Reply To: Asking Questions

zahavasdad: I agree with you! Glatt kosher is a relatively new thing for everyone to be strict about. I eat only Glatt because it’s readily available, and if you can do better, then why not? If there was no Glatt available, then things might change. I really can’t say for sure, as I’ve never had to deal with it. But chas v’shalom to say that non-glatt meat isn’t kosher!

As for kollel, I agree, people shouldn’t be doing it.

For arba minim, when I was single, my father told me there was no reason for me to have my own lulav and esrog, and I could easily borrow one – whether his or someone else’s. He said if I wanted one, I could pay for it myself. I did so more out of peer pressure when I was young – everyone else had one, and I felt weird being the only one over bar mitzvah without one.

Maybe one reason that everyone gets one is it must be yours. Yes, in Europe, very often there was only one per town. But that was because they weren’t readily available for everyone. If you must have one that belongs to you, and it is readily available, then why not get one?

A thought that just occurred to me is that a huge percentage of esrogim come from Israel. Maybe the founding of the state of Israel helped in allowing everyone to get their own?