jdb

@lakewut

Rabbanut it kosher. They don’t keep the same chumras as OU (e.g. glatt). And OU doesn’t keep the chumras of the Rabbanut (e.g. chadash, chalav akum when it’s not powdered).

These are apples and oranges. The OU is also more centralized and standards are enforced uniformly. The Rabbanut is more decentralized more like a local vaad hakashrus, where each area goes by the rabbanim of their area, with national minimum standards and local enforcement.

Mods, why are we allowing people to besmirch the OU? They refuse to change the label? This isn’t their label to change. They control the OU or OUD logo.

The fringes of both political parties are gaining power and bringing harsh anti-semitic rhetoric. Let’s not kid ourselves. For every anti-Israel movement on the left, there are people chanting Jews Will Not Replace Us on the right.

It’s coming from both sides.

As I see it, there are three sides to this, and in all situations one’s personal Rav should be consulted:

1) Lowering an existing standard of hiddur: for example, if you usually hold by a certain standard of kashrus, but are eating at your grandparents home, who hold a lighter standard (that is still a basic level of kosher). In my experience, most rabbanim have advised me that the mitzvos of kibbud and ahavas yisrael outweigh personal considerations (hiddurim).

2) Changing accepted standards of conduct to a hallachikly questionable mode of conduct for a good cause: Allowing casino nights for a tsedaka organization. I have heard some impressive rabbanim speak at these events, and others that are pashut fire against them. Again, ask your local rav.

3) Changing a social standard for a personal or social reason: For example, wearing biking clothes when biking, or running outdoors in more “sporty clothing”. Some communities tend to be more stringent, but this is generally perceived as less of a hallachik issue and more of a hashkfik one.

In all three cases, speak with a Rav. And please, in this time of sefirah, do not speak ill of others who have a psak different than your own.

There is an old minhag that goes back hundreds of years that communities said hallel on the day that they saw a yeshua, and continued saying hallel to commemorate and thank HKBH.

Forget politics. Most gedolim see the modern day return to EY as an amazing thing. If you live in a place that says hallel, say it with pride. If you don’t, remember to be thankful to HKBH for what we have and for those who have their lives to make it possible.

There are valid and acceptee heterim for different circumstances. Most importantly, it’s yimay sefirah. Don’t rush to judge another Jew.

On the other hand, today’s youth have access to kosher entertainment and concerts, where singers reach to the heavens bringing deeper emotional appreciation to divray chazal. Today’s restaurants have the highest standards of kashrus, not to mention glatt, chalav yisrael, pas yisrael and more. Today’s families have access to kosher magazines as beautiful as secular media. The overall focus on limud hatotah in nearly without precident in Jewish history.

Yes, we should be reaching for more ruchniyus.

BUT, to ignore our growth is unfair, and to say that this is the cause of all anti-Semitism requires nevuah.

Depends.

A famous, well respected Mashgiach in a major NY-area yeshiva went to college at his parents insistence. When he asked his Rebbe, one of the gedolem, which college he should attend, out of the two options, his Rebbe recommended a Catholic university. He asked him Rebbe, “But there is a huge cruifix on the wall of the lecture halls!” His Rebbe answered “Are you afraid he will jump off the wall and hurt you? In this environment, if you spend the rest of your time in yeshiva, you won’t feel pressured to fit in.”

There is nothing that is black and white in life.

OK, as with all things in life, speak with the experts. I am no expert, but your mitsiyus is totally off. Of the hundreds of people I came into contact with whole I was involved in kiruv, only two or three were not hallachikly Jewish.

I have discussed this issue with the leading outreach groups in the world. Most have received guidance from gedolim that you should be open to anyone who identifies as Jewish, as asking about heritage and lineage will turn people away.

Another organization had a psak that as long as it is less than one in ten, there is no concern with having anyone who identifies as Jewish on your program. If we, the staff, discovered that someone may not be hallachikly Jewish, we were told not to make an issue of it in the moment. Down the line, you can make a mental note and focus on some people, but even they have seven mitzvos, and being a ma’amin is a big deal.

Tachlis, not an issue.

Moshe Rabbeinu did not wear a tie, a suit, a bekeshe or a fedora. Rebbe Akiva and Rashi did not dress like Rav Moshe. Bnei torah dress with a certain kavod, a respectability. Some communities maintain a stricter adherence to older modes of dress, some are more up to date in their modes of dress. But let’s be real – few communities can date their mode of dress to the rishonim – and these are mostly the sefardim, no the Asheke/Chassidim.

The idea of bochrim shaving is not new. Look at pictures of the yeshivos before the war. Bochrim in the Lita and many in Poland did not have beards or long peiyos. They generally wore suits and fedoras, and most were colorful – not just black. Ties are not new – you see them in the video of the Chafets Chaim.

Times change and styles change. Not a reason for machlokes.

We are judged by the only ONE who can judge, by our context in life, by the opportunities and challenges, but our starting point and our journey. Most importantly, you have a Father with a capital letter who loves you, who yearns for the good you bring to the world. I’m not a Chabadnik, but if you have concerns about being a rasha, I recommend learning some Tanya. Most of us are beinonim. We are in the middle, we have our battles, we lose many of them, and we lose sight of the one’s we win.

At the same time, if you find that you are hard on yourself or negative about your lot in life, you may have some anxiety or depression. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, and getting help will help you immeasurably. Find a qualified, licensed professional, do the hard work in therapy, and your life will change.

You are not a rasha. The very fact that you feel bad, that you have charata means that you have a powerful inner strength.

If you aren’t looking for a kosher phone per se, Xiaomi is the best value right now. I have had a Redmi Note 4 for over two years with no issues, the battery lasts forever and the camera is decent. If you want a more “normal” Android experience, use a launcher like Lawnchair (it’s free) and it will feel more standard.

The Redmi Note 7 Pro has a camera that is almost on par with the top iPhone, and costs $250 for the top of the line model (coming out next week). You can buy their phones online from AliExpress, BangGood, GearBest etc.

Eretz yisrael is the only land where serving in the army means defending the safety of other Jews. If Chas Vshalom something goes terribly wrong and there is a threat to our safety, you don’t run. You stand up and defend our people and our mekokos hakedoshim.

In 48, 67 and 73 the yeshiva bochrim were supporting from the home front, volunteering in hospitals, helping to dig ditches etc. Let’s not let politics get in the way of hallacha. Defending the life of a fellow Jew at risk is an incredible mitzvah. Leaving and being poreish min hatsibur requires a serious posek.

Depends on where you live. In EY this is very accepted and normal in many communities. In the US, it’s weird.

Yes, people should very much try to set up their friends and neighbors. We did this by our wedding, and made a concerted effort with some success.

Holding back one person’s simcha to enable another person’s simcha is not how it’s done. This should be zah neheneh vzeh lo chasser.

I challenge the premise of this qyestion. Yeshivas need to accept good boys and young men, and yeshivas need to keep their avirah. Yeshias serve the community and the community serves the yeshiva. There is no such thing as the best kids. There are young men who are the most advanced intellectually. And they should have an intellectually challenging environment to grow in. There are amazing young men who daven and learn b’hasmaddah, and there are those who excel in chessed or overcoming personal challenges. This doesn’t mean that they are any less than anyone else.

Speak with your rav. This is not like drinking wine on seder night and all poskim I have encountered allow for sleeping if wine will trouble you.

There are groups that misbehave in every mesivta HS, regardless of whether it is yeshivish or MO. Switching schools may be an option, but this really isn’t the kind of topic that should be discussed in a public forum, or based on the little known or understood about this particular young man.

Speak with his principle, speak with your rav, speak with experienced educators and daven. Keep the lines of communication open and show him unconditional love. With siyata dishmaya, this will become a growth period.

Depends on where you live. If you are born and raised and live in Boropark, Marine Park (still in Brooklyn) is way out there. If you are in Lakewood, then you consider the 5 Towns to be in town.

As an outsider, I break it down like this. If the average community member feels a responsibility to build and contribute, to be the core of your community because without you the community won’t be the same, then you are out of town. If you feel missed if you aren’t there, then you are out of town. If you feel pride in every growth and milestone for your community, every new family moving in, you are out of town.

If you are just another face in the crowd, you are in town. If you see yourself as different rather than as part of, you are out of town. If you see your neighbor as an “other” and not as an extension of your family, you are in town.

See, it’s not really about where you live. It’s about how you live.

A chashuve Rov once told a friend of mine that a car is to get you from Point A to Point B.
– You can hold by a basic, acceptable level of kashrus, and you have a solid, dependable car.
— You can hold by a strong level of kashrus, like the community Vaad, and you have a really good car.
— Some are exceptional and want only the highest quality. They want the Lexus (in this Rav’s terms). There is no reason to look down on someone driving a Ford or an Infinity. But there is something special about a Lexus.

As for what is basic and what is exceptional, that’s for you and your Rav to define. Personally, knowing many rabbanim at leading kashrus organizations, having seen in person, the operational expertise of these organizations, and speaking my rabbanim, I prefer centralized community kashrus organizations for suburban communities, and national organizations for industrial products.

In local communities, the mashgichim visit very often, know the owners, the suppliers etc. When in cities or dealing with industrial food, I prefer the major national hashgachas. They have a level of professionalism and knowledge that is unmatched. If you want to add an extra chumra or standard above them, get products with both the major national names and the heimishe names. This way you know the technical details were covered by those that truly understand the science and machinery, and the extra standards were added by the heimishe team.

But to quote Rav Nebenshal who once saw a pizza store in Yerushalayim with a Bdatz but not a Rabbanut (which is illegal), it may be mehadrin, but there’s no telling if it’s kosher.

There was a famous gadol in NY who ended his shiur on Thanksgiving by sending talmidim home to eat turkey.

There is no chiyuv, but there are many rabbanim and communities that do celebrate. Shivim panim, no reason to make a macha’ah.

Let’s get one thing straight. The police are here to protect society, to enforce the law. I know better than most that not every cop is a hero (I was once beaten by copy due to mistaken identity), but most cops are good people just trying to help us, the civilians. To be offended because a woman who has put her life on the line to protect society is touching you, is bigotted and foolish. Would you be offended if a female firefighter or soldier saved your life or carried you out of a burning building? Would you be offended if you collapsed on the street and a female EMT revived you?

For what it’s worth, the gabbay/driver of a gadol told me that when his Rav used to fly at the end of his life, he was often assisted by female flight attendants. He never once asked for a male to help him, and was very polite to the flight attendants and appreciative of their assistance. I asked the gabbay how this was OK, and he said that the Rav said that this wasn’t derech chibbah. It’s like a nurse helping you.

There is nothing wrong with a policewoman enforcing the law. If you are concerned for hallachik reasons about negiah from a policewoman, don’t break the law. If you believe that you are entitled to protest a law, you must be willing to accept the consequences. Speak to your rav and make the right hallachik decision.

BTW – I asked the shayla about going to female health professionals, and there are different shittos. It’s not black and white, and I’m not sure this is the same thing. I can choose my health professional much of the time. I cannot choose which police officers are on hand.

We cannot know all the facts because it’s already third or fourth hand information. If the only factor was age, this could be an example of when a Rav should be consulted. Parents play an important role. Sometimes parents overstep, and it’s up to the young woman and possibly the shadchan to consult a Rav when this occurs.

Agav, please don’t call these young women “girls”. It is demeaning and belittles their role and voice in this parsha.

Brides wearing white is a recent trend, one that came from a Mary Queens of Scott’s when she became the French queen through marriage, wearing a white dress. The style spread.

There is precident in yahadus of girls wearing white, such as in Shilo, but as far as I have heard, this started as a secular style.

The variables here are quite broad. I was recently present when a major posek in this field spoke about this topic. At present, there are ways that this could technically be accomplished in a manner similar to shabbos elevators, however, there are other, more social issues that must be defined. Traveling in a car poses not only questions of techum, but also the spirit of shabbos. Tachlis, not likely to be considered muttar for the hamon am.