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zahavasdad: But if Herzog’s approach to “sharing the burden”, and remember he plans to include Arab non-zionists in his government as well, is to abolish conscription – then Lapid is neutralized and the way paved for a coalition including Lapid and Hareidim. I doubt that Shas and Yahadut ha-Torah will turn down any program offers to end conscription given that conscription is a “life or death” issue for them.
A Herzog government that relies on Arab support would be much more inclined to make major concessions. Whereas Netanyahu sees the settlements as a “plus” for Israel, and would only give them up for a high price, the left in Israel sees them as a liability and would be happy to pull back.
In addition, a Herzog government that needs Hareidi support (both to reach the magic “61” and to minimize objections from parties such as Kulanu to including the Arabs), will radically change Israeli society by either ending conscription or allowing liberal draft refusal on any religious or conscientious or moral grounds. In addition, a Herzog government will be desperate to raise standards of living to in part justify concessions in security matter (e.g. a “peace” bonus will need to be paid, even if there is no peace).
There are reasons to sometimes be nervous, but not of well established vaccines such as the ones for polio and measles. The best “horror” story is the fear of something such as “Des” which was given to problems in pregnancy and the ill effects are only observed when the offspring reach adulthood 20+ years later. However for diseases with immediate bad effects (such as death or severe disability), and where Jewish children are clearly at risk (meaning its a common disease, not a sexually transmitted one)where there are years of experience, and where the disease can have serious threats to life, there is no reason for any sane person not to get the vaccines.
Stick to “Hok”. Ha-Shem made the law, and its not for us to quibble.
If you try to find a secular reason, one runs into serious problems, especially today when women spend only a small amount of time (as a percentage of total lifespan) as “mommies”, unlike the past when most women married soon after menarche, died before menopause, and spent most of the time in between raising children (and if she was lucky, maybe some of them would outlive her). Apikoresim try to find a reason, and end up going on fishing expeditins for heterim.
Re: “It is impossible for us to wake up the next morning to know who the Prime Minister will be.”
Not really.
If the core “right” (Likud, Bayit Yehudi, Yisrael Beiteinu, Yachad, Shas and Yaadut ha-Torah, plus Kulanu) have under 61 seats , there is no way Netanyahu can form a government, and it means Herzog has won.
Alternatively, if the left (Labor, Meretz, Yesh Atid) and Center (Kulanu and Yesh Atid), combined with the Arab Bloc and the two non-zionist Hareidim parties (Shas and Yaadut ha-Torah) come to less the 61, there is no possibility of Herzog forming a government and Netanyahu has won.
In those situation, the meetings with the President are a mere formality. Based on preelection polls, either side will be able to form a government if they can get all elements to cooperate (which is in doubt, since the hareidim demand no conscription, and several parties on both sides of the spectrum demand the opposite).
The only way that will happen is if at least some or nationalist parties (Likud, Bayit Yehudi and most likely Yisrael Beiteinu) refuse to join a government that is will to meet the hareidi demands that there be no criminal sanctions for refusing to serve in the army.
Herzog can offer to end criminal sanctions, and probably will want to end conscription (switching to a volunteer/professional army), since he wants to include Arabs and far-left post-zionists in the government (and Yesh Atid will probably agree to support anything the equalizes the burden of conscript service – by abolishing it for everyone).
Bottom line on other issues: As long as the Palestinians aren’t willing to give up their claims to Eretz Yisrael (returning to the 1914 borders – Islamic control over the whole country), it doesn’t matter what the Israelis do. If the Arabs do finally offer concessions, such as by willing to accept the 1949-1967 borders as permanent and giving up their claims, then it will get interesting. As long as the Israelis strive to be a western Euro-American state, they probably have no hope of peace with the Middle East – so leaves out all non-hareidi parties from being able to to make peace.
Marketing alcohol is especially difficult. For starters, its leading “attraction” (that alcohol causes your mind to stop functioning, in a pleasant way) can’t be touted as a feature (imagine an ad: drink my vodka, it will make you act like a fool or knock you out). For Jews its especially a problem since in our culture being intoxicated is viewed quite negatively. On top of that, most good wines are from countries that have a long history of anti-semitism (imagine an ad: buy Italian wine, from the country that destroyed the Beis ha-Mikdash, or perhaps a French wine putting Dreyfus on the label).
So when you come up an effective way of marketing alcohol, be sure to let them know.
It might be better for the parents to pay her living expenses, and that she saves 90% of her disposable income. If she is barely an adult, she has a lot of expenses ahead of her and needs to learn frugality.
The classic answer to the question of why women wear hats on top of sheitels, is that it is necessary to “keep the wig warm”.
One should note that in social situations where a hat is expected, a woman who is wearing a wig will wear a hat as well.
While one can often halachic support for a fashion, one should also realize the frum fashions follow “style”, but that frum communities as someone socially isolated sub-cultures have their own “sense of style.” All frum Jews will find a halachic basis for everything they do (in part, that is what defines being frum), but really the bottom line is “it looks good on me” (which no frum Jew would ever say since that is arrogant and boastful and vain, so we find some halachic argument to justifiy ourselves).
The state government will indirectly help pay tuition.
Within a short time, they will start telling the schools what to teach, who may teach, and how it will be taught. That’s what happens when you tell the government to give you money. If you ask Andy Cuomo for a donation, it doesn’t comes free of strings.
Anyone working for the Federal government knows that they are not allowed to use their private emails for government business (we are allowed to access our private email for personal business on company time “within limits.”). It’s a matter of keeping records and protection against hackers. As she was the boss, it looks bad for her to be caught breaking a rule enforced against those she bossed.
The intellectual property rights for the term “Webster’s” dictionary expired long ago, many dictionaries use the term.
Traditionally, a “Webster’s” based definitions on real world usage, so if you don’t like the definition, take up with the people in real world.
Aren’t you following the Israeli elections. It’s pure shtick. A three month long Purim spiel.
If the watch doubles as a computer, telephone, flash light, etc., why wouldn’t it be considered mukzeh? Has anyone ever poskened that one can walk around with such devices? Can you walk around with a laptop computer? or a flashlight? or a mobile phone? Unless you hold that work done by electrical systems is not prohibited on Shabbos (something often held by non-frum Jews who accept the idea of Shabbos, but not any inconvenient details), this should be an obvious “no”.
A regular watch (no electronic settings, just a battery moving a mechanical gear – or an all mechanical one with a spring moving a mechanical gear) is a totally different machine.
Walmart does mail order (even to cities that ban Walmarts, largely due to its low prices and large selections). Their shirts are half the cost and include “comfort collars” so you won’t looklike someone wearing a too small shirt that forces you to leave the top button undone.
Grape juice and if you want something other than Pri ha-Gafen, Root beer.
You are not likely to be single for long, and until you get married you don’t know what your financial status is. You can’t afford risk. As there is no inflation, money invested at zero interest isn’t being eaten by inflation as it was 40 years ago. Compared to the costs of raising a family, the money you are earning is trivial. You don’t have enough to risk losing it, so you are best investing in something safe, such as federally insured savings accounts or treasury bonds. Anything else is a gamble, and you probably shouldn’t be gambling.
Jewish music tends to follow the styles of non-Jewish music. Just as that which was popular 40 years ago was heavily influenced by American folk-rock, styles today are influenced by whatgever those young people are listening to, and the music 100 years ago resembled the goyhish music of the day (note the lingering similarities in many Ashkenazi styles of hazanus to the styles of operatic singing – indeed some hazanim back in the 20th century who went off the derekh became opera singers).
Given the tremendous variety of musical styles, one can find some they enjoy.
While one might object to copying styles from the goyim, we’ve been doing so for 2000 years so it seems that doing so is an established minhag.
Close to a tsaddik, but…
no air conditioning, no central heat in winter, no indoor plumbing
no antibiotics
no anesthetics for surgery – no pain killers other than alcohol (nothing stronger than wine)
50% child mortality, and perhaps 20% maternal mortality in childbirth
no preservatives for food (so you often ate spoiled food)
no printing, no telecommunications, no mechanical transportation
no electrictity – meaning no lights other than candles or oil lamps
We should be grateful Ha-Shem lets us live in the most comfortable and affluent time ever.
Why would we?
Hirohito had nothing to do with running the government. He was a figurehead, for the most part. While Japan had an elected parliament, it was dominated by the military leadership (not the royal family).
If you attribute the activities of the Japanese government to him, you would have to give him credit for saving many Jews. Not only did Japan refuse to round up Jews (the Germans asked them to, they refused), they granted asylum to many Jews who reached their territory when fleeing the Germans.
1. Paul’s neo-isolationism turns off many.
2. He has minimal experience in public life, was a competent but hardly amazing career as a physician, and a large part of his appeal is based on his family (too much like Jeb and Hillary).
3. He might accomplish much to influence the other candidates to adopt more libertarian approaches.
The discussion of extraterrestial life, parallel and multiple universes, non-human sentient life, etc., involve kaballah and isn’t appropriate to discuss in a public forum such as this one where Goyim and Am Ha-Aretzim can listen in.
I don’t care what you stay. I still won’t let me kids go out with anyone who isn’t descended from Adam Ha-Rishon.
Halachic copyright was always time restricted, usually for a very limited number of years. The goyim’s copyright of close to a century, or more, goes well beyond that halacha (e.g. 70 years after death of the author). Feel free to reprint the Rambam or Rashi without getting permission from the descendants.
I’m descended from Adam ha-Rishon, and I wouldn’t let my daughter marry anyone who wasn’t.
Satmar is a continuation of traditional Jewish ideology going back to Sinai. It will survive.
Zionism is a spinoff of European nationalism and is dying. It’s basic idea, the establishing of a secular “Torah-free” (their words, not mine) Jewish homeland have been rejected by most people who call themselves zionists. Most Israelis have rejected either the idea of a Jewish homeland, or the idea of secular nationalism. The post-zionists will eventually assimilate into Euro-American culture. The religious ones will eventually decide that Torah is more important than political structure. Over time, zionism will be in the dustbin of Jewish history along with the Misyavanim or the supports of Shabatai Zvi and the Frankists and the “Reform movement.”
1. Why pay for a fancy goyish name when there are other restaurants that are just as good with familiar food, and cheaper. Remember you have to pay a franchise fee to be a “Subway”.
2. Its cusine is in many ways inherently treff – so the owner is paying extra for something he can’t really market. Remember most of the cuisine in a real “Subway” involves pork or mixing cheese and meat.
That would be the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Their website is at: link removed
They have three divisions (Trenton, Camden and Newark). The website gives contact information for the Clerk’s office (the “Clerk” is the one in charge of the administration of the court).
Ask the reference librarian at your local law library. He/She will know what’s available in your area. If you are an alum of a university with a law school, you probably can ask the law school’s reference librarian. In some cases, the larger public library’s have someone familiar with legal reference sources.
Torah613Torah: Thus even the MO who by being Shomer Shabbos and Shomer Kasrus (if they weren’t they are non-orthodox, non-frum, part of “them” rather than “us”) are showing tremendous mesiras nefesh. Shabbos and Kashrus are the line, and the MO are on the correct side of the line.
popa_bar_abba: The average MO is hardly better off than the average non-orthodox Jews. Being better than the other major ethnic groups (European Americans, African Americans, Hispanics) doesn’t prove anything. The Modern Orthodox are better off than the Hareidim, but the secular Jews (the ones who work on Shabbos and eat cheeseburgers, not to mention many other things we don’t talk about) are humongously ahead of the Modern Orthodox.
If you were hareidi and become “modern orthodox” you will probably be better off economically. If you were anything not shomer mitsvos (conservadox, conservative, reform, assimilated) becoming “modern orthodox” will almost certainly create severe economic problems. Once you give up working on Shabbos and yuntuf, and keeping kosher both at home and at work, you pay a serious economic penalty. The line where the penalty kicks in is the one the separate “Modern orthodox” from non-frum. Having to adjust your work schedule to the Torah calendar seriously limits career options. Keeping kosher even if only the “ingredient kosher” that lets you have a tuna salad while your colleagues are having steak, means you suffer serious restrictions.
Having children isn’t really a function of “Modern orthodox” vs “Hareidi” – from the point of view of most Jews (who are not Shomer Mitsvos), the “Modern orthodox” also have “too many” children. Education for “Modern orthodox” is probably more expensive since they want both a Jewish and secular education (and good universities are vastly more expensive than a yeshiva).
I believe many hareidim don’t realize how much mesiras nefesh the Modern Orthodox have, and it is probably all the more painful since they are so close to being able to benefit from the outside world, but are just inside the line. They are inches away from being able to grab the golden ring of the secular world, and are refusing to grab it.
takahmamash:
The difference between a language and a dialect is largely political. In recent times such languages as Ukranian and Afrikaans (not to mention Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian) were declared by local governments. The day before they were all regional dialects. The act of parliament declaring the local regional dialect to be a “language” has nothing to do with whether people could understand each other. As most Jews could only read the Hebrew alphabet, they were unware whether the person they were speaking a slavic language to was writing it in Roman or Cyrillic (and indeed, until recently, the person they were speaking with was probably illiterate).
You have two problems:
1. You have to offer McDonald’s a nice wad of money to use the name, even though you can’t use their suppliers
2. You have to find a substitute for the treff ingredients that goyim think taste as good.
3. You have to make a profit without charging customers more than the McDonald’s prices even though you are paying substantially extra for ingredients and closing on Shabbos and Pesach (losing roughly one-sixth of your business).
You’ll probably conclude that being a kosher equivalent of McDonalds makes more sense economically than trying to be an official McDonalds.
Are there any kosher McDonalds in North America?
In general, kosher versions of treff restaurants have done well (some kosher Subways have not been a success, and the kosher Duncan Donuts do so not by changing ingredients but by leaving items off the menu – which obviously wouldn’t work for a fleshig restaurant).
Be happy that Ha-Shem doesn’t expect a payment for making shiduchs.
The starting time is a function of how fast they daven, and how much they skip (e.g. do they say everything in the siddur, or go striaght from brachos to Rabi yishmael). On the average, about half an hour before netz. One has to ask.
gamzuultova: Who is rich – the person who is happy with what they have. Given that “not making it” in Brooklyn in the 21st century is the equivalent of being very comfortable in Brooklyn of 100 years ago (not to mention places such as Warsaw or Maarakesh of 200 years ago), people should complain less. If you want to live like a rich shagetz, you have the option – but almost by definition, frum Jews prefer Torah and Mitsvos rather than baubbles.
Welfare programs in the United States are not not among the world’s best (on the other hand, taxes are lower in the US than in most places).
Unless disabled, you won’t qualify for social security until old. However medcaid provides tolerable health care. There are food stamps, WIC and sometimes housing assistance. College for you and your children (includes distance education leading to degrees) is usually provided for free. In general welfare programs are structured to encourage you not to stay on them – this reflects a Protestant idea that it is sinful to be poor.
To deal with the inevitable poverty of being a kollel person, read a lot of history on how people used to live. Be thankful for AC in the summer, central heat in the winter,and indoor plumbing — not to mention fresh fruits and vegetables year round, and a large amoung of processed foods with hecksherim. This list goes on. If you look at how middle class people live in the 21st century you’ll get depressed. Look at how poor Bnei Torah lived in the 18th.
If you read more history, you would know that the sorts of things ISIS is doing are actually what many armies have done throughout history. That it is considered criminal by some countries is the hiddush, but not a new one. Even in the middle ages, many people objected to such barbarity (not that they stopped it). ISIS is actually fairly normal for goyim. We’ve been “spoiled” by living in America.
The way Americans conquer countries by minimizing civilian casualties and helping the people they conquered is rather new and unusual (and note how the “left” is constantly denouncing the Americans).
The traditional answer to the first question (someone who speaks only one language): an American.
In all fairness, before the 20th century most educated Americans know multiple languages, but since World War II American language skills have atrophied (being the leading superpower is a factor).
Jews were historically multilingual. All men needed to know Hebrew (legal documents were in Hebrew). Everyone knew the local Jewish dialects (e.g. Yiddish), and many knew both the local dialect (e.g. Polish, Ukranian, etc.) and the language used by the government and courts (e.g. Russian, German or Latin).
GolemGorilla: so what is the employer doing?
There is no legal requirement to provide kosher junk food at meetings or special events. You can survive without them. Actually, when they bring kosher junk food I suggest they are trying to assasinate me. If it involved business travel (e.g. not covering the cost of bring kosher MREs on a trip to an area with no kosher restaurants, while offereing to cover the cost of restaurants for other employees), or even lunch at work (assuming a rujle prohibiting bringing food from home), it would be an issue.
A bonus is discriminatory only if you could show a pattern of bias that fell into one of the traditional categories. While private sector firms sometimes give end of the year bonuses, most employers do not, and by definition, no one has a right to them.
Re: How to deal with a boss who is hostile to frumkeit
1. Do you job very well. Legally marginal employees are protected, but being a valued employee is a better strategy.
2. Be consistent and open about halacha.
3. Don’t try to pull anything (e.g. if you take off during the summer to go to the country, don’t even think about taking off hol ha-Moed or other days that don’t have a prohibition of melachas). Be willing to come in super-early and to work super-late to make up time. Be the one anxious to cover on Sundays (or Saturday night ) and Thanksgiving and their religious holidays.
4. If that fails, you can file a complaint against the company with the EEOC of the local equivalent. If you have hired an attorney, he/she can advise you on the details. Many large cities in the US have frum organizations that can help.
5. The CEO of a corporation is not relevant since you are working for the corporation, not the CEO. His personal animosity doesn’t matter; what the corporation does is what matters. Remember that most CEO’s are employees, albeit rich ones. If you are high enough in the corporation that you have anything to do with the CEO, the local frum legal community may now a member of the Board of Directors who can help.
6. If it comes to suing, large corporations have “deep pockets”, meaning that lawyers love to sue them since if they win there is a big payday (for the lawyers). The bigger, the better.
There are many job where a late start is possible. The problem is a late start means a late finish. And many frum workers prefer to start early and finish late in order to being able to take off Fridays and around our holiday periods. Most people prefer an earlier starting and ending time. Families with two parents sharing child care often prefer one parent starting late (after the kids go to school) and the other starting early in order to be home when the kids finish school. No big deal.
Popa bar Abba: In Israel the problem is that most Jews turned down the opportunity to return when offered, and the Arabs then moved in (we welcomed them as liberators – it was the Romans they expelled). The Arabs have been there for over a millenia (compare that to America where even in downtown Jamestown, Europeans have been living there for barely 400 years). In no other country has a claim of indigenous peoples been taken seriously when the dispossesion occured so far back.
GolemGorilla: You have a malpractice claim against your lawyer if he didn’t appeal to the next highest court. And as long as you sue (file a lis pendens) you can probably block the other side from selling or mortgaging the property since the person won’t have clear title. From your description of the legal system, it seems you don’t know much about law and have been exploited.
Lior: Are you talking about a mugger, or about a cashier who you claim shortchanged you. When you are arrested for mugging the cashier, you may have some trouble. Police tend to side with the storekeepers.
If there is a good reason not to call the police (e.g. you are an illegal alien, there are warrants out for yhou, etc.), I can see the point. But getting into a fight that you may not win isn’t in your interests. If there is no evidence that can prove you case, the one caught breaching the peace gets arrested.
Unless you sold him the land, his claim be challenged, and you have until the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, which in most American states is 20 years (but some are less). You may be unable to use the small claims court since many states would require this action to be brought in a court of general jurisdiction since it is an action to determine ownership of land. If you are in the US, you need to check your deed (in some countries you’ll need to check an official registry). In any event you need a lawyer. Disputes over land are hardly unheard of, in part since even when buying a house many purchasers don’t have the property surveyed. If you have title insurance, you might also file a claim since if your deed included the land, they are required to defend your claim.
P.S. Your reference to a “land office” suggests you are not in US, since a central land office sounds like a Torrens system – so contact a lawyer in your jurisdiction. Anyone who handles real estate matters should be competent to deal with this.
BarryLS1: Correct – meaning that the camera will also recall the customer’s assault on the cashier. Assault and battery (names vary between states) is usually a felony. If there is a video, then it should be quite easy to call the manager or the police. If the video shows you assaulting the cashier and grabbing cash, but not the cashier stealing your cash (and the cashier may know how to avoid being seen on camera), guess who goes to prison?
“Say Lior was shortchanged $5 which he watches the cashier slip into his pocket. Can he tiptoe around the cashier and pull his $5 out?
Can he take a different $5 from the cashier’s pocket?
I think most would agree Lior can do both and there is no need to “go to courts”
Do you disagree? Does anybody?”
SO the cashier, who in fact believes that it was his own $5 he put in his pocket, presses the “panic button” and the police will arrest: Lior — and not just for larceny but for robbery (the use of force to steal, a much more serious crime), and if the jury believe the cashier, Lior will have an opportunity to do kiruv work in a prison (not jail, prison, robbery is usually a felony).
Of course the cashier might decide to whack Lior with a large object (its self-defense), or perhaps the store guard (the cashier’s boyfriend, no doubt, comes over to do the whacking). Lior goes to the hospital, if he’s lucky.
Only if the shopkeeper uses excessive force will the shopkeeper be in trouble.
For a fish, the answer as to whether one can eat the fish is based on the simanim (my guess is that they would be unaffected). The same would also hold for mammals. But then there is the issue of whether you a tradition of eating the animal, beyond looking at simanim.
However for both plants and animals, there is the issue of whether one is allowed to breed it yourself, in addition to the question of using it. For example we are prohibited from creating mules but not from owning and using them. If the GMO involves cross breeding different species, then there are some interesting halachic question that will be answered when the practice becomes more common (probably in Eretz Yisrael, since few Jews elsewhere are into farming, and mixing two species is an issue for farmers (American Jews are more into eating kosher animals than raising them).