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LOUD NOISES!
With the aveirah song?
Objection Your Honor, the question is irrelevant.
It seems that his view was in fact correct. There is no need to quote a source every time you comment with something you know is true.
What’s next, eating pig ham fried in chazir bacon oil on Yom Kippur?!
The HTML tag for italics is < em >, not < i >.
Let’s revoke Cherem D’Rabbeinu Gershom with a Heter Meah Rabbanim and have boys start marrying two girls. Problem. Solved.
I’m curious to see where this goes. Learn some Bava Kama and we’ll have it out!
(Suggestion: Maybe don’t learn Gittin or Niddah or Kiddushin or Kesuvos; you might get offended.)
doverin: You’re probably right that it’s not gezailah; see Tosafos to Bava Kama 62b d”h ???? ?????? ??? at the end.
Kofin al midas sedom would only apply after the fact; we do indeed pasken (Rambam hil. Gezailah 3:9) that zeh neh’neh v’zeh ain chaser is patur (from paying), and according to the P’nei Yehoshua on Tosafos on 20a in Bava Kama that would be the reasoning – kofin oso al midas sedom.
See Tosafos on 20b (d”h ?? ???????) as to why kofin oso al midas sedom is a comletely independent din when it’s concerning preventing someone from parking there than when it applies to making them pay after the fact.
The Rambam does not say (correct me if I’m wrong) whether or not Gezel Akum is asur, but the Gemara in Bava Kama on 113b discusses it (saying it’s assur), and the Rambam leaves it out.
In the first halacha in hilchos Genaivah, though, he paskens that genaivas akum is assur mid’oraysah.
Sometimes when people don’t give me compliments, I give them to myself. It’s not very often though. (See what I did there?)
I shouldn’t get involved in your discussion, but this is just mean.
Would please share with us a copy of your smicha and let us know where you received shimush for psak?
I asked a legitimate question.
Legitimacy does not begin with sarcasm. Zahavasdad replied the same way I would have.
Ah, God’s gift to the Jews … the midlife crisis! Thank Hashem that you’re going through this emotional upheaval, and pray that you will end out on top!
As far as practical advice, Permission to Believe and Permission to Receive, both by Lawrence Kellerman, are great reads.
For insight on Orthodox Jewish communities and customs, try The Non-Orthodox Jew’s Guide to Orthodox Jews, by David Baum. It’s very informative both for Orthodox and non Orthodox Jews.
I don’t see the problem; just throw the aveirah of g’zeilah into the river.
Assuming what ZD is describing is a kinyan kesef, he is correct in saying that it wouldn’t be a sale. Kinyan kesef does not work miderabanan.
For a discussion on using kinyan kesef on shabbos, see Bava Kama 70b, Tosafos d”h ????? ?? ???? ????? ??????? ??? and the meforshim there.
Just wanted to point something out: The 13 principles come from the Rambam’s Pirush in the 10th perek of Mishnayos Sanhedrin. Since Pirush Hamishnayos L’HaRambam was originally written in Arabic, some people may argue that the translation is not exact and the Rambam never said what everyone thinks he said.
So for the purposes of dispelling all doubt, here is the lashon of the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva Perek 3 Halacha 7. He is discussing the five types of people who do not have a portion in Olam Haba, because they are called Minim.
??? ????? ???? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???
Please note that there is a discrepancy in Girsa on this line between the Warsaw-Vilna (classic) edition, and others, including the Frankel. I believe the one I quoted is from the Frankel. (I got it from hebrewbooks.)
Amen, golfer. This year in Lev Aryeh, we were told to focus on Pesukei D’zimrah on Rosh Hashana. We spent well over an hour on it, because if you read through it you’ll see that it is completely about God’s control over the universe and man’s futile attempts to be independent.
I remember hearing R’ Elya Svei ??”? repeating over and over, “Di Rebono Shel Olam is der baalabus fun di gantzeh velt!”
Truthsharer
4) How much is pi in the gemarah?
I’m assuming you’re referring to the number 3, used in many places in the Gemara to refer to pi.
You missed the Mishna in Eruvin (1:5), which also uses the number 3. You also missed the Rambam’s commentary to that Mishna.
Since I know you probably won’t bother to look it up, here is his comment:
?? ?? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ???? ??? ???? ???? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ??????? ??? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? ?????
Short summary: Pi is a number which is not known; not due to our feeble minds, but because in metzius it is a number which cannot be attained. Therefore, since there will never be a way to write the number in its entirety, the Chachamim chose the whole number “3” to refer to pi.
Basically, why choose a complicated number when you can choose a simple number, when both will anyway be wrong?
The Rambam’s words still hold true 800 years later. We now have all but proven that pi is an irrational number.
If anyone wants to see a great piece on how shiurim fom the Gemara (e.g. k’zayis, 40 sa’ah, etc.) are exact in their nature and not merely assumptions or round numbers, see Kovetz Shiurim, chelek Bes, in Kuntrus Divrei Sofrim siman Vav.
Avi K – Was that response meant for me? I’m have no idea which part of what I said you’re contending.
EDIT: My mistake; I see now that you were talking to Ben Lev
We were all raised to think that prayer is asking God for a bike when we want a bike. Growing older, the bike becomes a job, a house, and a shidduch.
Prayer is recognizing God’s absolute control over every aspect of the world. Read through Pesukei Dezimrah, and maybe She’arim B’tfillah (by Rav Shimshon Pincus).
Also, here’s another point:
Chachmah is loosely translated as the ability to absorb knowledge.
Binah is usually lomed davar mitoch davar; the ability to reason and extrapolate knowledge.
Da’as is the ability to choose between right and wrong (think Eitz Hada’as. Also see Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah)
If the purpose of Gemara was the intellectual side of it, why does the Gemara use the lashon “Nashim da’atan kalos” when providing a reason that women shouldn’t learn Gemara? Wouldn’t you expect binah to be the neccessary brain function? Actually, women were blessed with a binah yeserah, which should make them better than men at learning Gemara?
I believe the answer hinges on what I said before. Learning does not affect a person because of the intellect. Obviously, it takes intellectual skills to learn Gemara. Maybe women can do that too; I don’t know. But learning Gemara is connecting with the da’as of Hashem, which means that a person’s da’as becomes more in line with His Da’as over time. Therefore, for example, his instinctive right/wrong decision-making abilities will be trained to be on the same wavelength as Hashem.
Whoa, this post got too long. A long argumentative response will probably get lost in the crowd, but read this:
For all the people who keep denying the obvious truth that EVERYTHING in the Gemara was said by Hashem at Har Sinai, here is the lashon of the Rambam which I mentioned (and provided the source for) earlier. Many people said I was mistaken and that the Rambam never said this, so here it is. Taken from the Hakdama of the Rambam.
????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ??????? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ????? ?????
Pretty clear.
When you eat button candy, you aways end up eating some of the paper.
I don’t respect all of the opinions written here, so I don’t expect you to respect mine. But I did read all the posts written here, so I expect you to read mine.
The Gemara itself says, “If you are a woman, put me down.”
Kol hamelamed es bito Torah (shba’al peh) k’ilu milamda tiflus. Look up the Rambam and the Shulchan Aruch, where tiflus is translated to either mean apikorsus or divrei hevel.
(If you want ma’areh mekomos justifying women learning Gemara, look up the [somewhat controversial] Torah Temimah on “Veshinantam levanecha”, which is the pasuk we darshan “V’lo l’vnosecha” from.)
You may have cute answers for the Rambam’s lashon, but the fact is that the overwhelming majority of Rishonim, Acharonim and Poskim agree that women should not learn Gemara, period.
For now, let’s work without your approach, which you haven’t provided a source for, that this is only talking about a father teaching his daughter. We can break it down as follows.
You stated that having a deeper and more logical understanding of what Judaism is about would inspire you and strengthen your Emunah, as it were. According to this, fewer boys should go off the derech than girls. Since there are definitely some (probably most) among us who go off because they just don’t “feel it”, boys, who learn Gemara, should be less prone to going off in the first place. The numbers will prove that this is not true.
I don’t mean to attack, but I think your entire line of reasoning is based on a false premise. I do believe I have a right to say this, however, because I do actually learn Gemara (I’m seven blatt away from finishing Bava Kama) and can testify that it is 100% true.
The things which learning Gemara accomplishes within a person have nothing to do with intellect. Ameilus b’Torah, Mesiras Nefesh for Torah, and Torah Mitoch Had’chak are not just nice things. They are the only way to learn Gemara. Look at the 48 kinyanei Torah. Again, they aren’t merely helpful suggestions for success; they are the only method to gain from Torah, as an absolute rule.
The only reason Torah brings you closer to God is because you are connecting yourself to Hashem’s Da’as, in the way He commanded you to. (See the beginning of Nefesh HaChaim for an in-depth explanation.)
Learning Gemara for intellectual stimulation will not bring you closer to God. I personally know Mechallelei Shabbos who learn a lot of Gemara, and could rip anyone to shreds in lumdus.
This could evolve into a discussion about Artscroll and what that did to Ameilus Batorah, but let’s not go there.
Assuming you believe the Rambam when he says in his hakdama that everything written in the Gemara is a Halacha l’Moshe Misinai, Hashem Himself said on Har Sinai that the closeness a woman attains through learning will not be accomplished by learning Gemara. I’m assuming you don’t think that you know better.
On another note, here’s a cute story a friend of mine told me: A rabbi from a Modern Orthodox school was arguing with another rabbi about women learning Gemara. He said that in his schools, they have classes where both the boys and the girls learn Gemara, and the girls actually scored higher than the boys.
“Of course,” replied the other rabbi. “The girls were looking at the Gemara, and the boys were looking at the girls!”
HaLeiVi – Haha no, I’m not chasiddish (in any way).
And YES! How in the world did you put that together?! That was a video we did for Oorah’s Shmorg a few years back… and btw, I didn’t look like “that” back then either; I was told to look like a typical OTD kid. So I put on a Hollister hoodie and about half a bottle of hair gel (which was cool back then).
Distract the enemy. IT’S THE ONLY WAY
LOLOLOLOLOL!
(that’s like “laughing out loud” dubstep remix. Laughing out loud out loud out loud out loud)
Lev: By sprinkling, you mean not too intense, right?
Right. Traditional kiruv is not usually the correct approach here; because kids already have the knowledge of the Jewish world. If and when they do decide to come back, they can glide right back in to the way they were brought up, albeit with a lot more meaning and understanding this time around.
Having a DMC (sorry guys) over a game of pool is nice all the time, and coming to you for shabbos is nice every once in a while.
Oh, also: It helps if you smoke. Just saying. Knowing your sports is a close second.
If you don’t get into seminary, and therefore don’t learn every Ramban in Chumash, how will you ever be a good Jewish mother?!
CSV is not an Excel format; what a .txt is to a .doc (Word document), a .csv is to a .xls (Excel document).
Excel can open CSV documents though. Open Excel, then from within the program open the CSV.
Alternatively, do as Gamanit suggested. If the document was emailed to you, don’t do this from within your email program (Outlook, etc.); do it from the file location.
Once you have it open in Excel, you can always Save As… an Excel document.
First, with a sprinkling of the second.
Popa – great minds think alike. (And so do we.)
Once we’re discussing this, I would strongly suggest that everyone take a quick look in the Mishna Berurah Siman 27 S”k 33.
He speaks extremely harshly about people who wear their Tefillin anywhere past the place where the hair roots grow. (If you look around shul, you’ll see many people who do this.)
He says that people who do this are “?????? ?? ????? ????????”, and it’s a “???? ????? ??? ??? ?????”. He says that one should warn his friends about this, and then he ends with a quote from the Pri Megadim: “??????? ??????? ??? ?????? ??? ??????? ?????”
I think it was less about me being sensitive and more about you being insensitive. Anyway, as I said before, if you want more info about anything specific let me know. I was up north a few times, most recently this summer, and I got to know the area fairly well.
mazaltov – So you only reply when people post things that don’t help you?
can we please have whipped cream and applesauce
The reason I corrected him is that it was clear at the time (from the context, and later confirmed by him) that he thought it was an absolute halacha for the black on the hanging part of the straps to be facing outwards. It annoyed me that someone would correct someone on a halacha which they didn’t actually know themselves.
I believe that if he would have known that it was merely “???? ?????” because of “??? ?????”, he never would have corrected me.
The point isn’t what my reaction would be to someone theoretically decorating my sukkah; it’s the fact that no one would actually go around doing it.
Likud – If someone walked into my sukkah and started hanging up decorations, I would call the police. “BUT YOUR SUKKAH IS NOT PRETTY ENOUGH!” he would shout, as they drag him out of my house.
As R’ Aron Leib Shteinman told me about two months ago, “Nit yeder einer vus mein az ehr iz ah mechanech iz takeh ah mechanech” – Not everyone who thinks they’re a mechanech is actually a mechanech.
Most aveiros which are chayav kareis are not done often nowadays. See the first mishna in Kerisus, and Ramba”m hilchos Shegagos (in Karbanos) Perek 1 Halacha 4.
Kol haposel…
Here’s a great story: I was in shul a few weeks ago, and one of the hanging straps on my Shel Rosh was turned around, so the black side was not facing out. A guy in shul came over to me and turned it around, thinking he was saving me from a certain harsh Gehennom sentence.
Unlike him, I actually learned hilchos tefillin, so I decided to have some fun, instead of just ignoring him. (It was probably not the bein adam la’chaveiro approach.)
I feigned ignorance, and asked him what was wrong with my tefillin. He answered that the black side has to be facing outwards. I said ok, let’s go check it up.
So we opened up a Mishna Berurah (Siman 27, S”k 38) where he says that the only part which needs to have the black facing outwards is the part around the head, and the first wrap around the arm. About the part which hangs down from the Shel Rosh, however, he says “??? ???? ?????? ???” – one does not need to be careful at all.
At this point, he should have apologized and said, “I’m sorry; in the future, I’ll try not to correct people on things which I do not know the halacha about.”
But he didn’t.
He pointed to the next line in the Mishna Berurah (which I knew about), which says “???? ???? ??? ????? ???? ????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ??????” – However, because of “noi mitzvah” – making a mitzvah beautiful – it is proper to flip [the strap] so that the black [side] should be facing outwards, even on the extra [part which hangs down].
Excitedly, he showed me that he was right! The Mishna Berurah does in fact say that because of noi mitzvah it is proper!
Note that he does not use the expression “hiddur mitzvah”; he says “noi mitzvah”.
I asked him, “Do you also run around town putting up decorations in everyone’s sukkah?”
That shut him up.
writersoul – I play an instrument too. Apparently “Reb” Shlomo’s musicians did not.
Na, Carlebach never really did it for me. His stuff is soulful, but most of it is musically not very sophisticated or complex. Interesting that as of late many of his hard-core fans are loonies.
In Tveryah, here are some basic directions: If you take the 90 up from Jerusalem, about 10 minutes into Tveryah (about 15 minutes after you pass Kibbutz Kineret) you’ll see a big building on the right that says Chamei Tveryah. Go there; it’s a great place. They have separate hours at least once a week (I believe men is Wednesday night from 10-12). Right across the street from that is kever R’ Meir Ba’al Hanes.
If you keep driving, the 90 splits. Take it to the right. You will pass the Leonardo Hotel on your right. Note: Somewhere on this road, kohanim cannot drive, because there are kevarim. Just before the Leonardo there is a right turn which you can make to take you to a parking lot. Park there and walk to the boardwalk. Look for the sign that says Tornado. They have great boat/raft/banana rides, for about 250 shek/15 min. There’s a lot to do on the boardwalk. Go to the Haunted House; it is INSANELY scary. Well worth the 50 shek. The 4D movie is for yeshiva bachurim who need an excuse to watch a movie, but it’s worth the 30 shekel.
Right up the boardwalk you’ll find Cherry’s, which is the (milchig) restaurant that all the Americans eat at. Belzer hashgacha.
If you take the 90 further up, it splits. I believe you’re supposed to go to the right and then make a left; follow it for about two minutes and look to your left. You should see a very distinctive cone-shaped metal monument. Park somewhere and walk down. This is the Rambam’s kever. The Shlah HaKadosh is also buried there, and about ten Tanaim and Amoraim.
In Tveryah you also have the kever of the Ramchal (buried near R’ Akiva), the kever of Rochel Eishes R’ Akiva, and many more. I can’t give exact directions for them, but Google Maps should be able to.
In Tsfas (40 minutes North of Tveryah), you basically just want the old city and the old cemetary/Arizal’s mikva. Don’t go to the cheese or candle factories; they are a waste of time. Chaval al hazman.
In Meron (20 minutes from Tsfas), there will be millions of signs directing you to the tziyun of R’ Shimon bar Yochai. There is nothing else to do there.
You should definitely go to Yonasan ben Uziel’s kever in Amukah. I was just there on Tu B’Av, and we made a barbeque in the parking lot. I am not engaged yet.
Do NOT try to find the road where “everything rolls uphill”. It has no signs to show you where it is, and once you find it, you probably won’t even notice it. It is merely an illusion, and a quick Wikipedia search for “anti gravity hill” will show you that you don’t need to travel to Amuka for a scam like this. There’s even one about 20 minutes from Lakewood.
Check out the Carmel Wine Factory in the Golan Heights. Despite all the signs and travel guides to the contrary, you can’t actually visit the brewery in the Golan Heights. The winery is a great place though.
If you’re looking for outdoorsy/water activities (jumping into the Yarden from trees, white water rafting, hiking in nachals, home-made water slide thingys in rivers, etc.) let me know and I’ll give you details.