Redleg

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  • in reply to: Driving Age #1012474
    Redleg
    Participant

    I got my Farm License at 14. I think 16 is a good age for a driver’s license for kids who live in rural or suburban areas. City kids who tend not to be car savvy should wait until maybe 18. I’m an old geezer. As a general observation, I think the country was in better shape when the drinking age was 18 and the voting age was 21.

    in reply to: Dr. Watson is brilliant! #1009727
    Redleg
    Participant

    The characters Of Holmes and Watson were fixed in the public mind by their early movie portrayal by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce respectively. The movie made two major errors in bringing Conan Doyle to the screen. First is Bruce’s portrayal of Watson as sort of a bumbling Colonel Blimp. The second, and less obvious, is the portrayal of Holmes and Watson as in advanced middle age. Both issues are major diversions from the characters as written by Conan Doyle.

    In fact, When we first meet Holmes and Watson in “A Study in Scarlet”, Holmes in in his late twenties and Watson is a couple of years older. Watson is returning from service in Afghanistan (!) and answers an add for a roommate. The advertiser is Holmes. Far from being a bumbler, Watson is the man of action while Holmes is the cerebral sleuth. In there adventures, Holmes always asks Watson to accompany him when there is a the threat of danger and to bring his gun.

    Ben David, it is fairly well known that R’ Yaakov Kaminetsky, ZTL, read Sherlock Holmes in Russian translation and was a fan. If Holmes was frum enough for Rav Yaakov, he’s frum enough for me.

    in reply to: skeletons #1008673
    Redleg
    Participant

    The problem is that the past often refuses to stay buried. Past peccadilloes, no matter how long past, how deeply regretted and completely atoned, have a way of popping up at inopportune times. Then what?

    I’m not speaking of real addictions of the sort remarked by Syag. I mean the kind of bad behavior, even crimes, that would be, at least, deeply embarrassing or even damaging if found out. It’s a dilemma! Do you bury the past and hope it says buried or do you tell your prospective (or actual) spouse and trust him/her to believe you when you say you’re a changed man/woman and there is no danger of you repeating your previous bad behavior. I submit that if, indeed, you are “healed” you need a spouse that trusts you and believes in you. A spouse, potential or actual, that would give up on you for trusting them is not one worthy of your trust.

    in reply to: Modernised Purim Story #1007782
    Redleg
    Participant

    Well done

    in reply to: maybe we all should stop getting drunk on purim #1056662
    Redleg
    Participant

    First, a story. I was 14 when my parents, OBM, sent me away to yeshiva. The first Purim in yeshiva, with no supervision, I spent about half an hour that night drinking beer, wine, schnapps and getting good and drunk. I spent the next three hours in the bathroom calling Ralph on the big, white phone, not to mention the incredible hangover I had the next morning. It was an important life lesson and the lesson is one that manifests itself in folklore and physical science (Newton’s Third Law comes to mind) actions have consequences. I still enjoy a l’chaim now and again, I have no trouble with arba kosos or drinking on Purim but I have never again gone beyond the limits of good judgment (not to mention not driving).

    As to drinking on Purim: There are Ovdei HaShem and there are menuvalim, even without drinking. For an Oveid HaShem drinking on Purim can intensify his spiritual experience and kavanos. On Purim I have seen these fellows benching b’kol ram with great and intense kavanah. I have seen bachurim in front of the Aron, tears streaming down there faces, saying vidui. Menuvalim, on the other hand, become bigger menuvalim with the diminution of control that drinking causes. But the fact is that they were

    menuvalim to start out with.

    In our communities, thousands of Jews drink moderately and rejoice l’shem Shamayim on Purim. To say that “we all” need to stop drinking because there are a few menuvalim who can’t control themselves is an insult to those thousands.

    in reply to: Ben Ish Chair terr #1006600
    Redleg
    Participant

    My Zeide, O”H, always used to say that if one wants a berachah he should do chesed for a poor person and ask that “oruman” for a berachah because the Eibishter listens to the prayers of the poor.

    in reply to: quote from Charedi soldier at Atzeres #1006714
    Redleg
    Participant

    ZD, congress can also pass special bills allowing certain individuals to immigrate. Congressmen usually go along with each other as a favor in this kind of legislation. I don’t think though that anyone could pass a special bill for a group.

    in reply to: maybe we all should stop getting drunk on purim #1056607
    Redleg
    Participant

    What bothers me is that whenever someone gets a katz Im kup about drinking on Purim or tznius or secular music or whatever it’s alway’s “we all have to do something”. OP, take care of yourself. If you think that drinking on Purim is going to be a problem for you, don’t drink. Don’t be so quick to point out yennem’s aveiros. Take care of your own.

    in reply to: Were we all Sephardic once? #1006890
    Redleg
    Participant

    Persian Jews were never Sephardim. The Persian (Iranian) Jewish community is the oldest continuous Jewish community having been in existence in present day Eastern Iraq (the city of Susa is Shushan) and Iran since Churban Bayis Rishon.

    Jews from that part of the World, Iraq, Iran, the Arabian peninsula are properly called Eastern (Mizrachi) Jews and have their own nusach and minhagim and many are very maqpid on shiduchim. Mashadi Jews (from the Iranian city of Meshad) are reputed to only be meshadach with other Meshadis.

    in reply to: Swiss Cheese #1086471
    Redleg
    Participant

    SL, OOPS! you’re right of course. As a matter of fact, stam vinegar in the U.S. is made from apples but still needs a hechsher.

    in reply to: Gefilte Fish #1106428
    Redleg
    Participant

    ZD, the Yiddish you hear today in Yeshivas should properly be called American Yiddish. The pronunciation is similar to sort of Litvishe Yiddish but any one who ever heard R’ Moshe, ZTL or R’Yaakov, ZTL or, for that matter, my father and mother, A’H speak can instantly hear the difference.

    in reply to: How much is a woman's Torah worth #1006321
    Redleg
    Participant

    Gentlemen, I stand by may statement that most of “learning” is rote memory.

    DY, Lomus is certainly a a part of learning and a reasonably rigorous (but not overly so) intellectual exercise, but it’s hard to do Brisker synthesis without memorizing the shitos that you’re synthesizing. As far as MAS”G. I did review the sugya. You’re right, but I thought I’d just throw the idea out there.

    PBA, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. My opinion is based on my experiences in the Beis Medrash. Perhaps your experience was different and that forms your opinion. I have opinions and you have opinions. You know what they say about opinions.

    My basic point is that there is no physical or mental reason that a woman could not attain the same levels of Torah scholarship as any man. The issue is solely whether and to what extent a woman may learn or be taught Torah and what, if any, schar she receives for doing so.

    in reply to: Swiss Cheese #1086467
    Redleg
    Participant

    DISCAIMER: The following is just my understanding of the issue based on my study. For this and any other halacha l’maaseh issue, consult your own Rav or RH.

    It would seem to me that any cheese, like Swiss cheese, that uses a coagulating agent requires hashgacha. The gezeira on gevinas akum is separate from the gezeirah on chalav akum. Although the reason for the gezeira isn’t really clear from Shas and Rishonim, the general consensus is that the rennet used as a coagulating agent is the concern and hashgacha must ascertain that it comes from a kosher animal. In fact, almost all commercial cheese made in the U.S. use microbial rennet (grown from yeast) instead of animal rennet. Nevertheless, most contemporary poskim opine that hard cheese needs a hechsher.

    Soft cheeses such s farmer cheese, cottage cheese and cream cheese generally don’t use a coagulating agent at all or use vinegar. As such, many poskim hold that such cheeses do not need a hechsher.

    N.B. The reason that many are meikil in this issue is the fact that true cheese only be made from the milk of a kosher animal. The preceding, however, does not apply to “processed cheese foods” and one must be wary.

    in reply to: Gefilte Fish #1106426
    Redleg
    Participant

    Sweet fish? Feh! Our gefilte fish was always made with salt an pepper and always from fresh ground, never from a loaf.. When I was married, my mother,O’H had to teach my kallah how to make proper gefilte fish as her family was from south of the Gefilte Fish Line (look it up) and always made sweet fish (did I already say feh?).

    Incidentally, the Gefilte Fish Line is also the demarkation between proper Yiddish pronunciation and Galitzianer pronunciation.

    in reply to: How much is a woman's Torah worth #1006312
    Redleg
    Participant

    Logician, Don’t you think that reading comprehension is important to learning? In my experience it does not seem to require more than average intelligence (average for Ashkenazi Jews) to be successful in learning. What is required most is hasmoda and desire. Most of what is called “learning” is really nothing more than rote memory.

    That is not to say that there aren’t true illuyim in the Beis Medrash but illuyis isn’t required for greatness in Torah. Many of our gedolim, past and present were not illuyim. They attained gadlus by dint of hard work and dedication.

    edited

    It has already been long established that, when the tenor of the times requires it, women may be taught Torah (can you say “Beis Yaakov”?). As to the latter, why would a woman’s learning be less valuable or less worthy than her listening to shofar or benching esrog as mentioned previously. Here’s a thought. Since learning Torah is not a mitzvah shehazman grama, why wouldn’t a woman be just as mechuyiv in it as a man?

    in reply to: How much is a woman's Torah worth #1006307
    Redleg
    Participant

    Golfer, most studies agree that women are generally better at verbal skills and reading comprehension than men. It would therefore seem that women would be better than men at Torah learning. There is no physical, psychological or emotional reason that women could not do as well as men in learning, sefarah and drush. The issue isn’t whether they can, the issue is whether they may.

    in reply to: what is your worst language? what's ur favorite? #1006503
    Redleg
    Participant

    Some comments on language:

    Because of what Notasheep points out, English has the largest and most precise vocabulary of any language on Earth. English is also the most commonly spoken language on Earth. N.B. Mandarin is the most common native language but more people speak English as a first or second language. English is the language in which the World’s business is conducted. It is the global lingua franca of art and science. While English grammar and spelling may seem difficult, English is, in fact, one of the easiest languages for non-speakers to make themselves understood in because the grammar an pronunciation are secondary yo the meaning of the words themselves. Try mispronouncing French to a French speaker. All you’ll get is a blank stare.

    After English and Mandarin (which no one outside of Chine actually speaks) the next most commonly spoken language is Spanish. Spanish is very regular and relatively easy to learn. Spanish speakers can understand you even if you mispronounce the words.

    French is (or should be) a dying language.

    Actually, one of the easiest languages to learn to speak is Japanese. It’s simple and regular. On the other hand, Japanese is probably the hardest language to be literate in – three alphabets.

    One of the reasons that Yiddish speakers back in the day were able to learn English so quickly is the similarity of English and Yiddish. For you Yiddish speakers out there, translate the following English sentence into Yiddish: My brother says, “Open the door and thank him for the fish”.

    in reply to: #1005865
    Redleg
    Participant

    Back to the OP’s query, I’d like to be a great-grandfather. Hope I make it.

    in reply to: #1005864
    Redleg
    Participant

    Psikreisha, I’d leave wrestling a polar bear for last.

    in reply to: What is Chestnut Ridge, New York all about? #1003043
    Redleg
    Participant

    “What is Chestnut Ridge NY all about.”

    It’s about two square miles.

    in reply to: Awkward kashrus situation – advice? #1002972
    Redleg
    Participant

    I have a basic question. I understand that you have what you consider to a high standard of kashrus. Why did you assume that the Hillel rabbi didn’t met them? I know folks who won’t eat in anyone’s house but there own. Is that your hanagah or your family’s hanhagah as well?

    in reply to: Ear Piercing #1002143
    Redleg
    Participant

    Okay, that covers women having their ears pieced. What about men? When I was a young man, a man with an earring/s was outlandish. Nowadays it’s quite common to see men with pierced ears wearing masculine style earrings. what say you all?

    in reply to: Torahs with different texts #1001728
    Redleg
    Participant

    Charlie I do agree with your post but I hasten to point out that questioning the divinity of Torah (H”V) does not necessarily make one nihilistic.

    in reply to: Sephardi and Ashkenazi couple #1002389
    Redleg
    Participant

    Sorry, KB613, brown eyes and dark complexion are dominant traits.

    in reply to: Unconditional love #1013719
    Redleg
    Participant

    Trust, WIY is right. Love of one’s spouse always comes before love of one’s child. See my previous post.

    in reply to: Why is a Day #997170
    Redleg
    Participant

    WIY, I know but it’s more fun to see what the denizens of the coffee room come up with

    in reply to: Why is a Day #997168
    Redleg
    Participant

    PBA, that is the question. Why does a sundial have twelve marks,. not ten?

    in reply to: Starting out marriage with a solid foundation #995987
    Redleg
    Participant

    To summarize, a couple’s relationship with each other isn’t based on their relationship with the Eibishter. Rather a couple’s relationship with the Eibishter is modeled after their relationship with each other.

    in reply to: Starting out marriage with a solid foundation #995985
    Redleg
    Participant

    Shlomo haMelech was a pretty smart guy. He understood the difficulty in describing an intimate, loving relationship between a finite, mortal Human Being and an Infinite, All-Powerful, Eternal G-d. So the metaphor he used described an intimate, loving relationship with which everyone should be familiar.

    in reply to: Question About Punishment After Death #1001434
    Redleg
    Participant

    Here’s another question: The mesorah is that, for all except the most irredeemable reshaim, the neshama is only Gehinnom for 11 months. Is there duration in Gehinnom? Can an eternal neshama experience the passage of time. For that matter, is there time in Gehinnom?

    in reply to: Making fun of people who are frummer than you #996534
    Redleg
    Participant

    Darn it! Frummer isn’t necessarily better. The concept of “crazy frum” is a valid one. No one mocks other religious Jews. It’s the nut balls who are, in effect, inventing they own religion who are risible and frankly deserving of mockery. My Rav always said that before one adds chumrahs, one should make sure that he is being m’kayeim all S’A as written. Once you’ve satisfied the Beis Yosef and the Ramah, then you can add stuff. In the example given, if the halacha is that a woman’s knee should be covered, then a skirt 4″ below the knee isn’t “frummer”, it’s just a style. If that particular woman thinks that she is, somehow, demonstrating greater devotion to G-d and Torah, she is mistaken.

    in reply to: Jobs #994921
    Redleg
    Participant

    The profession with the highest starting salaries is Petroleum Engineering. In fact, all of the engineering disciplines are doing well. Of course, taking an engineering degree requires some aptitude and means real work in school. It also requires and attitude adjustment among unzerer who seem to think that technical knowledge and interest is “Goyish”.

    I’ve been a professional engineer for 43 years and have been involved in power projects all over the U.S. and overseas. Besides making a decent living, engineers have the additional psychic income of passing a place like Indian Point or Kennedy airport with the feeling of “I built that!”

    in reply to: Murphy's Law #992058
    Redleg
    Participant

    Akuperma, Murphy’s Law works for our enemies too.

    in reply to: Random Facts #1040260
    Redleg
    Participant

    Froggie, can you play and sing?

    in reply to: Teasing #991854
    Redleg
    Participant

    I stuttered as a child (still do) so I was often teased and bullied. I responded by fighting back, either conversationally or physically. I found that bullies stop when it’s no longer fun. When teasing results in a clever put down and bullying earns you a bloody nose, it stops being fun. Over the years my stutter has become somewhat less pronounced, although still noticeable, but have found that if you have something to say that’s worth listening to, folks don’t notice so much the way it’s said. I sort of suspect that something similar occurred to Moshe Rabeinu. When G-d selected him for his mission, he was very self-conscious about his speech, but by the time sefer Devarim rolls around, He was addressing all of Klal Yisroel and teaching them Torah. He still stuttered but it didn’t matter anymore, neither to him nor to Klal Yisroel.

    in reply to: Lost Dor Yesharim ID Number #1141051
    Redleg
    Participant

    I’m sorry, what’s the big deal about getting retested? Do they charge a lot for retest?

    in reply to: Leaving children alone in the house #990848
    Redleg
    Participant

    Strongly urge all posters to look up Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy (she happens to be frum)

    in reply to: Whoever Said Nothing Was Impossible #990708
    Redleg
    Participant

    Nothing is impossible to the person who doesn’t have to do it himself.

    in reply to: How can a person avoid suffering? #988183
    Redleg
    Participant

    WIY, are you speaking theoretically or about actual suffering? Practically, no one can avoid all suffering. As an Engineer and a Jew, my response to suffering is to fix what I can, suck it up and suffer what I cannot, and to be mevoreich on the ra as I am mevoreich on the tov.

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987819
    Redleg
    Participant

    Outsider, You are correct in stating that a buffalo is a different animal, but the fact is that American Bison are commonly called buffalo even though they technically aren’t. Beefalo is a domestic cattle/Bison hybrid

    Re dogs. All domestic dogs, coyotes, dingos are, in fact, genetically wolves.

    I have raised this issue with our local Rav. Is conventional taxonomy and halachic taxonomy the same? If animals don’t resemble one another are the different minim, even though they are the same species according to conventional taxonomy? Are juvenile forms a different min than adult forms? As stated above, a great dane and a dachshund are taxonomically identical, are the different minim al pi halacha?

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987814
    Redleg
    Participant

    There is no doubt whatever that a Zebu is a cow and was certainly known to Tannaim and Amoraim. A Bison, however, is certainly kosher but is a sufaik chaya. Chayos like deer or antelope, are certainly kosher bur require kisui hadam.

    in reply to: Saying yes to offers of help #987550
    Redleg
    Participant

    I know some people like that. The don’t like asking for help and don’t like when people offer to help and I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the reasons is they feel that outside help requires reciprocation and they sort of resent that.

    Someone once told me that one of the most charitable things on can do is to let others be charitable to you.

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987811
    Redleg
    Participant

    SecFrum, I’m skeptical but not prepared to dismiss your premise. If you’re selectively breeding for desired traits, as was done with dogs, the traits have to be there to start out with, however latent they may be. It’s an interesting concept though.

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987807
    Redleg
    Participant

    SecFrum, Don’t know about that. domestic dogs, no matter what their size and shape, are still dogs and have all of the features, however modified, of the ancestral form, the wolf. If you could come up with a dog that’s, say, a strict herbivore with the dentition and digestive tract to match, you might have something

    Redleg
    Participant

    Apushitayid, I’ve posted on other threads about this and it rankles me every time I read a post like yours. You simply have no knowledge of history nor any idea of what secular America is like. All you know is the opinion of Rebbes and Mechanchim who are as cloistered as you are. I take personal offense when folks like you, who really don’t know what they’re talking about, run down my country. Is casino gambling good? for most it’s harmless fun, for some it can be a trap and a nightmare. In the grand scheme of things, America is the greatest country on the face of the earth and it’s place in the golus is unique. To say that, since the churban, Jews never had it so good is an understatement. Not only are we Yidden blessed to live here, the rest of America, the “Goyim” who you despise and denigrate, is hard working, respectful, broad minded, fair and upright. Your characterization of America as “the most hedonistic society in the history of mankind” is so obviously silly that I won’t waste time and effort refuting it.

    in reply to: Rabbi Avraham Twerski M.D. v.s. Rabbi Lazer Brody #987126
    Redleg
    Participant

    I don’t see how Rabbi Brody’s combat experience has any bearing on how depression should be treated. As a former combat soldier myself, I can attest that faith is key, and not only faith in the Divine. One needs faith in one’s comrades and in one’s own skills. I guess I was a pretty good soldier but neither I nor anyone else should have any faith in my ability to treat clinical disease.

    in reply to: Women Cleaning #1027241
    Redleg
    Participant

    Torah613, Veg is right. In my marriage, I make all the major decisions and my wife makes all the minor ones. She makes the decisions about where we live, what schools and yeshivas to send the kids to, what kind of 401K and retirement fund to have, what stocks to buy, and I make the decisions concerning nuclear proliferation and global warming.

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987804
    Redleg
    Participant

    SF, Ok, How did we get the Cavendish banana? I know that there has been or is an effort being made to breed back the domestic cow to it’s ancestral form, the Aurochs. But an Aurochs is still a ruminant. How would one go about doing what you propose? How many rungs on the evolutionary ladder do you have to go back to get a critter that has cloven hooves but isn’t a ruminant?

    Redleg
    Participant

    Historically, the hospitality industry has been the mainstay of Sullivan County. There is no manufacturing to speak of nor is the much in the way of agriculture. Since the demise of the Borscht Belt, Sullivan county has been an economically depressed area. Casino gambling is simply a modern iteration of Sullivan County’s traditional industry. So the answer to the OP is yes, it will change things sort of back to the way they were.

    Is it good for Yidden? Well, if you own property in Sullivan County you’re going to do well. If you’re a compulsive gambler, it may be a little easier to lose your shirt although, remembering the six hour odyssey to get to Grossinger’s back in the day, that might not be so.

    Just a note. If any of you do plan on sampling the delights of the new casinos, please don’t go in levush. It’s embarrassing to to see all those bekeshes on the casino floor.

    in reply to: Is beefalo kosher? #987800
    Redleg
    Participant

    the psak from Outsider’s Rav illustrates a major difficulty in paskening practical halachah. The Rav is undoubtedly correct that it is assur to crossbreed animals. The question is, what constitutes crossbreeding. Everyone agrees that breeding a jack donkey on a horse mare, thereby producing a mule, is assur. What about breeding a Limosin bull on a Holstein cow? Limosin cattle are hardy and disease resistant so their heritable traits are desirable. Here’s a case where the Rav really needs some hands-on (or hands-in) experience.

    Secular, what you imagine cannot be done. The animal that has cloven hooves but does not ruminate is the pig. It is impossible to crossbreed any ruminant with a pig nor is it possible to crossbreed two ruminates and end up with a non-ruminant. On second thought, It might be possible with modern genetic engineering and recombinant DNA, but not through the normal, barnyard variety of gentech.

Viewing 50 posts - 351 through 400 (of 535 total)