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JayMatt, we have missed you.
Adam, I am totally with you. None of my friends wants a boy who does not earn a parnassah, for their daughters. They want boys who learn every day, but who are realistic enough to understand the concept in ein kemach ein Torah, and to recognize that not all parents are able to provide great financial support, even were they willing to do so. Hang in there. The right girl will recognize your worth. Clearly you have been dealing with the wrong shadchanim.
Working guys need to set their sights lower, say for working girls.”
Squeak, I am sure you did not deliberately mean that to sound as offensive as that line came off. Set their sights LOWER – a working girl is LOWER????? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that EXACTLY who the learning-all-day-in beis-Medrash-boys are marrying??????
If they could come back, it would be a sign Moshiach has come, and all these things would be most irrelevant.
Yeah, but then they’d have to PAY you…
Whar’s the difference WHO typed the post? The OP had a good question, clearly on his mind, and perhaps feels the need to ask anonymous people their OPINION. This is a forum of OPINIONS. In ALL cases, the OP and the party that is nogeya l’inyan are the ones who need to discuss this with each other. Perhaps he simply wanted some feedback for chizuk.
I put dry onion soup mix into my cholent, lots of minced garlic, LOTS of paprika,and last week I added a little (mamesh just a little, maybe a 1/4 cup) of dry wed wine, that I had left from a bottle. I made the cholent as usual, with soaked beans (no barley, because someone in my household cannot eat it), potatoes, cubed meat, chick peas, and the usual spices. It was to die for (B”H no one did!)
You could make chicken schnitzel in the fry pan, or take the same cutlets, pour tomato sauce (marinara works great) over them in the pan, add dried basil, a goodly amount of kosher salt, oregano, rosemary, a drop of sage, garlic and black pepper, plus some slivered green bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, and diced onion. Let it all cook until it’s soft and the chicken is done through. Perfect for Friday night.
Red is the only ketchup color that makes sense to me. Look what happened when Heinz marketed GREEN ketchup. If it ain’t broke…
I am disgusted by what I saw the NY (com)Post printed (I don’t get the Post, but saw it online). But I tend to believe that the active and obvious boycott or negative publicity will only stir up our sonim, to raise the old canard of “The Jews control the media.” Given the fact that such a statement is really intrinsically flawed, since if we truly DID control the media, we would never allow such a headline to be published, nonetheless, anti-semites need no help in their irrational hatred of Jews.
I would simply stop my subscription (if I had one). The power of the almighty dollar is stronger than we know. We don’t need to publicize it, but just to DO it.
I love it but you have way healthier taste than I do.’
R U JOKING??? What have I ever said to lead you to believe that I believe in “healthy eating”??? Just bring me some garlic bread, fried chicken, and lemon meringue pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (And I would love the recipe for the rice kugel). BTW, before anyone warns me about my clogged arteries, I was kinda joking about the above (well not about the rice kugel… I really do want the recipe).
What’s the difference? An inch of snow, ten feet of snow, I still can’t walk in it.
Anyone have a really nice rice kugel for Shabbos? I am looking for one that has the “deli” rice kugel feel to it. There is a hint of lemon and/or almond extract in it, but it is fluffy and yummy.
Syag, to prevent the noodle problem, cover the pan with foil during baking. The top will stay fine.
Trivial Pursuit, Headbandz, Blurt, are three games that we love.
Refuah shelaima to your choleh. Bikur Cholim is amazing, and the chaplain should be able to set you up for Shabbos. Many hospitals have a Bikur Cholim room for such overnight guests. And now is a good time for your neighborhood to pull together on behalf of your kids. Don’t be shy to ask for help. And people reading these posts who see such a need in their community, please don’t WAIT to be asked. OFFER your help in a concrete way.
If I heard a pointless joke, I would smile and say, “Keep your day job.” If it was offensive, I would ask them why they thought it was funny, because I didn’t. If I just didn’t get it, I would possibly ask them to repeat it or explain it to me. I have a good sense of humor, I think, and typically DO get most jokes. I am a Pun-loving fool, and appreciate most forms of humor. I am NOT one who finds it funny when someone slips on a banana peel, BUT I can laugh at myself (and frequently HAVE to).
This is my last remark, G-d willing, on this particular thread, because I think it has run its course. Having a firm opinion is not always the same as the smugness that one sometimes feels while having that firm opinion, and that smugness that SOME feel IS arrogance. Perhaps you don’t see that. OK, I don’t blame you for that. Apparently though, enough people HAVE experienced that sort of attitude coming from someone else who superficially appears “frummer,” to the point that it bothers them very much.
In my humble and honest opinion, no one is right to demonstrate that he feels he is a better Jew than another person. Only Hashem Gets to Decide that. It’s not menschlech, and it makes the other person feel diminished. Some people react to this type of behavior by “mocking” the frummer-looking person, which is what this thread was about to begin with. I think that THAT is just as wrong. No matter what our level of observance is, we have a mitzvah of V’ahavta l’rayacha kamocha, and this is NOT the way to achieve that middah. I really am out of material, now. We need to start a new thread. How about “50 yummy ways with p’tcha…”?
Thanks for the update. Refuah shelaima to both those precious girls.
Hatzlacha rabbah – so nice to read some good news!
Those poor parents, nebech. They take a child to have tonsils out, and this is what they are now facing???? Horrible.
Oomis, in some cases that’s just being intellectually dishonest.
What you’re really saying is that we should turn our brains off”
Dy, if THAT’S what you are getting from what I wrote, you misunderstood literally everything. I certainly do NOT feel that way; mamesh l’hefech! read what gavrah-at-work posted recently. He states it very well.
We cannot and MUST not ever turn our brains off. What we would do well to do is accept that we alone are not the ones with the correct frum observance, thus qualifying, or better yet, OBLIGATING us to feel sad for everyone else, because we know for a fact that they too, could be so much better (if only they would do what WE do). It is an arrogant assumption. Likewise, let me state FTR that it is equally arrogant for someone who is a little more to the left of that (but still Shomer Mitzvos k’Halacha), to look negatively at other guy who chooses to hold by more machmir standards for whatever reason. Some people like chocolate and some people like vanilla. As long as the ice cream is kosher, it still makes a delicious sundae.
HaLeiVi, kol hakavod to you (not being sarcastic). What you think and what you know, are not necessarily what others think and know is THE important thing to do. As long as you recognize it is important for YOU and not necessarily for anyone ELSE, then I am in total agreement with you. But as soon as someone even unconsciously feels that THE important thing for HIM to do must also be important for everyone else on the planet, as it sometimes ends up happening, it creates a feeling of superiority.
We can’t help it. We are human, and there is a nugget of gaivah in us that makes us a little smug when we see people who don’t drink cholov Yisroel when we do, or who use an eruv when we don’t, or don’t hold by the later time of Motzai Shabbos, or who go by the OU hechsher and not a “heimish” one.
It is an endless list of things people can feel better about themselves for doing, while feeling others are in the wrong. And someone who claims not to feel this way, might be proved to being not honest with himself, as soon as a shidduch is recommended for him with someone who doesn’t hold by his derech.
I think we are not going to resolve this point, because we both come from different mindsets, and you do not view things as I do, and that’s fine. I can appreciate your view. I would feel more resolution in this issue, if people adopted the attitude that their mehalach might be better for them personally, because it speaks to something that they feel they need to work on in themselves, but not because others are doing something that is l’chatchilah not proper.
“In Hebrew we count in base ten. After yud=10, we have kof=20, etc. Then kuf=100, etc.
Posted 20 hours ago #
DaasYochid
a singular mind
The Torah uses base ten – asarah, esrim, shloshim, etc. “
Excellent points!
Gryff Girl – I can top that. I looked at a tuna can and decided NOT to open it.
If one has a problem with this, there are other Yeshivahs, I guess. I personally don’t think it’s a great idea, but my opinion matters very little. This is their policy v’zehu.
my policy is live and let live. “
What a coincidence, NDGSh! So is mine!!!
But by your bringing that up as a conflict, you are, subtly and unintentionally (I say unintentionally because I do indeed respect you), doing exactly what you are decrying. You’re looking down at those who dress a certain way and keep halacha a certain way based on stereotyping it as being associated with poor being adam l’chaveiro.”
If you got that impression, perhaps I was a little unclear. I know I was careful to say “SOME people” (please re-read what I wrote), specifically so as to NOT imply what you inferred from my words. Would you agree with the statement that SOME frum-looking Jews who are extremely makpid in certain areas that may or may not be halachically required at all (and tend to believe and show that they feel that the rest of us are not quite up to their level), sadly are not likewise makpid in other areas which ARE halachichally required, as opposed to some of their chumros (that they come to view as Halacha, but which are not)?
Second, you answered – “Don’t tell your kids that their actions are just as good as yours. If their use of riding toys is 100% acceptable, why wouldn’t yours be? Tell them that it’s muttar, that those neighbors are 100% shomrei Torah, but that we feel that this degrades Shabbos.”
My kids are grown, and they also believe that it is simply not in keeping with the spirit of Shabbos to allow children to ride on the street on toys that would be assur to them when they are a little older. So am I on a higher madreiga for NOT allowing my kids (or grandkids) to do this? From MY standpoint it is not halachically proper to do such uvda d’chol. I was taught by more Modern Orthodox parents compared to these Yeshivish families, and no one in my childhood ever allowed their kids to touch a bicycle on Shabbos, much less actually ride on one. So if you are saying it is 100% muttar (though not for me), I will take you at your word for now (though check with my rov), still not let the kids use their riding toys in the street, because it resembles chillul Shabbos too much, and still not hold myself frummer than they are. I certainly do not think of them as anything less than ehrliche, frum Yidden. BTW, if I were to tell my kids “this degrades Shabbos,” that is actually a definite put down of those people who are in my eyes, degrading Shabbos.
When you say that there are things that are halachically and hashkafically better, are you not in a subtle way implying that Ch’vSh the halacha that Hashem Gave us, is somehow lacking in something? I don’t know, but I would feel better (apologizing for being a little repetitious)if the attitude were more, “I need this in order to strengthen my own avodas Hashem,” and not that this is a better Halacha or Hashkafa (and therefore EVERYONE should be doing it, in order to be better Jews).
As to the music issue, until our Daas Torah collectively tell us that music is assur (and perhaps we should also not listen to birds chirping – I am not being facetious – because that “music” makes me happy), I will continue to listen to it, to enjoy it, and feel a little sad for people who deny themselves that pleasure in life, because to them, it is a better way of serving Hashem.
Do we not say Ivdu es Hashem b’simcha?????? Did that change with the Churban? What’s next, we stop drinking wine and eating meat? Ein simcha ella b’vasar v’yayin…(hope I quoted that right). So I’ll keep listening to and singing the music and not feel less frum for that. There are so many ways in which we can enhance our Avodah, and we SHOULD. But not at the expense of believing we are more heilige than someone who doesn’t subscribe to our own particular enhancement. That borders on gaivah, IMO. Just sayin’…
I guess this is an issue which will push a lot of buttons here, and I personally am glad that we can talk about this like menschen.
Algor, very interesting. My friend was known in E”Y as Nili, for Netzach Yisroel Lo Yeshakeir.
BTW, as long as we can keep this dialogue on a respectful level, I hope the Mods will not close it. I think it’s very important.
“And what if someone feels that everyone should be careful? Maybe it’s not an issue of personal weakness, but the way one feels any Yid should conduct themselves”
DY (and I respect what you have to say, even when I disagree with some of it), you have also proved my point.
What right does ANY Yid have to judge that some other Yid who is unquestionably FOLLOWING THE HALACHA (because if he isn’t, then there is no argument), is not being sufficiently careful??????? THAT is an arrogant attitude that many otherwise frum Yidden have. It IS sancimonious, it IS divisive, and definitely leads to mocking, if not outright sinas chinam.
Just because YOU (or any other Yid) might feel you need to act a certain way, dress a certain way, daven a certain way, hold by a certain hechsher etc., does not invalidate the ways that other frum people (again, WHO ARE FOLLOWING THE HALACHA)live their lives.
There are Jews who believe we should NEVER listen to any type of music since the Churban Bayis Sheini. Do you listen to music? If so, those Jews think you are not careful in your level of observance, and that THEY alone are the ones who are careful.
I don’t happen to hold by their Hashkafa, which they are entitled to believe is the right thing. But the second they make me feel like they are smug in the knowledge that THEY alone have the universal clue and direct line to Hashem’s Good Graces, I have a problem with their thinking.
Some people who are brought up a certain way, tend to view others as somehow lesser, for not adopting all of THEIR personal chumros. It’s not fair or proper, at least when dealing with people who are shomrei Torah u’mitzvos. And btw, there are some people who appear “frummer” in their dress, their beards, their hechsher by which they hold, the Yeshivahs to which they send their kids,etc., but are sorely lacking in middos bein Odom l’Chaveiro, i.e., in their business dealings, how they act in Shul,their loshon hara etc. in my experience. BTW, all those aforementioned traits are ALSO mitzvos Bein Odom LaMakom, which many of us tend to forget. Being a mensch is a double chiyuv, both to Man and Hashem. So are they frummer than other people who hold by the hechsher you don’t, but might be very “careful” in their masah umattan, their tzedaka (that it should come from legitimate earnings), their kovod habrios?
Hashem really determined the length of the day. We only discovered how to measure it, through observation of the changes in the sun that take place during the course of that day.
I don’t know why my being careful should bother you. “
HaLeiVi, it’s more the fact that by making that statement, you are now implying that the OTHER guy is NOT being careful. See?
Had you said, “I don’t know why it should bother you, when I personally demand more of myself than I really have a chiyuv to, because it strengthens me in my Avodas Hashem, and that is something I feel I need,” I would not feel you were expressing feelings of superiority at all.
It’s too new for me to tell you.
HaKatan, I respect your opinion, and strongly disagree with you. That’s ok – you have offered opinions in the past with which I do agree. 🙂
oomis, its an issue whats going on with the clothing nowadays. its an attractive lifestyle to dress certain ways and if it goes against some BASIC torah values, the last resort may sometimes be making fun. laitzanoosa davoidah zara is a real thing. im not saying you shud say it to the guys face or about a specific person but MAKING FUN of these things to ones children is a useful tool in showing how crazy some wrong actions are. “
OYOYOY, I don’t know where to begin. Basic Torah values are not the question. people who follow BASIC Torah values ARE doing the right thing. I get the sense from what you posted, that you subscribe to the belief that basic Torah values are NOT basic. And to teach one’s children to make fun of these things, is IMO, not such a wise middah for a parent to teach a child.
I always taught my children when they observed certain behaviors which I found negative (even if not oveir on a mitzvah per se), that this is not how WE in our family behave, although some other mommies and daddies feel it is OK for their children to do so.
I’ll give you an example. I am not Yeshivish, but in my life I NEVER allowed my kids to ride on riding toys in the street OR in the house on Shabbos. We taught them from day one that there is certain behavior that we do during the week, and certain behavior that we do on Shabbos, and that we don’t want them to do weekday things on Shabbos.
My neighbors, very lovely young couples who are all Yeshivish, allow their young kids (below bar-mitzvah age, but even close to it)on Shabbos, to ride on toys that look like cars, trucks, tricycles,scooters, etc. It frankly shocks me, but apparently is not assur. These are all choshuveh people, some of them from the homes of Roshei Yeshivah. I in my non-Yeshivish household, would never have even thought to allow kids to ride on toys that resemble muktzeh item, just for chinuch ALONE, even if not technically an issur.
But I would never make FUN of these families, much less make fun of them to my CHILDREN, just because I have a different hashkafah. Maybe MY hashkafa is a chumrah, and my kids could have all along used those same toys on Shabbos. I have no charata on the chinuch part.
Even if someone is chas v’sholom mechalleil Shabbos, you should not make FUN of him. There is a difference between teaching your kids what you feel is the right thing to do and what you expect of them, and teaching them to disrespect another person, who does something else.
Perhaps you didn’t actually mean “make fun of” but rather to be pointing out that we do things differently, and in our opinion the other person is not doing what the Torah teaches us.
So the next time you hear someone do that, ask him/her if they realize what they are saying. If not, you would do them a kindness to let them know that what they are saying is nivul peh in English. Maybe they will stop saying it. If they ARE aware of the meaning of the words they are using, or that it is offensive language, and they choose to use it anyway, you can expect them to probably continue, even if you express your dismay.
Hebrew is the only language that in and of itself has NO nivul peh. All the scatalogical expressions uttered by some Israelis, are Arab or another foreign language, in origin.
I have no issue with people who adopt chumros. I respect them, IF they recognize that their chumros are NOT the Halacha, and do not hold themselves as superior simply based on the fact that THEY hold by chumros. Unfortunately, some who are very machmir tend to view themselves as better Jews, based on how many chumros they follow. And that, IMO is why so many people have negative feelings when they see so-called “frummer” people.
I don’t care if you want to only wear black with no color whatsoever (even the “permissible” ones). I DO care, however, if you look down on ME because I AM wearing colors. I care if you think you are more frum than my son because he likes to wear colored shirts and socks (anyone see the Shadchan letter in the Flatbush Jewish Journal last week, and the responses to that column? No, it was not my son, but the girl’s mother’s attitude AND the Shadchan’s made me very upset).
I said it before and I will say it again. NO one should mock anyone, but especially not anyone who is a Shomer Torah U’Mitzvos, even if that person does not subscribe to your personal Hashkafa. It is arrogant, it is sinas chinam, and most certainly is not “frum” behavior.
It is true that we all pray and wait for the return to Zion.”
I did indeed read that. That does not mean we should not continue to do so, while at the same time appreciate the fact that there is a Tzion to return to, thanks to Hakodosh Baruch Hu, and His shlichim, who helped to rebuild the Land, whether or not they fit our religious criteria. BTW, many of THEM spoke Yiddish, too. Not all Yiddish speakers are frum people. But I understand your point.
Hope you are feeling better, RebDoniel. Gutt voch, everyone!
I made the MOST delicious roast beef for Shabbos. It came out like the best caterer’s prime rib. I just heated my oven to 450 degrees smeared some oil on the roast followed by lots of kosher salt, black pepper, minced garlic and paprika. Put it in the oven uncovered for about 20 minutes, then reduced the temp to 325 and roasted it for several hours. O M G!!!!!!!! I don’t typically make meat this way – I normally cover the pan and usually there is some type of liquid in the pan as well (i.e. wine, water, duck sauce, etc). then I bake at 350 until it’s done. But this was phenomenla and got me lots of compliments.
I look forward to trying it! – 29
I was taking issue with your suggestion that “we’re all Zionists.”
I guess we will agree to disagree. Unless you do not love E”Y ( and I believe you do), you most certainly are a Zionist. Politically speaking, clearly not. Intellectually, perhaps not. Emotionally, hashkafically, and religiously, we are ALL Zionists, Tzionim, or at least we are supposed to be.
Am Yisrael will always be Zionists, wherever we are, as long as we are connected to the Land. You don’t care for the treifeneh Medinah? OK, I can understand that. But our every thought is supposed to be directed toward Tzion and Yerushalayim, and that is what I mean when I say Zionist.
Shabbat Shalom (or Gutt Shabbos, if you prefer that).
the dough can rise indefinitely if the flour has elasticity. if it is cracking than I am guessing that it is too stiff to expand. more oil could make it smoother and stretchier.
Try this (and don’t over-flour the dough, as well)if you rise it too much, punch it down AGAIN, knead briefly, rehape, and re-rise, keeping closer tabs on the time. Dough can be punched down a few times and allowed to rise again.
I cannot speak for all of us, but I certainly do not feel that I’m connected to that movement, and I suspect there are many others here who feel as I do. “
You are correct – you cannot speak for all of us. There are many here who are Zionistically oriented, just as there are many who might not be. I can listen to each side’s point of view, though I respectfully disagree with yours, if it is so adamantly against modern Zionism.
E”Y is made up of a most eclectic group of Jews (and some non-Jews). The secular Zionists broke their backs and were moser nefesh to fight against our enemies, rebuild E”Y and turn it into the oasis in the desert that it is. Hashem enabled them to do this, and it is because they did it successfully, that so many YESHIVOS now flourish in that oasis, where all our sons and daughters have been zochim to be able to learn.
Whether or not we agree with their secular lifestyle (and of course I do not), THEY step up to the plate every day, they serve in the army, they protect our Israeli brothers and sisters, and they were not afraid to get down in the dirt and plow the land to make it fruitful. It was on their backs that E”Y was reborn after WWII. Hashem ENABLED that to happen. And BTW, whether you are a fan of Herzl or not, he still deserves props for founding that Zionist Congress, even where he erred. It ultimately led to Israel’s emergence as the Jewish State. None of this happened in a vacuum and without Hashem. Ideally we would want to see a Torah-oriented country, a Theocracy. But first we needed the physical country. Now we need to work on the spiritual country.
Obviously this is all my own opinion, and you have every right to disagree with me. But I truly believe that if we are ever to see Moshiach in our lifetime, there are some minds that need to open up a little, to accept and value ALL Jews, even when they are secular, and recognize their contributions to Klal Yisroel.
DaMoshe +1
No one should make fun of anyone. Period. But people who do, tend to comment on the “frumkeit” because they feel that the frummer- looking person IS judging them. And that frummer-looking person often IS. Re-read some of the posts on this forum, and you will see that this is often quite true. The Cholov Yisroel posts are very revealing. And let’s not get into tzniusdig clothing (well.. yes.. let’s get INTO them… but… oh you know what I mean!)
Hakatan- your mention of the word Chashmal (in what sounded like a pejorative sense because the “Zionists intentionally chose it,” and are we not ALL Zionists????) led me to look up its etymology. This is what I found:
“Most people know that ???? (chashmal), the modern Israeli Hebrew word for electricity, was coined by Yehuda Leib Gordon. His inspiration was Ezekiel 1 and 8 which used this word to explain what the appearance of some kind of brightness was like. What does the word actually mean? The Talmud gives two interpretations (Chagiga 13a-b) ???? ?? ?????? and ???? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ???”?. Both of these are wordplay describing angels of some sort, and their activity. Neither of these are particularly useful as definitions in the sense that unless you’ve seen ???? ?? ?????? then telling us that a brightness looks like them isn’t so helpful…
… The ma’aseh bereshis and ma’aseh merkava are correlated with natural science, and in the course of it he refers to kabbalistic terms which are forces of nature, one of which is chashmalah…
Gordon himself thought that the term could even be extended in yet another compound wordplay, since ???? could also be thought of as a compound formed from ?? ??, the first meaning “quick” (as in Isaiah 8:1) and the latter stemming from ???, or word. In other words, quickword, or telephone (or perhaps telegraph). Obviously ???? was only accepted for electricity.” I hope this clears up your neagtive feelings about the origin of the word. It seems to be stemming from Tanach, even though ti was coined by the (oooohhhhhh) “ZIONISTS.”
Why you feel the need to use the expression “l’havdil” when speaking of Ivrit and Loshon Kodesh, I do not truly understand, but regardless of our differing viewpoints in this area, if you believe HEBREW, the language spoken by our people in SOME form and which we understand today, thousands of years later, to not be Loshon Kodesh, then you must SURELY also believe that Yiddish most certainly cannot be.
Whatever the situation is or is not, may this child have a refuah shelaima b’soch sh’or cholei Yisroel. Let’s not quibble, but better, use the time more productively to daven for someone else’s child, who needs a refuah and yeshua b’korov.
Even if the biggest rasha were to be the vehicle through which Hashem decides to help someone (meaning, that because of this doctor, people’s awareness of the situation is greatly raised and perhaps another doctor then could step in, or something like that), then it is worth it. In any case, I am sure the RBSH”O will make His cheshbonos about the doctor. I hope this little boy’s life is spared. I cannot imagine the pain his family is going through, and we have something similar going on with people very close to me now, so I am wholly empathetic to the need to find refuos out of the thin air. Please, let’s not argue about this amongst ourselves. Our opinions are not the important issue right now.
oomis – I’m sensing sarcasm? Or do you actually not know what Wikipedia is?”
Of course I do – I simply could not easily sight the site you cite…
(I did now, though)
for what its worth, the religion that follows this guy, all its branches, celebrate easter in the spring, not the winter, because they disagree with this teretz.”
It became a “thing” to celebrate this time of year, because pagans were being brought to the faith and this was the time of their winter solstice. This helped them bridge their old practices with a new belief. How a TREE ever came to be a symbol for their holiday makes no sense. Was there an evergreen or fir tree growing in Beis Lechem?
“A minhag was definitely established not to learn Torah on certain nights that coincide with non-Jewish events.”
Golfer, as was pointed out, there were serious and very compelling reasons for taking this precaution at that time. And since we all know that merely recommending something to someone for his own good often results in his doing the very opposite, perhaps that is why the rabbanim made it de rigeur to refrain from learning on this night, as opposed to suggesting it as a matter of safety (I never heard of it for any other Goyishe holiday). Clearly, this holiday was one when Goyim got very drunk and VERY vengeful. B”H we live in a country where people can learn Torah to their hearts’ content, without fear. perhaps in Europe today, this may still be a problem (I don’t know much about this, to be honest), but in the USA, it is no longer shayach. Baseless fear should not keep us from Torah.
Many people stayed in their own homes during last year’s Superstorm, despite the repeated warnings that it was unsafe. Sometimes, a temporary mandate HAS to be made, in order to ensure the safety of some people. But once the threat is no longer a threat, why should they blindly continue to follow that mandate, when there is no Halacha to do so? I can only say again, that my Rov holds that when we stop learning for ANY reason (except an immediate and present threat)out of fear of the Goyim, then the Goyim win.
147. Mock all you like, but TODAY this is absolutely possible!!!!
WIY,, yes, I did consider that. I wonder if the Nazis would have done the same.
My former Rov spoke about the breaking bread (literally) issue. Paroh would never eat with Yosef, because he knew him to be a Hebrew. Lamb was not served in the palace, being that it was their god. So the idea that lamb would have been eaten by the brothers makes no sense to me. Paroh would not have allowed the lambs to be slaughtered, cooked, and eaten by “vermin” like Hebrews. That’s what made the putting of lamb’s blood on the mezuzos of the Jewish doorways such a defiant act, in yetzias Mitzrayim. Jews were slaughtering their god, and they were helpless to stop it.