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Oomis how apropos that your questions come this week of parshas Toldos with the very important questions of our uncle Eisov, how do you maaser salt. However, given the level of our current avodas Hashem, your questions are truly “burning” in my mind as I seek answers.
1. Each of these has a different shiur. And one problem is the type of latke or jelly donut being eaten. We all know that homemade latkes are much smaller and generally crispier than store bought. Therefore I think the response to the shiur should be based on homemade latkes. The “normal” latke prepared at home is approximately 5 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide. This consists of the potato mixture that 2 tbs. will flatten out to as it fries. Such latkes without anything on them or with only sugar, the shiur would be as many as you could eat in 6 minutes. The real issue with the shiur is that most people eat their latkes with something on them. Generally this would be applesauce (minhag America), sour cream (minhag Galitzia), or a jam or preserve (universal minhag). Such latkes take longer to eat and therefore the supposed shiur would be longer. However, the chachomim at the time of the Chanuka miracle did not contemplate on shuch differences and therefore did not establish a specific shiur. Since each generation and culture might add to the latke experience, it was left to the LOR of each time to establish a shiur.
2. The Chashmanoim minted many coins. Since Chanuka gelt, as in the case of latkes, have different meanings in each culture and time, the chachomim here to left it to the LOR. The general consensus over the generations was to give Chanuka gelt in accordance with the lifestyle of the family rather than a national religious shiur.
3. We are definitely yotzei with the father’s shehecheyonu on the Chanuka lighting of the 1st night. This halocho is similar to that of the brocho on Succos. The brocho for kiddush also covers the succoh. Also, the shehecheyonu of Rosh Hashono kiddush covers the brocho for the new fruit eaten on the 2nd night.
Any other questions or issues wlll be responded to in a similar manner. However I suggest that these answers might be reiterated to your family during your Purim seuda.
Lomed you basically have no idea what you’re talking about. There are some 2 names that are joined together sometimes, if the person wants to. For example, Dov Ber is generally joined as Dovber or Duber by Lubavitchers. But a name like Binyomin Zev or Arye Leib or Shraga Feivel, although the 2nd name is basically a translation such as Dov Ber, these names are always separate. The Torah can’t be considered an authority for giving names. There’s no halocho mamish for that. Also, people generally have a wrong idea of what 2 or 3 names in Judaism signify. Goyim have a 1st name and a 2nd name and often the 2nd name signifies something. Italian Catholics give a 1st name which is their birth name and the middle name is called a religious name, Often their saints etc, such as Michael. Irish Catholics generally give the 2nd name as a family last name, such as the mother’s maiden name, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, et al. When we give 2 or 3 names, they aren’t “middle” names. Each is a name. It’s almost as if we have only one 1st name which consists of 2 or 3 names. The minhag of saying a posuk, which is clearly for “remembering” your name after death in Beis Din shel maloh, should cover each name that a person has with a posuk. How that’s done can be in several ways. The way most people do is with a clear posuk with the 1st ois and last ois the same in the name and the posuk. If there is no posuk, then just figure something out to compensate. This whole idea is only a segulah to remembering. So use the segulah to the best of your ability.
If you read all these comments you’ll see that there is no “normal” rule of thumb for this. Some girls work and feel more independent if they pay for their own things. Other girls will save their working money for their chasuna or even for after the chasuna as a foundation of funds. Some parents don’t mind either way. Parents with very limited funds might want a girl to do both – save her money for a chasuna and also pay for her own things. There are so many possibilities that just about anything can be considered normal.
A brocho is said according to the main ingredient of the cooked dish. Shnitzels, although covered with bread crumbs, are a shehakol because the main ingredient is chicken. However generally at Shnitzis this is a moot point since you’re eating it in a bona fide motzi roll.
There is no question that pizza, even if not made with juice but made with pure water, is called pas habo b’kisnin. And all poskim agree with that concept. However even pas habo b’kisnin can return to the concept of actual bread if eaten as a meal, not a snack. And Rav Yakov ztzl said exactly that. A person eats 1 slice as a snack and at 2 slices, there is a concept of going according to normal practices which makes it a meal rather than a snack. 2 slices is a definite lunch meal concept. Adding juice alone gives the dough a possibility to be mezonos, if the eater adheres to certain criteria. If you buy a mezonos roll with tuna in it and eat it in your car or at the zoo etc, its mezonos because that’s not the way a person is koveah a seudah. However going into a breakfast place and ordering mezonos roll with scrambled eggs and salad and coffee and sitting down at the table, that is a no brainer koveah seudah and you have to wash. The same would be if you order 1 slice of pizza at lunch with a salad and a drink, that’s koveah seudah. If you take it home, its koveah seudah. This is the psak halocho of every current respected accepted posek. Any other psak is using lots of kulos.
Wow really great comments. I was in accounting and I became a partner in the firm. And burnt out quickly. I hate accounting. Boy am I ever glad I got out of that. Yes I’m lucky BH. Its not easy at all to leave a good paying job, especially now. So all you people telling her to talk to her husband about his job, get a life and be real. The man has a job, a good one. That’s the accounting business. And the lawyer business and doctor.
Go to New Square. Its an unbelievably wonderful spiritual experience. They have a great sense of hachnosas orchim. I dont know who you can call though. When I go it’s to my cousin so I have a place to stay with food and all. The kabolas shabbos is very inspiring.
BP Totty, yeah, Midwood is strange. They observe irrelevant Shulchan Orech halochos like davening mincha before the shekiya, laining krias shema on time, stuff like that. My wife told me a story from her apikores Hebrew high school teacher. Moshiach came and all the modern people who always do things on time came running. As Moshiach marched along with his new army of kipot serugot, the chasidim came running. Moshiach asked, so who are they. The YI rabbi answered, heim gam kein yehudim.
Oh my how can one hate Flatbush? Flatbush is where all the yidden say Gut Shabbos to each other. I live in Midwood and daven in Boro Park. On Ave I and E 3 i say gut shabbos and the guy smiles back and says gut shabbos. 3 more blocks and I’m on 50 and 19 and I say gut shabbos and the guy looks at me like I’m nuts.
Sac, no chulent, oh my, apikorsis mamish. Eating chulent from Thursday after maariv which is already leil shishi until the shabbos meal is a spiritual experience. You might think its pure gashmiyus but its not. Every food has holy sparks of kedusha along with the gashmiyus of the food. Eating chulent, kishka, and kugel while uplifting these sparks of kedusha is an extremely satisfying holy spiritual experience. Add to this the intrinsic kedusha of shabbos and the neshomo yeseiro and we are talking really strong spiritual ecstasy. Top it all off with a bottle of Guinness stout and you’re on cloud 9 mamish.
WIY – yes I have many. My brother was the Rebbe’s meshamesh when he was here in New York on occasion. Another cute story. A guy had a mishigas, he asked every rov or rosh yeshiva the same question. Shnayim ochzim b’talis, yachloiku, split the talis. His question, what can you do with a split talis of only 2 tzitzis each. Theya ll laughed because everone knows it means the value. When anyone tried to explain it means the value, he would say you don’t know, the mishna clearly says yachloiku, split the talis. When he asked the Pnei Menachem, he answered, the 2 tzitzis talis is good for Boruch She’omar. End of story.
“as long as there’s a hechsher in place. But to suggest that they would willingly walk in to a place like Bens? “
2nd Ave Deli has a “hechsher”. Thats why I said that they might be nichshal by accident. You admit that some MO only look for any hechsher. I never said they would knowingly eat treif and I never called Hebrew National treif. I don’t mean this to demean MO at all.
yitay, I was just preparing an answer and you beat me to it. Exactly. In addition, there are 3 main ways of avodo zoro. 1. bowing or kneeling – this is always ossur, no matter which AZ it is. This includes Xianity, although that may be mi’derabonon.
2. Sacrificing – bringing a korbon, killing the animal le’sheim the AZ, also always ossur. Even though Xtianity has no animal sacrifice, this still applies although again mi’derabonon.
3. Derech avodoh, the normal way of serving the AZ – this is only ossur by doing the service particularly required for that AZ. For Xtianity this will depend on the psak if its a real AZ or only shituf. Thus going for Communion during the Eucharistic Mass may be AZ. Paying rent isn’t any part of any of these AZ ways. And here we go back to what Yitay said about lifnei ivur of lifnei ivur that isn’t ossur. And the company itself paying rent isn’t ossur either. This is because the Church itself, in other words the actual Xtianity concept, doesn’t own the buildings. An American corporation, albeit non-profit, owns it all, including the actual church building. That corporation is “owned” by the board of trustees, some lay people and some clergy. So Wolf, go back to work.
Police. And no I don’t do anything illegal. The police in Chicago were these big gruff guys with leather jackets. And when I was 16 my friend and I who were chatting on the corner after maariv, were arrested for curfew. Since then I’m terrified of police. I shake if I have to ask for directions (also I’m male, we never ask).
The previous Gerrer Rebbe Pnei Menachem ztzl once explained why Amuka helps. He said that amuka is the burial place of Rebbi Yonosson ben Uziel, one of Hillel’s talmidim. The Gemoroh in Sukkah 28a tells us that while he was absorbed in studying Torah if a bird flew over his head it would be burnt. The Rebbe said that when a single person goes their – their “feigelech in kop” are burnt. That is, their fantasies and illusions of what Mr. or Miss Right must be.
Rav Moshe paskins that one may translate seforim for private use but not in a commercial fashion, that is to sell them. He said that once a particular piece of Torah has been said, it belongs to klal yisroel. With the exception of seforim which do have an intellectual property ownership to them. Translating in a blog isn’t ossur, but an English translation of Rav Moshe’s psak halocho in a published book sold to the public would be. So Wolf go ahead and learn with your son.
I assume that many MO aren’t as careful about the “level” of kashrus as are right of center orthodox. I’ve had many discussions with MO people who routinely go out to lunch to treif restaurants, not Ben’s Deli, and eat fish or salads. Many more might not eat fish actually cooked in a treif place but will eat salads cut with treif knives in a salad bar etc. That is not to say that all MO do that. Nor is the exact concept of MO known. Many “heimishe” yidden will consider you MO if you don’t wear a black hat, even if you are makpid on cholov yisroel etc. I’m talking about the MO family where the females wear pants, the wife does not cover her hair at all, they always buy cholov akum, etc. My experience has been that they will also eat salads etc from a goyish store. This type may not know that Ben’s is not to be trusted. Theys ee the hechsher from Steinberg and think ok no problem. Now read what I said again. I said “I’m sure that many MO are nichshal with this”. That means ‘by accident, not on purpose” That does not mean that they are not careful. They just aren’t as careful as they should be be because MO are usually looking for any kulah they can find.
Bitochon in Hashem is definitely both an outcome and a prerequisite for a shidduch. So you could say that the reason for anything is bitochon: children, life, parnoso. Yet each concept has its particular raison d’etre. A Shidduch is the process that Hashem established to bring a couple together, what the Torah says is v’dovak b’ishto, to become a family unit. After the aveira of eitz hadas, Hashem punished humanity with the curse of be’zayis apecho toichal lechem, humanity has to work hard for parnoso. Yosef said to Potiphar’s wife that her husband denied him nothing except “halechem asher hu ochel” the “bread” that the master ate, a euphemism for his wife. So we see that “bread” is used by the Torah as both parnoso and zivug. Chazal say that “kosho zvugosom ke’krias yam suf” and also “kosho parnesoso ke’krias yam suf”. Both parnoso and shidduchim are likened to krias yam suf. Just as krias yam suf was dependent on bitochon, so are parnoso and shidduch dependent on bitochon. Just as krias yam suf was each shevet turning in an arc around and through the sea, and therefore one shevet walked longer and the rest shorter, so too is a shidduch sometimes a long process and sometimes a short process. Chazal also say that the parnoso of a family is dependent on the actions and prayers of the wife. Hashem connected parnoso and shidduch at the very beginning as part of the punishment of humanity for the sin of eating the fruit of the eitz hadas. Bitochon in hashem is the tikun and atonement for that sin.
Rabbi Steinberg is playing kashrus certification semantics. It says that the food is kosher. It probably is, when raw. 2nd Ave Deli is NOT shomer shabbos and as such the food is bosor she’nisaleim min ha’ayin and is technically treif. Mamish really not kosher. I’m sure that many MO are nichshal with this.
The medrash calls Hashem who is known as Tzur, that read it “haTzayor” meaning the painter. The best painter is the one who can produce a work of art that looks so real that you almost can’t tell. How great of a painter is Hashem that he “painted” a world to look so real that we actually call Olam Hazeh “reality”. Tikun Olam means to be mesaken, to fix, the helem that exists between Hashem and us, be tween Olam Hazeh and shomayim ruchniyos. Fix it by bringing kedusha into this world, by using this world to live a torah yiddishkeit life and by showing that Hashem is the King. That makes the veil, the helem, move away and we see the Olam HoEmes.
I’m not a bourbon guy, never was, strictly single malt scotch. but… I’ve had some really good bourbons and has nothing to do with price. Old Weller is great and inexpensive. Weller makes a few names but the Old Weller is best. 1792. Stagg. Bookers but its strong. Henry Clay is fantastic but forget about that. I have the only bottle in the world. The rest, eh soso.
The Kaf HaChaim in Simon 14 simon koton 14 paskens that the halocho of making a brocho on a borrowed tallis is only if you wear the borrowed tallis together with tefilin, that is generally during shacharis. But says the Kaf HaCahim, if you wear it only for an aliya or during a tefila without tefilin, generally mincha or maariv, you don’t make a brocho. He goes further to quote the Taz that the Rosh paskins that a borrowed tallis you make a brocho because the person is happy that you do a mitzva with his tallis and part of the mitzva is the brocho. The final psak is that for a tefila with tefilin you do make a brocho, and the psak does not differentiate if a married man or bochur. The Kaf HaChaim brings down the Ben Ish Chai that the reason for no brocho for an aliya or duchaning or mincha marriv is that these are only a minhag to wear a tallis whereas a tefila with tefilin, shacharis, is a din, especially the shliach tzibur. In fact, a bochur is also obligated to wear a tallis but our accepted minhag is to start after his chasuna. Of course the accepted German minhag is for a bochur to wear after bar mitzva. At any rate, both a bochur and married man borrowing a tallis for shachris with tefilin, especially to be a shliach tzibbur does make a brocho. For an aliya, duchan, mincha, maariv they do not make a brocho. All that said, the Eliyahu Rabbo does paskin to make a brocho always and the Kaf HaChaim says that if you do make a brocho always, you can’t lose anything. It’s not a brocho l’vatoloh.
Please explain what you are accomplishing with this? Those who now sit next to any woman know about this or don’t care. Those who do not will go on with their chumra shel kedusho. And you may actually cause people who until now were machmir, yo stop doing their chumra.
You could also bring down Rav Moshe’s psak that you aren’t allowed to use a timer on shabbos to on or off your air conditioner. Do you listen to that too? Or only what you like of his psak halochos?
throw in sliced tomato and whole wheat and lettuce aint that bad. don’t come close to a coffee and a black and white.
excellent place. I’ve had several offerings. Best is the Texas burger. Fried are great. Service with a smile.
Amazing how many apikorsim there are among seemingly nice frum families. Bizman hazeh, for decades, the accepted minhag yisroel has been pizza. Ask Mendelsohn or Amnon. And minhag yisroel is din. And anybody who abrogates and denies a minhag yisroel is an apikores. Would you not do hoshanos? That’s a minhag, albeit thousands of years old. Oy and we wonder why moshiach doesn’t come. It’s from all the allegedly frum families who eat leftovers, and concoctions, and anything but pizza. By the way, a new minhag is creeping in too. Going to Sprinkles or Sweet Shack for ice cream. Preferred Razzles, although a soft cone may be acceoptable. Ask your local orthodox rabbi.
Squeak, semolina, the wheat flour used to make pasta. Wolf you actually make your own bread from that, wow, impressive. Must take great with soup. mmmm pasta fajoul with spinata.
Best OJ I ever had was in Los Angeles, on Shabbos. The shiksa picked oranges off their backyard tree and squeezed them. Shabbos Morning. Really good. Although quite ossur. Oh well, they do say mayim genuvim yimtoku. I almost choked after I finished and they told me. Oh yes, I made a shehakol.
OMG Telegrok that’s not a joke. And Squeak, half a bottle couldn’t get me to taste that. Yes it may disgust the rest of us but you’re right, horrifies you is correct.
Asparagus – plain boiled or steamed. Roasted with olive oil and garlic. Sauteed with bread crumbs.
Broccoli spears or florets – same as asparagus.
So many squashes to make in so many ways.
You can buy kosher brussels sprouts. You can make cooked cabbage in veggie soup and slice the whole cabbage.
Peas and carrots straight from the can. Green beans from the can. Snap peas any way.
That should last you a few weeks.
Mod 80 words: i very strongly disagree with you that that Halachah is wrong but we say shehakol to listen to the Gedolim even though they are wrong.
the correct Halachah is shehakol, regardless of the reason, Minhag or whatever, that IS the Halachah because the Poskim tell us that is what we are to do. “
That’s playing semantics. You say that i say to listen to our gedolim. then you say to listen to the poskim. ummm isn’t that the same? You also agree that the brocho reasoning for ho’etz is correct while saying a shehakol. I said the same. So I’m not really sure how you don’t agree with me.
And Squeak is correct. Tropicana at best isn’t a single orange orange juice. You can only get that if the oranges came from one single orcahrd. Since any single serving of Tropicana can easily be a mixture of several orchards, its highly unlikely to get a real single single. Which leaves us to drink single malt scotch.
Oy I think you’re right, my mistake. Byblos Bonarda semi sweet and I thnk they might have a sweet too. Tierra Salvaje are all dry but really good. Since they are so good and pretty cheap, Kosherwine.com has them for $4.99, you can use them for cooking. Try making tongue. Cook a pickled tongue until its done. Then with the skin still on, saute it in onions and a cup of a good red, for 15 minutes on each side. Then skin and wrap and refrigerate.
I guess if Washington state which allegedly is gorgeous, would have warm beaches and 75 degrees in the winter, with a large kosher supermarket and several glat restaurants and cholov yisroel with many shuls and mikvas – then Washington would be an alternative.
Yes its orange and its juice. But what brocho do you make? Of course we know that everybody makes a shehakol. The gemora and halocho seem quite clear about squeezing juice from a fruit that its a shehakol. But the gemora and halocho also add something. If the fruit is grown ONLY for its juice, then the juice takes on the halocho of its fruit. So tut sodeh strawberries would be an adomo and oranges would be a ho’etz. So paskins Rav Abadi. And everybody paskins against him. Rav Spitzer in his sefer paskins, after much pilpul, like Rav Abadi, that oj is a ho’etz, but says that le’masseh, the whole world makes a shehakol and we should go with the minhag yisroel.
Fact is that Rav Spitzer’s psak is partly correct. The psak that its a ho’etz like Rav Abadi is correct. But I’m nots ure if the minhag is correct. If the halocho is really a ho’etz, then we should make a ho’etz. The minhag yisroel as a shehakol was before Tropicana not from concentrate juice from oranges grown in orchards specifically for juice, and specifically not for eating. Therefore the psak of the gemora and poskim would be to make a ho’etz. All that said, I make a shehakol because Rav Spitzer’s final psak that minhag yisroel is a shehakol, as wrong as I think that is, but since everybody paskins shehakol, the halocho becomes like that since the torah says listen to the rov gedolim no matter what.
Basically they take chicken breast cutlet and grill it. Then they add your choices of various veggie salad and your choices of sauce, they have several different sauces. its all put into a baguette, choice of regular or whole wheat. very good and very fresh since they take raw and grill it immedaitely for you. The french fries are either regular or the shnitzi fries which are seasoned and really good. You can also order all this in a salad bowl.
I guess not everybody in here has a sense of humor. I actually read The Wolf’s first post as being said Tongue in cheek. I was not at all insulted by his statement deal with it. We hardly ever eat leftovers on motzei shabbos. Leftovers are for Sunday nights. I have always thought that melave malka was supposed to be a hot food. After eschalte d’geula, when Hashem started taking us out of our gustatory golus and provided us with kosher pizza, that pizza is the preferred melave malka food. Some poor misled chasidim actually wash to a “normal” melave malka of challah, fish, hot soup (veggie or other) and other various foods. But don’t demean Wof for eating leftovers. If that means eating hot chicken soup, the end of the gefilta fish roll, warmed over chulent, and leftover roast beef – well that’s OK according to any poskim. Although Rav Amnon gaon of 13th avenue would argue.
OMG somebody defiled the good name of single malt scotch, G-ds gift to humanity, by actually mentioning Old Williamsburg. 2nd time todayy. Mod 80 in a different thread defiled the concept too. What a terrible day for all shomer shabbos who observe the “zachor es hashabbos” part by being members of kiddush clubs.
That said, Auchentoshen truly is a great single malt, cheap as it is. All the non-peaty tasting brands and years taste great, different as they may be. I like the peaty brands too but that’s a matter of individual taste.
Oy what a sorrow day. Old Willie and Johnny Walker in the same thread as Glenrothes. Oy.
I made muscat about 30 years ago. Excellent wine. If your wife allows you to do it, its worth the bother and your wife is a tzadeikess. But do not start with muscat.
Sacrilege, seems like you’re in good company. The bubbly sweet dessert wines are the top sellers. The Byblos barbera is fantastic with anything, including cooking. We only cook with good wines, never with cheap stuff. The riojas are great. Tierra Salvage from Chile, although very cheap, has terrific wines, Buy and experiment.
Poster et all, I honestly can’t believe that you haven’t heard of Shnitzi. You haven’t enjoyed the privilege of standing in line and waiting for your shnitzi? Ahhh but the wait is worth it. The service really is good and the sandwiches excellent, as is the french fries.
I also only drink Tropicana but to engage in underhanded sneaky attacks on the ultimate beverage, G-d’s gift to humanity through the Scottish nation, that most heavenly quaff, Single malt Scotch (may its memory and use be held kodosh in all the YI kiddush clubs) – I can’t take that and I had to answer your opening. I hope that all sane and intelligent readers will follow in the defense of this gift of G-d to humanity.
since there are so many types and brands, and each person has different tastes, we should ask whats your taste. And of course the wine depends on what you’re eating. old rule was red for meat and white for fish and chicken. actually the real rule is that if you have a dish that has intense flavor, drink a mild tasting wine, red or white. and then you can get very dry like merlot and then go less dry like cabernet and rioja and shiraz. then go sweet from semi sweet like jeunnesse cabernet and black muscat, to late harvets and sweet muscats and ports. just use your own taste. of course there are people who are so tasteless that they can’t tell the difference between grape juices either.
glenrothes is excellent. glenmorangie french oak, glenlivet nadurra, arbegh, hey they’re all good so who cares.
Feif I suggest you read the rambam again. You took it perfectly out of context. I know what the gemora says about how talmidei chachomim should act as compared to truck drivers. And chickens hameivin yovin as was said. If you want to compare yeshivishe guys to truck drivers and chickens and make fun of Gerrer because they act like talmidei chachomim, go right ahead. I know what the Rambam says, I know what the mechaber says in simon 240 (learn that one a little bit better than you seem to have done, or did you at all), and the gemora. Instead of ploidering, why don’t you all go back to the source seforim and learn the whole thing instead of taking bits and pieces out of context.
Thank you for your kind words but excuse me sir. Exactly where did I make up facts? That our men are talmidei chachomim? That Gerrer girls generally don’t work in commercial offices? Why don’t you call up the Gerrer high school office and ask where last year’s graduating class is. My daughter’s BY Seminary class has 7 Gerrer girls. Several girls went to Israel. Several are married or will be soon.
Absolutely. If the “other” gedolim don’t care about what choson/kallah do before marriage, how much more likely are they to say anything goes and to be meikal after marriage. And since these normally “machmir” gedolim feel kind of guilty since the vast majority of chasidim are not meikal in inyonei kedusha, they frown on the irrelevant chumras of Ger, chumras that are brought out by many rishonim and achronim poskim. And where a posek seems to be meikal, he then says that machmirim tovoh aleihem brocho. Very easy to make fun of essential chumros of kedusha. You don’t want to be kodosh, no problem. But why make fun of those who do? And make up myths and lies.
Generally 2 is the normal dose. Also it depends on why you’re taking them. If you have a bad headache, 2 will help. If you have bad arthritis, you should be taking something stronger but if you don’t want that then you’ll probably need 4 at first and then 2 after 4 hours. If you have a toothache, 2 should help. If you had a root canal or other heavy tooth work, then you can take 4 and then after 4 hours again 4. Careful not to take more than 12 a day.
“thinking” jew. Let’s see, “most” other gedolim. Belz? Skver? Viznitz? Satmar? Alexander? Modzitz? Umm I think that takes care of 95% of chasidic world. And these “minority” gedolim also say irrelevant things like a choson/kallah shouldn’t meet almost daily and go all over the place. Hardly conducive to proper kedusha. Fairly normal in the world of your “most” gedolim yeshivos. Oh well, what can I say? I guess I just don’t smell the coffee.
rabbiofberlin. I remember Rav Uri ztzl very well. I saw him just about every day in the beis medrash of Torah Vodas on S. 3rd St. Yes he was very close with Rav Yakov ztzl and as I said earlier, Rav yakov never said that. Most commenters here spout nonsense with hardly any knowledge of the subjects and rarely any type of basic research into what they’re saying.
Its knock Gerrer week all the time. I’m constantly subjected to this anti-semitic sinaas chinom from all sides. My family, this includes my brothers and their kids, have no problem being Gerrer chasidim. And my Gerrer coffee smells just fine thank you. These various virulently hateful canards have been spread all over for years. We are all used to it. Most Gerrer basically laugh at it all and ignore it all. The majority of Gerrer are strong talmidei chachomim and this alone irks most yeshivish terribly. And we don’t help ourselves by being elitist but hey we are so too bad. In Israel we’re hated because we have political clout. Too bad. So go right on and spew your hatred. Make up some good stories. Everybody will believe you because everybody wants to believe you. Our shtiebels are well known for no talking during davening. Our shtiebels resound with the sound of Torah. Our bochurim and girls don’t hang out anywhere and are reknowned as BH holy children. And again, laugh and make up whatever myths you want.
Sacrilege yes. And yes to flipping the switch. The Yetzer Hora will not come to a ben torah and say flip the switch, big deal. But the yetzer will come to a person already just a shell of a yid and say big deal, make the coffee or tea. And then take it from there. Porn addiction,which can often come from that first image, will quickly turn a ben or bas torah (although rarely females) into a burnt out shell of a yid. He’ll daven, eat kosher, maybe even cholov yisroel. For a while. Then those too will start eroding. The yetzer doesn’t care how you dress or what you do in terms of mitzvos. Buy a $180 esrog, eat in the succah, whatever. It knows when it has the person. And this is an unusually bad issue. Before WW2 the people who were OTD were completely off. No yiddishkeit at all. Today we can fool ourselves. Wear a black hat big deal, wear a shtreimel big deal. Yetzer Hora whispers – hey guy/girl, all I need is a small aveirele, miss a mincha, eat some salad in the Korean salad bar, and make sure you stick to your porn regimen. I’ve got you.
We often have guests for shabbos. One who comes often never brings us anything. But he gave big checks to my kids when they got married. That’s fine with us. Another couple of guests always bring us a nut fruit chocolate platter. Plus gifts to my kids. I always bring something if I’m going to hosts outside my family. That depends who they are and how close. If I go alone, I bring wine. If with my wife, both wine for the husband and flowers to the wife. Everybody should do whatever they feel the hosting family would apprecaite. Use your seichel.