It also says:

“Twoflower was a tourist, the first of the species to evolve on the Disc”

Which is explicit that Twoflower is in fact from Discwold.

My answer to the contradiction is that the quote which said “from elsewhere” is not actually in the book; it’s in the summary on the back cover. Perhaps the summary is not canonical.

-Patur Aval Assur

So therefore?

Therefore, it weakens your case that it is categorically assur.

Why should we Pasken like him???

I never said we should. I said that it’s a machlokes and therefore not as pashut as you made it out yo be.

So why is Twoflower described as the first tourist to come to Discworld? He should be described as the first tourist to come to Ankh-Morpork.

??”? ?”? ??? ????? ??? ??? ???? ????

A definitive statement was issued that it is categorically assur for a woman to not get married. I pointed out that this issur is not mentioned by the Tur nor by the Mechaber, and the Rambam and Rema who do mention it, don’t use the lashon of “assur”. Furthermore the Rambam seems to contradict himself. Of the several proposed resolutions, some of them assume that women are categorically obligated to get married. However, the Ba’er Heitev’s explanation is that it’s an eitza tova, and according to others there are ways of mitigating the issue of chashad (e.g. living at home). Why should I not point this out? If you think we pasken that there is a categorical obligation for a woman to get married then by all means document it.

Regarding R’ Moshe on smoking:

Igros Moshe Yoreh Deiah 2:49

http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=919&pgnum=67

Igros Moshe Choshen Mishpat 2:76

http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=921&pgnum=315

In the second one he also talks about eating unhealthy foods.

Apparently I was zocheh to my third subtitle.

DaasYochid:

I think Lior’s point is that granted over thousands of years it shourd be pretty equal, just like over thousands of coin flips it would probably be relatively equal, but it shouldn’t necessarily be equal in any given period of time, say every year.

Chulin 77b:

??? ??????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ?????

Granted it’s talking about animal there.

I don’t either; I was bringing a potential source that having many kids is a financial concern.

Health:

I didn’t say that I don’t know which point(s) you were addressing. I said that what you said didn’t address them.

Excerpt from a tribute written about R’ Yosef Eliyahu Henkin by a talmid, printed by R’ Henkin’s grandson in B’nei Banim:

????? ???? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?? ????”? ?????? ????”? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ????? ?? ???? ??? ?? ???? ????? ?? ???”? ?????. ????? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ?? ?? ???

It is interesting because this is in a sense the opposite of the sentiment expressed by R’ Soloveitchik mentioned above.

So I recently read the first two Discworld books. My reaction is, to quote Aristotle (Metaphysics Book VIII Part Six), “In the case of all things which have several parts and in which the totality is not, as it were, a mere heap, but the whole is something beside the parts, there is a cause; for even in bodies contact is the cause of unity in some cases, and in others viscosity or some other such quality.”

The individual parts of the books were really good, but when put together they didn’t create the magnificent edifice I was expecting. There didn’t seem to be any unified whole. That is not to say that I didn’t like the books; I’ll probably end up reading more of them.

One thing that I’m confused about is that throughout both books it seems as if the Discworld is an entire world and that Twoflower is simply from a different part of the world:

“Where is your home?” he inquired…

“Have you heard of the city of Bes Palargic?… Bes Palargic is the major seaport of the Agatean Empire… You sail turnwise from the Brown Islands for about a week and there it is.”

Yet Twoflower is described as “the first tourist ever to set foot on the Discworld” implying that he is from a different world.

Leket Yosher Yoreh Deiah p. 37:

??????? ????? ????? ?”? ????? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?’ ????? ???? ?”? ???? ????? ??”? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ????

(referring to the daughter in law of the Terumas Hadeshen)

http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=49439&st=&pgnum=87

Two letters from Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik to Rabbi Leonard Rosenfeld:

“Dear Rabbi Rosenfeld,

I acknowledge receipt of your letter. In my answer to your previous inquiry concerning the permissibility of instruction of girls in Talmud I stressed that unless I am assured in advance by the school administration that my recommendations will be followed I would not take the trouble to investigate the matter. Since such an official assurance has been withheld (your letter did not contain any such commitment) I must decline to consider the controversial problem. The reason for my reluctance to engage in this controversial issue is the unique stand taken by many of our Jews on matters of Law and tradition. We have reached a stage at which party lines and political ideologies influence our halakhic thinking to the extent that people cannot rise above partisan issue to the level of Halakhah-objectivity. Some are in a perennial quest for “liberalization” of the Law and its subordination to the majority opinion of a political legislative body, while others would like to see the Halakhah fossilized and completely shut out of life. I am not inclined to give any of these factions an opportunity for nonsensical debates.”

“Dear Rabbi Rosenfeld:

Please accept my apologies for not answering your letters sooner. The delay was due to my overcrowded schedule. As to your question with regard to a curriculum in a coeducational school, I expressed my opinion to you long ago that it would be a very regrettable oversight on our part if we were to arrange separate Hebrew courses for girls. Not only is the teaching of Torah she-be-al peh to girls permissible but it is nowadays an absolute imperative. This policy of discrimination between the sexes as to subject matter and method of instruction which is still advocated by certain groups within our Orthodox community has contributed greatly to the deterioration and downfall of traditional Judaism. Boys and girls alike should be introduced to the inner halls of Torah she-be-al peh.

I hope to prepare in the near future a halakhic brief on the same problem which will exhaust the various aspects of the same. In the meantime I heartily endorse a uniform program for the entire student body.”

Regarding bicycles, see Shu”t Eimek Halacha 1:26