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“With schools being so exclusive…”
To quote Rav Shteinman about that, “Gayva Gayva Gayva”
Because he was from Zera Yisrael, he had a strong spiritual side.
PulsingFlower,
Except for the couple halachic issues, you can do all the others which are cultural or up to your discretion.
AFAIK Depending on who you ask, the washing is/isn’t maakev. My Rav, a descendant of the Rambam says it’s not meekev, which I believe is the shita of the Rambam. When I take a long time to daven and have little time to wash, I don’t wash as per his instructions. He wants me to go up immediately at Ritseh. The first Mishna alludes to that. The Kohanim go in immediately at Tsait to eat their terumah.
As far as the bracha working better, that’s not our cheshbon. We have to do our hishtadlut the best we can. Hashem will do the rest.
Here is an article that clears up the discrepancy:
ROB said, ” there is still the matter of a 166-year gap (from 586 to 420)that is in conflict with other historical records. “
The only explanation that I heard to be machria is that the Galut ended after 70 years, but that it took a very long time (165 more years) until Bayit Sheni was built. If you want to say that, you have to say that we are in year 5939 (5774 + 165), not 5774.
Here’s my math: assuming 586 BCE is when Bayit Rishon was destroyed, and in 351 BCE Bayit Sheni was built, that’s 235 years. 70 years of Galut. That leaves 165 years where the Jews were in their land, but not with a Temple.
Z-dad wrote:
“Alexander the great ruled from 336-326 BCE
Vespasian was roman Emperor from 69-79 CE”
The second Temple was destroyed at about 69 A”Z. If we assume that is was standing for 420 years, as Chazal say, then it was built about 351 BCE.
Shimon Hatsadik was one of the last of the Anshi Kenesset Hagedolah (see Avot, perek 1) which met in the beginning of Bayit Sheni, about 350 BCE. Some years later, I guess around 330 BCE, Shimon met Alexander (Yoma 69a – as we had in the Daf a few months ago).
The history and math works out to prove Chazal.
From Wikipedia:
Socrates’ death is described at the end of Plato’s Phaedo. Socrates turned down Crito’s pleas to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot; Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart.
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Actually, when I had to read about Socrates in college, I hated his personality but I could not figure out why until I found it in the Mesillat Yesharim (perek 13 IIRC). There are some people that are arrogant but feign humility, to not only be known as a great, but to be known as humble too. IMHO, that passage fits well with Socrates. He wanted to prove his cleverness and his humilty.
Socrates’ last words were, “I drank WHAT ?!”
He got broken and they didn’t keep him around.
I usually gain weight. But last year my wife held her ground (in weight) as she did not eat any desserts.
“Not to say anything about quinoa specifically, but as is well known, the sephardim frequently engage in elaborate rituals to ensure that their rice is chometz-free. “
It seems to me that quinoa should also be checked 3 times, the same way Sephardim check rice. There are types of rice that KFP for Sephardim (see JSOR guide to Pesah), but that only means that chametz products were not added to the rice. The rice still needs to be checked. Same thing here.
“why do so many people make a mezonos on pizza “
Is seems, at face value, that the Mechaber (siman 168) holds that only nuts, honey, etc baked with bread make it mezonot. Whereas bread baked with cheese or meat make it Hamotsi. We differentiate based on intent: dessert food vs dinner food.
But the Taz says that anything baked inside/on bread makes it Mezonot. According to the Taz, pizza is mezonot, unless one is Kove’a Se’uda. Therefore the only question is when is someone Kove’a Se’udat on mezonot.
” i am a very sarcastic person”
Be very careful with sarcasm.
A few weeks ago a young man was arrested for not reporting to an induction center. He was not arrested for learning.
“But I don’t see the hechsher on the CRC list.”
A lot of smaller or more obscure hashgachas are not publicly spoken about by the bigger agencies. For most of us, it’s just noise. Call your local agency (or the CRC, star-K, etc) and ask.
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“The fact that they post having inspectors fluent in Hindi makes me worry…”
On what web page is that?
“Sephardim are much more comfortable amongst Askenazim (I.E. Shuls and Yeshivas) than Askenazim are amongst Sephardim (Shuls and Yeshivas).”
I have mentioned a few personality issues above that help to make it that way.
I did not say that one way was the only way for either one. I said “more into” a certain way. Beside which there are sources for much of what I said.
As far as being more happy, that is a Halacha. See Rema on Birkat Cohanim siman 128:44. Ashkenazim don’t do birkat cohanim daily because they are not happy.
Another reason given why Ashkenazim don’t do birkat cohanim daily is because they are less unified. They don’t have a shaliah tsibbur read everything out loud to unify them. A Cohen can’t select to whom he blesses. The bracha (Asher kid’shanu bikdushato shel Aharon vitsivanu levarech et amo yisrael b’ahava) states that he blesses Am Yisrael – collectively.
The Meshech Chochmah points out that the mitsvah of Hakhel is after a Sh’mita year for a reason. During Sh’mita people focused less on gashmiut and more on learning, and they were better able to come together. One of the main things, if not the main thing, that separates people is striving for wealth. The Rema mentioned above explains that Ashkenazim are not happy because they are worried about their livelihood.
The Chida (don’t have the reference now) says that Ashkenazim are more into Gevura, whereas Sephardim are more into Chessed. He points out that they needed the Gevura to withstand Bnai Esav.
Askenazim are the ones who have broken off into various philosophical groups: Reform, Conservative, etc…
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“We live a yeshivish life, nothing less and nothing more. No changes. Orthodox shuls only. “
I didn’t say you don’t keep everything, but in many Sephardic shuls, you have a mix and it’s accepted that way. Not that we prefer it that way. In one Shul that I have attended, I saw a Sephardic Mashgiah of a charaidi Yeshiva visiting from Yerushalayim happily sitting next to his mechallel Shabbat befarhesia cousin. I find it difficult to beleive that would happen in an Ashkenazic shul.
“What is this Sephardi mentality that everyone is always talking about. I’m not saying there isn’t one, but could somebody please break it down for me? “
CR10 put it simply: “AM ECHAD B’LEV ECHAD”
Sephardic connection to Hashem is more emotional (some may call spiritual). Sephardim are more into unity and Simcha.
Ashkanazim are more intellectual in their approach to Hashem and religion. Even when being apikorsim, they create an intellectual approach, like Reform. A non-religious Sephardi does what he does. BTW Sephardim can live with more contradictions in life, including on Shul for frum and frei. Intellectualism comes with more individualism – I think on my own.
“Were we all Sephardic once?”
I don’t know if Little Froggie is Sephardic, but I think s/he is tSefardaic.
This mean thread is barely average. At least that’s the mode it seems to be in. Let’s vary the ideas. We may need to analyze the root of that variance to make the deviation from being average. Let’s start with small ideas – nothing as big a nova.
Pro:
Flat – easy to walk around on Shabbat
Although it’s been many years, I found that the community to be a nice middle class OOT frum community.
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Cons:
I hear that the city is rather poor, only second to Detroit.
Off the lake, so it might get a lot of snow. It could be humid in the summer.
“I was always bothered by the fact that many people say mezonos on pizza. The situations in which I see people doing this almost always look like kivious seuda to me.”
What also bothers me is that a slice of frozen pizza (like Amnon’s or J2, which I beleive is the same size as fresh) is between 4 and 5 ounces. Two slices may very well be 4 kaBeitsim, kiviat seuda. No one seems to mention that. People just mention the subjective “It’s my snack” which really means “I’m too lazy”
Response to Dr Hall:
“The halachah is that if someone is a kosher eid you accept their kashrut”
The OP trusts the guy when he expresses his beliefs, and she is not comfortable with his level of kashrut. Or you can say she does not trust him. Either way….
“Another halachah is that when you settle in a new community…. “
College campuses are not communities. If one is asked a student “where is your home?”, the student would likely say their home town, not the campus. Besides which, the community has no real religious leadership. Most American Orthodox rabbis – like the RCA, Aguda, and YI – don’t accept YCT semicha.
“…halachic norms.”
There are no norms on a college campus. You went to schools with large frum populations, Harvard or Hopkins, but most schools have only a handful of frum Jews – with a bunch of different levels. A handful of transients (and a pseudo-rabbi) are hardly a reason to change.
“I fail to understand why the opening poster was afraid to answer the campus Orthodox rabbi’s question truthfully.”
It simply seems that she did not want to embarrass him, especially in front of others. She got her point across nicely and apparently he understood. No need to doltishly say anything confrontational.
“A truthful answer if expressed sensibly and courteously, … “
That’s what she did.
SaysMe said,
“More importantly, im not quite following why this turned into a bashing thread…”
I feel that I did more basing than anyone else; at lease I posted the longest. My point was not to bash, but to make writer.at.heart415 aware of what she is dealing with and the possible problems that may come up.
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writer.at.heart415,
If you have not already, I would suggest that you take advantage of Sam2’s offer to answer questions. If you have been a frequent reader here, you would know that Sam2 is quite learned and straight in halacha.
We do not provide contact information.
Ok, mods, sorry about that.
from: wiki answers com/Q/What_is_deckle_of_beef
What is deckle of beef?
Second cut of brisket. For lovers of fatty meat, this is brisket heaven. It’s juicy, it’s succulent, it falls apart under the fork with barely a nudge. It’s also as tasty as short ribs but less expensive, which is what you want when you’re cooking for a large family dinner.
Torah613Torah,
Thanks for your comment. You made my day. We all need a lift sometimes 🙂
Get married and have kids.
Do chessed / volunteer.
Get into exercise, like start running.
Play an instrument.
Learn a new language.
writer.at.heart415
You did nothing wrong. Quite the contrary. The YCT “rabbi” was pressuring you to bend to his standards, and you set clear lines tactfully. May I be so good.
I would like to give you some free advice. I heard that Rav Moshe has a Teshuva where a lady asked about living in a college dorm. He said that she should not live there. CYLOR.
____________________________
“Many of the Kashruth Standards are just chumras or just being machmir”
Even if so (and we don’t know the particulars of this case), being that she accepted them upon herself, they become a neder and she is bound to keep them. See Rav Moshe’s Teshuvot on Chalav Yisrael (Yorah Deah, Volume 1, pages 82-89).
Furthermore, he’s a YCT dude and all bets are off. You don’t have to beleive in Torah M’Sinai to be a YCT “rabbi”. So how can you trust them for anything halachic?
matzav(dot)com/belief-in-torah-min-ha-shamayim-damage-control-by-yct-subtly-defending-the-indefensible
__________________________
“It is easy to be cavalier about other people when you live in a protected environment.”
I live out of town, was far out, and I have a number of issues that I deal with. The last time I ate out at a friends house, I brought a bag of flour to my hostess on Thursday so that we could have kemach yashan in Challah and in kugels. If you want it bad enough you’ll get it.
_______________________
“Actually, the best thing would have been for ‘writer-at heart’ to say yes , so as not to shame the Rabbi and then- when invited- find some excuse why not to go.”
NO. She nipped it in the bud. Otherwise she would have to deal with similar awkward situations many times in the future. Besides which, he was trying to shame her into saying yes and coerce her – maybe not maliciously – but he should be more thoughtful.
I had a friend that learned in YCT over twelve years ago. According to him, one of the purposes of YCT is to make more people like Avi Weiss and spread the gospel. They (including Linzer) used to make fun of other yeshivas. I don’t beleive that they are happy with “live and let live”. They want to push their agenda.
I have a lot of respect for writer.at.heart415 for nicely giving push back. my emphasis, not a mod’s
“EXCUSE ME!!! I did it!!” – Are you sure you did it?
We just SAY you did it. But I think that the GOQ actually did do it.
Israel is around 30 degrees north of the equator. Around the equinox (about Sukkot time), the sun is 60 degrees above the horizon, not directly overhead at 90.
“obviously alef is before bais.”
Does that mean that they are reading the title page today?
If you download in mp3 format on a computer, windows media player has a speed setting. I sometimes use it. Going faster than 1.4 times becomes difficult to absorb. Also, some mp3’s don’t do so well when sped up.
Btw, the time it takes when sped up is the original time divided by the speed. For example, 60 minutes at 1.4 takes about 43 minutes. Another way to look at it is t0 take the reciprocal of the speed. For example 1.33 times faster will be 75 percent. A 48 minute shiur will take 36 minutes.
I found and just starting reading the article hinted to by PBA. SICKENING. Could not finish it. Malshin. Attention ore.
In the Gemara that I cited above, it says that the biryonim were causing trouble to Rabbi Meir with their bad interpretation of Torah. Rabbi Meir wanted to pray for their demise, but Bruriah told him to pray for their teshuva, which he did and it worked.
This case is different to me. This is blatant attacking for no reason. I see the biryonim as Jews who had too much pride and not enough sechel nor learning. They seemed like good people but terribly misguided. Weiss, OTOH, is not fueled by what’s good for the Jewish people or the Torah, but only what’s good for social activism and his name.
“I assumed he hoarded fruit so that he could sell the unhoarded fruit at high prices.”
Yep, his ta’ava was greed.
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“MDG: Look at Rashi there. It’s about the unborn son controlling his Ta’avos. “
I took that figuratively; i.e. a baby creates Ta’avot in a mother, but they become her cravings to take care of.
One pregnant lady decided to not eat on Yom Kippur and had a great son, Rabbi Yohanan. The other pregnant lady ate on Yom Kippur and had a son who hoarded fruit to sell at high prices.
What is the parity and what is the logic?
A Lamdan from Jerusalem (visiting here) pointed out the Maharsha that says that in both cases it was about Taavah. Rabbi Yohanan’s mother controlled her Taavah and had a son who was in control of his Taavot. Whereas the other mother did not control her Taavah and her son had uncontrolled greed.
“See the kimchis thread for details “
I have been reading that thread; that’s how I know.
BTW, I also had the same question. Considering that in Bayit Shaini most kohanim didn’t live out the year, having 7 sons serve as K”G sounds like the all died. The story in Yoma makes it sound like a good thing. Before reading it inside, I would have applied the mishna in Sotah, that a Isha Prusha (pretentiously tsniut) women destroys the world, to explain it.
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rebyidd23,
Thanks for the cute name. But I was referring to PBA calling people “big fat jerks” (in another thread) for not telling him that Yoma followed Pesachim in the Daf cycle.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/i-hate-all-you-all-you-big-fat-jerks#post-499155
Pray for his teshuva. See B’rachot 10a with Beruria, “al tikra chotim ela chata’im”
PBA congrats with catching up. Awesome.
BTW, next week we start Sukkah (so please don’t call me any names).
“I checked a big bushel of parsley last night, the way the star-k says to.
First I soaked it in soapy water. Then I rinsed it. Then I agitated it in a bowl of clean water and pulled it out. I checked the water and it was clean.”
I don’t have such patience. I buy dried.
PBA asked, “Is an apikores really allowed to duchen? Anyone know?”
Rav Ovadia Yosef says that a Mechallel Shabbat should not duchen. I don’t remember about a apikoros, but I would infer that’s worse; i.e. don’t let him go up. In any event, he says that we allow the mechallel Shabbat to go up bediavad with frum Kohanim to avoid machloket. IIRC it all you got is a mechallel shabbat, then no Birkat Kohanim.
“His views are typical of ‘Modern Orthodox’.”
No, the RCA is typical of MO, and Weiss is not very popular with them. The RCA does not accept his “musmachim” as real rabbis. But if you want to find guilt by supposed association because you love to hate, then go right ahead.
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“So if you hold that the Medinah is ‘glatt treff’ there is no way you’ll find any limud z’chus for him”
Weiss is treif because of his destroying the Mesorah and his promulgation of that.
From what you wrote, it seems that you would have no problem that Weiss ordains women and has a Baptist choir in his place, as long as he hates Zionism.
I once had a lot of fun flirting with the scammer girl. I told her that she had such a pretty name. It was something like Jane Miller, so bland LOL. I told her that I wanted to go out with her.
That is so not like me, but I wanted to turn the tables. I think it worked. That was the last time they called.
BTW, I did report to the bank that someone was using their name to try to scam.
Assuming you live near a religious Jewish community, there is usually someone who is trained to check for linen. Ask around for a shaatnez checker.
Btw, you mention threads, but there is also concern for padding and reinforcement. In any event, a trained shaatnez checker should be trained for that also.
I’d marry more women, but I think my wife would mind. Besides, I think that there are state laws against polygamy. Although with toeva “marriages” now becoming legal, it seems that polygamy should soon be permitted.
I separate after the dough is made, put it in a glass bowl, and the on the microwave. I cook it for a minute or so and turn it over to cook it for another minute. Sometimes a third minute is needed. Never just stick it in foir several minutes without checking it and flipping it. I have had dough balls catch on fire like that. Mamash flames and smoke.
For amount to require Hafrasha, I try to take off according to Chacham Ovadia, which I believe is according to the Rambam in the 2nd Mishnah in Edyuot, which is 1660 grams – about 3.5 pounds.
I read an article recently, I think it was in this past week’s Time magazine, that a lady sent her DNA sample (cheek swab IIRC) to different companies. Each had a different set of results. For example, one said that she was like 4% Scottish and another said 15-20% Scottish.
It seems to me that DNA testing may still have a ways to go to be as definite as many of us had been lead to believe.