Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
In Pesachim we read of a case where a Jew shares property with a non-Jew, and the gemara says he should minimize his bedikah, so that the non-Jew should not suspect him of doing keshafim (withcraft).
In our days, one must realize that for many reasons (which may have nothing to do with us, and more to do with Islamic misbehavior) religion has a very bad rep. I personally believe, although I am not a Rabbi, and you must consult one, that any practice which has the slightest possibility of making us look primitive, boorish and superstitious should be discontinued, especially when many poskim hold it is darchei emori in the first place.
We must realize that only 7% of Jews are frum these days, and we have lost 93%. We are not doing well. When the nonfrum see certain practices that offend them, they make total ridicule out of our Torah C”V. I know this first hand, having met these types. This was one of the reasons the Reform movement began, not necessarily because they didn’t want to keep mitzvos, but because they were totally embarrassed by the way the Jews were perceived by the outside world.
In my lowly opinion, we must make the utmost effort that everything we do looks appropriate, and we dress and act 100% neatly and refined, or we make a terrible chilul hashem. Perhaps we would be better off using money.
Joseph, does that include taking two wives, divorcing a woman b’al korchah, doing yibum instead of chalitza, becoming a glutton, eishes yifas toar? There are things in the Torah which are a reshus, and not obligatory. There is a concept of naval birshus hatorah. Just because the Torah permits something, does not mean it recommends it in any way. The same was true of the mayseh meraglim. We had permission to send them, but it was no mitzvah to do so.
A person can elevate himself above the bare minimum, although the Torah does not obligate him to do so. Each person must decide based on what he considers his role in life. If being a vegetarian would leave him with insufficient energy to do certain types of chesed, then he should probably choose to do chesed, and not go vegetarian. However, if he feels that he can function OK, and wants to be kinder to animals than what is required, that is also praiseworthy.
Just heard a shiur from Rabbi Eytan Feiner on this topic, and he said that whichever way one holds on this issue has support from the TOrah. It is interesting that he quotes Rav Kook as saying that in the 3rd Beis Hamikdash there won’t be animal korbonos (I hope I got this right, someone please verify), as things will return to the state of Gan Eden. There were a number of gedolim who were vegetarians, and the inyan of simchas yontof and oneg shabbos is not a halachic problem.
The heter after the flood was either A) because the earth did not produce the same beneficial vegetation as before, B) because people got weaker in general and lived much less time C) The earth tilted on its axis and seasons began, causing the world to get very cold at times, and meat was beneficial for energy.
Certainly there is some mussar value in not wanting to hurt another briya for food, if avoidable. I personally am not a vegetarian, but I cannot fault one who is.
Muchcommonsense, while that is a sad story, and certainly could happen, one side point is that it has been my experience, and that of others, that very often when women rave about a particular girl’s looks, guys will unanimously think she is unattractive. I am not disagreeing with you that one must see the other qualities in a spouse, and looks alone are not the make or break of a marriage (usually kindness is), I am just pointing out that often women have no clue how guys perceive looks. It sometimes works both ways, a girls can be considered great-looking to guys, but think she is too fat, and go on a dangerous diet which turns into an eating disorder that makes her look emaciated, sickly and terrible, thinking that is what guys are looking for.
Women should never offer opinions on women’s looks, neither about themselves or others, as they are usually very poor judges. I believe that this is a major cause of eating disorders.
It always bothered me, shor shenagach daled vhei, efsher I can hear a shor was nogeach one or maybe two, even three I could hear, but daled vhei is just too much. What does he have to do it for?
Why don’t all 3,000 of us YW readers all pay a surprise visit to Joseph and Jent.
Have posted many times that the Chazon Ish said that was only for the generations of Pinchas where the RBSH’s hashgacha was apparent to all, and Zimri’s act was total and clear rebellion. Nowadays, harsh words and violence are totally forbidden, and only ahavas yisroel is permitted.
Much more important to finish mesechta bkius. You need the yedios. Just read that Rav Shach advised the same thing. People who only learn b’iyun, after an entire year will complete only a handful of dapim, and then start to get depressed over how little they covered, and will forget even the little they learned. Divrei torah aniyim bmakom echad vashirim bmakom acher.
Was told by a physician that if you try to drink extra water before a fast when you are not thirsty, you will excrete it all and then some shortly thereafter, so not a good idea.
Liddleyiddle, the individual who was addressed by the YWeditor above for using multiple screen names has posted numerous kannaishe statements. You may easily verify.
YWeditor, thanks for pointing out the owner of multiple user names. I was getting very upset at the chareidi world in general because of the level of kannaus here on YW, and was losing faith in the entire movement. I now believe that the extremist posts are mainly one or two individuals who want to stir up fights and excitement, and try to appear as the majority. I continue to believe that most chareidim are sincere and only want to quietly grow in their learning and avodas hashem and ahavas yisroel, and it is only a few hotheads who give the rest a bad name.
I think the harsh words towards Givemeabreak are uncalled for, even if we disagree. I am sure the RBSH is much more upset by harsh words than any slight to the minhag. The RBSH does not suffer from any ego issues.
I know that niggun very well, although I think you mangled the Russian. I made sure to learn the words from 2 separate Russians so I would sing it right.
By the way, what about
Nye zuriche chlopsi
T’shto snami budyet
Mipoyedem na karchonki
Tami vodke budyet.
Somehow I don’t think a Russian niggun would go over too well for an Israeli anthem.
Squeak, a koifer for trying to suggest reasons for black and white? The koifer standards have really dropped precipitously lately. May have something to do with the stock market.
Actually, if you look at pictures of the gedolim of the early 1900’s they do not appear to be black and white. One reason why you may have thought they were black and white is that color film didn’t exist then, and all the pictures were in black and white. Did the gedolim have special extra-frum grass and trees that were grey and not green? I don’t think nishtaneh hateva applies here. I think it is just an artifact of the black and white film.
I hope I am not a koifer for thinking that the trees in Reb Chaim Soloveitchik’s town were green.
Itzik, how about one of the Chabad niggunim, like ay ay ay ay ay.
Mariner, I think 5 is way too many. I like to eat 2 huge meals, and feel really full for many hours. I am no expert, though, I just know what works for me, although I could probably lose a few pounds. I was only trying to give ideas on how to eat as little as possible without feeling hungry at all.
When I was young, I was quite skinny, but I noticed once they get married, almost all men put on some weight. I don’t know whether it is the wife’s cooking skills, (or maybe the lack thereof, which drives men to the cookie jar).
I think when you are young, you naturally move around more and have more energy which burns calories. When you get into the thirties and forties, you become more sluggish. That is why it is essential to force yourself to exercise. See the running thread for more info.
Some of my kids seem to be able to eat three meals a day of cookies, and not gain an ounce. This metabolism thing is quite a mystery.
A talmid chacham once told me that whatever time you invest from learning when you are young to keep yourself in shape and thin, will pay off in more learning time when you are old, since your body will be healthier, and you will need to spend less time at doctors. While we can’t ever be sure of that, as only the RBSH knows, it seems to make sense. We must take care of our bodies, and not let them go to pot.
One also sleeps deeper, and may end up needing less sleep to feel rested, when in shape. After a long run during the day, one simply collapses into bed that night and wakes up refreshed the next morning.
While I cannot change the boys, however, just wanted to share some thoughts on weight loss which may help. Dieting does not work, since people need to feel full and satiated. It is important to eat right, and also enjoy it. One needs to take into account how full a certain food makes you, but also how good it tastes. Calories and fat content are not the whole story. For instance, one might decide to eat better by munching on some boring cracker. One can eat and eat almost a whole box, and still not get a geshmack. However, possibly one donut may give one a geshmack and has much less calories than a whole box of crackers, even though officially the crackers are supposed to be healthier. That is because taste plays a major role.
In general, protein makes one feel very full, and this is also a big part of the enjoyment of food. Feeling full means one won’t get hungry for a long time. I just happened to look on a jar of Rokeach whitefish and pike gefilte fish, and each piece has only 50 calories. That means one can eat 4-5 pieces and feel stuffed, and yet only consume 250-300 calories. One will not even want to look at food for a long time after this. I find that eating a big breakfast, means I can skip lunch. Also, if you eat supper late then you won’t get hungry again at 10 or 11 pm, and start raiding the fridge. Try to eat as late as possible, then you will go to bed on a full stomach.
Vegetables are important lchol hadayos, so eat a lot of those. ALso rice seems to make people very full, and doesn’t have much sugar.
The big no-nos are ice-cream, milk shakes, chocolate or strawberry milk drinks, because these have tons of fat and sugar, but don’t fill you up at all. If I have delicious ice cream sundaes in front of me, I can easily eat 20 of them, since how would I know when to stop? I will still be hungry after all of them.
They say that fish is good for you, and also chicken, but red meat is not so good. Eat tuna packed in water, but don’t squeeze out all the water. This will make it taste good and moist wihtout too much mayo which has a lot of fat. On the other hand, low-fat mayo tastes horrible. Better to use a little regular mayo and enjoy, then the low-fat stuff, and still feel like you didn’t enjoy the meal. Same is true with many low-fat or lite foods and salad dressings.
You can get delicious chicken cutlets and nuggets from Of-Tov which only require a bit of microwaving for a good meal.
French Fries and potato chips have a lot of fat, and also don’t make you feel full. That is bad news. However, I am not against all carbs, and see nothing wrong with a bagel or two for breakfast. I am not totally against fat either, as a great dish can make you go a long way, whereas a more healthy dish can sometimes make you eat 10 of them without any real enjoyment from the meal.
For drinks, use 1% milk. They say to use skim, but it tastes horrible. 1% can taste as good as regular after you get used to it. However, for things like cream cheese, the low-fat stuff tastes terrible, and if you are only using a little as a spread on a bagel, might as well enjoy it and buy the regular. Same with butter, as long as you don’t overdo.For fleishigs, use 1/3 orange juice and 2/3 water. After a while you will get used to it, and it is not bad. Also cheaper, too. Diet drinks are controversial how much they help lose weight, and whether they are not safe. I think since they do not raise blood sugar, you end up eating more at the meal, and may not lose much weight in the end. Some may disagree. Regular sodas are terrible, as they are loaded with calories, and they use corn syrup as a sweetener, which I have read that the body does not recognize the calories from it as well, and you may drink a lot without feeling content
If you can get by with 2 meals a day, a big breakfast, and big supper close to bedtime, and not snack at all in between, that is the best thing.
Exercise is crucial. Not just going through the motions, but real heavy-duty continuous exercise. I prefer running. If you can do an hour straight 3 times a week, that is very good. It also curbs the appetite, and you also end up drinking more, and wanting food less. The best thing to drink is water, or the dilute OJ.
The name of the game is to eat so you feel full, not hungry all day, but no snacks or eating out of boredom or whatever. If you need an occasional candy bar, then at least get one with a wafer and nuts so it fills you up, and is not just pure chocolate. You have to know what you enjoy, because you will not be able to force yourself to diet and be hungry, or to eat very boring bland foods. You will then find yourself binging out totally out of control.
I am not a professional nutritionist, and am not the skinniest toothpick either, so I can relate to liking good food, but my weight is relatively decent. Just providing some advice that makes sense to me, and that I can mostly follow without cheating. I think that nutritionists need to better understand the tradeoffs between satiation, taste and calories per serving. It is not as simple as it seems.
SJS, it is because some people are too focused on chitzonius, rather than pnimius. The RBSH doesn’t care one hoot what colors one wears, or what kind of yarmulka. It is just a status thing (albeit a fictitious status).
The only lshem shomayim is if a person thinks that he is too attractive, and is afraid of his yetzer hara so he deliberately needs to dress like a yeshivishe shlump in order to control it. Maybe there are some sincere cases like this. (I think the chassidim deliberately dress that way for this reason, so completely out of style that it keeps the yetzer hara in check.) Many others just like to follow whatever the crowd is doing, even if they have no idea why. It helps them feel like they fit in. My 4th grade daughter wanted crocks for the same reason, her friends had them. People have posted here that if one dresses differently in yeshivos, then people may call them a “Harry”. Since, of course, nobody wants to be called a Harry, obviously you will wear black and white. The Shulchan Oruch teaches us how bad it is to be a Harry, and even says that a Harry has no chelek in Olam Haba. (Hilchos Harry.)
The down side of dressing like a shlump, is that it may turn people off to yiddishkeit, and be a chillul hashem. I seem to remember that in Chofetz Chaim Yeshiva in Queens, they were very makpid to dress well, and even shaved during omer and 3 weeks on Erev Shabbos, but please do not quote me or rely on this without verifying.
Itzik, just briefly, why in the world do you take it as a given that chareidim should have other options besides kollel or army? Granted, if a boy is learning, then possibly one can argue that the zchus Torah protects the state, and he should not have to serve. So the state gives him the kollel option (Toraso Umanuso). You now want to come along and say that even if a guy is not learning, but is wearing a genuine black hat, that is also a valid reason for him not to serve in the army, and he should be entitled to all the benefits and opportunities of those who do shoulder the burden? (Black Hat Umanuso?)
The solution to chareidi poverty is very simple, then, according to you, just go to the army, and make a nice living afterwards. As far as Lo Matim, I do not know anything about this status, but I doubt that if the state paskens Lo Matim with regard to some individual, then that indivdual is ineligible to go to college or work. Certainly would not make any sense or be fair. (Same for individual with a physical disability who can’t join army, I highly doubt that he is not allowed to go to college or work for the rest of his life.)
Itzik, Don’t know what you mean by alternative national service, but do know that chareidim even reject sherut leumui for women. Not logical that govt would do anything to keep chareidim in poverty, since that is a financial burden for the state. They have been scratching their heads to come up with ways to make chareidim more financially self-sufficient. Chareidi poverty bderech hateva would seem to be due to their refusal to learn limudei chol past 8th grade. I don’t know too many jobs these days that do not require a high school education. The good-paying ones require college, as well.
GiveMe, there is a mishna in Kesuvos 72a about Das Yehudis and also sources in Brachos regarding Ervah for krias shema and davening. Aside from the basic halachos, there are additional medrashim which praise various aspects of tznius. However, some of these may be extra-credit, and not m’ikar hadin.
I run 4-5 miles 3x per week, but not competitively. I have read that it is actually good for the knees. It is also good for the heart and lungs and general well-being. Even the Rambam writes it is important to get exercise.
At first, I could barely go around the block without getting out of breath. You gradually build up, and it becomes second-nature. Have been doing it for probably 15-20 years now. One of the most important things is to find a route that you enjoy. This way you will pay attention to the scenery, and not think about any discomfort. I hate running on treadmills or tracks, because they are boring, and all you think about is how much time do I have left. Finding a path around a lake or pond or park is very pleasant. I do not like running in the cold, but I have forced myself even in single digits. You need a mask hat to cover entire face, and a jacket with a hood to go over it. You also need a warm sweatsuit in addition, and a good pair of gloves.
Much nicer in warm weather. Go during day, as you can trip and get hurt at night, and it is also warmer then.
Itzik, you and many of your type are utterly confused. On one hand you claim we should have thrown out the tzorerim, meaning you believe the state should be running the land of Israel (even with a heavy hand), on the other hand you believe it is illegitimate and should be dismantled, and certainly never should have been founded. This is certainly a schizophrenic argument.
As far as making a million Jews non-frum, note that the Zionist movement started in Europe, and the leaders were already non-frum long before the state existed. What does that say about the chinuch system of that time in Europe? The haskalah and the reform emerged long before. (I personally believe that it was because there was not enough ahavas yisroel among the various groups even back then, which caused people to go off the derech.)
Gavra, of course nobody is saying we should strive to be secular, what we are saying is that we will be maalin bakodesh as we bring back more and more of our lost brethren to Torah and Mitzvos with ahavah gemurah. The way to start is to stop knocking the secular, and to befriend them and give them a yasher koach for what they have done.
It is also time to be makir tov to the founders of the state for their hard work, and to those who gave up their lives for it.
Imagine when we have a siyum hashas, and we need to reserve the halls, and arrange for the speakers and the transportation, and the tickets and all the myriad details. It takes years to plan one of these. When we have a chasuna, it takes weeks of planning and hard work to insure that everything is taken care of.
We can’t even be masig how hard the founders of the state of Israel worked to set it up. How many world leaders did they have to contact? How many meetings? How many arrangements? We are talking about setting up a country, not a one-night simcha. They needed to set up an army, to work the land, to run wires for electricity and phone, to set up hospitals, to establish an economy so people would have work. You can’t possibly imagine how hard it was for these workers, all for the benefit of the klal.
Finally, the founders were willing to fight and give their lives for their cause, so that the next generation should have a better life.
It is the biggest shanda that we give the founders of the state no credit, when we fill up pages and pages of credits and thanks and acknowledgments in the Daf-Yomi Siyum program guide to the audio people and video people and organizers and caterers and all of the shtadlanim. (I am not in any way minimizing their work, just trying to put in perspective the infinitely more complicated business of setting up a state.)
It is childish already, and goes against the Torah’s fundamental insistence on hakaras hatov to continue to deny the founders of the state the credit that is due them for their unbelievable efforts on behalf of the entire klal. It doesn’t matter what your hashkafah is. The state was founded for the whole klal, and we all benefit, not just Chilonim, not just Modern, not just Litvish, not just Chassidim, not just Ashkenazim. Every single group of Jews benefits.
Thank them for their work, the excuses are ridiculous already. They reflect an immature sore-loser attitude, more than any rational approach. Because I was against the idea to begin with, but I was overruled, I will continue to thumb my nose at your state, even though I am much better off with it.
Time to shake hands.
Joseph, this has as much relevance to today as the fight to make Yiddish the official language of Israel. Why don’t you cite all the strong language used by the people who burned the Rambam’s works, and forbid learning Rambam today? Why don’t you cite all the strong language used by the Vilna Gaon against the Chassidim (their leaders should be put in stocks [those wooden things with a hole for the head and arms]), and assur all the chassidic movements today.
This is exactly what we mean when we say you will end up on the wrong side of history. The battle is over, the state exists, it is flourshing, and biggest surprise of all–rather than diminishing Torah learning, it has enabled it on a scale not seen in all of golus. The fears of that Marienbad convention were unfounded, and the state is the best thing ever to happen to the klal in the last 2,000 years. It is time to be modeh al haemes and be makir tov to the RBSH, instead of holding on to ancient conventions and pronouncements of an earlier, bygone era.
Keep burning those Rambams, Joseph.
Hill of Beans, Wow, I didn’t realize the British are back in the King David Hotel. Let’s get those good ole Haganah and Irgun guys on their case real quick.
Lifkuda tamid anachnu tamid, anu anu ha-Palmach.
(Come on, march along.)
Givemeabreak, I am sorry but this is an exclusive club and we have far more applicants than we can handle. On page 2 of this thread, I outlined the application process. Only the most outstanding are selected.
Good luck, and contact us if you need any assistance with the process.
LessModer, keep in mind the following fact when you post. You will not succeed in turning the hearts of the yidden away from their beloved state. However, you may succeed in turning the hearts of yidden away from the gedolei torah.
LessModer, whatever makes you happy.
Lessmoder, any writings about Zionists that were written before the holocaust are null and void, as the Jews at that time had nowhere to go. ALso Rav Zevin says that the shalosh shevuos, one of which is that the non-Jews should not subjugate the Jews too severely, became null and void with the holocaust, since they did not keep their end of the deal. It is total foolishness to try to turn back the clock. Listen to the recording of the Bergen Belsen survivors singing Hativah with all their heart 5 days after being liberated on Wikipedia. They were not singing the Neturei Karta song.
This is also a beautiful rayah to Reb Shlomo who says on his record Uvnei Yerushalayim that if you asked one of the 6 million on the way to the gas chambers what are you thinking about, he will say I am thinking about Yerushalyim. Sure enough, right after being liberated, the survivors were singing about Yerushalayim, just as Reb Shlomo said. If you can listen to that recording without tears, than perhaps it is time for a spiritual checkup.
The Hamon Am were desperate to go back to Eretz Yisroel. This is normative yiddishkeit. Anti-zionism is simply an extremist fringe movement. As much as you may try, you will not be able to turn the hearts of the Jewish masses away from their beloved state. You can post all the kannaishe writings you want, it is all irrelevant to the reality in the hearts of the yidden. Plently of gedolei Torah were pro-Zionist, as well. The state exists and is flourishing. Despite the efforts of the anti-zionists to make yiddish the official language, it didn’t happen, and is not going to happen any time soon. Not that yiddish wasn’t a gevaldig chapter in Jewish history, but this is a new era now. The same with anti-zionism as a whole, it is going nowhere. You will end up on the wrong side of history.
Instead of knocking your heads against the wall trying to undermine the beautiful edifice the RBSH has given us, why not work on ahavas yisroel to bring back our lost brothers by showing them genuine yiddishe warmth instead of negativity. DO you really enjoy knowing that you have a negative, dark, dreary hashkafah, instead of a positive bright, simchas hachaim that will make you dance with joy at the fact that we are in control of Eretz Yisroel, and have seen a kibbutz golyos with our own eyes as the neviim said. We have built Torah citadels, and a first rate economy and military and health care system, and top universities all with the RBSH’s help. There is so much to be thrilled about. It is a nebach that you anti-zionists have no simcha other than to post one-hundred year old, negative, outdated rhetoric, wishing that one day the state will go away so you can feel vindicated. It is such a sad way of life, but whom am I to suggest you can do much better for yourselves.
Sarah, RabbiofBerlin was only addressing a post strongly, and did not insult the poster. By contrast, he and others including myself have had an entire thread calling us pro-freikeit, and requesting that we be banned. We have been called apikurism, and afra lpumeih (dirt should go into his mouth). There is simply no comparsion. Berlin was upset because he believes that Itzik is misrepresetning the Chabad position. It is one thing to be anti-zionist, but quite another to attribute that to the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
On that topic, all the heads of state of Israel would regularly go to the Rebbe for advice and brachos. They would not do that to chassidic groups that were anti-zionist, would they? Did they regularly visit the Satmar Rebbe? It is a reinvention of history to say this. The Lubavitcher Rebbe was a hawk politically, and to suggest that he did not hold of the state, or get great nachas from it, and tried to insure it remained strong is total nonsense. Sure, he would have been happier if it were frummer, and nobody knows how he would have reacted to Gush Katif, maybe he would have prevailed on the heads to stop the withdrawal, but this is all speculation.
All the taxi drivers and pizza shop owners and barber shops have pictures of the rebbe, and he was revered by the average man in the street for his love of all Jews and the country as a whole.
Thank you, Feivel. The sentence Avinu Malkeinu Shlach Refuah Shleimah Lcholei Amecha does not need any vort. The words themselves should pierce the heart, and hopefully Hashem’s heart.
Wikipedia has a BBC recording from 20 April 1945 of Jewish survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp singing Hatikvah, only five days after their liberation by Allied forces. (The words sung are from the original poem by Imber.) Listen to it, it is unbelievable.
Is anybody a bar hochi to denigrate something that was cherished by the kedoshim?
Chunchie, you need to change your name to Crunchie.
Here is full text from pasted from Wikipedia, sorry it is a bit garbled. It is pilei playim that a secular yid could write something like this.
Hebrew Transliteration English translation
?????? ???????? ?????????, Nefesh yehudi homiyah, A Jewish soul still yearns,
????? Refrain
?????????? ????????????, Hatikvah hannoshanah, The ancient hope,
???????? ???????? ????????, Yizzelu kegeshem nedavot, Flow like benevolent rain,
????? Refrain
????? Refrain
??????? ???????? ????????; Bekol hamulah yippolu; With tumultuous noise fall;
????? Refrain
?????? ???????? ????????????? Uvein charvot yerushalayim And among the ruins of Jerusalem
????? Refrain
????? Refrain
????? Refrain
????? Refrain
??? ???? ????? ?????????, Et kol achad chozeinu, The voice of one of our visionaries,
???? ???????? ????????????! Gam acharit tikvateinu!
Yanky, well said.
The words of Hatikvah are beautiful, but the melody is one of most deep and soul-stirring pieces of music in the world. (It seems that some of the melody may have older, possibly non-Jewish origins, but that doesn’t take away from the metzius.)
It reflects the yiddishe yearning for the geula, even by the secular yidden.
Believe it or not, if you look at the full version on Wikipedia, there are stanzas that talk of tikkun chatzos!
Since it was sung by many who were moser nefesh to give their lives at the gallows for the nation, it is hallowed by kedoshim like Dov Gruner and Feinstein-Barzani, etc.
The kedusha of the whole nation comes through. Such beautiful words to such a beautiful uplifting melody bespeaks the RBSH’s hashgacha. It didn’t happen by accident.
Chacham, The only change in Sammy I have noticed is that he does not post very much.
Havesomeseichel, nobody has any problem with people who are extremely sincerely frum. The problem is with people who have nothing better to do with their time than to knock others. In the secular world there are people with personality issues who are bullies. In the frum world, sometimes these same types find a great justification by convincing themselves that they are lshem shomayim which they think gives them a license to bully others.
The greatest midah of all is anivus (humility), which leads directly to ruach hakodesh.
I know plenty of chareidim who are sincere and eidel and have true ahavas yisroel. These types are quietly learning and growing and probably do not post. Unfortunately, there are a few who use frumkeit as a way of justifying their gayvah issues and give all the rest a bad name. I doubt these phonies are more medakdek bmitzvos than the groups they criticize. It is just noise.
That is beautiful. Whatever you tell her will be fine. Use your heart.
I never met any chabadnik whos puts down the medinah and other Jews. Something is fishy here.
Mdlevine, what is the maylah of this method over the conventional method?
Itzik, you are right that Hatikvah has some problems. Fortunately, I have corrected them, as below, so it is now 100% kosher:
Kol od balevav pnimah
Nefesh yehudi homiyah
Ulfaatei mizrach kadimah
Ayin ltzion tzofiah
Od lo avdah tikvateinu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim
Lihyot meshubadim
Tachat habavliim
Tachat haromaim
Vtachat hayishmealim. (Sing last lines with great feeling.)
Very funny, Itzik.
Don’t forget to buy a kibbutz hat (kova tempo?) and a pair of binoculars so everybody knows you are a tourist. Buy some olive-wood camels to bring home.
If you are going to eat falafel, make sure it is from a reputable and clean place, or you may get one of the worst stomach aches ever.
Torah is nimshelah kamayim. It flows to the lowest places. Anybody who thinks I am better because I got into an “elite” school, is almost guaranteed that the Torah won’t even penetrate one iota into him. It doesn’t matter at what age.
Gavra, you ask well. There is a complete difference in the time when the RBSH’s hashgacha was geluyah lakol and we were all completely confident that he was running the show for our benefit. Then, as the Chazon Ish explains in hilchos shechita, any aveiros were open rebellion against what was known by all to be true and good.
In our days, writes the Chazon Ish, any use of harsh words will only be interpreted as violence. (Al achas kamah vkamah, violence itself is forbidden.) It will only drive people away. They do things wrong because they either don’t know better, or may not believe in the entire system. Unless you are prepared to first make an open mofes which thoroughly convinces them of the emes, then you must understand that we are living in a time of hester panim, and can only be mekarev through ahavas yisroel, and have no right to impose anything by force. Why in the world should some yid listen to a stranger who says this is the right way to do things? Who can have the arrogance to force his way on a stranger?
Our only selling point is that we show him how there is such an overwhelming warmth in shmiras torah and mitzvos, that he will on his own want to learn more about this wonderful way of life and eventually may decide to become frum.
It is a totally different tekufah now. All this gayvah from kannaim is completely inappropriate and only turns people away. I myself, having been frum all my life, and even consdered myself chareidi have been getting nauseated and almost turned off completely by all the harsh words I have been reading on this site the past year. Imagine how a newcomer must feel.
Note further that even in the time of chazal, they said that even once in 70 years was too much for any beis din to give a din misa.
True there are psukim that say the RBSH gets angry. But there are also those that say he is erech apayim. He do we resolve? We simply look at the gemara brachos that says Kel zoem bchol yom. (Hashem gets angry every day.) But what is the extent? The gemara says one rega (instant) kimeimreih (the time it takes to say the word rega). Each day he is calm except for one short instant. (Maybe this is the source of everybody in Israel yelling rega at each other all the time.)
Kanaus has no place whatoever until moshiach comes. Truthfully, do you really believe all the kannaim are lshem shomayim, rather than on an ego trip? Do you really believe kannaim are more medakdek bmitzvos than the warmer yidden? Does making a lot of noise have some correlation with one’s shmiras hamitzvos? Did the acid throwers win over any new baalei tshuvah, or just drive away people from wanting any chareidim in their neighborhoods?
We could have made the entire IDF frum by now if we would just give them a few words of warmth and appreciation for their efforts, instead of knocking the medinah and the flag they fight for constantly.
How can they turn off the circuits without breaking in in the first place?