Hey, can you give me a bracha?

hershi – The burden of proof is not upon me. You are the one being ???? ??? on a large portion of Klal Yisroel; I am doing the right thing and speculating what grounds they might have for doing as they do. If you want to be ????? ???, you had better be pretty darn sure that there is no way that Ritva applies here.

hershi – why not?

cherrybim –

+1

It makes a difference because at least two halachic sources have been cited as possible reasons that it might be okay. To continue arguing based on the Mechaber without looking up those sources just demonstrates that people aren’t seeking the truth, and are simply arguing for the sake of arguing. But that’s what we do here, I guess.

Longarekel – That is a very interesting take on the Mishna (Sanhedrin 73a) of ???? ?? ??????? ???? ????? ????? ???… ???? ????. I have never heard anyone cite that. Interesting.

Also, shouldn’t an Ashkenazi use the name “Bassheva”, as opposed to the Sephardic Batsheva?

They do, as far as I know (though I suppose it depends on how “modern” you are).

I was there!

Mistama they rely on the Ritva which the Aruch Hashulchan brings l’halacha in 21:9.

I just put extra coffee in my cup if I’m really tired, another teaspoon always does the trick (and doesn’t cost three bucks). At night I’ll drink Red Bull if I’m driving or something, because I find that the effect wears off quicker and I am able to fall asleep (also lots of times I’m fleishig at night). Never tried the five hour energy thingamajigs. Maybe I will.

Paskening from the CR? Uh oh. Tsk tsk…

The pasuk in Mishlei (15:27) says ??????? ???????? ??????? – One who hates gifts will live.

This is said in a certain context, and not always should you decline a gift. Look it up.

Keep in mind that sometimes by accepting a gift you are allowing the person giving it to get a really good feeling they wouldn’t get otherwise. Also, if your hesitation in accepting gifts is rooted in a dislike of the expectation to show gratitude, then you should force yourself to accept the gifts, and learn to be a grateful person, because this is a not a good trait (I have Gemaras to back me up on and illustrate this point; I’ll elaborate if anyone is interested).

Weird. Judaism is all about celebrating anniversaries of important events. All the yamim tovim are about that. You make a bracha on a fruit that you haven’t eaten in a year, why? Because the fruit means so much that you can actually honestly say with sincerity ??????? ??????? ??????? ???? ????? I heard from my rabbeim that the idea is you are celebrating and thanking Hashem for the fact that you made it until the next year, or until you needed a new suit, etc., and they said ?? ??? one should celebrate a birthday for the same reason, even if there’s no mitzvah to make a bracha. Now maybe there’s no special inyan to make a party, but to say that it’s somehow not a Jewish idea to celebrate a birthday, is a shtus. In my humble opinion of course.

Yeshaya decried those who merely pay lip service: “????? ???? ??????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????????????? ???????????? ???????? ????? ????????? ???????? ????????? ????? ??????? ????????? ??????????” – “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (29:13)

This past weeks Haftorah has Eliyahu exhorting the Ba’al followers, “???-????? ?????? ????????? ???-??????? ????????????” – “How long are you going to jump back and forth between two positions?”

We all struggle with sincerity. This is the reality of our world. Unfortunately we don’t have an Eliyahu nowadays to give us a miracle or a sign. But it should be noted that it’s one thing to actually jump from one position to another, then to simply not be sincere. Someone who does one thing one day and another on a different day, is to be be exhorted. It is not a mehalech at all. But lack of sincerity, lip service, even “social orthodoxy” as it were, as much as it is not what Judaism ought to be, is something which we have to learn to live with to a certain extent, on a communal level. I think that as long as someone is not going against the Torah or preaching anti-Torah values, we need, on some level, to live and let live. The famous Chazon Ish in Hilchos Shechita is apposite here, v’doik. One day we will have prophets again and it will be easier, and such an Orthodoxy will then be completely unacceptable. But for now, my humble opinion is to let it be, because not doing so would cause more harm than good. On a personal level, of course everyone should work on themselves. I am speaking on a communal level, because it sounds to me like the OP is trying to create a split in the community, and this I believe is incorrect in the world we live in.

Perhaps that respected and knowledgeable poster actually holds the halacha is not like the Rashba; he might have just been saying it to pile on arguments against another poster who in the mind of the former was rather recklessly stating an incorrect and dangerous heter.

cshapiro –

If your husband is friends with the guy and likes him, then you should try to bear it. Guys know when others mooch off them, it just happens to be that some simply don’t care because they enjoy the camaraderie. So unless you’re husband is clueless, I would advise not to make it an issue, and to do your best to just live with it. You can sneak to the other room and laugh at them if it makes you feel better 🙂 🙂 but unless there is a specific detrimental effect he and his wife are having on your family, just let it be. This is one of those things that you let be, in my humble opinion.

🙂

I didn’t think I’d agree with your reasons against, but I’m actually finding them strangely compelling. Not bad.

Yeah, I don’t know what their issue is. Maybe they want us all to move to the left coast.

OneOfMany – Cool blog. Question: How do you make that thing on the bottom of each post with the check-boxes to select if the post was good or not? Is there a widget for it?

oomis1105 – Pretty close, p’sik reishe is an inevitable side effect. A regular, possible, unintentional side effect that is not inevitable is called a davar she-eino miskavein.

There is nothing wrong with importing non-Jewish tunes.

yungerman1 – It’s muchach mineih ubeih from the link DaasYochid provided above, because some of the drinks say specifically “when bearing Star-K,” and Red Bull does not.

besalel – As you clearly know, Ashkenazim are lenient, based on the Rema.