Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Glad that you are ok, thank God for that.
Personally I would definitely bentch gomel.
The term “ainan nizokin” refers to demons (shaidim),and not to terrestrial objects.
Thank you for this article and the other one too. It was very informational and balanced. It is interesting that the Ramban, as would be expected , retracted his halachic position when he heard contrary objective, reliable, non rabbinic evidence from a knowledgable source. Equally interesting, and very curious, is the Chazon Ish’s well known refusal to consider archaeological or historical evidence or recently discovered old manuscripts exhibiting different girsaos or historical evidence. The Chazon Ish seems to have been extaordinarily mistrustful of the reliability of the sources, and even more so, the potential for abuse of the information garnered.
I suggest looking up an Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and reading it carefully. In it are relatively simple explanations to the misunderstandings prevalent on this subject. Furthermore, like all scientific disciplines, one cannot compare knowledge from 150 years ago (Darwin), to what is known today.
There is nothing in the Torah that negates scientific fact, nor can there be. Science and faith do not contradict each other. Parshas Breishis is not a technical manual on “How to Create a World”, and should not be used to prove or disprove science or evolution.
Although no one claims science knows everything, or much at all, I haven’t seen anyone refuse to board an airplane because aerodynamic theory is only scientific theory and not fact. Nor does anyone demand an old generation antibiotic that doesn’t work anymore due to resistance developed by evolving bacteria. Accept facts when they clearly make sense.
Speak to an evolutionary biologist, read the readings, and then draw conclusions. Minimal knowledge on a subject is not a good recipe for truth.
P.T.
You insulted me,be ashamed of yourself. Don’t bother responding, I will not answer you.
1. I quoted Rav Salant zt”l, not Rav Shlomo Zalman zt”l
2. Ten people gathering in Eretz Yisroel does not create a communal obligation to read be’haaloscha
3. The Chacham Tzvi paskens one day yomtov for all, as does a modern day godol, Rav Amital shlita. There are many others who agree.
4. The Chazon Ish paskens that a ben chutz la’aretz puts on tefillin on Isru Chag.
5. There are seven days of Pesach in Israel, not eight.
I fully understand the desire for an Israel minyan, and I certainly understand this Rav’s psak, as it is in tune with the general drift of the last thirty years. But I think it is a very wrong psak.
The parsha this week in America is Nasso. Period. Any other kriah, a communal obligation, is the wrong kriah. Period. To lein the following parsha with a minyan is leining the wrong parsha.
The same applies when Americans come to Israel for yomtov and make minyanim as if they were in America. They are reading the wrong kriah and davening the wrong tefilah, this is Israel and not America. Furthermore, it is a slap in the face to the people of Israel when this is done. The Rav of Yerushalayim, the saintly Rav Shmuel Salant zt”l was vehemently opposed to this practice. Unfortunately, the tides have changed, and now one can come to Yerushalyim on yomtov and think he is in Flatbush. I think it is wrong, but that is the reality.
So, I oppose looking for this Israel minyan, but I am in the minority, and I hope that you find one.
Many of the posts here have brought out very valid points.
Essentially, there is no need for two consonants or vowels if the two sound identical. Hence, letters like sav, samach, sin, must have sounded different from each other at one time. So too with kaf and kuf, het and chaf and the like. Some groups, all of North African or Oriental origin (syrian, egyptian, yemenite)distinguish between these sounds, although these differences are inaudible to the untrained Anglo-Saxon ear. What we are left with is what we were taught as children, and that should be good enough. A little tolerance goes a long way.
As far as accenting the proper syllable, it seems that at least several hundred years ago, the Hebrew language as davened with or as learned with among ashkenazim, moved into a “mil-el” pronunciation. SHAbbos, TOrah, LUlav, SHOfar are all accented mil-el, but proper grammar would demand mil-ra, as in shaBBOS, luLAV, etc… Consequently, it is extremely common to hear all types of ashkenazic Jews, misnagdish and certainly chassidish, accenting mil’el as opposed to mil-ra when they daven. Is it grammatically “correct”?
I say, no, it is not, but so what? They know what they mean, God certainly knows what they mean, their intentions are pure, that’s the way they were taught by erliche yidden, so lay off, it is perfectly fine. My only exception would be when the misplaced accent changes the meaning of the word, a famous example coming up in Parshas Balak, “Ki lo NAchash be’yaakov” needs to be read mil-el, as NAchash means “magical incantations”, which is pshat in the posuk. To read it naCHASH would mean “snake”, which is clearly mistaken .
I spoke several times to a world renowned professor of the Hebrew language, who is also a phenomenal talmid chacham about this issue. He basically laughed, explaining through numerous examples that language is and always was dynamic. Pronunciation of any language continuously changes over time due to a multitude of factors, and therefore there is no such thing, nor can there be such a thing as a “correct” pronunciation. Everyone’s minhag is legitimate;sfard, syrian,teimani, hungarian, litvish, yekke, you name it. Live and let live, and don’t use it as an exclusionary tool.
I was hoping to avoid entering the fray, but I feel I must.
Mamashtakah wrote:This whole discussion reminds me of soemthing a friend told me over Chanukah. She has family who live in Kiryat Sefer. One of the little kids, in Gan, came home with a picture the class had colored in school. The picture was of the Chashmonaim fighting the Greeks. The Chashmonaim – with swords and shields – were wearing suits and (presumably black) hats!
I once delivered something to a family in Kiryat Sefer. I have a typical Jewish Ashkenazic face and build, and am of Lithuanian origin.I have a beard. I wear a kipah. I wore a light blue shirt and dark blue slacks (Dockers). The young boy who answered the door asked his mother if I was an….ARAB. I asked the young boy if I looked like an Arab, to which he replied, ” yes”. I finally figured it out when he pointed to my clothing. Only the Arab workers wear colored clothing.
If you are physically able to pick up a phone, call the person and ask if it’s ok for you to use his service. If he says yes, use it. If he says no and you still use it, then all the halachic discourses in the world will put you at best in the category of naval birshus hatorah.
If you don’t pick up the phone then you are already at best a naval birshus hatorah. Is that what your yiddishkeit is all about? Relying on a possible halchic technicality to do something you know should not be done?
Wearing a hat and jacket all the time is the uniform of a sociologically identifiable group, the yeshivishe velt. It announces what club they belong to and nothing else. It’s not halacha, there’s no “inyan”,it doesn’t indicate their midos, their level of Torah learning or their spiritual status. It’s just a uniform, like boy scouts. All hassidic groups have their own distinct uniform which separates them from others. There is no value in the uniform itself, it’s solely a means of group-identification.
I have no doubt that Shlomo Hamelech was very knowledgable about what existed or was known in his time. Perhaps he had ideas that technology could not deal with at the time. So did De Vinci, Jules Verne, and many others. That’s all fine. But did he know quantum mechanics or chromosomal crossover in genetic recombination? Of course not, nor did he need to.
Whoever wrote that Shlomo Hamelech “knew the science behind all these inventions” must have lived recently, in the past hundred years, when all of “these inventions” were invented. He couldn’t have lived before , he would not have known which inventions he was talking about . I believe then, that whoever wrote such a thing had no basis for claiming this knowledge for Shlomo Hamelech. He made up this pseudo-fact because it fit his hashkafah that a long time ago, the leaders of our nation knew everything that could be known in the universe. But that claim is baseless and unnecessary, and in my opinion, destructive.
One can disagree with me, but the nasty epithets are out of line, and I expect that to stop.
It’s time for a different point of view.
Chazal never knew more than the science of their times. Not in the time of the Beis Hamikdosh, nor the Tannaim, Amoraim, Rishonim,nor any time before or after.
Neither Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, nor Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, nor Rashi,the Chofetz Chaim nor anyone else until modern days knew quantum physics, could design a spaceship, perform neurosurgery or anything else that some creative people here ascribe to them. These inventions did not exist then and no one, no one, knew about them. Chazal were holy human beings and they ate and slept like everyone else. They were not magicians, nor sorcerers nor warlocks, nor clairvoyants. They were holy people and provided the basis for the continuity of Judaism, and that is where their greatness lies. If someone wants to believe that Chazal were closet Harry Potters, that’s their prerogative, but it’s not part of Judaism, nor should it be.
Kudos to Rabbi Haber for telling it like it is.
Unfortunately, the system is far from ready for his proposals.
I remember when Rav Shteinman Shlita came out with his reluctant support for the Nachal Chareidi. He was immediately, and I emphasize, immediately, ripped to shreds in the chareidi press and in numerous vicious pashkvilim which made him appear like an archetypal hater of Torah.
Say it.
After all, if you are talking to the Almighty, then talk TO Him, not ABOUT Him.
I wish you much hatzlachah wherever you live. I’ll just gently remind you that if you have left Eretz Yisrael, you are already Out Of Town.
To all my critics, who are well-intentioned but painfully ignorant:
The tefilah for parnassah is found in almost every siddur. It is mentioned in the Yerushalmi Brachos, and is brought down by the Mishnah Brurah, OH 1, note 13. It is to be said EVERY DAY. This tefilah, as all others, has a dual intention. One, to ask for something from God, as we do in Shmoneh Esrai. Two is to acknowledge that all things come from God. He will decide whether to answer our prayers or not.
A segulah is not a prayer. It is not a tefilah. To call the tefilah for parnassah a segulah is misleading. Saying it today is no different than saying it yesterday or tomorrow. It may be nice to say it today if you need it, but then say it every day.
Chalav stam is kosher.
To Joseph, please let us know where this Chasam Sofer is that mentions Jews being physically different than non-Jews. Thank you.
I request a rabbinical source predating the modern era (before 1800) that defines or describes this vague concept called “hishtadlus”.
Thank you
not really in my nature, but squeak pushed the button.
What’s the difference between a rottweiler and a mother in law?
After you’re dead, the rottweiler will eventually let go.