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I was on a JetBlue flight a couple of weeks ago and one of the snack choices was Linden’s Chocolate Chip cookies. The CRC said that the hechsher, ‘Ner Tamid K’ is NOT reliable.

What’s the deal with powdered milk and with hard cheese. I have heard that it is impossible for powdered milk and hard cheese to be made from non-cow milk. If this is so, why don’t people eat hard cheese that isn’t cholov yisroel? Why don’t people eat products with powdered milk? Did you know that hersheys uses powdered milk in their chocolate bars?

I have a question – people who are makpid on not eating gebrokts, eat gebrokts on the last day. Why do these people not eat gebrokts the first 7 days? Because they are worried that there might be some uncooked flour and if it has contact with water, it will possibly make it chametz. So on the 8th day when they eat gebrokts, they are essentially making their pots chametz. How can they use those same pots for pesach the next year – chametz was cooked in the pot less then a year before!

Tomim thye – no, it is called PHAD. Its brand new. If you google ‘join the PHAD’, you should find their website.

I heard that there’s this new company called PHAD that started recently.

The person who sent that text out verified it with the kof k

I can tell you from experience from myself and my classmates that its not a clear cut rule that all 1st year guys should go to israel. If everything is equal in all areas, then israel is great for most guys because kedushas eretz yisroel is unmatched anywhere else. But the problem is that very often, not everything is equal. A yeshiva in the US might have better rebbeim for this guy, better environment, better controlled gashmiyus etc. In Israel, while many guys grow from the non learning activities such as visiting kivrei tzadikim, there are also many guys who get very hurt from the gashmiyus. This is mainly because there is a tremendous amount of freedom for a boy straight out of high school and since he doesn’t have the supervision which he has in the US, it can often spiral out of control.

Why does a guy need to go to Israel right away? Why can’t he learn in the US for a few years and then go to Israel if he so desires?

It is a tremendous mistake to think that every guy needs to go to israel his first year out of high school. It is terrible for some guys and the bottem line is that there are amazing yeshivos in the US.

You can argue and say that its good for a guy to get away from home. The answer is that there are many many yeshivos outside of New York which are amazing. A guy who goes to a different state for yeshiva still can come home a few times a year for bein hazmanim and his parents can still keep somewhat of an eye on their kid being that he won’t be gone for a year straight.

Regarding the coins from the US mint “shtick” (see the above link): As far as I know, the reason the mint “sells” coins like this is because they want to get them back into circulation. If you buy them for the purpose of giving them all directly to the bank, could it be g’neivas daas?

If you would like to help out a yeshiva, offer the yeshiva your services. If they have a mailing that needs to be done, offer to help out. If your expertise is in recycling cans, offer to take the yeshiva’s cans/bottles and recycle them and give that $ to the yeshiva. If you know someone who can get the yeshiva a good deal on paper towels, tell your local yeshiva. These things can help the yeshiva in so many ways. It seems like buying paper towels is a small thing but think about the hug picture. The yeshiva goes thru thousands of cases of paper towels a year. If you can get them a good deal (or in anything, doesn’t have to be paper towels!) Theu will save A LOT of money and YOU will get SO MUCH s’char. These are the real ‘pachim ktanim’ that make a difference.

I believe that there is a halacha that if you make the cut in the challah deep enough that if you would hold the challah from one end and the challah would break, then its not considered a shaleim.

Moish- Yeshiva Chofetz chaim has many many branches all over the US and Canada. I really think that there would be a branch that is good for you. Many of the branches have high schools that are not at all “yeshivish” kids, many of the kids are more “modern”. If you would like more info on any of the branches (Manalapan,St.Louis,Monsey,Miami,milwaukeeWits,LA,Vancouver,Rochester,Brooklyn,Dallas,Roslyn etc), I emailed mod 42 with my email info so email him and he will give you my email.

Spueak – how about in a sleepaway camp. If there is only one minyan in the camp and the camp is in middle of nowhere, would this apply?

There is a similar problem with chain text messages. Last year, a friend asked me to send out a tehillim text for his grandmother, she was very sick. I realized that there was a problem when I received the same text 2 MONTHS later.

There is another problem. If people get many of these text messages asking for tehilim to be said, and they don’t say tehilim, then their sensitivity gets lowered majorly.

I asked a prominent rav what the solution is. He said that I should ask the people on my “texting list” if they would like to receive these tehilim texts. If they say yes, then continue sending them because they will say tehilim.

A possible solution to both of these issues (texts and emails) is to verify your info before sending it and you should put the date on the text so if someone receives a text asking to say tehilim and its dated from a month ago, they will know to disregard it.

Miamimiami- they have a girls high school in los angeles

My friend is in Chofetz Chaim and I asked him for something unique about Chofetz Chaim and he told me the following:

They also have elementry schools in Brooklyn, Miami, Las Vegas etc.

With more in the works!

So it seems from what my friend told me that Chofetz Chaim really is “a way of life”!

I asked this question to a poseik and he said that its better to daven with a minyan w/o a hat and jacket.

I heard that a major poseik said that starting to smoke is assur. If you already smoke, then its obviously dangerous but its not assur because you are addicted and its not your fault because the addiction takes over your self control.

I agree with the previous poster who said that they should sell yw caps, t-shirts etc. That would be so cool!

Moish: how are you usually not around during the week? I thought you have a cast and therefor you need to stay home?

Mods- we really appreciate all of your efforts in approving posts as fast as you can.

On behalf of all of us – Thank you