Everything’s relative. If you wore magnifying glasses (unless they were those annoying toy types that are all distorted) the increase in size would be to scale, so that it would seem like everyone’s bigger.

Except you, really, so it would probably impact the way you view the world, like you said.

Fevery thought (I’m home sick): Everyone has a different size magnifying glass in their eyes, and it should really be more powerful (and more humbling) as opposed to less powerful, where you feel bigger than everyone else. It’s a mindset thing.

Yserbius: Discworld doesn’t get enough love here? Isn’t it the only series with its own dedicated thread (though Neil Gaiman does seem to have usurped it)?

benignuman: I get your reasoning for saying that- I just wanted to emphasize that just because people might not be the recommended reading age, that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t read it. For me, this works both ways- I read a lot of great “grown-up” books (mostly nonfiction and “old books”) when I was younger (and I’m not all that old now) and there are some kids’ books I’ll continue reading for a long time.

benignuman: Ohhh, I read one of Diana Wynne Jones’ books. I don’t remember what it was called, just that it was very funny :).

And I read Ender’s Game and thought it was a bit busy- it was when I was younger though… maybe I should revisit it.

And I disagree when you make distinctions based on age. Truly good books are ageless, both in their lifespans and their audiences. Kind of like Roald Dahl, Logician, who is really fantastic. I still love The Witches as the first book to really scare me out of my skin when I was younger- and it still does for me, sometimes, when I want it to. I happen to love the Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. I believe it’s meant for teens and it’s just so much more sophisticated, in a weird way, than most of the other books meant for teens. It was dark and not at all indulgent of his audience (which I think is why they’re so popular among kids in general).

OOM: You’re right that a lot of it is the discussion, but 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 weren’t a chick-lit adventure series- they were a lot more serious and well-written. (Hunger Games was so shleppy and self-absorbed!) Myabe I’m being irrational…

In my school, we usually have a speech or some other form of commemoration around Kristallnacht.

I have no problem with Yom HaShoah. Everyone should have a zman kavua to remember in detail, even if in effect we remember all the time. For those who won’t remember on Tisha B’Av, why not have their own time? If the alternative is that nobody will take the time to reflect on and remember it, then you’re shooting yourself in the foot by protesting.

I don’t know if this is problematic, but this was on the front message board of a church near my house- I know I heard about it elsewhere, though, so I assume they copied it.

It was in about the beginning of March when it was randomly snowing when everyone thought winter was over already, and it said, “If you’re praying for snow, PLEASE STOP!”

Okay, then there was just unfortunate wording in your OP. Fine.

In that case, I do think you’ll find that what I wrote in my posts stands as information you may want to use.

Health: Calling something “woman’s lib” is a bit out of date…

But either way, if you argue that people who don’t want to be brainwashed in BYs just won’t end up brainwashed, then why can’t you say the same about college?

If it’s all about what kind of an education you’re expecting, then that’s what YU was made for (or Sarah Schenirer or TTI, if you prefer). The key is not to do something unless you have a reasonable idea of what might or might not result.

It’s taking advantage of someone else’s property and littering (as buildings with posters, placards, etc. tend to look sloppier and messier than other buildings and make the whole place look more rundown).

Of course, Torah, there’s the immortal:

Hodel, oh Hodel, have I made a match for you! He’s handsome, he’s young! Alright, he’s 62. But he’s a nice man, a good catch, true? True. I promise you’ll be happy, and even if you’re not, there’s more to life than that— don’t ask me what.

Chava, I found him. Won’t you be a lucky bride! He’s handsome, he’s tall, that is from side to side. But he’s a nice man, a good catch, right? Right. You heard he has a temper. He’ll beat you every night, but only when he’s sober, so you’ll alright.

Did you think you’d get a prince?

Well I’ll find the best I can.

With no dowry, no money, no family background, be glad you got a man!

This isn’t exactly a new phenomenon, unfortunately… whenever my mom’s annoyed about a shidduch that fell through, we all sing this, and either she laughs or she gets more annoyed.

Health: I have so far not said a WORD about the current Israeli government. I have in the past, on other threads, but so far my only point on this thread is to question something COMPLETELY UNRELATED.

Generally, when someone edits for clarity, they are assuming that something was unclear about what they said. Your editing seems to be retroactively changing your wording while insulting people for not understanding exactly what you meant to say, even if that’s not exactly the way it came out.

While of course every single additional person learning adds unimaginable zechus to am Yisrael, we do NOT know for sure that when the population increases, the number of people learning MUST increase proportionally. That raises the concept of each thing being directly and immutably correlated, which you said was not exactly what you meant. Which is fine, so far as I’m concerned (and no, to forestall the next question, you did NOT need my permission to say anything. Whatever).

Shalom al Yisrael.

ym613: I happened to like the first one the best! I’m the only one I know of who does, but I think it’s a very good first novel. I think it might be because by then she hadn’t gotten so overwhelmed by her universe yet.

But even with my disdain of the genre, you can still find me arguing over minutiae in the series and arguing why Harry is a flat character and Draco is much better (especially towards the end).

VERY different. The difference is that Flatbush is big enough to support its own stores, which cater to its misnagdish community. Monsey has pretty much one main Jewish shopping district, the 306/59 area, where EVERYONE goes (and I mean everyone. Like I said, WK is NOT enough). There is one Costco where EVERYONE goes. There is the Palisades Mall where EVERYONE goes. There are a few isolated shopping centers, like the WK one and that one on Saddle River Road, but those are not enough to survive on, and like aspiringrabbi said, chassidim own most of the best places to shop around here.

On any given day, you may not feel it as much. You might buy a nice house on Sherri Lane or McNamara Road, go to a nice litvishe shul, have nice litvishe neighbors, and hop over to WK to get a loaf of bread- but if you want to do anything more interesting than that, like drive your kid to practically any school except YSV Girls, Bas Mikra or Chofetz Chaim, or eat anywhere except Al Di La or Bubba’s, or any of the thousand and one things most people need to do, you’ll have to bump into chassidim.

It depends on whether that’s a dealbreaker for you. If it is, I gotta say that that surprises me a bit, but that’s your business, not mine.

mdd: “During the middle ages and the tach ve’tat there were no frei Jews to speak of.”

That was only because in those times (though less so by tach vetat) there was no concept of “frei”ness at all. Atheism didn’t catch on until the Renaissance, and after that there were plenty of Jews we would call “frei” today, and before that there were plenty who converted to Christianity.

Health: “Maybe it’s more than you can say, but anyone with common sense could say it.”

Do you have a privileged insight into the workings of the Divine Plan? I didn’t think so. While it is certainly possible that that is a rationale, I don’t claim to know this for a fact, as you seem to. There are always factors beyond our control and our limited comprehension- that was the sole point of my first post (and when two people misunderstand you the same way, you should probably edit for clarity).

Considering that there are 39 Discworld books, whoever got that threat should pay attention… 🙂

And OOM: do I have permission to copy-paste that awesome scary …THING for further use? It is so ….awesome and scary.

And the one time I tried Twilight, I literally fell asleep. Harry Potter I didn’t find quite as bad, even though I don’t generally like wizardy types of fantasy (when you have beings who can theoretically create whatever they want, you usually end up with a lot of plot holes and convoluted rules in order to create an actual plot and not a whole bunch of wizards just conjuring up bigger and bigger explosions). JK Rowling definitely knows how to write so that people will want to read, which is an enviable skill, even if it’s not necessarily equal to Nobel Prize-worthy skill.

Torah- I’m also looking for a two-year diploma mill med school. Does TTI have a program?

Maybe I need a lesson from Popa after all…

What about seminaries without rules, where you can debate the teachers over basic fundamentals all day, without homework, tests or a dress code, with college credits, and in the Old City of Yerushalayim but still near stuff?

Sorry if this isn’t as good as Torah’s, but it doesn’t have the benefit of PBA’s expertise. (Though honestly, if you have heard of any place like this, LET ME KNOW!)

Kanoi: Of course Judaism isn’t always rigid black/white right/wrong! Even aside from the historical examples mentioned above, if that were the case, there would be no concept of halachic controversy (as there certainly is, even if you only look at the mishna and gemara, forget about other sifrei halacha), no concept of different legitimate paths of yiddishkeit, no concept of minhagim… there is plenty of room for a marketplace of ideas, even in Judaism (even if that may not be the best term, in context).

However, it did seem like PBA was bringing the term up in a secular context- for instance, like how my dad practically convinced me today that dictatorship is the only logical form of government. Logically, I know it isn’t. Emotionally, I know it isn’t. Ethically, I know it isn’t. But he was able to convince me, for those crucial three seconds, that maybe I was wrong and Stalin was right.

There is room for agreement or disagreement in matters like that, without it being for or against the Torah. And still, even in Torah, it’s often the best speakers (or writers of seforim) whose opinions were aired and adopted- think how many of the seforim we refer to were written beautifully, and how many poskim were also rabbanim, with influence and an ability to convince their kehillos and the local government of their positions. No doubt they were right in their opinions, but they had a much easier time of making their opinions heard.

Vogue: The difference is the difference between a secular, areligious (I just made up the term, unless it exists and I’m just unaware of it- I mean it in the same sense as amoral- meaning devoid of religion, not anti-religion) school and a religion-centric school. The public school couldn’t care less whether you agree with the Regents test. A Jewish school will care about whether you agree with what they consider is the right path, as they don’t want you following what they consider is the wrong one. Either way, you’ll probably take Regents exams. If you argue with kollel, you may not learn in kollel or marry a guy who does.

GAW: Sorry, I was referring to your post above, where you said that singing “torah tziva” to a small child isn’t brainwashing.

Why? In fact, it seems like it fits very well into the whole popular, sci-fi definition of the term, whether you argue that that’s a good definition or not.

What is the difference, to lead into my second question, between this (or rather yeshiva education) and college education in terms of brainwashing?

Veltz: I agree. It’s the lack of separation between “church and state” if you want to call it that- the fact that what you learn is not only possible but rather expected to be applied in real life, unlike college in which it’s perfectly possible and accepted to walk out of there without any new opinions. Possibly missing the whole point of education, but still. Call it “plausible challenges to previous opinions.”

Kanoi: My point. Just don’t call what goes on in colleges brainwashing, either. (Not directed at you. In general, that just seemed to be a prevalent attitude on this thread.}