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When I was much younger, just becoming frum, I had of course heard of the Golem. I was travelling some of Europe and went to visit a friend near Prague. I went one afternoon to see the old Shul and the Maharal’s kever. I asked one of the attendants there to let me go up to the attic. They laughed and said the door is locked and no-one even has a key any more. I came back later that night. On the outside of the Shul there is another door, and two windows set far apart. But the door is very high up and there is on direct way to reach it. There are metal rungs in the wall below the door, but even those rungs begin about 4m from the ground. Anyway, I came back later that night with a ladder from the caretaker of the place where I was staying. I used it to reach the rungs and climb up. That door was also locked, obviously. The right window was way to far to see anything. The left window, if I stood dangerously with one foot on the top rung and left foot on a ridge in the brickwork that ran around the building, and held kind of onto the raised feature in the brickwork between the window and the door, then I could look through some of the deep-set window , but the angle wasn’t great to see towards the centre of the room at all. I even brought a torch (USA = flashlight) with me. The window was not covered (other than bars) or particularly dirty, but I couldn’t see anything really. Then, for some reason, I decided to try banging on the door. About 10 seconds later I CLEARLY saw a large human figure glide slowly to the left-side of the window, pause for half a second and then carry on across the window to the right. I got scared it was coming towards the door so I climbed down as fast as I could. My friend, who came with me, and held the ladder said he thinks he saw something move in the window too, but he wasn’t sure and I think he might have just been saying it for my sake. But I am positive what I saw.
There’s an article on Matzav titled: “German Military Planes Fly Over Yerushalayim For First Time Since WWI In Show Of Ties”
Perhaps that’s what you heard?$1400 even if given to every single US citizen (about 328M) comes to about 0.46 Trillion. So, that still leaves over about 1.44 Trillion dollars! I haven’t looked into the details of the bill at all, and I am assuming that obviously a decent chunk of that is to go towards relief for stores and renters etc.
But still, 1.44 Trillion after every citizen gets their pay-out is a tremendous amount and I shudder to think what portion of that amount is just bloat for the politicians to use to fund their side agendas under the cover of ‘Covid relief’.
No one “supports Biden”. They are just anti-Trump.
@Reb Eliezer “When was the last decent Republican who cared for the poor?”
Donald J. TrumpThere are no “Biden supporters”, only anti-Trumpers.
Mr. Sheker, there is a massive difference between his criticism of Christie (talk about a real hypocrite and liar) who ordered a closure on all beaches, and then went to the beach, compared to Cruz, who had booked this trip before-hand, was nothing more that he could do to fix the cold-weather issues than was already being done, and stopped his trip short to return anyway. If you wanted him to just stand in solidarity with those in the cold, then yes, I guess he could have done that.
@huju
It’s pretty silly to give a financial system it’s be-all-and-end-all judgement based primarily on a false narrative like “its primary users are … drug dealers, smugglers and tax cheats”.Besides for being silly, it’s also completely incorrect. The vast vast majority of its users are law-abiding, tax-declaring people. In fact, on the contrary, any institution you use to acquire, trade or recoup BTC require way more identification and regulation than almost all other financial resources. More so, the whole basis of blockchain is that every single transaction that occurs is traceable. Even the most complex mixing scams were all caught.
And more on the contrary, if your “respected economist” is troubled by some financial systems being used as a tool for anonymous laundering and shady deals, then he’ll have a real problem with… CASH – the number 1 choice of anonymous, underground, shady launderers, far more so than crypto by any metric (@Yserbius123).
While I’m at it, @akuperma , BTC bears ZERO resemblance to the Tulip Mania of 1637, and it’s poshut stupid to try to compare them.
Bitcoin ATMs have been around for years. Not sure about NY, but in other places you’ve been able transact in and cash out using them easily.
Also @Yserbius123 et al. BTC is primarily a currency. Not a betting mechanism, not an equity stock. And it is traded, invested in, AND SPENT as such. Any currency, and gold itself, only has value because there is general mass consensus that it does.
And depending how you spread and shade the graphs, it is not really any more volatile than many US stock market indices, and even quite a bit less so over most of the period of 2018, 2019, 2020.
I’m not saying it’s perfect, or won’t eventually fail. But the world needs one international, standardized, verifiable digitized currency. And BTC has laid the foundation for whatever that may be.
Rav Moshe Feinstein’s “Heter” :
Many people maintain that Scotch matured or finished in Sherry casks
is permitted based on Rav Moshe Feinstein’s ruling in Igros Moshe (YD I
simanim 62-64) with regard to “blended whiskey.” Rav Moshe concludes
that “blended whiskey” is permitted mei’ikur hadin due to the fact that
stam yeinam added to the whiskey is batul b’sheish. (Rav Moshe advises
a ba’al nefesh to be stringent; see Addendum 6.) However, it is of vital
importance to realize that Rav Moshe was not referring to Scotch; rather,
he was referring to whiskey (perhaps Canadian or American) into which a
small amount of wine (less than 2½%) was added. Thus, it was quite clear
that the small volume of added wine was indeed nullified. Our discussion,
however, refers to Scotch; the issue of concern is that it is matured in
wine casks – wine is never poured into the barrel (it is actually illegal to
do so). Although one might think that Scotch is more lenient since it is
only an issue of absorbed wine (blios) – not actual wine (bi’en), it may be
more stringent due to the opinion of the Shach and other Poskim that the
volume of blios is measured by the entire thickness of the walls, and there
is not sufficient volume of Scotch to nullify the blios b’sheish. Accordingly,
Rav Moshe’s heter does not apply to Scotch.No they do not! In some cases they may say that bidieved you might be able to be makel to some degree, but they still end very clearly advising not to rely on that. And according to the question, if the whiskey was in exclusively sherry cask(s), then almost everyone says it is assur.
@Yt Why do you need to make a new chat thread about this when “everyone’s thoughts about it” can be document in that article’s comments section.
But, being that you have made a new thread, and my comment has more chance of being seen here possibly, I’ll say this…
I presume that whomever recorded that audio did so as a joke or prank, I don’t think anyone really believes all that. I certainly do not. BUT, it’s not right for YWN to publish it just for the sake of belittling him. And if the “to’eles” is to show the readers the kind of things YWN has to put up with, well that doesn’t justify Loshon Horah and Rechilus either.
(For all I know, perhaps he’s right. I don’t know if Bin Laden is alive or not. I believe all the news that he is dead, and I don’t believe anything else the recording claims, but I’ve never particularly looked into it, so it’s not right to say that I know 100% that he’s wrong. I assume, pretty confidently that he is wrong, but I’m not being fair to him if I don’t bother to consider the “facts” he’s asking us to look at.)
Further more, for YWN to state at the end of the article that:
“YWN notes that President Trump’s presidency will end on Wednesday at 11:59:59, at which time President-elect Biden will take office along with Vice President Kamala Harris.”
…is no less hashkofically flawed to state a future event as if it is fact. I agree that it is incredibly more likely, but it’s still hashkofically wrong to state it like a nevuah.yawn
@emes_nisht_sheker
“If you can bear to hear the words you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools…”@akuperma , @emes nisht sheker , @jackk
שבעה דברים בגולם ושבעה בחכם. חכם … שואל כענין … וחלופיהן בגולם – אבות ה:ז
[There are] seven things [characteristic] in a man of imperfectly developed mind, and seven in a wise man: a wise man … *asks in accordance with the subject-matter* … and the reverse of these [are characteristic] in a man of imperfectly developed mind. Avos 5:7 (Sancino’s translation)Now, if you have managed to read this far, and have been able to understand the quote above, then hear this: You are fools. This discussion has ZERO to do with whether or not this election was rigged or not, nothing to do with fraud or not, it’s not about proof or evidence or what happened last month.
Rather, the question being asked is…
Being that most media is left-leaning (fact), and being that currently we are witnessing never-before-seen levels of media and tech companies exercising their abilities to suppress those with dissenting opinions (fact) (whether that’s right, wrong or dangerous, or not), and despite, obviously, that individuals can still get their voices heard to varying degrees, but that is nothing compared to mass media bombarding your various devices with opposing sentiment (fact)… thus, “THEORETICALLY” how would the masses be expected to receive a fair account something which is not favoured by said media company.If it makes you happier, you can imagine that everyone agrees with you that the elections were 100% squeaky clean, and that no-one smells a fish here, and even that everyone is with you that nobody “believes that [Trump] is the sole arbiter of truth and he is all knowing, all seeing and all truthful.”, and if you want, you can even imagine that the question switches the words “Rep.” for “Dem.”.
It is a THEORETICAL question.
Now, if you have anything of value to answer or add to this discussion, then please go right ahead. But don’t talk about the integrity of the election, nor your opinions of Trump nor those who side with him – that’s not the discussion. You fools.
@Quayboardwarrior and @everyone
The question is not what evidence would demonstrate fraud. And the question clearly is not whether or not there was any fraud in this case.The question, and a very well noted one, is: Being that the information we receive, or are allowed to receive, is being so massively stifled, censored, misconstrued – and that those who even dare ask to give it a fair assessment as to their legitimacy, face intimidation and their livelihoods and rights obstructed (all fact) – thus, “THEORETICALLY”, “Election fraud, how would we know?
@charliehall
“Incitement charges” for what? What incitement. Please do quote.The world has gone mad.
Completely free incl all board and lodging. (At least for Israeli citizens).
Masks… are ineffective.
Masks… don’t stop viruses.
Masks… can cause multiple other serious health issues.(But I wear one anyway to placate those as stupid and petty as @yserbius123, for the sake of v’havtah l’rei’echa kmocha).
@frumnotyeshivish
Any Rav who makes decisions based on “risking their tax exempt status” is not a Gadol.The issur is separating TANGLED strings. But running your fingers through strands that are not tangled, or even that are only loosely intermingled but fall apart effortlessly does not fall into this issur.
(Though there are those who say that touching or moving ANYTHING mindlessly without any Shabbos purpose, may present it’s own problems (muktzeh and others).)
kesiva v’chasimah tovah
@CTLAWYER
“You have absolutely no inside information as to what President Biden might do about riots”The fact that it requires “inside information” to know Biden’s stance on the riots is telling (and appalling) enough. Any normal person with an ounce of decency should be decrying and condemning the riots. Period.
To all the idiots here intending to vote Dem:
It’s one thing if you dislike Trump so much that you don’t want to vote for him. But at least still show some reluctance to actually vote for Biden.@WolfishMusings
I haven’t read through every post here, but I am very disappointed at the quality of response to answer your simple and legitimate question.(My feeling is that it falls into the category of a mitzvah for them to comply, just as Rambam counts it as a mitzvah for Beis Din to administer misah, or any court consequence. So, whatever recourse they have to enforce any mitzvah, applies here too – I just don’t know what that is. Or if they don’t comply, perhaps beis din won’t force them at all, and that’s just their aveirah between them and Shomayim, and being that the possukim go on to allow others to finish off the sentence after them, beis din will just resort to that now too.)
Let me know once you find an answer.
@daven2hashem
100% !
(Not that I feel I’ve ever really been the subject of anything too bad, thankfully.)Also, the way some can, rachmana litzlan, denigrate the Gedolei hador is tremendously worrying. On that note. I believe YWN should completely disallow comments on articles regarding the Gedolim and similar articles.
clearly צפית (anticipating/expecting) the geulah
The shadchan fee is not an obligation. They only encourage you to give a shadchanus just like one would to any ‘regular’ shadchan.
They have people who run the whole gammut of observance levels. What you’re describing sounds like their category of ‘modern-machmir’, or something similar, which the site definitely caters to also.Hatzlocha.
I highly recommend R’ Shooter (JS Realty), his personal contact details are on his site:
jsrealtyisrael.comTo address the original question here, “Why are the rioters overwhelmingly white?”
One of the answers is, that ‘the problem of racism’ and of ‘police brutality’ is far far more an assumed perception of white liberals inventing a cause to fight for, far more than it really exists. All these social justice warriors will fight for their created underprivileged masses even if it hurts them.See these street interviews for example, where the interviewer first speaks to the white libs to hear their [racist] concern for the ‘underprivileged’, and then he speaks to that actual demographic themselves to get their true feelings.
@CTLAWYER
Just because the blacks in your town are getting profiled and are a disproportionate subject of police suspicions (assuming your circumstantial observations are a true reflection of the greater numbers), isn’t necessarily due to police racism, and certainly not necessarily systematic. It may very plausibly be due also to simple prudent, logical concern. If a snake-catcher is notified that green snakes in a particular area are behaving more brazenly, and their venom is more toxic, then he’s not to be criticised for being on the lookout for green snakes more than red. Duh.As @Joseph succinctly said “None of the above is sexist, ageist or racist.”
Now, it may be true that that particular snake catcher might indeed harbour personal anti-green animus. But being that his job entails catching dangerous snakes, the anti-green theory should not be the first assumed motivation for his actions. And certainly not one to paint all snake-catchers on a global level.
~~
Also, your criticism of @som1 was pointless and silly – his comment was completely on-topic. (Not like it’s uncommon or wrong for discussions in a Coffee-Room thread to run off topic on side discussions anyway.) And your response to him (which, by the way is probably about 8 times as long as his small 3-line comment), was indeed off-topic, and had little to do even with what HE had said. His comment wasn’t a personal attack on you. Don’t get so defensive.
“Are law abiding minorities affected by police racism?”
No, law abiding minorities are affected [primarily, albeit indirectly] by NON-law abiding minorities.When Israel takes a strong stance against our enemies, so many idiots come out admonishing Israel that it will just cause those enemies to thereby dislike us more and act against us even harsher next time. Those same idiots should realise their hypocrisy now by not admonishing the NON-law abiding minorities for the backlash results and necessary reaction that it will generate by the law enforces against that minority class.
(The obvious difference is that one are law enforcers, putting their lives at risk to engage and suppress criminals, and the other are reactionary bad guys themselves.) So the reaction of the law enforces is not driven by racism, but by prudent care for their lives.“I’m sure there are quite a few antisemitic cops out there too but we don’t know about it because we don’t engage with the police too often.”
Exactly, ‘hagufah’, “because we don’t engage with the police too often”.@Dr. E
As far as I can tell/remember, the only reference in M”B to 6 or 7 re a minyan, is regarding beginning the entire service, not just chazoras hashatz (I think it was around siman 56 or so). But the he, (as well as all poskim) are quite clear elsewhere throughout M”B that one may only begin chazoras hashatz with 10 men able to answer (incl. the chazon himself). Though he does quote a shas hadchak minhag of relying on a child holding a Chumash to make the 10th person.But, I’d like to stress that the 10-men threshold, is the MINIMUM when one is allowed to start. But even that is not l’chatchilah. Ideally, the chazon should wait for majority (rov) of the minyan to be ready to answer.
~~
Regarding @Sarah S’s original question though, I think M”B also addresses this and says it’s best not to inconvenience others, as @ubiquitin said very nicely.
For those who are interested, here is a 1-line synopsis of various peer-reviewed medical journal articles from different studies around the world, analysing how those who’ve had a flu vaccine react to corona-related viruses, and compare to those who have not had flu shots. (Contact me, or google them for the actual articles if you’re interested).
“Pentagon Study: Flu Shot Raises Risk of Coronavirus by 36%”
“2018 CDC Study: Flu shots increase risk of non-flu acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) in children.”
“2011 Australian Study: Flu shot doubled risk of non-influenza viral infections and increased the risk of virus-associated acute respiratory illness, including influenza, by 73%.”
“2012 Hong Kong Study: Flu shots increased the risk of non-flu respiratory infections 4.4 times and including influenza, tripled the overall viral ARI risk.”
“2017 Study: Vaccinated children are 5.9 more likely to suffer pneumonia, 3.8 times greater risk of ear infections, and 30.1 times more likely to have been diagnosed with Allergic Rhinitis than unvaccinated children.” (“30 times” !!!)
“2014 Study: Influenza-vaccinated children were 1.6 times more likely than unvaccinated children to have a non-influenza “Influenza-like-illness” (ILI).”
Ok, thanks for explaining. Sorry about that.
For those who are interested, here is a 1-line a synopsis of some of those studies: (Contact me, or google them for the actual articles if you’re interested).
“Pentagon Study: Flu Shot Raises Risk of Coronavirus by 36%
“2018 CDC Study: Flu shots increase risk of non-flu acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) in children.”
“2011 Australian Study: Flu shot doubled risk of non-influenza viral infections and increased the risk of virus-associated acute respiratory illness, including influenza, by 73%.”
“2012 Hong Kong Study: Flu shots increased the risk of non-flu respiratory infections 4.4 times and including influenza, tripled the overall viral ARI risk.”
“2017 Study: Vaccinated children are 5.9 more likely to suffer pneumonia, 3.8 times greater risk of ear infections, and 30.1 times more likely to have been diagnosed with Allergic Rhinitis than unvaccinated children.” (“30 times” !!!)
“2014 Study: Influenza-vaccinated children were 1.6 times more likely than unvaccinated children to have a non-influenza “Influenza-like-illness” (ILI).”I’m curios/concerned…
I posted a reply here before, on a semi-related note of about 5 links that I found fascinating. They were all links to peer-reviewed medical journal articles from different studies around the world, analysing how those who’ve had a flu vaccine react to corona-related viruses, and compare to those who have not had flu shots. But my comment was never posted. Was this due to a technical fault of my own, or perhaps links are not allowed to be posted, or did the moderators eschew it from being shown?Links. I try to edit when it’s more text than links, but this was more link than text
Population:
Israel – 9.1M
NYC – 8.77MDate of 1st confirmed COVID-19 case:
Israel – February 27, 2020
NYC – March 1, 2020Current confirmed COVID-19 cases:
Israel – 16,185
NYC – 170,534Current confirmed COVID-19 deaths:
Israel – 227
NYC – 13,536I agree with the sentiment here. I think the term ‘Kiddish HaShem’ gets way over used, and very much misused by the ‘frum’ media. (Similarly there is barely ever a ‘Kiddush HaShem’ article that the commentators can come to consensus on its indeed being a kiddush or chillul HaShem.)
I invite Rabbi Hoffman to write an article for YWN on the halachic and Chazal deliniations of what a true Kiddush HaShem is.
On that note: One ha’orah is that it is wrong to think that kiddush/chillul HaShem is only defined as a function of perception by others or the masses, since in Pirkei Avos [4:4] we see “ רבי יוחנן בן ברוקא אומר כל המחלל שם שמים בסתר. נפרעין ממנו בגלוי”, so we see there is clearly such a thing as a Chillul HaShem in private. I think the Maharal might make this point, but I haven’t gone to look it up again right now.
@Health
“Modern Medicine” … At some point in the near future (apart from the Moshiach scenario) we will look back at our current state of medical treatment and regard it as archaic and clumsily hapless, the same way as we look back now on bygone images of poor anaesthesia -less patients having dental work or their blood let.@midwesterner Unfortunately, not so fast.
Everyone seems to have focused on an erroneous headline and missed the actual psak. When the question was posed to Rav Chaim shlit”a, it was asked regarding someone whom the health ministry is advising to be in self-quarantine! Read it here for yourself:
If there is a different psak from R’ Chaim that I don’t know about, then please update me.
If you’re referring to the fact that he’s said to follow the Health Ministry guidelines, well he’s been saying that from the very beginning too, including when he said to nonetheless still ensure that children remain learning.@CTLAWYER and @the_rest_of_you_too,
Be aware that if you have a son who is a bechor below bar-mitzvah then many poskim say to fast on his behalf. Also, some poskim say the same for a deceased father who was a bechor.
Because…
“If you’re gonna’ only eat food that was chewed up for you by other people and spit out on a plate so that you can eat it…
it will be very easy to eat, but it won’t be very tasty.”
-Rabbi Dovid Orlofsky
from his shiur on How to Love Learning
https://www.rabbiorlofsky.com/podcast/42