Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
2N13 – don’t I KNOW it!!!!!!! 🙁
I am still waiting for egg and nut-free side dishes and dessert recipes, btw. ANYONE????
for people who brok – take a box of farfel and saute in some oil until toasted brown. Saute a large diced onion and canned mushrooms (if you use them on Pesach, some do not) in some oil, until golden brown and the onion is really softened. Meanwhile boil up some water and after mixing the farfel and onion mixture together in a pot, pour boiling water over it to cover, plus some extra water. Pour in a packet (and maybe another half or so if needed) of dry onion soup mix and mix well into the water. Cover and let simmer on very low heat until the water is all absorbed. The matzah farfel should be soft like a rice dish would be, but not mushy. If more water is needed add some a little at a time and check for doneness. This is literally my most-requested Pesach dish. That, and my marsala chicken cutlets.
Let’s realize that there are always people who do things wrong and try to justify it.”
Let’s realize that there are always people who do things that may SEEM wrong to other people, who may hold by a different hashkafa and sometimes fail to recognize that the first person’s hashkafa might ALSO be valid, according to his poseik. Saying that someone is doing things “wrong,” (when it is entirely possible it is permissible under HALACHA), is why there is a lack of respect. And to be fair, it is often on BOTH sides.
BTW I identify as Modern Orthodox. I fully covered my hair after I married my husband, I do not wear pants, short skirts (and at my age that would look ridiculous anyhow, so B”H for Tznius), short sleeves, or clothing that intrinsically screams for attention. Do I do some things “wrong?” Probably, as do we all. And that is why I ask my local Rov how to do things the right way.
The thing about poetry
That’s sometimes a curse
The writing most often
Goes from bad to verse.
I don’t like machlokess,
Of that I’m quite sure.
So please, no oneupsmanship,
’cause who’s keeping score?
We all seem to have
Much too much free time here.
Isn’t anyone in the CR
Making Pesach this year???
Contrary to all-too-popular opinion, being dan li’kaf zechus applies to those who are more machmir than you just as much as it applies to any other Jew”
It is unrealistic to think that people who are machmir (when solely halachically-speaking they have no reason to be), do not think they are just that little bit more frum. They do, and blind refusal to acknowledge that fact, is a little naive. And yes, I am personally dan l’kaf zechus on my more machmir friends in MANY ways, but I have heard enough judgmental comments come out of their mouths regarding people whom they deem to be less frum than they, to make me realize that this is so. And that is no sweeping generalization. However, I also acknowledge that your experience may vastly differ from mine, thus your own observations reach a different conclusion.
Shaatnez, fish and meat, drunk guys on Purim and an automobile. I could go on and on…
“But you must explain to the animals exactly why you are not feeding them.”
If I wanted to talk to the animals, my name would be Dr. Doolittle.
Some typos are historical…er…hysterical.
Actually the woman does NOT make the man. The Y chromosome comes from him. Without that Y, why, there is no man.
Once again, it is forbidden to own chomets. Feeding the chomets to an animal you do not own for the pleasure of doing so,
may possibly be called having benefit from the chomets.
but you can’t buy it in the first place, so feeding it to the animals may be a SECOND averah. I know you mean well, unlike some of the posters here, but you are just clouding a very simple issue.”
Ok, so let’s look at it from a strictly practical POV. Do you really want to risk getting grains of chametz on your clothing and hands on Pesach, even if it does NOT belong to you (and if it doesn’t, then by what right do you feed it to an animal that likewise does not belong to you?), and further risk bringing it into your Pesachdig home?
We are not allowed to buy chametz that was unsold by its Jewish owner (chometz she-avar alav haPesach) even after Pesach. So why do you think it would be permissible to use mamesh chametz ON Pesach, even if it belonged to a non-Jew? (If my logic is faulty, sorry, it just is coming into my head this way – too many cleaning fumes, I guess).
Bottom line – I wouldn’t want to take the chance of bringing even a dot of chametz into my home. Unless you are covered from head to toe in a disposable burka, it is very possible you will have chametz on your person SOMEWHERE.
at least in the eyes of those who don’t keep the Chumra.”
Seriously??? With all due respect, unless I misunderstood you your own statement seems to prove my point, if you yourself think the negativity is all in the mind of the meikeil. It isn’t. Those who hold by a chumrah typically tend to see themselves as more frum than those who don’t. It can cause problems with shidduchim, Sholom Bayis (when one spouse holds by a particular chumrah and the other one does not want to). Then, when the CHUMRAH becomes the ikar haDin in the minds of those who hold it, the actual Din becomes tafeil to the chumrah.
You may not get hanaah (derive any benefit)from your chometz on Pesach and that includes feeding it to animals.
Anyone have a kugel or cake recipe that uses NO eggs OR nuts(highly allergic toddler coming to us for yom tov)?
In my humble opinion, the danger of certain types of chumros lies in the reality that those who follow the Halacha, but not the Chumrah, are viewed by SOME Chumrah observers as being somehow less frum than they are.
I don’t.
Any family which can’t handle keeping gebrokts has much bigger problems. “
I know you didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I have two grandkids who cannot eat nuts (the seeds are not shayach for Pesach), and one of them ALSO cannot be exposed even a little to eggs. So my first two Sedarim days will include charoses with no ground nuts, no cakes, kugels, or mousses (forget about hardboiled eggs for Shulchan Areich), or any other item for which I typically would need to include those items. I also have a daughter who cannot have gluten, so even if I COULD make a cake, it is safer for it it to be non-gebrochts, so we avoid cross-contamination issues. With only one or two exceptions (noted below), I avoid the use of gebrochts in our traditionally-gebrochts-eating household.
My wonderful, sweet son-in-law (father of the two allergic kids)who is worth a million brochos to me, only eats Shmurah matzah the entire Pesach, so when they come for any portion of yom tov, unless I feel like making EVERYTHING twice, I only use Shmurah mehl and farfel (and then I have to really be careful because of the gluten problem from my other daughter). I make phenomenal farfel, like a rice side dish, but it is somewhat labor intensive, so where I used to make it in both Shmurah and non-Shmurah forms (and would give them the leftover Shmurah farfel to take home with them), now I will most likely only do the Shmurah, because it is just too tiring to do both these days. BTW, the non-Shmurah tastes SUBSTANTIALLY better, and I am at a loss as to why machine Shmurah matzah does not look and taste exactly the same as non-Shmurah, if the only difference is in the supervision of the wheat from start to finish. And it DOES taste very different, more like whole wheat matzah than typical boxed matzah. But that’s a whole ‘nother thread…
Bottom line, we do what we have to do for Pesach. But no one should be critical of someone else who DOES eat gebrochts. We should be delighted that so many Jews the world over OBSERVE Pesach. Even Jews who are frei, have Seder dinners, and though not the ideal, it still shows the pintele Yid in all of us.
It was just posted in today’s paper that the e-Cigs are now unquestionably unsafe for a variety of reasons, resulting in potential injury to the smoker and OTHERS around that smoker, including children. The sometimes flavored liquid used can be expelled accidentally, and when small children get a hold of them they are easily accessible to them and if ingested, are extremely dangerous.
My son worked there, as well, and it was a most meaningful experience in every way.
When I don’t know what to say, or if I do not know the niftar personally but do know the aveil, I will typically express my deep sadness for the pain and loss they are going through, and (in the case of parental death) that although I was not privileged to have met the niftar, I can see what a wonderful person he/she must have been just by knowing the type of children he produced. In the case of the loss of a child, R”L, there is simply NOTHING that can be said. Sometimes all that can be done is to sit and cry with the parent. NEVER EVER EVER EVER say, “I know how you must feel,” even if YOU suffered an equivalent loss. Each person’s pain is owned by him or her alone. None of us can possibly know what another person feels. We each perceive loss in a different way, despite our commonalities. Even two children who lost the same parent, do not experience the loss in exactly the same way.
“Oomis” is an affectionate form of Ema, which my oldest son gave me.
I will say sicere mazel tov, though I believe in taking a little more time than three dates (unless those dates were several weeks apart, with the boy and girl speaking or writing to each other in the interim, in which case I don’t consider it to be three dates).
I am a trusting person, perhaps naive at times, but I would rather be that way than always suspicious. I do believe, however, in kabdeihu v’chasdheihu in many instances.
A member of my family has celiac, and she can only have CERTAIN oat challahs or matzos, in order to make hamotzi. Some oat products are NOT gluten-free. It needs to be certified as such.
If your issue is waiting for an answer from one prospective until going out with another, I agree that that’s pointless. I think those who don’t go out until someone finishes working on a shiduch for them are being silly (if I’m understanding the scenario correctly).”
It is indeed, and your understanding of what I posted is accurate. Thanks for the kind words, btw. You and Golfer made my day, and it has been not so pleasant, otherwise, as I woke up with the flu and 102 degrees fever this morning 🙁
Okay, on the same note, why did the kitchen cross the road? “
Because he wasn’t chicken!
Except for disagreeing with the words, “by the way”, this answer is a very beautiful and proper answer. The rest of your reply, while certainly correct, I found to be somewhat insulting. What in the world does “my” question have to do with women in the world who don’t keep halacha and want to put on tefillin?”
Oops, I certainly did not intend to insult you, so if somehow my words conveyed an insult, I apologize. I did not mean to imply that I think you fit into that category, and don’t think I did so, but clearly it led you to feel that way, and I am sorry.
HOWEVER, in my vast experience (and I do unfortunately have a lot of experience with this), the women who typically claim “they want to be closer to Hashem” (and again,let me be perfectly clear I am NOT referring to you in any way, shape or form), nearly always choose to do so in ways that are inappropriate and geared towards the male chiyuv, when in fact they don’t bother to do the mitzvos that as WOMEN they are required to do. Why is it that these types of women only feel fulfilled by taking on the trappings of a man?
I answered your question (and the “BTW” was not an inappropriate expression, either, so I think you commented unnecessarily on that inclusion) and then I also editorialized, I suppose, because your post reminded me of the types of women with whom I have come in contact over the last 40-50 years, who DO fit my description.
I commend you for wanting to connect closer with Hashem in non-Tefillin-donning ways. Hatzlacha rabbah. I stand by my other chessed-type suggestions and saying Tehillim.
Not with Sweet and Low available by Gefen.
Member
Oomis, if your grandson has medical issues with food, has anyone spoken to a Rav to possibly get a heter for him to eat kitniyot? “
Takamamesh, I am pretty sure they know they could ask, but they don’t want to make Pesach even more challenging for us than it already is during the rest of the year. I would need separate places to refrigerate the kitniyos, a separate pot to cook it in, remember to NOT taste what I am cooking…etc. We just have to find other things he can and will eat.
The telemarketers who said there was a problem with your PC were not telemarketers, they were scam artists. I know someone who warned me about this because he ended up with a major computer virus as a result of falling prey to the scam. I tell everyone I know, if someone calls YOU unsolicited, just hang up, and CERTAINLY give no personal info out. Someone called me claiming there was a problem with my credit card, then proceeded to ask my card number and address. I told them YOU called ME about a problem – you should already HAVE that information!
D”Y and Logician, good answers.
There is something I remember about how each of the sets of three (until the final single makkah killing the firstborn, which was equal in intensity to all the previous ones put together)represented the same onesh, but in greater increments. So Dam, Arov, and Barad represented one type of avlah that the Mitzrim were punished for committing, Tzefardeya, Dever, Arbeh, another type, and Kinim, Shechin, and Choshech, the last type. It might be that the first set represented a change in nature, the next three were an affliction of noxious creatures, and the last three were plagues that afflicted the body, including the darkness that was so thick that literally it paralyzed all movement. I know I am saying this incorrectly or weakly, so if anyone knows the correct D”T on this I would love to have it.
Michlalah? Sharfman’s?
OurTorah… well said.
I have not heard anything about Rav Belsky. I read something about a R’ Rabinowitz in the OU. Go on-line to the OU Passover Guide and read up on this.
Suppose a woman really wants to put on tefillin in order to feel more connected to Hashem and feel more kedusha, is there something else that someone can suggest that would be equivalent to donning tefillin that doesn’t come along with such controversy? “
I have always believed strongly that women should connect to Hashem fully in the ways that THEY bring Kedusha into their homes,i.e., making Challah, licht benschen, and Taharas Hamishpacha. When they are 100% mekayemos these Mitzvos which were entrusted to them by Hashem, AND also raising the next generation of Torah-observant Jews properly, then I think they have room to seek further spiritual awareness, if they so choose.
The problem as I see it, typically is that so many of the women who claim to want to wear tefillin, daven by the Kosel in a Tallis (and disrupt the men standing there who have a CHIYUV to daven), and otherwise unnecessarily take upon themselves traditional male obligations, are NOT even remotely fulfilling basic Halacha as it is incumbent on women. If they were truly connected to Hashem in their own mandated mitzvos, they would likely not have the time to imitate men.
I am very thankful every morning when I say sheh asani kirtzono, that I was not born a man. I am thankful that when I was up half the night with a crying baby, that I did not have to go to shul in the morning, as my husband did, even though he might have also been up in the night with the baby at some point. I was profoundly grateful to have the privilege of bringing life into the world and then teaching my children how to make a bracha,say Krias Shema, help them with their homework, teach them how to prepare for Shabbos and yom tov, things which my husband did not have the time to do on a regular basis.
By the way, saying Tehillim is a beautiful way to connect further with Hashem. Doing chessed by visiting a shut in, or cooking for someone who has just had a baby, taking someone shopping with you because she can no longer drive, being a member of the Bikur Cholim that visit people in hospitals, are all things that we women can do, and on our own timetable, to boot. Is it really SO important to these women to put on Tefillin? Or is it simply their way of trying to make a statement?
I also don’t understand your “frustration” with the chumros of Ashkenazic Rabbanim. Do you think your string of exclamation marks will make them understand something they missed regarding chameishes minei dagan?”
Golfer, my frustration with this is that our chachomim saw fit to asser something muttar for reasons that make no sense to me, though I unquestionably accept that their p’sak must be followed. It is particularly difficult for me this year, in light of what I mentioned about my young ainekel who is allergic to all nuts, seeds, and eggs, or products containing even trace amounts. The only things he likes to eat that are permissible to him, are items that I cannot have in my home for Pesach, such as rice,peas, and corn. He doesn’t even like potatoes.
My earlier point btw was that potatoes also produce a flour that MAMESH looks like real flour at first, but the chachomim who originally DID want to asser it for Pesach, immediately changed their minds when they realized what a hornet’s nest they were about to stir up.
Our Gedolim knew then and know now what is chametz and what is not. But they assered stuff that even HaKadosh Boruch Hu did not asser or imply was like chametz. And that frustrates me at times in many areas of Halacha, to which we nonetheless adhere, whether we understand it or not, because that is what we are enjoined to do.
Corn, peas, and rice, have little to do with the Yetzer Hara, though chametz itself which comes from grains being “puffed up” absolutely is a great mashal for that. So I like what you mentioned about that.
Quinoa is accepted today by virtually everyone. Those who actually made the effort to inspect what it is, decided that it is not kitniyos, and if grown separately from wheat fields, has no chashash of being intermingled with grains. Ancient Harvest is a reliable Quinoa packaging company.
As aside to the person who does not like the taste because it is too bland – mix a packet of onion soup mix into the cooking water for it, saute diced onions and mushrooms (if you use them on Pesach), and add to the cooked quinoa. DELICIOUS. And I was NOT a fan, at first.
Even the OU accepted…” mean? Yes the OU accepted it”
What I meant was that until recently the OU did NOT accept it and they were very much against its use on Pesach. But now, even the OU has accepted that quinoa is NOT kitniyos OR chametz mamash.
I LIKE the flash mob idea!!!!!! Let’s hear besoros tovos soon. My son-in-law brought my daughter to the Vanderbilt Museum Planetarium, and then after the “star” show, he took her to the garden area there, where he has set up a dozen roses and champagne, and proposed to her in that gorgeous setting. It was Mother’s Day, btw, and my machetenista and I each got a new child for our present!
Yes quinoa is kosher for Pesach, but needs supervision. It is not kiyniyos. Even the OU has accepted it. As to the entire kitniyos issue – I am Ashkenaz and therefore do not eat Kitniyos, but I am frustrated at the chumrah that the Ashkenazic Rabbanim added to what is already assur as chametz. Hashem didn’t say, “If it resembles chametz, it’s assur on Pesach,” (if so, all the Pesachdig crepes and lukshen would be assur). He said there are five grains that could become chametz and they are assur. Why did our chachomim add to the burden by assering certain yellow and green vegetables, not to mention rice, which does not even grow in the ground, just because those vegetables can be ground up to resemble flour? So can potatoes for that matter, be made into flour (actually, the rabbanim WANTED to asser potatoes, but they would have had a major rebellion on their hands, as it was such a cheap staple of all Jewish homes).
I follow the halacha and minhag Ashkenazim, but I have never understood the rationale for this issur. To say something grows near a potential source of chametz – that I can understand. But if the item is kept totally clear of wheat fields, etc., what’s the difference if it looks like a grain before it’s cooked? It’s NOT one of the five assur grains!!!!! And quinoa is a great source of excellent protein, too.
BTW, off-topic, does anyone have good kugel or cake recipes for Pesach that are not made with nuts or eggs? I am going crazy trying to make a starchy side dish besides farfel.
I get the Kosher L’Pesach Sweet and Low). It’s one week, for goodness’ sake.
The Ashkenazic acharonim do not pasken that way.”
My Rov holds that we are. And we are not Sefardic.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z’tz’l ruled that a woman can read Megillat Esther for a man l’chatchila,”
Women and men have EQUAL achrayus in hearing the Megillah leining, l’chatchilah. Women have NO achrayus to put on tefillin. My understanding is that when one has a chiyuv in a mitzvah requiring both an active and passive participation (i.e. Kiddush, Havdalah), that person can be Motzi another person with the same chiyuv. But it has to be an equal chiyuv in order for this to be so.
WHEW!!!!!!!
My only issue with this personally, is that were it to become commonly accepted practice for women to don tefillin every day, there would surely come a time when the woman who does NOT put on tefillin would be viewed as somehow not frum enough.
You know, that reminds me of when the same guy threw up on my lawn twice in a row for two Purims. A real case of deja phew.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”.
Crazybrit – if at first you don’t succeed….
… stay away from skydiving.
My daughter-in-law (she and my son got married the day after my birthday).
Five minutes and none. I am simply myself.
I had a black page appearing with ads over every post that I tried to read yesterday – WHAT WAS THAT?????