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<Is Eeees an animal?>
Who takes animals to the zoo?
Don’t worry Wolf, I knew perfectly well that Eeees is your beloved wife.
First off – Mazel tov on the birth of what I am assuming is your first grandchild. You should have a lot of nachas from this child and all of the future ones, byz”H.
Not coming from a religious background and hardly knowing my grandparents, except for my mother’s mother and my father’s father (and him only briefly), I have always envisioned grandparents as being in a backup support role for their children. With the parent’s permission, I would suggest having a treat ready for boys who memorize mishnayos or other good deeds. I remember my father, who was almost 80 at the time, trying to teach my 6 month old son how to crawl. Memorable pictures from that.
Most of all, I would say spend time with your grandchildren. Tell them about yourself, about your parents and what you know about your grandparents. Make sure they know their family heritage. Give them Jewish pride. Love them!
I think it is important to look for a person with a positive attitude. This can affect them in two ways (if not more) – they look for the good things that come out of difficult (bad?) things that happen and they are able to look for positive things in other people.
I also think it is important to know how a person plans to work out any issues that come up later on – is the person dead set against going to a therapist if the need really arises, do they have a Rav/RY to whom they go to ask advice and are do they know how to take the advice given?
Find a way to learn enough about the person to answer the issues you think are important, possibly including my two ideas above, and if you ask direct questions, try to understand what the person means by what they answered. Hopefully the person you are dating will have thought through some of these issues and have some answers to your questions, but you don’t want superficial responses, so you can use their response to dig a little deeper.
abcd2 – I’m not so sure about your confidence that it won’t be so bad for poster’s husband since she’s American. I have a friend who is American and husband is South African. When they wanted to simply visit the US – not take up residence and get a job – they made lots of problems for the husband. They had to bring documentation showing that they owned property here in EY and that they intended to return here afterwards before the officials were willing to give him a visa to US. I don’t think it’s a simple matter.
As a person with a similar background as you, and living here in EY, I have not thought to go back to America to live, but if I did, I would strongly suggest a pilot trip before you and your husband pack up and just move (I hope I am wrong in understanding that this was your plan from your posts).
You have much to consider, including having a job lined up for your husband, and schooling lined up for all of your children. Don’t forget about a visa for your husband for working purposes if he does not have American citizenship. Many places may not be able to employ him for this reason. I don’t think you can even consider Toronto or anywhere in Canada because from what I know they have very strict restrictions on working without citizenship in their country. Have you thought about looking into the situation in the UK? Your DH will have an easier time getting work since he’s a citizen.
You will probably also have to consider getting a job since expenses are so much higher in the US than here in EY. I have to work even here, how much more so in the US.
Once you get some ideas, make a list of possible places you would be interested in sending your SN son and contact them before you spend $ on the flight over, but do come and check into things before bringing the whole family. Things appear different in reality than they sound on the phone.
As far as your other kids, do find out about the BT community and how well they are integrated. You don’t want your kids going to BY and chadorim and finding themselves segregated based on their backgrounds.
I hope your transition goes well and you find the right solution for everybody in your family.
Re: Daavening outside – It sounds to me like they were making tashlich. Unless they had an aquarium to do it inside, which I think might be questionable halachically, what better place to do it than by the ocean? That point seemed obvious to me, not that they were making their minyan daavening outside the whole day.
M2, and even if you’re right, why post such a comment? If you’re wrong, the potential damage you might do is great. If you’re right, so what?
If you’re worried about people giving encouragement to a person who is not telling the truth, I think that the potential benefits of people encouraging someone for no reason are far greater to those people, so no harm is coming to them.
AMAZING story!!!! You’re totally on the right path and you can see the help you’re getting from the One Above (we call it siyata de’shmaya) so clearly. Really terrific. Keep pushing forward!
Aurora, I agree 100% with you about figuring out who and what you are now and are going to be (which direction you’re heading) particularly in relation to Judaism before you start looking for a spouse. A lot of people on the path to returning to Judaism are looking to get married but they’re on different growth curves and this can create unnecessary conflict when there are clashes.
I went to a special school in Yerushalayim where I was able to immerse myself in learning about Yiddishkeit almost like a man but without gemara and that kind of thing. It was a very special place. The woman in charge did not want the girls going out on dates until they had been in the school for at least a year just to see how she settled into and where she was holding. She took each situation individually all along and was very close with the girls to see what kind of boy would be suitable for her.
Once your mother has completed her treatment, I sincerely hope that you will be able to stretch your wings and reach out to the orthodox communities that are both near and somewhat farther from you so that you can fully expose yourself to us and our lifestyle. The rewards are uncountable and very worth the effort. I don’t think you will regard changing your life. It is so fortunate for you that your family is supportive. Interestingly, in my family, both of my sisters also became involved in Yiddishkeit, even though our parents remained nonobservant. My mother was supportive of everything I did (I was the youngest and lived at home when I became religious). It was difficult for my father, I think because he felt that I was rejecting his way of doing things. They are both now no longer in this world and I hope that they both appreciate all of the things that their children have done.
As always, hatzlacha!
BaalHaBooze posted exactly what I wanted to post. Make the meal INTERESTING – not just during Yom Tov but all year round.
I would just add, encourage the ones who are old enough – 7 or 8 – to say over something that they learned – about the parsha, holiday, etc. Don’t criticize them if they don’t say everything correctly, but give them a chance to be heard as well.
OhTeeDee – I seriously think you misunderstand the situation. PBA truly loves his wife and his mother and his daughters. He simply understands that contact with women is not a free thing. If he were your husband, you would not want him freely socializing with women. This is also a matter of what is permitted to teach to women and in what circumstances. There are so many wonderful things that a woman can learn and do and it doesn’t have with men to be on a level that is equal to theirs in their own right. It does not have be taken in the context of misogynistic or childish when a person realizes that temptation can occur without one even realizing it and this is a difficult thing for some people to control.
Aurora, as usual, I commend you on taking initiative and looking to learn about and progress to taking on the acts that are most identified with religious Judaism. Keeping kosher is not simple, but obviously the first step is to buy kosher products, as you have obviously realized.
There are on line sites now for many certifying agencies, such as star K. You can google kosher symbols and come up with an array of them. Once you become familiar with how the symbols appear and finding them on products, you will be able to familiarize yourself with which brands of products are already certified kosher. You probably eat a lot of these things (not just Manishewitz products) without even realizing it.
Like others have said, you will hopefully be able to get chicken in a store not far from where you are located in PA. A more extensive list of meat products might require a trip to Philadelphia. You could think of it as making a kosher trip and go in on a free day (or half day-depending on travel time) and, once you have determined where a kosher store is located, you can go in and stock up on whatever meat products you would want to eat for the foreseeable time until you could return. Store it in the freezer and you’ll be all set.
As far as dairy, now that’s a whole other kettle of fish. As you have seen from the DD thread – there are 2 types of milk – cholov (milk) Yisroel, which is milk that has been supervised by a Jew from the time of milking (he does not have to actually milk the cow, just watch the farmer milk it) until it is processed. We are fortunate that in our times we have a large variety of dairy products available that are cholov Yisroel.
As zahavasdad said, from where you are coming, there is no requirement for you to restrict yourself to cholov Yisroel products. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, of blessed memory, was a great authority in Jewish law in the last 50 or so years in America. After examining the issue, he declared that because farmers would be afraid to mix anything into their cow milk products (pig or camel or horse milk for example) because the USDA would give them a fine, so we can rely on the fact that these products only contain cow’s milk and we can drink almost any milk product that is sold in regular grocery stores (I’m not sure about thinks like raw milk or products that have added vitamins or minerals). Other dairy products, such as cheese, do have other ingredients, like rennet, that require kosher supervision, so be sure to check for the certifying symbols on your products.
The only suggestion I have in addition to the above would be to avoid eating meat and milk together. This may sound simpler than it actually is since many products do have some dairy products in them that you would not suspect. That includes even things like cookies (Oreos have an OU-D certificate).
Once you feel comfortable with this, you will decide what new aspects of kashrus you want to look into.
As always, Hatzlacha!
Aurora, just to give you context:
Penitence means to have remorse for your past conduct.
The word Selichot comes from the root of Selicha in Loshon HaKodesh (the language the Torah is written in) which means “sorry”.
So the penitential prayers that he is referring to are the Selichot prayers. Just he is using the anglicized version whereas we are referring to a transliterated word. I found that in my journey to yiddishkeit that the anglicized versions began to bother me since they did not really give any meaning behind the word they were referring to. Loshon Hakodesh is a very deep and rich language and I was able to transition into the prayers in Hebrew much more easily by using a transliterated version of the prayers once I was comfortable with saying them in English.
Don’t apologize for sidetracking the thread – it’s a oldie but will come back to it’s original point no matter, and I’m sure your journey will be filled with minor detours as you learn the destination to which you are heading and decide the course you want to take to get there. Hatzlacha.
Aurora, sorry that I’m responding after the times for the Selichos in your part of the world. As a matter of fact, many women do go for the first night of Selichos, not usually past this point, although it is definitely not unheard of. My daughter went most of the nights a few years ago. She was even allowed to come to school late if I sent a note with her.
As far as saying the Selichos prayers at home, there are many parts that are possible to say, but I am under the impression that the parts regarding the 13 Attributes of H-Shem are not to be said unless one is present in a minyan (quorum) of men. Artscroll probably has some of the laws regarding this in the back of the prayer books for these special prayers.
I do, however, think as a first step that it would be perfectly fine for you to start off by saying these prayers at home especially since you’ve said that you’re far from an Orthodox community. As an older single in the past, when I would make my Shabbos plans for the Shabbos when Selichos would begin that night, I would ask my host if I could stay over until Sunday morning so that I could be nearby for the Selichos as well. It was never a problem, so perhaps next year you’ll be able to do that.
Just as an aside, I read in another post that you feel you are of an age that you might never get married, you might actually find that getting married at an older age is still possible in the Orthodox world. Men are encouraged to be married as it says in the Torah that it is “not good for a man to be alone”, and I know of one rabbi who got married again recently and he is over the age of 85, so you never know.
Wishing you a meaningful New Year in your path to Torah and Mitzvos.
No problem. I am sure that Philadelphia has a terrific community as well since there is a very well known yeshiva there. I am not from that part from the US, so I am not familiar with locations, but maybe other posters here can contribute contact information for Aurora so that she can perhaps go to someone for a meal during Chol HaMoed or even on Yom Tov itself. There are so many opportunities coming up.
Aurora I saw that you mentioned somewhere that you’re in Pennsylvania. Just so you know that New York itself is not the only location of a frum Jewish community, if you are in Northern Pennsylvania, there is a community in Scranton or if you are in Western Pennsylvania, then there are cities in Ohio, including Cleveland, which may be more within your short distance traveling range. Even if you are in more Southern Pennsylvania, Baltimore may not be too far. And there is Silver Spring in Maryland as well. I don’t know what to suggest if you are in the Northwestern part of Pennsylvania, but maybe other people here might have some suggestions. A lot of times people get tunnel vision on New York, but really there are a lot of resources, including families to go to for Shabbos and holidays that won’t tax you too much to get to them.
Hatzlacha (good luck)!
SIDI – Back up your card before you put it in the Clip again. Don’t take the risk that it will somehow decide to delete your files, etc.
There was a recent article about a situation in Baltimore where a registered offender was reported to possibly be coming to their community and it was publicized so that people could take proper action. The rabbonim were more interested in protecting the children than in worrying about the offender or his family. It was on vozisneias. LA should take note of this situation.
Also don’t forget to set McAfee to scan at times that you’re not on the computer – 3 a.m. is good since it’ll be done before you’re up in the morning.
Pillow – there are some banks that have very high withdrawal fees as well as currency conversion fees that make them simply not worthwhile to even consider. I would google international withdrawal fees and see the sites that are referencing travelers. Charles Schwab and TD Bank both have had in the past no-fee withdrawal accounts. Look into them first because 3% (a common currency conversion fee at many banks) is a lot of money that adds up over time. I think someone mentioned these banks and other issues in your other thread.
It’s strange, my husband has similar problems to what you’re describing – frequent freezing of the program, etc. I, on the other hand, have no such experience whatsoever, by”h and am very happy with FF. I hesitate to switch over because there are many sites that have functions to do which are only compatible with a limited number of browsers. Hope your troubles resolve quickly.
There are no restrictions on music being a cappella during the period from Rosh Hashananah (New Years) until Yom Kippur. It is simply a time of introspection and self evaluation, trying to find ways to make ourselves the best we can be and figure out how to change our ways from the things we did not do properly in the previous year. Some people might find that music makes them too lighthearted to be able to accomplish these tasks in the proper frame of mind, so they might prefer not to listen to music at all during this time period.
As far as instrumental/choral music, you might like what is called chazzanut. It is where a man with basically an operatic-quality voice sings different prayers. There are many such CDs available. Rabbi Helfgot is a very famous one in our times. You can just google Helfgot and see what comes up. I see several videos you can try out to see if this is your type of music. If yes, there are sites that sell primarily (if not exclusively) Jewish music, such as mostlymusic.com. I am sure you can have CDs shipped to you.
Two side comments about music – 1 – the 2 times a year when there are any restrictions on listening to live/recorded music are during the period from Pesach until Shavuot and then after that from the 17th of Tammuz until Tisha B’Av. All other times of year we do not have the same issues. 2 – The period immediately following Yom Kippur is known to be very joyous, Sukkot is 7 days of happiness – we say in the prayers “Zeman Simchateinu – the time of our joy”. These 7 days are followed by a final holiday of Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah, when we dance with the Torah scrolls in the synagogue – something very beautiful to see.
GL with finding your route back to your ancestral home.
MP – Nice writing. I don’t often comment on threads like this, but I wanted to add my thoughts for a sec.
I think that what you’re trying to say about “seeing the bigger picture” means realizing that everything that happens to us is from Hashem and, if we understand that Hashem loves us and only wants our good, then everything that happens to us is only for our good. We often get wrapped up in “our needs” as you put it, meaning to me, what WE see as our needs. We think we need new clothes, new furniture, new shaitels, etc, etc, etc. Do we truly NEED these things or are they wants? Aizeh hu chochom? Hasomeach becheilko. When we realize that everything that Hashem gives us is truly all that we need and we do not have to worry about what someone else has, and just because they have something doesn’t mean that we cannot have it also, if Hashem thinks so also, but not everything that we see out there is good for us or even necessary for us to have.
Once we realize that we truly have everything we need, that it is provided by Hashem and that Hashem can provide everything for everybody without taking away something from me, then we can get out of worrying about making sure that we figure out how to make sure we get everything we need/want and then we can start looking to others and see if there is anyway for us to help them get things that might be helpful for them to have.
I hope this makes sense. It is hard for me to write my thoughts in a small box, but I hope you get the gist of what I’m saying. I don’t mean to take anything away from what you wrote and hope that I am only adding to it.
OTT – How can you add $ to a card that is 7000 miles away?
DY – Amen
I have a completely unrelated question, if I can interject here for one minute, especially since you mention chalitza and yibum.
I have a friend whose son was killed in a car crash last week, l”y. It is reported that he was in the first year of marriage, but until I got be menacham avel, I don’t know if the wife’s expecting or if there was time for her to already have a baby, but still, I was talking with my daughter about these mitzvos and we were wondering if chalitza is required from each brother or does one suffice? If only one suffices, how does one decide which one – the next oldest in the family? What if he’s unwilling?
If anybody has any answers, I’d be interested to hear. I’ve not heard of these issues coming up too often in our times although I’m sure they do, so I never had a chance to ask the questions.
Popa – where did you hear that? I don’t see it anywhere on google – talk about left field…
Minor detail
Schar does not equal money.
Aish Hatorah is a great resource. Even knowing my whole life I was Jewish, their programs helped define what that meant to me and how to put in practice living a Jewish life. They have programs like Discovery, which I believe is given on college campuses and other locations throughout the year, as well as many local and online programs. If you ever decide to come to Israel, they have a girl’s school and also Jewel, where you can learn in a full-day environment for however long you are interested – scholarships are available. There is also Neve, which I believe now has programs including college course work so you could do both at the same time, but don’t quote me on that.
There are many resources out there available and I truly hope that you avail yourself of what is out that and find yourself living a truly Jewish life and give your ancestors Jewish pride (nachas).
Just as a side comment – Chabad/Lubavitch is a chassidish organization and often appeals to the emotions as a motivator. Aish HaTorah has programs that appeal more to the intellect.
GL (hatzlacha) in your search.
Twisted, I agree 100%. We are very happy that they have finally opened up our access to 443, which goes right to Begin. We are 1 minute from that entrance and, as long as you don’t go to Yerushalayim at the peak hours when you could get stuck in the pkak at the machsom, then it is pretty quick to get to most places. I think the ad picks the Kosel, because that is something that draws all Yidden, but in all honesty it is very difficult to get there in 10 minutes from anywhere short of Meah Shearim.
Re women shaving head – I understood that it was Hungarish because a psak was given by the Chasam Sofer for women to shave before mikvah to prevent chatzitzos. I actually do it myself even though we are a very litvish family. I do find it tremendously easier to cover my hair and when going to mikvah.
Sorry Rabbaim, not in GZ Hachadasha (which is what has been advertised on YWN), it’s in a totally different area. The Karlin neighborhood is a long, long walk, outside of the techum for Shabbos, and it is even a 15 minute bus ride away from there.
C&P – Just saying, but location IS one of GZ’s positive features. It is minutes outside of Ramot and the prices of apartments here are much lower – I bought mine for about 40% of what I would have paid for something even as close to the center of Yerushalayim as Ramat Shlomo, which as mutche says, is ALSO over the green line.
I recall my son’s upsherin which was on 8 Tishrei, so the day before Erev Yom Kippur. For me it was harder doing the haircutting (and all of the activities associated with that – going to rabbonim for snips plus a festive meal) than it was to give birth at that time of year. I plan on splitting up the celebrations associated with his Bar Mitzvah in 2 years.
If Sunday is the day you want to do it, then I would suggest doing it the following week since doing it on erev RH, unless you are not making any meals in your house over those 2 days, would be almost impossible for your wife to enjoy.
I’m originally from LA and whenever I’ve visited my family, who live in the SF Valley, I have had no problems getting CY products there. Yes, you have to know the 3 or 4 stores where to buy them, but I’m sure if you ask in an orthodox shul you will find at least one or two people who know where the local supply is available.
Having sons who are reluctant to go to shul because, in my opinion, their father could never take them to shul, I would say that it is very important for a father to take his son to shul and let him see that you’re makpid on daavening in a minyan (regardless of the time). I can’t see the harm in missing your regular time for daavening while it is vacation time to take that opportunity to teach your son how to behave in shul and what the daavening during the week looks like (I imagine that taking him to shul on Shabbos is not an issue). It is to your credit that you take this interest in your son’s chinuch at this stage. I had a neighbor whose 5 year-old son was ready to go to shul to daaven netz on Rosh Hashanah before his father just out of excitement. Having a chance to spend time with his father I’m sure will be very good for your son.
As far as women screaming at their husbands (which I am unfortunately guilty of myself), I would strongly suggest that you speak to a third party so that both of you can hear the other’s side in a nonantagonizing way. If she has a Rebbetzin she is close with or you want to pick a neutral third party, if you don’t mind “hanging out the dirty laundry” for someone, it would be good to help the lines of communication develop on less attacking levels so that both of you can learn to handle these kinds of situations which come up more and more often the older the children get, hopefully without the aid of the third party in the future.
Zaidy, without having seen the show but just reading what was written above, I would guess that these boys are going to a place where there is “no kosher meat” and setting up a place where hopefully there is “yes kosher meat” in the not so distant future. Just a shot in the dark, but maybe I’m right.
I would like to ask BPT a question –
You say that women and children get along without the husband/father perfectly fine for short periods of time and you use the example of what is going on right now in Sullivan County. Can you please tell me what that has to do with being away from your family on Rosh Hashanah,not being together during the Yomim Tovim. Who makes kiddush/havdalah for these families that are left behind?
While I have no way to understand what the East Coast summer trips to the Catskills tradition is all about since I’m from LA and live in Yerushalayim, this issue to me is totally different than being away during the week.
From what I know it’s: Right shoe on, left shoe on, tie left shoe, tie right shoe. When removing, it’s untie right shoe, untie left shoe, remove left shoe, remove right shoe.
I hope others can expand on my memory, but I understand that putting on/off shoes starting with the right follows the same reasoning as starting all things with the right. Tying the left shoe first has to do with the fact that we put tefillin on the left side. I wonder if a left-handed person who puts tefillin on the right side would also tie the right shoe first.
I don’t think it’s just a matter of hessech hadaas from aveilus to do laundry in the 9 days. In order to appreciate and really feel the loss we’ve suffered one has to go around in not completely clean clothes, unshowered, sticky and hot in most parts of the world (yes I know it’s permissible to shower just to remove sweat). That’s just from Rosh Chodesh until 8 Av (this year until Shabbos) Then on Tisha B’Av, when we’re not supposed to be masiach daas from the aveilus until at least chatzos hayom, then we wouldn’t even dream of doing laundry, as if we were sitting shiva for a parent, lo alienu.
The other thing I always think about is the joy I feel when the laundry basket is empty (at least for the next 5 minutes) when I put the last garment into the washing machine and press the button. No it’s not complicated to do laundry anymore like in the old days, but knowing everybody’s got clean clothes to wear the next day is a certain pleasure that we could forget until we have to deal with only having the last things left on the 8th of Av and knowing we can’t start the laundry until the 10th. Depriving ourselves of pleasure in order to feel the loss is also an important aspect of the 9 days.
I was very happy last night when I finished my last load of clothes laundry. Of course more grew overnight, but I made sure in the first load to wash at least 1 complete garment for each child. Now I’ve finished all of the towels, etc.
I figure I have it easy – my downstairs neighbor had a baby yesterday morning (planned C-section), so all she really could do was separate the clothes into bags to organize for her husband. A big job with 6 kids at home, one being a 15 month old baby. I plan on dropping by to ask for a load to pop in my washing machine if their nieces haven’t had a chance to finish everything already.
I’m …..
…turning on my A/C earlier each day and being very grateful that I have A/C now as compared to the heat wave of a whole month that we had back in August 2010, which was exactly when I was moving into my new home, which I insisted (with my husband’s 100% agreement) must have A/C.
…looking forward to the fall and winter when it will be easier to manage with the weather although getting dressed in the mornings for the kids takes longer.
… setting up a pool in my yard so the kids can stay cool, although why I have to fill it up with WARM water is beyond me. (The pool was officially closed today).
… buying tickets for the local half-Olympic sized pool at a cheap price to give my kids something cool and entertaining to do during the vacation. I’m also getting a jump up on finding out the pool hours so we’ll be able to look forward to going.
… hoping to arrange a vacation in an even hotter location just to give the kids a chance to see some new places they’ve never seen before and take their minds off boredom and heat.
That’s how we’re keeping cool.
If you take the exit straight on to 443 and go off at the Ramot exit and go on Route 1, I would imagine it would take about 25 minutes, but you’re right, it’s an exaggeration and does not make for good advertising.
Just as an aside, I looked at the ad one more time and see that it says “10 minutes from the center of Jerusalem” not about the Kotel. Someone else mentioned the Kotel comment as well, so perhaps there was a change in the wording of the article. Anyway, I just want to add that for most of the people who live in this type of neighborhood, “the center of Jerusalem” is more likely the Geulah area or the shopping areas around that, but even so, there are definitely ways to make this trip in 15 minutes as I know someone who gets to Har Nof in the mornings in 20 minutes.
Sam2, If I remember correctly, R’ Aharon Kotler wore two head coverings. What could have been his source?
ROB – I want to clarify my previous post, which you have twisted to your advantage. There was an incident that occurred on approximately 9/5/11, where four soldiers walked out of an event where women were singing. They refused orders to return. They were subsequently removed from the IDF for failure to follow orders. There was only a little bit of noise in the beginning from this event, but a few months later it suddenly burst into a very “newsworthy” issue, even coming to the attention of Hillary Clinton, who claimed that the refusal of the soldiers to listen to the women sing was “disappointing” and reminded her of the situation in Iran.
There were articles in the Jerusalem Post alone – not to mention any other newspaper written in the western world on the following dates: 9/8/11, 9/27/11, 11/25/11, 12/7/11, 12/9/11, 12/14/11, 12/23/11, 12/27/11, 12/28/11, 1/2/12, 1/5/12, 1/11/12, and finally on 4/24/12. That totals 13 articles over this not quite 8 month period, but 10 of them came in a 7 week period, which is more than 1 article per week. Finally, the rule came out that the soldiers cannot even use ear plugs when being forced to attend such events. So much for the IDF respecting someone’s religious beliefs. What is the problem with a soldier not listening to a woman sing? Is she going to sing his orders? I doubt it. This was purely a morale issue and they went with boosting the morale of the chiloni soldiers and totally trampled on an important principle of the religious soldiers. In my opinion, this was totally unnecessary since it was not an action that was required for proper military service, only something that someone who wants to rob a person of his religious identity.
Rabbiofberlin – I searched the Jerusalem Post’s site and find approximately 10 articles in the last 8 months having to do with kol isha. There was a big hullabaloo around that time of soldiers wanting to be exempt for a function where there was a woman singing. They were denied and it was ruled that they MUST be present at all functions regardless and they were even denied being able to use ear plugs to avoid the prohibition of kol isha. Now what is the point? Does listening to a woman singing have anything to do with fighting a war? Maybe you want to say that it has to do with following orders? Well, can’t they make an order that says a soldier could use ear plugs if kol isha is against his religious beliefs but he has to come to the function because those are his unit’s orders? It’s a very big religious fight over here.
TT – It’s the same for Yiddish. My daughter says she can’t read Yiddish books because she does not want to read words that have 29 letters in them, LOL.
What bothers me the most about Ivrit, which although my children all learn in Yiddish everyone is trilingual in my house, is that I wonder how the Ashkenazim daaven and say brochos. Do they say it with the Ashkenazi pronunciations or do they forget and just say it with the Sephardi pronunciation like Ivrit? My children learn in Yiddish but my daughters learn a lot of grammar for Loshon Hakodesh. As a matter of fact, my daughter in 10th grade just took her second major exam on grammar – end-of-year test based on what they learned the whole learn.
IS – I would bet that the Reb Ahrelech can manage at least on a bare minimum to speak LK let’s say in a government office, but they won’t spend time speaking in it. It’s not a language for conversation. Isn’t that why Aramaic was used in the Gemara?
IS – Make sure you only buy the paperback edition. It will weigh less when it lands.
There are people who do work for medical records collections companies. There are also people who do other types of phone call work. You should ask around by your neighbors and see who does what and what you might be interested in.
SIDI – BY is run by Chinuch Atzmai, which is with agreement through the government and supported by the government. Parents can get discounted tuition dependent on income, etc. That to me is like “public school” but I obviously do not mean secular school. My girls are in a school that does not take money from the government and we do not get a tuition break dependent on income (although I will say that our tuition is minimal compared to what is paid for any type of Jewish day school education in America) and they make their own rules as far as when they take vacation, etc. There are other schools, like for the different chassidim that are also more like a private school than a regular BY.
As far as time off before Pesach, depending on how the calendar falls out, BY ends somewhere around the 2nd to the 5th of Nissan. Many big girls make kaytanot for the little ones so that the mommies can clean and then spend their time in the afternoons helping with the cleaning. Again, not much time off here as far as I can calculate since less than 10 cleaning days to get ready for Pesach is pretty much doing things in a rush. Seminary girls (American high school age) do get off about a week before the girls in the elementary grades to give them more time to help before their little sisters get off.
The boys usually finish cheder before Pesach and Sukkos around the 7th or 8th of the month, so they have 1 week off before the chag and then have off Chol Hamoed just like the girls. Most students all go back the day after Isru Chag, except once the boys are in Yeshiva (ketana or gedolah), so they go back on Rosh Chodesh.
Girls have summer vacation in BY schools like the secular schools (although I think they’re starting to go back earlier than them to make sure they give a good foundation of the yomim nora’im beforehand) – so vacation is from July 1 through September 1. Private schools change that, and my daughter of high school age does not start her vacation until the 3rd week of Tammuz and the girls in elementary school finish 28th Tammuz. Our school starts back on 5 Elul. Keep in mind that my girls have off on Fridays from the 4th grade, but BY does not.
I know of a school called Chinuch Yerushalami that does not give a summer vacation – the teachers have off for 2 weeks mid-summer and the high school girls make a day camp for the little girls during that time. Their vacations are from the last week in Adar until R”Ch Iyar and then from the last week in Elul until R”Ch Cheshvan.
Total vacation time is actually pretty similar for all schools across the board for the girls.
SIDI – Older girls in BY school DO NOT have off on Friday. Everybody finishes around 11:30 – 12. Fortunately for me, in the school where my girls go (a private school) they DO have off on Fridays and are at home helping with the cooking and straightening up the whole day.