Always_Ask_Questions

ujm > Which filters have a goy manually look at each picture

simply use Mechanical Turk to hire someone in India: explain to them what images you object to, give them some examples, and they’ll be happy to collect samples of un-tzanua and avoda zora that you can then feed into deep learning and train your personal filter.

Jews were previously said to earn like Episcopalian but vote like Puerto Ricans. The charedi vote seem to reverse that: while most individuals “self-identify” as Republicans, communities often are in favor of Democratic policies – increased welfare, various subsidies, and often pragmatic support of Dem politicians as most O- Jews live in blue states. Florida is an exception. Maybe NY/NJ Jews should move to PA to affect another purple state.

Don’t want spoil a good story, but who are the 5% of O Jews who do not eat kosher? Either they are fasting or just pressed the wring button

but Pew is not the only one playing these games. One Israeli politico told me that he gets briefings from US federations over years that always show about same number of Jews – except their criteria of who counts as Jewish is being relaxed. He asked to use any criterion they want – and show him how numbers change over time according to that fixed criterion, but got no answer.

common, I let my kids read some of these stories, and I recall commenting on Goldilocks and bear behavior in a similar way. If I would be sure that they’ll never hear any goyishe narratives in their life, I could have skipped it. I think kids need to learn critical thinking and be able to look at “accepted” narratives and see through them.

As to Jewish stories, kids loved many of them. Some of their favorite ones, they, with sadness, put away in the basement after more information came out about the author.

A good Jewish book on developing critical thinking is “another side of the story”. IT consists of short vignettes describing a moment where someone clearly looks guilty and then explains it. You can use it like Harvard Business Review cases – read the first part, and then try to find the explanation together.

Also, many people question “stories of tzadikim” that whitewash lives of gedolim and create unrealistic expectations of how making of a Gadol happens …

So, would Chabad hold a veto over Hashem’s decision and even, Ch’V, delay a non-Chabad Moschiach?

What if, Ch’V there is another group who only accepts Moschiach from their dynasty – will the world be stuck until they climb down?

I also used OpenDNS.
I am not sure that it requires installing something on the router, maybe I do not remember.
You can do whitelisting – allowing only specific sites or groups of sites.

Also, whether it is for yourself or a kid – make sure there is a positive motivation in using electronics: learning, taking classes, and focus on expanding these positive activities. After you do work for 10 hours on a computer, you may want to do something else for relaxation.

the tutor story requires clarification: why not simply fire the tutor?

yechiel, not sure where you live, but if you feel that a hundred people walking into Congress without weapons almost destroyed your democracy, you need to either move to a less fragile state or drink some herb water

I think people who published letters about not going to the service are volunteers (who previously served), not objectors to mandatory service. As others said, this seems be to vicious reaction of the “old guard” who lost their influence and are afraid that majority of the country goes in a different direction from theirs, so they created this hysteria and others, unfortunately, followed.

The fact is, Israel had five elections on a row where these issues were debated, and a finally formed majority are following up on what they were elected upon.

To explain further my previous post (assuming it went thru): if this boy will have only 6 hours a day to learn after working, he will have to spend most of them on gemora and halocho, and will have less time to worry where Rebbe’s neshoma currently is. If he will still be spending this remaining time on wondering, that would mean to you that, unfortunately, he is not learning at all, and should go work full time.

old post> It’s been almost unheard of, even historically, for a rabbi to need approval by the local government to be a rabbi.

Russian empire had an officially approved position. Due to efforts of R Salanter and others, the policy was for the learnt people not to apply for this position and thus to have a clear separation between real and official Rabbis.

Germany had mechanism of approval for creating a kehilla and, I think, for the Rabbi who they hire.

a medical question – does too much fat leads to think skin (thru stretching)? Then his bridge affair can be written off as a medical issue, and he is a perfectly rounded candidate indeed.

> Hashem didn’t punish me because my touching it was unintentional. Maybe the punishment isn’t instantaneous.

Exactly. On the most basic level – mixing up your own ideas/gedorim with what the Creator wants from you leads in the wrong direction.

Ch-H – you may be right. When I am writing carefully, I may be paying attention to transcription, but not in the other cases. It seems like you constructed an irony detection measured as entropy of spelling variations or something like that.

there is also a “right to repair” issue in some states: whether independent shops can read onboard diagnostics. If not, all repairs are done by the monopolists at higher price.

DaMoshe > So who actually has the right to lead the zimun?

I think that the kohen has the first right. In shul, he can not refuse and offer someone else the first aliya, but at home, he can let baal habais.

Recall that the whole thing is for darkei sholom (see Gittin), so that there will be less machlokes about priorities. Thus, if you end up accusing people of something, you are not doing it right.

Not eating kitniyos is a minhag, but wearing a hat?! This just got out of hand. So, would a person born into a black hat wearing community need a hatara nedarim if he decides to wear his grandfather’s white or gray hat? Would it be if he wears it once, all the time, for work, or on sheni vehamishi only? I really want to know how people see this.

As to confusion between midrabanan and Torah, isn’t it how we read the story of Adam and Hava making a takono not to _touch_ the grape? You may think that a person who understands the difference will not be confused, but it is easy to imagine someone who did not learn enough to be ignorant about what is meduoraita and what is not.

Neville, I am applying chosid shoteh comparison to those who say that saving drowning Jews is not so important, other mitzvos will do fine. And not only not getting involved themselves, but looking down at those who do, focusing on their imperfections.

kiruv v. bikur cholim > The point was that different groups have different shticks.

My point is that it is not a shtick but a generational emergency. Gemora talks about chassid shoteh who does not save a drowning lady because he does not want to touch her. I would extend this: the chosid might say – I am on the way to the hospital for bikur cholim or on the way to kollel and learning is keneged kulam.

This is the short time between her becoming bas mitzva and getting married! A unique moment when her father is less responsible for her and the husband is not yet. L’havdil, I think butterflies have also an intermediate state between being a catrpillar and an adult – chrysalis.

On comparing “kiruv” with “bikur cholim” as just a group’s mitzva. With all kavod to bikur cholim, we have for several generations millions of Yidden who are being lost and Chabad focus on them is a great thing. The fact that most other groups ignored that for decades and then relegated to ‘kiruv” organizations is a bigger issue that can be partially excused by a couple of centuries of being on defensive from apikoiresim.

Also, “kiruv” is not a Chabad term, and we need a better one to avoid the presumptuous attitude that one person is closer to Hashem than another.

This story w/ being freed from Russian prison and an encounter w/ a misnaged needs to be seen also in the context of Alter Rebbe later collaboration w/ Russians during the war w/ Napoleon including providing intelligence (until his petirah while fleeing from the French army advances). This seems to be a daas yachid, as other misnagdim and chasidim welcomed liberation from the Russian empire. His arguments seemed to be (1) better to be oppressed in a conservative society than get exposed to dangerous modernity, and (2) Napoleons come and go, but the Russian state will still be there. On the 2nd argument, Chabad was geolocated deeper into the Russian empire than many other groups.

Menachem, I recall from this episode that Alter Rebbe considered that he had to listen to misnaged accusations a punishment or something like that. Is this in the same letter?

common, the chumra is that you are supposed to buy something there rather than using facilities for free.