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Boy, what nostalgia. I can still remember the excitement as we drove up to the “mountains”, as the scenery changed and we could literally see those tree covered mountains always looming in the distance. This city kid loved roaming the woods behind our bungalow, pretending that the rock wall marking the property was the ruins of some ancient castle, making clubhouses on the rocks, crossing over the brook and looking for frogs and salamanders, or the excitement of skipping daycamp and going with the Mommies on a shopping trip to Jamesway, getting ice cream at Lucky Dip and playing pinball. then there were the thuderstorms with the streaks of lightening that seemed to land right outside our porch, and the smell of skunk and the poison ivy…oops, I better stop while I am ahead.
Shoes are not a good place for money in the airport when you go thru security.
Do you know how many germs there are on a typical dollar bill? Do not put it behind your tongue.
The only halachos of carrying money would be when it is assur on shabbos or yom tov.
CTL- Not to mention those who call it minced meat.
Confession, it usually is chicken or turkey by us, but chopped meat sounds better than chopped fowl.
My Bobby had a special meat grinder, besides the wooden bowl and cleaver.
And here I thought that the shofar was not blown on shabbos because of the possibility of violating the issur of tiltul. Silly me.
What does this malach of chulent do? watch it so it doesn’t burn? make sure it is eaten? Add special spices so it tastes good? Heal those who eat it and get heartburn? For that matter, what does the malach of shofar do?
In my childhood, bungalows were rented for the summer and were a bit of “roughing it” – not exactly luxurious. Run down kitchen with old appliances, 1 bedroom and 1 sofa/bed in the “living room/kitchen” for the whole family to share. I remember cuddling up next to the space heater during cold August nights. A/C was not needed. The idea was to spend lots of time outdoors- the kids had daycamp and could run free on the grounds, enjoying the playground equipment, or hiking in the surrounding woods on the property. The mothers would sit around schmoozing and enjoying the down-time. The fathers, well, Yehudayona summed that up nicely. The only communal part about it would be the shul, daycamp, canteen where they sold us kids icecream and popsicles, and some sort of social hall where there would be entertainment, lectures and shiurim. Oh yes, and the shared laundry facilities with coin-operated machines.
Back when I was little, there weren’t daycamps in the city, and the city was hot and humid with little for a kid to do or go on their own. Since most mothers did not work, or worked in the school system and had vacation in the summers, they were able to get away with their families. We went until us kids got old enough for sleep-away camp. Then we got to enjoy the Catskills while our parents stayed in the city.
I understand that things have changed a bit- people own their summer homes now, they have more amenities and are probably much more comfortable these days and able to handle larger families. I would imagine though that now that in many families both parents work, including summers, that more stay home in the city than they used to and send the little kids to local daycamps.
Yehudayona, the animals that you see in the zoo are not usually captured from the wild but are born and bred in the zoo, and shared among zoos. So if tigers become extinct in the wild, they will still exist in the zoos, where no one is hunting them or destroying their habitat to extinction. Do you think the zoos will just decide they are no longer interesting and throw them away if they become extinct in the wild? Some zoos (sorry, zoological societies) have even given themselves a mandate to preserve species that are near extinct- they have specialized breeding programs, etc. Even if they don’t achieve their goal of re-instating these animals to the wild, there will be several left for people to see in the zoo.
“We do defrost meat in the sink, because our bigger dogs could reach it if it was on the counter.”
reminds me of the time I was defrosting chopped meat on the counter, and the neighbor’s cat climbed thru the window and helped himself. He should have waited until they turned into meatballs, much yummier.
So LB, the moral of the story is that you should definitely put in 3 sinks- one for milichig, one for flieshig and 1 for defrosting. But only if you have a dog or your neighbor has a cat.
CTlawyer- I think I can picture it even without the picture. Pretty cool device, seems like they thought of everything!
the milk/meat question would be one for the Rav. Of course this particular problem could be avoided altogether if you listen to health recommendations and only defrost your meat in the fridge. (Confession, I do it all the time too- it takes days to defrost in the fridge).
Another non-kashrus reason for 2 separate waste pipes- kitchen pipes tend to get clogged, from all those fatty food bits that stick to the sides. I would imagine that 2 separate pipes would take twice as long to get clogged as one.
Take them to the zoo.
LB, if there is a good chance that a frum family would buy the house (I think 50% is a good chance, considering the actual % of frum Jews there are in the general population) then you should make the kitchen kosher user-friendly. It sounds like from what CTL was saying, that non-Jews would appreciate 2 sinks also, so if you have the room for 2 sinks, go for it. But keep in mind that having side-by side double sinks is not as convenient as having totally separate sinks in separate areas, if that is technically possible.
I know from the seller’s point of view, fixing up can increase the value and sale-ability of the home, and that you usually earn back way more than was invested in the renovations, but from the buyer’s point of view, I rather put in a new kitchen that fits my taste and needs, and is built of a quality to last, rather than pay more for the house because it is renovated and get a kitchen that may look nice but does not fit my personal needs. For example, I want place for 2 ovens, and an extra freezer, and don’t like to have to walk around an island to get from the counter to the oven, while a different buyer might really want that barn sink in the island. So maybe by not renovating, you increase the sale-ability of the home?
CTL- it was the end of your post, and DaasYochid’s comment on it, and your defensive response to that one that made me raise my point. You always have great advice to give, the point about the single pipe line is a good one. It would only be problematic if the back-flow was at the temperature of yad soledes bo, though, which I assume could be an issue for the dishwasher, less for the second sink.
Can you explain this potfiller thing more- I never heard of such a thing. It sounds like a nice solution to the lifting problem. I usually fill it on the counter (my faucet pulls out so it can reach) and then slide it over to the stove, so only a little lifting. Is it another faucet behind the stovetop? Is there a draining area underneath it? What happens if you need to fill a pot when there is already something cooking on the stove- how do you get to the handle to turn it on without burning yourself? Any kashrus issues of hot steam from a fleishig pot hitting the faucet, and then using it to fill a milichig pot?
“then why do people nowadays say that Hashem provides us double parnassah on Thursday to account for Friday and Shabbat?”
Which people?
This was something unique to the Mann- double portion of mann was only on Fri- check out the chumash, when Bnei Yisroel came to Moshe on Fri puzzled why their portions measured twice as much as usual.
In terms of parnassa, nowadays we say that Hashem sets our parnassa for the week, if someone was to work on shabbos chas v’shalom, he would not be increasing his earnings. Rather, keeping shabbos keeps us, and brings us bracha in our endeavors.
I’ve seen this in my life. When I was in school, I was quite studious and found it hard to set aside studying on shabbos when I had tons of tests during the coming week. Since we were told that we were allowed to learn school subjects if they were chumash, etc, I would study for tests on those subjects on shabbos. Not technically being mechallel shabbos, but relying on a loop-hole. When I got to college and only had secular subjects, I no longer had the loop-hole and stopped studying at all on Shabbos, and shabbos was wonderful. And I saw the bracha- my grades were even higher than they were in HS for less effort.
Frum Jews are not allowed to spay/neuter their animals, or have them done even by a non-Jew, since the prohibition applies to non-Jews as well. There is no issur of owning one that was already neutered however, so you could get one already neutered from a shelter or previous owner.
Maybe the frum guy was buying fish food or bird seed?
CTL- you don’t have to defend your lifestyle choices, spending habits and home design to us. But since you are sharing it with us, you should realize-and this is just my feelings- that sometimes it sounds that you present the way you live as a general solution to whatever issue was raised, without realizing that these solutions are way beyond the means of the typical poster here. I assume you don’t mean it that way, because you generally seem to be a nice, caring type of person, but sometimes your posts come off as being insensitive to those who do not have the means that you do.
Don’t skip the obvious and typical- which for a first timer are especially meaningful- like walking tours of the Old City and visiting its many attractions (such as the Kosel tunnels, southern wall excavations, burnt house, rebuilt churva shul, etc etc.). Exploring the various neighborhoods around Yerushalayim, like Geula, Meah Shearim, Machane Yehuda shuk, Yemin Moshe.
MiniIsrael (near Latrun) is nice, and you get to see all of Israel at once (in miniature).
The Israel Museum has some interesting stuff and model of the Beis Hamikdash.
Tzefas, Old City, the old beis kevaros
Pretty sites in the Galil- like Rosh Hanikra, the Banyas and lots of nice hikes.
Yam Hamelech and Ein Gedi.
Tour a winery (there are many, large and small, such as Carmel Zichron Yaakov).
skiing in the Hermon (if you are coming soon before snow melts)
iacisrmma: “wtp: and if they live in EY? Those professions don’t have daatim?”
Actually, I spent a long time the other day behind a garbage truck and noticed that the guy who was slowly loading the can, carefully putting in a new garbage bag into the bin, and finally climbing into the truck was wearing a yarmulke.
My point wasn’t so much that these are not professions for frum people, rather that little kids have dreams/aspirations that will very much change over time and therefore it is not worth making a big deal out of it. In our house, garbageman was replaced by fix-it-man, which was replaced by… you get the idea.
Every regular person nowadays is referred to as Rav, semicha or not. Those who really have semicha have to be given a different title- hence the Gaon Harav. The real big rabbanim/gedolei hador have to be given an even greater title then- Maran Hagaon Harav.
Talk to a Rav about how to kasher your kitchen. You may not need contact paper. Splashing water from the sink does not necessarily make the surrounding counter treif. It will depend on how hot the temperature is and what is being splashed.
Growing up we had 1 ceramic or porcelain sink and used the formica counters for both meat and milk- we had dish racks inside the sink for washing dishes and always used placemats on the counter when preparing food. Hot dishes were placed on trivets or the placemats, not directly on the surface of the counter.
Many little frum boys want to be a garbageman or policeman or fireman- jobs that seem cool to a 3 year old. They grow out of it. By the time they are actually old enough to consider jobs and what they need to do to get such jobs, they are old enough to understand what is compatible with a frum life. No need to fret or lecture the little ones.
Plenty of people. They just make sure not to put the dishes directly in the sink- use a dish rack inside or a basin as was suggested. Like it’s Pesach all year round.
Although I would go crazy with just one sink- that would mean I would always have to wash one set of dishes (say from lunch) before I could switch over to the other for the next meal.
I guess LB that you do it the old fashioned way- by speaking to friends, family, their friends, etc. who are in shidduchim or recently married and get recommendations from them.
As far as Rabbis/posek, again, word of mouth goes a long way. For example, maybe there is a family that you feel close to that you admire the way they live, and you can ask them who their Rav is, and see if that is someone you can relate to. Also, you can ask your teachers for a recommendation, or chose one of your teachers who you admire and already know- for many BTs, this is probably the most practical way to find a Rav. Aseh licha Rav is not easy, which is why I think there are a lot of people out there who do not have a rav, but would like one.
It’s ironic, but you need to check out the shadchan, and make sure that he/she is the right “shidduch” for you too. Does he/she deal with people like you? Does he/she know and have access to the type of boy you are looking for? Is he/she accessible, have time to talk with your thru issues that can come up while actual dating his/her suggestion? what is her/his track record- how many shidduchim get set up, how many are successful? The answers to these questions will tell you whether it is worth your time and effort to drive in to meet this shadchan.
If you were looking for services from a lawyer, therapist or surgeon, you would carefully look into the options and see if they fit your needs, how much more so someone who is to help you with such a personal matter as shidduchim!
“Also, “You are my sunshine” and “This land is your land” use the same tune. As each other, I mean. “
I disagree- they start out the same – and both use lots of C,D,E and Fs. But they are different- an obvious difference, the high note of “happy” in the former song is not found in the latter.
To prove it, here are the actual notes for both songs in key of C (sorry can’t put in the length of notes, dashes indicate longer beats)
This land:
CDE F-F– FCD E-E– CCE D-D– DDCD E-E– CCDE F-F– FFCD E-E– DD-CBBCD C–
And now for sunshine:
GCD E-E- E#DE C-C- CDE F-A- AGF E– CDE F-A-AGF E-C- CDE-FDD EC-
But here is another pair that I found is the same tune- the high parts of Avraham Fried’s (I think) “ki hamitzva hazos” starting from “ki korov eleicha hadavar me’od…” and “zacharti lach chesed neurayich” starting from “lechtech acharai bamidbar…” They have different tempos/keys, but they are very very similar.
Johnny, there are 3 options right now in front of you:
1. switch schools to a place where you will be happy. You have tried to make this happen, but ultimately the decision depends on other people and is beyond your control.
2. You can drop out. But what will you do instead?
3. You can stick it out. But you do not have to be miserable. One very important thing that you have learned is that we cannot control our environments or what happens around us. This is not only true for HS, but also for the adult real world- whether it is a bad job with a mean, demanding boss or a less than perfect marriage, etc. many times we will find ourselves in miserable circumstances that we cannot change. what we can though control is our attitudes. We all need to find the key to happiness within ourselves, no matter what is going on in life. You have shown tremendous strength by reaching out here for help, so we know that you have it in you. You changed your style of writing here which shows sensitivity to others. Try to find the positive in yourself and your circumstances. discover your talents and develop them. When you feel good about yourself, and are happy, and show a positive attitude, then others will feel good about you too. You can do this for yourself- don’t wait for your teachers or parents or friends to make your life good for you, make it good for yourself.
We park in a driveway and drive on a parkway.
blackberry and blueberry are the same word in Hebrew.
Strawberry is either Tut sadeh (rarely used), but more commonly called just plain Tut. No other tuts that I know of.
It is not like Tapuach, of which there are several varieties: tapuach etz ????? (or just plain tapuach, its common name)- apple; tapuach zahav – usually referred to as tapuz – orange; and tupuach adama, abbreviated ?????- which in plural becomes tapudim. Pomme is used similarly in French. From a quick reading, apparently both apple and pomme originally had broader meanings to imply any fruit, as LB was saying. I don’t think tapuach had that meaning, but rather tapuach adama is a literal translation of the french term for potato, pomme de terre, and tapuz was someone’s idea of being clever.
I think that the mods can think. What do you think? let’s ask them. Mods, do you think?
NYC would be a great move for you to grow religiously. The orthodox community there is of course quite large and varied. You should be able to find something that fits your needs. Good luck.
I think I’m thinking what you guys are thinking. Actually have been thinking that way since this thread started. But I thought the mods would think better than me.
I think you are thinking too much. Just buy a car that fits what your needs are. It’s a big purchase, but not a life-long commitment. I assume you are not planning on buying some fancy sports car that you will feel uncomfortable driving when you are 10 years more mature. And if you outgrow it and need a minivan in 10 years from now, you can always sell this one and upgrade to the larger car.
I would advise in any case to get a car big enough to fit other people (i.e not one of those mini compact cars), so you can do chesed with your car by giving rides.
I would ask your mechanic what cars are the most reliable- repairmen in general are good sources of information as to makes and quality.
It is not a religious item, and the word Chai has no religious meaning. It means life, so it is symbolic.
It is used among Sephardim as a good-luck charm to ward off the evil eye, of Araba/Moslem origin. There are Ashkenazic Rabbis who say it should not be used, but it is fairly common among Sephardic Jews.
The Israeli rabbinate is very particular in whose conversions they accept. There are Orthodox batei din (religious courts) outside of Israel that are not recognized as well. For that reason there are converts who will get converted by an Israeli Beis Din so that they do not run into problems later on.
Litvos, there are two issues that are under discussion here- first is whether the conversion is halachically accepted, i.e. a proper conversion by Jewish law. Conservative and reform Judaism has rejected much of Jewish law and do not follow the Torah; therefore their conversions would not be considered valid by Jewish law, which requires the convert to accept all of the Torah and its commandments.
The second factor that BaisYaakovLiberal brought up is a sociological acceptance once properly converted. She wanted you to be aware that the Orthodox community is often very insular, and often encourages people to be exactly the same. It’s a way to protect the community from outside influences and preserve our Heritage and moral way of life. But the downside is that people who don’t fit the mold can be excluded or otherwise feel that they are not accepted. A convert, or his children, may very well be affected by this. If you go through with your plan, you should speak with other converts and carefully chose the community that you want to live in.
Schools in Israel are not allowed to send kids home if they are infested. So they can tell and beg mothers to check their kids’ heads, but can’t enforce a clean head policy. So that means that those mothers who do care have to regularly check and comb their kids’ hair to avoid infestations. If knits or bugs are found, a few very thorough combings with a fine tooth comb and lots of conditioner does the trick, without need of poisons and chemicals, which often don’t work 100% anyway.
In American, I know schools where they check heads in school and send infested kids home and do not let them back in until they are clean, so spreading infestations is less common.
I’m afraid to know why you started this thread. Hoping it’s a follow-up to the Froggie thread.
Zips are not really used in Israel, don’t worry about it.
Actually, most people are not using the post service these days because mail is unlikely to arrive in a timely manner. Wedding/bar mitzva invitations, are either hand-delivered or emailed. There are delivery services/gemachs just for that purpose. I just heard that companies like the electric company have even hired special delivery services to deliver the bills since they were arriving after the pay-by-date.
Just went to the post office to pick up some registered mail. Got the notice that it arrived at the end of last week. It was dated Dec 20- took a month to arrive! Meanwhile, the package had already been sent back to the sender.
And by the way, I am not a descendant of Yosef Hatzaddik. We come from Levi. Yosef’s descendants were exiled with the 10 tribes and are lost.
Bulgur is yum. Similar to rice, but much healthier and more flavorful. Just brown it in a little oil, add 2x amount boiling water, salt, pepper and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes.
The problem with debating the vaccine issue is that the anti-vaccine people don’t trust the medical professionals (in league with big pharma), scientific researchers (get funding from the government and big pharma), pharmaceutical companies (out to make money) or the government health agencies for information/opinions since they all supposedly have a bias. So that leaves the internet bloggers as a source of information, who “obviously” don’t have any agendas.
The main link between autism and MMR/mercury was the timing- that autism symptoms show up around the same time as the vaccine is given. But current research has shown differences in the brain and behavior of autistic babies, such as verbalization and visual contact, way before the age of MMR vaccine, from 6 months and even as young as 3-4 months. Hard to blame something for causing autism when autism is present before that something.
For those who want scientific data supporting the above statement, a quick look at Medline will provide such studies. I can “regurgitate” this since I have an advanced science degree.
For example, (quoted from a review by Sperdin and Schaer, Front Neurosci. 2016 10:393) “Recent functional neuroimaging and electroencephalography studies demonstrate that aberrant voice processing could be a promising marker to identify ASD very early on. With the advent of refined brain imaging methods, coupled with the possibility of screening infants and toddlers, predictive brain function biomarkers are actively being examined and are starting to emerge.”
“In sum, a large body of clinical studies to date point to expressive and receptive language deficits already in the first year of life for young children who will subsequently develop ASD during toddlerhood, suggesting that the neural systems responsible for orienting to and processing human vocalizations are altered very early on.”
“Wolff and collegues observed abnormalities in white matter fiber tracts in infants at risk (at 6 months) and who were diagnosed at 24 months (Wolff et al., 2012). In a recent study of infants at high-risk for ASD and diagnosed at 24 months, white matter connectivity abnormalities were present specifically over Broca’s area in the frontal lobes, and more generally in the temporal, parietal, occipital lobes as compared to both low-and high-risk infants not classified as ASD (Lewis et al., 2014).”
There’s more for anyone interested in the actual review and its citations.
I advise not to put on the zip code. It is not needed by the Israeli PS, most people don’t even know their zips! And it can just get the USPS confused, since they can scan it and send it to some obscure US city with the same zip.
LB, keep in mind mishloach manos needs to be 2 food items, so your healthy theme and hygiene theme would not qualify for the mitzva. (I am not sure, but I think that water may not count.) The rest is cute, but the food needs to be there. The coins give to matanos l’evyonim.
I always do simple or cute themes, along the lines of what Lilmod was saying- this way I can give 2-3 small items and it can still look nice. My goals for mishloach manos are 1) light and portable – since we will have to schlep around the neighborhood holding many of them at once 2) can be prepared and packaged in advance- which means it is harder to give “real” food that needs to be stored in the fridge 3) not too time-consuming to prepare and 4) makes people happy. Usually, they come out to just a few dollars per package.
Islam is monotheistic, but I would find it hard to say that they fill all 7 Mitzvos bnei Noach.
misteryudi- true at least in the current model. But if surgeons can do long-distant surgery via robots and computers, then you can imagine being able to do virtual labs etc at some future point.
Also, the fact is that online programs may start to be a real competition to the college campus (consider,for example, how much cheaper it is to offer classes online than to build/maintain classrooms and building) and to stay alive, campus colleges may have to re-invent themselves to provide a more practical, hands-on type of education.
Or maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.
How about the old standard of charades, but the topic has to be based on the parsha or something related to what the group is learning.
“The present rage of Epigenetics proves anyone change if they wish it enough.”
I agree that a person can change or overcome their natural tendencies, but not because of epigenetics. Just because epigenetic properties are not encoded in the gene itself does not mean they can be consciously controlled. Don’t know about you, but no matter how hard I try, I cannot get my histones to change their methylation status.
To support what Lilmod said that am yisroel means all of am yisroel, I would suggest that since Hashem is total Emes, then anything He says has to be pure, complete truth. If “Ahavti Eschem” meant am yisroel as a whole but not every individual, I think that the statement would not be 100% true. But that cannot be, since Hashem is 100% emes. besides, we say that even a sinner is part of am yisroel (except maybe a total kofer), so he would be included in the eschem.
That said, I too am a bit bothered by using “Hashem loves you” as a slogan because it reminds me of other versions of this statement put out by other religions, but keep in mind, that the statement is not meant to stand alone and mean that because of that we are absolved of all our sins and everything is great, but rather Hashem loving us means that we are obligated to prove that love and live by His Torah.
Today online programs may be a great way for a frum person to get a degree without being exposed to a college campus, the pritzus that comes with it, being influenced by liberal-minded professors with anti-Torah attitudes, and the antisemitism disguised as political correctness. Choosing coursework wisely can avoid kefira in the courses themselves. Besides degree programs, there are many courses offered online- for free even- that can really help someone acquire the practical skills they need for a job- such as computer programming courses and lots more. The proliferation of such courses over the last few years, given by respectable professors and professionals and sponsored by respectable universities, may mean that the college system as we know it may be undergoing major changes in the near future.