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It’s not so clear from the S”A that women aren’t allowed to learn Torah Shebal Peh. Even though the S”A says that one who teaches his daughter Torah it’s as if he taught her “tiflus” (tiflus being something negative), the S”A also say that women receive sechar for learning it! Now if the S”A was saying that it is assur, the S”A wouldn’t have said they get a reward for doing it. The S”A just says it can’t be taught to them which I understand to mean that it is not allowed to be imposed on them, however if they learn it by choice, then they receive reward.
One also has to factor in (based on the S”A and the Rama) that a woman does not have a chiyuv to learn Torah which has no practical application, and has a chiyuv to learn Torah that has practical application (halachah, mussar, Tanach [Gemara in Megilah says that the only nevu’os that were recorded were those who’s messages are meant for all generations, therefore Nach is practical], etc…). It’s a positive thing to learn the areas which have no practical application (the S”A says they receive reward), it’s better than wasting time, but it’s not a chiyuv.
Based on this, I think there are 4 criteria that need to be met for women to learn Gemara:
1) They have to want to do it.
2) It has to be for lishmah reasons, not feminist reasons.
3) They need a teacher to guide them in the right way to learn Gemara.
4) It can’t come at the expense of learning those areas of Torah that are a chiyuv for them to learn, but it can only come at the expense of things that are reshus (learning secular subjects, going shopping, etc…).
I would recommend R’ Sobolofsky’s talmud shiurim on YUTorah. His iyun shiurim are very clear and comprehensive. He is one of the most popular Rebbeim at RIETS.
I have a similar question. I have class till relatively late a few nights a week near a community which has multiple minyanim for Maariv. Where I live there is only a minyan right after shkiah. I usually have a chavrusa at night, but if I wait around to daven Maariv with a minyan, I will be getting home too late for my chavrusa. Is it better to keep a consistent seder with my chavrusa and daven Maariv beyechidus? Or should I be makpid to daven with a minyan at the expense of my chavrusa?
This definitely seems strange to me. I mean, obviously we shouldn’t judge a person for not being able to daven with a minyan. He has challenges I don’t have and vice versa. But at the same time, you would think a chiyuv like minyan would be a prerequisite for someone who wants to learn (and presumably gets paid to learn) in kollel. A kollel guy who doesn’t commit to davening with a minyan seems a little off.
Why is there such a big tumult on what’s considered a miracle or not? Since when does something supernatural have to happen to say Hallel? Nothing supernatural happened on Purim and we would have said Hallel were it not for the reasons in the Gemara? It seems the requirement for hallel is yeshua from Hashem. In ’67, the Arabs were bragging and planning on wiping out the Jews in Israel. Supernatural or not, Hashem saved us from destruction. Isn’t that enough for Hallel?
Squeak- uch. This is the problem with many of the “anti-zionists” out there. They not only disagree with religious zionsim, but they are determined to take away all legitimacy. There are problems with religious zionism, but there is good as well. And the fact that you, and many like you, refuse to see it, and refuse to admit it, is very bothersome. Yom Yerushalayim, at least from the persepctive of the religious, is all about shevach and hodaah to Hashem. It is not kochi veotzem yadi at all. It doesn’t matter though, not only will nothing convince you that religious zionsim is a legitimate hashkafah, nothing will convince you that there’s anything positive about at all.
HaKatan- just because there was nothing supernatural doesn’t make it not a neis. Nothing supernatural happened on Purim either, to the untrained eye it was all teva, but we recognized that that was a neis nistar. Mainly because Klal Yisroel were saved from the serious threat of massacre. One can argue the same thing by the Six Day War. The Jewish People (at least those that lived in Eretz Yisroel) were saved from a threat of extermination. G-d saved us through miraculous, arguably hidden, but miraculous nonetheless.
For the record, while I don’t necessarily agree with your views on Zionism, I also don’t view Yom Yerushalayim as a Zionist holiday. I celebrate the victory from a murderous enemy, and the freedom of Yerushalayim from the hands of those who closed it off to Jews. If Yom Yerushalayim happened in the same way with a Goysih army (the UK defeated the Arabs and saved the Jews, they also took control of Jerusalem from the Arabs and gave the Jews access) I would also celebrate it.
“They clearly had better Daas even though Jabotinsky claimed to be an atheist and Schoenberg was a recent baal tshuvah from 35 years of living as a Christian.”
Charlie- I don’t know if I would say that had better Daas (whatever daas means, wisdom?)… I think it just means that they understood the political and international ramifications of the Nazi rise to power better. That wouldn’t surprise considering that they were involved in that world a lot more than the Gedolim were. I don’t think the Gedolim’s knowledge of Torah gave them nevuah to prophetically understand how powerful the Nazis are. It just gave them more insight what to do in a given situation… once they truly understood that situation.
Daas Torah is a talmid chacham’s/a gadol’s opinion of how the Torah and Hashem would want you to act in a non halachic situation. However, this does not necessarily mean that they understand the situation completely accurately. While many Rabbonim felt that Daas Torah was to stay in Europe, it could have been based on the fact that they misunderstood how powerful Hitler and the Nazis were. If they had a better understanding of the situation they may have felt Daas Torah would be different. (Or, on the other side, it could be that they did understand how powerful the Nazis were, they were never claiming it’s safer to stay in Europe, they were just saying better to die frum in Europe than to survive and risk assimilation by traveling to America or Israel.)
And, there is not one Daas Torah, it’s an opinion and therefore subjective. R’ Kanievsky, R’ Shteinman, R’ Schacter, and R’ Lichtenstein’s assessment of how Hashem would want you to act in a given situation are all Daas Torah, even though they probably disagree with each other on many accounts. There could be a machlokes. Daas Torah is not objective and there is not one “posek” who determines what is Daas Torah for all of Klal Yisroel.
In summary:
PBA- it’s better to reject the bad even if it means ignoring some of the good.
Sam2- it’s better to recognize the good even if it means accepting some of the bad.
Reuven borrowed Shimon’s old but sturdy shtender. Reuven broke the shtender and it is no longer usable. The old shtender was worth $10 but there is no market for old shtenders. If Shimon wants to buy a shtender he would have to buy a new one and spend $30. What does Reuven owe Shimon? The value of what he broke? Or the replacement cost to Shimon?
Two points:
1. Gedolim and Talmidei Chachamim may have better insights in the Torah and how the Torah would address a given situation but that probably only works as long as you have knowledge of the situation. For example, while the Torah can be used as a guide to making medical decisions, that only works if you have complete understanding of the medical realities first. Then the Torah (as interpreted by Daas Torah) can be used to make a decision on what should be done. More often than not, Daas Torah will defer to someone who is an expert in the medical field. Daas Torah does not make a Gadol an expert in medicine. The same holds true for other areas like politics, economics, etc… Without an understanding, an expertise in these subjects, Daas Torah can only go so far in telling you what the right thing to do in the situation is.
2. Who is Daas Torah? Who decided who is “gadol enough” to make a decision with that type of weight? Who decided that R’ Shteinman or R’ Kanievsky’s understanding of what HKB”H would want done in a certain situation is clearer than R’ Schachter, R’ Aviner, or R’ Lichtenstein? In many situations where it’s reported that Daas Torah tell the tzibur there is a certain way to act (and think) more often than not there are other Gedolim who also should qualify as Daas Torah who disagree. So it’s not fair to say Daas Torah is this, if you’re picking and choosing who Daas Torah is based on what you want to hear.
I actually heard someone explain that most people misunderstand the ??”?. He wouldn’t actually approve of our ???? to shave on ??? ??? when ?”? ????? is on Sunday. There is no ??? to shave on ?”? ?????, it’s just that you’re allowed to, but you don’t have to. So why shave on ??? ???? If you’re worried about ?????, don’t shave on Sunday, shave later in the week, no reason to violate ?????.
When the ??”? said you can shave on ??? ??? when ?”? ????? falls on Sunday, he was going ????? that the ??????? of ????? begin on ??? ???? and go to ?????. In this case, you don’t have the option of shaving later in the week, so there is a ???? to shave on ??? ??? so that you don’t shave right after ???. But most of us who end the ??????? of ????? on ?”? ????? wouldn’t be able to use that ???? because we could avoid the ????? by just shaving later in the week.
When I was younger I had a video game system called Socrates. I think there was a robot involved.
The reason is obvious. Chilonim are for the most part tinokos shenishbu. They didn’t have a good experience or any experience with Torah. They are less responsible because it is the situation that they were put into. In fact, it’s probably more our fault then theirs for not succesfully bringing them closer to G-d.
But Neturei Karta should know better. They are frum in most respects and yet still act the way they do. and in the name of the Torah. They are the ultimate chilul Hashem and the fact that they are otherwise “frum” is not a redeeming factor. A person who is learned and is still mechalel Shabbos bemeizid is on a whole different level than one who is not frum at all. There is a higher standard for the frum, and they fall much farther when they don’t meet those standards.
Popa- I would like to try to explain the ROB/Modern Orthodox position a little differently than you (at least the way I understand it). I think MOs would agree that Mitzvos encomapass everything, that it means Hashem wants you to act in a certain way, and it’s not limited to just the halachos in the S”A. So why don’t they understand Emunas Chachamim as broadly as the Chareidim? Possibly because while Rabbonim do have a closer relatinship with Hashem and do have a deeper understanding of what He wants of us, the Rabbonim are not necessarily expert in every field under the sun. In terms of halachah, it is clear that they have a better understanding of what Hashem wants and we must listen even if we don’t understand. But in other areas like politics, economics, legal issues, medicine, etc… some people who aren’t Rabbonim may have a better insight of what Hashem wants, not because they have better understanding of Hashem but because they have a better understanding of those topics. It’s possible that an MO who doesn’t have such a “Charedi” understanding of Emunas Chachamim would argue that Emunas Chachamim does not mean that Rabbonim are expert in every area, and it doesn’t necessarily mean that Rabboni have a better insight into what Hashem wants of us in areas that they are not expert in.
It’s funny how most people think the Rama is a kula and want to be “machmir” like the S”A. For some people though, the S”A is a kula. They would be yotzei the halachah with the Rama but they want an excuse to get drunk so they are meikil like the S”A.
The fact is, the S”A (I think it’s the S”A) says it best- echad hamarbeh ve’echad hamamit, rak sheyechavein libo lashamayim- it doesn’t matter how much you drink, as long as you are lishmah. If you use drinking on Purim as an avenue to get to higher spiritual levels, and you will not violate any aveiros, then you can and should drink a lot on Purim. But if you are using Purim as an excuse to get drunk and to get wasted, then you are not allowed to be meikil like the S”A because you don’t have the right kavanah, and you are better off being machmir like the Rama.
Who cares if the oaths were violated? Does it make any practical difference whether the State was founded in violation of these oaths or not?
Hakatan- seriously? Ovdei Avodah Zarah? Do we even poskin like that R’ Elchonon? Would you go so far to assur non-mevushal wine from a Zionist winery because of yayin nesech? Are all religious Zionists chayav misah for being oveid avodah zarah? You go too far and it’s shocking that you don’t even realize it. To claim that such a large portion of Klal Yisroel who are otherwise shomrei Torah and Mitzvos, among them are huge Rabbonim and Talmidei Chachamim, are ovdei avodah zarah? I guarantee most Charedi Rabbonim nowadays (at least outside of Satmar and Neturei Karta) would never label so many frum Jews as ovdei avodah zarah, so maybe you should follow in their lead and cool down your misplaced zealotry.
Who cares if the state was founded be’issur or be’heter? What’s the nafka mina? If it’s beheter you must say hallel on Yom Ha’Atzma’us but if it was be’isur it’s assur? If it’s behter you must ignore all the religious problems with the state but if it’s be’issur you must ignore all the good it does for Yiddishkeit (like funding yeshivos and opening up the borders of Eretz Yisroel for Jews worldwide)? If it’s be’issur you must join Neturei Karta and support Arabs who want to turn the Land of Israel into an Arab state?
I dunno, I think this argument is theoretical at best. Whether be’issur or beheter, the state is here. The question is what do we do now? And the answer is, whatever is best of Klal Yisroel, regardless of how the state was founded. It’s time to stop arguing about the past with an argument that has absolutely no practical ramifications, and start focusing on the future, how can we influence the current state of events to benefit Klal Yisroel?
I dunno, I never found that question so compelling. Just because G-d knows what we’re going to do doesn’t mean he’s choosing it for us. G-d knows what decision we will make, but it’s still us making that choice. We’re not doing something because G-d knows what we’re going to do, G-d knows what we’re going to do because we do it.
And practically the question is irrelevant. G-d may know what we’re going to do, but we don’t. So from our perspective we’re making the choice, we’re doing what we decided to do, and nothing (at least from our perspective) is making us choose one way over another other than our bechira chofshis.
I think it makes sense for a wife to follow her mother’s minhag for lighting Shabbos candles as opposed to mother in laws. She is the one doing the mitzvah and she should do it in the way that’s most meaningful to her, usually it’s by following in her mother’s footsteps.
Who knows? I wouldn’t be surprised if deep in India or Africa or China there are people who know real kishuf.
I am absolutely sickened by same sex marriage. But at the same time, I understand that my disgust over it comes solely from the Torah. If I weren’t Jewish, or even frum, I would probably be pro same gender marriage, even if I would find it nauseating, simply because I would probably be pro-equality. That being said, I can’t find fault with people who are pro gay marriage as I would probably be one myself if I didn’t have the Torah. And since they don’t have the Torah to guide them, how can I impose my religious beliefs on them?
In addition, it doesn’t seem like there is any legal basis to stop it. The main argument is that it is immoral… but who decided morality? If the government has the ability to decide what is and what isn’t moral (assuming no one is being hurt), what’s stopping them from deciding that something that we do as religious Jews is immoral (like Bris Milah)? And since the protests seem to have no basis in US secular law, I think our protests would be looked down upon and seen as a joke.
In conclusion, I detest gay marriage and I wish it wouldn’t be legal… but you won’t find me in public protesting, just praying to G-d that somehow it will end.
twisted- while I agree that in general there should be no redundancies in letters, I find it interesting how in many piyutim that go in alphabetical order, many authors sometime use a word that begins with sin instead of a samech. For example, Keil Adon in Shabbos morning davening. That seems to imply that somehow samech and sin are interchangeable… at least the authors of those piyutim thought so.
Shibboleth or Sibboleth. ??? ???? ???? ?????? ????.
akuperma- why is language any different than any other area of halacha? I mean, we are trying to fulfill G-d’s will… in essence we are trying to recreate the Torah that was given to Moshe at Sinai. Yes we believe halacha evolves in the sense that it needs to address new situations, but we don’t believe G-d’s will evolves or changes over time. Shouldn’t language be the same? Shouldn’t we be trying to speak the same way that HKB”H spoke to Moshe at Sinai?
I heard a theory that in Eastern Europe, people can’t pronounce the “th” sound. That’s why instead of saying “thank you very much” people from Eastern Europe will say “sank you very much.” It’s possible that the “s” sound for the sav only developed because Jews from that part of the world lost the ability to pronounce the “th” sound.
Maybe it’s the other way around… maybe pritzus and lack of tznius is a result of improper speech…
At the beginning of the game you get a choice to start in kollel or to start in kollel.
RI- what bal tosif? The strings are allowed to be any color. There is a minhag and a chumra that the color of the strings should match the color of the beged, but you could technically have other colors and still be yotzei tzitzis without violating bal tosif. IMHO, it makes sense to say that safek deoraysa lechumra overrides that minhag.
Personally, I don’t wear techeiles, but for no other reason than most of our gedolim don’t. But from a logical and halachic perspective, all the arguments point to wearing techeiles.
I haven’t been following everything but I saw some talk about Mesorah vs. sdl. I think someone said that Mesorah changes the chazakah and therefore removes the safek. I think that’s a valid point but it doesn’t seem to apply here. Correct me if I’m wrong, but we don’t have a Mesorah that what people use today ISN’T techeiles… we just don’t have a Mesorah telling us what IS techeilies… meaning that things that meet the halachic criteria can be techeiles, we’re just not 100% positive because we lack a Mesorah. In other words, it’s a safek. For all we know, when Mashiach comes, we’ll find out that it really is techeies… there’s no Mesorah contradicting that. It seems to me that sdl would fit very nicely here.