yitzyk

I listened to the entire shiur (90 minutes!!) but that quote is definitely not from shiur E-172.

I have all of his shiurim. Yes, this is verbatim (except for two minor ‘editorial’ expansions.) Is the last three minutes of an hour shiur. Just before the open questions period.

I disagree with Simplesense’s theory that it is all political – though if we were just comparing the siyum alone, it might be a factor, The Dirshu siyum speeches were almost entirely in Yiddish, which possibly precludes a lot of non-Chassidim.

If you read back to what I said earlier, it is not just this siyum. As APY guessed, the participants in the Dirshu Kinyan Torah program in NY City are mostly Chassidim. I don’t know exact figures, but I say this from observations I personally noted at testing sites and and past Dirshu Shabbatons – where there was no Agudah competition.

Chachamdawid – while you may be saying something correct (I don’t know that statistic) it does not address the question. Halacha is just one of Dirshu’s programs, and only a small program. Their largest program, and the one that is relevant to the OP, is specifically their Kinyan Torah program, in which people learn, review, and get tested on 30 blatt each month coordinated to the Daf Hayomi. Those were the people at the Siyum celebrating their own completion of Shas, and by far a much more impressive accomplishment than just sitting through a Daf Yomi shiur, listening to a daily shiur while doing other things, or even “doing the Daf” by reading the English side of the Artscroll Gemara.

The question was a very good one. The obvious simple answer is because Dirshu participants in the NY Metro region are 80% Chassidim. The nest question would be why? As a Dirshu pariticipant and Proctor I had the same question myself, most recently after the Dirshu Siyum. I don’t know the answer yet. Joseph’s response is certainly thought-provoking but difficult for me as a non-Chassid to accept that I have become a minority. Yes, I agree that those enclaves of Chassidim certainly are well populated, but there are surely many Kollelim in Flatbush, Lakewood, and other cities in the US that still have people learning who are not Chassidish. Why do none of them participate in Dirshu? Dirshu is open to all, there is no Farher or application process. Learn the material, and show up at a testing site to take a test. But I can personally testify that the Flatbush testing sites are rather empty compared to the Williamsburg and Boro Park testing sites. As a test-taker, I have been to all of them. OTOH, The Lakewood site was also pretty full, and those were not mostly Chassidim.

There is no hope for you, it is just the way you are.

In my home, my wife is exactly like you. She leaves the knives on the counters or the table. Usually many of them. Then they get covered up by the pots that she leaves on top of them. She can never seem to locate any knives when she needs them.

OTOH I wash the knife as soon as I am done with it and put it into the dishrack to dry. Not because I am a neat freak, but because more than likely, I will need it again soon and I don’t want it to have dried-on food. It is far easier to rinse it right after use than to scrub away old stains. Plus I can easily find it if it is in the dishrack or back in the drawer (once it has dried.)

It is not a Man vs. Woman thing. Many homes have it the other way around too. It is a bit of a Rachmonus when both spouses are messy (but they are probably happy that way and don’t mind.)

There is a lot more to opening a store there than just having an available location and potential customers.

Like everything else in the world, there are politics. And of course logistics. The existing NY kosher distributors will not travel 200 miles out of their way just to deliver to one store. 7 Mile Market has their own truck(s) that bring them their stock. You can be sure they are not offering to share it with another store. And local distributors in Maryland already have contracts with 7 Mile Market that would be put in jeopardy if they agree to service their competitors.

What a great idea! There ought to be a secret code that sellers can put into their profile, like “100% SHT”U” to inform other Frum Jews that if they select that specific seller on Amazon they will:

a) be doing a Mitzvah D’Oraisa of “Oy Koneh M’Yad Amisecha” (AKA. one should opt to give his business to Frum Jews when there is a choice)

b) be more secure in knowing (allegedly) that as a Frum Jew , the seller is more likely to be honest and fair in both describing his product, and in correcting problems that may unintentionally crop up.

As an incidental side affect, the buyer will in fact be prohibited from posting negative feedback until he determines that the seller is in fact NOT a SHT”U.

Meanwhile non-Jews will still be free to post whatever review they want, so the general effectiveness of the feedback system shouldn’t be affected and/or be taken advantage of.

AJ – don’t be ridiculous. First of all, I did not mean anyone specifically. 2nd, someone who knows to ask what the Halacha would be in a specific situation is not ignorant. I was referring to posters who AFTER being told what the Halacha is (and I don’t mean by some random respondent on his own, but quoting Orthodox Rabbonim,) routinely deny the correctness of the Halacha by saying “it cannot be that way because I don’t agree.”

I am sure you understand that it happens here all of the time. And to further add insult to their ignorance, they do just that – they often add insults to their ignorance!

A person that KNOWS that they DON’T KNOW the Halacha and need to ask is a Talmud. A person that THINKS they know and never asks is the one who is ignorant, because they DON’T KNOW that they DON’T KNOW.

Joseph – although explaining yourself may not make a difference to certain ignorant (and possibly even ignorant that they are ignorant) and/or Halacha-denying posters, sometimes a little explanation can make a difference to a different innocent poster who is willing to follow a psak of poskim, and would benefit from an explanation. Not that poskim have to explain themselves – anyone denying the correctness of Halacha because they don’t agree with it may be an Apikores. No explanation is required. But where an explanation is available why not provide it.

Here is one scenario explained:
If a merchant sells a product and makes his living from it, and once in a while you get a product that is ‘less than you anticipated’, your Halachic recourse is only to get a refund. Once the seller has refunded your money, he has satisfied all of his obligations to you. Even if he DOES NOT give you a refund, you would only have a claim against him (in Bais Din) for the amount of your purchase. Posting a bad review online however can (and unquestionably will) result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in lost revenue, far exceeding any claim you may have against him. The damage you do to his business will continue to accumulate forever.

Most of the time we are not dealing with an outright thief that is perhaps advertising a non-existent product and purposefully ripping off all of his customers. If that were the case, other (non-Jewish?) reviewers can be relied on to warn you and others. A situation where your review is absolutely needed to protect future Jewish victims from being robbed is unlikely and maybe not what Joseph was referring to.

It is possible that Undercove is referring to a specific situation in a specific Yeshiva that may in fact be doing something incorrect. But his generalization “Any Yehiva…” is then mis-applied.

Even his subsequent explanation was rather incredulous. I can’t imagine any Yeshiva that admits people without making any financial arrangements at the beginning of the year. So if the parent are in financial hardship and have in fact ‘paid all they can’, how does that compare with whatever arrangement they agreed to with the Yeshiva? Did they lie to the Yeshiva and agree to pay an amount that they had no intention of honoring?

Or perhaps they encountered a financial hardship later in the year, and now cannot pay what they agreed to? In that case, they should contact the Yeshiva and renegotiate the terms.

Although there are surely many exceptions, all of the Yeshivas, Schools, and Camps that I have dealt with in my 25 years as a parent of seven children have been run by decent humans who may have a tough policy but ultimately will negotiate if there is a legitimate need.

The only Admission Cards I have ever heard of were included or referred to in the initial Admission process for the first day of the school year. Some schools don’t have the ‘Admission Card’ policy at all. Some reference it but never ask for them on the first day. And most important of all – some schools have them, BUT if you call them and make proper arrangements, whether your balance is paid up or not, they will agree to send them to you. They have no interest in actually following up their threat. All they want if you to make arrangements or discuss your balance.

The word K’neged clearly has two possible meanings – a) Corresponds/equivalent to, or b) Against. This dual meaning has often been used as Drush to reveal a second ‘hidden’ meaning in various pesukim or sayings of Chazal.

One of them was quoted above from the Satmar Rebbe Zatza”l.
Another was the drasha quoted above about Eizer K’Negdo.

How would you explain Talmud Torah K’Neged Kulam?

“The seventy most difficult questions in Judaism” – Wow, that could keep the Coffee Room busy for quite a while!!

Maybe the whole question is a mistake. Isn’t it possible to say that when the Gemara says that Hashem decides the Zivhugim for every fetus at conception, it is referring to ALL babies – including non-Jews? The gemara does not specify frum Jews or even Jews at all.

If so, since HKB”H knew that the Ger would be Jewish by the time he would be ready to get married, Hashem picked out a nice Jewish girl for his Neshama.

Just proposing a possible answer. I don’t know what the Gedolim have written about it. I have no problem being shown to be wrong. I have been right a few times in my life.

So much in need of editing that it is practically incomprehensible.

A few years ago my family dressed up as “Di Gantza Chad Gadya”. One child was a goat, one was a cow, one was a Shochet, one was a fire. My costume was “the father”, with a bag of Zuzim on my belt. I wore what I thought would depict a biblical-era typical father, available online as “Shepherd”. Just a long robe and a simple head covering held on by rope headband. I like cheap and simple costumes that don’t embarrass me, and can easily be put on and off for entering shul, eating the seudah etc…

I was really surprised while driving through a non-Jewish neighborhood (possibly Bensonhurst?) when some non-Jewish children pointed at me and called out loud to their parent – Look! Its JE*US!

We still get a laugh at that whenever we remember it. I am laughing now.

I haven’t seen THAT costume in the stores yet… I wonder why? Wasn’t he a famous Jew?

Re: Clothing Stores with a Hechsher – My daughter loves to shop at a specific women’s clothing store in Boro Park because the owner is not afraid to tell her customers “That looks too tight on you. Try the next size or pick a different style.” She will refuse to sell a dress that is not tznius. (This of course only works when the person tries it on in the store, and when it is for themselves.)

She probably loses a lot of business this way, but that is precisely why my daughter goes there.

It’s not a hechsher, and it is certainly unusual. I suppose any customer buying clothing in any store can ask their Rebbetzin if a dress is tznius enough for them if they cared (and don’t trust themselves to judge it.) You don’t need a hechsher. The food industry is very different, because the buyer can’t know if the ingredients and factory are kosher or not on their own without a hechsher.

I spent a Shabbos in Cedarhurst for a simcha last year. I thought that everyone there bought their clothes on sale – 50% off!

Not everyone in 5T has this problem. I was at a wedding last week for a cousin from Woodmere, and I was pleased that hardly anyone was not dressed tzniusdik.

At a different wedding at the same hall just one month earlier where the Kallah was also from the 5T, the Mesader Kiddushin under the Chuppah actually waited until they draped a shmattah over the Kallah’s shoulders before saying the Brocha – that’s how undressed she was (and how frum he was B”H)! I was in the back and didn’t realize what was going on, but my wife and daughter filled me in afterwards. I stayed on the Men’s side and never looked at the Kallah, but apparently her dress was SLEEVELESS and BACKLESS!

Oy. I don’t think there is any Orthodox sect that pretends that such a thing is acceptable, no matter how modern.

Yes, of course this is the wrong venue for getting any serious responses.

– Try adding soda flavoring to a SodaStream bottle prior to carbonating it – ignoring the multiple warnings on both the bottle and machine. A friend actually did this with spectacular results! The bottle exploded, sending soda to every square inch of the entire kitchen.

– A nephew of mine learned the very hard way why never to try extinguishing an Oil Fire in a frying pan using water. Boruch Hashem he was not harmed, but he did need to buy a new stove and hood, and repair the wall behind it too. In short, the water turns to steam droplets, encapsulated by burning oil. It essentially creates an instant explosive fireball. People have gotten horribly burned by this mistake. Yet it is not something intuitive or so obviously stupid (like some of our other joke hacks,) so many people do not realize the danger. Mitzvah Lefarsem!

– Put an incandescent lightbulb in the microwave to watch it glow.

– Put a metal fork in the microwave to watch it spark.

– Having to throw out the microwave with burnt holes in the walls from those two experiments, including a melted mass of metal that used to be a fork!

Google had such a feature in Beta once upon a time – search for a tune. It didn’t work too well for me because I only searched for Jewish stuff.

I know of a Rav that allegedly could help someone in Spiritual need, as long as he is not in Financial need. Because this Rav definitely fits your description of “Any resources … would be greatly appreciated.”

Meaning he charges lots of money to help people.

Nevertheless, people have claimed to be helped by him, so maybe (they believe) it was not a waste of money. But if you are poor – seek elsewhere.

Duct Tape and Rags instead of a proper coat.

A newspaper over your head instead of an umbrella.

Washing Mayim Achronim with a cup of expensive scotch instead of water. (And do it on the floor under the table.)

Parking by a hydrant or double parking instead of parking legally a block away.

Using plain water instead of Anti-Freeze + water. OR using any wrong fluid in a car instead of the proper one (e.g. Motor Oil instead of Brake Fluid, Diesel Fuel instead of regular unleaded.)

How can they approve it or not if they haven’t tasted them yet? Once they taste them, the Cigars and Wine will bear a label Approved by Yeshiva Board!

But seriously – what exactly is so wrong with this, other than the general issur of smoking that so many people seem to not agree with? If a Yeshiva really wants big donations, they need to attract wealthy donors. A cotton-candy tasting event is not going to cut it. The “bessere menshin” think that they appreciate good wine and good cigars, and therefore this could have been a great idea.

Until some nudniks protested and brought them bad hype instead. This is an old story – Just because you don’t like an idea and wouldn’t show up yourself, why do you have to ruin it for everyone else? It isn’t exactly a chiyuv of LeHafrusha MeIssura.

“decent gun owners must exercise self-discipline and allow themselves and their genuine motives to be placed on a register and be regularly monitored.”

One thing about guns that my father was worried about. I asked him why he didn’t buy any guns (legally) and he said – when the situation eventually changes in America and becomes bad for the Jews, the first ones they will round up and shoot are the ones on their list that they know own guns and are a threat to them.

Maybe paranoid, but it has happened before elsewhere, and just because it didn’t happen here yet, doesn’t mean that it never could happen.

CTL – “I don’t believe private citizens should have guns in the USA”

You seem to disagree with the Bill of Rights.

—————————————————————–

There is a famous story of the Chofetz Chaim, who was asked by a non-religious father to daven for his son that was to be drafted into the (Austrian?) army. (Note – The son was presumably not learning Torah at the time.) He refused the request and said “Vos Iz Shleck as Er Vet Lernin Tzu Shissin?” – ‘What is so bad if he learns how to shoot?’

The father went home angry and never forgave the Chofetz Chaim. The son did indeed get drafted. Then came WW2, and the son found himself running away from the Germans in the forest along with a group of other Jewish young men. They were discovered by non-Jewish Partisons (non-army independent freedom fighters) who were ready to kill them to prevent them from drawing attention from the Germans. This man spoke up in their defense by offering to join them with his expertise in weapons on condition they take all of them together. They accepted him and thus he saved not only himself, but a group of other young Jewish men as well.

The son realized then the Chochma of the saintly Chofetz Chaim, and regretted only that his father never lived to understand the truth.

I am quoting a story I last heard some 15 years ago. Excuse me if I messed up some of the details. The punchline is still relevant – ‘What’s so bad if you learn to shoot?’ (But maybe not during Seder. Use your Bein Hazmanim or other off time.)