Gadolhadorah

Greetings from the Greek Isles and a special shout out to Binyamin.
While I’m not sure if being called a “Hellenist” is sort of like being designatd an upscale apikores, I go back to a simple point that in matters of public health such as vaccination against highly infectious diseases, our primary sources of guidance are medical and public health professionals, not a rav or posek, no disrepect to the latter. If something about the medical advice we receive raises a red flag, than certainly discussing it with you R/P may be warranted and he may offer some useful guidance as to reconciling that advice with halacha. If the Rav himself is not also a medical professional, it was be malpractice for him to render medical opinions. We are not like the goyishe lunatics who refuse medical care, transfusions etc. because doing so might contradict their misguided notion of hashgacha paratis (i.e. if you are sick its (R’L) “God’s will” and seeking medical intervention is to disrupt “God’s” will. Even if you want to put yourself and your own family at risk by foregoing recommended vaccinantion s (with the concurrence of your R/P), you have zero right to project your foolishness on the rest of the Tzibur and place others at risk.

Having said that, hoping all the CR family including UB) stays well and is up-to-date on the ir shots.

From the bottom of the “bor”, the view is a bit blurry but Binyamin’s willingness to ignore the consensus of real medical experts and blindly substitute the advice of his Rav on the risks of vaccination is truly admirable…..just don’t bother sending your kids to school or coming in close contact with otherwise rational yidden who don’t go to their physician to paskin on the the kashruth of their local Chinese take out place or whether they can ingest the cute little bugs on the romaine in the Caesar salad. Wisdom is knowing from whom to seek knowledge on a particular subject. Since its now eruv Shabbos I can wish you a gutten Shabbos and stay healthy.

There are also frequent assertions here on various threads that the pre-War generation of gadolim in the alte heim were somehow on higher madragah than those of today. From there, it is presumed that the downward spiral implied by the concept of yeridas hadoros continues unabated and will not be remedied until z’man moishiach. Ultimately, we go back to the notion that there are objective standards through which one can measure the “gadlus” of the gadolim of today versus those of prior generations and the kedushah and spirituality of yidden today versus those of our grandparents in the alte heim.

We have been fortunate in our lifetimes to have had some of the greatest gadolei yisroel in generations share with us their daas torah and ahavas yisroel to an extent I cannot imagine was exceed in any prior generation. We still suffer from a level of sinas chinam that some would say is the biggest obstacle to z’man morishiach but its hard to imagine from a spiritual perspective we are on a downward trendline. Some will invoke the internet as the biggest contributor to moral decline but over the long term, I think this will be shown to have resulted in greater access to torah knowledge than any other single development in our history.

The “gashmisus versus ruchnius’ battle goes on virtually non-stop since every decision about “how much is too much” triggers a question of whether at the margin, additional expenditures don’t contribute to hidur mitzvah but rather are focused on “hidur those who are the simcha machers” (aka showing up in shul with a Calabrian esrog that cost several hundred dollars in a sterling silver box). There is no bright line test in terms of $$/person spent on a bar mitzvah any more so than having a chassidus charter a commercial jet to shlep over several hundred chassidim to join a rav at some simcha or on his vacation or advertising a “heimeshe peisach” at some incredibly expensive Florida hotel for a cost of $5,000 per family member. Its what you can afford and what makes you happy. Every dollar you spend for a simcha celebration beyond the minimum required to be yotzeh the mitzvah, at the margin, could feed some poor family or help some yesomim. But that’s not life.

There is a growing trend today, even among frum families, for the woman to retain her name or use a hyphenated name, especially among women who pursue both families and a professional career. As another poster noted, there is NOTHING in hallacha that mandates adopting a husband’s name, even though that is the norm today among both yidden and goyim.

To Winnie: probably the former…unless you happen to be wishing it to some guy in chassidish lvush on Eastern Parkway waving a yellow flag and humming a new nigun for “Yechi”

Chazal bring down that it was dor ha’midbar that first started the minhag of renting simcha halls and having the Lipa Shmetzer of their generation perform at chassanas……Just about every generation of yidden has put its spin on the conduct of simchas and added to the minhagim which evolve over time. There is no “right” or “wrong” way for the chassn/kallah to arrive at the simcha hall….in India they arrive on an Elephant (not sure about yidden in India)….here in the NYC area, they may arrive in an Oddessy or SUV (if the kallah is wearing her hair up) but may have to walk the last block or two because all of the cars double and triple parked in front of the simcha hall.

more focused on the SPF rating on their sunblock than my knitting afghans…BTW, are yidden allowed to use an afghan if it is shatnes?

Binyamin….please don’t be so funny….I almost fell out of my rocking chair. You also misspelled “ameratzus”. On a more serious note, if you profile the names of many chazal over the centuries, you will discover that there are names that have as much nexus to torah as Gali, Ayit, Suki or any of the other dozen or so most popular names today in EY. If you are more comfortable with 12 variations on the avos and imahos, each ending in “LE” , that go for it. Mi kamocha yirsroel (or is that mi kamacha Yisroeleh?)

Talking about apples and oranges….depends on your income, local minhagim (invite everyone in the shul for the luncheon or just to a “Kiddush” with lunch reserved for the family/friends, whether lunch is table service or buffet etc. For a formal lunch, the $30K estimate is not unreasonable for upscale kosher caterer with large family/friends invited. Obviously, the norm is much lower in NYC area…typical $7000-$10,000 max for buffet lunch in shul verus renting a simcha hall nearby.

Uncle Benny…we agree….I might even consider Binyamin for my new pet parakeet

Daas Yachid says…”Any comparison to kiddush wine, a glass of wine with dinner, or even drunkenness on Purim and Simchas Torah, is so ridiculous as to make the motivation for the argument completely transparent”

Sorry, but on one said having a glass of wine for Kiddush or dinner should be assur (unless you don’t know what the word “moderation” means and if so, you have other issues. When you day there is no comparison between getting high on week and getting drunk on wine (“drunk” means beyond “moderation”), tell that to the parents of yungerleit killed by drunken drivers on Purim (or year round)….the number of traffic deaths attributed to cannabis (according to data from the CDC) is less than 1 percent (.003%) of those attributed to alcohol.

Several posters note that canabis (in moderation) is no more dangerous than alcohol (in moderation) and probably less dangerous than tobaco. Why don’t we seriously consider assuring both alcohol and tobacco.

Hey Joe….I forgot to give you my “blessings” for a successful 2018….not sure what are the top 10 New Years’ resolutions for trolls but hopefully your Streimlach hanging over the fireplace was filedl to the brim with seforim on Secrets of a Successful Troll etc.

To others, speculating on Joe’s different screen names, don’t waste your efforts. If the theme of the posting is a xenophobic and myscogenistic rant cloaked in distorted citations to chazal or some meforshim, you probably have the right guy.

In any event, most of us don’t walk around giving “blessings” to anyone, yiddin or goyim. If a goy you work with sneezes, its OK to say “god bless you” if that is the norm in your culture. If a goy is sick, its ok to wish him/her a speedy recovery. Not sure what a blessing is but generally, you might draw the line on saying “I’m going to shul to daven on your behalf” although even that might be mutar if the outcome will be to create good will for you, your family or the yiddeshe tzibur in general.

Roughly the same point made above by several posters with respect to surface accumulations of treifus which may or may not be easily cleaned. I have a feeling that there also may have been an issue as between the earlier microwaves which had interior plastic surfaces versus the steel and ceramic coatings used today (although plastic is still used a lot in the cheaper units..)

?The interior surface of the microwave over time gets greasy, such as a pot of greasy meat and so on, but such as our cooking, which is consists mainly of [boiling] water, [cooking potatoes or pancakes, with meat in it….etc……

Just because some Rav was named Zissel, it doesn’t make it any more appropriate “name” than some modern Hebrew names that R’ Kanievsky thought weren’t sufficiently “Jewish”. What is “Jewish” about adopting some Yiddish name derived from Old German etc. If we want to be machmir on naming children with only “Jewish” names than one should only use a name that appears in the Torah or the Neviim.

For many of us who interact daily with goyim in a business environment, its generally not appropriate to engage them on religious beliefs. It some circumstances, under state and federal law, it could be view as contributing to a hostile work environment (i.e. there is a fine line between sharing factual information in response to a question versus engaging in evangelical behavior). Likewise, generally not a good idea to push sheva mitzvos discussions with goyim you don’t really know and haven’t inquired about Jewish beliefs in re “gentiles’.

I found it an interesting experience and one of contrasts. They clearly ar focused on reinforcing the linkages between modern Christian belief and its roots in what they call the Old Testament. They have collected moe Judaica tha I’ve seen anywhere in the world other than the Hebrew Museum in EY. Literally dozens of sifrei troah (some hundreds of years old) from all over the world (and a frum sofer from EY writing a new sefer real time as part of the Exhbiti) . If your able to deal with it, the goyishe parts fo the museum are interesting but nothing really new (skip the animated exhibits and videos). If you call in advance, they can arrange for prepackaged kosher lunches with hashgacha from a local vaad tht are served in huge cafteria. (there is also a kosher foodtruck parked on the nearby mall a few days a week). Allow about 2–3 hours mimimum (if you intend to skoip over the goyeshe exhibits. Also, come later in the day when the christian school groups have generally fiished their guided tours. Skp the evening musical performance in the theatere., Its only about 5 or 6 bloks south of the Smithsonin Air and Space museum (just off the Mall). Definitiely worth the trip even for frum yidden. They clearly have us in min.

So the obvious question is why Rav Gershon or some other gadol over the centuries did not provide some equivalent (aka heter shava maohs rabonim) alternative for extreme cases where the husband refuses to provide a get to his wife?? And the obvious answer is…??

“Its mostly common when it affects a rebbeshe or rosh yeshiva family…”
And the reason for this is….???? Are wives in “rebbeshe” families more reluctant to “refuse a get”?? Is a Rosh Yeshiva more likely to want to impose a get on his wife than a poihsete yid??

What I find difficult is how it is possible for a couple to hide such illnesses from one another after dating for a reasonable period of time? Personality disorders maybe….serious mental illness and someone on medications seems unlikely. We have laws in many states requiring a homeowner to disclose if their basement has water problems; we have the ability to find out the source of every bump and dent on a used car on Carfax but for someone with whom we plan on spending the rest of our lives, their is no disclosure obligation for the family members??