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I learned and davened the early shift (netz) in an aguda that is (was?) or at least acts as a wealthy community. Three of four mornings a week, a crew of Russian emigre seniors (as many as would fit in a large car or two) would come and make the rounds during pesukei dzimra. This was a minyan of @ 30-50. The accepted donation was 1$ or fifty cents each. They would then do other minyanim, and later, visit some “hot spot” homeowners, or home businesses. I worked as a craftsman in the same community, and often was left alone by the homeowners. Occasionally, I would answer the door to see my “friends” from the morning . If it was a single one, I would give another dollar. If they came as group, I would tell them that I cannot substitute for the shul, or for the homeowner. These were all carriers of Vaad cards. How efficent the Vaad was I don’t know, but they did sometimes post faces, names and M.O.s of the frauds.
What disturbed me, was the occasional, and always Rosh Chodesh arrival of Chassidishe collectors, in groups of two or three, who are collecting for the same cause, but dont volunteer that info unless pressed.
There was an internet report on a bunch of overweight, out of control diabetics that were “locked” into a yenemsveldt retreat in the wilds of Arizona, and fed only raw fruits and vegetables for two weeks, with some hiking exercise. Besides some weight loss, all presented better glucose numbers, and some were able to go insulin free. A main point you pick up in any writing on raw food diets, is that if fruits and vegetables dont fill you up, it is because you are not eating enough of them. If you have a breakfast of 3 banana, two large tomatoes, a cup of sprouts and four cucumbers, you should feel “full”
Mod 80, while green beans are delicious raw, there is a caveat: Raw beans contain a cyanide to protect the seeds from being eaten. This is mostly for the mature beans, such as soaked dry beans that are soft enough to eat, and somewhat so for fresh uncooked green beans. The cyanide is driven off as a gas after 5 minutes cooking.
Used to run. 2 mi/day, often 6 days a week. This was back in the day when it was very un-frum to do. I would catch all manner of snide and nasty comments. I started with really crummy shoes, and sort of flat feet. Two years of that gave me plantar fasciitis. A sports podiatrist made me arches with one side about 3/4″ higher, because he measured from hip to ankle and there was a difference. With these and fancy shoes I lasted about a year of running untill it became too painful. Years later, I learned from chiropractors and Osteopaths, that it is possible to twist your pelvis by missing a step or other minor tramas, and that my legs were not 3/4″ off. In my Hazolah carrer, I would run as necessary, but today, I am just a 50+ that walks like a madman.
Jothar, you are mosif and not soser. Clearly, the Imahos spoke the same language as Uncle Lavan, and so the mamaloshen of the shvotim was the same. In tune with the Ramban, you can say we picked up the lashon Hakodesh on our way to Har Sinai. It is also instuctive that HKBH offered the option of Aramis.Perhaps because that was our native toungue? Ivrit was actually the best option with the fourteen verb moods and the moveable vowelation. Why would the Canaanites have such a gift? One teirutz, it was a holdover from dor Haflaga. Other teirutz, there is a deah that the chet ham’raglim was compounded because it sealed the fate of the Canaanites. Had they not had the forty year delay in meeting the Jews, they could have done tshuva!
If you can access the seforim, the acharonic discourse on the kashrus of turkey is a fascinating read. The potato missed the kitniyot designation by arriving late to Europe. The Rama in Hilchos brochaos mentions ” the new vegatable” as a subject of shehecheyanu but rules it out because the storage ability takes away the seasonality. Rav Moshe ztzl, in a tshuva on peanuts/kitniyot ends with an “Ode to the Potato” saying that this wonderful thing was the basis of their chiyyus.
Bein_H Here is an important yesh omrim. Dairy products, cheese in particular end up at the end of the cycle as an acid product. The body carefully monitors the neutral PH of the blood. Acid food waste alters the balance. To right the balance the body will pull calcium from the bones to reach neutral PH. The spent calcium compound is then flushed away with the urine. In short, milk and cookies are bad for you. Better calcium comes from dark green leafy vegetbles, you know, the buggy ones.
How about this confusion. When did a community known for its tuition tzoros decide that seminary is a must?
Any askan memuna al hatzibbbur will tell you the whole enchilada is unsustainable. Jewish mosdos run on “nissim” accounting.
Sammygol, I hope that was in jest. I use my hands to make a living and thank Hashem every day for the opportunity. And, tangetially, I now work in cotton/poly blues, and I can tell you there is nothing quite as comfortable as indigo denim overalls. Yishtabach Shemo.
it was widely quoted and probably commonly witnessed that the Chazon Ish ztl generally wore the garments of a “laborer” Do we know why, and what were his kavonos?
To Joseph and others who excel at hocking achainik with sources and more sources. You seem to have studiously avoided mention of the Mishna. Now, particularly in Tahoros and Zeraim, the Mishna comments on all matter of mundane objects from bagpipes to the kitchen sink, b’ivrit curiously enough. This would not have made any sense if it was not a living spoken language. along with PJA, the dialect of the Yerushalmi.
As to MH, it is as holy or profane as those who speak it. Tragically, in EY there are the signs of it splitting into two languages, that spoken by our misguided estranged brothers is not the same as that spoken by the Torah communities, not just in choice of words, but in meanings and nuances of words used common to both. Borcheinu avinu kulanu byachad.
Y’gar Sahadutha#1. For the MH phobics, and the Lashon Hakodesh advocates: Ramban on Bereshis 48:12. Ki fi hamedaber aleichem. (my loose teich to Egnleshershracht) “Lashon hakodesh as the opinion of the commentators, and this is the Targum Onkelus. And it is possible he did this as an alibi, or to comfort them, because it is no proof (that he was their brother)that one person in Egypt would speak lashon hakodesh, for IMO, IT IS THE LANGUAGE OF CANNAAN, because Abraham did not bring it with him from Ur Kasdim, nor from Charon, but rather Aramaic, and “this pile” is a witness. It was not the language of one man, but of the whole of Canasn, and many of the Egytians spoke it for it is the neighboring language, and certainly the ruler. For such is the way of kings and statesmen to know languages.
About visual exposure, things have really sunk in contrast to years ago. About inadvertent contact, Rav Moshe ruled it to be not a problem. Of course today, me must be frummer than Rav Moshe ztvgl.
“if its backed by the Gedolim” Ba’avoseinu harabim, “backed by the Gedolim” has lost its clout. There have been too many times that so-called “askanim” come charging out on some issue with a gadol’s signature on document, riots ensue, and then a gabbai pipes up that the said gadol was misquoted. There is no question that Kavod Hatorah is being sullied. The question is why, and whose agenda does it serve. From my perch in EY I can vouch that the weekday demonstrations that paralyze traffic and bus routes are regarded by the wider community as gezel harabim, and it garners no sympathy for their cause or the cause of Torah.
PashutaYid: “..have not read Tanach” Seconded. My Rosh once said “it is foolish to study musar, but to ignore the musar of the Neviim.”
I have a chvrusa like that. You present a rishon who say x is okay because it is natural. I tried to make the point that if x is b’yedai adam it is not ok. Wouldnt hear of it. For him, it has to be spelled out in,(pardon the expression) black and white. As if stam logic and deductive reasoning is reserved for geonei olam, and not for mere mortals. We make fun of Fundamentalists when they are goyim.
not read in too much hud, just a t-w-i-s-t-e-d sense of humor. In all seriousness, there have been hints dropped perhaps unknowingly in the string of posts pointing to a swing of attitude against individualism and toward uniformity. It is evidenced in the Hassidishe levush, in our girls wearing school uniforms, in women more and more dressing in all black. There are obviously good things to some of this, but the question is where is this all comming from? The stock answer for some is the “famous” maamar “zchus gimel devareim nigalu…. Now this is quoted in seven placed in Medrash and Sifri, as bzchus 4 devarim. In the lists of four, there is no mention of malbush. Only in one, psikda zutrasi,is it three things and one is malbush. Logically, the list of four is a stronger mesorah, than a list of three with a radical value. As so, it is wrongly abused, because someone somwhere obviously changed. We did not have recklach and peos in mitzrayim as some hasidic 2nd grade workbooks would have u believe. There was a precursor to the western trousers and suit jacket, as there was to the hasidic levush. So the push to some idealized model is worrisome because it is not based on emes. The move of the Yeshivish Sfardi crowd to the black package with fedora is also a serious deviation from the ways of their fathers. A teirutz may be that a chacham is enjoined to dress in a “beged na’eh v’naki. Na’eh changess with time and place and can also mean the very reverse of uniformity. Naki was adressed in posts above.
Hey hud! this is a holy board, not chas v shalom —-book. And my pretty is for me and my spouse, some, ahem, tzinut and anonymity please. Indvidualism is an interesting topic, maybe a thread of its own. Like many ideas in Hashkofo, there are signs pointing in opposite directions. My reading of the tides sees the yeshiva world moving against individualism…
Which leads to the question: it you pull out your hair (trichotilomania) must you still cover your head?
Big Business contributions are beyond bribery, because many donate huge amounts to both sides of a race. You could call it a self inducted protection racket.
Why the rush? (as asked by Havemoreseichel) Marriage is a vehicle to shleimus, going from an I to a flexible, giving we. Without marriage and young, you in most cases lack this shleimus, and it is a lifetime work. It is best to get a head start. Given that a youngster is not a shaleim, guidance is critical, but often a wise third party is the best guide in lieu of or in contrast with parental guidance. There are also biological issues that chazal were well aware of in endorsing early marriage. Being in the Western, modern kugel, we have all manner of complexities and hangups that are hindering the Torah ideal.
skates; ben Yehuda was a recycled yeshiva guy who apparently had total recall of the entire mishna and loshon of the Rishonim. His chidushim are pretty logical and on the mark. What would you substitute for umbrella and ice-cream?
“Where is the color of clothes written in the Torah?”
‘ksones bad kodesh yilbash” Vayikra 16:4, referred to in Talmud as ‘bigdei lavan’
Misna Negaim:11:3 “skins and clothes of colors are not subject to tuma of ngaim”
Orach Hayyim tav kuf nun tes/het: Mechaber and Mahril sham. Summarized: for a bris mila on TB the mohel the sandak and the father can wear shabbos clothes, JUST NOT THE WHITE ONES.
And to tamazball, I am a big tough looking guy, and I look great and feel pretty in a quiet pink shirt. Some folks should come to EY and enjoy the sartorial variety among the non black/white wearers.
To be melitz yosher: Granted that some aliases are clearly identifiable and often in some threads the subject matter and nuances of writing clearly identify the gender, there is still a valid tachlis here. 1) a mussar from an unexpected source or angle can be a powerful mussar. If a posters opinion gets its socks knocked of by an eshes chayil with some bina yesera, it might open some avenues of thought that he wouldn’t have seen. We learn the finer details of tefilah from a woman, of a different dor, and perhaps a woman of the level of nevua, but a woman nonetheless. Conversely, the Shunamis was not averse to taking her case directly to Elisha, and she seems to have handled the very interesting character of Gechazi without problem.
2) Many topics distill into dicussions of Halacha, or Hashkofa. For the inadequately educated, or misguided, it can be a learning experience. For a poster who is zoche to post emes la’amiso, it can qualify as talmud torah berabim. If someone picks up an idea that is new, threatening, or questionable, this does not have to be a dead end. It can be discussed with spouse/chavrusa/ advisor/ rov.
3) there are posters that are M.O.ish, undefinables like myself, and all manner of folks from Lakewood to Karnei Shomron. In anonymous curious way, the forum promotes achdus. Hodesh Tov
This problem gave me shabbos afternoon migrains for about a year until my wife figured it out. I was learning a 5am seder with a chavrusa, who would rig a machine to grind the beans and brew the coffee as we were finishing shacharit banetz. He would mix his beans the night before. It was great coffee, and even better seder. On shabbos, we would suffice with instant. This was because we, and I in particular lived by the psak of Rav Moshe z’tl, who was on record against an “automated shabbos” and that is was b’koshi that they were matir the shabbos clock for lighting. It turned out that I am very sensitive to caffeine, and the difference between the weekday brew and shabboss were enough to trigger a withdrawal headache. Eshes chayil mi yimtza….
Hashem is Everywhere: You can go out of the major cites and still have 32 foot wide roads. There is another issue of mabui mefulash. I asked the following to a Rov out in the Rockaways: If Flatbush avenue connects to Beach Channel Drive, which connects to Sheridan Blvd which connects to Peninsula Blvd, which connects to Sunrise Highway out to Montauk, can the eruv include any such roads? The answer: “YOu have a problem”
Kutach Habavli, some type of grain base beer. The natural fermentation, and even modern cultured yeasts can only render 12-16% alcohol before the yeast dies of its own byproducts. Distilling takes a certain level of metal or glass working skill which was not available to most in antiquity. Rashi does’nt seem to indicate that Sheichor is more alcoholic, just that is is produced from dates or barley. One can speculate that Rashi, as a vintner would have mentioned such a product if it was common in his area and time.
Home distilled hooch is the best for me. Its cheap, you know its kosher, and sans all the druid chochma. If you like blends, there are all kinds of stuff you can make starting with 99% grape based alchohol and herbs, seeds, or fruit. When they ask you in shamayim if you partook of the pleasures of the world in heter, they will probably not take you to task for ignoring single malt scotch.
Before the guys pick on the girls, take the Borsalino pin or ribbon off your hats. Why they were able to corner what must be a very small market lies with the consumer. B”H here in EY, one can get an un-Borsalino at lower cost and not too much to complain about quality, along with all flavors of flat felt Hasidic low end stuff. What boggles the American mind is the local minhag to wear a new suit with the sleeve label attached davka.
Harav Hagaon. Who is falling for what? In this sub text of a subtangent to the original post, the discussion was looking backward, as what do you say when daas torah has had what appear to us as tragic consequences? I must forward a permanent apology– I am just no good with mareh mkomos. How do you square the Rema somwhere deep in YD where he says “dever ba’ir, yanus es ha’ir. What is the heichi timza? what if there is spiritual danger in flight from the city? He doesn’t say “ask your gadol, and then flee the city”
socks etc: another loose quote: Ben Ish Chai (Rav Yosef Hayyim of Bagdad) “Should one of our women (who dont cover their feet) go to the cities of Europe, she should cover her feet as they do, but she should still cover her hair even as they don’t.” A basic chumros of where you come from + chumros of where go are now deal.
a little factoid about higher secular education in the Torah world: I read a quote somewhere (i wont say where) of the Chassam Sofer, who lived at the dawning, gruesome as it was, of modern medicine. I requote freely: “I have always been puzzled why we don’t have our own institutions for how can we rely on the universities of the goyim whose premises are faulty and whose wisdom is idolatry. For all their expertise is based on the examination (disection) of heathens who eat shkatzim urmasim,and worry not about mitzvos, what can they know of the Jew who abhors shkatzim uramsim and worrys for mitzos”
Tongue in cheek (no pun) If all this chazerai is muad to give you clogged arteries, rotten teeth, and all yemem machalas, is it really ole al shulchan melochim? The kings used to have poison testers.
I need to team up with Jothar on this. Yes, this was the tzavaa of the post war gedolim. The original concept however was assarah batlonim. The current system has done its job, and it is nice as it is, but not sustainable. You might be zoche to bracha me’al hateva, but one may not rely on this. It is no accident that there is a shidduch crisis in the BY ranks. The concept of an eved hashem has been distorted, as has the concept of womanhood. Where is the bracha in a 20 something year old with three children in day care working her nerves thin. And the work place is not the place for a ben torah but it is kosher for a bas yisroel? I have also seen the Rambam here parsed and sound byted to support this notion. Another distortion.
Koma, a working stiff being kovea ittm.
Nobody said the Zevulun has to be an am ho’oretz.
EDITED
I will try not to blow my cover by being vague, say, I was intensely involved, checking and fixing an eruv somewhere in NY for a very long time. From my experience in my own eruv, and also of other local eruvim, today I am noheg not to rely on ANYBODY’S eruv. Now, less than a garlic peel that I am, I believe the current issue is the definition of Reshus Harabim. From my little learning, I remember that the concept of 600k which is the foundation of most eruvin in flat places, and the issue of Ocean Pkwy, is a daas yachid, (Rashi). Every other shita says 16 amos. Amos are somewhat unclear, because the tefach is unclear as follows: A mishna in Eruvin says the public is oser on the roof of a homeowner where the roof pitches down to 9 tefachim adjacent to reshus harabim, because 9 tefachim is shoulder height and the public will rest loads on the roof. It would appear that the physique of the average person of the Mishna was a short person with big hands. If however we accept the psak of R’ Moshe Ztzgl, of an amah of 18 to 24 inches, the reshus harabim of most de’os would be 32 feet. If you have a size 11 shoe, pace accross any big street in your area. If you get 32 shoe lengths, it is all over for the eruv.