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An interesting historical note is that one of the strong objections to machine matzos (by those who assured) was for round machine matzos. They corners are trimmed off and the trimmings are added back to be rolled gain into matzos. There was a problem because the “shehiyos” are miztaref. There was a lesser problem with square machine matzos.
Presumably, the inverse problem would be with square hand matzos, they would have to be squared off, do you think they would discard such a large amount of dough? It would be rolled back into the dough and there would be a problem of “sheyioh”
Charlie,
People go out of the country all the time for health care or use doctors that they have to pay privately, don’t you think that is an indication that it does not work so well?
The important point is that this is the first time in his administartion that President Obama was able to generate any type of bipartisan agreement. And that was against the bill. Fancy that.
Charlie,
Regents have been around long before Pataki, Bush or Bloomberg were on the political scene.
Anuran,
So if someone calls you on your silliness, it is considered hypocrisy?
Do we find that there will bee tchias hameism for the non observant as well gentiles?
Aha, so it is different, in a metphysical sense.
Besides, what do you say to anecdotal evidence such as repeated by Estherh, I know you will say it is not proof, but your comment is even less because it is purely supposition.
BTW, what about frogs, is there tchias hameisim for them, do they believe in it?
To Feif un,
Yet there were signs in Lakewood to say tehillim for Mr. Grossman and to call Gov. Crist. And these signs were signed by the Roshei Hayeshiva.
How can you explain the apparent stira?
To me the answer is simple, this was not a case of pidyon shvuyim per se, there were no attempts to have Mr. Grossman o’h freed. This was a plea to waive, or at least postpone slightly, a death sentence. While you may think pidyon shvuyim does not apply, however speaking up, as is one’s right in a democracy, to plea for the governor to give another chance to does apply. Certainly Rabbonim and gedolim across the world and across the jewsih spectrum felt so.
To all thos who ask, why do we speak out only in this case, all such defendats have people who speak up for them, usually friends, family or acquaintences. Loved ones if you may. We spoke up here because we believe that each yid is connected. The haggadah talks about someone who asks such a question. It says “Ulfi shehotze es atzmoh min haklall kofar b’ikur”. You can only ask such a question if you do not feel a kesher to another yid just because he is a yid.
To Anuran,
I am glad to know that you are the Judge and Jury who can make an ultimate decision in a capital case from reading a few comments. All the pleas were just for a last chance. No one contended that a horrible crime was not committed, however there was perhaps some mitigating items that would preclude capital punishment. But you know better of course.
To right winger,
Check your facts. Meisas Beis DIn is only in specific cases.
WHile bnei noach are metzuvah in setting up courts, there are still rules about when capitaal punishment can apply. Presumably this was ot such a case.
For all those who get high and mighty and cry “Dina Demalchusa” the attempt to save Mr. Grossman was fully in consideration of thos very laws, that he may not have been elligible for capital punishment under those very laws.
Our tafkid, as I understand was to make a hishtadlus to see if we could have the death penalty changed to life imprisonment through calls and petitions. At the same time, since “Yad malochim vsorim byad Hashem” we davened to Hashem to send a reprieve to Mr. Grossman if that were His will. But it was our chiyuv to do our hishtadlus.
Apparently Hashem did not want the penalty removed, maybe the only full kapporoh was Mr. Grossman’s death.
But at the same time, it was an opportunity to either be included in the kllal or excluded, maybe it wasa a test for all of us. Apparently, there are those were not moved to be counted as part of the klal, that is their loss.
Ulifey shehoitze es atzmo min haklall.
I sent the following email and I received the following response which is posted after. It was apparently a canned response. (Which I guess I can understand based on the volume of emails)
The Honorable Governor Crist,
I respectfully ask you to consider delaying the planned execution of Mr. Grossman for 60 days so that a complete, meaningful application for clemency can be prepared, presented and be reviewed.
While there is no way to bring office Park back and there is no way I can possibly fathom the pain and hurt the Park family is enduring, and a horrible crime was committed, I feel that the ultimate punishment does not seem warranted in this case based on my understanding of the surrounding circumstances.
The power vested in you by the voters of Florida is great as is no more evident than the power you have now to extend one’s life.
Please use that power to give an opportunity for Mr. Grossman to put forward a meaningful plea for life while he continues to pay his debt to society.
Most respectfully yours,
Jose
I recieved the following response :
Thank you for contacting me and sharing your concerns about the execution of Martin Grossman.
On December 13, 1984, Mr. Grossman violated the terms of his probation by leaving Pasco County and having a stolen firearm in his possession. In a routine stop, Florida Fish and Wildlife Officer Margaret Park found the weapon. When she reached for the radio in her patrol car to report him, Mr. Grossman attacked her with her own large flashlight, beating her over the head and shoulders 20 to 30 times. When Officer Park tried to fight back, Mr. Grossman took her .357 Magnum revolver and shot her in the back of the head, killing her.
Mr. Grossman took several carefully planned steps to cover up this horrible crime. The weapon was buried, and Mr. Grossman attempted to burn his clothes and shoes, which were later disposed of in a nearby lake. The following day, Mr. Grossman thoroughly cleaned the van and changed its tires to mislead law enforcement.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.
Dr. Widman at Hospital for Special Surgery. Very impressive doctor and hospital. More local to BP than Philly.
B”H bracing worked. The brace nowadays as a lot less noticible then it was when I was in 8th-9th grade. Was almost unoticable under the shirt.
I won’t argue with R Shuki, I know him and he gives good advice.
Have you tried ECHO also?
The Doctor who had done surgery was Dr Hoppenfeld at Einstein,but I am pretty sure he has since retired, he actually wrote the book on the procedure, I have seen in a medical school book store.
SOm esites allow private messaging just using the screen names.
Anyway, I was willing to talk to you if yuo had so wanted.
There was a small town that the shamash at the cloister retired and there was no one to ring the bells.
The galach could not find someone local to do the job so he put an advertisement in the NYT classified for the position.
With the economy in the shape it is, and so many people out of jobs, there was a big turn out for the job.
To select the appropriate individual, the galach decided to have try outs to see how well the applicant rings the bells.
One after the other they tried, nobody could make a decent ring, they were either off key or could only produce a thin quavering sound. The galach was getting desperate.
One day a fellow without arms shows up and says ” I want the job”.
The galach looks at him and says ” how are you going to ring the bells, you have no arms?”
The fellow says “let me show you” with that he climbs up the steeple to the roof of the building, takes two steps back and runs head first right into the bells. Lo and behold, the most beautiful, loud, carrying tone rings forth. Everyone in town steps out and to enjoy the tone.
The galach tells the fellow “you’re hired”.
And so it went for a few weeks, every morning and on the hour throughout the day the new bell ringer would run straight into the bell to ring it.
One cold morning there was apparently black ice on the roof, when he backed up to start his run, the bell ringer slipped and fell to his death.
The police came to investigate and they asked the galach, “what was his name?”
The galach answered, “I don’t know, but his face sure rings a bell!!!”
Anyway the galach needed a new ringer again so he put an ad in the paper and lo and behold what should occur, another person without arms applies for the position.
The galach asks him, ” how are you going to ring the bell?”
Well the same thing happens, he climbs up to the roof, takes a few steps back and runs into the bells. With the same results, a beautiful tone peals out.
The galach says “you’re hired. But I have to tell you the most amazing thing, our previous ringer was also a person without arms, I never imagined that this would be so common.”
The new bell ringer replies ” truth is, it’s not common, however, the previous ringer was my brother and I am doing this in his honor”
The new ringer is doing this for several weeks, when he too slips on something and falls to his death.
The police come and ask the galach, do you know the person’s name.
The galach answers “no, but he is a dead ringer for his brother.”
GROAN
Two for the price of one.
Oomis, the problem was that they did not have regular appointments with their chiropractor. 🙂
While you are so busy getting worked about how effective chiropractors are, and I mentioned the extreme cases of what they do,(And I was using anecdotal and personal experience), you missed the point. You decided to recommend that BP Totty see a chiropractor for a serious case of scoliosis which is clearly inappropriate. Adjustments and subluxation are not the response to scoliosis or related issues. Certainly not where surgery is considered. It is like recommending an aspirin candy to someone who has had deep gash and needs sutures and saying, sometimes placebos work , go to so and so, he has the best tasting aspirin candy.
Oomis,
I am as impressed with chiropractors as you are apparently.
But is not the issue here , you yourdelf agreed that severe cases need to be seen by medical doctor. BP was dealing with a case that surgery is being dicussed for. Obviously far beyond the capabilities of a chiropractor which you suggested in your earlier post.
Scoliosis cannot be treated by a chiropractor. It is not something that is resolved with someone pinching your big toe or a massage. Severe cases can lead to issues other than cosmetic. In fact if it progresses enough, it can compress the lungs impeding breathing, among other issues.
I have had family members who were treated. One had to have surgery and another was succesfully treated with bracing.
The surgery, like all surgery is very different then it used to be. No longer is there a six month body cast. They already have people up and walking the next day. IT IS MAJOR SURGERY that requires sigificant recovery time and there is pain after.
The important thing is to see the appropriate shaliach, a competent experienced doctor who deals with this regularly.
The smart idea would be to speak to one of the medical referal agencies (There are a number of exceptional jewish agencies) that are available and they can guide you on selecting a doctor as well as helping you with information and getting an appointment. They would likely also have information about support groups.
In my experience, the doctors they referred were excellent doctors and wonderful to deal with. I think the one who did the surgery is by now retired, it was well over a decade ago. The other one we still go to for check ups (he is also a surgeon and, based on what we have seen while waiting in his office, a very busy one who deals with what apppear to be extreme cases as well), and B”H are very happy with his services as well as with the hospital which was excellent.
To BP Totty, if you want to get more info my experience, you can leave me a way to contact you, or I guess ask the moderators to email me however it is done here.
Hatzlacha
Mr. Anuran,
Your post indicates your lack of knowledge about the halacha and facts. You are assuming that our ancestors did not check for bugs. You have no reasonable basis to assume that, it is just your wishful conjecture. Most certainly they did check for bugs and thoroughly at that.
The gemara talks about certain bugs that grow from themselves. Poskim universally understand that to mean that the bugs were implanted before they are visible. And visible means just that. Many bugs, ceratinly those that are on strawberries and coppepods in water are visible to the naked eye even without magnification. You may need magnification to identify what type of bug it is. But that there is something there is clearly visible. Bugs in fish or fruit that were laid before they were visible and grew inside are not ossur. The question with the fish is because certain bugs or worms did not grow in the fish rather they were or quite possibly can have been ingested after they were visible and there is no way to tell.
To detirmine what is consistent, you would first have to understand the halacha, which you clearly don’t. And you have no basis to assume that my ancestors, and possibly yours as well, did not check fruits, vegetables and fish for bugs.
This post is a response to a post by anuran, which was deleted, reposted then deleted again.
To aries2756,
What does shivas haminim have to do with chometz? I am pretty sure figs, dates, olives, grapes and pomegranetes are all permitted and widley used by all, on pesach. On the other hand, oat, rye and spelt can become chometz gomur even though they are not part of the shivas haminim.
I heard a story where a Bochur asked what he should talk about on a date. He was told to follow the old formula, the three “F’s”, Food, Family and Philosophy.
SO he goes out on his date and he asks the girl, “do you like meat balls and spagehtti?” SHe answers no.
Next he gets to family and asks, ” do you have any brothers?” again she asweres “no”.
Fianlly he asks, ” If you had a brother, would he like spagehtti and meatballs.”
And that is how he covered all three “F’s”.
Charles,
Since when does having a State religion mean that there is not secularization. I think you do not have to look too far to see that there are even those who call themselves religious Jews who are totally secularized, and promote secularization, religiously. VD”L
Apparently Verizon blocked 4Info texts because of ads that came along with some texts. By responding to some of them, the user was hit with a charge, some of the recurring. Verizon was getting complaints and it was not for services they provided. I believe they want $Info to eliminate such ads or they will continue blocking the texts.
A friend of mine who has his child in a MO high school showed me his tuition bill for the year. It was over $24,000. For one child. No dorm.
A question to ask would be why is the tution at such a school be 4-5 times as much as tuition in Lakewood or even many in Brooklyn? And the school also cries poverty.
Anyway, te point is, full tuition at these schools for three children is hardly likely going to be in the 25,000 range, more likely it will be close on 40-50,000.
Mepal,
It is a continuation of Yeshiva. Yeshivas (not elementary) very commonly go until chodesh Av. A number of Yeshivos have the last month in camp.
We just read about the pertira of its Rosh Yeshiva, Hogoan R’ Zelik Epstien, ZT”L.
The inqiurer may want to go back and read some of those articles and posts to get some idea.
EDITED due to no longer being applicable. Your point was well taken though.
Be careful with the strings on blinds. Especially near cribs and beds. I know of more than one incident of children getting the cords wrapped around their neck. B”H in the cases that I know of they were found in time, but there are unfortunately many cases where they were not found in time.
It is somewhat presumptious to assume that a Rav, who it seems was not playing a pivotal role such as mesader kidushin or the like or the like must show up at your simcha. SHowing up for five minutes does not mean just five minutes of his time. It means the time going and coming, there may prepearation time coming. There are a million other things that he is involved in. Did you offer to send a driver to wait for him? Did he say he was coming?
Is this the Rov that you ask your shailos to?
You said he was someone you had a connection with. You do not expect every other person you have had a connection with to come to your simcha nor do you probably even invite all such people to your simcha.
Do you go to every simcha you are invited to?
Why do you think that you have the right to demand of his valuable time?
There are rabbonim who do not go to simchas because otherwise they would not have any time at all to do what they need. Let alone any personal time.
It seems the one lacking midos is the one who is demanding the Rov to show.
Why stop there?
There are so many different schools in our neighborhoods, why don’t we combine them?
There are so many different governtment offices, why don’t we combine them.
There are so many different charaties, why don’t we combine them
There are many yshuls in the neighborhood, why don’t we combine them?
Annd you can go on and on.
The anwer is that they are not all the same and they benefit the tzibbur in different ways, as slight as it may be. If it wrre a matter of saving one of the institutions, it may make sense to combie, but to just say that since they are similar they should combine because there “may” some savings will limit the benfit that you gain by having them separate.
Yankel is making a bar mitzvah for his son and sends an invitation to his friend Moshe, who is a doctor.
COmes four days before the bar mitzvah hand Moshe realizes taht he has to send a response. Since he was in his office , ,he scribblred his respocse on on eof his prescription pads and sent the response to Yankel.
Yankel gets the reply but cannot read what Moshe’s response. You know about doctor’s handwriting.
Yankel is too embarrased to call Moshe to say he can’t read the reply.
He has a brilliant idea, he will go to the pharmacist, they seem to always be able to read doctor’s scribbles.
Pleased with hmself, Yankel goes to his corner drug store walks up to the counter and hands the pharamcist the paper.
He stands there waiting eagerly for the answer.
The pharmacist takes a look at the paper and says ” ok, come back an pick it up in half an hour”.
I think you have to consider whether it is steady tutoring, such as every day/night or occasional. Also if it is individual or for a group.
$75 is really not that big when you consider that it is likely only paying for the time tutorinf=g and not reated prep and idle time.
A teacher or a Rebbi often has at least as musch schooling and expertise in the area they are tutoring as any other professional has related to their field.
It is unfair to say that teachers or rabbeim should be the first to drop fees. They are not very well paid in the first place and tutoring fees are very often the difference between covering a mortgage or not.
This is in honor of Squeak’s last post.
A person is walking on the streets of New York when all of a sudden a flying saucer lands right in front of him.
Out pops two little green men. He inquires and finds out they are from Mars,
He figures that he will show them NY. Of course he takes them to a bagel shop where he treats them to a couple of bagels.
Afterwards he asks them what they think of the bagels, the Martians answer “Interesting, they taste like they would go well with cream cheese and lox”.
Rim Shot.
Even if there “might” be a toeles in posting a story, and you would have to consider each case individually prbably asking a specific shailoh in each case, the resulting negative comments are not l’toeles. The tone, nature and direction of those comments far outweigh any toeles there may have been in posting the comment.
The comments are not a way of dealing with the issue, if you feel it is something that has to be dealt with. If you have read comment strings you will see that overwhelmingly most comments are not meant to correct a situation, rather they seem to either put down whole communities, defend what was done, denigrate other individuals or communities or to respond to the comments that were posted.
In addition, on certain sites, the story is titled or written in a manner that indicates that the purpose has nothing to do with toeles, rather pure loshon hora.
And I know that R’ Hoffman wrote about this elsewhere, but I do not agree with his position. And I am not aware that he is a posek for the community at large, if he is accepted at all. And I asked a shailoh to my rov and he too strongly disagreed with R’ Hoffman’s position.
Yitzy99,
What you are missing is that it is the uniform of the yeshiva today, it is irrelevant as to where you posit it came from. You are just trying to confound the issue.
Norman,
Learning the differences between binyan kal and binyan hi’fil does not change the fact that by dressing differently from the rest of the group, you are seperating your self from that group, be it consciously or sub-consciously. You want to discuss learning additional dikduk, fine, but that does not change the issue at hand.
Tzippi,
No one is excluding these people from Torah and invalidating them. The issue is are you identifying with a group and being part of it or do you wish to stand seperate and apart. The fact is that the norm, as accepted by the yeshiva as whole in many yeshivos is to wear white shirts. That is how the talmidim theselves dress. In most cases that I am aware of, from my own years in yeshiva as wells as my sons’ and nephews there is no letter that goes out and says wear white shirts, or we reccomend wearing such, rather, it is understood that the white shirt is the de facto uniform of yeshiva leit in those yeshivos.
There are yeshivas that are not that way and they too are wonderful yeshivos, this is one of the factors that go into selecting a yeshiva. NO not white shirt or not, rather will I be part of that group or will I chose to be outwardly and visibly different from the group by design.
An elderly women, Ethel, calls her husband on the cell phone.
“Harry, where are you?”
Her husbands answers “I am on the highway driving home from the doctor.”
She says, “Oy, Harry , be careful, I just heard that some meshugganah is driving the wrong way in traffic. “
The husband answers, “What do you mean one meshuggenah, I see hundreds driving the wrong way.”
There is a moral in there somewhere, also.
Havesomeseichel,
Do you think that someone who wears a wrinkled white shirt will automatically have a pressed neat shirt if it is blue? The same way a person can wear a blue shirt, he can wear a white shirt if that is what everyone in the yeshiva is doing. (No, do not kick him out, or belittle the person, just be aware that he is making a statement by dressig differently)
Why don’t we turn it around and compare a pressed white shirt and dark dress slacks and leather shoes as compared to a grungy t-shirt, ripped faded jeans and flip flops?
It seems that it is much more likely that a person who dresses down will wear less b’kovodik clothing then they would when dressed up. Look at so many respectable buisnessman who wear expesive suits and clothing yet when they dress down will wear clothing as described above.
If you have issues with someone looking slobby, it is most likely that the person is not neat and not that wearing a white shirt make him look like a slob.
As far as the fellow in the picture feeling bad, it is an old picture that was printed many times with the blue shirt. The bochur in the picture may even have grey hair at this point, that is how old the picture is. I hardly think he cares, if he even knows. But I may not be a sensitive as you.
Midwest 2, I have a very difficult time believing your story that “in a lot of cases it starts with a blue shirt. The R’Y comes down on the boy, who had no idea he was committing such a heinous aveirah. So, he figures, why shouldn’t I commit more if I’m going to get put in herem anyway?”. The truth is very likely the opposite, that the child started wearing different clothing than the others as a sign of rebellion or to excluded from the rest of his classmates.
In previous years there were alot of jokes about the colored shirt so this year they photoshopped it. A logical reaction. The reaction that, “oh this is not emes”, absurd.
Like a commenter said above, one person obviously different from the rest will just draw attention to that individual. The purpose of the picture is to to show the Yeshiva as a whole. There is is the intitution as a whole and the individuals who are parts thereof. This was a picture of the Yeshiva as a whole and not intended to focus on the individual talmidim who make it up. (Do not get started that yeshivas should treat talmidim as individuals, that is not what this is about at all.)
I do not know about filling empty seats, however what I remember of the Yeshiva is that there are not empty seats and the picture must have been taken at an odd time.
As an aside, there is such a concept of uniform. A unifrom identifies as to which group a person identifies themself with. Nowadays, almost all Yeshiva Leit wear white shirts and dark pants. To dress as such means to identify with that group and to specifically dress differently means to exclude one’s self.
The color of the shirt does not make a person better or worse, however by taking pains to be different, the person seeks to segregate themself from the group.Every one has unique strengths, but they can consider themself as seperate from the whole or, they can use their uniquiness to enhance the group. That is why, although a uniform does not make an individual, it is looked at as indicator of their own perception of how they relate to the group as a whole. When individuals seek to sepearte from a group or join a group, one of the first things they will do is to change their mode of dress. And this is is not solely among the heimish, this cuts across every facet of society.
I wonder if they will be able to activate the 911 tracking on the phone like they do when you call 911. ( All phones have a feature that allows 911 to turn a GPS or other type of locator device within the phone when you call 911 with an emergency)
Iw ould add that the same applies to medications. If someone had to take medications, they should ask a competent rov if and when they have to disclose such information. (Cases are different, there a numerous circumstances that are self evident and do not need to be numerated here) And pepole should not refrain from taking neccesary medications. VD”L.
I heard another reason for the minhag of breaking a plate. The reason was just like that breaking the plate results in something permanent, so too we wish that the shidduch should be permanent. Often we find that a brocha is accompanied with an action to solidify it. I think the inyan of breaking an object to remember the churban is only by kiddushin not just tanoim.
Accordingly, it is not neccesarily inappropriate to use a decorated hammer to break the plate. (usually, the timing of the machetenistas is off and one of them throws out her shoulder or something. The hammer is a convinience)
Oomis,
I believe the question was whether someone who needed the kidney should try to get it. I therefore gave my answer. And the logic remains. Note that I clearly said that we are not talking about a case were the organ would be forcibly removed. In a case where a person would be willing to do so for money, ,which is illegal in the US, why would pikuch nefesh not be doicha.
And I was not talking about setting a business for the purchase and sale of organs. The comment was in response to the question, regarding the patient.
The chillul hashem in this instance appears to be that the person involved was forcing people to donate (read the details). I suspect it would not be such an issue if it was clear that people approched him that they were willing to sell an organ and he ended up using that opportunity to save two lives. (One with an organ and one with desperately needed funds). This was however a csae that the media found easy to sensentionalize to the extreme.
I am afraid to see what words of wisdom the President is bound to add, since he seems eager to comment on these types of stories of late and to qoute him “stupidly”.
My feeling is that presumably if you were able to purchase a kidney or other vital organ, you should not hesitate to do so (assuming that it is a cclear case of pikuach nefesh). Pikuach nefesh is doicha Shabbos, it certanly should be doicha dina dimalchusa.
That is only my feeling and obviously a morah horah would have to be asked. If it would lead to people having their organs forcibly removed, I can see that being a reason to prohibit it l’halach.
However, I seem to recall that there was a statement by Rav Elyashiv Shlit”a about a year ago regarding a case dealing with organs from China, I do not recall if they were forcibly removed, and thus my speculation would moot because there was a p’sak regarding the issue.
People with pet peeves 😉