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I find it funny when people quote sources selectively. Rambam thinks this of Xians (while living among Muslims), while others said something else. Why not lists those who are on both sides, and then explain why your conclusion is the majority? (I know I sometimes quote Rambam only, but this is just because I don’t know much and also respect Rambam’s approach – and Rambam wrote short books for people like me).
Also, on this issue – there are different versions. Rambam writes about Catholics. There are Orthodox who simply follow Russian tzar or seretary general, there are various Protestants who believe either in more abstract things or in nothing at all. There are non-Jews who classify themselves as Reform Jews – what is their status?
Dan THe > I think that was Bibi’s best moment as PM.
Indeed, Dr. Bourla in his books describes some of his conversations with Bibi and says that Bibi read between the lines and understood that Bourla is looking for a test country, and then Bibi was able to convince him that Israel will be the best such country, despite the reluctance. My reading of reluctance – in part because two Pfizer Jews in charge might be seen as doing favors for other Jews, and also Bourla seems to be left-of-center, so did not want to help Bibi that much (Bourla even skipped a visit to Israel before the election on a made-up excuse).
If the OP wants to get anything beyond flames, maybe he could provide some specific information rather than simply inflammatory logic. Seems like people live in different information spaces and what is obvious to one is nonsense for others.
So, if you can show that, say, more people died from vaccine than from covid, people might consider your argument on merit, or something like that. On the other hand, many people here think that millions of lives were saved by the Trump’s vaccines, so whatever negatives you can come up with, we wold like you to weigh against those lives.
Avira, you are arguing, I think, with R Hirsh, R Lopian and probably others that explain this way.
I am not saying this is an only way, but something to think about.
Maybe you understand differently what “middos” are.I included the notional “atheist” here, whom I presume to be a proster non-religious Yid, closer to a classic “am haaretz”. As an example from another thread, I’ve seen a number of Israeli and Russian Yidden who did not have much Jewish background, but had good general attitudes, sending their kids to Jewish schools, whether Chabad/MO/Litvishe and blending into communities in several years, starting from zero.
Maybe you suggested a real apikoires, a head of a Marxist club, who also takes care of his comrades. That would be different.
Why are mods allowing repeated blaming of free countries for Russia’s ongoing murders?
for those who are not aware, most of online unmoderated and lightly-moderated forums in various papers and in multiple languages are full of similarly-looking posts combining pro-Russian and anti-West posts. I would expect moderated forums to filter that out – at least check that this is a genuine Yid rather than someone logging from a bunker in Siberia via Amazon cloud or something.
> When I was in school the curriculum was as such that we had to read goyishe novels.
that is in high school, where English is a bog thing. Less in college, unless you major in English or Education, R’L.
CS > TTI is not what The Rebbe meant when he was against college.
indeed. A good first step, but you can do better than that also.> Alter Rebbe discussing how one is metame his brain with learning secular knowledge
I know Yidden who are convinced that Rambam’s science is all from Gemora, and not from goyim of his time. Do you think they understand Rambam?But you need to specify what “secular” knowledge Ball Tanya was talking about. At his time, there was a lot of “anti-religious” secular knowledge.
Are we talking math? show me who is against math.
Physics, chemistry, biology, physiology that study how Hashem runs the world? You can say – to a certain degree, as Torah gives us a better approach to Hashem, but still.
English? I agree on annoying novels. Still, ability to write full sentences and express yourself clearly is useful. Most college classes have 1 or 2 of such classes.
At the end, if you take classes that help you get a productive profession, where you’ll spend part of the day doing chesed (surgery, legal, programming) at the price that you can afford seforim and your children’sschool tuition, and learn the rest of the day.
CS,
thanks for the detailed answer.so Rambam has a page and Gemora has a page, while you spent a shiur for 4 years. Some disbalance? It sounds like your parents are more balanced, and maybe you should follow their advice. Btw, Chofetz Chaim says that, yes, children in our times (1920s) are upset when parents tell them something, but Eliahu will come soon and will explain to children that parents have their best interest in mind and they’ll love their parents for their direction.
We need to stop making gedolim into popes, has ve sholom. Whatever great things Chabad and others were doing secretly in support of remaining Yidden in USSR, there were limits to their power. When students for Soviet Jewry started planning (ultimately successful) public protests in 1960s, they asked advice from R Feinstein, R Teitz, L Rebbe and Rav Soloveichik – all advised against. First 3 primarily because they were afraid of USSR reaction, including physical, based on their own painful experiences. This is documented in memoirs. Someone else asked at Ner Yisroel and got a positive response – that we don’t have preference for shtadlanus v public action, we have preference for whatever works.
Trump is way higher on the jerk scale than on worst scale. The only people who are not happy with his policies are those who would disagree with anything Republican or those who claim that results are good, but he is not the direct cause of them.
If you swapping several phones, you may want to have one of them with a SIM card, a mobile connection and filters and providing hotspot to other phones and computers.
You can also add opendns filters to that hub phone that white or blacklists sites.
there are restrictions for non-US citizen. I heard of people who were not able to board the plane because they had only one of two doses.
from CDC:Updated Apr. 19, 2023
You must show proof of being fully vaccinated with the primary series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine before you board your flight to the United States. Only limited exceptions apply.2 weeks (14 days) after your dose of an accepted single-dose vaccine
2 weeks (14 days) after your second dose of an accepted 2-dose series
2 weeks (14 days) after you received the full series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine (not placebo) in a clinical trial
2 weeks (14 days) after you received 2 doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart*A person who has received only one dose of an accepted 2-dose series and has recovered from COVID-19 does not meet this definition, and therefore is NOT considered fully vaccinated for travel to the United States.
Single dose
Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent
Janssen/J&J
Janssen/J&J
Convidecia (CanSinoBIO)2-dose series
Novavax
Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech)
Spikevax (Moderna)
Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca)
Covaxin
Covishield
BIBP/Sinopharm
CoronaVac (Sinovac)
Nuvaxovid (Novavax)
Covovax
MedicagoDocumentation Type Examples
Verifiable records (digital or paper) Vaccination certificate with QR code1, digital pass via Smartphone application with QR code1 (e.g., United Kingdom National Health Service COVID Pass, European Union Digital COVID Certificate)
Non-verifiable paper records Printout of COVID-19 vaccination record or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued at national or subnational level or by an authorized vaccine provider (e.g., the CDC vaccination card)
Non-verifiable digital records Digital photos of vaccination card or record, downloaded vaccine record or vaccination certificate from official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider), or a mobile phone application without QR code1
1. The QR code in a verifiable vaccination record links to information confirming the credential was generated from an immunization record in an official database and is protected from tampering.All forms of proof of COVID-19 vaccination must have
Personal identifiers (full name plus at least one other identifier such as date of birth or passport number) that match the personal identifiers on the passenger’s passport or other travel documents
Name of official source issuing the record (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider)
Vaccine manufacturer and date(s) of vaccination> most math exam questions, whether in elementary school, high school or in university, are “follow the rules” problems.
this is what counts as math in many places, but that is not what math is.
My personal theory is that after Russkies sent Sputnik, US understood that we can lose the technology race to future missiles just with lawyers, so math was immediately introduced at all levels. Unfortunately, Khan Academy was not there yet, so who were the teachers in all these new classes? Same English teachers and unsuccessful lawyers. This generated a huge wave of people hating math teaching children hating math, and this became the mesorah. This is, l’havdil’ what happens when Jewish community grows, b’H so fast that not-very-educated teachers propagate through educational system, leading to higher minimal level, but not much at higher level.
I double checked w/ Chofetz Chaim – he quotes Gemora in Sanhedrin, saying all you need to prepare is to learn Torah and do chesed.
Yserbius, in the last century Weimar Germany overrun by thugs; several Eastern European countries occupied by Soviet tanks; others having local dictators for decades. Several countries now border Russia and have part of population that might join occupiers. In all of these cases, having well-armed and trained population would be an asset in support of democracy.
Again, we might not support such a system were we represented in the Continental Congress by a couple of Chachamim. But as far as the system exists, let’s use it, and mitigate problems, rather than fight something that has a healthy tzad. So, if you propose changes that lead to more safety without threatening the pro-gun population, you have a chance of progress; otherwise you are just working overtime to support Dem party contribution pitch. This is silly.
I think we all just got comfortable being “consumers” rather than people whom Hashem granted free will. A 100 years ago, half of the children were dying in childhood, world wars were raging, factory workers went unemployed … now, we B’H live decades in peace and prosperity with 24-hour delivery of anything in the world. There is always somebody out there who did not live to our expectations – did not deliver on time, did not create the right medicine … So, nobody had any vaccines against CVs, and suddenly new technology worked out in less than a year – but, sorry, not perfect, just decreasing death rate by 3-6 times …
with that in mind, if you compare overall pandemic statistics, you can see that US death rate is higher than comparable countries, seemingly due to lack of continuing vaccination and probably lack of other protection measures – especially starting 2021 when there was no more Trump to blame, so libs stopped blaming him and started convincing tired public that everything is great now so that nobody notices how many more deaths happened under Biden who did not introduce one useful idea (I don’t think rent and loan cancellations helped anyone’s health).
I’ll take an atheist helping his neighbor to a “frum” person who preaches hating everyone. Avraham preferred mehutonim frmo his family who were avdei A’Z because they had proper middos, the rest can be changed, but not that.
I am confused – to what degree we expect rules to change in bm3? Chofetz Chaim wanted Yidden to learn kedoshim to be ready. Now, we here that radom CR posters will wander around like they are kohanim gedolim as long as they see themselves “on the level”
Avram, I apologize for gaslighting, I am not seriously discussing details of pandemic, just responding to the poster whose opinions consist of praising Russia and blaming US for everything. I am not sure is he a reader of RT, a writer at RT, or just happen to attend a shul with RT watchers.
Yserb > It’s not a slippery slope to mandating limits on consumer ownership .. You’re just restating the “What if the government goes bad?”
It just happens that gun ownership in the population might prevent a dictatorship, while owning lighters and fireworks are less useful.
Just look at current Europe – many countries convinced themselves that there is no international danger and if they buy gas from former bullies everything will be alright… Very knowledgeable people made a mistake … Easy to imagine a similar thing happening inside the country…. electing a bad-meaning President and Congress at the same time and Supreme Court going along, possibly intimidated. Why not to value a mass of gun owners as last resort? It might be argued l’hathila that there are better and safer mechanisms (are there?_) but b’dieved – as history of this country was based on local communities protecting themselves – it is a useful thing to have.
CS,
when Moschiach comes, we – hopefully – all accept him. Before that, you may try to think how you can make the world into a better place rather than idly speculating who M might be. There is no special mitzva to be the best guesser as far as I know.Maybe it will help us (and you yourself) understand your position better if you could describe how it came to your mind to spend time speculating about who M might b. Did you read it in sichos? a yeshiva teacher? your parents? a Gemora? something in Tanach?
it may be “worse” in some senses, but you just need to define what exactly you are talking about. Someone at U Chicago Economics program and someone playing football at U of Alabama are just not comparable. Also, in terms of employmwnt, one had to inspire to be an elite person in 1950s if he ewnt to college, so, frmo Jewish perspective, “most” Yidden did not need it. Certainly L Rebbe and Rav Soloveichik were exception to that.
Nowadays, if you are not in college, you are limited to “heimishe” professions, that has their own downsides in terms of pay and job security and yetzer hara to cheat the government and others as a result. We also have lots of ways to mitigate problems that occur in college.
A large number of people can earn an honest living after getting a degree in a safe way and continue their learning through their life.
Is it interesting how certain people accumulate multiple weird opinions along their travels. Maybe RT has a travel show or something.
Re: L R opinion of college, similarly to R Feinstein’s opinions – we need to differentiate between colleges in different time. 2% of American men (and less of women) were going to college in 1940s and then was growing over time. College of now, in general, is a different thing both in terms of what it teaches, can be very differfent in nature, and also in terms of ways of dealing with it (Chabad houses being one of the great means of mitigating some of the problems)
CS, depends on the college, major and how you pursue it.
If you choose a technical major in a local or online college, use CLEPs and yeshiva classes for electives, you are mostly studying livelihood-related subjects. Parents should be able to guide you around things you don’t need to listen.
If you are going for a liberal arts degree in a fancy college while living in a dorm, then you get a lot of problems inside and outside of the classes
maybe simply look at TaNach? Yona and kikayon.
we seem not to be ready for Moschiach, as everyone producing a candidate list omits people from different groups from their lists – Y v L v MO, etc. Do you expect Moschiach to lead the whole of Jewish pepole or just lead the flame wars on Internet on behalf of your group?!
As death does not seem to be a barrier any more (gilgulim welcome?), maybe we should look at people who are accepted in all corners? Rashi, Ramban, Ramchal, Chofetz Chaim, Jonathan Sacks. There are also several candidates who made an effort to be accepted by broader Jewish community with some success, but, as a result, are less accepted in the yeshivish community despite their credentials. In my count, they qualify by their ability to lead the broader community, but I am not putting their names here to avoid reflexive loshon hora.
We never had so many people in yeshivas and kollelim as we had now. Maybe in the midbar. This is welcome change from 100 years ago, when Chofetz Chaim was calling on Yidden in Poland to teach their kids chumash with Rashi without skipping prokim, form learning groups in shuls, women who can read to read several pages of niddah halochos to those who can’t, and not send kids to anti-religious Jewish schools where they teach stories from Tanach, and suffer being working poor instead of going to far-away countries where they can earn more money.
Still, we are obviously not producing proportional number of Chazon Ishes and Chofetz Chaims, as the small yeshivos of 100 years ago. So, these are obviously different institutions with different goals. Maybe using same name creates confusion in the discussions. Our communities found/decided that it takes 15 years minimum (from pre-K to post-HS yeshiva) or more (with kollel) to make sure our kids are not going OTD and keep enthusiasm for learning, and send their children into the same direction.
Avi, R Soloveichik, similarly, suggests cooperation on world-related issues but not even a conversation about how we relate to Hashem. When discussing possible cooperation in Vatican proceedings where they were expected to change their position to a more positive towards Jews, he writes – we are not negotiating and offering something in exchange. They have a problem that they are trying to fix, they don’t need our presence. Also, they’ll not be ever satisfied by our offers unless we fully convert, so any conversation might lead to more hatred.
Zetruth seem to be nuying lots of theories, mostly describing how bad America is bad to Jews restricting his, Zetruths’ freedoms, while presumably pining for some better times at other empires where we prospered. Can I ask you a question – did you have a world history class in the yeshiva, and if yes, what was your grade?
> davening for a particular non Jewish person is assur
I have sidurim with davening for Emperors Franc Jozef and Nikolai Alkexandrovich and their mishpuchas (with names of wifes and children listed). Are these in contradiction with MA?
Yserb > Did Rav Schneerson ZT”L ever comment on that philosophy vis a vis his time learning in Hildesheimer?
How is it different from R Feinstein Z’L whose daughter studied chemistry and married a future prof. of Biology? There is a difference between what particular people can do and a social policy for the wider community. Most people who went to college in 1940s-70s did not end well Jewish-wise.
interjection>> “you encouraged me to go in this direction” …”
> Are you suggesting this is Lakewood’s fault?it is a joint fault of the schools and yeshivos encouraging the guy into more and more limud (staying a couple of extra years every time he was to go home) and discouraging learning a job, and parents who went along (and paid tuition).
> 3-3×6+2
how about this, towarzysz?
+ 2 – 3 x 3 6R Soloveichik developed an approach of interacting with the non-Jewish religions on the matters of the world – peace, etc, but no dialog on religious matters.
I do eat like chazal. Chazal were observing effects of different foods on health and ate accordingly. I am trying to do the same.
Re: Stalin. His death was a marker after which communism mellowed. Millions of people got released from prisons, some yidden who kept Polish citizenship were able to escape. Did any of the mentioned gedolim claimed thier share? I know of one Rav – R Yitzhok Zilber who claims some credit: he was in the Siberian labor camp and he writes that when he heard the rumor that Stalin was sick, he says “I dropped everything and starting saying tehilim so that the rasha dies, and did not stop until I was told that he did”.
Avira,
in my experience, most of baalei teshuva are from chabad (not necessarily staying Chabad). Maybe my crowd is skewed more towards academic community. There are several good-meaning and donor-funded organizations on campus now that do some classes and trips to Israel, not sure how successful they are. I do not know many (any?) people who walked up a Satmar, Litvishe, or MO shul and became interested. Do you?Zetruth, emes is Hashem’s signet, please don’t assign you to your favorite kook, just because Hashem and authorities dared to inconvenience your lifestyle
Yeridas hadoros, the old ones really knew how to party (Nazi or otherwise). Current one is stum a meshugane.
I would be careful claiming that Rebbe killed Stalin. Why didn’t here do it earlier before millions of people were killed?
> Why does the amount of times a word is used matter?
I just came up with a ridiculous argument, so you know how we feel sometimes.
NYC is a place apart. So, if you are interested in America and have $20, drive across the bridge from our island coungtry.
I once interviewed with Anderson Consulting O’H, and they asked me which of the 2 departments I am interested in – (1) NYC (2) the rest of the world – requirements are very different, you can’t go for both! I chose non-NYC and manners were appalling even there …
Good questions, all. I think there is a boundary somewhere between different minhagim within derech eretz and amhaartzuts. We have gemoras dealing with things like drinking a reviis (not one gulp and not three, Beitza ~ 25), someone should write same for driving. One good place to start is US gov highway survey, do not remember exact name, where they installed cameras in 1000s of cars and then analyzed what was causing accidents. One result: number of sharp stops is a good predictor of accidents.
Maybe, look at accident rates per county v. population density and see where safer drivers live. Obviously, the fact that you live a dangerous place is not an excuse but a reason to be even safer there.
I am not sure which way to argue, I see danger in both lack of protections and too many of them. Middle road is required
> this has already been the case since before the the Great Depression.
the solution was, unfortunately, majority of Yidden not keeping shabbos, so we do need some protections, but not entitlements.A private business should have a right to run the business the way they want. If managing someone with shabbos observance is a tircha for them, we should not demand being hired.
There is already alcohol scanner for the cars. I think it takes a court order. I wonder whether responsible people should install such in their own car, just in case.
Just heard an advertorial on a liberal radio about a company finally making fingerprint reader on the gun. This should solve a lot of problems.
And the lesson is – express yourself carefully – do not use Os for 0s and put parentheses in (2x)/(3y). Mathematicians know that. In Hardy/Littlewood book of math jokes, the professor (Hardy?) writes down an equation:
a x^4 + b x^3 + c x^2 + d x + e (similarly to ax + b, ax^2+bx+c, etc)
and then finds it necessary to add:
when e is any number, not necessarily the ln(1)
and then adds further
although it could take that value.That’s _precision_ of speech.
Indeed, if I remember correctly, gemora wonders how R Yohanan was able to look at them, but not other way around.
richashu, this might be true of “economic conservatives”, but not cultural ones. There are a lot of the latter ones both in goyishe and in Jewish world that are not wasting their time on making money.