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Can one’s da’as Torah tell him that there is no da’as Torah? If it does, then it’s clearly not da’as Torah…
The Wolf
Your premise that “Pollard is free” is flawed
Well, I’m sure he considers himself much more free than before, notwithstanding the fact that he is, still, under considerable restriction.
I think you know what the OP meant.
The Wolf
P.S. If the Rebbe was a Doctor of History, or Talmudic law, would your answer change?
One has to wonder how many of such people would be serving as a first grade rebbe…
The Wolf
As Wolf so eloquently pointed out, the title “Rabbi” is meaningless.
Just for the record, that’s *not* what I was saying.
I believe the title does have meaning. That’s why I object when someone uses it for me. That’s why I believe it should be reserved for those who have earned the title.
The fact that people, often out of good intentions of honoring and/or not hurting someone, use the term for everyone doesn’t really change my opinion on the matter.
The Wolf
I also know that there are several posters who know me in real life, but I don’t know who they are.
The Wolf
Titles and degrees are meaningless.
You’re kidding, right?
We have so many titles that we seemingly have to keep adding new ones. When I was a kid, I don’t remember a single “Adoneinu Moreinu V’Rabbeinu Harav HaGaon….”
The Wolf
Wolf: Do you call Jackie Mason, Rabbi Jackie Mason?
Good question… I probably wouldn’t, simply because he doesn’t refer to himself that way.
Wolf: the classic ordained rabbanim who went off the d were Elisha Ben Abuya and Jesus.
Were either of them actually ordained? I don’t seem to recall ever seeing any evidence of that. Of Jesus, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have any. Of Elisha, is it possible that he became a heretic before ordination (much as Ben Azzai and Ben Zoma went insane/died before ordination)?
he latter was either an ordinary mamzer
And where is it written that a mamzer can’t achieve semicha? It’s true he can’t sit in the Sanhedrin, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t acheive semicha.
The Wolf
Wolf: What if a smicha earner became frei?
Good question. When I come across the situation I’ll decide and let you know.
The Wolf
Why does someone who spent a couple of years learning certain parts of Yoreh Deah deserve a title of respect, but someone who may have spent more time than that mastering mesechtos in Shas, or other parts of Shulchan Aruch (or even the same parts without a test) not?
The gadol earned that title with decades of toil, and made himself into a living sefer Torah. Luchos v’shivrei luchos munachin ba’aron.
I’m willing to concede that someone who is recognized by the general populace as a talmid chacham would be another type of exception that I mentioned. I would not call the Chofetz Chaim “Mr. Kagan” during the time he did not have semicha.
That being said, I still maintain that anyone who has earned the title should be allowed to keep it, even if they are no longer practicing.
The Wolf
There are a number of families in the Mishnah where the same name is repeated skipping a generation or two. I can’t recall any instance of interaction between two people in the same family with the same name.
Yes, there are – but that does not mean that the practice was (a) widespread or (b) practiced in a country hundreds of miles away and a few centuries later.
The Wolf
Sounds like if they met in the grocery, you’d be fine if they called him Mr. I disagree.
The student, no. The parents, maybe.
You do realize that semichah entails a test on certain limited portions of Shulchan Aruch, some of which aren’t very relevant to common shailos, and that the fellow may have forgotten most of what he learned.
Yes, I do. However, he doesn’t have to be a practicing rabbi to have the title, much as we still call retired doctors “Dr…”
Whether or not you should use him to answer your shailos is an entirely different question. I’m not suggesting that everyone with the title should be answering shailos, as you yourself pointed out. But we don’t revoke the title.
If a Gadol came down with dementia or Alzheimer’s or something terrible of that nature, would you no longer call him “Rav…” even though you know he can’t actually function as one anymore?
The Wolf
WM, they opposed favoring or disfavoring a particular denomination and supported freedom of worship. However, except for Hamilton who was a blasphemer, they believed that law must be based on religion. John Adams said that the US Constitution is only appropriate for a “religious and moral people” and Washington said:
Oh, I wasn’t denying that they were influenced by religion and religious thought. Just merely pointing out that while they were “fond of the Jewish way” as another poster put it, they took exception with this (freedom of religion).
The Wolf
How should others address him?
If it’s in the context of him performing his duties, then Rabbi. For example, I wouldn’t have a problem with the parents of pupils calling him “Rabbi…” during PTA or in other school contexts.
Also, what do you think the appropriate title should be for someone who has semichah, but doesn’t use it in any official capacity?
Rabbi. They’ve earned it.
The Wolf
Was it not the custom of the time to name children after deceased relatives?
I would not make the assumption that this present day custom was in wide practice back then without further evidence.
The Wolf
I’ve said this before, but I’ll mention it again. Whenever someone calls me “Rabbi,” I object. If someone sends mail to my house addressed to “Rabbi…” it doesn’t get opened.
I believe that a person who does not have semicha should not be addressed as Rabbi. If you give the honorific to people who did not earn it, then the title becomes meaningless.
That being said, I do recognize that there are some people who should be called Rabbi, even without semicha, ex-officio. A prime example of that would be a grade or high school rebbe who should be addressed by his pupils as “Rabbi…” even if he doesn’t have formal semicha.
The Wolf
The Founding Fathers were fond of the Jewish way.
And yet, they provided for freedom of religion, including the freedom to be an atheist, or to follow a non-Abrahamic religion.
someone is sueing the US government now, to remove the words of “in G-D we trust from all US american money. saying it put religion into freedom etc…
People sue for all sorts of silly reasons.
The Wolf
Hashemisreading: Someone who retires after earning about 150 million after taxes is someone who probably won’t stay rich very long
I don’t know what you’re talking about. You could put that $150M into a super-conservative investment that brings in 1% and you’d have $1.5M a year? You can’t lead a lifestyle (even a rich one) on $1.5M/year?
The Wolf
Fair enough. Thank you, mods.
The Wolf
Wolf: There’s a new sheriff in town.
Apparently. I wonder what it was about my post that was so offensive that it needed to be taken down?
The Wolf
The girls know it by heart.
Not just girls. I know the Birkas Ya’akov by heart as well.
The Wolf
The Wolf, it makes a big difference.
You missed my point.
The only reason for this question is because the OP wants to know regarding other people how much reward they will get. If A gets his money this way and B gets it that way, who gets more reward all other things being equal?
However, what difference should it make to him personally. I think we can all agree that if the OP gets that much money, he should give the appropriate amount of tzedaka, regardless of how he came by it. So the question really has no practical application regarding his own personal situation. The only reason to answer the question is to point at one of two people and say “He gets more reward than you.”
In other words, mind your own business. It’s not for us to determine who gets what reward. I trust that HKBH will give me exactly the rewards and punishments that I deserve. I don’t believe He’s going to cheat me and give me any less reward because I came by money one way or another.
The Wolf
Why was my post (which was previously approved) deleted?
The Wolf
There was nothing wrong with it. It was removed, along with several other posts, because it referenced a post which was edited by request to remove something offensive.
There are two people. One person inherited 10 Million Dollars. The other person earned it by hard work. Each person gives the same amount to Tzedaka. Both give with the same joy. Who gets more reward in Oilam Haba?
Unless you have the option for both, what difference does it make? If you manage to get $10 million, give tzedaka.
Don’t worry about how much reward someone else is getting. Just worry about yourself.
The Wolf
what is your point of view (halacha, ethic) ?
Follow a Rav who is familiar with you and the realities of the area in which you live.
The Wolf
Wolf: Your quoting didn’t do you a lot of good back here: 😉
So I made a mistake. I’m human (or lupine). My apologies.
The Wolf
The way it works is that if you are answering someone, and 4 people commented in between, answering other people the whole thread becomes a disjointed conversation.
I always do this, so that people will know to whom I am responding and what I am responding to.
The Wolf
How are we defining “Yom Tov”?
It seems to be any date that, were it not Shabbos, we would not say Tachanun.
The Wolf
Gedolei yisroel, whether litvish, chassidish, sephardic, all have untrimmed beards. Must be something to it.
Perhaps, perhaps not. But even if I grant the point, there is a vast gulf because “it’s good to do because the gedolim did it” and “you’re a goy.”
The Wolf
I didn’t go out of town and I didn’t have any problem finding a wife. In fact, had I gone out of town, I would not have met her.
The Wolf
So, I guess I’m a goy.
The Wolf
Also, why only a few hours? If you buy the ticket days in advance you can stretch it out for days no?
Techinically, yes, but I do think about other things during the day. It’s not like I think about it every moment of the day after I buy it. 🙂
The Wolf
When the pot gets really large, I buy a single ticket.
I understand that the odds against winning are astronomical. So, why do I buy it?
Entertainment.
For $2, I get to fantasize for a few hours about what I would do if I won. $2 for a few hours entertainment is a pretty good value.
The Wolf
I’ve met ZachKessin in real life.
The Wolf
Nittel, take two.
Still not changing any of my plans.
The Wolf
I guess I’ve been unknowingly insulting wolves this whole time.
The ____
I wouldn’t vote for any of them.
And before anyone accuses me of baseless partisanism, I wouldn’t vote for any of the Democratic candidates either.
The Wolf
why do you think its okay to listen to not jewish music?
Also, please define “Jewish music.”
The Wolf
There is a theory that there was no obligation to put the parshiot in any specific order, and that Rashi and Rabeinu Tam both for intuitive reasons,wanted to establish a unified order so that everyone would be performing the mitzvah in the same way. They came to different conclusions which of the ways this should be. Hence the two prevalent ways had no specific names for themselves, as there is no need to establish a specific name for a practice that is non-specific.
That may be fine and well, but then, at the end of the day, if someone were to open their tefillin and find the parhiyos in random order, he would be yotzei the mitzvah b’di avad, since the order is clearly not m’akev.
Is that the halacha?
The Wolf
My apologize
Ugh. My apologies.
The Wolf (who is a terrible self-editor)
Am I silly?
Fair enough… I should criticize the opinion, not the person. My apologize.
If you’re seriously positing that it is absolutely required to serve booze at a simcha, then your opinion is a silly one.
The Wolf
As noted above, the variant customs regarding the order of the parshiyos existed before Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam.
I was always curious to know how those customs were referred to before the time of Rabbeinu Tam.
The Wolf
the way I see it turkey does have a mesora. My Father, Grand father and Great grand father were all God-fearing Jews and ate Turkey. I and most of those I know do in fact have a mesora allowing Turkey.
As to how my Great great great (insert as many as needed) Grandfather ate turkey without a mesora, well that is a very interesting historical question that doesn’t have much practical application.
So, in essence, once something has lasted long enough (subject to debate, but, just to pick a number, let’s say 100 years), then it has de facto mesorah status, even if, in fact, there may be no actual mesorah on the matter beyond then?
The Wolf
Not only is it mutar, its mechuyav.
No, it’s not. Don’t be silly.
The Wolf
All this reminds me of a Harry Turtledove short story that I read called “The R-strain.” In it, scientists genetically engineer a pig that is a ruminant, and the question then arises — “is it kosher?”
The Wolf
I meant, at the end, towards the side of assuring.
In any case the question “Is there a mesorah or is there not a mesorah” is integral. Within that question various parameters have to be evaluated such as why there isn’t a mesorah.
Please say you understand now.
Actually… I don’t.
The Wolf
Well, actually, the current minhag of ashkenazim according to the rema is to require a mesorah on birds. So no, even if we found another bird with the precise same set of properties (simanim, which are listed in the shulchan aruch), we could not eat it.
OK, so then for Ashkenazim, we’re back to the turkey question and your previous favorite answer doesn’t really help then. So, again, how can you have a mesorah about something that you never knew existed?
The Wolf
My favorite answer is that it was discovered and decided kosher according to the simanim shortly before the minhag began to only use mesorah on birds.
That’s fine… but then it’s not a matter of being a mesorah on the bird, it’s a matter of the bird having a certain set of properties (just as with a mammal or fish) and any new bird we find with that same set of properties would also be kosher, even if there was no mesorah for it.
The Wolf
The fact that turkey and bison have been poskined ( by most) to be mutar doesn’t change the correct fact that mesorah was a factor that was considered in arriving at the psak.
I curious to know how a you could have a mesorah for an animal that you never knew existed.
The Wolf
What will you do on election day if the only candidates are from the current pool?
I assume you mean that and “assuming none of them change your mind between now and Election Day…”
The answer to that question is the same as in 2012 when I did not like Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. I voted for a write-in candidate of my choosing.
You’re going to ask me then, “why bother?” right? I’ll pre-empt the questions here:
So why bother voting at all? Why not just stay home?
Because the race for President was not the only race that day, and I did cast votes for the major candidates in other races.
So, isn’t your vote just a wasted vote?
Perhaps, but it’s my vote to waste. I will not vote for a candidate whom I cannot support. Unless I can give myself a really compelling reason, I will not “hold my nose” and vote for a candidate I do not like.
But what about your obligation to go out and make the voice of the Jewish community be heard?
I did go out and vote. And, as for the Jewish community, the local elections are probably far more important to our concerns than the race for President.
But you wasted your vote!
No, I didn’t.
First of all, it’s my vote to waste if I want to do so.
Second, voting for my preferred candidate is not a waste, even if s/he has no realistic chance of winning.
Third (and as an extension of the second), let’s say I “held my nose” and voted for Romney? So what? We all knew going in that Obama was going to win New York and that it wasn’t even going to be close. So why is my vote for my preferred candidate worse than a vote for Romney when they both had no realistic chance of winning the Electors from the State of New York?
The Wolf
Last night I made food.
Heck, if that’s the case, then I’m a cook too as I do so whenever I get a chance.
The Wolf (who still remembers being told on these boards by one poster that it is assur for a man to cook).