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Did they even sell it? I’m not even sure if it’s put on their CD to make money (though I could be wrong). I imagine, if it is illegal to take someone’s tune while changing the words, it’s only illegal if you sell it and make money, not if you just put it on Youtube for everyone’s free enjoyment.
The two answers which I heard (which I’ve seen multiple times here) is that Nissan is happy, and Tishab Be’Av is the national day of mourning.
But don’t we also observe mourning during sefirah on the national level in addition to Tishah BeAv, and it also falls out during Nissan?
The two answers which I heard (which I’ve seen multiple times here) is that Nissan is happy, and Tishab Be’Av is the national day of mourning.
But don’t we also observe sefirah which is a national time for mourning in addition to Tishah BeAv, and it also falls out during Nissan?
I’m happy that there are so many frum Jews, but are we supposed to be celebrating that many of them are content to live in chutz la’aretz? kein yirbu beEretz Yisroel!
I heard one limud zechus is that people wear it more as a form of jewelery than as a tool to tell time. If it’s jewelery, then it’s permitted to wear in the reshus harabim as it is similar to clothing. If it’s a tool, then it would problematic because of carrying. Since most people have a special watch for Shabbos, that might be enough for it to qualify as a jewelery. Though I heard a Rav once say that it’s hard to tell whether it’s more jewelery or tool, and one way to answer up the safek is if the person would be willing to wear his nice Shabbos watch even if it broken and is of no use to tell time.
I also saw in that article about people who need jobs turning down security guard positions. I think this is a terrible trend. The Mesilas Yesharim writes at the end of the midah of nekiyus that one negative midah that we all have to work on is desire for kavod/honor. He explains that one way it manifests itself is people turning down jobs because it is “beneath them.” Iy”H our society will heed the holy words of the Ramchal and not let kavod stand in the way of parnassah.
The great HJS:
Just because I don’t care doesn’t mean I don’t understand.
Son, if you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They’re about to announce the lottery numbers.
If something goes wrong at the plant, blame the guy who can’t speak English.
I think Smithers picked me because of my motivational skills. Everyone says they have to work a lot harder when I’m around.
sonei matanos yichyeh- one who hates gifts will live. I don’t think this is as easy as many people in the cr are making it out to be. Talmud Torah keneged kulam and the beis medrash is the real life, but being supported is not an ideal. I don’t mean if a kollel is paying someone because those are the wages for a job not a gift. But being supported by parents is a gift and is not necessarily the ideal way to live life. It’s a big clash and it’s something that I struggle with, and it’s something that I feel not enough people struggle with. Taking money is never ideal.
Sem- What do you feel is the most difficult mitzvah for you to keep?
girl- ummm… i don’t know… parah adumah?
I too am bothered by the change, I have asked many people about it and yet I have not been given a good answer. At the end of the day, in terms of authenticity, I find it hard to believe that one is more correct than the other. I think if any of us heard Moshe Rabeinu speak Hebrew it would sound very different. But on the other hand, I think it is important to preserve our mesorah, Ashkenazis for Ashkenazim and Sepharadit for Sepharadim. However, one benefit that havara Sepharadit has is that it doesn’t sound weird to speak with proper havarah (meaning, for most words, emphasis on the final syllable). For all those in here who are devoted to proper pronunciation (at least for Ashkenazim), I say we throw away haVArah AshkeNAzis and start speaking havaRAH AshkenaZIS. Who wants to join the club of speaking AshkenaZIS properly?
I don’t know many details about global warming and I certainly don’t understand why whether it exists is subject to political or philosophical debate. However, I do notice that people tend to focus only on the evidence that seems to support them. While many on this site seem to laugh at global warming because of the blizzard in New York, I’m sitting here in E”Y in probably one of the hottest and driest December’s that E”Y has seen in a long time.
I don’t know much about Torah im Derech Eretz, but I can explain (at least what I think based on my experience in YU) what Torah uMadda is. To be truthful, I don’t think there’s one clear definition of Torah uMadda because I think each YU Rosh Yeshivah shlita has a slightly different definition of what Torah uMadda means, but I’ll give you my opinion what I think it means.
Torah uMadda is the creed of Modern Orthodoxy (I think). Some people think Modern Orthodoxy is about being as much like the Goyim as possible while staying faithful to Halachah. I think that is completely false. I think Modern Orthodoxy/Torah uMadda, at least in its ideal form, is recognizing that while Torah is the absolute ikar, there is what to gain from secular society to enhance the Torah. There’s science, math, music, art, etc… Torah uMadda is about utilizing the positives of secular society to enhance our own Torah and relationship with HKB”H while keeping our identity as Jews (and not trying to mimic the Goyim), keeping the Torah ikar, and rejecting all that is treif in secular society. This is in contrast to the more Charedi perspective which is not to use secular society at all, whether for positive or negative (because the dangers are too great and it’s not worth the risk), unless one needs to use secular society (like for parnassah).
In addition, just because a person is able to live in near poverty to learn, doesn’t mean he should. If his wife and/or kids cannot handle that either, he should rethink being a full time kollel guy.
Anyone can learn full time if they want to and it’s a beautiful thing. But they should expect to live according to very low standards. Anyone who is a frum Jew who values Torah should want to learn all day. If you don’t, it’s a chisaron in how you value Torah. Why doesn’t everyone do it? Because not everyone (in fact most people) cannot handle that life style. Too many people demand to learn all day and expect to be paid like an accountant, etc… They demand money from their parents or in laws, they do things that aren’t yashar (like not legally getting married so they can stay on their parents insurance, selling american products from their back room without paying taxes, etc…), and many are just learning because they don’t want to be looked down on by their friends. There’s a reason why many tried to learn all day like R’ Shimon Bar Yochai said and it didn’t work. Because they couldn’t handle that lifestyle. And THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT. Not everyone is cut out to live in near poverty to learn, and those who are… ashrecha.
mdd… i disagree with you. Kollel is not a normal job. If you want to live normal standards then you go into the career world. Kollel are for those individuals who want to live below normal standards in order to learn… aka moser nefesh. The only people who should be living normally in kollel are those whose parents are willing (and not pressured) to give it to them out of the goodness of their heart. Most people cannot have their cake and eat it too.
I think it’s wonderful when a boy or girl’s parents wants to support them financially to learn. The problem is when avreichim think that they are entitled to support from their parents or in laws to learn. No parent has an achrayus to support their married children learning, it’s a chesed if they decide to do it. People don’t understand that every dollar (or shekel) that they receive for learning is a dollar out of the pocket of someone else who worked very hard to earn it.
I guess it’s a little late to post this but it seems like a married man should sleep in the sukkah unless he is particularly uncomfortable about not sleeping in the same room as his wife (I’m assuming the din is the same if the man is okay sleeping in the sukkah without his wife but the wife is uncomfortable sleeping in a room without her husband) (the din of mitzta’er- that’s how the Vilna Ga’on rules as brought down by the Mishnah Berurah). It seems very strange that there would be a whole din about sleeping in the sukkah, to the point that even a temporary sleep outside the sukkah is forbidden (which is much more strict than the halachah is by food where temporary eating is permitted) and the Gemara doesn’t mention that it’s only for the minority of Klal Yisro’el, only for the men who are not married. When the Rama says that a married man doesn’t have to sleep in the sukkah because of teishvu ka’ein taduru (one should live in the sukkah as if he lives in his house, and therefore since one sleeps in the same room as his wife in his house, it should be the same idea for the sukkah), it seems he is only rationalizing for the many married people who don’t sleep in the sukkah, but that’s not necessarily the din lechatchilah.
Quick question… is there something unique about ??? ????? ????? that it was written with ??? ????? or were all the ??????? (like ??”?, ???”?, ??? ????, etc…) also written with ??? ??????
There are two shi’urim on YU Torah (yutorah.org) that discuss techeiles. One is a shi’ur on if the techeiles is real techeiles or not. The second shi’ur is on the topic even if it’s only a safek, should we wear it anyways. It’s by R’ Aryeh Lebowitz in a category called “ten minute halacha” (each shi’ur is about 10 minutes). He brings arguments both ways but he is a talmid of R’ Schachter shlita and wears techeiles (R’ Schachter shlita wears techeiles also) so it might be a little biased towards wearing it.
I don’t mean to criticize those who learn. I am just talking about people who cannot fulfill the responsibilities of their jobs. I don’t know who violates geneivah on a general level more, the workers or the learners (I would hope the workers as you said). However, I believe those who violate geneievah while learning in kollel are people who want to learn but physically and mentally cannot. Those are the people I’m referring to who shouldn’t be in kollel. Those who violate geneivah while working though, I assume can do their job but it’s their apathy that causes them to vioate geneivah. I am not talking about those people because they SHOULD be working, they just need a lesson in halachah and derech eretz. If there are people who are working and physically and mentally can’t fulfill their responsibilities, then they should not be working either (at least in the job that their in) and should look for other options.
Derech- I was always under the impression that learning in kollel is a Yisachar-Zevulon arrangement. A person pays for learning and he receives a portion (half or a quarter… I don’t really know) of that sechar limud, even though he (the one paying) hasn’t learned a word. Therefore, any time wasted is less sechar for the supporter and a misuse of his money.
so we agree, a person cannot work or learn in an environment where he can not handle the responsibilities and will succumb to geneivah.
In addition, all things being equal, learning is a much better “career” than working. Working takes you through this world, learning to the next. But that only works if learning can take you (and your family) through this world. A husband is obligated to support his wife and family on their level. Unfortunately (or fortunately) learning in kollel pays extremely little. It doesn’t matter how much you love learning, or how much time you’re willing to spend on it, or the fact that learning is objectively the most productive career. If your wife and kids are physically and psychologically suffering (chas veshalom), you cannot do it. You must find yourself a job that pays more (obviously one that you can do and will not violate geneivah while doing it)
“Working is only shayach for people who can work every minute of all working hours that they are supposed to (any minute during working hours not working is geneivah.)”
That is true… a person is not allowed to work in a place where it is inevitable he will violate geneivah. However, there is much more flexibility when it comes to careers. Some have longer hours, some have shorter hours. Some don’t have hours requirements but you have to make a certain amount sales or money, or have to produce a certain amount of goods. Sometimes a person is self employed, or the management monitors how he uses his time and any time he wastes is his lost money and is not geneivah. I’m sure there are many other situations as well. A person must choose a job or career in which it’s realistic that he will not violate geneivah.
Kollel is usually a lot more straightforward. It’s 2 or 3 sedarim of a few hours each, and a person must learn that entire time… no breaks, that’s what bein hasedarim is for (obviously once in a while for something extraordinary is not (in my opinion) geneivah, though it should be discussed with the people giving him the paycheck). Additionally, sechar is based on effort so no matter how much or how little one learns, if one is being supported, he must learn the entire time on a regular basis. If a person cannot do that, just like any other job, if one cannot fulfill his duties, should not choose that profession.
Just to clarify, my comment about not learning being geneivah is only when one is being supported by a kollel. If one is being supported independently, then obviously every minute wasted is bitul Torah, but it’s just as much bitul Torah as a person who works and wouldn’t qualify as geneivah.
Learning is better than working. If one can learn all day, then college is bitul Torah. However, learning is only shayach for people who can do the following: 1) learn every minute of every seder that they are supposed to (any minute in seder not learning is geneivah) 2) they must be able to support the family at their level with the money they bring in (whether that’s in addition to the wife working, having a wealthy father or father in law, or a family with really really low physical standards- a person should not learn full time at the expense of the physical and psychological well-being of his family). Once you have to get a job, then one should put in the hishtadlus that he needs to be prepared in such a way that he has time to learn and enough money to support his family at their level. If you can do that without college… great! If you need college, that’s also great!
Additionally, I assume being a wordly person is a positive thing (as long as this worldly knowledge comes at the expense of time that would be wasted, not Talmud Torah). Understanding G-d’s wisdom in science, math, and history, understanding how the world works in terms of politics and economics, and knowing skills to succeed in general like how to write and speak are positive things to know.
College is definitely appropriate for those who need a parnassah (which is most of Benei Yisro’el according to Berachos 35b). Learning full time is only for the top of the top. People are supporting kollel and they expect to receive sechar Talmud Torah in return (it’s a Yisachar Zevulon relationship). If a person is learning full time and is being supported by a kollel and other Jews, any minute that is wasted that he should be learning, and anytime he is not learning to full capacity is geneivah (I personally believe that all kollelim should have time cards and bechinos, and those who don’t live up to their responsibilities shouldn’t get paid). Learning full time is a wonderful thing, but again, it’s only for the best of the best. Everyone of course should be learning every day (each according to what he is able to), but there is nothing wrong with learning a trade and getting a job (nowadays that usually entails college), that’s what most Jews are supposed to be doing.
check out post “Heimish Tours in E”Y”
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/heimish-tours-in-ey