HaLeiVi

but, a Rebbe also? that’s a chidush – only R Shimon was like that.

Not only R Shimon. Anyone like him. And not someone “like him”, but someone like him in this regard. Not so hard.

amiricanyeshivish, you say, “[I]n the non chasidish world… someone who is modern or just plain not acting frum knows that he (or she) isn’t up to par in their Yiddishkeit. I don’t think that is as much the case by the chasidishe society. It is just one big club.”

This is a very outsider’s perspective which boggles the insiders’ minds. I guess it’s like how all members of a foreign race look alike. But I recall how the Chasidim in my Yeshiva couldn’t get over how the non-Chasidish would conflate the Eidel, soft-spoken Chunyoks in Beis Medrash with the guys who don’t know the color of its walls.

עירובין נד.
אמר ליה שמואל לרב יהודה שיננא חטוף ואכול חטוף ואישתי דעלמא דאזלינן מיניה כהלולא דמי

רש”י
חטוף אכול – אם יש לך ממון להנות עצמך אל תמתין עד למחר שמא תמות ושוב אין לך הנאה:
כהלולא דמי – היום ישנו ולמחר איננו דומה לחופה שהולכת מהר:

This is brand new Hashkafa, that your money is not yours. Yes, there are Mitzvos to do with your money. I’m sure that a Yid with a חזקת כשרות did those Mitzvos. Telling someone he should have given money away, just because he spent it on himself, shows an attitude akin to the Wallstreet protesters. No, this person got ברכת השם and he isn’t stingy but is able to spend it to his benefit.

If you want someone to give Tzedaka and feel that he can afford it, speak Divrei Chizuk, convince him of the cause, and realize that he doesn’t owe you anything.

And now traveling to an interesting vacation became the mark of gluttony? No, bantering on how others could have spent their own money is the mark of jealousy. Calm down. It’s only עולם הזה.

Please stop telling people what they could have done with their money. It’s their money to spend, as the Gemara tells us, האי עלמא לבי הילולא דמיא. No, they aren’t looking for a money receptacle. They are looking for vacation and they Baruch Hashem have the money to spend on it. Again: theirs, not yours.

This is few steps away from the communist mindset, of deciding if people deserve their own money.

Rabbi Reisman, on the other hand, was advising people on where and how to do what they set out to do.

Agreeing with Shimon Nodel. There are way too many variables to address, even in a general way.

It’s a very clichéd response, often spouted as a knee-jerk reaction to something you aren’t personally in the mood of discussing at the moment.

Any disagreement can evoke emotions, whether or not it’s the biggest issue.

Also, this is often used to degrade the importance of what is “merely” a Mitzva but doesn’t make anyone rich. Whether or not you use it in such instances, just realize whom your audience is associating your position with.

I don’t know that we can control this. We never did control our destiny. There’s a down side to both, ignoring and complaining.

Sholom D, less frightening, but still disturbing is that you address my position without reading it.

Logician, I can understand the uneasiness. However, that can warrant a fiery speech to those within your sphere of influence. This is much further than that.

What you say about Rabbonim getting other Rabbonim to sib, is unfortunately true. But it shouldn’t be that way. To the reader, a signature on a notice means that the signatory was motivated enough to write this notice, not that that he mely agrees with the message

Not straw man but grasping at straws. Who is supplanting Rashi? It’s a wild claim. Why does their basic explanation require an earlier source if it just basic?

One widely touted example is the cooking of the lentils. Rashi quotes the Medrash that the lentils were to mourn the passing of Avraham Avinu. Obviously that is not the actual technical translation of the words of the Pasuk. And so, although obviously we’re aware of the back story given by the Medrash, there is room to express that the most basic reading is simply as someone cooking food.

Personally, I think they should have skipped that, since there is nothing to explain, but so be it.

This is perfectly in line with the Rashbam, who writes that the Drash is the main thing but the words do have a meaning without it, and it is worth devoting some time to understand that too. In fact, he writes that Rashi agreed surg him, and said that had he had more time he would have done the same.

Ba’avod Reshaim Rina only applies to נתמלא סאתם, when they are full-fledged, through and through evil. Even then, if you have the choice you should obviously choose to daven that they repent.

Even someone deserving מיתה deserves compassion. ברור לו מיתה יפה. They do everything to minimize the suffering. They also fast. Torture is never an option.

The way prisoners are abused in this country is despicable. It is hard to rally for this cause, since people have this notion that once someone earned his way into jail he deserves absolutely anything that comes his way, and only hard bread every day.

@lakewhut, karkafta means a head. You mean, קרקפתא דלא מנח תפילין

Also, I believe that the Lakewood Yeshuva actually does outreach, in the sense of setting up Torah centers around America.

As for your main sentiment, I agree. Someone who felt one-upped by the Tefillin campaign came up with a Lomdus to justify not doing it, rather than just saying it’s not for me. This is completely contrary to our general Hashkafa on every other Mitzva and their effect.

… putting on what they believe to be random leather boxes from someone who looks Amish

This utterly bazaar description of a Mitzva would never come from your mouth had it not been for trying to bash Chabad. גדולה מחלוקת שמגיעה עד כסא הכבוד .

Whether or not our internal campaigns are on street sigbs, they see the election results.

Second, our own news outlers won’t hild back for a minute.

Anyhow, I find it very disturbing that there exists such a notion that we should vote by intimidation rather than by interests. So, instead of campaigning by us or promising the most important thing we ask for, she’ll instead threaten that if we don’t then she’ll “really” turn against us?

By the way, voting is indeed a Torah value for most positions, just usually not for a king.

Another important point that must be made is that voting for a candidate is not a reward or sign of admiration. It is a choice of whom you chose to fill a certain office, because of how you expect your candidate to fill that role.

Most funny jokes have a corny idea at their core. It’s about the delivery. Try to analyze a joke that you like and cope the train of thought as well as how it was put down.

In order for a joke to be enjoyable it has to be novel, surprising and ironic.
Novel: You can’t reuse a point made in an earlier joke.
Surprising: Save the punchline for the end, and if possible save it until the last word. Don’t double down on it by saying it again another way. Let them just laugh without your comment of “that’s what he said”, or some other unimportant space-filler. And if they didn’t laugh, carrying on won’t help.
Ironic: The soul of funnyness. A pun is ironic. A connection, another meaning of a word, or an odd application of a concept is irony. A pun in and of itself is not all that entertaining but can be used as a punchline of a well designed joke. For example, you can distract the listener from the other meaning, and build a story that implies the regular usage and suddenly turn it around at the end.

Isn’t that funny?

You cannot contradict the Pasuk. It says צדיק תמים. What Rebbi Yochanan is saying is that Noach wouldn’t have stood out in Avraham Avinu’s time. Noach didn’t do anything wrong but Avraham Avinu brought the Shechina to the world.

What should be fixed is the input box on mobile. It doesn’t fit in the container and you can’t see your whole message when you type.

Why the Bromberg? I’d go with the Munich edition.

I don’t think there is any particularly bad message conveyed in those books. It’s based on a pretty mild liberal, world-saving attitude with some comical characters. It surely does not portray alcohol in a positive light, but rather as a tolerated nuisance.

Most comics are cheap versions of reading, and aren’t great for advancing language arts. Jewish comics usually carry some story of message, at least. Tintin comics hardly has any.

And so, I don’t “ban” this at home. My kids borrow it at times, and they know that it is cheap and just fun. Like jellybeans, once in a while it is fine to have some, but don’t eat them for supper.

I think the term ביטול תורה is overused by Magidei Shiur for their own benefit (even by those who actually do live by that standard), and is therefore disregarded by students even when it really does apply.

Koach Tehetera Adif proves that you have to be very wary of bring Mattir something, and only if you are 100% sure of it can you do so. And so, it proves the opposite of how the קלים use it.

n0mesora, are you trying to trick people here? The Gemara is describing the shock of Rav Mesharshia at the leniency of Ravina. In his shock he exclaimed, “You allowed this? Hopefully you’ll allow Chelev, too!”

If you seriously think you can take this ‘either way’, I’ll have to re-read anything you quoted here previously.

I consider any message calling others trolls, annoying. As if everyone is here on serious business until a guy shows up and drives us crazy with his hypothetical questions.

“one time it is ok to say to be mekaim the mitzva of teshuva”

Whaaat?

So what’s wrong with wanting to be Mekayem the Mitzva five times? And what if he wants to be Mekayim Tosfis Chomesh, or Veheshiv Es Hagezeila?

They do not have a policy to filter the texts or even translations. But it is set up to be a resource of Torah, and it is the best by far.