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Most Reform “rabbis” know as much about yiddishkeit as frum middle schoolers (i.e. a bit of humash, really can’t do gemara on their own). If they become baal tseuvah they have to do a lot of remedial work before they could learn in a regular yeshiva.
Many of the early ones were frum Jews who needed parnassah, but that was two centuries ago.
When was time created? When was space created? Is time always linear? Is the rate the time progresses constant or variable? Is there only one universe or multiple universes, and are they truely separate or entangled?
Am I discussing science fiction? Am I discussing modern physics? Am I discussing matters addressed in kaballah.
Someone is hung up on the idea of 5778 years, but if time is neither constant nor linear, the concept of a “year” become meaningless.
When you are discussing the age of the universe you are dealing with matters of kaballah, not appropriate for YWN.
But as for the “smartphone”, perhaps it is due to our generation being dumbed down to such an extent that they need mechanical devices to communicate, something previous generations could accomplish unaided.
Moore was stabbed in the back by the Republican “establishment” (aka “Wall Street Republicans” or “Country Club Republicans”). For the Republicans to win, they need to bring together both the “establishment”, the Conservatives wing, and Trump’s “deplorables” base (who like Trump, could switch between parties). If the different wings of the Republicans can’t work together, and insist on opposing the other wing even after losing a primary, we have a socialist government in little more than three years (3 years, 1 month, eight day) with socialized medicine no choice of doctors allowed, the state makes all decisions, persecution of anyone who doesn’t support the LGBT agenda, a national policy of freedom “from” religion, and a deliberately weakened national defense that will help our (meaning the frum community’s ) enemies. Moore is a very typical Christian conservative charged with nothing worse than having dated teenagers when in his 30s (which is respectable in many cultures, including his own), and his betrayal by the Republican establishment suggests the Republicans need to “get their act together” fast.
By validity, do you mean, for example, if they would be considered violating the Mitsvos Bnei Noach if they engage in adultery – OR – by validity, do you mean if one of them converts to Judaism do they need they need a divorce for the non-Jewish spouse before they can marry a Jew .
I believe the answer to the first example is “yes” but Jewish never would have to deal with adultery cases involving non-Jews, and to the second I believe the answer is a female convert does need need any form of divorce from the non-Jewish spouse to marry a Jew (according to halacha, though Dina Malchusa Dina becomes an issue in some cases).
Spiritual? Well, if you think Trump is some sort of High Muckety-muck, or perhaps Eliyahu in disguise????
The issue is whether the United States recognized the 1949 line as an armistice law (temporary) or a permanent border. Most of the world sees it as an armistice line, and arguably so do most Israelis (remember if the 1949 line is a permanent border, then all settlements in the West Bank are clearly illegal). As far as the Muslims are concerned, and if the Israelis want peace they are the only ones whose opinions matter, the last lawful permanent border between Islamic and non-Islamic worlds was in 1914.
Trump’s decision will appeal largely to his political base, and was based on domestic concerns affected by both the Senate election in Alabama and the debate over tax reform.
Joseph: And the Israelis want to argue that the UN partition resolution is void since the Arabs rejected it in 1948, and that what matters is the 1949 armistice. By recognizing Israeli ownership of western Jerusalem, the US is recognizing that the 1949 armistice, i.e. “the green line”, is unquestionably Israeli and not open to renegotiating. The Arabs are arguing that it is no such thing, and therefore the territory within the 1949 line (“the green line”) is still in dispute including western Jerusalem, Jaffa, Akko, Beersheva and large parts of the Galil and Negev – and indeed most Arabs regard the 1947 partition as illegal (as neither the British Empire nor the United Nations had a legal right to control Palestine), and the only border they’ll accept is the 1914 border between Islamic and non-Islamic powers (which leave Palestine/Israel as 100% within the Islamic sphere).
The conservative base has supported recognizing Israeli ownership of Jerusalem for some time. Remember that by not recognizing Israeli control of western part of Jerusalem, the Americans are saying that the 1949 armistice line does not convey Israeli ownerships, thereby encouraging the Palestinians to feel the US is supporting their demands for Jaffa, Akko, and all the other places that were Arab before 1947.
Of course Ashkenazim tend to be lighter skinned that Jews in the Middle East. Most converts in Europe were quite pale, whereas most converts in the Middle East looked like the Jews in ancient times (who were from the same reason). An added factor might be that Jews with lighter skin and blond hair had a better chance surviving pogroms that darker European Jews.
The reason there are more Ashkenazim is that during the last few centuries the areas where Ashkenazim lived had a good economy and improvements in medicine, triggering a population explosion. Four hundred years ago the numbers were roughly equal. A thousand years ago, Ashkenazim were a small minority.
But in all fairness, people in the Middle East don’t look all that different than ones from Europe, and in general humans are pretty much similar. There is about as much genetic diversity among humans as among poodles (some dark, some light, some big, some small, but all poodles). This tends to support our view that humanity has only been around a short time.
Based on DNA, it appears most Ashkenazim originated in the Middle East. There were many converts in ancient times, but apparently more female than male converts (that might be due to the loss of civil rights a male would have in converting, as well as bris), but not all that many converts since the rise of Christianity (which made conversion to Judaism a capital offense). We have enough Middle Eastern ancestry that Europeans have always perceived Jews as looking like people from the middle east (suggesting the rate of conversion wasn’t very high once we arrived in Europe). The Sefardim also had some converts (again , before the rise of Chiristianity and Islam), but they would have been largely middle eastern looking.
CT Lawyers: Those little people in Antartica with kapotes aren’t Jewish.
But with global warming, Antarctica will become prime real estate.
If you name is pronounced different that what people in your area assume from how it is written, you can consider changing your name, resigning yourself to the pronounciation changing to reflect where you live, or go around constantly telling people a preferred pronounciation. It is very common when people move, and especially when they move to a place where the language, or at least the dialect, is different.
Biological weapons, if effective, need to “suicide” weapons (the only exception was the not totally intentional use of smallpox to enable the Europeans to defeat the American Indians). A biological weapon that would work against Jews would also work against Germans, and the Germans were out to “win” not to “take everyone with us.” A novel with such a plot would sound ridiculous.
Biking on an urban street, even with a helmet, is extremely dangerous. WHAT IS A “fender bender” if you in a car, is probably hospitalization (or worse) if you are on a bicycle. If a city has true dedicated bike lanes (meaning bikes only, with a barrier between bikes and cars) it would be fine – but those typically are “bike trails”.
if the “other traffic” are solely bikes and people on foot, it can be done. If you share the road with automobiles, buses, etc., well – it is possible to survive (if you are a married male, perhaps you can arrange for a “get al tanai” in case you end up in a coma).
The original posting suggests an Israeli response to being destroyed.
The response would probably use weapons capable of destroying all countries that are attacking Israel. Nukes wouldn’t do that. To be effect such a weapon must we a weapon of “mutually assured destruction” and the only weapon that would do this would be a bio-chemical weapon (such as a biological weapon to spread highly fatal, easy to spread diseases for which there are no cures). Such weapons are “suicide” weapons and to be effective need to have global impact – meaning there can be no where to hide.
Anyone for a discussion of extra-terrestial colonization?
An emergency is unlikely. More likely is American becoming increasingly secular and turning to a “freedom from religion” regime. Since Israel is already run by anti-religious and will move more towards secular extremism to follow the Americans, there is obviously a problem.
if the Arab-Israeli conflict were settled, migration back to Islamic countries becomes possible. There are conservative religious countries in some parts of Africa and Asia. One should not rule out the possibility of moving to another planet should that become technologically workable.
Note that the conditions that cause frum Jews to feel a need to leave the United States are likely to affect many other religious groups who exist at the margins of American society.
Conditions under which Israelis would need to flee would probably involve serious use of weapons of mass destruction (also known as “doomsday” weapons). There would be no where to flee. There is a reasonable chance Americans would also have to flee. While it is unknown if the Israelis developed effective bio-chemical weapons, there is a saying each country bases strategy on the last war, and the worst case secenario, which leads one to suspect the Israeli “model” was how to survive if World War II went the other way, which suggests the Israelis would have developed weapons of mutually assured destruction.
Perhaps this is an argument to develop interplanetary travel.
What’s the connection between eruv and sports. Even in a no-eruv place, most sports take place in enclosed facilities, and many sports people might engage in on Shabbos don’t raise questions of carrying (e.g. basketball, ping pong, chess). THe halachic issues of sports on Shabbos pertain to bitul Torah, and occasinally doing something that risks digging or smoothing the ground, or creating an injury that draws blood.
smerel: There are several differences. First, programs that benefit American hareidim are programs that benefit all Americans (but it happens that many hareidim qualify), whereas many of the Zionist programs are targetted towards hareidim (e.g. the government doesn’t offer to fund all relgious institutions, including Muslim and Christians ones, only Jewish ones). This leads to a second factor, the American government isn’t offering money in order to induce Chareidim to support government policies, and it doesn’t turn around and point to Chareidim recipients and say “see, the Chareidim support the American government”. The zionists use Chareidim acceptance of money as a “hecksher” to argue that all of zionism (including many things we aren’t allowed to discuss on YWN) are acceptable to the Torah world.
If the “erliche chareidishe Yid” sees no problem with serving in the IDF, and is willing to obey government laws even if they conflict with what his Rav/Rebbe holds – why would there be a shailoh?
1. As contracts go, the fact that the Europeans had canons and muskets renders such contract voidable due to duress (cf. if a mugger points his gun at you and asks for a gift of your wallet). The management in Europe was strongly against stealing from the Indians, but that had minimal impact on the people on the ground in the New World. The Indians knew they lacked the ability to work iron or make gunpowder, and took whatever they could.
2. Most Indians did not have a European concept of “title” but rather a non-exclusive right to use the land. Buying access didn’t mean you owned the place. They weren’t “selling Manhattan” – at most they were granting an easement to build a trading post.
We have often used non-Jewish names for girls to a greater extent than boys (consider such common names as Gittel, Glickel, Fruma, Tziril, Faigie, Liba etc.). It probably has to do with the fact that in Taanach there are a lot more males names than female names.
Yiddish is a “Klutz Kasha” (a question asked by a fool)
A lawyer is called for.
Let’s settle this. Find someone who is 200% Litvish – Yeshivish – Misnagdid to the core – stuck in a 19th century world view. Then ask him if someone is “Chasidish”.
The answer will be that Satmar, Lubavitch, Breslov and all the others are clearly “Hasidisch” (even if Chabad is also “Litvish).
Of course with increased standard deduction and increased child allowances, many rebbes will end up in the “zero” backet.
CT Lawyer – actually it is settled that Camillia would be queen consort if Charles becomes king (i.e.outlives is mother, which isn’t certain since women live longer than men and the queen was relatively young when Charles was born). A problem with her using the title of “Dutchess of Cornwall” is that Charles daughter in law inherits that title. Of course parliament can juggle the line of succession , and change titles, and has done so quite often since the 15th century.
Also, note that adultery by a male member of the royal family has never been a problem. Indeed, many have suggested the real reason Edward VIII (Duke of Windsor) was forced from the throne was his sympathy with the Nazis (which is also why he was “stashed” in America during the war, to make sure he didn’t try to become the Quisling of occupied England).
One can’t define “Chasidic” based on language or fashion in clothes. While one can choose to dress like other hasidim, that is constantly changing, as are all fashions. Chasidim are more likely to speak Yiddish than other Jews, but it is a correlation not a hard and fast rule.
For Ashkenazim, using Nusach Sfard (a.k.a. Nusach Ari’zel) is a good indication, but many people daven their family’s nusach, so all this may indicate that an ancestor was chasidic, or not. Regarding kabalah as something important that should affect daily life is a good sign, except that unless a Chasid is a Ben Torah he won’t know the sources of his minhagim, and non-hasidim also have many minhagim based on kaballah only they don’t emphasize it. Favorably regarding the Baal Shem Tov (and other early Hasidim) is a strong indicator, since the yeshiva world traditionally had a negative view of them. Regarding a “Rebbe” as the Gadol ha-Dor is a big factor, but some such as the Satmar Rebbe were leaders of a broader community that including Misnagdim who shared his political views. Having a “rebbe” is very hasidic, but many yeshivish people treat their Rosh Yeshiva in the same way.
And one could argue that the difference between Hasidic and non-Hasidic is largely historical, and in the future the major “line” within the frum community will be based on zionist/non-zionist or perhaps American/Israeli, and that Hasidic/Misnagdid distinctions are really a relic from the 19th century.
Perhaps because the person asking the questions has better things to do than to read up on British royal family.
Satmar and Lubavitch are both hasidic, along with a good many others. This is rather obvious based on nusach, sefarim they learn, attitudes towards kabblah, respect for the Baal Shem Tov, halachic interpretations, etc.
A “legal” principle going back to antiquity: any law, especially pertaining to taxation, that attempts to tax someone will inspire clever minds to come up with a way around (I like the idea of since the yeshivos underpay their teachers, the teachers are unable to afford tuition and therefore their children get scholarships).
Varius games (board games, cards, dice – and sports) have been around since ancient times. The proof is there are books complaining about the resulting the bitul Torah. The younger generation did not invent Bitul Torah.
If they go to prison, and they want kosher food, so we send them some? If they get fired for not working on Shabbos, do we give them assistance in suing? Do they insist on living in walking distance of a shul since they don’t drive on Shabbos? When they apply to colleges, do they limit themselves to ones with kosher food and a minyan, and pass on athletic scholarships and ROTC (which are the two largest “merit” based scholarship programs)? Do they dress or act in ways that makes them part of a discriminated against minority, rather than part of the American mainstream?
Most of us have learned to ignore the many forms of discrimination that have a serious impact on our lives in America. Having to live near a shul rules out most of the country, and probably most of the job opportunities – we have adjusted to live with those limits. Non-Orthodox Jews’ manner of observing Shabbos and Kashrus means they avoid almost all that discrimination. If a Jew is following halacha enough to be giving up many of the economic advantages of living in America, they are “one of us.”
1. Ivanhoe was a novel – a work of fiction. It tells much about the 18th century, but little about the 13th.
2. Most Jews were urban and would not have been dealing with the Anglo-Saxon peasantry. A city merchant would not have needed to learn Anglo-Saxon. A professional Ben Torah (rav, teacher, sofer, etc.) would definitely not have needed Anglo-Saxon. A merchant dealing with wholesale or foreign trade would not have needed Anglo-Saxon. A housewife probably expect the servants to learn enough French to communicate. There is also strong evidence that English Jews tagged along with the Normans, and were French speakers. As was the case of the Anglo-Normans, fluency in English was not common unless needed for a vocational reason.
What makes something a “Lakewood” is that it is reasonably close to major Jewish centers, and not expensive – and attrats a community of Bnei Torah. The “not expensive” part rules out downstate New York and New Jersey. There are some possibilities elsewhere. Baltimore is cheap, and increasingly the community within the city limits is become haredi (it helped that someone just planted an hasidic kollel) while the modern prefer the suburbs or Washington. There are places in upstate New York and Pennsylvania that could manage. There are many possibilities in the “sunbelt” (blue states, tending to lack the ultra-secular bigotry that often is a problem in blue states). While the frum community isn’t into central planning, all it takes is some people with money to “plant” a yeshiva in some place affordable but still in a day trip of a major community.
Walking is very low intensity. Several forms of aerobic exercise are better (swiming, which requires special facilities – as well as biking and running). Strength training is important, and that can best be done with special equipment.
Probably very little. Documents from the time suggest their primary language was (similar to Rashi’s) French which they wrote with Hebrew letters. At the time the upper and middle classes in England used French, and the switch to English came after Jews were expelled. An individual dealing with peasants would have picked up some English, but for the most Jews it was unlikely. Remember that more than a century after the explusion, an English king was able to put down a peasants rebellion by addressing the peasants in English, which so amazed them that they obeyed and went home. As for reading and writing English, during the period Jews were in England, English was not written all that much; before the Norman question there was much writing of English (Old English, Anglo-Saxon) but there wasn’t much written in English again until well after the expulsion (by which time it was “Middle English”). Some Jews probably knew Latin as well, since that was the language of law (meaning contracts, legalese, courts, etc.) and non-Jewish scholarship (serious books at the time were rarely written in the local vernaculars – Christians wrote serious literature in Latin, Jews in Hebrew – vernacular was for things such as romances, poetry, etc.
Actually most women dress much better on the street than in a gym. If you believe otherwise, perhaps you should worry that when you go “outside” you are hading to places where people are especially disreputable.
It would be good if a frum entrepreneur could make a go of single gender gyms, and related videos. Books are less of a problem.
I’m not sure if the rules on underdressed females apply if the pictures show them not only without clothes, but also without skin (in some exercise books this is done to illustrate the muscles).
Serious crisis, compared to what. Compared to tuition (okay not really). Compared to medical conditions related to being overweight (probably affect most people by middle age). On the other hand, drugs are probably a bigger problem for American Jews than fear of pogroms, anti-Semitism, people starving due to lack of food, and all sorts of problems that were once a big concern of Jews. It is a measure of our high quality of life that abuse of prescription drugs is now a problem. Our ancestors (for whom pain relief was limited to alcohol) would envy us and same somthing like “you should have such a problem?”.
If you worked outdoors (construction, agriculture) you would appreciate the extra daylight hours at times that the rest of society think it is normal to be working.
What the future will hold for paralegals is unclear. There is a surplus of lawyers, many willing to work for wages that in the past would have attracted only a paralegal. Computerization has eliminated many clerical functions. A junior associate with good computer skills can do the work formerly done by a junior associate and a paralegal together.
Note that many paralegal skills are transferable. If you can set up a database to process documents, that skill can transfer to other areas. Ability to understand legalese and filling out forms leads to jobs in many related areas in finance, real estate, etc. A liability for paralegals is that are limited in the ability to go “solo” (they can offer their services to lawyers, but not the public since that would be practicing law without being a member of the bar, which is quite illegal).
If you want safety, avoid risk. If you want high returns, you risk getting wiped out.
Or you can invest in Torah and Mitsvos, which is risk free and offer good long term returns.
1. We are in a period of low inflation (though tuition and medical costs are an exception). Getting minimal interest in a low inflation period is better than getting much interest in a high inflation period (e.g. money market accounts paid 9% but inflation was 15%). Eretz Yisrael often had inflation so high that it wiped out the currency’s value (that’s why 10000 of current shekels are equal to one lira, which in 1948 was worth several American dollars). Be happy to be in a period of price stability (cf. Pirke Avos on how is rich)l.
2. The more you want to risk, the more higher the return. Right now Venezuelan and Puerto Rican bonds give a very high rate of return, along with high risk they will default and you will lost your money.
Fox on the right is equivalent to CNN and MSNBC on the left. The only news source that still exemplifies old fashioned objectivity and neutrality is the Wall Street Journal, and then if you ignore any of its opinion articles
People trick or treating want candy, not an arrest record. Leave the porch light off so they won’t come. If you live in an area with many frum Jews, the goyim know who not to waste time with.
Abusing prescription drugs requires a great deal of stupidity. If it was only among hasidim, one could suggest the need for more medical personnel who spoke Yiddish and wrote the instruction in Yiddish. If it was only in the frum community, we could blame it on poor secular education. It appears that the problem is common among most Americans, at least most whites, including affluent well-educated ones, so it seems the great secular education that some Yidden envy is quite flawed. One doesn’t need to be a Talmud Chacham, or a graduate of an Ivy League college, to realize that if you can only get a drug by prescription, there is a reason for it being restricted, and you should follow the instructions on the bottle.
While the Seven Years War is a reasonable starting date, it is wrong to leave out the Dutch. Much of New York’s character related to the fact that it started as a Dutch colony, as that led to a much greater degree of religious and ethnic diversity (or rather toleration of religious and ethnic diversity) than the other colonies. It also leave the Indians who had a big impact on 18th century history in New York.
One can only under “why” if you know what happened, and if you know “what” you’ll know why. The issue is whether there will be “right” answers to many subjective questions, as that gets to be a “hot” issue the closer you get to the present.
Wearing a yarmulke in public (kal-ve-homer a tallis katan, beard and pe’os, or for a woman a modest outfit and a hair covering) exposes one to significant discrimination (and in some places, though not the US, exposes one to potentially lethal violence). Many people who are somewhat observant (and sometimes, actually frum) are afraid to express their Jewishness in public.