rebdoniel

Kutz Camp was a source of great nahat growing up, and it instilled a love for yiddishkeit within me. While still a bahur, it would be nice to work in a camp over a summer again. I was a counselor and residential habilitation therapist in a couple of camps for special needs yidden.

The whole taxonomy is off. There are plenty of people who carve out their own paths, and who affiliate and borrow from with different sectors and communities and approaches.

I know lots of people who are clean-shaven, own a television, daven Nusah Sefard, and wear a bekeshe on shabbat (I even own a bekeshe that I’d wear on shabbos in the past), and others who combine elements of Modern Orthodoxy and Open Orthodoxy with a classic Sephardic approach and even elements of German Neo-Orthodoxy (I’d definitely fall into that camp, and a friend from Silver Spring would, as well).

I happen to work as a hazzan in a shul where they have a potted plant mehitza that is a little more than 10 tefahim high. This was a synagogue that was staunchly non-egalitarian Conservadox with a YU-trained rabbi for many years. Upon his retirement, it was told to me that the shul board voted to instate separate seating, a bima/shulhan facing the proper direction, and to eliminate the microphone. The shul has one YU-trained rabbi and another rabbi with the semikha of R’ David Weiss HaLivni. The mehitza is not ideal, but its presence at least makes the shul a viable option for halakhic Jews to visit and daven in. Without this arrangement, I would not have accepted a position there.

YCT did have a mehitza-only policy, but I do know that one of their graduates is now the rabbi of a synagogue in Overland Park, Kansas where they have no mehitza (and where the UTJ rabbi of the shul I work at once completed an internship). I don’t perceive a tayna “against” the mehitza among the progressive Orthodox, but I do feel that those in this camp are intellectually honest on the topic, as indicated by my many postings on the issue.

Some of my favorite kosher wines are from Trader Joe’s and are under $10 a bottle. The Temprenal Tempranillo and the Prosecco are fantastic and go down really well. The Tempranillo’s dry taste, rich undertones, and low price make it ideal for cooking; I use it in Italian sugo, for braising beef, etc. Absolutely superb. I have a few bottles of the Tempranillo in the cellar; I think aging would do it justice for drinking.

Grilled portobellos, marinated in EVOO, rosemary, garlic, and balsamic vinegar, are delicious, and eggplant, zucchini, and other veggies can be done like this.

You can try making different kinds of burgers, such as Jack’s facon burgers, and you can do BBQ chicken thighs and drumsticks, Jack’s sausages (the chorizo and Italian ones are superb), grilled salmon, and even grilled peaches or other stone fruits are delicious. Ribs on the bbq (low and slow cooking) are excellent, as is brisket prepared in this manner.

I had something called a Lyula kebab in a Bukharian restaurant a while ago- basically ground beef, onion, parsley, cumin, and other spices tightly wrapped on a metal skewer and grilled. This is amazing with pita and babaganoush. Come to think of it, babaganoush is a great BBQ idea- grill the eggplant over the coals until it’s soft and smoky, and then mash with garlic, techina, cumin, parsley, and onion.

WIY,

That is the definition of being influenced. intellectually, at least. The Rambam even said that Aristotle achieved the highest level of human perfection, short of being a prophet.

The Moreh Nevuhim also indicates in several places that prophecy is not incumbent upon whether a person is Jewish or not, but depends on merits, personality, effort, refinement, and discipline.

OMG. I can’t believe who jewishfeminist02 is 🙁

People still carry on zera yisrael, even when the lack of a halakhic Jewish mother precludes kedushat yisrael from being passed on.

Raavad was a mekubal and he was certainly a Neoplatonist, like Isaac the Blind/Yitzhak Sagi Nahor. Hence many of the disputes with Rambam the Aristotelian. Rather than appealing to the objective, intellectual deductive process of inquiry and psak (like the Rambam, who appeals to the text for guidance and submits to it), the Raavad believes that charisma guides him and grants a modicum of authority in and of itself. Hence the many references he makes to “Secrets” being revealed to him by the “Ruach haKodesh” in many places, including Hilkhot Lulav 8:5. Raavad believed that a great rabbi [godol] is great because of charisma, and because he embodied “tradition,” and that God may indeed possess a body. Rambam believed that God does not have a body and being a great rabbi is not a source of authority. These are theological matters and either Maimonides or R. Abraham b. David is wrong.

Sanhedrin 42a says that the practice in E”Y then to say Baruch Mehadesh Hodashim is proper for women (Maharsha says women don’t remember the long braha, and the Einei Shmuel says women don’t bless with HaShem’s name.

The Gemara’s implication is that women ought to say something, if even the shorter version. This is Meiri’s peshat in the Gemara, and Hakham Ovadia Yosef paskens like this le ma’aseh (Yabia Omer OC 5:36).

Teshuvot Ktav Sofer (OC #34) says that women make some kind of braha, but not the one men say.

The Salmat Haim gives the reason “kol kevuda bat melech penima” (1:259). Others say that women are patur because Hava caused the pegam halevana (Shelah Sha’ar haOsiyot Kuf).

Maharam Shik (OC 90) says that when to say kiddush levana is based upon figuring out the calendar, and this was a skill performed only by men.

In a similar fashion, the Yeshu’ot Ya’akov (OC 426:1) writes that the beracha of kiddush levana is related to “haskalah and Torah She ba’al peh,” things in which women are not involved.

The overwhelming score of Ashkenazic poskim say a woman is patur.

I wonder what he’d say about whether a woman is obligated in birkat ha hammah.

Here is the Shelah inside:

The reason goes back to two ideas that have been linked: one being the legend that explains why the moon is smaller than the sun, and the other being the discussion of the consequences for women of Eve’s sin.

In the future the defect of the moon will pass away, and the

light of the moon will be like the light of the sun. . . . . It appears to me that for this reason women distance themselves from this commandment, even though they fulfill many positive time-bound commandments, such as shofar-blowing and [taking] the lulav [on Sukkot]. We have never seen women performing Kiddush Levanah, even if they are careful with all the prayers, because the first woman caused the defect of the moon, that is the sin of Eve, and they distance themselves because of the shame (bushah), even though a tikkun (repair) was found for them after this, in that they did not sin in the matter of the (golden) calf, and they did not listen to the first snake, who is the Satan, who is the Evil Inclination,

and therefore Rosh Hodesh was given to women that they should keep it more than the men. In any case the woman is the first cause (sibah rishonah) by which the seducer entered the world, and afterwards the men strengthened him with the (sin of the) calf, and we are still not purified.”

A YWN seudah would be great. If feasible, it would even be great for me to have a YWN sheva brahot, when the time comes, may it be soon, HaShem.

The third [argument they present]

Meal Mart stuff is a mixed bag.

Amy’s meals are a great frozen option for those who hold by R’ Hazdan’s hashgaha. Tabatchnick items should be available nationally, but I wouldn’t be too sure of that.

Embarrassing a talmid, al pi Rambam, can be mutar, if it will motivate the talmid (Hilkhot Talmud Torah 4:5). Kids on this level won’t be motivated through embarassment, though.

The Az Nidberu (R’ Binyamin Zilber) 12:42 was asked if someone sleeping on their back or stomach ought to be woken up. He paskened that the issur is to go to sleep lying flat. Once a person is sleeping he is not over any issur and is not responsible to be in any specific position. Therefore you need not wake him up.

The issur of falling asleep perakdan comes from Berakhot 13b. The Gemara says that saying kriyat shema in this position is assur and R’ Yehoshua ben Levi curses one who sleeps like this. The Az Nidberu says that the peshat here is that it is assur to fall asleep face down or on the back.

You’re not endearing anybody to Torah by waking them out of their sleep.

Do you have someone who gives you eitzot on kiruv? If you’re doing this work, you need to have the proper rebbeim guiding you.

These kids aren’t on that level, though.

I agree with the above poster, and that was my point exactly: you cannot regulate personal, private issues in a kiruv environment.

I’ve been told that in kiruv, the only tochecha that should be given is correcting averot be farhesya; i.e. if a Jewish male is bareheaded, or if he’s taking his phone out in a public place on shabbat, or about to take out non-kosher food, then you stop them.

To have an impact on teens, you need to emphasize the positive things- ruchiyut, spirituality, singing, stories, fun activities, good food, good “chevrashaft,” things like that.

Every kosher dip on the market seems to be mayonnaise-based (except for humus and tehina).

Bean dips, olive tapenade (made with olive oil), pesto, skordalia, yogurt-based dips, etc. are all far healthier options.

I think a reason for the over-use of mayo is that it’s a pashute way to make a parve dip. At a dairy meal (I eat at least one dairy meal over Shabbat nowadays), I like Greek yogurt-based dips- tzatziki (yogurt, dill, garlic, cucumbers), spinach (spinach sauteed with garlic, red pepper flakes, and EVOO, drained, cooled, and mixed with yogurt), roasted red pepper, caramelized onion dip (like the old fashioned onion soup mix dip, only better, when done with loads of caramelized onions), etc.

With all the problems in the world, does your tayna even really have much importance?

Naftali Lowenthal, a Lubavitcher professor at University College London, wrote “Communicating the Infinite: The Emergence of the Habad School.” He upholds normative, academic spellings, just as I do. Iif it’s good enough for R’ Lowenthal, it’s good enough for me.

Gelt. Gelt to them is docheh all other considerations. Rav Avigdor Miller, zt”l, felt that such figures were sell-outs.

Jewish Tradition and the Challenge of Darwinism (ed. Cantor and Swetlitz) offers a thorough synopsis of rabbinic opinion on the subject of Darwinian evolution throughot the years.

I found it fascinating that even Reform rabbis denounced evolution. Isaac Mayer Wise (far more theologically traditional than today’s Reform rabbis) authored “The Cosmic G-d,” which argued for the lack of concrete scientific evidence for evolution and claimed that a belief that human life stems from lower life forms is anathema to the Torah’s humanism. The distinction between human capability for reason and spiritual yearning and animal existence was blurred by Darwin, argued Wise, and this mode of thinking was defneded by other Reform rabbis.

One shita I found very compelling was that of Hakham Sabato Morais, zt”l. Morais was the minister of K.K. Mikveh Israel (Orthodox) in Philadelphia and one of the most articulate Jewish clerics of his time. He noted, like Wise, that Darwinism not only lacked adequate empirical evidence, but also that evolution denied the belief that G-d created the world ex nihilo, and thus, he condemned the associations between materialism, atheism, and Darwinism seen among many scientists.

Another Sephardic hakham, Abraham DeSola, minister of Shearith Israel in Montreal, denounced evolution from a broader scientific basis.

Fast forward 150 years later, I don’t think the burden of proof has shifted away from the evolutionists. There’s still a reason why Darwinism is only a theory.

Think of all the non-Jewish thinkers who inspired Jewish thought.

The Kalam influenced Rav Saadia Gaon.

Aristotle influenced Rambam.

Friedrich von Schiller influended Rav Hirsch.

Soren Kierkegaard and Rudolf Otto influenced Rav Soloveitchik.

John Dewey influenced Rav Shlomo Wolbe.

There are quite a few others, but here are but a few examples.

I don’t believe I am “Smarter” than Tosafos. But I don’t hold like their methodology, just as I am not too keen on the methodology of the Aruch haShulhan. My feelings on Tosafot are best described in:

Hakham Yosef Faur, “The Legal Thinking of the Tosafot: An Historical Approach,” Dine Israel, Volume VI (1975), pp. xliii-lxxii.

Popa: Fennel on a pizza sounds delicious. Do you sautee your veggies ahead of baking? I’d think the veggies would stay crisper that way and would also have a richer flavor.

Italians often put fennel sausage on their pizza, so actual fennel on a pizza would be a good idea along those lines.