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  • in reply to: Bargaining for a Lower Price: Proper or Improper? #2020328

    “Jews don’t buy retail”?
    we have a 1/6 measure for overcharging. Both sides of the deal are in symmetry here. That is, a buyer also can not press or use ignorance of the seller to give him too low a price. It does not matter whether you are dealing with a billionaire or a corporation. Of course, when dealing with a professional or corporation, they are usually informed and not desperate for a deal, they most likely have a lowest number that they can agree to. They may also be paid on commission. Maybe a criterion similar to returning lost objects might help – if a sum is small enough not to matter to you, you should let it go. Longer term – it is better to establish a “fair price” that works for both sides than press your advantage. I found this works well with some school financiers.

    Not sure with non-Jews: you don’t want to give them extra funds for trick-and-treating, but it does not mean you should not let him earn a living also. Again, a fair price for both sides may make him into an ohev Isroel.

    in reply to: What is the real reason for banning Jews from Israel? #2020324

    Shimon, I think I responded to your question: a country needs to limit movement to increase safety. So, they use priorities. Citizens allowed, others not. It is not so much that one is safer than the other, but they need to limit someone, and they start with outsiders. So, do other countries.

    in reply to: Are we too welcomimg #2020315

    aposhiteyid, thanks, you made my day. I did not know it was said explicitly. Makes sense, goes back to Rambam who write to a Ger that he can refer to Avraham even as he is not from the family – but on par with him.

    Avira, I apologize, did not mean this to get into flame war. Should not have disregarded Ch.Chaim halakha not to say anything good about someone not universally accepted as tzadik, as there will an immediate negative story about them. I don’t think Lubavich marriage habits hurt many people – as if there are many volunteers to move with the family to Peoria, IL to have kiddush with the 9 Jews there. Hope I did not offend anyone from Peoria here.

    in reply to: Are we too welcomimg #2020316

    Back to welcoming – where does it actually succeed? Below are my observations that are limited to several OOT areas, so please correct me.

    Discussion here was about elementary schools. I know that many Israelis and Russians send their kids to O- schools for K- and then go to public. In the 80s, early Russian arrivals in NY would go to O- schools until they earn enough money and get to suburbs with better public schools. I’ve seen some of those kids later at Chabad houses – they definitely did not become observant from that school experience, but some got enough background to stop by. So, partial, very limited success.

    As to MO schools that have a mixture of observant and non-observant kids, I met many ehriche yidden who graduated from such schools, but all of them seem to have observant and knowledgeable parents. I do not recall meeting anyone whose non-observant family sent them to a MO school and they are observant now. This may be an observation bias, as I would have less chances of meeting such parents.

    Seems like chabad houses on campuses have high success rate. Hillels to some degree.

    Do we have places where adults can go. In most places, it is hard to imagine an outsider coming in and getting involved in a community. I quoted here a report from the 80s, where most newly arrived Russians were reporting that they were not finding their places in shuls. Do we meet all those Jews anywhere, or we just waiting for them to show up at our school doors so that we can verify their Jewishness?!

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2020313

    CK > Kissinger makes the case that Biden should not have followed through on Trump’s plan but done something different.

    No, he is not making this case. He says that general idea of negotiating w/ Taleban is an acknowledging of reality that Taleban was not defeated and that Americans will not hold by this politically. He then mentions separately a disaster of how it was done, as I quoted it to you. Numerous military leaders and veterans are of the same opinion, including those who frantically tried/try on their own to save their Afghan colleagues.

    in reply to: Are we too welcomimg #2020251

    yid > In the place where Baelei Teshuvah stand,

    this is why I frankly don’t like the word “kiruv”, a little snobbish implying you are better than him and trying to bring to the same place as you are. And you are in a perfect place already (I believe Chabad is not using this word and is able to do the job somehow)

    Some Hosid was explaining to Gerer Rebbe that he is davening in a particular shul of baalei teshuva “although I am not one of them”. Rebbe replied – “why not?”

    in reply to: Music? #2020252

    YO, we have the text, but do you have the notes?

    in reply to: What is the real reason for banning Jews from Israel? #2020254

    > Why is that less of a risk than allowing foreign tourists in?

    All countries balance risk v. economy and voter satisfaction. Also, a country has certain obligations towards citizen. Every country does that, not just Israel. Practically speaking, you can hope that the citizen will go home and you can even ask him to stay home. The tourist will roam around immediately. Also, I believe Israelis returning from certain “red countries” are currently subject to quarantine.

    Anyway, you can always argue on particulars of a particular decisions in each country, but that is why the countries have governments to make some reasonable decision, and you have a right to appeal to a court or vote in next election. You should not get too much upset every time you are not in a majority on an issue.

    And, also, as R Meir Twersky wrote early on, politicians are bound by the desire to be re-elected, so Jews who value life more than economy and tourism should be more careful than they allow.

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2020256

    CK, look up august article by Henry Kissinger. He lauds the iitial campaign in Afghanistan, but thinks that attempts to install a Western democracy were doomed to begin with. He then separates problematic situation there from the final decision by Biden administration: Describing the evolution does not eliminate the callousness and, above all, the abruptness of the withdrawal decision.

    he ends with this:
    We must recognise that no dramatic strategic move is available in the immediate future to offset this self-inflicted setback, such as by making new formal commitments in other regions. American rashness would compound disappointment among allies, encourage adversaries, and sow confusion among observers.

    The Biden administration is still in its early stages. It should have the opportunity to develop and sustain a comprehensive strategy compatible with domestic and international necessities. Democracies evolve in a conflict of factions. They achieve greatness by their reconciliations.

    in reply to: What is the real reason for banning Jews from Israel? #2020190

    Shimon, all countries treat citizens differently from visitors for COVID. They need to manage risk and this makes sense. The best way for you to visit Ey might be to enter yericho from Jordan, or hang out on the other side of Golan or litani River. This way you don’t need to deal with gazlanim and you will not expose Jews to extra virus.

    in reply to: Donald trump #2020187

    There is a natural tendency for media and government to be progressive, people who go there are motivated, they want to change the world. You may not care, but first these views propagate like virus, with one person in YU reading news, and soon someone in kiryas yoel learning it from a hevrusa. Also, the rest of the population learn it and then vote. Given Trump’s record, I say 50-50 it will be a flop or he’ll create something unusual, the way he did in other areas. 100 chance that if he fails, he’ll try something else.

    in reply to: I’m still waiting…. #2020186

    Not sure whether Spanish inquisition innoculated Sephardim against enlightenment, or it was just luck of geography. but note that expulsion in those times was not just mamon, but a huge risk to life also. I think also we can stop fighting enlightenment by now, it is not the same yetzer as 200 years ago. For example, Sephardim in USA don’t seem to flock to reform temples. Ignorance and Facebook seen to be more dangerous.

    in reply to: Rav Yehudah Hachasid #2020184

    The less in-laws, the healthier the extended family!

    On a related note, ishamailim have a minhag of marrying two sisters on the same day to sav on expenses. Ashkenazim used to have Friday weddings for same reason.

    in reply to: Are we too welcomimg #2020183

    Avira, your reference to the furniture discussion matches the one I brought between Satmarer and Chazon Ish that yeshivas are the midbar away from negative influence. At some point, it is not fire or midbar any more, observant Jews need to look for the whole nation.

    People here bring examples of confused people coming in.. by definition, if you stay inside, you don’t see millions of those who are getting lost. By some knowledgeable people, 4 out of current 6 mln Jews in USA are on the way to extinction. Definite statistics is that currently only 2% of Jews change denomination, the growth of O Jews is solely internal

    in reply to: HaToirah Chosa al MeMoinam Shel Yisroel #2020182

    Invest in Russia: there is a Jewish community, people don’t care about COVID, there’s a lot of real estate. To diversify, invest in Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, all Russia’s enemies, have lots of tzadikkim buried, so one of them will work out

    Ultimate diversification: Yerishalaim and Rome. One of them is always up according to financial advisors from gemora megillah

    in reply to: Seminary girls getting engaged #2019993

    I am confused how you ca marry before you can legally drink from the cup under the chuppah

    in reply to: Sports #2019811

    I suggest don’t follow footballers as you can get hurt; don’t follow sprinters as you will fall behind very quickly; follow marathoners, hopefully you can stay at their speed for several minutes.

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2019802

    I think most public schools (at least outside south) teach a lot about race. I think the ranting about “CRT” reflects a more general phenomenon – schools not teaching about US history and government properly, but only complaining about what they want extra.

    We, Jews, are doing the same, paying attention to what we did not get. There is less excuse for us, given that we know a lot of history and can appreciate the difference. There is a school of thought that it is better for Jews to live among bad goyim to prevent assimilation, but, based on recent history, I am not sure whether we can calibrate antisemitism high enough to keep us in line, but low enough to keep us alive. A better theory (Rav Shach, for example) is that we need antisemitism only when Jews assimilate.

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2019794

    These things matter to us. When National and International Socialists were rising in Germany, I am sure there were some Jews who said “this does not matter to us” but it did eventually …

    in reply to: Are we too welcomimg #2019790

    Avira, we had haskalah and Reform a little earlier than 1920. Maybe this is when they arrived to Brisk and even that is not so. There were probably always people not interested in observance, but they often did not have any good options, so they stayed quiet, and maybe their children or grand-children straighten out .. In cases when they could – Greeks, Spain, Germany, they left.

    And I don’t think majority of “klal” has a lot of urgency about the issue. How many BTs are in regular shuls? how many ever meet or talk to secular reform Jews, Israelis or Russians? How often do Rabbis talk about outside other than about the danger? In most places, not often.

    in reply to: Seminary girls getting engaged #2019791

    > you are really lucky she decides she wants a working guy

    what do you mean by “lucky”? If you think, she should marry someone who does not work, then why “lucky”? If you don’t think so, you can just make it known that you are not planning to support them, and let her go from there.

    There might be a problem of competition here: if “everybody” (in that community) marries at earlier age, then this girl will be at disadvantage. It may be that those who get professions, get married later? So, if she finishes BS by 21, maybe she’ll have her choice of MS and PhD candidates?

    in reply to: What is the real reason for banning Jews from Israel? #2019769

    Shimon > It isn’t because of covid, that is for certain.

    Shimon, I think this is their sneaky way not to allow people who think like above. I don’t think there is a mitzva of taki visiting Eretz Isroel while increasing their chance of getting some new variant … Better go visit North Korea while you have time on your hands, shake hands with Kim after coughing.

    in reply to: Classics and Beyond Vayeira – Sense and Sensitivity, #2019468

    This also started a tradition of heilike Jewish women to think that everything wrong in the house is due to their husbands – even as Hashem corrects Sarah here. This is balanced with H’ telling Avraham to listen to Sarah in the case of Avraham, preventing Jewish men from totally ignoring the wives’ complaints.

    in reply to: HaToirah Chosa al MeMoinam Shel Yisroel #2019469

    despite all our complaints, the rest of the world generally moves money into US during troubled times. But diversify, of course. Yaakov kept two camps when meeting Esav. We mention on Purim that this was the time of high risk because all Jews lived in the same empire.

    in reply to: what happend to the cr? #2019460

    Online behavior changed the world in amazing ways, indeed. Early in Internet times, a Rebetzin refused to have her family photo online for a shul. now, everyone is instagramming. Maybe, it is not an ayn hara anymore when there are more people posting than reading.

    As to flaming, it existed in early online groups even with full names. I don’t think people understood that this is going to be a permanent record. Luckily for them, old search results are on page 10.’

    in reply to: Why Does YWN Baselessly Attack Biden? #2019440

    One Biden’s measure benefited the Jewish community – he increased child credit to 3-3.6K per child and made it fully refundable, that is you don’t need to earn money to get “credit”. So, sort of UBI for children. Bli ayn hara, this could easily add up to 20+K for a family. I presume, schools that require tax documents or are just aware of this, get a part via decreasing discounts.

    in reply to: Mayor of the fate of NYC #2019446

    It seems to me that NYC avoided a disaster similar to Chicago and other cities and ended up with two non-disasters to choose from. People in other places envy you. Maybe you deserved a break from the current mayor. As R Yohanan have asked “are you still enjoying it suffering]”?

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2019450

    Health, I just put in the next line that I looked at a number of these publications. Don’t respond after reading the first sentence.

    In the Jewish community, I know people who were and who were not affected. People who were affected were generally the ones who stayed uncareful, whether because their work/teaching or because of personal attitude. Several cases were people affected early in nursing homes and some older people during recent spikes whose relatives brought it in. I heard about only one case among my professional contacts (a professor in March 2020). Benefits of sane behavior are much higher than of any drug or vaccine, approved or not. As Gemora says, Hashem gave us Torah as medicine.

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2019442

    Wikipedia does not have to be leftist. It is a collective product. If you see that something is not correct and you have a source for a correction, rather than just an opinion, you can go and edit it. If the issue is political, then all sides start editing each other and results is unpredictable, but predictably unreliable

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2019330

    Actually, malaise works wirelessly, he does not even need to touch anything. Markets, allies, and adversaries all change their behaviors with expectations of your behavior. Companies stop investing in energy or in general expecting taxes and rule changes (happens right now), allies do not expect your help and look elsewhere, adversaries anticipate your reaction (Iran, Crimea)

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2019263

    > Did you go through all 61 studies to constantly write there isn’t enough evidence?!?

    I looked at summary tables of studies that list effect, number of participants and in some case quality (low, very low). I also looked through a random sample of about 10 of them, including ones listed here. You can often see quality from the design – do they match patients by demographics, for example.

    For the approved medicines, I only looked at summaries. I looked in depth at Phase 3 vaccine trials when they came out.

    in reply to: Anything the Democrats Touch Gets Worse #2019245

    crazykanoi listed all things that were done by Trump (thus “additional” in every line), except the infrastructure bill that did not pass yet, may be a waste of money, may be coupled with a bigger waste of money, and was somehow not of interest to Dems when Trump was the President.

    Also, could someone clarify re:security – I’ve seen lots of funds going to private school during 2020 relief but my impression was that in 2021 a lot of funds are restricted to public schools. Didn’t look carefully, though.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018824

    Kollelman,
    thanks for taking your time to collect these references. Let’s now read them together. I think taken together, they are saying that there is potential benefit, but a lot is unclear, and it is surely not enough to use it instead of other protective methods, like vaccine.

    A couple of them indeed suggest improvement. Most from 3rd world countries One is non-RCT observing 300 patients very early in pandemic in March-May in FL seemingly without even matching patients to each other by demographics. Most reviews say that the quality is low.

    One (already discussed, controversial) study has 15 criteria, of which 1 shows significance moderate, the rest vary between low and very low.

    in reply to: Behavior during nuchem availim #2018826

    GH> ben torah (chashuvah or not) can sometimes act like a jerk

    I disagree. There are multiple quotes about Talmidei Chachamim that we can use as a definition of the term, such as T Ch merabim shalom b’olam. That is someone who is not doing that, is not one.

    In particular, if you see T’Ch doing averah in the evening, you don’t need to give him tochacha next day, as he surely did teshuva. From this, we see that T’Ch can do an avera, but he will not do it repeatedly or habitually.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018669

    Syag, I said Drs, not doctors! since last millennium

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018651

    Nat, between us Drs, I have no idea who Joe Rogan, Gupta, CNN are exactly, and what it has to do with the price of cholent in China.

    I have no problem researching various medicines. I just don’t understand how a couple of possible medicines became a part of a call to forgo all other protection layers – vaccines, SD, masks, other medicines. You seem to be listening to crazy right arguing crazy left and trying to figure out who is right. This is insane. I smell a rat here, hope you will too.

    in reply to: HaToirah Chosa al MeMoinam Shel Yisroel #2018646

    an example of successful market strategy:
    When Rav Huna was told that he is wrong not paying workers who already stole from him and paid them: either vinegar (literal “stock”) became wine, or price (NYSE stock) of vinegar went up. Maybe there is an economic pshat here: when people behave positively towards each other, there is less mistrust in the market, and the stocks go up. Similarly, Yaakov “created markets” and also urged shepherds to work the full day honestly without mistrust to each other.

    Another way to invest is in your own skills: have a profession/skills that is not tied to dealing with speculative things, like stock markets, but to something that can be useful in any market: plumbing, medicine, teaching and then you’ll survive the downturn.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018638

    > My point was that they were taking a relatively harmless medication and trying to hype its danger by listing items other than side effects as side effects

    It seems that many ignorant people are literally taking horse portions and so public health people are trying to prevent it. You can also probably get to the horse does by taking it repeatedly as vitamins. This is not a vitamin.

    in reply to: Women Learning Gemara #2018609

    Women overall have less inclination to deal with abstract issues, like math, maybe because they have more issues to attend in real life. So, maybe women should not plan their learning around dafim of Gemorah, but focus on a wide variety of mitzvos that they feel are relevant to them, depending on a person this could be kashrus and niddah, or also chesed, education of their and other children, business, speech, etc. If they want to understand those issues in depth, they can surely learn whatever helps them learn it, and this might be Gemora, poskim.

    in reply to: Married Women Shaving Their Hair Off #2018606

    > if someone is on that madreiga

    Even if you are on that madreiga, but your wife is not and wants you to look at her – you will have to look. This is presuming you are at least listening to her.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018626

    Nat, there is a clinical trial that finished a month ago with 100 people
    Studying the Expected Effect of Ivermectin Nanosuspension as Nasal Spray Upon Post covid19 Persistant Anosmia. PI: Zaky Aref . No results published yet.

    in reply to: ADHD can be an expression of the creative mind #2018604

    > It is my opinion that modern day life is much harder for people labeled ADHD.

    Not sure. Would an ADHD person be happy harvesting wheat hour after hour, day after day? Or washing clothes in the river? There are way more creative occupations in our days.

    It is really a sign of failing schools if they can not attend to kids who are different from those who sit quietly and do not talk. You need to stop relying on schools and attend to your kids yourself, just like you do other mitzvos – putting tefilin, making a sukkah, having children.

    in reply to: ADHD can be an expression of the creative mind #2018599

    Ash, it does not mean that ADHD does not exist and should be denied, I think what many of us are saying that there are multiple ways to deal with it in a good way, and the outcomes might improve depending on how bad the problem is and how well you deal with it. Ignoring is not a solution.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018598

    Could you guys PLEASE tell us what are you information sources? I really want to understand

    > Mexico has “ended the pandemic” (as reported here in YWN)

    Mexico daily deaths are increasing from July and are currently gradually decreasing and are 2x below US, and 2x over UK, Israel, Canada. Not ended

    > India
    Indeed, Indian medical commission had HCQ and IC in their COVID protocol. They took them out in August 2021 due to low effect. Cases and daths did not increase after that.

    Note that using results from such countries to project to USA is anyway questionable. Say, people in India are missing in Zinc. Then, having a vitamin would help them a lot. Does not answer that it will help in US – maybe yes, maybe no. The fact that you can’t show one developed country, tells a lot. Just think about it.

    IC effects:
    Sep 2021 review from Italy of 11 RCTs finds slight improvement using IC stressing very low quality of data. So, it is potentially something to add to other methods, but not a substitute.

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018613

    kollelman,
    there are several large studies showing that vaccines are not increasing number of miscarriages.

    There are also observations of effect on the cycle that seems to be affecting 1-2 cycles. Several studies just started in US abot it with expected results in Spring 2022.

    There are also studies showing increased number of miscarriages due to COVID disease.

    So, any family who is in this situation and is not taking a vaccine, should practice social distancing. hope you are advising this to your numerous contacts who report this to you.

    in reply to: why are there no daughters in the Hagadah #2018585

    First, the daughters are helping the mother to make the matza balls and may not have time to wait until all older siblings sign their fir kashes

    2nd, in some homes, women would be sitting in a separate room from the father and it is indeed not proper to shout from another room for any gender.

    Also, girls may not require so much proding, they’ll listen and feel the story without a need to show off their sharp questions.

    in reply to: bums? or finding their own path? #2018568

    Avira,
    an interesting test case. Mental illness aside, could you point to a source that says that people who are not doing mitzvos bein adam l’makom are dealt harsher than ben adam l’havero. I clearly understand that we feel that way, as l’makom makes us feel Jewish, but it is not clear to what extent…

    Ben sore umore is eating/drinking/stealing, nothing about shabbos or kashrus
    Hashem being not so harsh on Migdal Bavel generation as they have unity between themselves

    If you let your hypothetical bum get out of the house, the case become harder to defend – here he is driving endangering people, not wearing mask when visiting grandma, forgetting his kid in a hot car. Even in the basement, he might hack someone or steal from his parents to get money to pay for the video games.

    in reply to: bums? or finding their own path? #2018562

    > Everyone went through the same system. Some people suffer more than others in life but those are not necessarily the ones who throw away Yiddishkeit. Today’s stupid excuse is trauma when most don’t have trauma it’s fake news.

    Not everyone agrees. R Yaakov Kamenetsky had a 2nd grade teacher in Lita who accused him of lying when he was late and had an unusual explanation – he was urgently sent to find a substitute knife for a bris milah, Rav was hurt but survived. Later in life, he and his former classmate Rav Ruderman wondered how many more Chachamim could have came from that class, if not the teacher …

    in reply to: HaToirah Chosa al MeMoinam Shel Yisroel #2018289

    > but to remind us all of our feelings in 2008,

    there is indeed a theory that crashes come at about every 20 years – when there is a new generation of financial advisors who do not believe that a crash can really happen again. Difference between personal experience and intellectual knowledge. We have a lot of Torah on that – that Noah believed and did not believe that flood is coming …

    in reply to: Ivermectin…? Proofs, risks? #2018285

    Health, there are numerous organizations and country and state leaders, I am sure at least some of them are interested in this. Lack of proofs was not surprising a year ago, but it is suspicious now.

    To support somewhat your position – look at heterogeneous boosters. Every manufacturer organized trials for boosters using their own vaccine, but it was left to a university to test boosters between different vaccines. And all they were able to do so far is to test antibodies in the lab. So, yes, yetzer hara of profit and organizational biases are a big motivator. But what is the alternative? Note that Chinese and Russians vaccines are not doing better than Western.

    Still, organizing a test of very cheap treatments applied in mild cases seems to be (relatively) easy.
    I can’t believe there is nobody to do that.

Viewing 50 posts - 6,651 through 6,700 (of 8,639 total)