rabbiofberlin

benignuman- yup= this is exactly how the Rambam interprets the halocho (see his loshon). It is also evident from the story of Hilell that this is exactly what happend – although it is not clear whether the gentlie became a ger right away.

YYTZ- i reraize that covering one’s hair (for a woman) may be a d’oraisa (there are conflicting views on that) but ,as you write, it would be very unusual to maintasin that this is what one has to accept to become a ger.

kanoi next door: i agree with you and i think that rav druckman shelita and his bet din did everything they could to have the gerim accept the mitzvos. I bet you that a large part of their gerim are still religious!

mdd- how is it obvious? short of the prospective ger coming to the bet din with a ham sandwich in his/her hands, how would you know that he/she does not accept the torah? even if he/she afterwards weakens and does not keep most of the halochos, what doeas it prove? maybe he/she is doing it ‘leteovon” but still accept the mitzvas!kabblos mitzvahs does not mean keeping them- just accepting them!

I have to add my two-cents to this conversation,even though herring is a lot more expensive now. herring is the gift of the sea to all jews! try it as shmalz herring, try it as pickled herring, try it in sour creram…wonderful food ! the best with a shot of whidky and an egg kuchel!

health- as I said, I am reluctant to regurgitate old controversies, as people will keep to their views.

second, my comments never spew hatred against anti-zionists. I sure disagree with their views but I live amongst them and have very cordial relationships with all.

As far as your concern with present day Eretz Yisroel, please excuse my stupidity, but isn’t this exactly what “sharing the burden” means? The ones who espouse this view see their hardearned moeny being drained for -what they thinkj- people who don’t participate in the general welfare of the land. They are all concerned about their money, security, the sacrifices that they make and that they- in their views- others don’t share. so, your concerns about the chareidim sufferning- well, the other side that they suffer plenty with their sacrifices of money and casualties.

to about time: your stories about Rav Wolbe zz’l are interesting and fascinating. However, I do not , for one moment, believe that the story you tell about a miklat during the six day war and Rav Wolbe saying that Zionism was chilul hashem, This story is pure invention and plays to a certain agenda.

gavra at work: thank the good Lord forsome humor!! sorely needed on this site! actually I meant popa, toi, daniela and all the other moon worshippers (figure that one out). I don’t see oomis11o5 here either= she must have felt the same as I did. I wish some of the posters (young ones, for sure) should look at the real world sometimes..not the fictitious one they imagine to exist..

this report is four-repeat- four years old. can “only i try’ explain what relevance it has to today? BTW-regev is now a prominent likud knesset member and rather right wing.

It is a sad indictment of our generation that we ascribe papal infallibilty to our gedolim. It was never like that. Emunas chachomim has nothing to do with believing blindly in every saying of a godol. Can they give berochos? Absolutely. Can you tell us about very unusual stories of gedolim? certainly. but this does not mean that every word, every utterance should be followed. That is idolatry.

A couple of comments: to ‘ferd” i checked “wikipedia (quickest info) and Bibi actually opposed the gaza withdrawal- he asked for a public referendum-did not get it. he did vote for it but immedietsly resigned. So, you are technically correct in sayuing that he voted for the disengagement but certaingly worng in saying that he supported it. He did not.

to “zed’: your comments defy rationality.Are you seriously saying we should just sit with folded arms an do nothign to proetect ourselves? Do you have ANY source for this irraitonal behavior?

to “takahmamash”(and computer777): I wrote “maybe they will be crushed’-obviously they did not but this doesn’t mean that the govt. took the wrong decision. The only other option was to invade and re-occupy gaza. This will not happen. Whatwill happen is “cutting the grass ” every few years. We will have to continue to bomb them from time to time for a very long time. The basic fact is -as zed surprisinlgy writes- that the Jews in Israel have prospered for many years-Boruch Hashem- and will continue to do so while the enemeies wallow in poverty,

sushee (and some others): I have not posted on this website often recently and only because the headline (quoting Rabbi Pruzansky) caught my eye did I comment. To Sushee: as you saw from others, this mysterious study does not exist. It was a sad mistake for rabbi Pruzansky to use this because it was “an oral report”, more like loshon horah, actually.

It is a preposterous opinion and the fact is that- on the contrary- many.many more students who are not frum become frum when going to a jewish (even MO) school.Look around you and you will see hundreds-thousands-of baalei teshuva who were influenced by MO teachers and even leaders of a different kind – like R”Shlomo Carlebach zz’l whose yahrzeit is tomorrow night. May he continue being a meilitz josher for all of us.

R’Moshe Ernster is a son-in-law of R”chaim Meir Hager zz’l , and a brother-in-law of R’Moshele hager zz’l , recently nifta, both Vishnitzer rebbes. Hence, he is the uncle of the present Vishnitzer rebbe, R’yisroel Hager shelita.

His son does lead the bais hamedrash in jerushulaim, which is ,of course, on the vishnitzer derech.

zahavsdad and litvishe; You are probably talking about “ateres charna”- a popular hall on the main road but not in the middle of New Square. I think it is owned by New Square and the income goes to the village. The “smorgashboard’ certainly is mixed. (I have been there numerous times). The hall is mainly used by non-skverer chassidim. The seating is separate snd a mechitza (of course) for dancing.

sam2- gemoro berachos 44A- “the chachomim looked from surah to neherdoah and found only (two) pairs, the daughters of rav chisdah who were married to rumi bar chumo and mar ukva bar chumo.” QED.

gavra at work- you are misquoting the Supreme Court decision. The case you are quoting deals with a situation if someone uses religious beliefs as a pretext to avoid a law. Read the whole deision. Quite different from the case here.

WIY- source please ??

As far as the singing with the chazan- first of all, if you concentrate, then “trei kolai lo mishtame’ does not apply (see Hilchos shofar). Then, as today we are all “bekiim” we don’t have to be “jotzeh’ with the ball tefillah’s “chazarah”, so we can join and sing!

Haleivi- In today’s Hebrew, indeed, ‘motzetz’ means sucking and usually it means by mouth. However, did it mean the same in the gemoro’s time?

Iced- that the teimanim and sefardim to ‘metzitzah be’peh’ TODAY does not prove that they did it always.

As far as the ARi goes- you surprised me with your mention that his father was an Ashkenazi. In egypt?? and what do you mean that he ‘was an ashkenazi”. I’d be very surprised to hear that he followed the Rosh and the Tur, rather than the Rif and the Rambam. Or that he followed the remo, rather than the Bais josef.

“old man” thanks for your information! How does one get hold of this book (sefer) ?

BY THE WAY- just to show that Rashi was quite familiar with books who were NOT gemoro or halachic- he mentions “sefer josef ben gurion” on daf 43A in berochos (see Rashi “shemen artzeinu”). for those who are unfamiliar with “josef ben gurion”, he is Josephus and this is based on his book.

MORIS’ s comments show the preposterous place we have arrived at: “apikorsous” for what? because Sam2 commented on a rashi ??? this is so over the top-now we can’t even make an innocuous comment? preposterous!

daasyochid- i cannotvouch for what R’Yaakov zz,; said. But i do know that the Rambam you are referring to- 2-3- clearly writes that the heavenly bodies (olam hagalgalim) are physical and exist in full reality. Check the words “megushem” -measning earthly and real.

coming from “the gatesheader’. it indeed was a a surprising answer but don’t worry- you are no a heretic at all. The chazal themsleves realized that their knowledge of science is not perfect nor final. see Pesaschim about the earth and the sun, where the chazal say that the view of the gentiles is more logical.

daasyochid- NOPE ! You are misquoting the Rambam and, dare I say, misrepresenting what R’ Yaakov MAY have said. The Rambam- in the halocho that you mention- does NOT speak about the moon (or other heavenly bodies) at all. He speaks about “malochim”- angels. Please check again.

And,actually ,in the mishne before that (3), he specifically addresses the heavenly bodies and says that THEY ARE PHYSICAL- just the opposite that you said. What he says is that that world- “olam hagalgalim”- is fixed and never changes- in contrast to the living world (us) that changes all the time (birth, growth, death).

I don’t know what R’Yaakov zz’l said but ,based on this Rambam, he clearly did not say anything that is being quoted.

I’l leave to others to debate what selichos are for, how they should be said and what one should feel. I do, however, want to rebut a true slander -motzi shem ra-by WIY, when he says that

1)there was no mechitza in that shul- absolutely not true -this is an orthodox shul and men and women were separated during the tefillos with the appropriate mechitza. (You may want to pray in a shul where the women are cooped up in a different room but R”moshe zz’l already took care of that).

2) Secondly – to assert that there was “taaruvos’- how ? Certainly, during the selichos there was no taaruvos.

3) “none of they guys and girls looked at each other and had bad thoughts”. Now you can read minds? Only one being in the world can see in our hearts and minds and that is HKBH. For everyone else , it is “motzi shem ra”.

So,please, you are welcome to run your life as you wish but allow everyone to find his/her derech to HKBH in his/her way.

AZOI.IS- you are so right !!

And to “toi” please look at tenach and the story of dovid hamelech and his wife michal….”vedovid hojo mekarker…” ‘Vedai lechakima beremiza!”