About the official issue at hand: I was always under the impression that the only tzniyus for men (besides nakedness) was that they should not reveal more than what is normal in that place (minhag hamakom). In that case, in more yeshivish places it would be a problem to wear shorts, while in more modern places it would be OK.

Sacrilege – “My problem with people making things into “strong chumros” so much so that the lay man (or kids) cant defrentiate them between a chumra and halacha is thats where I believe the Kids-At-Risk comes into play. I’m not trying to get off of this very important topic of shorts or anything.”

I honestly don’t think that many people go off the derech due to the abundance of chumrahs that other people have. I believe the primary cause of the rejection of yiddishkeit CH”V is when a youngster feels forced into going through the motions of Judaism without connecting to the meaning behind it. In other words, I don’t think it matters how many chumros you keep, I think the issue is if you force observance down your child’s (or student’s) throat or if you show them the beauty of yiddishkeit.

Sean Ben Noach – Since the commonly accepted practice is for frum women to wear wigs, I do not think it is considered chukas hagoyim since people do not look at it as a goyish thing. Even those who do not allow wigs do so on tzniyus concerns, not chukas hagoyim. Also, in general we say it is more of problem to actively do something (wear shorts) than it is to not do something (look like your not covering your hair). (Not that I’m saying there is a problem of chukas hagoyim wearing shorts, only that there is even less of a chashash of an issur by shaitels.)

I keep seeing the argument that more good than bad will come out of having mixed seating in chasunahs because it it an “controlled environment”. I don’t think that this makes a difference, seeing as once a boy and girl have each others name and phone number, they are free to continue their relationship anywhere and anyway they chose.

I also have seen mixed chasunahs compared to kosher “singles events”. However, I think the key factor that makes these events kosher is that all the singles there are seriously interested in getting married, while the singles at a chasunah can be there for any reason (and the mixed seating would just be another reason for not so serious singles to come).

“I just wanted to ask if anyone else is having this issue- that the entire

site does not load on Mozilla Firefox. I can get onto the site but all I can see is a few words on the left hand side and that is it. No articles or any other info and it def does not look anything like the updated site. Is there a reason for this?

Thanks a million for a great site!!”

I am using Morzilla Firefox, with no technological problems.

However, I do have a few issues with the new design:

1) Why are there no comment counts under the stories in the main page? I can’t imagine that would be too hard to put in, seeing as its there when you click the “All News” link.

2) The font is too small. Seriously, it makes it alot harder to read.

3) There are very few stories ion the front page. You might want to put 7-10 stories in each section, not just 5.

jphone – Not sure what you mean.

joseph – You’re missing my point. Those of us who disagree with Rav Shcorr are not arguing against daas torh – we simply have different rabbonim

PY – You are identifying the entire charaedi world by its most extreme radicals. All societies have dregs, from the begging of time. Look at the arev rav – did that mean that the entire society dor hamidbur was fundamentally wrong?! Yes, the charaedi world has its crazies. Do you claim that the modern world doesn’t?!

oomis, maybe the clothes are tighter this time around.

Real Joseph: that would explain your sudden change of attitude.

Mods, can some one please block the fake Joseph?

sammyjoe, that’s ridiculous. Getting a bonus is not stealing.

proud tatty, if Joseph really was a mod, why would he have posted your comments?

Here SHE is, The USS New York, made from the World Trade Center !

USS New York

It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center.

It is the fifth in a new class of warship – designed for missions that

include special operations against terrorists. It will carry a crew of

360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by

helicopters and assault craft.

Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in

Amite, LA to cast the ship’s bow section.

When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, “those big rough

steelworkers treated it with total reverence,” recalled Navy Capt.

Kevin Wensing, who was there.

“It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.”

Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade

center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the “hair

on my neck stood up. It had a big meaning to it for all of us,” he

said.

“They knocked us down. They can’t keep us down. We’re going to be back.”

The ship’s motto? “Never Forget”

Please keep this going so everyone can see what we are made of in this country.

ames, then no one will vote.

and what was that first post about?

Alright, looks like it’s 4/5, showing appreciation for small kindnesses

/ thanking Hashem. Should we make that thanking Hashem for small kindnesses?

And seeing as there will only be 3 things on the list as of next week, anyone have any ideas to add to it?

an open book,is that 1 or 4?

ames, I agree with an open book, 4 and 5 should be combined. and some time soon, we’re going to have to add to the list.

That said I vote for… #5!

For some reason my web browser shuts down every time I click on Feif Un’s link. Could somebody please copy and paste the article?

moish, just try to change what you can, without changing your lifestyle. Modeh ani, not ripping letters / carrying your phone on shabbos, etc. And how about trying to make brochos? These things shouldn’t change your style or get in between you and your friends, and they’re fairly easy to do. Just try to start doing one little mitzvah every week or so, and you’ll be surprised how natural those things will become.

And if friends can drag you down, friends can also lift you up. Try to befriend someone(s) who will help you, not hurt you. I’m not saying you should only hang out with guys wearing white shirts and black pants, just try to spend some time with people who do keep the mitzvos. They don’t have to be your only friends, but at least some of your friends should be shomer torah u’mitzvos.

fine by me

Speaking of Rachel Imanui, I heard a great pishat on when Rachel asks Leah for some of the Dooduhim (fertility flowers) that Reuven brought her, she said something along the lines of (couldn’t find it in the chumash) “You already took my husband, will you now take my dooduhim?!” The obvious question is, Yakkov really only wanted to marry Rachel, but Rachel gave Leah the simanim so Leah shouldn’t be embarrassed. So why did Leah accuse Rachel of stealing her husband, when it’s really the other way around? I heard a great pishat, forgot ffrom who, that Rachel somehow gave Leah the simanim, without telling her that Yakkov really wanted to marry Rachel, not Leah! So Yakkov married Leah before Rachel, so to Leah it seemed that Rachel had stolen her husband! Now, when Leah accused Rachel of stealing her husband, can you imagine how Rachel felt?! She had given her husband, literally from under the chupah, to her sister so she wouldn’t be embarrassed, and now she’s being accused of stealing him from Leah! Yet she held her tongue. Is it now any wonder that it is Rachel’s Tifilos that will bring mashiach?

i vote #4!

moish, i’m pretty sure it’s better to know it, because as you said, you get schar for just feeling guilty.

joseph, as moish asked, if you despise all zionists, do you CH”V despise Rav Kook?! You can disagree with people without despising them. Zionists are not inherently evil.

“If He wanted us to do the chumras, THEY would have been the halacha m’Sinai.”

Oomis, according to that logic, why didn’t Hashem just give us the shulchan aruch? Are we not supposed to listen to the torah shel bal peh?! He gave the rabbonim the right to interpret the torah however they see fit. If a they say something, it is the halacha.

“The problem comes in when the ikur is made tofel and vice versa. But there is nothing wrong with someone being machmir l’shem shomayim.

I agree 100%. Another problem is when people dont understand what the halacha vs the chumra is and preach it as halacha, followed by saying that those who dont follow are not following halacha. And, if you are accepting a chumra on yourself, you may want to check with a Rabbi to make sure the chumra you want to keep doesnt somehow conflict with a differnet mitzvah. “

kiruvwife and SJSinNYC, I’m with you there. If someone wants to except a chumra on themselves, good for them, but they must make sure it’s muttar, and they must not look down on those who aren’t machmar like them.

torahtziva, the first cigarette might might not kill you, but you never know which one might. And remember, every last person who died from lung cancer once smoked his first cigarette, probaly with the exact same attitude as you.

“plenty of guys talk. people only hear what they want to.”

Tell you what: you say whatever you want right here, and if the mods approve it, we’ll listen.

This is a copy of an article by Rabbi Yaakov Salomon posted on aish.com:

It’s a blazing night in August. You grab a PowerAde and sneak in a serene midnight repose on the porch swing. The faintest tinge of a breeze wafts at your sweltering brow. It is a few minutes before midnight.

Suddenly, a bluster of blinding light douses the darkened sky. The breeze is abruptly transformed into a ferocious gust that lifts you inches off your seat. Fear abounds, but strangely, it is accompanied by a remarkable tranquility that confuses and calms you at the same time.

In a flash you find yourself in a scene from a sci-fi movie as a spacecraft, the size of two football fields, lands before you. A short ladder descends and a creature of sorts makes his way out of the vessel and walks towards you. You are too dazed to move.

“I am Kriz from the planet Magxac,” he says. “I come in peace, just to explore your land. Can you show me around?”

He invites you into his Trans-orbitor and instructs you to push a button and choose any location on Earth in any time period.

“It is a combination of your GPS/Time machine/Super-sonic jet. It can take you anywhere in just seconds. Try it,” he cajoles.

After taking a few minutes to allow the shock to wear off, you decide to show off some of Earth’s wonders. You set the dial for 1476 BCE and you are whisked off to the shores of the Red Sea. Three million Jews are waiting in angst as Egyptian chariots rumble in the distance.

“Watch this,” you whisper to the alien.

The mighty waters part and the dry path is quickly filled by ecstatic Jews.

Kriz is not impressed.

“Big deal,” he says. “Happens every day on Magxac.”

Undaunted, you set the dial ahead a few months and together witness manna descending from the heavens in the desert. Same ho-hum reaction.

Frustrated and disappointed, you head back to the present and emerge from the craft with your newfound friend. It is 7 A.M.

“Whoa! What is that?!?!” cries Kriz, pointing to the sky.

“What is what?” you reply innocently.

“THAT! That giant orange orb that is blinding me!”

“You mean the sun? Haven’t you ever seen the sun?”

“On Magxac, it is always dark. This sun of yours looks awfully close. How far away is it?”

“Actually, it is 93 million miles away.”

“Incredible! I can’t even look at it!”

* * *

Do we ever stop to realize that the existence of the sun or its perfect placement is truly miraculous? Had the sun been 92 million miles away we would probably burn to death; 94 million miles away and we would freeze.

Frequency is blinding. We don’t appreciate things as miraculous because we are inured by the limitations of our vision.

The only reason we don’t immediately think of the sun as a miracle is because it is always there — rising and setting and shining exactly the way we expect it to. But frequency is blinding. The sun, like so many things in life, is genuinely miraculous. We don’t appreciate things as miraculous because we are inured by the forces of habit and the limitations of our vision.

In Ethics of Our Fathers, our Sages teach that ten miracles occurred in the Temple. No sacrificial meat ever became putrid, no fly was ever seen (for hundreds of years) in the butchering stations, the rains never extinguished the pyre on the Altar plus seven others. The laws of Nature were transcended in the Temple.

But there is something strange about this list of ten. Each miracle mentioned relates something that did NOT happen. Our customary dictionary definition of what is a miracle is quite different:

1. An amazing or wonderful occurrence

2. A marvelous event manifesting a supernatural act of God

But what about things that don’t happen? Can they also be considered miraculous?

Example: Of all the hundreds, if not thousands, of blessings that Jews recite, there is only one that mentions “God’s Heavenly Throne.” That, believe it or not, is the blessing that we say several times a day after exiting from the bathroom:

Blessed are You, HaShem, Our God, King of the universe, Who created the human with wisdom and created within him many openings and many cavities, exposed and known before Your Throne of Glory, that if one of them were to be ruptured or one of them were to be blocked it would be impossible to survive and to stand before You for even one hour. Blessed are You, HaShem, The physician of all flesh who acts wondrously.

Essentially we are marveling at the wonder of how the many openings and cavities in our bodies are NOT blocked or ruptured — allowing us to function and exist. What does NOT happen is miraculous, and we must see it as such.

Similarly, when we sit in a doctor’s waiting room and fill out forms describing our medical history, we should count every ‘check’ in the ‘no’ box as a miracle of something that did not happen — and there are hundreds of them.

Americans are loathe to speak about it (bad karma?), but who would have predicted in 2001, after 9/11, that no major terror attack would take place on US soil in seven years? Is that not miraculous?

And what about our precious little children? Any mother will tell you that it is inexplicable that toddlers don’t choke on things every single day — marbles, popcorn, pennies, watch batteries — while crawling around the house. Stairwells are too often left unblocked, yet these tiny treasures seem to live with a special protection from Above.

Safe sky travel is considered a given. While we all deplore the ever-growing incidence of departure and arrival delays, we forget how astounding the safety statistics are. Get this. The total number of flights scheduled to operate worldwide this month is 2.55 million. 307,000,000 seats will be offered to travelers around the globe! Only a tiny percentage of those passengers will experience a mishap of any kind. Incredible.

MIRACLES IN ISRAEL

No one doubts that the establishment of the State of Israel, after Hitler’s decimation of European Jewry, was an open miracle. Scattered around the world, hated everywhere they lived, persecuted in the north and the south, the east and the west, Jews survived and even thrived. But sometimes we forget that every day that Israel doesn’t implode — surrounded by its sworn enemies, many times its’ size — is a miracle we should never take for granted.

And most astonishingly is the following framework for something we have all become intuitively aware.Do we realize the magnitude of the miracle we recently experienced in Gaza?

The world is now far too well acquainted with the fright and terror experienced by the Jews who live within striking distance of our enemies in Gaza. The panic and hysteria that occurs when a siren goes off and a missile is imminent has been depicted in a frightening film on this website and has been viewed over a million times.

As painful as each and every casualty is, thank God, the losses have been comparatively minimal. But do we realize the magnitude of the miracle before our eyes?

Harold Gans is a mathematical consultant and international lecturer throughout North America, Israel, Australia and South Africa. He was a Senior Cryptologic Mathematician with the National Security Agency, United States Department of Defense until his retirement after 28 years of service. He recently reported the following:

On Jan. 5, 2009, Ehud Barak, Defense Minister of Israel, announced that 125 Grad-Katyusha missiles had fallen on populated areas of Beersheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. This is 40% of the missiles fired; the remaining 60% fell in open areas. Of the 40% that hit populated areas of these cities, 2% hit buildings. I obtained satellite photos of Beersheva, Ashkelon and Ashdod. My analysis indicated that the average percentage of the ground covered by buildings in these three cities is 39.7%. This takes into account the different sizes of these cities.

Now, the expected rate of rockets hitting buildings should be the same as the percentage of the ground covered by buildings: 39.7%. Yet it is only 2%. The odds of this happening by chance are 100,000,000,000,000,000: 1.

Note that this has nothing to do with the bad aim of these missiles; we are only counting the 40% that actually did fall in populated areas of these cities.

God has given us a universe that is saturated with wonder and amazement. When we tune in to the marvels that surround us we can feel His presence and experience unparalleled joy. But there’s a whole class of miracles that is easy to miss — the “non-events” of life. In some ways, they can be even more providential than the obvious ones.

Just ask Kriz.

moish, all joseph was trying to say was that physical stuff isn’t the main point.

that said, I can’t imagine how people ever survived without coffee. what’d they do, sleep at night?!