Gadolhadorah

The “z’chus” is in marrying a baas yisroel who is herself an appropriate kallah for the bochur in all respects and that they together are well suited to raise a family and establish a “bayis ne’eman’ bayisroel. The fact that here father is a talmid chacham or big tzadik is nice but otherwise irrelevant as to the likelihood of the success of the cahassanah. A girl raised in such a family is likely to have the midos and love of torah to create the right conditions but thats no guarantee she is the be’shert for the bochur in question.

To Avramalah in Baltimore (or Reisterstown, Owings Mills , Silver Spring, Kemp Mill or wherever )

Would you give a dollar to tzadakah for every pot, pan etc. that has ever had to be toiveled in mikvah because of some crooked mashgiach, whether chasddish, litivish or Eastern Shore leading to treifus being sold to a frum yid? Please name your favorite tzadakah.

To BK613:
If a woman has existing arrangements with female specialist relevant to her pre-existing condition than obviously that would be best since she would be best served by a physician she knows and trusts. However in the case of a heart attack or serious injury requiring invasive surgery, clearly the gender of the attending physician is irrelevant. She wants to get to the best medical facility asap and would care less about tzinius if her life is at risk.
Equally so, most men would probably feel more comfortable with a male physician for routine exams and non-emergency care but I cannot imagine a rational yid with a life threatening illness or accident telling the emergency room physician, cardio lab specialist or surgeon (who happens to be a woman) that he would prefer to delay treatment until a male physician can be called. Even the gadol hador would not delay a nanosecond to potentially save a life.

To Daas Yochid

I’ll repeat my point that if you have real facts or evidence that the Rav is engaged in fraud and deception with respect to his Hasgacha, you should publicly present your information to the Rabanut and authorities. If not, you are engaged in the worst type of lashon haroh, defamation and libel and should beg mechilah from the Rav and the dedicated mashgichim who work under his supervision. Its outrageous that you simply make these vague assertions without any support.

There are 2 or possibly 3 statutes, including one specifically focused on the Office of the President, which require retention of ANY work-related documents, including emails, Tweets, blog postings etc. These rules have been upheld by the courts. Retention doesn’t mean public disclosure and indeed, presidents may specify that certain documents be kept confidential (by the National Archives) for many years after they leave office. A tweet, by definition, is a public document and must be retained. A tweet with his son regarding “business’ would violate their ethics commitments but would still be work-related since they are required to maintain records showing they complied with those ethics commitments.

I assume you have provided your objective, factual and public assessment of the deficiencies of the Circle K hashgacha to the Rabbanus so the can take appropriate enforcement action. If not, you are engaging in slander and defamation with your innuendo. I’m not a big fan of Circle K but that’s a personal decision not based on any knowledge of moral failings or breaches of integrity by R. Ralbag.

To Syag:

First and most important, Rav Ralbag, shlita, is a chashuvah rav and a big talmid chacham but like most non-chassideshe Mashgichim, he has his own set of chumrahs and kulahs that he goes by (e.g. can goyim participate in wine preparation prior to the separation of the skin from grape juice per the inyan of mevushal, the use of certain casks in whiskey, etc). If you are comfortable with those kulahs Rav Ralbag is “reliable”. If you want a higher standard across the board, find one of several chassideshe hashgachos (and perhaps one or two of the litvish hashgachos) who are considered the gold standard for mehadrim. No lashon horah about R. Ralbag is appropriate given that these are areas of discretion and everyone finds their own “norm”.

No. In the same way that Hillary was required to keep copies of her private emails that had any work-related subject matter, so is Trump. Any Tweets on national policy issues are “work-related”; any tweets regarding his personal social life (assuming he has any) or his views on a movie he saw over the weekend can be deleted.

Why not acknowledge that there are a range of views on the issue of draft registration and/or ANY form of cooperation with efforts to recruit frum bochurim to some form of public service. Along with many chashuve rabbonim, I believe there are ways that bochurim coming out of high school can and should be required to participate in some form of alternative service to the tzibur that would not threaten his hashkafah while providing needed service to the tzibur (even filling in for a reservist who is called up for active duty, working in hospitals or other mosdos serving the Chareidi neighborhoods, etc). They could provide such service while continuing to learn several hours a day. Instead, the issue has been framed to make it impossible to find any middle ground and intensify the already enormous gap between segments of Israeli society.

If anyone really believes that these type of “anti-Zionist” demonstrations, kinus, asifahs etc. do not contribute to the global pressures on EY, increased anti-Semitism, J-Street type groups, divestment of holdings in Israeli companies etc. you are sadly mistaken. None of these individually can be traced to a particular event but collectively they weaken EY. Having dozens of black hats by the U.N. screaming anti-Israeli rants or thousands at Barclays defaming the IDF only bring smiles to the white supremacists, racists, and Islamic terrorists. If that is your agenda and you think these demonstrations will bring down the medinah, you will not be successful.

The NK and some of the Satmar zealots are NOT “ultra-orthodox” Jews but a fringe group of Jewish descent who claim to represent the “true” version of their religious faith to the same extent ISIS claims to represent “true Islam”. Bachol dor v’dor we find a small number of disturbed individuals seeking to glorify themselves in the guise of Kiddush hashem but instead put all of Klal Yisroel at risk. Fortunately, in every case, the Ebeshter has squashed these efforts and will do so again here.

What was originally meant as a limited waiver of the draft for a small number of serious learners has morphed over the years to a sense of entitlement for ANY chareidi bochur to avoid the draft or any form of alternative public service and shift the burden on to others. There are tens of thousands of frum bochurim who have served in the IDF and who gain valuable professional and leadership skills and go on to live a life of torah while contributing the welfare of the medinah. The small number of rabbonim who encourage the Peleg demonstrations that disrupt the evergday lives of hundreds of thousand of yidden in Yerushalayim and who tolerate the vile attacks on the chayalim of the IDF who walk on the streets of yerushalayim are the ones who should be condemned.

Have the two rabbonim (Shechter and Wachtflacht) who are the featured speakers at this “asifah against the draft” (aka Bash the IDF) offered any intelligent proposals as to how EY should defend itself against terrorists if everyone gets a draft derferral? Have they proposed some form of alternative public service for the yungerleit who they insist not serve in the IDF? I guess they believe that if everyone just sits and shteigs behind a shtender , the terrorists will simply go away and attack Lichtenstein. Its too bad the IDF cannot just selectively protect the rest of EY and leave these idiots to fend for themselves.

As you read through this thread, it seems that many posters are in denial and would like to revert back to a bygone era in the Alte Heim where women stayed at home because it was a social norm for the society they lived-in, goyishe and yiddeshe, and there were very few opportunities for women to pursue their own education and careers. B”YH, that world is GONE FOREVER, and today more than 50 percent of the students pursuing graduate degrees in professions such as medicine, law, social work, education etc. are women. Also, there are an incredible number of frum Jewish women who have found ways to maintain their yiddeshkeit and hashkafah while also pursuing their education. Yes, for those kollel yungerleit who want a “stay-at-home” baas yisroel with a very limited secular education wnd no real job skills, I’m sure the inventory is well-stocked (if one believes the constant drumbeat of “shidduch crisis” stories here) but increasingly, both young men and women are finding their beschert among those who have realized the opportunities the Ebeshter has provided and pursuing them through advanced education. These men and women are more likely to treat one another as “equals” and don’t take seriously the notion of subordination of women to their husbands.

If the internet itself is mamash tameh according to some gadolim, how can a mechitza on the internet even be considered whether per halacha/chumrah or otherwise. We don’t typically debate whether its mutar to use cholov stam or cholov yisroel in a recipe for cooking chazerfleish

Too bad most legitimate gadolim assur the internet since the most efficient way to provide the tzibur with objective and valid information on matters of halacha would be for them to schedule one hour a week when they will hold “online office hours”. Those with shailos could post their questions on line (anonymously of course), the questions could be screened by the Rav’s more hip and internet savy gaaboim and they could post his answers on line. This way we wouldn’t have these silly posts which say, I heard from someone in my charusah, who heard in shul that someone said in the name of Rav XYZ, shlita that it is assur for the shaliach tzibur to klop on the bima during SE to shush the daveners”…We constantly hears these “in the name of” psaks or letters attributed to different Gadolim which often sound questionable but there is no way to confirm.

Well, if you want to be creative, you can call breakfast a “late Shabbos dinner” and daven Vasikin. I think in Megilla, 23(a) it ways that we are supposed to come to Shul “early” on Shabbos and one of the maforshim (Rashi?) adds that this means that one should come early enough to daven Vasikin.

All these comments about the volumetric levels of asher yatzar etc. presume the individual has a modicum of common sense and situational awareness such that one is not disruptive of others or otherwise draw attention to himself unnecessarily. If you are on an airplane, it would be grossly inappropriate to return to one’s seat from the lav and then perform a very loud rendition of asher yatzar so that all your fellow passengers know you have successfully performed some bodily functions. Likewise, in a nice restaurant, you wouldn’t disrupt the dining of others nearby by being unnecessarily loud in a baracha or birchas ha’mazon (whereas in a Pizza shop you might not be so worried about adding to the already high decibel level).

In general, Americans don’t like foreign leaders criticizing our own leaders, whatever their own political preferences. I recall how Obama was trashed by Trump for disparaging Lefarge and the Brexit leadership before the vote. I suspect Netanyahu did himself no favors today with American public opinion by his backhanded comments about Obama. Many recall that Obama used “Bush’s recession” to excuse the dismal performance of our economy for the 4 years of his first term. We don’t need Trump using Obama as a piñata for the next 4 years to divert attention from his own non-stop and generally self-inflicted screw-ups.

There have been many movements since the industrial revolution in the past 200-250 years to push back against technology and its social, cultural and economic consequences. In other words, and to coin a phrase, ba’chol dor v’dor there are Luddites who have tried to put their finger in the dike to fend off sometimes intimidating changes in the way technology changes our day to day lives. In virtually all cases, these efforts have not succeeded. Perhaps the only exception are those religious groups, including some of our own, who have the discipline to refuse change and find ways to continue life as it was in the Alte Heim in our case. When the motivation is deeply held emunah (as in your case) rather than a vague political philosophy, there are always ways to manage. Over time, its possible that a younger generation of rabbonim may “move the goalposts” as to what is acceptable based on having a better understanding of how technology works rather than redefining Halacha. Much hatzlacha to you in wherever you come out in resolving your own individual conflicts.

Most of us manage to find a “private” place, even when in “public” to say barachos. I don’t know many frum yidden who would march out of a public bathroom at any airport or shopping mall and start shuttling back and forth with kavanah and do a loud, vocal rendition of “asher yatzar” using a nigun attributed to his rebbe. Its almost always possible, even in public, to find a corner spot or behind a column etc. to make a baracha, whatever the circumstances, without calling a lot of attention to oneself.

Just about every medical professional would advise against marrying a first cousin; yes, there are many thingks that are allowed under daas torah but that doesn’t mean you are obligated to do them. The torah allows a number of punishments including stoning for a variety of “crimes’ (putting aside whether or not we have a Sanhedrim), allows for taking multiple wives (putting aside Rav Gershhon’s thoughts on the issue), etc. etc. Just because something is allowed by either Torah or civil law doesn’t mean its a good idea in the context of modern society and norms. I’m sure Joseph may feel its a great idea (and he can find a rav to give him a heter) to marry his 15 YO first cousin but that doesn’t mean 99.9 percent of yidden today would do so.

The reality is that many frum parents show up at yeshivot with a mindset that the posted tuition is a “starting point for negotiation” and that its up to the yeshiva to figure out how to accommodate their kids within the budgets they have allocated. They view a yeshiva education as more of an entitlement (just like a public school education) than a obligation on their own parts to secure and pay for. While most frum parents of lesser economic means are greatly appreciative of the scholarships and grants they receive and allow their kids to be admitted, most schools administrators will tell you that a small handful of frum parentsroutinely take up the percentage of their time and are the loudest and most-confrontational on tuition-related issues.

There is no “appropriate” age…its whatever the young man and woman decide its right for them. As more of our young men and women realize the need to obtain the needed education and job skills to earn a parnassah its inevitable that the age of kiddushin will move into the early 20s or later. Some may want to learn and go to college part-time so it will take several years longer to graduate college and finish an advanced degree.

As noted above, you are unlikely to find many “leibidik” shachris minyanim on Shavuos…most of the potential “celebrants” are barely awake and feel fortunate they can daven with a modicum of kavanah.