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a) I tutor chemistry. Sharon Welcher’s book is the best on the market. Harnick on Ave. J, a”h, once sold it. Now, I believe Barnes and Noble in Park Slope sells it.
b) Weight Watchers is good, and offers a lot for the non-CY kosher keeper (they’re foods are available widely and almost are all OU). Regardless, eat lots of fruits and veggies and limit bread to Shabbos. Allow yourself “cheats” as your oneg shabbos, but watch what you eat the rest of the week.
There are real halakhic problems with using trashy tunes. Nobody should be using Erev Shel Shoshanim, Yaalili, Benny Friedman, Eli Gerstner, etc. from the amud.
Once I was at a minyan where the very yeshivish-looking precentor used a MBD tune for Kel Adon. I had to give him a piece of my mind afterwards.
Traditional nusach and synagogue music, as preserved in Kol Rina v’Todah (the United Synagogue Blue Book) makes the shul experience sublime. Nowadays, you get a pedestrian experience in shul, which is uninspiring and fails to uplift the neshama.
I also fault many Hasidim and other venues for not having a qualified baal koreh who knows the proper ta’amei hamikra.
If such a situation occurred, before the Sherman mishegoss, people would probably be able to rectify such a situation speedily. Nowadays, who knows?
WOW exists because some women wish to don the tallit and tefillin. Ii have no problem with a woman doing that; I just wish women wouldn’t make brachot on mitzvot they have no obligation in, which is a problem which transcends the WOW fad.
My solution is to revert the kotel to its status in the olden days: it should not function as a shul, period. Don’t let any group hold tefilla be tzibbur there. That way there won’t be any WOW problems. One way to make everyone happy is to make everyone unhappy.
BT’s and gerim may struggle to pick up the “shprach” and mannerisms of the community.
My suggestion: have them read the dictionary of Yeshivish, Mendel Harduf’s dictionary, and Webster’s Hebrew-English dictionary. This will help with language.
The worst baalei tefillah I’ve ever observed in my entire life are the Yeshivish. When I was a kid, our Reform cantor knew nusach, including Lewandowski and Sulzer. Instead of the sublime sound of our traditional nusach, and stunning synagogue music written by Sulzer and Lewandowski, many of our minyanim employ Benny Friedman, Yaalili, and other popular tunes from the amud, r”l.
It’s sad to say this, but the cantorial arts have been far better preserved by the non-Orthodox.
In response to giyur, if a ger decides to renege on his commitments, he’s the one who will have to answer to God in the long run. Accepting the rewards and punishments associated with being obligated in the mitzvot is the definition of kabbalat ol ha mitzvot. A bet din can and should be sensible- i.e. don’t convert someone who lacks a kosher kitchen, or don’t convert someone who has a hard time getting off work early for shabbat and taking off for holidays, etc. Common-sense approaches are needed.
I counsel gerim to avoid the Haredi world as much as possible, because the parochial nature of such communities is prone to racism.
The requirements of the Gemara, Rambam, Shulchan Aruch, etc. on conversion have been done away with, and the Demai standard has been abused beyond belief. And sadly, we know morally the situations such self-proclaimed mumchim on giyur have found themselves in.
A sincere ger should be brought close after being instructed al pi gemara in “miktzat mitzvot kallot ve chamurot.”
If a ger relapses to a state of nonobservance, there is nothing anyone can do legitimately to predict such an occurrence. Such a person doesn’t lose their Jewishness, but is instead treated as a mumar yisrael. The fanciful and unhalakhic opinions I see in some circles never fails to baffle me. A lot of apikorsus passes itself off in a Borsalino nowadays.
IMHO, dress that is dignified and modest is what Jews ought to wear. I think looking “professional” in this day and age is a kiddush HaShem; a groomed beard, suit and tie for men, and a sheitel, skirt suit, etc. for women is clothing that clearly makes us appear dignified in the world.
I wish our tefilla be tzibbur were still dignified. The image of rabbi and chazzan in Geneva gowns, with a well-coordinated choir singing Lewandowski and Sulzer, and a polished, meaningful sermon, are sublime. I’ve only experienced that in a handful of places: Shearith Israel, Breuer’s, and at Princes’ Road in Liverpool. I wish Minhag Anglia had made its way to America.
I’m giving a shiur on “Kabbalat haTorah, Chesed, and Megillat Rut”
It sounds like they want to ban a style known as being worldly.
Hasidish groups have every right to do so, as they wish to be insular, apart from the world and general society.
You’d need to eat something parve and wash out the mouth in between.
A person’s yom tov meals should involve meat, but I see nothing wrong with doing an all-dairy meal if this brings a person simcha.
R’ Kotler’s book, Mishnas Rav Aharon, contains a very strong condemnation of Modern Orthodoxy.
Rav Benzion Uziel, zt”l, had no issue with a woman becoming a judge.
I don’t consider Rav Soloveitchik, zt”l, to be my poseq. There were quite a few areas where Reb Moshe was more meikil than him, and where his psak is more sensible (ie/ shtar mechira, ger katan, etc.)
The chemicals are an ikkar of what we end up eating over Pesach.
We live in an age of cakes and cookies that taste chametzdik on Passover, kosher cheeseburgers, pepperoni pizza, kosher stroganoff, etc. I purchased a book on charcuterie making and another on vegan cheese making; I’m using lamb and veal as a substitute for davar acher in many of the recipes and they come out fine.
As a matter of principle, I consume regular vitamins. I don’t see a need for special vitamins.
The Achiezer held that gelatin is a davar hadash, as does Hakham Ovadia Yosef. In America, the kashrus agencies follow the stringency of R’ Aaron Kotler.
Pills aren’t taken k’derech achila. What could be the issue?
I’ve been burned here because many people have no respect for hashkafot other than their own.
Good shabbos and enjoy those brownies.
Think about it- we’ve gone to a place and time where “I can’t believe it’s not milchig”
Wrong place to ask that question.
I’ve been burned many times here over my support of them.
Something “tasting” milchigs is a silly argument.
If the box has an OU (no D), and if you didn’t add dairy, and if there is no OU kosher alert on your item that the status may have changed from OU to OU-D, then your item is parve.
I went on the OU website, and Duncan Hines Family Style Brownies-Milk Chocolate is listed as Parve.
I made a great Greek meal the other day. The feta cheese would be good for Passover; for the sausage, if you’re Ashkenaz, for Pesach, you can leave out the fennel (which is treated as kitniyot).
The salad is called Maroulosalata: Romaine, scallion, dill, EVOO, red wine vinegar, oregano, pepper, and salt.
To accompany, I made my own parve feta cheese and Loukaniko sausage:
1 cup whole blanched almonds
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 Tbs. fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves
1. Place almonds in medium bowl, and cover with 3 inches cold water. Let soak 24 hours. Drain soaking liquid, rinse almonds under cold running water, and drain again.
3. Place large strainer over bowl, and line with triple layer of cheesecloth. Spoon almond mixture into cheesecloth. Bring corners and sides of cloth together, and twist around cheese, forming into orange-size ball and squeezing to help extract moisture. Secure with rubber band or kitchen twine. Chill 12 hours, or overnight. Discard excess liquid.
5. Combine remaining 1/4 cup oil, thyme, and rosemary in small saucepan. Warm oil over medium-low heat 2 minutes, or until very hot but not simmering. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle herb oil over cheese just before serving.
For Loukaniko: Season ground beef and lamb (1 pound of each) with salt, Syrah, 1 tbs. orange zest, 1 tsp. fennel seed, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, and dried marjoram. I marinated the meat like this for 48 hours, after first sitting out at room temperature for 4 hours. I made little karnatzlach-type sausages and grilled these.
I served these sausages with a twist of lemon, and with my salad and a few crumbles of the parve feta. I also had a Kontos Greek Pita with my meal (OK-Pas Yisroel).
If women are staying up all night, who is going to have the energy to make yontiff at home, as far as cooking, etc. goes?
I don’t care for these labels. These are subjective and relative terms. People generally use the term to refer to YU Yeshivish types; i.e. they emulate the roshei yeshiva in YU in dress (black-hat) and hashkafa.
I had the best pizza in my kitchen last night: Real New York Pizza Dough (OK Parve), Daiya Mozzarella (OU Parve/vegan), San Marzano tomatoes (OK-Pastene brand) made into a quick marinara sauce, fresh basil leaves, top quality Italian extra virgin olive oil, and bits of Glatt Mart pepperoni, Jack’s Italian salami, Italian homemade meatballs, and Jack’s Italian sausage. I also put a little of the Parma brand vegan parve parmesan on top when it came out of the oven (under Vaad of Oregon).
I took some leftover dough and made a calzone with Daiya mozzarella, Tofutti ricotta, Parma vegan parve parmesan, spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil, and the meats I had leftover.
Ben Ish Hai was also matir women wearing pants. I see no issue with it; wearing skirts becomes a sociological statement for many.
Hamotzi.
Reb Moshe paskened explicitly against pot smoking for many reasons.
Believing that the physical safety of EY depends on keeping Haredim out of the army is logically the same attitude that I can not work and still be rich, or that I can eat whatever I want and not exercise and still be thin. Hishtadlus means that G-d helps those who help themselves, and R’ MM Kasher, zt”l, says that this is a big yesod underlying Religious Zionism.
At a shtieble in Marine Park last week, I saw a guy in a black hat and knitted black kippah under his hat.
There is a simple way to stop smoking in the yeshivos: girls should refuse any shidduchim with guys that smoke.
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JPS is a great translation; the English is elegant. Just like why I love the Singer siddur, and the music of Sulzer and Lewandowski.
It’s another thing paving this country down a road to the pits.
Divrei HaYamim Bet, Perek Zayin, pasuk yud daled: “If My people, upon whom My name is called, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (JPS)
The entire “medical marijuana” business is a fraud; in any state where it’s been implemented, there has been massive misuse. Any “regulations” are a joke.; people feign any symptoms to get pot, just as they do disability, such as anxiety or depression.
Our country is heading down a road to perdition.
There was little the Conservative movement came up with that Toysfos didn’t come up with 700 years earlier: allowing clapping on shabbat, doing away with mayim acharonim, gevinat akum, etc.
Rabbi of Berlin,
Thank you for being an ish emet.
These teshuvos are unprecedented; nobody before R’ Moshe or R’ Soloveitchik, no rishonim, not the Rambam, nor Shulchan Aruch, ever discuss a mechitza for separating the sexes during prayer.
I am not in opposition to our practice, but there must be intellectual honesty. The gemara in Sukkah 51b-52 is speaking of a separate section erected within the context of simchat beit hashoevah due to kallut rosh; there is no enactment of the bet din hagadol to erect such a section in all instances of public prayer, which qualitatively, is far different than a joyous water-pouring ceremony. Neither has any rishon made such an extrapolation.
Mechitza is obligatory in the same way as a yarmulke; these became over time binding minhagim, but lack any real legal valence.
Mechitza: Eilu Devarim She Ein Lahem Shiur; Elu Devarim She Ein Lahem Makor, but it’s a minhag nitpashet.
The braha for Obama should be the czar’s blessing from Fiddler on the Roof.
If getting an education, believing people should pay their taxes and not scam the government, following dina le malchuta l’ dina, believing that infectious disease control measures should inform the observance of a very dear mitzvah, for the sake of pikuach nefesh, believing that all Israelis should contribute to society, etc. make me MO, than I stand accused.
If people don’t have much money to begin with, go on welfare, and have a lot of kids, I wouldn’t think they’d be so keen on going out for $50 steaks and $35 fish dinners in Manhattan.
If I were a rich man, I’d still do my own cooking.
Kiddush clubs can be found in the older, MO/Jewish Center-style places. IIRC, Beth Tfiloh in Baltimore has one.
Another option could be Tevere 84, described as quiet, elegant, and romantic.
I can suggest some very nice places:
Prime at The Bentley- this may be perfect. It is described as follows: “he two-floor, rooftop-equipped penthouse pop-up gives the feeling that you’re in some glamorous NY-based movie that you can’t quite remember the name of, but definitely isn’t Crocodile Dundee, thanks to dangling orb chandeliers, gilded chairs, fractured mirrors for super-good luck, and massive floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the East River and Queensboro Bridge.
The eclectic menu’s entirely kosher, but goes well beyond delicious matzoh while splitting into sea- and land-based choices. The latter counts unique sushi rolls with an Italian touch like the seared salmon w/ sun-dried tomato & truffle teriyaki sauce, as well as antipasti plates like toro tartare w/ wasabi olive oil, and lemon mustard aioli-topped, mirin-cured Irish “bio-salmon”, which was presumably harvested from the Pauly Shores.
Meanwhile, earth-eats come in the form of housemade Italian sausages in a blanket, fried artichokes w/ lemon aioli, Long Island duck sliders, and ribs w/ spicy Korean marinade known as the Bentley Rack, which is definitely allowed into the luxury cars in the UES.”
This place is under OU hashgacha, run by the Prime Grill people (considered the nicest kosher place in NYC for a while), and sounds perfect. The place has a view of the skyline and especially the 59th street bridge, which would be nicely illuminated at night. Sounds romantic to me.