Pashuteh Yid

LAer, I know the fellow.

The Chazon Ish says that bezman hazeh we do not talk harshly to sinners, and certainly do not use any violence, but we try to be mekarev with Ahava. This is not a story, he wrote it himself in his sefer on Chulin.

Second, Remember that the Chazon Ish passed away over 50 years ago. Pants may not have been the norm for women back then, as they are now for many. Back then, people may have been shocked that such a thing existed. Now, most people probably have never known a time when women didn’t wear them.

Third, quoting a difficult gemara, and then insulting those who say they dont understand it or can’t believe it is completely wrong and underhanded. As others pointed out, even the gemara was not complimenting the father who did that. But even if he was, there is a Chazal that says kshem shemitzva lomar davar hansihma, kach mitzvah lo lomar davar sheino nishma. It is a chillul hashem to do so, especially if you yourself don’t understand it. If you can’t explain it in keeping with darchei noam, then better first figure out pshat before hitting someone over the head with it.

Like the Marines, the only permissible responses to a husband are either Yes Sir, No Sir, or No Excuse, Sir.

Aryeh Satt in the Far Rockaway area.

The title of this thread is Help With Biting Nails. I can help all of you bite your nails. I bite mine so well, they look like a perfect manicure, always.

I saw in the Artscroll Machzor in Tashlich that it says we ask Hashem to protect our children from illness and sheidim. Again, I have no idea what type of damage sheidim can do.

Reb Moshe, Even Haezer (1:69) last paragraph:

“But there is another issur for women from the din of Das Yehudis not to behave with pritzus from Kesuvos 72. But from this aspect, it is only when she alone dresses that way. But when it is the derech of all the women in her city to dress that way, it is not shayach to consider it as pritzus. And it makes no difference whether the original custom of that city developed because of intentional pritzus, since at any rate because it is the derech of their dress and walking around, one cannot consider it as an act of pritzus and to forbid it to them, rather from a derech chasidus for extra tznius, and they should be blessed (Tavo aleihem bracha).”

So Oomis is 100% right. A lack of tznius does not equate to pritzus. Note that most places in shas, tznius is used as an extra credit type of context. For example, the story of Hilni Hamalka in beginning of Sukkah which says that her sukkah was compartmentalized for extra tznius. The gemara orginally asked why a queen should have a compartmentalized sukkah, not a nice big open one. The gemara answers it is possible she had it for tznius. The gemara is not implying she is required to have such a sukkah, or else what was the hava amina.

As far as the story with my daughter, she had a skirt that everybody thought was fine, except maybe the pockets or zipper were in the wrong side, so I told her it was improper, because the camp list said that is wrong. (I was naive back then). She wanted to wear it. I made a big deal over it. Now I regret it, because how in the world did such a thing become halacha, and why did I aggravate my daughter and cause bad feelings between us over this. Of course there is nothing wrong with that. It just may not fit into the arbitrary cookie-cutter definition of what Bais Yaakov girls are supposed to look like.

Mosh, you have an amazing story, and it is unbelievable that you are able to write about it. Imagine such a serious operation leaving you able to function so well. It is literally a nes. May Hashem continue to watch over you and your family.

ICOT, thanks for the promotion. But my training unfortunately is mostly textbook and theoretical, but when it comes to actual home wiring, one needs shimush and real experience, and I don’t have that. Learning electronics and learning electrical wiring are really different skills. Knowing how to run wires through conduits and walls and boxes is something I know little about. But understanding what is happening to the elctrons, and interpreting the various numeric quantities is something I do have training in.

BTW, a while back we discussed taking out dimmers and putting in regular switches to use with the new compact flourescent bulbs to save money. WHile I never got around to installing the switches, I decided to try the bulbs anyway. They seem to actually work fine with the dimmer controls, (as long as they are all the way on). If anybody knows anything more, please share.

Just came back to this thread, and saw there was much action here for the past 4 months, all of which I missed, somehow.

As far as the problem with overloading a fixture (100 watt bulb for 60 watt fixture) ICOT is 100% correct. More current will flow than the system is rated for, generating more heat than the fixture is rated for, which is a fire hazard, as ICOT says.

Mod-80, that business of pulling electrons from the air is a very creative and radical theory, but I don’t think it is accurate at all. Voltage is what pulls electrons. How many get pulled as a result is the current that flows. It is true that a very high voltage can cause arcing which looks like lightning, but that cannot happen here. 120 volts or even 240 is not enough to cause arcing. If it were enough, then every time you turned a switch off, it would be a hazard, because the electrons would try to jump across the switch contacts. Every electric socket in your home, even if not used, would be a hazard, because electrons would try to jump from one conductor to the other. But even 240 volts is safe for arcing, so we don’t have to worry.

Whether you use a 60 or 100 watt bulb, the voltage is the same. a 100 watt bulb has less resistance in the filament, which allows more current to flow, and more heat and light to be generated.

Note that arcing is caused by a very high voltage which does rip electrons from the protons and neutrons of the atom. While air is a very good insulator until a point, it will break down in a high enough voltage. In your car, there are spark plugs for each cylinder. There is a transformer which converts a lower voltage to a very high voltage (I think in the tens of thousands). This causes elctrons to jump between the terminals. The resulting spark ignites the gas vapor and explodes in the cylinder, pushing the piston down with great force which turns your wheels via connecting shafts. Lightning is a form of arcing caused by high voltages in the clouds which develop possibly due to friction, like when you rub against wool and touch a doorknob.

I just want to clarify, that despite gaps in our knowledge, we have come a long way and that survival rates are much better than in the past. I didn’t want to scare anybody C”V with my previous post, that was not my intention. There is much room for optimism, and with the RBSH’s help, hopefully nobody will ever have to suffer ever again.

I also wanted to clarify that while Sloan Kettering does give everybody a number, and it is on all their records and printouts, it is to make sure that all one’s lab tests are not mixed up with anybody else. They barcode every vial, I believe, with one’s name, birthdate and patient ID. They constantly ask one’s birthday to double check. The number was never meant to dehumanize anybody.

Rabbosai, while davening is essential, I feel that in some ways, we could be doing more for cancer patients than we currently do.

The biggest problem in cancer, is that science really does not understand it fully. Some of the most basic things about the disease are not understood. Why do cells go off and reproduce out of control? What factors cause this? How do we target only the bad cells, and leave the good ones alone?

There is a need for much more research. One must realize that many oncologists are merely doing a fixed set of protocols that they have been taught. But the key in eradicating the disease is in identifying and understanding the molecules that are responsible. This requires research. I don’t see that many frum yidden considering research as a career. All advances come from basic research in labs, not from the doctor. He only does what the scientists and FDA have decided is the most effective treatment at the current time. (It is true that there are oncologists who are also researchers, and both see patients and work in labs.)

To say Sloan is bad because it is a research institution is not good advice. In the medical community, it is well-accepted that the best doctors and the best treatments usually are found at research and teaching hospitals. Sloan does a lot to make a patient comfortable, and is extremely well-organized.

To do research requires going to good schools and studying science on a deep level. One needs a good foundation for this. Yeshiva high schools need to fortify their science and math departments, and not suffice with merely being yotzei the minimum requirements. This really is pikuach nefesh, and I can think of no greater chesed than working towards finding cures for people who are suffering.

Zach, what exactly is the title or subject of your forthcoming book?

Basically, it is the RBSH’s achriyus in the end. If he wants klal yisroel to continue studying his Torah, he will have to give them the means to do so, or all the children will end up in public school C”V.

It is possible that if everybody would look out for the less fortunate, that there is enough money within the klal to support each child.

EDITED

Yehudaf, not Reb Moshe, who says even if the husband is makpid he can’t prevent his wife from wearing one. He also says that just because it looks like hair doesn’t mean it is maris ayin. Else, men could not shave with a machine, since it looks like a blade did it.

The source for tight clothing is anything but clear. I once saw it brought down from a Rashi in Masechta Shabbos about tying knots. They would lace up their garments or dresses instead of zippers. The gemara was discussing tying on Shabbos I think. Sometimes (maybe because of problem of tying on Shabbos) they would leave the garment tied. The gemara says a woman would not tie it too tight because then they would have to wriggle in and out of it, and it would take extra time to dress or undress. That would not be tniusdig. The gemara did not mention anything about while the garment is on the person it looks untzniusdig if it is tight. The problem was simply getting it on and off.

If anybody remembers the daf, please post. Also, if anybody has any other primary source for tightness being a problem, please post, as well.

Not everything that is attractive is untzniusdig. I mentioned orthodonture, as an example. Is getting beautiful teeth also a problem?

Telegrok, do you and your wife share the same YW account. I thought your wife once posted how she met you (at some singles function).

Just searched Wikipedia on Sabbatai Zevi and this is what it says:

“At age 22 in 1648, Sabbatai started declaring to his followers in Smyrna that he was the true Messianic redeemer. In order to prove this claim he started to pronounce the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew, an act which Judaism emphatically prohibited to all but the Jewish high priest in the Temple in Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement. For scholars acquainted with rabbinical, and kabbalistic literature, the act was highly symbolic. He revealed his Messiahship early on to Isaac Silveyra and Moses Pinheiro, the latter a brother-in-law of the Italian rabbi and kabbalist Joseph Ergas.”

Note that the year 1648 is 5408 according to Kaluach v. 3! That may be why he chose to reveal himself that year!

When National Wholesale Liquidators was in business, they would sell sheitels for $25.

Mazel Tov to all. I would like to start a kiddush thread listing all known kiddushes in the NY area. I love catered chulent.

(P.S. If someone can supply the secret, would appreciate it. Our chulent never comes out as good as the pros.)

Refuah Shleimaa and may everything go perfectly.

Think about this. In every halachic issue, there are many details about the best way to do it, and then ways which although are not the best, are still acceptable. For example, Tzitzis should ideally have 8 strings which are a certain length (kdei aniva), and 5 sets of double knots, with certain number of coils in between.

However, if a string breaks, it is still kosher, because the opposite one is still long enough. However, if two break, then there is a problem that they may have come from the same strand. If some of the knots come out, there is a possibility it may still be kosher, etc. One need not argue with his friend about what to do in even a complex situation, because the laws are laid out clearly in ther Mishna Berura.

In this case of the 3 shevuos, we have people debating back and forth on how much authority the UN has, and how many people need to make aliya at the same time to violate, and what is halachically considered a conquest. The mere fact that there is no shulchan aruch to turn to on these laws means that they can’t be in effect at all. How can an area of halacha which is no less complex than tzitzis have no details spelled out anywhere in shulchan aruch to tell us what to do lchatchila, and what would still be acceptable if we can’t do it the ideal way.

Do you mean to tell us that this particular area of halacha is open to everybody on the street to voice his personal opinion? Ella mai, it is not a halacha at all, but a hashkafic matter that tells us to treat our host countries with menschlachkeit. The founders of the State went through diplomatic channels and did everything possible to get permission from all the relevant parties. There was no mass rebellion of Jews. All the wars were defensive and pikuach nefesh situations.

But that is really irrelevant, since the State exists now, and is flourishing bsiyata deshmaya in both ruchnius and gashmius. I have written many times before on YW in great detail all the brachos we have seen from the Medina. So the only choice is now whether to embrace the Medina with ahava and try to be mekarev the leaders to become more Torah observant, or to teach our children to hate the State and all it symbols like the flag, and the anthem and to have the children learn that they live with an illegitimate govt which should be ignored and trampled on as much as possible. Even though they maintain the essential services which are needed anywhere like electricity, water, police, fire stations, military, economic policy to encourage growth, etc. In addition, the govt is elected democratically, so everybody can change any detail they don’t like.

How are kids supposed to be baalei midos when they are taught hatred and no hakaras hatov? Tell me, you complain about the lack of proper behavior of the founding fathers of the Medina. Well other countries have it a lot worse. How about our good friend England with the nice King Henry the 8th whose hobby was chopping off the heads of his ex-wives. In those days did the Jews living there not say the tefila for the govt of England? Did that make the govt of England illegitimate? Many rulers came to power by gobbbling up whatever countries they could get their hands on. We have said the tefila for the greatest despots in history because we were always good citizens in accordance with the 3 oaths.

So why not use your own logic to behave with menshlachkeit towards the present Israeli govt which despite their supposedly numerous sins, is probably no worse than any other regime in history. Even the USA probably did not treat the native American Indians in a fair manner when it was founded, and may have taken their land in some cases. Yet the USA has done much good, and has now tried to compensate them for any past injustices.

The idea of teaching hatred goes against all the Jewish values which are darchei noam and ahavas habriyos and hakaras hatov. The wild behavior seen among many frum youth is a direct result of this miseducation. It is completely abnormal and sad to grow up without feeling pride in one’s country, one’s town, one’s school spirit, etc. Especially if the government is that of our brethren.

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