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Best answer – Joseph, even if he is off by a few dollars.
Change your real name.
Parnassah – not enough bochurs are learning enough secular stuff, like STEM – science, technology, engineering and medicine – to enter the high-paying professions.
And should rabbis and rosh yeshivas be the highest earners in the frum community?
Three words: Chabad.
To the opening poster: You have not told us you are male. Are you part of WOW?
Re CTLAWYER’s comment beginning “Health/I’m a liberal and ….” Well said. If a frum Jew does not want to marry someone of the same sex, he/she does not have to. A lot of commenters on this site overlook that simple fact, and many others.
Jews, especially the frum, have benefitted greatly from the liberalism of the last 85 years in the US.
Not sure how you would know that – 29
Centrifuge.
If there is no such thing as “good instant coffee”, can there be such a thing as “the best instant coffee”?
Upshearin is just a year away. That should do it.
Re Jewish Thinker’s last post: Here is a better question: Why do you phrase your question backwards? Would it not be better to phrase your question thus: “Are Jews permitted to celebrate a non-denominational religious holiday?” Holidays are not permitted, people are.
Has anyone figured out how much annual income is needed to support a frum way of life, i.e., kosher food, yeshivas, 4 or more children, parents’ time off for all holidays, to name just a few frum expenses. I have not done the math, but I am convinced that less than $200,000 per year will keep a frum family in a very small house, with little savings, and no money for their children to attend a secular college. And 10 – 20 years from now, lack of secular college education will likely mean no employment opportunities for today’s frum children. I see it as a serious problem and a serious threat to the current interpretation of the Torah – there will be too few Jews who can afford to live it. I don’t see a solution, but I think the problem is genuine and will bite us before we know it.
It is clear that none (or almost none) of the posters on this thread has ever read an economist’s explanation of minimum wage. I have. There are several different points of view on the subject, but let me summarize them. And just to be clear, I am not an economist, but I play one on line.
Raising the price of something (oil, matzoh, unskilled labor) does not necessarily cause a decline in demand. And the price of goods and services are based on market forces, not only the cost of producing the goods and services.
Some economists who support a rise in the minimum wage believe – correctly, IMO – that the relative bargaining power and market information of unskilled, non-union workers is lower than their employers’ bargaining power and market knowledge, and that (i) the government has a moral obligation to help unskilled workers, and (ii) higher-paid laborers become bigger consumers, which stimulates the economy. Some workers may lose their jobs, but many of them will enjoy increased income. Whether this income comes from the employers’ profits or from an increase in revenue that the employers can impose on their customers varies from product to product and service to service and is, in part, a function of the gross profit of the product or service, and, of course, elasticity of demand (I’m too lazy to explain that one). So all you (or should I say, “us”) amateur economists ought to read some real economists to understand the issue.
Or you (and I) can just read the online blather that supports your (or my) unfounded personal beliefs.
Re Ubiquitin’s comment beginning “nfgo/I served in New York ….” Your proposal to do some screening of jurors on line is interesting, and maybe it will be tried in the future.
Re Joseph’s comment beginning “A better world ….” Your proposal assumes that permanent panels of judges have more integrity than non-permanent panels of non-judge civilians. Yes, there are a few drunks and jerks among the general population, but overall, I think civilian jurors/fact-finders work better than politically appointed “judges” who, incidentally, have their own shares of drunks and jerks, not to mention crooks. Watch the sentencing of Skelos, for example.
To the opening poster: One thing you are missing is an indication of where you were serving your jury duty. In many counties of New York State, the current system is radically better than it was 10 or more years ago, with far less time wasted than under earlier procedures. Jury duty is generally admittedly an inconvenience, but it is a cornerstone of our criminal justice system, and there is probably not a better one in civil societies.
Re coffee addict: “how do you prove a Democrat wrong?” The simple answer is, the same way you prove anything wrong, with relevant facts and sound reasoning. And, based on the answer you offered to your own question, I would be right.
To the opening poster: Clearly you are the greatest Jew alive today, wedged on an airplane between an untznius woman and a bochur not being bocur-ish, and learning Tehillim. So, great Jew, what exactly is the point of your post?
Re CTLAWYER’s latest comment: Yes, some of us have strayed from the topic. But I think it is helpful to discuss some tangential issues, like who has a sounder grasp of facts.
Squeak: I am well-informed about where oil prices come from, i.e., from the volume of oil pumped by Saudi Arabia, among many other factors.
Your comment that Muslims are responsible for pricing oil overlooks an important cluster of facts:
Saudi Arabia’s population: 29,000,000
World’s Muslim population: 1,500,000,000
Muslims not controlling oil
prices: 1,471,000,000
If you are not inviting me, I don’t care.
Financial crimes should be punished in a way that assures that financial crimes do not pay, whether the victim is the government or private citizens. The punishments should also deter others from engaging in similar crimes. I think our sentencing system is harsh on crimes of violence, but too lenient on financial crimes, as the perps are typically respectable-looking middle- or upper-class people.
Excellent answer, scared driver delight. How about: people who eat matzoh when they follow you on the sidewalk.
Is RoiR a Litvish looking for a Purim costume?
When Trump is president, we will all be saying Happy Birthday, and it will be great.
Corollary to Jerk 3: Jerks who actually believe there are $195 deals to Eretz Yisrael.
This is not really on topic, but I have got to get this off my chest: What’s with men who put garbage bags, or shopping bags, or fitted plastic covers on their hats when it is raining – on Shabbos or any other day. I think it looks absolutely undignified, even ridiculous. A fine-quality felt hat, e.g., Borsalino, will survive the rain. Part of the reason for wearing hat is to stand before Hashem with dignity. A shopping bag on your head, even if it protecting a fine hat, destroys that. If you saw a gentile doing that, you would think he/she is nuts.
Have any rabbaim given an opinion on this?
I think Euthopia is some kind of socialist paradise.
Re Homer’s post beginning “here you go …”: You seem to think that it is self-evident that the absence of “God” from the text of the Democratic party campaign platform of 2012 means that the Democratic party has some objections to G-d. You evidently do not understand that in a pluralistic democracy which guarantees freedom of religion in its constitution, religion and G-d are left to the people to glorify (or whatever else they want to do with G-d) as individual citizens determine. As Jews, we should be particularly gratified that our government is not authorized to support religion, as we should know from our history that when governments support religions, the Jewish one rarely gets a fair share.
As for toivah marriage, it’s optional for those who want it. I don’t understand it, you don’t understand it, Torah forbids it, but government should not be picking our spouses for us. Marriage is a religious institution, in which governments have long kibbitzed. Stick to your religion, and if the government respects all religions, as our government should and mostly does, toivah marriage is not a governmental issue for us Jews.
As for the capital of Israel, I see no problem with not putting a thumb in the eye of Palestine supporters by referencing the issue in a party platform. Party platforms should be set forth reasonable goals and should not be wish lists (and as soon as elections are over, they are waste paper). Democratic presidents have been unqualified supporters of the State of Israel since its founding, and the siting of its capital should be worked out if and when the Palestinians sit down and negotiate for their own future with Israel.
Re Coffee Addict’s comment beginning, “Nfgo3,/Charlie didn’t make ….”
Please look carefully at my comment. Then look carefully at the comment by Charliehall that begins with a quote from another commenter. Do you understand the significance of the double-quotation mark followed by the single-quotation mark in my reference to the comment by Charliehall?
The YWN editors could make citations and references to comments easier if they would number them, as they do in the comments in the News section. Just a suggestion ….
I am not a Republican, but permit me to make a few observations:
1. Charliehall’s comment beginning: ” ‘do you take every piece ….” As usual, Charliehall’s comment is right.
2. As Israel’s major and most reliable supporter in the world, the United States can advance Israel’s interest only through US economic and military strength. Misplaced wars, such the the Iraq invasion and the war in Afghanistan, weaken the US militarily AND economically, and that can seriously threaten Israel. The US should not support every bad idea that an Israeli government can pull out of its ear, such as aggressive settlements in the region that the world calls the “Occupied Territories”. Any policy that weakens the US economy, such as the Republican ideas of tax cuts for the rich and less government spending in a weak economy, compromises the US’s ability to be a helpful to Israel. Republican tough talk about support for Israel is worthless if the US is not strong economically and militarily.
3. It is important for the US to play a role in relieving the humanitarian disaster in Syria. Whether we take in 10,000 or 100,000 Syrian refugees, or provide economic aid to European countries who absorb these refugees, it is essential that the US play a constructive role. I see Syrian refugee children wearing the same backpacks as I see on the kids going to yeshivas in New York neighborhoods. We must recognize the humanity and make a positive contribution to this disaster. I have not heard any Republican say anything encouraging on this issue. (Democrats – both of them – have not to date focused on this issue either, but I expect the Democratic nominee to get it more right than any Republican candidate.)
4. Trump is running on his “brand” as a business genius who has lots and lots of money. His supporters say that is what they like about him. He therefore owes it to the public to disclose his tax returns and audited financial statements that support his claims to business expertise. He also owes his supporters an explanation of his bankruptcies. It is not enough to assure us that he did not go bankrupt, his casinos did. How did he manage those businesses into their financial ruin, and what assurance can he give US citizens that he can properly shepherd the fiscal policy of the federal government and the US economy. To date, all he’s told us is that he’s really, really rich and really, really great. And all Rubio has told us about Trump is that he has small hands. Has US political discourse sunk so low?
5. If Trump continues to perform strongly in the primaries, and the “Republican establishment” decides to improperly undermine his electoral success and deny him the Republican nomination, I am sure he will run as an independent. That will surely pave the way for the Democratic nominee. So, dear Republican brothers and sisters, be careful what you wish for.
Re DaasYochid’s comment beginning “Of course ….”: MO is, among other things, an abbreviation for “modus operandi,” which is Latin, not Greek, and means “method of operation”.
And, speaking of Greek, it was Greeks who put the chapter and verse numbers into the Pentateuch (“penta” is Greek for “five”). Does anyone know when, how and why the Jews accepted the Greek numbering system for a Jewish holy text (not that there is anything wrong with it)?
Re Squeak’s most recent post: I am no longer refreshed. So, evidently, “muzzies,” when you use it, evidently means what I speculated that it means. I remain puzzled that YWN has not taken down your use of an ethnic slur. And your notions of “flourishing” don’t seem like flourishing to me. I would rather have the oil money. Hmmmm … does that make me a muzzie? or, worse, a Texan?
Re Squeak’s comment, “Crazy is what we need ….”
Your last sentence implies that President Obama is not crazy. That is a refreshing thing to read on this web site.
I have never heard or read about “muzzies,” but from the context, my only guess is that it is your self-made ethnic slur for Muslims. Please correct me if I am wrong. And if it is an ethnic slur, I am surprised that the YWN moderators would allow it to be posted.
As for the flourishing of Muslims under President Obama: I am not sure all of them have flourished, given the drop in oil prices, or the strife in Syria and Yemen. Perhaps you could tell us what indicia indicate to you that Muslims – or whoever the “muzzies” are – are flourishing.
To CTLAWYER: That famous, erroneous headline, “Dewey defeats Truman …” is not an example of strange politics. It is an example of bad journalism.
Otherwise, your comment is spot on. One nit I wish to pick: Nearly every (if not all) Republican candidate who has quit the race has “suspended” his/her campaign, not actually dropped out, largely for the reasons you give, but also to kid themselves and their donors. But so far, they all remain in suspended inanimation. And the Trump train appears to be running away to the Republican nomination.
To CTLAWYER: My facts are fine, and your nits are not worth the picking. Jeb Bush dropped out. That he is still on some ballots is not going to drop him back in. We both got the important fact right – the Republican party does not have a candidate fit or capable of being president. I’m not crazy about the candidates of the Democrats’ party, but at least they are not crazy.
Well, the South Carolina and Nevada primaries have come and gone, and so has Jeb Bush!, Carly Fiorina, Chris Christie and some other guys I cannot remember.
So for you Republics (if you think the party I support is the Democrat party, then you are a Republic; and if you think I am a lib, you are a con), your choices are two Latinos, one Latino-bater, a comparatively nice guy from Ohio, and a brain surgeon who sounds like he removed his own brain. So, tell us what ails America, and what these guys say they will do to fix it. And I don’t mean “make it great,” I mean, what policies will they implement, what kind of supreme court justices will they appoint, what will they do about taxation and spending, falling bridges, Zika virus, climate change, and America’s role in Syria, Israel and the rest of the Middle East.
How many US troops should die defending, or attacking (pick one – or both) the Syrian dictator? How much should we spend on wounded US veterans – enough to make their lives livable, or just enough to fund a nice tax cut? I would like a tax cut, who wouldn’t?
Homburgs are not chasidic. Outgoing president Dwight Eisenhower wore a homburg to the inauguration of President Kennedy. Kennedy wore a Susquehanna hat before the inauguration, but the hat never made it to the actual ceremony, for reasons mentioned by “birdson.”
First of all, I see that the opening post is 4 years old. Would the opening poster like to give us a status report on his dating? And if he is married, please be sure to report on your wife’s height. And if he is not, do you think that you are too fussy about women’s shoes, or height?
What struck me about the opening post is that the poster reported that he showered, brushed his teeth and put on clean clothes and a hat for his date. I thought nearly all of us do that every day, without creating an obligation on women to wear heels.
Re Oomis comment re stupid voters: I don’t think voters are stupid. I think the people who provide money to candidates are too self-interested to care about a candidate’s moral qualifications for office. Hillary has been running for 8 years (or maybe 21 years) and has locked up most of the campaign money on the Democratic/liberal side. Only Bernie Sanders and some guy from Maryland were willing to take her on.
Hillary is an acceptable candidate – but far from the best candidate – for voters holding liberal views, if we ignore her tenuous relationship with integrity and the truth. There are lots of people with liberal views who would be better presidents than Hillary, but none of them will win the nomination of the Democratic (not “Democrat”) party. So when I vote for Hillary, I am not being stupid, I am choosing between the only 2 candidates with a shot at winning the election, and despite all her warts, her likely policies are materially better than any of the nudniks likely to win the Republican nomination.
One more point on the opening poster’s wrongness: Midterm elections were not intended to neutralize presidential elections, though they can have that effect. But more importantly, in the last midterm election, and some others, Democrats out-polled Republicans, but gerrymandering gave Republicans more Congressional seats. So people are still supporting Democratic party ideas, but they are thwarted by the legal trickery of gerrymandering.
After the 2010 census results were in, the Republican party in many states did a very effective job of gerrymandering. The Democrats and others have recognized this, and they can be expected to be on their guard after the 2020 census.
To scared driver delight: Pay attention to your davening. In my nusach, after putting on tefillin, we read that we should treat others as we want to be treated. That applies even to the French.
Reply to Joseph: The Yeshiva system may have “worked” for the past 65 years, but will it work for the next 25? I don’t know, but I am skeptical. In particular, so many learners are coming out of Kollel with little or no skill in the high-earning professions that the supply of wealthy father-in-laws is in jeopardy.
And how many Jews have gone off the derech because they could not afford to live as frum Jews?
I have said this before, and I will say it again. Frum Jews have to recognize that their financial model is seriously flawed. Yeshiva education should be replaced by “free” public education, which is paid for by all taxpayers – including frum Jews who do not take advantage of what they are paying for. Jewish education should be conducted separately from secular education. That would radically cut costs. Part of the problem is that yeshivas support big portions of the frum rabbinate and frum educators, and a reduction in total Jewish education spending would hurt those currently engaged in the yeshiva business. Those people are undoubtedly a vocal opponent of frum use of public education.
I recognize that there are good reasons why a separate yeshiva education – including secular and Jewish education under one roof – is better, but poverty has its drawbacks also, and if frum Jews are to flourish, a better financial model is advisable.
Well, I think the opening post has given us a clue about the tuition crisis: a Rosh Yeshiva is a very wealthy person. Was it inherited money, or frugal living, or high compensation that made him wealthy?
Re EH’s first comment. Your comment – if it relates the US – is 40+ years out of date.
“Methinks” is the full name of the homemade “recreational” drug known as “meth”.
These jokes are almost as funny as Jew-jokes. And why did anyone want to revive a 5-year old disgraceful thread so soon after a terrorist attack on Paris?
I have a serious question: Should the wearing of a toupee be considered the fulfillment of the mitzvah of wearing a yarmulke?
What is the English meaning of the Yiddish (or Yinglish) word “haikus? I never heard the word before.