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A while ago I did, but I then learned more about the relevant issues, and now, only eat cheeses with the OU hechsher or better.
I also no longer eat any products whatsoever under Tablet K, such as breads or bagels. A rebbe of mine says that Tablet K davka ought to be avoided, because there is simply a lack of adequate manpower to ensure a reliable yotzei ve nichnas. The same rebbe says that Ner Tamid K (on Amy’s) is reliable, since R’ Hazdan’s only kashrut endeavor is Amy’s, and they therefore are more directly supervised, although I understand that this is also not generally accepted by most in the community.
I used to also eat cheeses under the title La Dolce Vita or The Good Life, that have the hechsher of Rabbi Dovid Katz. I don’t eat those cheese anymore, because that company says explicitly on their website that the cheeses are produced using the “heter” suggested by Tosafot and R’ Soloveitchik (although, in all fairness to the Rav, there are doubts as to whether he really ate Kraft cheese, but if he did, it is in line with shitat Tosafot, anyways). R’ Dovid Katz is a big talmid hakham, from what I understand, yet I don’t know of too many frum Jews who use this cheese. A related episode was that in the Jewish Press, in the 70s, they rean advertisements for Findlandia cheese (vegetarian, with no hechsher), and at that time, they featured an article where R’ Klass, zt”l, argued that such cheese could be eaten, based on the Tosafot above.
Orthodox bona fides don’t necessarily mean that the specific standards used are meaningful. Rabbi Dovid Katz of Avenue L, Rabbi Dovid Sheinkopf, Rabbi Benjamin Weinblatt of Queens, Rabbi Moshe Novoseller in Philadelphia, Rabbi Elimelech Lebowtiz of Tiferes Yisroel, Rabbi Ralbag, Rabbi Israel Steinberg, etc. all have the right credentials. They’re all black hat-wearing, Igud haRabbonim-affiliated rabbonim, but the tzibbur doesn’t hold by their kashrus, for differing reasons.
I don’t hold like Tosafot le ma’aseh on anything, but I think the typical Ashkenazic women makes brachot on MASG out of the understanding given by Tosafot, not out of a desire for becoming an honorary man.
I said that the Conservatives don’t even accept it. My comments implied that “kal ve chomer,” how much more so should Orthodox Jews not accept it.
Hunting is tza’ar baalei hayyim and probably also ba’al tashchit. What toelet is there in killing innocent animals for no apparent reason?
Let us know how your recipe turned out.
Depends how you define abuse. Corporal punishment is not inherently abusive, despite what the social workers and shrinks want you to think.
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You’ll miss the day when you no longer have your mother to guide you and care about you. A real yiddishe mame should not necessarily baby you, but should look after you, make sure you’re warm enough, make sure you’re well-fed, etc. A Yiddishe Momme, es gibt nit beser in der velt, oy vey ve bitter ven ze felt.
R’ Meir Kahane, HY”D, ZT”L, was 100% correct on this matter- for every Jew, a .22. Jewish antipathy to guns is foolish and unfounded. Self-defense, including preemptive acts of defense, are not only moral, but also halakhically mandated.
The confiscation of guns undertaken by the Nazis, y”s, and the Bolsheviks, y”s, and every other authoritarian regime to plague the earth should be fair warning to all of us.
WOW is doing such out of a sense of brazenness. Ashkenazic women doing such aren’t motivated ideologically, but are following Tosafot (ha mayvin yavin). While motivation and ideology are not of any halakhic consequence, and “technically,” much of the Orthodox feminist innovations can be done, whether they should be done is an entirely different matter.
I worked as a teacher in a black-hat yeshiva this school year. I’d like to think I impacted my students. Some kids were on the worldly side and definitely were at-risk, and used my class as an opportunity to “show” this off, which resulted in my calling such students’ homes and sending such students to the rosh yeshiva.
I was previously a paraprofessional in yeshivos, and tried to help those kids, also. I had one case where the bachur was emotionally abused, and I went through the proper channels to help him.
I write using academic norms. Kh is considered normative when writing academically. By some words, granted, I do still use a more colloquial transliteration.
Sam2: If you want to call the ideas in Rambam’s Hakdama to the Mishneh Torah and the ideas of Hakham Faur shtus, be my guest. Halakha is codified and is subject to objective standards, not the intuition of the charismatic. Tosafot was not (a) bet din ha gadol.
Both are run by Orthodox rabbis. Rabbi Ralbag is very well-respected in inyanei gittin, eruvin, geirus, etc.
Tablet K’s main issue is with gevinat akum. Rabbenu Tam allowed the consumption of cheese made with vegetarian rennet that was produced by goyim. (See Tosafot, Avodah Zarah 35b, s.v. chada). In modern times, so did Rav Soloveitchik and I’ve heard the same in the name of the Hazon Ish. Most poskim don’t hold like this heter when it comes to cheese, and we therefore require gevinat yisrael. Talmudic gezerot don’t change; cheese must be gevinat yisrael, just as we don’t clap on Shabbat or Yom Tov.
When it comes to hechsherim, the specific issues need to be looked at on their own merits.
Ashkenazim, per the Rema, traditionally aren’t makpid on halak/glatt. An Ashkenaz could eat HN hot dogs, theoretically. Glatt, however, is promoted as the normative standard for today’s Orthodox Jews. Almost everyone in kashrut would tell you that Triangle K is acceptable for things like frozen vegetables. Another hashash people have is with oil; cooking oil is transported in trucks that haven’t been thoroughly washed and is then used subsequently in Triangle K products.
Regarding Tablet K, it is noteworthy that the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly does not consider it recommended, and le ma’aseh, Avi Olitzky, a Conservative mashgiach in MN, says that he doesn’t hold by it.
At the end of the day, though, much of the kashrut politics are exactly that: politics.
If you understand and learn halakha as an organic, cohesive, unified whole, you better inderstand the reasons behind why people do the things they do. Before I started looking at halakha through a more alphabetic lens, I did eat Tablet K cheese, but I now believe that the heterim they use are incompatible with the actual halakha.
Nope.
If you can go into medicine, I’d go for that. Psychiatry and neurology are great for people with analytical minds, and doctors are worthy and recieve plenty of kavod that other professionals do not have. According to the Rambam and many others, medicine is the highest avodah a person can perform in this world.
Law is absolutely shot as a profession. Perhaps if the economy improves, people will hire more lawyers. As the population increases, the need for doctors increases. I finished some of my prerequisites and am doing volunteer work and some research, and within a year and a half, I’ll be applying to medical schools, IY”H.
At 37 years of age for the hatan and 39 for the kallah, it is mamesh a Mazal tov!
A mother’s role is not to learn a blatt gemara with her son. A mother’s role is to offer love, hadracha, make a yiddishe home, etc. A bachur is supposed to get intellectual stimulation from his rov, his chavrusas, etc. Partners in Torah and Oorah are for people who want to learn with the not-yet frum. Even if my mother were frum, I wouldn’t bother learning torah with her. Maybe Tzenah Urenah or Nefesh Shimshon. But to do “real” learning with people who aren’t immersed in the realm of shakla ve tarya, and who aren’t immersed in the lashon haGemara is fruitless.
I have no clue.
They’re a good snack or meal. Tortilla chips with melted cheddar/monterey jack, pickled jalapenos, salsa, refried beans, red onion, lime, cilantro, olives, sour cream, and guacamole. I even sometimes add some vegetarian crumbles that have been seasoned with taco seasoning (like a chili) for a more protein-packed meal.
Madeleine Albright is Jewish, and I believe John Kerry has some Jewish ancestry.
New Yorkers definitely fold their pizza. I certainly do.
You asked for a recipe for parve butterscotch chips. Didn’t know you had Lieber’s.
I’d make cookies with the butterscotch chips and some pecans.
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
With electric mixer at high speed, cream margarine, sugar, and vanilla until light. Stir in beaten egg; blend well.
It does when being done by WOW feminists, DY.
It is clear that a woman can don tallet and tefillin. However, for a woman to make a braha on things she isn’t obligated in is dangerous and halakhically faulty because it implies equal obligation.
Women are not obligated equally, and WOW is primarily made of non-Orthodox women who are seeking to impose an ideology which isn’t even welcome by many Israelis.
They are also funded by the New Israel Fund, the same crowd that finances all sorts of Arab initiatives, anti-Israel programs, pro-Rabin commemorations, etc. This in and of itself indicates that this is a political stunt which can very well be undertaken in order to weaken Diasporan-Israeli ties.
When will WOW fight for the right of all Jews and other faithful non-Muslims to daven on Har haBayit?
The fleshig place does Shabbos meals, and the Habad itself is in that hotel. I was never at the Falls for Shabbos, but I’d imagine it would be an experience, since there are so many parks to walk in.
I was raised Reform, and it was drummed into our heads that Jews don’t get tattoos. I still cringe when I see tattoos, and I do not blame or fault the mikva ladies for being taken aback, especially since most mikva ladies come from sheltered backgrounds where they aren’t exposed to such things. If you were to see a Masai bushman with a plate in his lip, you’d be taken aback also. Body mutilation must evoke different reactions in different people.
I was once dating someone (the YWN velt knows well about that horrific episode in my life, G-d should help us all) whose family friend said something that I found ignominious at the time, but that I now see as seicheldik. She said that an unmarried rav cannot properly offer guidance on these matters. I relayed to her that my personal rav and friend was a bachelor at the time, and she replied that someone unmarried, le ma’aseh, is limited in the eitzos they can offer. B”H, that friend is engaged, and we’ll be celebrating at his chasuna in Baltimore in October.
The advantage of programs like the many teacher’s seminaries, GPATS, Yeshivat Maharat, etc. is that they offer women the opportunity to learn and teach Torah on the highest of levels as women and as autonomous teachers and professionals, not as someone whose identity is not her own, but merely defined relative to her husband’s status.
Jackie Mason is indeed Jewish.
Rush Limbaugh is not Jewish, despite the admiration, love, and respect many frum Jews show towards him.
Paul Newman, a”h
Billy Joel
Jerry Orbach, a”h
Canucks tend to be nice people.
I made a tiyul there 2 summers ago.
Niagara Kosher Pizza is operated by Lubavitchers. 4400 Queen Street, Unit 7. 289.296.4000
Mendel’s Kosher Niagara, fleishig, is located at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel – 6455 Fallsview Blvd.
July 1, 2013 is opening day, per Habad’s website.
When I went, I ate in neither place.
When I go away to places that are out of town, I typically make use of my hotel refrigerator and do a quick kashering of the microwave, and eat lots of fruit and salads, crudite vegetables, pita and hummus, Alouette cheese, goat cheese, (now I can have Polly O string cheese, which is OU), bagels and cream cheese, PB and J, crackers, cereal and milk, ricotta and melon, tzatziki dip, Sabra salads, tuna, smoked salmon, Santa Barbara salsa and chips, Meal Mart Amazing meals, LaBriute meals, Amy’s products (I know and trust R’ Hazdan on a personal level), Golden’s blintzes, Tabatchnick, and Indian packaged meals under the hashgaha of R’ Avraham Binyamin (Taste of India/Kohinoor/Trader Joe’s).
But, a prolonged stay at the Falls may very well necessitate a meal out. And, the fact that Habad is going through considerable time and expense to offer kosher arrangements there in the summer months is reason enough to patronize them and thank them for their efforts to accomodate shomrei kashrut.
If you’re driving, there is Nissan’s Kosher Deli in the Tops Supermarket in Niagara Falls, NY.
The Buffalo Vaad (information is available on Young Israel of Buffalo’s website) says that Kosher Land near Maid of the Mist Plaza and at Table Rock Plaza offers hot dogs and falafel under their supervision.
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine
1/2 cup coconut oil (I used expeller pressed so as not to have a coconut flavor)
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
In a saucepan, melt together butter, coconut oil and brown sugar. Stir continually until all ingredients are mixed well, bringing the mixture ALMOST to a boil, then turning down the heat. Cook and stir some more on low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is a liquid.
NB: I’ve only made butterscotch using actual real butter (hence the name butterscotch), but the Earth Balance margarine, in my cookie experience, is a comparable substitute.
Let us know how the parve version comes out.
There are plenty of shuls where the rabbi is a bachelor. A good friend of mine was a single rabbi in Long Beach for a few years, the rabbi of the Stanton Street Shul (another friend) is single, as is the rabbi of the West Side Jewish Center (yet another friend). Many rabbanim won’t give semicha to bachelors, since the single life is not looked upon favorably by our sources, and the Gemara speaks of instances where bet din can compel a man to marry.
I don’t see how a rebbetzin is crucial to a shul; he’s not leining, she’s not leading tefillah, and in most cases, she’s not giving shiurim. A rebbetzin could be a vital asset to the female members of a shul, and can serve as a conduit to convey she’eilot about niddah issues, but I don’t see how the rabbi’s wife plays any key role. The rebbetzins I know generally support their husbands, redt shidduchim, help make kiddushim in the shul, sheva brachos for mispallelim, other simchas, etc. But most rebbetzins are not Esther Jungreis or Tzipporah Heller.
How could a tattoo qualify as a hatzitzah?
That being said, cosmetic tattooing is assur. It may not qualify as kitovet ka’aka, but R’ Wosner paskens that it is Srach Issur Kitovet Kaaka, something that habiutates one towards kitovet ka’aka.
The Haredishe communities punish whistleblowers. They treat the victims as guilty and like they’re at fault.
Sadly, with the YU coverups, I can’t say my camp is flawless here, but there must be accountability all around. Not only did your child’s abuser destroy him and his emunah, but I am sure fear of communal backlash is also destructive in his life, as well.
I support the work of R’ Nuchem Rosenberg, R’ Mark Dratch, SNAP, and the efforts of all people, Jewish and Non-Jewish, to stand up for all of G-d’s children. Tehillim says that children are a heritage from HaShem. We owe them a lot better than abuse and coverups.
Canada is not the US. They don’t have our way of government, nor our ideas about G-d and liberty. America is exceptional and is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Not Canada.
America has been at the forefront of helping oppressed peoples around the world attain human rights and freedom from oppression. Not the Canadians. When we were fighting to stop the spread of communist tyranny in Southeast Asia, the Canadians welcomed draft dodgers with open arms, r”l. Another emasculated, European-type regime.
People add candles for all kinds of reasons. I see nothing wrong with my personal practice.
If you come to NYC, and qualify for paraprofessional services, you sound like a really sweet guy to work with!
The taxes in Canada are an absolute killer. Plus, I can make my own poutine at home, and there is fine quality kosher Maple Syrup available from Vermont and other places.
Montreal bagels are misshapen (I’ll take a hot Kossar’s bialy any day of the week).
What is possibly darchei emori? I spend shabbat alone much of the time, and thus, have to light my own candles. My mother, as a non-Orthodox convert, does light when she’s home, although for obvious reasons, I have to light my own.
If a person comes to a minyan, halacha stipulates a DADT policy, more or less. People have a hazaka of being Jewish and eligible for aliyot, and all other ritual purposes. I can see why the gays wanting their own minyanim is ill-fitting.
I light shabbat candles, as a bachelor, and I light 4 in total, 2 to be yotzei, and another 2 as a symbol of my hope of one day finding my bashert/zivug.
Homosexual Jews should certainly keep mitzvot, no question about that.
Officially sanctioning a lifestyle choice which the Torah condemns in the strongest terms is altogether different.
The synagogue doors should be open to all people, including Jews who are gay, intermarried, sabbath-desecrating, etc. How exactly to make these people feel welcome and how to be inclusive without appearing to sanction their choices is a different issue, and one that requires much thought and sensitivity to a wide array of halakhic factors, including ahavat yisrael, kavod habriyot, dignity concerns, as well as marit ayin concerns.
If a guy is learning full time and doesn’t plan on supporting his wife, that’s a major case of him not following halakha.
There is great evidence that Tosafot were trying to justify local minhagim, many of which do come from the Yerushalmi, Tosefta, and masechtot ketanot, with the Bavli, whose authoritative nature did not necessarily take root in Ashkenaz in the same manner as it did in the Sephardic world. Just consider the pilpul of Tosafot versus the straight-strict constructionist approach of the Rif, let’s say.
The mehalech laid out in Rambam’s Hakdama le Mishneh Torah informs my view of what proper halakhic methodology ought to be. Hence my not using eruvin on shabbat, and so on.
The approach of Tosafot is very similar to how the CJLS determines its “halakha,” though. I understand the mindset which motivated Tosafist innovation. Whether it affirms the authority of the Bavli and the significance of hatimat hashas is another matter entirely. Although much poopooed by R’ Hayim Soloveitchik, Talya Fishman’s new book does address these questions of textuality and authority in Ashkenaz quite nicely.
The thing about being a Jew that I love is the need to love all Jews, even those who have hurt me. It is also extremely difficult.
I can do better than that with my life. It’s a great hobby, though, and I’d maybe do a side business catering or owning a restaurant one of these days.
Israel Ta Shma and EE Urbach have done incredible research on Tosafot and their legal influences.
I should write a cookbook and I’d even love a cooking show.