And don’t forget that if you follow the Torah properly, your ultimate reward will make the foot massage seem like nothing.
Me: I won’t Hashem. And let me just tell you Hashem, thank you for
everything today.
HASHEM: You’re welcome child. It was just another day being your Hashem and I love looking after my children.
koillel101: The Menahel of my high school was once driving, and stopped in New Square to daven Mincha. He walked into the shul and asked a kid where the siddurim are. The kid hands him a siddur, opened up to Mincha, and says, “We’re going to say Ashrei. Then, after kaddish, we’ll say shemoneh esrei.” He really thought the menahel didn’t know how to daven mincha!
Some guys once asked the Rosh Yeshiva about spending Shabbos in chassidish communities. He replied, “Their hachnosas orchim as amazing. They really make you feel like a king! They think you’re a sheigitz, but they still treat you like a king!”
mytake: She never said anything about people in your community if you’re not Satmar. I think you’re just sensitive about it, and think it’s against you. It’s not. She has issues with Satmar, that’s all.
msseeker: I’m definitely not applauding her. I just happen to agree that Satmar has many problems. I don’t think she should have written a book about it. I hope that she realizes you can be a good, frum Jew without being Satmar. Maybe if they had taught them that in Williamsburg, she’d still be keeping kosher and Shabbos.
I’ve heard chassidish kids insulting non-Jewish people who lived down the block from the shul. I used to daven at an early minyan on Shabbos (7:00), and I’d pass the kids outside the shul from the main minyan (9:00) on my way home. They said some pretty nasty things about the neighbors in Yiddish.
mytake: If you weren’t raised in the Satmar community, how do you know she’s lying? It’s well known that Satmar keep many more chumros than almost anyone else, especially when it comes to women. You say she’s lying about not being able to eat out. How do you know? Maybe in Satmar communities this is true? Just because it wasn’t the case for you with your chassidus doesn’t make it a lie.
I’ve also heard about women not being allowed out after a certain hour. Do you say it’s a lie because she said it’s a new thing? Is it really an old thing?
As for the reading level, I’ve seen it! I had a teacher in high school who also taught at a Satmar yeshiva. He was supposed to teach English. He told us it was the biggest joke. Only 2 kids even showed up to class every day (out of 25-30 kids, I don’t remember exactly), and they barely spoke any English. The principal even told him the kids wouldn’t be interested in showing up, and that they didn’t need to learn English when they knew Yiddish. I think the only fallacy in her line there was saying “Most girls graduate”. I think they don’t get that far.
Almost every other thread seems to be for those who can’t spell. It’s nice to see a change!
ZeesKite: From what I’ve read, she NEVER attacked or insulted Hashem. She is against Satmar. That’s all. It was asked earlier, why didn’t she just become MO? Probably because Satmar look at MO as similar to non-Jews. They don’t consider MO as frum Jews. I know people who weren’t counted towards a minyan in KJ because they didn’t look frum enough.
Why would she become MO if she was told they’re as bad as non-Jews? Let her be completely unobservant and enjoy herself if she’s destined for the same end anyway!
cantoresq: R’ Chaim will be the first to tell you that he’s not a posek.
Was that only when there was a Sanhedrin, or does it apply in modern times as well?
greatest: No, I wouldn’t be fine with it, but I wouldn’t harass her over it. I’d probably just divorce her and leave it at that. Luckily for me, she doesn’t plan on giving those things up.
msseeker: I don’t force my wife to keep it. I also don’t force her to stay married to me. If she didn’t want to keep it, I wouldn’t have married her. If she wants to stop keeping it, I wouldn’t force her to do anything. I wouldn’t stay married to her, but she can do whatever she wants to do.
You say “under pain of divorce” like it’s the same as the harassment some people get in chassidic areas. They’re completely different.
ICOT: Yes, Judaism (even MO) may appear backwards to the rest of the world. However, as was stated before, the difference between, say, MO and Satmar is that we don’t try to force things on people. The stories of women harassed for sitting in the front of a bus were documented. If someone wants to live life following Satmar standards, fine, go ahead. It doesn’t bother me. But don’t expect my wife to dress to your standards, with 3 different layers buttoned up to her chin, bullet-proof tights with seams every inch, with a shaved head and a shpitzel, while walking down a public street. You have no right to make others dress that way on a public street.
Shraga18: Popa is one of the bigger trolls here, and lately I’ve been just ignoring his posts.
I don’t get why people say that she’s obviously mentally ill. Have you met her? Did you speak to her? How would you know?
Then people are saying things about the book. Soliek said the book is one big self-justification. How do you know? Have you read the book? AFAIK, it wasn’t even released yet!
As for why she left Judaism, not just Satmar, it’s likely the same as one of the reasons I left Judaism for a while. I was told that all other ways were wrong. It was either this particular way or you’re going straight to hell. Eventually I got over that, and found another path of frum Judaism that works for me. Hopefully she’ll find the same thing.
bpt: Do you really think every non-Jew is a drunkard, and all Jews are perfect people? It’s a nice dream, but it’s time to wake up now.
“You cannot impose your values on others, Chasidish, Modern, or even Lhavdil Muslims.”
Yet when women tried to ride in the front of the bus, they were harassed. If a women walks on the wrong side of the street in some areas, she is harassed. My wife and I once had to be in New Square for something, and she was confronted and told that she wasn’t dressed up to their standards.
Does not imposing standards only apply to me? Wolf understood my post before. I think everyone else missed the point.
DY: I asked a friend of mine who knows almost everything there is to know about old Jewish music. He said it’s on an old album called Rachaynu. It was put out by Ruach Revival before their Ruach Revival album. I don’t know where to get the original album, although my friend does have an mp3 of the original song. He got it from a relative who has the original record.
a mamin: Chassidish customs are to build respect for women? How so? Please explain how the following build respect:
Women not allowed to be out on the streets at night.
Woman only allowed to ride in the back of the bus.
When there are guests over, the women must eat in the kitchen instead of at the table with their family.
Women are not allowed to drive.
That’s just a few to start off with.
It should affect us, because if you read the interview, you’ll see some of the things she mentions are 100% correct. People are jumping to accept the chumrah of the month, not thinking of the effect it might have. Buses separated for men and women? R’ Moshe Feinstein zt”l wrote in the Igros that l’chatchila you can sit next to a woman on a bus or subway – and he didn’t mean a frum woman dressed properly, he meant a non-Jewish woman.
Women not allowed to walk on the street after a certain time at night? What is this, Nazi Germany, where people weren’t allowed out at night? Why shouldn’t women be allowed out?
The fact is that some people are so eager to appear more and more frum that they lose sight of the big picture. Some of these chumros have no real basis, and they create a huge chillul Hashem, and drive people off the derech.
edited. You can opine they have no real basis if you wish, that is a halachic point. You cannot say they are pointless- that is a lie and you know it. You know there is a point, you just don’t agree with it. Say that.
DY: Any idea what album that was on originally, and where I can get ahold of it?
Here’s a new one, let’s see if anyone can get this!
“Don’t leave me this way, for I am with child, awaiting my day”
For some reason, I thought only the minyanim after a bris don’t say tachnun, but any beforehand do. I could be wrong on that.
A lot also depends on the level of the parents. If they’re Reform, there’s a good chance the baby isn’t even Jewish, as Reform have diluted their definition of what makes someone Jewish so much that a lot of their members aren’t real Jews. Conservative haven’t gone that far yet, thankfully.
Just call a Rav and ask next time!
ZeesKite: I’m not opposed to Torah study. God forbid! I study Torah all the time. I’m just opposed to the modern kollel system.
Aaron Chaim: MBC’s style changed before Only One. I agree about B’siyata Dishmaya – amazing album!
I was at the 2nd Miami Experience, in Brooklyn College. There was so much that they left off the album.
One major difference between early MBC and now is how much you hear Yerachmiel. On the early albums, he didn’t sing at all. Then he started singing a little bit, then some more, and now he makes himself as much of an attraction as the kids. He needs to realize people don’t come to listen to him.
I think the kollel system as it is today is a bad thing.
I think the way many people look at gedolim today violates Lo yiyeh lecha elohim acheirim.
I think the idea of Daas Torah as people mean it today is a new thing that is completely wrong.
I think a husband should be fulfilling what it says in his ketubah and supporting his family.
3: Sunrise, Sunset from Fiddler on the Roof
R’ Shach zt”l smoked before he knew it was harmful. When the doctor told him it was bad for him, he immediately stopped, and didn’t smoke another cigarette for the rest of his life. He even said he completely lost any urge to smoke once he knew it was bad for him.
Among all the mentchlichkeit issues I’ve heard about school administrators, this one is the least of my concerns.
R’ Moshe Feinstein checked to see exactly how long it is until tzeis in the NY area. He paskened that it is 50 minutes after sunset.
This is where problems start. There is nothing wrong with boys being “exposed” to girls as long as it doesn’t violate halachah. When we pretend that the opposite gender doesn’t exist, it causes problems when they are “exposed” down the road. Boys need to know that girls/women are out there, and that there’s nothing wrong with being around them as long as it’s done properly. By “being around them”, I mean things like having a bus driver, sitting next to a woman on a bus or train (which R’ Moshe Feinstein says clearly is allowed l’chatchilah), in the workplace, or in a grocery store.
I was in a store recently, and a frum woman asked me for help – there was an item on the top shelf that she couldn’t reach, and she asked me if I could get it down for her. I was in a different store recently in a more right-wing community, and I saw two girls shopping. They were actually climbing on the shelves trying to reach the top one. I asked them, “Would you like some help getting something from the top?” They just looked at me like I was crazy, and kept trying to reach things. They didn’t even say “No thank you”. This is what we get to when we think of stupid questions like the OP.
Health: Now you stoop to attacking Modern Orthodoxy. Mods, honestly, enough of this clown who has now said blatant motzei shem ra about tens of thousands of Jews. Please just ban him already.
Derech HaMelech: I would say that such a person should go get a job, and learn the hour either in the morning or evening.
Health, I disagree – most kollel guys COULD find jobs if they wanted to. When those who leave kollel to go work do so, most find jobs pretty quickly.
When I said “act like this”, I meant l’chatchilah taking money that is supposed to only be for a b’dieved.
If kollel guys didn’t take government money, and the system was the way it should be, maybe I’d be more inclined to support them. The way it is now is a joke (a very bad one), and I won’t support it. You can argue the cause for what you do all you want, but don’t try to put the blame on other people. The blame lies squarely on those in the kollels.
The fact is that people in kollel don’t know what it means to be moser nefesh to sit and learn. Maybe they need to learn what real mesiras nefesh is. Listen to the tapes of R’ Gifter, where he speaks about what it was like in Europe. He was considered rich. Why? Because he could afford a cup of real coffee instead of chicory. R’ Avigdor Miller wore his overcoat all year round. Why? Because his clothing was so old and worn that he was ashamed to be seen in it, with all the patches showing. People then didn’t know where their next meal would come from. That is true mesiras nefesh, and it weeded out those who weren’t serious about their learning from those who were. I think we need to have this again, so we can see who the true learners are.
HaKatan: the difference is that doctors will (usually) ultimately pay much more in taxes than a Rabbi will. They take because at that point they need it (and that’s only if they actually take – most places give them a stipend to live on. At least that’s what I’ve heard from 3 friends of mine who went to medical school).
Most guys in kollel are not using it towards their parnasah. Out of the thousands in BMG, how many become Rabbonim, Rabbeim in yeshivos, etc? Probably not even half.
Health, a kollel check is not nearly enough to support a family, and most guys in kollel could find another job that would pay enough. Therefore, you’re doing it as a l’chatchilah. As for giving money to kollels, I don’t feel the need to. Not when you act like this. I help support people who are learning – on an INDIVIDUAL level, and only those who I think could actually become something big. I refuse to support a large kollel that takes in people who will never become Rabbonim.
Health, do you really take it as a b’dieved? Are you working to support your family? If you’re sitting in kollel all day, then you’re taking it as a l’chatchilah.
Health, the reason the government changed the rules is not antisemitism. It’s because the programs are intended for those who are trying to make ends meet, and can’t. Either they’re looking for work and can’t find it, or they’re working but just not making enough. They’re not intended for those who choose not to work and intend to rely on these programs. They’re supposed to be a b’dieved, not a l’chatchilah. In Lakewood, they’re treated as a l’chatchilah. People should be trying to make ends without help. If you still can’t, and you’re doing everything you can, then you can rely on government programs.
Now the question is, with all the names brought down in the Midrash that were given to Moshe by his parents (such as Tovyah, Ovadiah, and others), why is he referred to as Moshe, the name given to him by an Egyptian? Why doesn’t the Torah call him by one of his “Jewish” names?
Toi: I don’t always follow the Chazon Ish. However, in the matter of the kollel system as we know it now, he was the one who said it needed to be done, and these were the guidelines he set for it. For sheirut le’umi, there are many other opinions on which to rely. For the kollel system, he’s the one everyone relies on. Therefore, he should be followed.
popa, while you say a welfare system removes the reasoning, I have to disagree with you. My brother told me that there are people in Lakewood who teach you how to get WIC, Food Stamps, and other government programs when you really don’t qualify for them. I think the welfare system causes MORE stealing, not less.
Avi K: I’ve posted the same thing before. The Chazon Ish said it. He said things needed to change for 3 generations to rebuild the leadership, then it should go back to the old ways.
poppa: I went to yeshiva and then to college. I currently work full time. When am I mekayem Torah? I go to a shiur a few nights per week. When mincha is late enough so I can daven after I get home from work, there is a shiur between mincha and maariv every evening. I learn a sefer on the Parshah every week so that on Shabbos I’ll have what to say over at the table. That’s just the learning part.
I also like to think that for the most part, I live a Torah life. I try to make a kiddush Hashem at work every day. There are some people I work with who, to put it mildly, are slightly uncouth. I try to be the opposite, and be a good example of how a proper person should act.
I think this is what RABBI Lamm means.
BasYisroel94: the first one is Tatenyu.
The second one is Generations.
adorable, you said your mother could only turn the lights off and on. When my wife was in the hospital (and she was there for multiple Shabbosim once), we were told that turning on a light (an incandescent bulb) is perfectly fine as Shabbos candles. The hospital she was in did not allow candles, so that was what she did. She did not have to add a candle, and she made a brachah on it when she did it.