Nechomah: I would like to know where it says that she must buy paper towels for Pesach.
Come, now, you don’t think paper towels make Pesach preparations easier? We must go through more than a case of them every year.
ZD: DY now we are talking about semantics
There’s a world of difference between “assur” and, “It is appropriate to urge people not to…” which, as someone who learns halacha a bit, I can tell you is far from being merely semantics. I also do not think minhag is stronger than halacha.
Ive even seen people use “LIfnei Evir”
It’s a real shailah whether there’s lifnei iver on something you hold is assur and the other holds is muttar. To oversimplify, the Shaar Hamelech holds there is, and the Ksav Sofer and others hold there isn’t. It probably depends on whether lifnei iver is a general issur, or it’s a part of each individual issur, and we probably pasken that such a case is muttar. I’m sorry if halachic discussion makes you uncomfortable, but at least on my part, discussing lifnei iver, or cholov Yisroel, or not using an eiruv, or cholent on Motzaei Shabbos is not meant to condemn anyone who does or doesn’t do these things.
I care because I truly believe that its damaging to Yiddishkeit to make such chumras as Hamaser or this no Pizza at Melava malka is as damaging or worse than YCT. There are many people who even follow these rebbes who really shouldnt be following these chumras and at some point reach the point of Dayenu and just leave
What’s Hamaser? Anyhow, we’ve discussed this before, and I’ll reiterate that I strongly believe that chumras don’t send people off the derech, but the WAY they’re imposed can, and that’s a symptom of an abusive parent or teacher, the chumra not itself the cause. It is laughable to think that someone will go OTD because Rabbi Dovid Meisels thinks pizza shows contempt for Melave Malka.
OTOH, if you look at families which tend to rely on too many kulas, the kids can get a sense that being frum is a burden, ch”v, and I think that’s a much worse issue. I believe this is part of the reason we find a far higher rate of OTD r”l in self identified “modern” families. (This has more to do with attitude than any particular kula.) One can bury themselves in the sand and think it isnt happening, but it is.
DaMoshe: I like how he writes, “even if the pizza has a reliable hechsher certification.” Why is that an “even”? If it doesn’t have it, you shouldn’t be eating it any day of the week!
That is poorly worded, but I think that’s his way of stressing that he’s not referring to a kashrus issue, but a matter of how to treat Melava Malka.