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It would make considerably more sense for the yeshivos to find their own ways of assuring their students have basic proficiency in english language and math skills to function in society rather than having to comply with “one size fits all” state regulations on hours of instruction etc. Parents should not have to engage in “home schooling” to avoid their kids being functionally illiterate when they graduate high school. They should have the skills to get a good job in the modern economy if they choose to do so when they graduate or perhaps a few years later if they want to continue full time learning for a while.
“Am I the crazy one? Is everything perfectly fine? Is there a problem here – at all – that needs to be addressed”
Very well stated. No you are not crazy and yes there is a problem to be addressed. “Education”, “Internet” etc. have become the cutting edge of the “culture wars” within our tzibur. Some truly want to cling to a torah world from the Alte Heim that they feel is slowly slipping away and passionately want to deter what they sincerely believe are the evil vehicles of change. Others are willing to accept limited change and believe they will retain more control in the long term by managing the instruments of those change for themselves and their families rather than adopting a total rejection mindset. Ultimately, the world is changing in terms of the need for certain basic skills and tools for meeting basic needs and the next generation will need those skills and tools for survival.
The story about “dumping” Kushner in favor of Bannon came from a per-publication edition of just one more Trump “tell all” book by Peter Navarro….one of the truly crazy Trumpkopfs among a vast cast of crazies. If you want to sell books about Trump in today’s world, where there already are 20-25 such books by high level Trumpkopfs (including Kushner’s new book) you have to come up with some NEW story about how crazy the boss was and what YOU did (or tried to do) to save the world from his meshugaas.
Amil Zola: I wasn’t invited to that one either. And also, lest someone suggest I was criticizing Lipa S., he is a big baal tzadakah and has on many occasions performed with no compensation in cases where the baalei simcha were going through hard times.
Reb E: Sadly, we have seen too many cases of geese masquerading as ducks in order to avoid becoming a foie gras factory, only to belatedly discover that under governing French law, the liver of EITHER goose OR duck fattened by gavage can be marketed as foie gras.
“The problem is that to keep up with the Johnses by imitating them, even though they can’t afford…”
Well, as usual, Reb E nailed it. First of all the Johnses most likely aren’t yiiden and if by some chance they are, they may be slightly assimilated modernishe yidden living in the Hollywood Hills who can afford to pay R’ Neil Diamond (another ehrliche yid) $50,000 to sing a set of Lipa Shmeltzer nigunim to several hundred of their BFFs for their tokhter’s bat mitzvah gala at the Beverly Hills Hotel atrium.
The FAKE “shidduch crisis” has now morphed into a REAL “literacy crisis” (w/o and reliance or reference to yesterday’s NYT’s hit job on chassidic yeshiovos).
AVD is 100 percent correct. The one-upsmanship in yiddeshe simchas is obscene and even efforts by gedolim to restrict the arms-race seem to have limited effect.
While I’m sure one can find some basis in our mesorah for a d’var torah and associated seudas mitzvah, I cannot believe the current level of extravaganzas with big simcha halls, bands, celebrity singers and enough food for several shtetlekh is mandated by daas torah.
Several of the above posts acknowledge that there are very real and practical ways of limiting internet usage and minimizing the risks of whatever usage is determined necessary for both educational and vocational purposes. For some, there will be NO allowable options and that will be their choice but total abstinence might not be a good long-term strategy versus teaching your kids responsible usage.
???
If it ain’t broken, than of course we need some social media talmedei chachamim to suggest how to fix it. Aside from a recent proliferation of really poor quality posters and trolls, the CR is working just fine.There is a fundamental economic issue operative here. Without mentioning names, many of us have been to restaurants where the mashgiach seems to be bored, disinterested, sitting at a corner table with a sefer, etc. rather than being fully engaged with the owner and kitchen staff, cross-checking deliveries with kitchen inventory, randomly checking security video etc. While I assume most are knowledgeable about dinei kashruth, they lack minimal forensic skills to check all the obvious ways in which the rules can be gamed by the ownership. Most restaurant owners already complain about the burdensome costs of current hashgacha. Recruiting the much higher level of expertise (including some basic computer and accounting skills) would require compensation levels that are simply unaffordable under the current business models of most hashgachos.
“[Goyim] spend all their time wasting away in front of screens and convince themselves that they’re enjoying life.
You need to find some new goyishe friends. Those that I know are NOT “wasting away” and most ARE enjoying life albeit a very different life then is our mesorah. I agree with your general theme of stressing to the kids the positives of a torah-based lifestyle but it can be done without such a shallow and superficial view of others.
Do whatever you are comfortable with after consultation with your LRP. There are different types of memorial “services” held in “churches” or religiously focused facilities which may have dual usage, with different types of art and physical representation of goyishe deities. Each case may be different and there are exceptions to rules of general applicability.
Where does the OP say the neighbor feeding the firds is a yid and is subject to the varying admonitions in Bava Basra etc. Nor at last check, is such an admonition against bird-feeders included in the Sheva Mitzos Bnai Noach. Indeed, the neighbor may truly believe she is engaging in tikun olam (the 614th. mitzvah so highly valued by CR readers).
Acknowledge the positives while clearly stating the risks of unrestricted use, both in terms of the “physical” risks to their privacy and economic well being, but more importantly, to their spiritual and moral well being. If you simply dismiss the entirety of the internet and online sources of information and services as “evil” your warnings themselves may be dismissed as not credible by the younger generation (and ignored) versus presenting it as a tool to be used responsibly.l
“I know that both Amil and GH are of and age and mindset [where] they do not need people commenting on their tablet use..”
Syag: Thanks for the “age” comment and avoiding the usual hyperbole about internet, movies, etc. I’ll readily admit that I don’t travel with a sefer on an overnight flight overseas or a redeye return from the west coast. My tablet movie choices are incredibly boring and the pritzus is generally of the National Geographic/Discovery Channel genre of wildlife shiduchim. Likewise for my E-books. After several hours with a degree of luck (and an Ambien) I can some sleep before landing.
How can the woman sleep at night knowing that the feeder is upsetting her neighbor?
Easy. The same way the owner of the feeder somehow has to learn to live nextdoor to some bird-hater. Alternatively, take an Ambien and watch one of the early vintage Woody Woodpecker cartoons that are now available on Disney streaming channel.
RR: Airplane or anywhere I don’t want to open my considerably more expensive laptop. I also used it on an Alaska hiking trip this summer and it was an adequate alternative (although difficult to do any serious document editing or typing w/o a separate keyboard). Also seems to work as an effective “pacifier” for grandkids on longer roadtrips and flights.
“How could anyone continue to do what annoys someone else?”
Ask R’ Yosef or any of our other ehrliche trolls
AVD: Who said “no movies”. More movies than ever….multiple choices for movies, documentaries,etc. on most overseas flights. Its just BYOS (bring your own screen) and thats where tablets work much better than iphones or laptops. The former is too small and the latter too prone to getting smashed by the guy in front of you leaning his seat back.
With most airlines eliminating the screens on the back of the seats (even in business class), having a tablet is a must for x/country and overseas flights. My aging eyes really are unable to read an ebook or watch a movie on a tiny phone screen for 6 hours.
CA: First, most politicians and the others he personally villifies ARE American Citizens. Secondly, if you just listen to his rants at his MAGA rallies, he frequently DOES just refer to “Democrats” w/o making clear his hyperbole is focused only on politicians. In the same way, Biden is not calling the suburban soccer moms “facists” but inartfully using the term “MAGA Republicans” to refer to those at Trump rallies who do the “lock her up” chants and the politicians and others who deny the election outcome.
Ymribat: Has your wife considered buying a cat?? Alternatively, mount a large fake owl on the corner of your roof closest to the bird feeder.
Beyond a joke. Trump has spent the past 6 years calling the Dems “radical socialists”, “America haters”, etc. etc. He has personally vilified his opponents based on their physical appearances, racial and ethnic attributes and of course failure to geneflect in his direction. He has disparaged his own appointees for their failure to agree with and indulge his mishugaas. I’m glad Biden finally found his voice to speak out against Trump and his MAGA enablers.
Its called balance. For virtually ANY professional, some level of advanced study of secular study will be needed to stay current in their fields and each individual seeks a balance of time for this professional advancement and limud torah. Also, the study of certain secular topics can enhance one’s understanding of torah matters and sharpen one’s learning skills.
AAQ: I don’t think many consider the CFO of BBB who jumped out of an 18th floor window in NYC erev shabbos OR the Lukoil executive who also jumped out of a hospital window last week Moscow to be gedolim avoiding a yichud situation. The former was likely “avoiding” an insider trading investigation and the latter apparently was not a big fan of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Bird feeders are a great option if done with care and in the right locations. Only use “shell free” seeds to minimize the mess under the feeders. Also use “squirrel proof” feeders (Yankee flipper or Droll are the best and available on Amazon). Done wrong, they attract vermin and leave a mess around the feeder, not always on the same property if houses are closes together. Otherwise, great entertainment and visual treat year-round if you live in the right area.
“There are a multitude of stories about gedolim jumping out of windows to avoid yichud, and the like…
I’ve never heard such stories of “gedolim” purposely risking self-harm or even death by jumping out of a window to avoid yichud.
“Tzadikim are extremely sensitive, and need more shmirah from women than regular people….”
You miss the point. Tzadikim ARE regular people who are able to live their lives in strict accordance with daas torah. The concept of lamud vov tzadikim (also referenced as the Nistarim is premised on these individuals living their daily lives within their communities without being necessarily being known as big tzadikim. A big element of their “tzadikus” (if you buy into the concept) is that they emerge from their self-imposed concealment to avert threatened disasters and persecution and then return to their anonymity as soon as their task is accomplished concealing’ themselves once again in a Jewish community wherein they are relatively unknown.
One cannot troll about one’s own trolling status since that would constitute a deliberate effort to be provocative which is anathema to a trollster.
Trump and the MAGA Trumpkopfs are truly a threat to our democracy. So too are the left wing loonies among the Dems…..Both have gained undue control of their respective parties and moderate voices have either retired or are being marginalized.
“If your listening to it [kol isha] and it causes hirhurim its obviously assur…”
Some of the posts here in the CR send tingles up my spine yet are not flagged as assur by the Mods….
So now the consensus is that not all ervah is the same and there are variants with different levels of risk to consider (e.g. a woman singing in short sleeves is less assur than one singing in a swimsuit??) Perhaps another common sense rule is to simply follow the guidance of your LRP (which some will caveat that is fine as long as he didn’t get his semicha from Chovevei Torah)
“I have two”
UJM: Thats good to know. Do you still have “date nights” with Mrs. UJM or do nos. 2 and 3 just leave you exhausted?BDE. For many of us, its like losing a member of our own family.
Considering the current 6-3 conservative majority, its quite likely there will be at least 5 SCOTUS votes supporting the rights of a religiously focused college/university to deny formal recognition of any LGBTQ affinity group while simultaneously avoiding explicit discrimination against individual students.
NOT…
“Everyone’s opinion is NOT relevant, because they don’t send the children to that school distict..”
commonsaychel: The parents and administrators of that school district are entitled to do whatever they want as allowable under state law and deal with the consequences of their policy decision. The OP is obviously seeking views of CR readers on the generic question of returning corporal punishment to schools.Sam Klein: Get some help! “Millions” of American die each year but even the most wingnut MAGA crazies never claimed the actual number of deaths in 2020, 2021 or thusfar in 2022 directly linked to Covid was “in the millions”. In fact most Fauci critics claim the much lower numbers cited by CDC are exaggerated.
“Millions of Americans” did not die from Covid and even the most tortured conspiracy theories don’t rationally link those deaths to any Trump administration officials (including Fauci, Birks, etc) Second, I wasn’t aware that our current President and VP were niftar or sleeping in a cemetery. Other than that, totally objective post not warranting comment.
Third, where does it say that Mods can’t go to the mountains??Our health care system is collapsing before our eyes and we don’t seem capable of responding. My regular physician (who was board certified in cardiology and internal medicine) closed his group practice, “fired” about 2/3 of his patients and started a “concierge practice” with two colleagues that doesn’t accept insurance and only the more affluent could afford. They are accessible 24×7 thereby avoiding some ER visits and in true emergencies, assist in arranging “expedited access” to one or two local hospital ERs.
We always had a two-tier health care system based on income and education but in a post-Covid world, the differentials are even more extreme as thousands of traditional independent family and primary care practices are bought out by the big hospital chains and converted into assembly line medicine. Even those, however, are better than those with NO primary care who use the ER as the last resort. Instead, we are celebrating new legislation that will give certain seniors lower drug costs beginning in 2026 on only a dozen or so commonly used generic medications out of over 1800 in the Pharmacia listings.Many yeshivos did stop using corporal punishment a decade ago. There are still some that do but they are in a minority given what they perceive are the litigation and insurance risks, even in cases where they have “consent” from parents. Good parenting and teaching w/o reliance on physical force are quite possible.
I guess the Mods are all on vacation enjoying the last week of summer…..
“My thought was that today the papers shouldn’t be respecting someone who played a massive part in such a thing…’
Cancel culture….two sides that will be weighed differently in terms of potential harms had they been “left alone” knowing what we know today about subsequent Islamic radicalism in some of those countries
CommonSaychel: Hybrids, I hope for the z’chus of tikun olam (mitzvah No. 614)