WinnieThePooh

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 1,257 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: Why Should I Pay for your Limo #1691023
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Forget the limo. I’m curious why you give to funds that are cursed.

    in reply to: Shaloch Manos for Rebbeim is very chaotic #1689679
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Here in E”Y we give money to Rebbeim for Purim, not Chanuka. The Mishloach Manos the boys give their Rebbeim is just the excuse to include a check in a more b’kavodik way and make it a bit more personal. I am sure it comes in handy in the coming weeks for Pesach expenses.

    in reply to: Shaloch Manos for Rebbeim is very chaotic #1689447
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Every Purim my boys’ school gives out a list of Rebbeim and their addresses and when it’s a good time to come. Most don’t live nearby, and they (conveniently) list that they will not be home on Purim and those who want can bring to school the day before. The principal has a couple of hours at night after Megilla, so the older boys go then.
    Don’t forget that the teachers/Rebbes also have families and places to go on Purim.

    in reply to: Beit Yaakov elementaries in RBS #1689450
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    ujm, we’re talking about frum society, not the secular culture. It’s hard for children to thrive if they struggle speaking the language everyone else is, feel uncomfortable in shul, yeshiva, have trouble with shidduchim etc. As I said, it works if one stays within a tight communal bubble, which is what chasidish society is, the question is whether that bubble can be maintained among the olim community in E”Y, which is not as unified and all-inclusive as a chasidish community is.

    in reply to: Beit Yaakov elementaries in RBS #1689222
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Yes, Joseph, I do feel that as hard as it is, and even though there are factors in Israeli society an American may take issue with, it is good to integrate. While not integrating can work for the older olim, it leaves their kids confused and not having an identity- they are not fully Israeli but no longer American either. The most successful and healthy families in terms of acclimation are those who accept the system for what it is, don’t fight against the things they find different from the alter heim, and don’t keep looking back over their shoulder at how good life was in America. This has been a problem in American neighborhoods in general, which are known to have many OTD kids who just never found their place. Perhaps things are a bit different nowadays, especially in a place like RBS, where maybe the oleh population has reached a critical mass so that the non-integrator can just continue living in that bubble throughout school/yeshiva and even marry within the community.

    in reply to: Beit Yaakov elementaries in RBS #1689167
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    All are Torahdik schoolson the BY spectrum, but there nuances.
    2 and 3 are considered more American type, but since 2 has been around longer, you’ll also get some Israelis there who don’t want a standard BY. 2 is not actually in aleph, but in the beginning of Bet, the kids commute from Aleph. In these schools, you’ll have the kind of families who may spend the summers in America, send their kids to American-style camps, have more goodies and gadgets than your typical Israeli family, generally fathers will be working and they’ll be on a higher economic standard than average and that is reflected in their lifestyle. 3 is private, meaning you’ll have to pay some sort of tuition. A girl coming from an American BY will probably feel more comfortable in one of these schools, but will also be less likely to integrate into Israeli society since she’ll be surrounded by other English speakers.
    1 is a typical Israeli BY, with probably a more strict set of rules (e.g. tights only even outside of school, no birthday parties for classmates, etc), but being in Bet Shemesh with a large percent of chutznikim, I would say it is a bit more open-minded than say a BY in Yerushalayim. It will be a mix of kollel and working families who want to integrate into chareidi Israeli society to as much an extent as that is possible in RBSA. They do not want iphones or internet, but make exceptions for work purposes with permission from Rav. Be aware that it is the neighborhood BY for those living near it (Revivim, includes the areas up until the Ayalon park)- for those on the other side of the park (Sorek, Nachshon, Lachish, Uriya), there is BY Mishkinot Daat. That’s a slightly more yeshivish, less chutznik part of town, and that’s reflected in the BY. To the right of that, even more shtark/chareidi, is Darchei Rochel, also private,

    in reply to: Wars every 28 years #1688939
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    avreichamshlomo you’ve fallen from your usual standard. 28 is obviously the gematria of the Hebrew word Koach (Kaf-Chet) which means strength, which is what wars are about. How could you not have come up with that one? And if you add the 2 and the 8, you get 10, which gets compressed to 1, which refers to Hashem who is the true Gibor Milchama. And oh wow, the shem hameforesh is 26, just 2 less than 28, which comes out to be, l’havdil, 2x the number of letters in my screen name…
    boy I’m on a roll!

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1687726
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Rebbitzen, the school situation is not the same – I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think that the issue was girls who needed special schools or were not fit for formal schooling who did not get into the mainstream BY High schools. I don’t think they were part of this pool at all. Getting everyone in to school is something that can be taken care of in a matter of days or at most weeks, if people have the will. How can you compare girls missing out on a few weeks of school to couples waiting to get married for 10 years?
    And Joseph, the reason I did not reply to you I think is obvious. No current Beis Din is forcing all the single 30-40-50 year old men to get married, so the Halacha L’maaseh is not as you make it out to be. My opinion on the matter is moot.

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1687720
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Rebbitzin, your back-up solution is one up for discussion. Having the condition be to make a shidduch or show effort to do so in general, and not limiting it to just to getting their own class married will be much more productive as my hypothetical cases shows.
    But again, you have to realize that some people are good at making shidduchim and have a lot of siyata dishmaya, and others are not. Also, shidduchim can take time to come to completion- and engagements should not be longer than necessary. The couple can take a kabala on themselves to try, and show their effort. But I doubt every couple will be able to pull off a successful shidduch, even if given a year or 2 to do so after their wedding.
    I have another suggestion that might be more practical, and still accomplish what you want- which is that couples should care and try to help those “left behind”. Each class should set up a database with every girl, her details and what she is looking for. As girls get engaged, they should get info from their chassanim on the single boys that they know and enter them in the database. There would be a programmer/database manager as well as an actual shadchan who would make the matches through the database. These would receive some salary for their work from a fund set up by each couple who gets engaged- perhaps they could use the masser money from their chasanu presents if they don’t have other funds, or make it some % of the total wedding expenses. This is something positive they can do to help others with shidduchim without being penalized for other people’s personal decisions.

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1687404
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Say your proposal was implemented. Let’s look at a hypothetical grade of 50 BY girls who just came home from seminary and are now following your takana. (sorry, this is going to be long)
    The exceptions clause:
    1. Sheindy has medical issues that will make it very hard for her to get married. She goes to the vaad and gets an exemption that the class does not have to wait for her. Chaya has emotional issues stemming from her dysfunctional family life, and will need extensive therapy for many years before she can have a healthy relationship. She too gets the exemption. Rocheli was abused as a child and does not feel ready to be married. She goes to the Vaad too. Now the Vaad puts out a list of the singles that the class need not wait for- and everyone knows that these girls who until now kept their issues private and discreet, have serious problems. They stop going to public events because they are embarrassed by the pitying stares and murmurings about what their issues may be. And when they do work out their issues, if possible, their chance of getting married is about 0.
    2. Dina also has some issues that makes her feel not ready to get married. But seeing what her 3 friends have gone thru, she dare not approach the Vaad for her own exemption.
    Everyone else should be able to get married now, as long as their friends make sure to make their shidduchim.
    10 girls get engaged the year back from Sem. Another 15 the following year, and another 10 the next year. So 35 of the class are engaged by 21. They are all busy trying to set up their remaining friends, which moves things along nicely for most of the class. Another 5 get engaged the following year.
    except:
    1. Yocheved gets engaged to a guy from a more modern background, which fits her perfectly. Problem is that the guys in his circles are not appropriate for her other classmates who are more yeshivish, and as much effort as they put into it, their suggestions are turned down as not appropriate.
    2. Yael gets engaged to Moshe. She wants to set up Moshe’s chavrusa, Shimon, with one of her friends, but Moshe insists that he is better for his neighbor’s daughter, Shifra, who went to a different school. Yael agrees that Shifra is probably better suited for Shimon, but her idea wins since they both want to get married as quickly as possible. The shidduch does not work out, and then they try to set him up with 3 more of Yael’s classmates. By then, Shimon is reluctant to take any more suggestions from Moshe since they have been so off. It takes another 3 years before someone else thinks of the idea and Shimon and Shifra get engaged.
    3. Penina gets engaged to a much older guy whose friends are all married already. Try as they might, they have no one to set up Penina’s friends with.
    4. Mindy is a very shy, introverted girl who most people forget about. After some struggling, she gets engaged to Dovi, who is very much like her. They are very happy together, but because of their limited social skills and class connections, they just can’t make a shidduch.

    Meanwhile, despite the takana and the classmates good intentions, some just don’t get engaged quickly:
    1. Esther’s Bshert is 3 years younger than her and does not start to date until he is 22. It takes them a year to find each other, which means she does not get engaged until she is 26.
    2. Rena’s Bshert is Danny. In college Danny begins to think about the significance of being Jewish, after graduation he goes off to E”Y to learn in a BT yeshiva for 3 years, then moves on to a more mainstream yeshiva. After 2 years, he is ready to date. He meets Rena when she is 28.
    3. Leah’s Bshert, Asher, married the wrong person (the couple felt pressured by the new takana and got engaged even though they both had some serious doubts). After 6 years, much of it in marital counseling, the couple finally realized there was nothing they could do to save their marriage and they got divorced. Asher spent 2 years in counseling before he could think about marrying again. He married Leah, who was then 31.
    4. Malky is waiting for her older sister Chana to get married first (she graduated before the takana was instituted). Her parents are insistent that no one in the family skip her. Chana finally gets engaged when Malky is 23, and then Malky starts to go out and gets engaged 6 months later.
    5. Batsheva is the cream of the class, pretty, talented, smart, a GREAT girl. Everyone tries to set her up. But none of the guys are good enough for her, and it takes 5 years until she finds the TOP boy to marry.
    6. Tova wants to marry a learner and live a kollel life, but her family has no means to offer support. After speaking with her parents and their Rav, they feel she should first get a degree in a good field so she can support her husband before she starts to date. Even with her sem credits and an accelarated program, she will only start to date at 22. While she feels this unusual move is right for her, she will be putting her whole class on hold, and this is another factor she need to think of in what should be a personal decision.

    And among the happy 40. who are engaged and waiting for the rest…
    Yossy, Reuvein, Shraga and Mutty just can’t wait any longer. They break their engagements and find shidduchim with older girls whose classed graduated before the takana took effect. They get married right away.
    Ahuva and Aharon start to argue and get cold feet and break up. Same with Gila and Gershon.
    Temima and Tuvya, and Devora and Dovid realize that they only got engaged because of the class pressure and break their engagements as well. B”H they had not gotten married yet…
    Levi is very frustrated, and just can’t concentrate on his learning anymore. He also starts to question the system and the Rabbanim who made such a mess of his life. He leave Yeshiva, goes to college, ends up going OTD and obviously, his kalla Liora is left behind as well.
    3 other couples just can’t wait any longer and decide to defy the takana. They move to E”Y and get married there.
    Brocha and Binyomin are also frustrated. Brocha’s father, who just donated a whole bunch of money to the yeshiva, the girls’ school and the local shuls, gets a special dispensation from the Vaad for them to marry now.
    Dassy and Miriam convince their parents to go into debt so they too can “acquire” such a dispensation, but it doesn’t work for them. There is a lot of grumbling in the class and resentment, towards Brocha, the 3 couples who defied the takana, and of course, the ones who are not yet engaged. The Vaad does not make the class wait for those 9 girls with broken engagements who need to find new shidduchim.

    Shiddiuch crisis solved!!!

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1687398
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Actually, Gadol, it sounds like a Midrash about Malkat Sheva matching up her servants in response to Shlomo Hamelech’s statement that Hashem makes shidduchim….

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1685614
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Rebbitzen etc, the preventions you mention in your last post are all within their means to accomplish reasonably quickly. Getting everyone in their classes married is beyond their control. Chesed is to try to help others, whether that help will actually take away the tzara is sometimes beyond us. yes, the happily engaged couple can and perhaps should be encouraged to suggest a shidduch, but it doesn’t mean it will work out. We as a couple over the years have set up a few people, nothing came of any of them. I know another couple who have made several successful shidduchim. Our failure rate and our friends’ success rate has nothing to with degrees of selfishness or caring for others.

    I think it is more the norm for newly engaged couples to want to share their joy than hide in their bubble. Many couples do try to set up their friends. Among my school friends, there was couple A who set up couple B who set up couple C, all the chossonim were friends from the same yeshiva. (Couple C tried to set me up with one more from that yeshiva, and I was sure by the natural order of things we would become couple D, but surprise, it was not matim…and I only got married many years later).

    It took my HS class about 15 years until we were all married, and about 6 years for most to be married. I would not consider it a chessed for anyone to have waited that long-even the 6 years- it would have been more like a churban. It would not have helped anyway. Maybe it would have even discouraged some to date- why bother if they can’t get married until everyone else is? If we would implement your idea, then no one would be able to deny or question whether there was a shidduch crisis.

    in reply to: A Solution: Finding Shidduchim (aka “Shidduch Crisis”) #1684985
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Not really sure if your non-troll disclaimer is not in the spirit of Adar, but just in case you really are seriously proposing this…
    Finding the right person to get married is not the same as getting accepted to the right school. It’s a very individual process, which happens at different times for valid reason and you can’t make a deadline that everyone needs to be engaged 10 months after they finish seminary or else. It is not fair nor healthy to make an engaged couple wait years to get married. Nor would the pressure on those not married early be healthy- it might push them to make the wrong decisions so that their classmates don’t suffer. Some circles are makpid that younger siblings don’t skip over older ones, and then you have a whole line of siblings not married if the oldest doesn’t marry quickly. Implementing your idea would make such a scenario even more common- basically it would mean there are more singles, more Jewish homes not being build in a timely fashion, more children not being born. Tragedy of even bigger proportions. Imagine how the older single would feel to be a cause of all that?

    in reply to: Robocalls for Various Tzedakas #1684716
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Do people actually give out their credit card info to some anonymous caller claiming to be from organization X, which you probably never even heard of? It seems obvious, yet when I explain to telemarketers that I can’t donate in that manner, they always seem surprised.

    in reply to: Tom Sawyer Parties: Good or bad? #1684715
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Does it have something to do with the way Tom got his friends to whitewash the fence for him?

    in reply to: Yeshivas: maximizing enrollment vs maximizing quality #1684705
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Classic argument that goes back to the days of Avraham Avinu- at least according to the way I learned how to understand the 2 opinions of what the Eshel he planted was- Pundak or Pardes. Pundak is an inn, open for all, corresponding to a teaching philosophy where all are accepted, the more the better. Pardes is an orchard, exclusive to one type of tree, corresponding to the philosophy pf elitism, training only the best of a certain type. The machlokes was which policy Avraham followed when teaching his geirim. Perhaps the answer is both- both types of approaches are needed in parallel.

    in reply to: Storage Systems For Powdered Carbs #1684103
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Presifted or unsifted flour, in pantry in closed package; once opened, presifted: original package sealed with a clip and stored in fridge, for unsifted, in plastic sealed container in fridge after sifting.
    Sugar in closed plastic container in pantry. These are items that get used up quickly in any case, see ChanieE above.

    in reply to: Why Do Some Rich People Literally Think They Own The World #1682677
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    At the store we shop in, there is self-check out for those who have the store’s credit card. They can randomly spot check your purchases to make sure people are doing it honestly. We got “lucky” the other week. The manager came over and started going thru the list of paid items on the screen asking us to check that we had them in our very full bags piled up in the shopping cart. What was funny, is that the computer asked to confirm some of the things we had scanned, but no one bothered to check that we did not have unscanned items in our bags, or compare the list of scanned and paid for items to what we actually had in the cart- which you think would be the whole point of the check. So basically, I was left to unpack and then repack the purchases for what I thought was a useless policy!

    in reply to: Shidduchim Is Already Hard Enough, Let’s Make It A Little Easier #1681114
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Excellent advice!!

    in reply to: To have them read Tolkien or not… #1681113
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    levi, I understand where you are coming from. I too was a bookworm in the days when Jewish literature was quite limited, and having grown up on the classics, I find the current frum fare far below par, with some notable exceptions.
    Yet, my kids who are also book worms, do have lots of frum literature and don’t make the same comparisons that I do.
    In their pre-reading days, I have read to them some of the English language kids classics (including Little House, the references to holidays were surprisingly devoid of religious content, and since I was the one doing the reading, I was able to put it all in context-I didn’t think there was anything wrong with them knowing that goyim have their own holidays, we actually discussed how strange it was that they had so little religion in their lives. It also spawned discussion of how such a lonely pioneer life would be incompatible with a frum Jewish one.) Now they read on their own, so it is no longer relevant.
    But you are talking about a teenager, you would find it hard to be able to control what he reads.

    As far as Tolkien, although I loved it way back when, I personally would not recommend it or want my kids to read it. First, it is not merely entertainment for some much needed down-time- the series has spawned a cult-like following because of its power- it brings you in to a fantasy world that becomes so real, it has such a grasp on you. They are the type of books that you can’t stop thinking about long after you read it. That could interfere with concentrating on important things, like learning. Also, if you ever read the prequel- I forget what it is called, but it describes the history of Middle Earth’s creation, is very anti-Torah and putting the Lord of the Rings/the Hobbit in that context, makes it questionable IMHO. Which is also why I would not give the Narnia series to my kids, even though when I was young and read them, I had no idea of the theology behind them.

    in reply to: how about sending a simple mishloach manos? #1679505
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Mammale, actually my Bubby’s MM were way simpler than the ones that they got back. My grandfather’s cronies were in a different class altogether… us grandkids loved to be their shlichim since the friends tipped really well! The advantages of being the grandkids of an askan!
    In any case, I don’t get stressed out from coming up with a creative theme, my stress comes from trying to figure out what is appropriate to give my kids’ Rebbeim (needs to include a check, but for how much?) and teachers. Israelis have a whole different standard when it comes to giving MM that I have yet to figure out, and somehow I think the cute-theme thing doesn’t work. B”H I don’t have Israeli in-laws and family who might get insulted!
    You can look at it this way- this is one hiddur mitzva where other people are benefiting from the time/money you invest, as opposed to an expensive lulav/esrog, silver menora, beautiful sukka, fancy seder plate set..etc

    in reply to: how about sending a simple mishloach manos? #1678712
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Jospeh, probably, but that’s not what motivated him. He was a big macher and askan and knew tons of people. He left the actual work to my grandmother, A”H who was the quintessential Jewish balabusta.

    in reply to: how about sending a simple mishloach manos? #1678518
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Mordechai and Esther wanted to increase happiness and achdus among people thru mishloach manos.
    The decoration, theme, etc is meant to do that. Personally, I can’t afford to send a respectable food package to 20-30 people- pastries, fruits, drinks, nice bags cost money too, even if not fancy. So I limit myself to 2-3 items, usually in some sort of easy to make home-made package. I want people to be happy with it though, so to keep it from being skimpy, I make some sort of theme that pulls it altogether. It brings a smile to people’s faces, lets me exercise my creative genes, and keeps costs down all at the same time. I think it’s actually simpler than what my Bubby used to send- 6 or so different types of homemade cake and an orange on a white paper plate wrapped in plastic, accompanied by a bottle of wine to about 50 of my Zeidy’s closest friends.

    in reply to: Should Parents Intimidate Their Kids? #1678194
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Joseph if you really want to know the answerr, and are not just trolling, why don’t you look up the sources that The LIttle I know always quotes- today’s gedolim and poskim who surely are familiar with your sources but know better than you (or us) what they mean and how they apply.

    in reply to: Should Parents Intimidate Their Kids? #1677999
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Joseph, the need for physical intervention is due not just to the seriousness of the action (getting burned, run over by a car) but to its urgency- something has to be done to keep the kid from harm NOW. As has been pointed out, it’s not a matter of education, although the drama of it may make an impression on the kid so they do not do it again. In terms of chillul shabbos, no one is saying that spiritual danger is not important, but the response need not be a knee-jerk immediate take-action or else. I can see where it would be appropriate if a child is reaching towards a light switch to turn off the lights on shabbos, that a parent can push away his hand. But that is for the purpose of preventing the action, the physical force comes before the action, not as a punishment afterwards, it’s not done to educate the kid on the importance in keeping shabbos. That needs to be done through talking, showing by example, making shabbos beautiful and meaningful etc, and not by fear of a beating.

    in reply to: Should Parents Intimidate Their Kids? #1677492
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    I agree with you Mariana that physical force is warranted to protect a kid from danger.
    examples:
    – smacking a child’s hand as he reaches for a hot pot on the fire
    – yanking and pulling a kid as he runs into the street towards an oncoming car
    – holding down/physically restraining a child who is beating up his sibling
    in these circumstances, talking nicely and discussing consequences just won’t do the trick when it is needed, although they can be used afterwards to avoid repeat behaviors.

    in reply to: Should Parents Intimidate Their Kids? #1676340
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Re bedtime. Yes, kids who are playing will want to continue. Set a timer or give a clear warning- you have 10 more minutes to play, and then clean up,. and then bedtime. This way, they have notice and don’t need to stop on the middle. Then, make bedtime fun and something to look forward to. Get them into bed earlier than you want them asleep, then read to them, tell them stories, let them read if they are old enough. This way, they wind down and look forward to special time with Mommy or Daddy. Lights out are at a set time (can even be put on a timer) so the routine does not continue beyond the desired bedtime.
    If getting enough sleep still doesn’t help your kid get out of bed, then Mariana’s advice is good. Set alarms or wake up, open shades and lights. If they’re still not up, pull off blankets, pillows, play loud music. If that doesn’t do the job, for a younger child, come up with a chart/reward system- every day they are up without struggle by a certain time, they get a check/sticker. Enough checks/stickers earns a prize. Preferably prize should be related to waking up- maybe a new clock, pretty washing cup or towel, cute slippers. whatever works for the kid. It could also be an incentive like an extra 10 min of playtime or extra story before bed. If it’s an older child, and he can get to school by himself by walking or taking a bus, then letting him face the consequences of getting up late and missing his ride, so that has to get to school the hard way, may also work.

    Showing parental authority does not mean you are modeling bullying, and a parent touching, restraining, or pulling a child does not teach him to be a molester. Sometimes children do need to be pulled- for example, kids are fighting, a parent could/should pull them apart.

    in reply to: the demise of a normal sleeping schedule⚰️🛌🗓️ #1675771
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Of course not, Joseph. He also cooks, does laundry and mows his own lawn, runs a highly successful law firm, serves on his local government, and regularly hosts his entire extended family. What mere mortal does all that?

    in reply to: Trump and the beis hamikdash 🎺🥙🍲 #1675769
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Can I dare ask what is the significance of Trump being equated with Moshiach and the Beis Hamikdash, l’havdil?
    He is a goy, a not particularly refined human being to put it mildly, and even his good policies towards Israel does not mean the geula is coming closer because of it. The third and final beis Hamikdash will not be built by a goy or by means of a goy’s permission, and it is lack of kavod to the beis hamikdash to compare it to Trump, no matter how good a president he may be and how much you may like his Mideast policies.
    By the way, netzach means eternity. Nitzach is win over; same letters, different nikud.

    in reply to: Photos & Shidduchim – Appropriate Or Not?🖼️🤵👰 #1675768
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Many of the important points people raise can’t be seen in a photo- for example, how tall/short person is will be hard to tell from a photo unless it is of the whole person, and generally even then it would be hard to tell unless he/she is standing next to something/someone else. The photo may also not be recent- perhaps he/she gained weight since. Why can’t these things be clarified from people who know him/her?
    whether he/she goes about un-tucked, messy, unkempt, dressed in a way that is not respectful- I doubt that people would send a photo that way. More likely, the photo is carefully arranged and may not reflect how the person actually looks/acts in real life, or even on a date. Ever see a photo of someone taken at a wedding, all dressed up, with lots of makeup, hair done etc, and it doesn’t remotely look like the person usually does?
    Yes, looks count in a shidduch. But to make a snap judgement based on a 2-dimensional depiction that may not reflect reality, without giving the person a chance to show personality and chein, which can add so much to a person’s beauty, even externally?

    in reply to: Simple portable space heater #1673207
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Daas, look at all the real helpful answers you got! You’re hired.
    For everyone else, thanks very much, but no need to waste your valuable CR time on space heaters. This thread was a test to see whether DaasYochid can generate more responses for me than I can when starting a thread, see the parallel thread on simple printers.

    in reply to: Simple portable space heater #1672977
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Not station-ary, that’s for the Russians.

    in reply to: simple printer #1672962
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Thanks Daas for adopting a bear.

    in reply to: Simple portable space heater #1672959
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Daas, you see you already got more answers that I would have had I really had a friend who wanted advice on portable space heaters and started my own thread on the matter.
    But who cares about space heaters. Can you ask the velt about their opinions on space travel for tourists?

    in reply to: Tzniut Problems In The 5 Towns #1672692
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    “dressing b’tznius”
    Thanks Philosopher for using the words tnizus (a noun, meaning modesty) properly. I’ve been grimacing at all the misuses of the word throughout these pages. For those who are looking for an adjective to describe a person’s clothing or looks, i.e. modest, the proper word would be tzniusdig (Yiddish form) or Tz’nua (Hebrew). It gets confusing when mixing languages…

    in reply to: Torah in the 5 towns #1672694
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    I think the proper Hebrew grammar would be “Baalei Bayit” not “Baalei Batim” just like it is “”batei sefer” and not “Batei Sefarim” or “Batei Kneset” and not “Batai Kenesiyot”

    in reply to: simple printer #1672695
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Froggie, I was asking advice for someone else wanting to buy a printer. Thanks for taking the research so seriously though, how much more time do you need? By then, the printer the people bought will probably have broken, and they’ll be needing to buy a new one.

    Daas, thanks for bumping the thread- you actually generated responses! So how about, whenever I feel the need to start a thread, you just bump it right away. Or better yet, just start it for me. After all, I’m just a silly old bear with a complex…

    in reply to: Which of the 5 towns is the best? #1672282
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    By five towns you mean of course,
    1.uptown
    2. downtown
    3. in-town
    4. out of town
    5. way out of town
    correct?
    My vote is for 5. No L”H meant against the other 4 choices.
    Now that we have clarified the OP, carry on…

    in reply to: simple printer #1671801
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Note that I posted this back in June. I think it was the last thread that I started. Note that it did not get any responses for more than 7 months, and by now the info is no longer relevant. Which could explain why I don’t start threads very often…

    in reply to: Help Spotting Trolls #1671599
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Na, Gadol, I usually leave starting threads to others.

    in reply to: Help Spotting Trolls #1671291
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    CA, that’s another issue entirely, but has little to do with it being a troll thread or not, but rather a problem across the board here. even more so with the serious threads.

    in reply to: Help Spotting Trolls #1671070
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    CA, what are you talking about? It’s not LH if the thread is about a made-up persona with a made-up problem. Those are the safe threads.

    in reply to: Yeshiva Changing The Way My Son Speaks #1671054
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    1
    practically every phone conversation I have with a frum Hebrew speaker ends in Kol Tuv. And also some Americans.

    in reply to: Help Spotting Trolls #1670791
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    2 cents- Na, I stopped after a few pages, got tired of reading the same posts over and over. But since there were so many parallel threads, skipping anything vaccine related or chabad related meant there was not much for me to do in the CR. Trolls or not, it’s more fun here now. Even of the OP is a troll on some threads, the other posters are not…

    in reply to: Sephardim And Driving Nazi Cars #1670680
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    AviK don’t worry, the little yiddish I hear doesn’t remotely sound like German. But let’s not get sidetracked by your opinions on Yiddish please.
    As far as Spain vs other countries, I was pointing out the same inconsistency you were.

    in reply to: Help Spotting Trolls #1670681
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Hey, why not, it gives us something to read other than anti/pro-vaccines or Chabad bashing

    in reply to: Is it safe to invest in an up and coming Jewish community? #1670663
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    ״If you buy a dirah in Yerushalayim, then how do you make money? Renting it out? Do you need a property manager in Israel? How do you know your place is being taken care of and such? Are there annual Israeli property taxes?״

    If you buy real estate in Israel, you can rent it out short term as a vacation apartment (higher rates, daily or weekly, bigger headache because always looking for tenants, need to provide appliances and furniture at a high standard, and need to have it cleaned regularly for new guests) or long term (lower monthly rent, but more steady, easier maintenance and minimal investment) for immediate income, and hang on to it and sell when prices are higher (real estate in Israel seems to always be going up, there is a big housing shortage despite the current housing starts).
    A property manager is a good idea if you plan to rent- you would need someone to be on top of finding tenants, arranging for the rent payments, maintenance/repairs when needed, which may be hard to from afar.
    There is a one time purchase tax of 8% for which foreign residents are not exempt.
    There is arnona, Israel’s version of municipal taxes, charged every month or two, usually paid by the tenant , as are other utilities and building maintenance fees. If you are not renting it, you would have to pay all of the above. Some places will give you a one time exemption if you don’t live there, other places have threatened to charge higher rates for empty apartments in order to discourage the phenomenon of ghost neighborhoods- “communities” where homes are owned by foreign investors and are left empty.

    in reply to: Sephardim And Driving Nazi Cars #1670300
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    They’d have good company in mitzrayim- the Rambam in his time, R Ovadiah Yosef (was sent to be Rav there to be mechazek the community when he was young), and many others.

    Just wondering, you’re ok with kiruv yeshivos in Russia and Poland and Ukraine and France? The people of those countries persecuted and killed us too, even before and/or after Hitler.

    It is interesting that the chachamim made a cherem on living in Spain (some say it only applied to yotzei sefard), yet no similar official cherem was put on ashkenazic lands. So while it is unpleasant, it is also sometimes necessary.

    in reply to: Sephardim And Driving Nazi Cars #1669756
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Takes2, because there are a lot of Jews in Germany, many from the former Soviet Union, who were robbed of their heritage. What greater victory over Hitler (and Stalin, et al.) can there be than to teach them Torah, especially in the place where the war against the Jews started? A much better way to respond to the Holocaust than to build museums at concentration camps, no?
    That said, I personally would not be able to live in Germany, walk those streets, hear the language, but I understand the significance of those who are doing it.

    in reply to: shopping at a new super grocery store vs the corner grocery store. #1669478
    WinnieThePooh
    Participant

    Even shtickier is when there is a sale price on something sold by weight – like chicken. 2 kilo on sale. But above 2 kilo, regular price. You pick up a pack of chicken, go to pay and find out it weighs 2.7 kilo, and you are not getting the sale you thought you were.

Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 1,257 total)