MeemaYehudis

I think that Geneivas Akum is terrible. To offer a cleaning lady more money in order to take her away from the people for whom she works a whole year, especially before Pesach, is Geneivas Akum at it’s worst!!!

Health – I am a kallah teacher, & it’s part of my job to impart a LOT of hashkafa, and eitzas on behavior in marriage. This is not something I originated – it was taught to me by my kallah teacher trainers, & is widespread among Kallah (& I assume Chosson) teachers.

I think you are covered by using the following three criteria to judge a potential spouse: b’kiso, b’kosso, uv’kaaso (how he spends his money, how he handles drinking (alcohol), and how he deals with situations that would make him angry). When I was going out with my husband, my yo’etz told me to see how he reacts in a situation which would upset him. It was very good advice!

Here is a really easy, very pretty, & delicious salad:

Beets (if using fresh, steam, unpeeled, until ready. Cool, peel & cut in strips or small cubes.) Canned are fine, though fresh have a better flavor.

Lettuce (I find it much quicker to use bagged prechecked)

Mayonnaise

Combine beets & lettuce.

Add mayonnaise & mix well.

Lettuce becomes pink, so it’s very nice looking.

I always serve this on Rosh HaShannah because beets are selek, as in silka.

We don’t eat anything with a strong vinegar flavor, like sour pickles or marinated cucumbers or sweet & sour fish (unless they are made with lemon juice rather than vinegar). Some in the family do not eat chrein, though some do, particularly as the chrein is sweet, and not very vingary. Also, as far as nuts go, we only regrain from eating walnuts and pecans, as those seem to be what are known as egozim. Also, though we eat only pas Yisroel all year, we are more careful about doing so during aseres y’mei t’shuva.

Hi Sweetie, Git Voch. I was told by a baki in kashrus that one can avoid problems with bugs by only buying Grade A produce when buying fresh vegetables. Naturally, they should still be checked.

A friend told me that her mother would hold fresh broccoli over a flame, & if there were bugs present, they would fall out when exposed to the heat. I tried it once, and bugs did fall out, but if no bugs fall out, what is the proof that there were none present?

I also once heard in a shiur that soaking vegetables in salt water has the result of the bugs clinging more tightly. Though the florets are good, if I were to use fresh broccoli, I would cut off the florets & only use the stalks. I haven’t used fresh cauliflower in years, and I really miss it! I still think it’s safer to buy frozen vegetables with a reliable hashgocha.

Your Meema Yehudis

I wholeheartedly agree with those who chose Simon & Garfunkle – they were awesome!!!

A number of years ago, when wraps started being served in kosher restaurants in New York, I was in a small Milchig restaurant in Manhattan where wraps were on the menu, & a sign on the wall behind the cashier said that the bracha on wraps is Hamotzi. Shortly thereafter, I was in a fleishig restaurant which had a sign saying that the bracha on wraps is mezonos. I called the rav hamachshir of the second place to ask him what the story was. He told me that in his opinion the bracha should be hamotzi, but he had spoken to a rav whom he considered greater than he was, who maintained that the bracha should be mezonos. The rav to whom I spoke also said that in his opinion, if one eats 1 slice of pizza with french fries, one should say hamotzi. Very confusing, but our policy is to always wash & say hamotzi on these items, (as well as “mezonos rolls”) as we only eat them when being kovea s’uda.

Fargin in English is forgo.

I got married almost 4 years ago, & moved into the house in Midwood, where my husband had been living for quite a while. It was very obvious to the neighbors that a woman was now in the house, even if they never saw me, as the outside was now kept orderly in a way that it had not been until then. I live on a block with only frum people. One neighbor sent over a child with a welcoming basket, & invited us for Shabbos. Until now, after all this time, that one neighbor is the only one who acnwledges my existance. I have sent Shaloch Manos to the others, but am still ignored. And we are at the same level of frumkeit as the whole group. The kippa seruga is not the reason – people in Brooklyn have a lot to learn about menchlichkeit. I had to spend many Shabbosim & Yom Tovim in Borough Park near Maimonides. When I would pass the local ladies & wish them a Gut Shabbos or Gut YomTov, they would look at me oddly, & not respond.

Though I still make an effort to be warm & friendly & welcoming, it doesn’t help when you feel that you are the “odd man out”,

P.S. – I am from Toronto, where EVERYONE welcomed new neighbors, & was friendly & warm to all – old friends or new acquaintances.

If one cannot blow out the match after lighting, one cannot extinguish by shaking it either, right? I’ve seen people drop the still burning match on a non-flammable surface (ie the tray for the leichter), but I shake it out since I was taught not to blow it out, as I shake out any lit match or candle to extinguish it, as quark2 suggests. I also assumed that I am not mekabel Shabbos until I say the bracha.