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Columbus Day is a legal holiday because the Congress passed a statute making it so. Being a legal holiday means the Federal civil service (most of which is currently laid off) has the day off, and the postal service (which hasn’t been doing too well lately) won’t attempt to deliver mail. State and local governments, and the private sector, can do what they want.
If the woman involved in an invalid “get” has children by another man, the child is a putative mamzer. The reason for saying “putative” is that in practice most batei dinim tend to “bend over backwards” to avoid deciding that someone is a mamzer, so unless a “get” is clearly invalid by at opinons, the likelihood was/is/will be that the child will eventually be held to be a non-mamzer (either by validating the “get” or otherwise, such as by finding the marriage to have been invalid). In this area the “theory” as to what halacha is tends to vary from what most rabbanim end up deciding in actual cases involving the children of the woman with a dubious “get.”
If you don’t believe, do an empirical study of shaiolohs and tseuvahs.
I’ve encountered highly reliable accounts that during the mid-20th century a Beis Din would authorize someone to kill (as in put to death) people. There are situations where force would be allowed and where a Beis Din could use force.
Considering the accounts in the newspapers are of individuals offering their services for a fee, rather than of a Beis Din encouraging or directing people to act, the issue isn’t raised by the case that is causing the discussion. Three frum “hit men” do not make a Beis Din.
Whether a woman would be allowed by halacha to hire “hit men” to deal with a husband who has abandonned the marriage but refuses to write a “get” is a totally different question, and the validity of a “get” written by a husband out of fear his wife would use force against him is still another issue.
Possums are an Australian animal that resemble the American Oppossums but a totally different species (though both are marsupials). The American ones can be a health pest (they apparently carry serious diseases that they are immune to but can spread, such as rabies), so I suggest calling a professional exterminator or local wildlife control agency.
Bring your own. While you can usually find drinks (soda, juice) with a hecksher, and some people drink coffee and many alcoholic drinks regardless of whether they are certified kosher – food will be limited to fresh fruit and stam halav junk food. Even if you are departing and need to pass through security, you can bring plenty of non-liquid food to eat.
flyer: Stick to areas near Park Heights Avenue (local shuls include Glen Avenue (German), Agudah (Litvish), Sternhell’s and Taub’s (Hasidic), Goldberger (modern Hasidische) not to mention many others). Avoid anywhere in the county unless you want to pay for the privilege of sending your kids to good public schools. There are plenty of young families with little kids near the main shuls which are all near Park Heights Avenue and clearly within the city limits. While the city has a higher tax rate, it has lower assessments meaning the taxes are similar in city and county. A semi-detached will be around $100K (more if it is brand new) but most of the housing is mid-20th century, though there are still some brand new overpriced homes available. You are a short drive to both the Baltimore subway and light rail, and about 15 minutes from a MARC (which is the commuter train to Washington). Some people also commute to Wilmington. If you are more “modern” there are also many zionist shuls and one zionist school (Beth Tefilah) in the city. Remember that DC (Silver Springs) and Baltimore are in a relationship similar to Brooklyn and Manhattan – they are a single metropolitan area regardless of the political boundaries.
Leave the New York Metropolitan Area.
In Baltimore, you can be find blocks with a half dozen frum shuls within walking distance and a block that is at least 25% frum – and a semi-detached house for $100K.
New York has a problem since it is government policy to have high housing costs. Few other cities have such dumbness.
Were any of them really Jewish (as in Shomer Shabbos, Shomer kashrus, etc.). From the pictures, they look like goyim.
When Jews go off the derekh, they keep many Jewish attitudes towards academics, which serve them when in western countries – however that doesn’t make them “Jewish” and is not a matter for pride. If anything, it is just an advertisement of how going off the derekh is a good idea from an economic perspective (which shows how much frum Jews are moser nefesh by staying frum).
1. No cancer can be cured by diet. You need something that will kill the cancer faster than it kills you. That’s why most cancer treatments are toxic in nature.
2. Some cancers seem related to specific types of foods, but correlations are not causation.
3. Some totally natural and organic foods can be carcinogenic. It depends on the ingedients, not how they are produced.
Sam2: Indo-European refers to a language family (a.k.a. Aryan) and is not something that can be determined by genetics. For example, most American Jews speak an Indo-European language (English), but have nothing to do genetically with the people of the British Isles.
The DNA suggests that Ashekanzi Jews are much more likely to be of Middle Eastern descent than the goyim we live among, that with a few weird exceptions most Jews are more closely related to each other than to the goyim, and that we have had only negligible numbers of converts since ancient time. Oh, and most Kohanim seem to have a more middle eastern profile than most other Jews. But as with most DNA “evidence” all it does is show that the historical record isn’t a forgery, which isn’t surprising. THe only “surprises” from DNA evidence have been to discover that all the revisionist theories are wishful thinking by nutcases.
Chcham: The Khazers were a group in central Asia, and some of their ruling class converted in themiddle ages. When their country broke up, the Jews there moved to Sefardi countries (people traced some of them). In all fairness, except for some elites, the bulk of the Khazer Jews were probably Jewish refugees from the Roman (Byzantime) Empire. At the time the Khahazar state was destroyed, Europe was rather backwards and there was nothing to attract them since they had the option of moving to Arab territories (and note that the Khazar Jews had considered themselves an extension of the Jews in Bavel- which is where they went to learn and to ask shalohs).
The idea of Ashkenazim being descended from Khazers was dreamed up by some frei Jews for several reasons: 1) so they could disassociate themselves from klal Yisrael without feeling guilty about cutting themsevles off from the people; 2) so they could tell the Russians (in the Czarist period) that they were descended from those who the Russian believed killed their diety; 3) so they could tell the Nazis they really were Aryans, and as such shouldn’t be persecuted by.
“Lost” Jewish communities frequently pop up in strange places, and the more so since DNA testing can shed light on the matter. There is no indication that any of them are connected to the ten shevatim that “disappeared” after the Assyrians trashed Eretz Yisrael. In all fairness, any of them who were so inclined could have linked up with the large Jewish community in Bavel the came into existence shortly afterwards, and lasted until the mid-20th century. You can’t be “lost” when there were well established Jewish communities in the neighborhood.
All Muslims follow many Jewish minhagim since they copied them from us. Any virtually everyone is a “mash up” of DNAs so you really can’t connect anyone from today to someone to 2000 years ago based solely on genetics. The Pahtuns have all sorts of dubious legends, but clearly appear to be Aryan (not Semitic) linguistically, with strong connection to Iran and the Indian subcontinent.
Diversity isn’t just a matter of de facto “quotas” done to avoid the appearance of being discriminatory. The weirder you are, the better. The logic is that diversity brings unique perspectives to an organization.
A kollel person with a BTL who has a fantastic LSAT and writes and essay demonstrating great knowledge of American history is “weird”. Someone applying to college who went to a hasidic yeshiva with no secular studies, has only a GED (which isn’t needed for the better schools, only the public schools), and presents 30 credits of AP/CLEP and 700s on the SAT is “unusual.” Someone who went to a “modern” yeshiva, and has an ivy B.A. and completed a conventional pre-law program is somewhat “boring” at a law school.
Outsider: In the old days, there were no restaurants. Restaurants are a mid-19th century creation. Taverns in the past were similar to restaurants today. And until the 19th century, non-alcoholic drinks tended to be fatal (this is pre-pasteurization). Safe drinking water and soft drinks (which are made from water) only came about in the late 19th century or 20th century (and in some countries, have yet to occur). In the USA, drinks such as low alcohol beer and slightly alcoholic cider were common.
jewishfeminist02: A journalist taking a source to a bar to get them drunk, or to have a clandestine meeting, is NOT a reputable business meeting. A meeting typically involves multiple people, which requires a table, and once you have a table (as opposed to bar stools), it’s a restaurant, meaning your question becomes, how to act in a treiff (non-kosher) restaurant.
Reputable business is rarely conducted at a “bar” (unless you are a lawyer, and that sort of “bar” doesn’t serve food and drinks). So your question is really about going to a treff restaurant.
People vary over glass utensils. You can always ask for disposables, or bring your own, or drink directly from a can or bottle.
Most frum people accept most beer and some stronger drinks with a hecksher. If you want, feel free to ask for a specifically kosher brand. Cans of coke are probably available everywhere (they are also used for mixed drinks, as well as those who drink them straight).
Doing business at a bar probably raises serious questions of reasonable accomodation if you have any Muslim, Mormon, and conservative Protestant co-workers, all of whom don’t hold by drinking alcohol (most of our gedolim only object to alcohol in mixed, meaning with goyim, company). Asking for a soft drink projects an image of being a sober resonsible employee. Feel free to bemoan that you can’t join in getting soused (so you get a reputation for piety, but being a nice guy – they might order a Sam Adams for your next office party).
If the bar features underdressed women or other nefarious behavior, that raises other shailohs under halacha (as well as the goyim’s anti-discrimination laws).
Systems that lead to a “rich man’s war and a poor’s man fight” usually end badly. Historically Jews paid a special tax to be exempt from military service (this wasn’t optional, we had to pay the tax, and weren’t allowed to bear arms). In country’s where the population support the war, rich people go to the military (cf. George Bush the first using his father’s clout to become the youngest pilot in combat (he was below the minimum age), John Kennedy using his family’s clout and what probably was some fraud to become a combat office when he should have been at most a “jobnik” since he was clearly physically unfit for duty). The both the frum elites and many of the secular elites in Israel avoid military service suggests the country probably is doomed in the long run.
Added complications in Isarel are a significant minority of hareidim opposed to the war since they consider the zionist attack on the Arabs to have been contrary to halacha, plus the majority of zionists believe they can use the army to convince most hareidim to become less religious. These are not issues anyone is likely to compromise on. Draft evasion by secular elites in Israel is also common, and is serious since they tend to have skills sets the military needs (unlike yeshiva students).
“Will I get a shidduch?”
Talk to Ha-Shem, he’s in charge of shidduchim.
and stop whining – everyone has a shidduch crisis until they get married, and the only shidduch crisis that required a nes was that of Adam Ha-Rishon
It all depends on definitions. Some consider “Hareidi” (i.e. “Ultra-Orthodox”, ro “fanatic”) to mean wearing a yarmulke in public, with married women covering their hair, etc. — and “normal” Orthodox (especiallyas defined 60 years ago, e.g. people such as former Senator Lieberman or Treasury Secretary Lew) to include anyone who belongs to an Orthodox synagogue — then the numbers might be correct.
If you count as hareidi only someone who is so much into yiras shemayim that they never think of doing an aveirah (never speak lashon hora, certainly never look at news sites such as this which are full of lashon horah) then the numbers are quite different.
“and im just wondering what the people in law school do for money if they are married “
The same as anyone who isn’t employed (for whatever reason) who is married. Relatives can support you. You can borrow money. You can work full time and go to school part time (which is not an option at elite law schools, but is an option at the rest). You have the same issues as anyone who gets married before they are self-supporting (hardly a rare instance).
Then don’t vote for them. The USA is a democracy. The leaders are chosen by the people.
If someone wants to go off the derekh, there are a lot easier and cheaper ways to do so than to go to Harvard.
If you think going to a fancy university makes you special or better or more superior to someone learning in yeshiva or working as a schlepper in a frum business – you are already way off the derekh only you don’t realize it yet.
In response to: “do law schools really let you reschedule classes and where do these people live if they arent married and is there a frum community at all these schools. (Obviosly NYU and Columbia) “
There is probably a frum community at every major university in America. In general, the lines become blurred between “modern” and “hareidi”. It won’t kill you daven at a minyan with people who disagree with you about Israeli politics (which is the major difference between the two camps). If you go away from home, you will probably want to rent an apartment near the frum community, rather than live on campus. Commuting has its own issues. Anyone who thinks college is for partying will have dropped out long before graduate school. If someone wants to go off the derekh, there are a lot easier and cheaper ways to do do than to go to Harvard. If you are going to school and living with your parents or spouse, the extent of Jewish life on campus is laregly irrelevant since as is the case with most commuters, you remain a part of your home community. If you go to a place with a small community, you’ll find that the smaller the community the friendlier they are and the less importance is attached to modern/hareidi issues. In all fairness, there are virtually no universities worth going to in cities that lack a kosher shul and a mikva.
Rescheduling exams is protected by law and custom. For classes you sometimes can get a record, or can borrow notes – few teachers take attendance, and in many ways the only importance of class at that level is to know the teacher’s opinions on the subject matter. Missing a few classes is hardly an issue. There are many minoritity groups in universities, and American universities have a strong tradition (going back over 50 years) of being accommodating to all minorities. Even when elite universities had Jewish quotas (meaning before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, though most school had already abolished them before they became illegal), rescheduling exams for religious holidays wasn’t a serious problem (as opposed to getting admitted).
Of course there are. All you need is a briliant LSAT and a sterling academic record and an amazing application.
Unless you are planning a career other than as a practising lawyer, or unless you plan to work in your father’s law firm – law school is extremely hard work and is a high pressure environment since the grading is competitive, and grade point (especially during the first year) is what leads to jobs. The economic pressue is intense since law schools can cost as much as a house, and there’s no certainty there ‘s a pot of gold at the end.
As with all students in non-Jewish colleges, the fall can be a nuisance. Elite law schools rarely if ever have classes on weekends or evenings, and tend not to have classes on Friday. Rescheduling or making up something from a yuntuf is a lot easier than dealing with a client who wants you to bail him out on Shabbos.
Why should either party compromise. The Republicans (probably correctly) feel that Obamacare will seriously undermine the economy and undermine individual’s autonomy over their health care. The Democrats believe that Obamacare will significant improve the lives of most Americans and is a key to the future welfare of the country. Only a hypocrite would do something that believe will cripple the nation in return for a short term political gain.
And it shows the strength of our separation of powers, withs its checks and balances. This is how the system should work. If you prefer something smoother – try North Korea. No shutdowns there.
bklynmom: Any yeshiva that is accredited can give a degree that will meet the requirements of having a college degree. An unaccredited (as a college) yeshiva that is state licensed to give degrees can give one that will be accepted only in that state. For many jobs and graduate programs, any college degree is the requirement. If a job has specific requirements (e.g. the formal premed requirements, or for some jobs, 30 hours of a given subject, etc.), that’s a matter of a transcript. For some jobs, a degree in “talmud” (or for that matter, art history, or chess, or motion picture history) is enough – for other jobs they ask for something more specific. There are no legal requirements that a B.S. or B.A. cover any subject – 100% in Talmud is fine under American law.
CLEP and AP are accepted by all but the most elite schools, and sometimes by the elites. They cover all the basic freshman subjects. You study for the test, and take the test. Online courses from accredited universities (typically public ones) that are offered for credit (often with a proctored exam) are accepted widely and meet any requirements. Indeed, one can get a fully accepted bachelor’s from several major universities from online only programs.
However a “program” such as Ner’s isn’t really a “joint program” since the “participating” schools don’t recognize it as such. You are taking college credits from one college (Ner, which is an accredited college) and transfering them.
Distance education from a government sponsored university (e.g. Empire State College, University of Maryland University College, Western Governors, etc.). If you want something medical, you’ll need a bricks and mortar school.
It’s really a gimmick to boost attendance at minyanim in the Baltimore-Washington area. The politicians disagree with each (as is their right, and perhaps their duty), and by failing to pass a budget, most federal agencies have to shut down when their appropriations expire at midnight on Oct. 1. Most of the federal civil service gets off from work (probably without getting paid), and that means more time for shul. It’s all beshert.
For your entire life. First as a talmid, then perhaps a teacher. Perhaps as a Baal ha-Bayis. A Beis Midrash is to a frum yid what the local pub is to a goy – a focal point of one’s life.
Do you really plan to give up being frum at some point if that is what you need for parnassah? Since that seems to be what you are asking, you should spend more time learning since you haven’t realized that a Baal ha-Bayis can be frum.
jwashing: I couldn’t find any reference in Towson, UMBC or JHU to a joint program with Ner – but that was several years ago. I believe the “joint” program means that a Ner students gets a (NOT entirely worthless) degree from Ner while filling out the secular studies (and professional requirements) elsewhere, or that students can transfer Ner credits (which are potentially transferable since Ner is an accredited college) to get a degree elsewhere. Unlike the typical “joint” programs, student pay full tuitions to both schools.
I suspect a distance education degree from the University of Maryland might be more practical, depending on their policy towards “yeshiva” credits.
Ner really shouldn’t call it a “joint” program unless the colleges see it that way, which apparently they don’t.
I suggest checking the websites of the schools mentioned (JHU, Towson and UMBC) to see if they are discussing “joint” programs, as opposed to a student at Ner earning credits that can be transferred subject to the those schools’ transfer policy.
Depending on what you need a degree for, there are many other options to get college credits (including CLEP and AP courses, and distance education programs such as University of Marland’s University College). A program focused on adult distance students might be much happier about accept “yeshiva” credits then a school that has very high acadmeic standards
zahavasdad: At what point prior to the holocaust was Vilna not in Poland? It didn’t switch until World War II, at which time being behind Soviet lines was much better for Jews than being behind German lines (which was the situation prior to the German invasion of the Soviet Union).
Hashgacha Pratis: one need to include the implication that whatever worked out wasn’t due to your efforts
Dan Lekaf Zechus: That’s not a definition, but an example
Kiddush Hashem: 1) again, that’s an example, not a definition; 2) do you have empirical evidence but the existence of non-rowdy boys (well, perhaps if there is something wrong with them, Ha-Shem designed boys to be rowdy)
charliehall: You must be one of those modern scientific types who gets hung up with all the “Timey-Whiney” (as a popular television series calls it) stuff. No problem for us fanatics who aren’t into strictly linear temporal mechanics.
P.S. Of course, knowing seventy languages would have been easier depending on how you define “language”, and I was hoping for someone to insist there were speakers of Yiddish and English during Bayis Sheini.
1. Do you know your hat size? If yes there are plenty of places that sell “frum” hats on the internet.
2. Is it a style you have previously owned (e.g. a black fedora with a specific type of rim), or is this something new – if the latter, it might be better to wait until you visit a city with hat stores.
FriendInFlatbush:
No big deal. He probably grew up speaking Yiddish and learning in Lashon Kodesh (meaning a mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic). That means he was already, by bar mitzvah, bilingual in both a Semitic (Lashon Kodesh) and an Aryan/Indo-European language (Yiddish). That makes it fairly easy to pick up languages. Also the local dialect was a slavic language, so picking up a new slavic language would be a “piece of cake”. Picking up a more distantly related Aryan language, such as Iranian or Greek might have taken a bit longer, and a language from an unrelated family (Chinese, Mohawk, etc.) would have been harder. There are tremendous economies of scale in learning languages. The reasons Americans are so dumb at language has to do with laziness and arrogance since we are spoiled by the fact that English is the de facto “lingua franca” among the goyim – in the 18th century educated Americans typically knew several languages, and throughout history frum Jews have always been excellent in learning languages.
1. They didn’t know English or Yiddish.
2. Unless you are an American, it’s easy to learn languages.
3. They probably only knew those of people in the immediate region. I doubt they had any reason to chat with an American Indian or an Australian Aboriginee.
4. The Rosetta stone only had Egyptian and Greek, and wasn’t intended as a teaching device (it as a bilingual text in a region that was bilingual).
A great many Americans feel the government is overbearing and constantly meddling in matters that they shouldn’t be involved in. There is a certain logic to the theory that if you own property, its your right to do what you want with it. Therefore many people (particularly private citizens, not corporations) ignore the “nanny state” building permit laws. It is hardly limited to Jews, and the fact the frum Jews are becoming more like mainstream Americans in many ways is an interesting development.
For the most part, one should dress in a way that resembles everyone else unless one is making a statement by dressing differently than everyone else. If you don’t want your clothing to indicate an ideological position, dress in a way that fits in. This applies in general, not just shul.
TO bring down a non-religious example, a man should normally wear pants unless he is a Scot making a political statement by wearing a kilt, or an Arab wearing an ankle length gown in a place wear everyone else dresses “western”. If you are in a shul in which most people wear black fedoras, wearing no hat other than a kippah, or on the other hand wearing a homburg or a streimel, communicates an “agenda”. That’s good if that’s what you intent, but not if your intention is just be normal and not make a statement.
No one discovers a new halacha mi-Sinai in the 21st century.
We have 3000 years of mesoret, and know generally how people have dressed, and we have never worn such a garment – therefore we have a mesoret that it is “new”, and “chodash asur min haTorah.”
The only reason it is prohibited to wear a “burka” is that it is imitating the goyim (similar to a nun’s habit, which is quite modest, but likewise prohibited). In that respect, wearing a burka is similar to have a tree for the holiday that occurs in late December, or engaging in “trick or treating” for the holiday that occurs in late October, or engaging in celebrations (drunken or somber) in honor of a possibly unhistorical someone the Irish honor in March.
It also might bed prohibited as being something “hadash” in light of a general rule on creating something new.
I went to law school in New York. Look at the state statute. Unless a state says specifically that a valid license is a prerequisite for marriage, it isn’t (in New York, a clergyman is subject to a fine, but that’s it).
The license is a revenue measure, but it doesn’t affect the validity of the wedding. The people who think they are “officially” single because they had a wedding without a license could be charged with tax evasion if they minimized taxes by filing separately (though in practice, most frum people gain a tax benefit from marriage).
Like much of the marriage law, getting married without a license is a feature largely ignore since it create more problems than benefits. Another ignored feature is the option of marriage by filing a copy of the marriage contract with the clerk’s office.
One world down, next world coming up. Time to roll with punch. This world’s only a corridor, nothing special. We’ll just be rolling along. See you next gilgul!
1. Whether one is married according to our law, is solely a function of halacha (e.g. kesubah, kiddushin, hupah, etc.).
2. While in many (probably, most) states, including New York, a marriage license is not required (i.e. if you marry without one your halachic ceremony constitutes a valid civil marriage, meaning you need a civil divorce to marry anyone else, and you are committing fraud if you claim to be unmarried), it is very inconvenient not to have a marriage license. The alternative would be to bring in affidavits and other evidence for every transaction that requires proof of marriage. Note that this frequently is an issue only when a spouse dies (i.e. is the woman his widow and mother of his children, or a single mother whose children paternity is unknown who happened to be his live-in “best friend”).
I doubt there is such a minhag. If the bride and groom are both in the same shul or even the same city (which until recently, meant the same thing – multiple shuls in a city is a modern innovation), of course he would be there. Where else would he go? Any such minhag is therefore a recent innovation.
If the wedding is in a distant city, the bride’s family won’t be there on the Shabbos before. That a matter of practicality, not a minhag.
It’s interesting that a frei Jew occasionally does a mitsva, but all the people mentioned above played routinely on Shabbos and Yuntuf. If there were a model, they were for the ultra-assimilationist model of being a little bit frum once a year, and ignoring everything else. Observing Yom Kippur is one of the last mitsvos that Jews do before becoming totally assimilated – the analogy would be that the heart keeps beating after the lungs, kidney, brain, and digestive system have shut down, meaning that what comes next is death. Jews who observe only Yom Kippur are moribund – what comes next is total assimilation and being disappeared from Klal Yisrael.
So when meshiach comes, anyone who turns out to be a goy of Jewish descent who has been living as a Jew will convert. Remember that (as is often discovered in working with Baalei Tsuvah) it is a “piece of cake” to convert if a person who is Shomer Mitsvos does a little genealogical research and discovers they aren’t really Jewish.
Cruz is a nice guy. He was a citizen at birth since his parents were citizens at the time (and the issue has been raised several times before). The constitution says “natural” (as opposed to “naturalized). Elsewhere it uses birth within the United States to indicate a person who can not be denied citizenship (presumably Congress could decide that Americans born abroad are
aliens – but they have not done so).
The issue is important to many Israelis who hold a very useful right to an American passport having been born in Israel to American citizens. They are currently natural citizens, and to not have to be naturalized in order to become citizens.
If you are on the subway headed “inbound”, then the answer is obviously “yes.”
Fencing is a honorable sport (modest clothing, no physical contact, masks, etc.).
Why one would do anything in Buffalo is beyond me. The place has seen better days. Even Albany and Cleveland have better prospects.
children spouse adulthood home companion