rebdoniel

The Vilna Shas is a modern innovation, relatively speaking, just like the printing press, in the course of Jewish history.

And it was one developed by Christians, the Romm family.

It has no inherent kedusha or worth. It came about through chance, an accident of history. The Bar Ilan cd gives us an efficient, effective means of learning, and it should be utilized fully.

And as far as levush goes: the Borsalino hat that is so beloved in the yeshiva world only became popular after mafia movies came out. It is due only to another accident of history that this hat became popularly worn. There is nothing inherently holy about clothing styles copied from gentiles and 18th century Polish nobility. Halakhically, a talmid hakham must cover his head and wear clothing that is clean, well-maintained, and tasteful, as well as modest. This is the only requirement halakha places on such dress. You’re speaking in sociological terms, not religious ones.

Sheleg, Sheleg, Sheleg, Sheleg b’sasson.

When it comes to entering a church, halakha makes no distinction between the denomination of the church, although it may be less of an issur to enter a Unitarian, Jehovah’s Witness, or Mormon church, since these groups do not believe in a Trinity and do not believe Jesus is divine.

Anglicans also have statues and whatnot, and the Rabbanut actually sends R’ Shear Yashuv Cohen to important functions in the Vatican.

The psak is as follows. The Meiri believes that Christianity is not avodah zarah, which is like Tosafot, who say that Trinitarianism is like goyim being mishtateif HaShem and another being, which for them, is not assur, but is assur for Jews. (Tosfos sv Shema, Bechorot 2b).

Meiri says that Christians, like others “possessed of religion,” are indeed like bnei noach (Beit haBechira, Avodah Zarah 26b).

Additionally, Hullin 13b says that akum outside Israel really aren’t idolaters, but are merely following customs without understanding what they are doing.

I have read many responsa on the topic, and honestly, most poskim do not allow entering a church. However, Teshuvot haRosh klak 19, number 17, says that a Jew may take refuge in a church in a time of danger. This may serve as a limud zechut for the Rabbinate’s practice, as we would want to avoid eivah, and it is clear in this teshuva that entering a church to save Jewish life is mutar.

Historically, we do know that rabbis entered churches. Kerach shel Romi says that R’ Yisrael Moshe Hazan and others entered churches to learn niggunim that would be applied to synaggoue worship, which may be plausible, since much of nusach is pentatonic, much like Gregorian chant.

R’ Yosef Carlebach, the chief rabbi of Lubeck, often visited cathedrals for the sake of viewing the artwork and whatnot.

I believe that while it is most likely assur to enter a church, there are cases where it is simply unavoidable, as we need to avoid eivah. Also, in cases where Jews have gentile family members and colleagues, it may be detrimental to avoid attending functions like church weddings, funerals, christenings, etc.

The British Rabbinical practice of entering Westminster Abbey, like that of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein at Obama’s inauguration, is undertaken for the sake of good relations with our neighbors, which is a religious imperative in and of itself.

a) I was making a rhetorical point.

b) In reference to MDG: I am trained in academic methods, so perhaps I am influenced by the approach of Haym Soloveitchik, Professor Israel Ta-Shma, zt”l, Prof. EE Urbach, zt”l, and others who utilized a contextual approach to the study of halakha.

c) A rishon cannot disagree with the Talmud because everything up to and including Ravina and Rav Ashi is binding. The shitot of the Rishonim do not have the valence of canonical Torah, as the Talmud does.

d) The Rema’s approach on these issues is similar to how Tosafot view clapping on shabbat and mayim achronim, how Rabbenu Tam views gevinat akum, and how Teshuvot Mayim Hayim views women’s hair coverings. These are approaches which render psakim either on the basis of human need or changing social circumstances which contravene actual halakha as presented in the Gemara. (See Hakham Yosef Faur’s article on The Legal Methodology of Tosafot in Dine Yisrael for one explanation).

e) On Nat bar Nat: The main point here is whether you can be somech on nat bar nat l’chatchila. Nobody disputes it b’dieved, including the Rema.

But what do Ashkenazim do with the shita of the Darchei Teshuva? Here we have an Ashkenaz posek who says b’shem the Siftei Daat that if something parve is cooked in a meat pot, then only the klipa is assur to eat with halav. And, also, the Shach is more machmir than the Rema, and says that the tzalu is assur even b’dieved (unlike Rema).

APY,

And most of the songs were written by a Jew, Irving Berlin, the son of a chazzan.

A working guy who still learns every day seems to be what she wants.

Those who go to Night Kollel after working all day are the best of the best, and deserve our support the most.

The key should be to find a guy who is more Sinai than Oker Harim. If a guy works, his time to learn must be spent with concrete goals in mind and with an eye towards covering ground, so that he can have a real kinyan hatorah. This has become my approach. I learn Shas, Rashi, Tosafot; Chumash with Rashi, Onkelos, and different parshanim; Mishnayot with Bartenura and Kehati; Mishna Berura; Rambam; Kitzur every day. I have clear goals to master this material and to do chazara on it. My rabbanim are very proud of what I do and say that they wish people in yeshivas did this, since many, if not most, of the bochrim in yeshivas end up not coming out with much knowledge, I am told. If a man has this knowledge of Chumash, Shas, Mmishna, and Halacha, he will be able to teach his children and learn with them, and be the “mara d’atra” of his household, which is a husband’s role. And a man who learns through all of Shas and knows halakha is a talmid chacham who should have the respect of his children and wife.

It’s not a sign of assimilation.

If people have off work, why should they not make the most of their day off and enjoy it?

As far as high schools, it should be a day like any other day. A half day on Kretchmas is odd to me.

I feel that BT’s should stick with other BT’s and gerim when it comes to shidduchim.

There are many cultural gaps, for starters, as many people from right-wing frum backgrounds know nothing of the fine arts, philosophy, haute culture, etc. There needs to be intellectual compatibility in a shidduch.

I don’t see the chiddush.

I work, am continuing with my college studies, and also make time to learn 3 hours a day, in the morning and evening, after minyan.

Men are supposed to be kovea itim.

Maybe there are very few men out there who work an honest job and are also kovea itim?

I broke it at a chasuna on cake/rugelach/orange juice, followed by a kabbalas panim smorg of Hawaiian chicken, sesame chicken, shlishkes, kasha varnishkes, fried rice, and lo mein.

Firearms are very important, and the NRA President’s proposal was spot-on.

I was reading an email I got from YCT with Rabbi Weiss’s remarks about the shooting, and I was immediately put off by something he said. He called for a ban on “assault weapons.” That would not have averted a tragedy such as this. If we look at Newtown, Arizona, Aurora, etc., the one thing in common is that each shooter was a mental case. We’re not supposed to look at the face of a rasha, but if you look at their faces, you can see the look of insanity.

The way to avoid these problems is to deal with mental illness in a no-nonsense and comprehensive manner (i.e. bring back the snake pit), national spiritual and moral revival, secure our schools, and to stop blaming the Second Amendment!

With all due respect, R’ Weiss should stick to rabbinical duties and until he studies constitutional law, he has no right to an opinion on the matter of whether certain firearms ought to be banned or not. Statism and tyranny are not part of my weltanschauung, and are obviously sadly a part of rebbi’s worldview, just as statism and tyranny is a part of R’ Akiva Herzfeld’s worldview (he penned an op-ed in a Maine newspaper advocating the legalization of gay “marriage” identifying himself as a musmach of YCT, r”l).

If you maintain a good high school GPA and get into CUNY Honors, I believe they give a free laptop. If not, a netbook may serve you well, for things like internet, Microsoft Office Suite, etc.

I have grown accustomed to the Hebrew Books text of Shas-Rashi-Tosafot, as well as the format of the sefarim on Bar Ilan, which make it easy to make source sheets, add vowels (using Auto Nikud) for those who need them. Mmy fear, though, is that my students will not ever learn Rashi script.

Perhaps because it was forced on us as an anti-semitic measure, not a voluntary translation.

I hope people don’t use Asara b”Tevet as an excuse to rail against translated seforim.

Politics. Kashrus is an ugly game.

Basically, I look at what goyim eat, and see how we can make it kosher. I am not Chassidishe, but if the rebbeim say that we can take a goyishe tune and elevate it to kedusha, surely we can do the same with goyishe foods, and indeed we have. The bagel, herring, knishes, pastrami, etc. are all foods created by Central and Eastern European goyim.

Thank you very much for your kind words.

I find that things like the meat substitutes on the market, Parve Parmesan, Mimic Creme, etc. really help recreate kosher versions of treif dishes. I would say that all you need to be a good cook is to be willing to go beyond your comfort level. Using new spices, herbs, or kosher products on the market is an exciting thing.

One doesn’t need to spend an arm and a leg to be frum.

Clothes don’t need to be designer. Meat can and should only be eaten on Shabbos and Yom Tov, even if then. A vegetarian lifestyle is healthier and cheaper, anyways. You only need to worry about maintaining 1 set of kitchen equipment and plates, and another set for Pesach.

I see Judaica for cheap in different places, like Closeout Connection and Amazing Savings.

I believe that instead of wasting money on luxuries, we should give more to the needy and reprioritize.

Thank you very much. I am an amateur chef, and have a vast knowledge of different cuisines and the wide array of kosher products available.

Keeping kosher is no excuse for eating bad food, I feel. Too many frum cooks make shvach food devoid of flavor or creativity. This is why I usually like eating my own food and generally don’t eat in too many frum restaurants, although there are a few I like.

If I had the money, I’d open up a couple of restaurants, one meat, one dairy.

Sure it is. R’ Willig is your strawman, since he is the posek who authorized the Prenup.

How would the RCA be involved with the Conservative Movement? Your insinuation is that people affiliated with YU are somehow inclined towards that perspective, when they are the finest of the finest in Orthodoxy. R’ Schachter, R’ Willig, and all of the great rebbeim at YU are gedolim of the highest caliber.

And the text of that prenup is borrowed largely from Nachlas Shiva.

This is a stupid post and an ad hominem attack on the Modern Orthodox community.

And this is not invention of a new halakha.

My point exactly was that when criteria are met, the shtar mechirs is effective, and it’s use existed long before R’ Feinstein.

Le ma’aseh, Rabbi Israel Meir Steinberg and others follow this shita, whereas R’ Soloveitchik wasn’t fond of it on policy grounds. This was actually a case where Reb Moshe was more meikil than R’ Soloveitchik.

Labels mean little. I know those who wear tzitzis, a black suede kippa and polo shirts and jeans and colored shirts and khakis during the week, a black hat and white on shabbos and yontiff, doesn’t keep cholov yisroel or pas yisroel, studies at a CUNY college, learns daf yomi and goes to minyan three times a day, yet daven Nusach Sfard, and keep many heimishe-type minhagim, do kiruv with Oorah, NCSY, went to places like KBY, and identify equally as either RWMO or LW Yeshivish. I don’t see much of a difference.

People above accuse non-mainstream hashgachas of overseeing DD.

Vaad of 5 Towns and Vaad of Riverdale in NYC; CRC in Chicago, Vaad of Metrowest (there is now kosher DD in West Orange), R’ Teitz in Elizabeth, and R’ Salfer in Baltimore are hardly what I would call lenient or unacceptable.