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>>>Is this really the biggest issue facing Klal Yisroel in 2022??
99.999999% of what people hock about on and offline aren’t really the biggest issues facing Klal Yisroel in 2022. Do you repeat this comment multiple times a day? Do you only talk about the biggest issue facing Klal Yisroel in 2022?
>>>Anthony blinken is supposed to be the keynote speaker for j street
Firstly he already was and secondly he was the least hostile to Israel of the speakers. There were also seven Democrat congressmen who spewed straight anti-Israel vitriol. Blinken for his part said that the US would judge Isreal based on it’s policies not based on who is in it’s next government . But his speaking at a venue as anti Isreal as J Street was widely understood to be saying what Rabbi Zweibel said by l’havidil the Aguda convention about dealing with the American government as a frum organization: It brings to mind the posuk in that weeks parsha
וַיַּ֥רְא יַֽעֲקֹ֖ב אֶת־פְּנֵ֣י לָבָ֑ן וְהִנֵּ֥ה אֵינֶ֛נּוּ עִמּ֖וֹ כִּתְמ֥וֹל
שִׁלְשֽׁוֹם
Blinken spoke at J Street to make the Israelis get the same hint. As a diplomat he was careful not to actually say it but left it to the other Democrat congressmen speaking there to do soThe poll is meaningless. Had it been about Biden meeting with anti-Semites like Farrakhan you would probably get even more lopsided results with Republicans opposing and Democrats supporting
How is not giving a hechser to an establishment where bad behavior will take place make someone into the moral police? That is no more being the moral police than not selling matches to a little kid.
Whose life would have been saved had the Warsaw Ghetto uprising not happened?
Had those in the ghetto had arms (1) it would have had a lot better chance (2)many people would have been able to escape the ghetto altogether.
While there is some debate whether Rav Menachem Ziemba and other Gedoley Torah in the ghetto supported it absolutely no one claims to have heard from them that they oppose it
How many Chasam Sofers, Reb Akivo Eiger or Avnei Nezers were there in the previous generations? Versus the simple folk who seem to have been a lot less learned than the simple folk of todays generation.
>>>The Nazis did what they did despite the “partisans”
How many partisans were there to cause a German loss ?
The partisans never faced mass Nazi roundups and mass murder. It would not have been something the Germans would have spent so many soldiers on. The partisans had a lot higher survival rate than those who weren’t partisans.
>>>We don’t even reach the ankles of our Elter Zeidas and Bubbes in Yiddishkeit.
Perhaps you don’t but I can think of plenty of people who are Talmidey Chachomim and Yorey Shmoyim whose great-grandparents were total Am Haartzim and who were not particularly frum. While it can’t be judged who Hashem values more given the respective circumstances faced by both groups on an external level it doesn’t seem correct to say that the current generation does not have many who far surpass their great-grandparents in Yiddishkeit.
>>> If Jews were armed in Europe, they couldn’t outshoot the Nazis.
Perhaps not but the Nazis and their collaborators would not have had the manpower to deal with an armed group resisting nor would they have been willing to deal with the amount of casualties that group could have caused.
Tomos Nefsey Im Haplisitim
>>>The handouts should be a temporary springboard.
If they were I would strongly support them too. But that isn’t remotely what they are.
>>>When we talk about toeiva isn’t it a toeiva to hear the views above about helping the less fortunate through your taxes?
There are no liberal groups who preach giving YOUR money to the less fortunate. They preach giving OTHER peoples money away to do so . They talk about the obligation “society” has to avoid taking responsiblity as individuals to help others
It is a toeiva to hear people talking about helping themselves through OTHER peoples taxes. And it is certainly no Mitzva to forcibly take money from one person to help another.
Gezel is a teoiva too. ..
The gemara does not give it that as one of the explanations for what “Chesed L’Umim Chatas” means but I was told there is a Medrash that says “Chesed L’Umim Chatas” is because they consider forcibly taking money from “A” to give to “B” to be an act of “chesed”
>>>The sink and swim mentality of the Republicans is not Torah view.
It’s not?
Azov Tozev is only when the person is making his own effort. And it is true that most poskim agree that you have to support a ani who is too lazy to work they don’t suggest it on a societal level. I was also told by Rav Tuvia Godstein ztz’l not to give tzedoka to someone who says he can make more money collecting than working (ask your own shaalos!) I know of plenty of people who say they don’t work because they make more off the programs
And politicians obtaining or staying in power by giving other peoples money to those who will vote for them is certainly not the Torah view. In fact the Gemorah gives that practice as one of the meanings of “Chesed L’Umim Chatas”.
>>>As a famous Rabbi used to say, “May Hashem save us from both Jesse [Helms] and Jesse [Jackson].”
There is zero comparison between the two people. Helms did not go around spewing anti-Semitic drivel like Jesse Jackson did. He was also nominally involved in helping Soviet Jews as well as being very Israel.
Like any prominent right wing figure the left accused him of being a racist but he certainly never openly espoused hatred or used us against them talk like Jackson did.
>>>A study in 2020 identified 893 terrorism incidents in the US since 1994. In that period no deaths linked to antifa were identified yet 329 murders by white extremists or other right-wing extremists were identified.
I’m suspicious of these type of studies to begin with but anyway as liberals love to say that is a deflection. Antifa is not the only left wing group that goes around killing people, nor or Antifa the only danger presented by the left wing. Most importantly it ignores the high murder rate, crime and anarchy in places where the left control even when the murders aren’t racially or politicly motivated.
>>>So instead you have to revert to claims about how the left loves BLM or Antifa and the right is against White Supremacists
I’m not reverting to any claims . Bottom line is “defund the police” was widely adopted among the left and tolerance for the BLM remains strong. The perpetrators were mostly slap on the wrist punishments if even that.
>>>Of course, make sure you note the US is roughly 14% black versus about 60% white.
Whoa! For a liberal that is an implicit shockingly racist statement. Why the automatic assumption that the far left in the US would only be coming from the 14% black population? In fact I think the white liberal colleges are far more likely to be the breeding grounds and organizational apparatus of the far left taking power than the black community.
Neither of them are Tzadikim. The results of the extreme right or the extreme left taking over are always almost the same. BUT there is no serious threat of the extreme right taking over in the US. The demographic that could or would join it is simply too small to ever take over.
Conversely the threat of the extreme left taking over the US during the next few decades is a real possibility. It is a clear and present danger r’l
>>>1) why do we pour water from becher into wine bottle before kiddush?
I’ve never see anyone do so
>>>2) it says if you’re sandek for 4th or 5th generation (which one?) you go straight to gan eden, mekor?
Probably the same place that is says if you have seven sons you go straight to Gan Eden. Along with various other straight to Gan Eden methods. To be sandek for four generations you would need major arichus yomim.
>>>No moderate republican is going to connect with the working class people of MI WI and PA
Even if true no other Republican candidate can possibly alienate as many people as Trump will. In MI, WI and PA and everywhere else.
>>>If DeSantis wins the nomination, the left is going to say he’s Trump 2.0
No matter how wins the nomination , the left is going to say he’s Trump 2.0 or worse
>>>Don’t fall for the NeoCon trap. Trump deserves another chance in a non-Covid year election.
Trump had way too many chances already. He blew them all
>>>Sacred belief? Since when is science sacred?
I was being sarcastic. In the parts of the secular world where corona was overdone both belief in science and the LGBT community are sacred by them.
>>>And what does belief have to do with science?
For those mentioned above their trust in science is a belief system that persists even in the face of strong contrary evidence.
As above I was being sarcastic and I not going to debate this with the believers
>>>how do you believe we reached this point when the Pandemic is pretty much over?
I am vaccinated and 100% pro the corona vaccine (although I do believe that some of what it’s opponents are saying is true as well and would not vaccinate a child with it)
The answer to your question is that Corona was fading away in frequency and intensity by the time the vaccines became common. Not only that, almost all the vaccinated people I know -myself included- ended up getting Corona anyway. When was the last time you heard of someone who wasn’t vaccinated dying of Corona?
To be clear I’m still 100% pro vaccine and do believe it was a factor in diminishing corona both in frequency and intensity. I just don’t think the current situation verses April 2020 in itself proves the effectiveness of the vaccine.
>>> all it takes is kids to be told it in schools;
You would vote for someone based on who your kids come home from school saying to vote for?
>>>emails can be sent out,
Those emails are quickly going to make it to The New York Times and other virulently anti-Semitic sites that will twist them to say something they aren’t and cause even more problems. Look what happened with Rabbi Fruchthandlers letter.
>>>rabbonim can speak about it in shul on shabbos
What about rabbonim who don’t speak in shul every Shabbos or who never speak about politics and certainly not on Shabbos (probably the majority) Do you want them all to get involved in elections? I don’t
Anyway who would be spreading the message to the schools and shul rabbonim? How would they do it a way that is much more private than the way it was already done?
>>> my rosh yeshiva said that askonim should have told people quietly to vote got zeldin, because he seems to want to help the yeshivos, but not publicly,
How many people could askonim privately contact to give over the message? How would they counter the messege that would be blaring everywhere from the “askonim” who have personal interest in Hochul winning that would be screaming everywhere “Vote Hochul. She is a great friend of the community!!!”
That would also would have created a situation where no one will even TRY to get the frum vote anymore. If the standard will be that the frum community is always told by to vote for who those we think will win anyway what does the candidate in the lead have to lose by taking anti-frum positions? What does he have to gain by offering anything? Our vote is anyway determined by who we think will win.
>>>The question is should we let bygones be bygones or should we demand accountability?
We absolutely should demand accountability. Even if there were intentions that the road to gehonim is paved with (good ones)
An amnesty would prevent anyone from learning lessons.
Think of Bill de Blasio and Coumo who told us we can’t daven in a minyan or send our children to school or keep businesses open, while he encouraged violating these rules for the sake of the George Floyd protests. You want an amnesty for that? And didn’t De Blasio refuse to give an amnesty to shuls, schools and struggling businesses after the Supreme Court declared the red zones unconstitutional? He and his ilk deserve an amnesty? Not in this world and not in the next.
And what about emergency powers which gave our would-be totalitarians like Cuomo license to exercise total control over citizens who used to be protected by the Constitution. If nothing else, legislate to eliminate that from ever happening again.
And putting politics aside what about the destruction to the sacred belief in science those who tried to control us using the lines of “follow the science” or “pro health” policies about what turned out to be junk science with the censored and marginalized voices being correct after all? American trust in scientists plummeted like a rock after covid. Say Ch’v such a thing would happen again. How many people will ignore true scientific and medical due to the recklessness they exhibited last time? How will they regain trust without accountability?
>>>We are taught every man in Europe was a Talmid Chochem who finished Mishnayos by 8 & a Siyum on Shas at his Bar Mitzvah.
Who taught you that?
I never heard anything remotely similar
>>>Republicans don’t have a platform. Like is said in my OP. There’s no leadership and platform.
What platform other than stopping Democratic damage could they possibly have ran on in the midterms? There was no way they could have won sixty senate seats to override vetoes and Biden repeatedly committed to vetoing any legislation they would introduce and pass . Even without having a clue about what that legislation may or not be.
Rav Sholom Svadron once said “I asked a Rav if I can make up stories to inspire people in Yiras Shamyim. He told me yes….and raboisi I just told you the first story I made up….”
Note: I’m very hesitant to write this online because I think that some will now say Rav Sholom Svadron once said that he asked a Rav if he can make up stories to inspire people in Yiras Shamyim. He told him yes….
The world never falls apart quickly after anyone is elected. The doomsday predictions about Trump were a lot less realized than ones about Biden. No, Trump did not set off a nuclear war when he was in a bad mood one night like they told us he would etc. But since this is discussing Biden I’ll focus in him.
I didn’t vote for Biden and he turned out a lot worse than I thought he would be. I did not expect the over 10% inflation (I know they claim it is less) the total incompetence when it comes to dealing with anything, and yes those who predicted that there would be an Israel-Gaza war within a few months of his election were correct. etc.
The above isn’t even my main issue with him. Back in 2020 I really believed that he was a centrist, and a person who would return us to the days of civility in politics , I really believed that he was a person far ahead of Trump in personal morals. Wow was I wrong. The guy is a crazy leftist , a pathological liar just like Trump and always looking for fights and to spew hatred and rancor just like Trump did. Other than his being born blessed with a more outwardly pleasent personality (and a press that is always looking to cover up for him) he is just like Trump. Without any of the good policies Trump enacted.
Yes. They absolutely should go out and vote Do you think their time is more precious than say Rav Moshe Feinstein who even when he barely left his house anymore , went by wheelchair to vote?
>>>Is the strict opinion always the better opinion?
If it was halacha would follow Beis Shamai.
>>>Is being Meikil inherently worse?
Being meikal about what and why? Not always is being machmir the right thing in a specific situation but as the old joke goes: A guy who was always meikal and always found rabbis to give him hetterim dies. They take him to a room with a bench, a rickety shtender, a Shas and a cup of hot tea. “Where am I? “ he asks “Gan Eden” they answer “Do you know how many rabbi would tell you that being in a room with a gemorah where you can just learn undisturbed is Gan Eden? “
>>>I don’t understand Zeldin. I just checked his record and it is anti-abortion and anti-gay, why did he take a gay running mate?
He didn’t take him The NYS lieutenant governor nominee is elected independently of the governor nominee.
>>>With all these Jewish endorsements for zeldin if Hochul wins the election expect her to hit us hard
Based on her behavior in office I expect her to hit us hard even if we do support her.
Even in the PRO Hochul ads in the frum publications she does not commit herself to doing anything that will benefit the frum community after the election.
>>>The very definition of a tzadik is someone is not a beinoni. Someone who is never mesiach days from the Hashem (at least according to the best of his abilities).
Where is that definition coming form? A tzadik is not a benoni the same way a cohen is not a Yisroel
but that isn’t the very definition.The Rambam Hilchos Teshuva 3:1 says
כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מִבְּנֵי הָאָדָם יֵשׁ לוֹ זְכֻיּוֹת וַעֲוֹנוֹת. מִי שֶׁזְּכֻיּוֹתָיו יְתֵרוֹת עַל עֲוֹנוֹתָיו
צַדִּיק. וּמִי שֶׁעֲוֹנוֹתָיו יְתֵרוֹת עַל זְכֻיּוֹתָיו רָשָׁע.
מֶחֱצָה לְמֶחֱצָה בֵּינוֹנִיI’m unwilling to say that the typical person who is Shomer Torah U’Mitzvos does not have more zcuyos than aveiros and therefore meets the Rambam’s criteria of being called a Tzadik.
Without giving any boich svoras why are you so sure otherwise?
It’s very unlikely that a frum person who got married in 1770 and had ten children like Meyer Amschel Rothschild did has no frum descendants at all but from his five sons who went into banking it is safe to say that none of their descendants are frum. Therefore if he has he has frum descendants they would be from his other five children who have no money .
Of interesting note the only major Rothschild scion to have been killed by the Nazis during the holocaust for being Jewish wasn’t actually Jewish. Élisabeth de Rothschild was a Catholic woman who married Philippe de Rothschild. (she officially converted)
A few points
(1)Although the Yetzer Horah for toevah is real for those who struggle with it, I question how many people were really born with that Yetzer Horah versus how many people have it as an “acquired taste” Yetzer Horah that comes from living in a society that borders on looking up to those engaged in such behavior and treat them as a sacred cow. I don’t trust research on this subject because I don’t believe it is conducted impartially.
(2)Once people do have that Yetzer Horah there are no easy answers about what to do. A LGBT that is like (it’s safe to say L’havdil Elf Havdolas) a Chevra Shemiras Haloson or a macshom L’fi whose members don’t deny being nichsol in Loshon Hora is in fact a wonderful thing. How can anyone not support a group that exists for the sole purpose of fighting a Yetzer Horah? No matter what that Yetzer Horah is.
(3) This group is not going to be that type of club. Even if (best case scenario) it will have some elements of it. I oppose it vehemently BUT end of the day you can’t wish this problem away. There are people who are convinced they have this Yetzer Horah and are convinced it is something they were born with that can’t be changed. They are not going to listen to anyone who hostilely tells them otherwise. What are your words of wisdom for them? What should be done for and about them?
>>>But is it possible to say Every yid is a big tzaddik?
In the literal sense that some seem to be taking it , no.
In the actual sense that it us being said that we regard every who tries to be an erlicher yid as a big Tzadik (at least in some areas) then yes it is can be regarded as a true statement
>>>Is that the meaning of the passuk “V’ameich Kulam Tzadikim”
The actual posuk in Yeshya is a part of a nevua that seems to be referring to after the coming of Mosiach. Being that it is frequently quoted in relation to todays time, it needs to be stressed that the posuk says V’ameich meaning those who are acting in a manner that makes them a part of Am Hashem.
Questioning whether a candidate has the mental or physical strength for office it totally OK. Mocking them for their apparent lack of it Is totally not OK. But mocking them for ANYTHING is not OK. Why pick on health? Calling Trump supporters “cultists” is also not OK. Etc.
>>>I’m not voting for anyone. I’m not voting for Zeldin because he has an immoral running mate. I do not vote for those who support immorality.
So who DO you vote for? Almost every democrat supports giving people who engage in that type of behavior supreme right that marginalize those of everyone else. Zeldin’s running mate may be guilty of such behavior but pushing it on others is not part of her agenda. And lieutenant governor of NYS is an independently elected position
>>>I will not vote for the intermarried Jew who has a lesbian running made.
Is that an ironclad policy of yours or only when the the intermarried Jew is a Republican?
Did you also vote against Chuck Schumer and Spitzer all those other intermarried Jews when they ran as Democrats? (Schumer claims his wife converted but I’m sure it was not an halachic conversion)
What is a pause button but you get older? What is being paused? What is happening during that pause?
A fast forward button but you stay the same age is taking a major gamble. Could be things will be significantly better or worse in the future and you just threw yourself into it. Could be things will have changed so much that when you get out of your fast forward you won’t know how to navigate the current situation.
>>>Amazing how right before Rosh Hashana that people are finding ways to support using destitute people for a political stunt.
Piece of personal advice for you. Keep your political views out of your preparation for Rosh Hashana.
To quote the famous writer who was frum personally but primarily wrote for for non-Jewish readers, Herman Wouk “In a non-orthodox synagogue the rabbis sermon is a digest of whatever is being pushed on the op ed pages of the liberal publications with some vague and distorted references to Torah thrown in .” Don’t follow that example.I see both points of view on immigration and not very anti immigration per se but this time the hypocrisy on the liberal side is just overboard. You can not support illegal immigration and complain when immigrants are dumped off on you. You cannot expect others to just accommodate immigrants where and when they show up but then complain when they expect you to do the same . Particularly when the others who you are expecting to accommodate immigrants, unlike you, oppose immigration.
I’m not so anti-immigration. I’m just opposed to the hypocrisy here. The Republicans seem to be giving a perfect solution to the immigration debate. They are saying “We oppose immigration-you support it so we will facilitate the immigrants way to your state if they come to ours” What better and more bipartisan solution to the debate where everyone gets what they want can there possibly be? But still the Democrats complain. Not only do they complain, they complain with the exact same talking points used by those opposed to illegal immigration like “we don’t have the resources to deal with this” … “illegal immigrants just show up and expect us to deal with them” etc.
>>> quite a few people today go to queens college and landers for learning because the YU tuition is very high.
YU is not so tough on tuition . I know someone who registered in YU but then backed out because of their tuition costs. They basically told that in that case he only has to pay for room and board which was cheaper than Landers where he ended up going .
Landers does have an evening program separate from their learning program but they will not allow you to join their learning program and attend Queens college in the afternoon. I’m sure those who go to Queens college don’t come out better than had they been in YU.
>>>what does it mean that all these colleges are “affiliated”, “under umbrella”!?If you are creating a brand name and then use it for marketing, you should be applying some standard. Otherwise, it is gnevas daas.
Anyone seriously considering going to YU knows the difference between RIETS, the undergraduate school and the graduate schools. No frum student enrolled in say Cardoza law thinks he is going to Yeshiva. No non-Jew enrolled in say Cardoza law is there because of it’s affiliation with Yeshiva University.
It is not easy to gain recognized accreditation as a college. Were all the schools to break up and apply for separate accreditation some of them would cease to exist. The results would be more YU grads going OTD in completely secular colleges. And Sorah Schnierer and other yeshivish graduate programs who are accredited through places like Wurzweiller closing down too
>>> No graduate school is obliged to have or fund or acknowledge or provide any accommodations to ANY club.
There is no group in America that is more aggressive and demanding of validation from others than the toevah crowd. Say YU would close all graduate school clubs , the toevah crowd would anyway organize and proselytize in their graduate schools as a non officially recognized club and take them to court over any efforts to stop them . Given the sacred status the toevah crowd has in liberal society they would probably win. So what would they gain?
It’s looks like Touro is following YUs lead (like they frequently do) and took their affiliation with Toevah groups off their website but go on Wikipedia and type in “Touro University Rainbow Health Coalition” if you want more details of how those groups operate in Touro’s graduate schools and how Touro also buckled under pressure from those groups. Cardoza and Wurzweiler etc. do not claim to be a Yeshiva or anything other than a secular college under the umbrella auspices of YU. They are no
more affiliated with the YU undergraduate program or RIETS than Touro law is affiliated with Landers in Queens>>>The better question is why didn’t YU shut down all their clubs at their graduate schools over the last 25 years
They would have to close their graduate schools down altogether to do so. Their graduate schools are secular schools that accommodate frum students. There probably isn’t even any legal option to classify a graduate school that primarily teaches secular subjects and only gives secular degrees as a religious school. The Touro graduate schools also have toeva clubs. I even found explicit reference to them on Touro’s own website. No one says a word about that either.
>>>I see frum Lawyers, Doctors, Judges even cops who wear a yalmulka
Depends on the point in time. Fifty years you would not have seen that
>>>Those above arguing to equivocate cheating to get government money (which is wrong, of course), with allowing a pride club, is a fallacious argument .
Right. You can easily argue that a mosod cheating is worse. YU in itself does not support the toeva club. They are being bullied by it to allow the baaley toeva to act. A mosod that cheats is personally doing it
Mixed.
There is no way they could have known when they amended their charter from religious to educational that this would have been the outcome but they should have realized that there would be consequences from doing so.
I certainly don’t their amending their charter from religious to educational as worse than a mosod that bends the rules for government funds. Not that all or most mosdos do ch’v but no reason to single out YU in this regard.
As far as the old complaints about YU graduate schools law having toeva groups, Touro law also very clearly gives their affiliation with toeva groups on their website and no one says a word. Realistically speaking there is a limit how much you can fight the supreme rights that liberals have given toeva groups which allows them to marginalize the rights of everyone else. If you vote for pro toeva candidates you are not much more innocent than YU
No point in discussing how to change old schools. Won’t happen because of talk. Talk about how to start new schools that align with what you want. That is far more likely to happen. Particularly if you are willing to do the work and put up the money
Charles Tyrwhitt would be a good way to go if they had front pockets for pens and CC cards like most other white shirts do. Paul Fredrick raised their prices like crazy but you can still check your old emails from prior purchases for coupon codes on future purchases. They give off 20-25% and free shipping. Most will still work
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I think I’m pretty consistent in saying that (1) with all Trump’s many faults his adversaries frequently (usually?) are not the good guys, the honest guys, or the people who care about the best interests of the US in the many conflicts they start with him or (2) all the false accusations and investigations into Trump do not absolve him from the things that he has done that were wrong (3) both sides are lying to you (4) with all the screaming “cultist” and other such insults at Trump supporters it seems to me that at least in CR it is Trump’s opponents who seem to hold a much stronger grip on those who side with them than Trump does.
Had someone started a thread similar to this one expressing such terror of Joe Biden and Democrats (who other than being born with a better personality isn’t someone I think of as being morally superior to Trump) I would have said the same comment.