Always_Ask_Questions

> while sad, is not a tragedy

R Yaakov Kamenetsky’s son writes against this attitude (about his father). He says that people who think this way do not appreciate that the longer you know the person, the greater the loss.

I can see if someone davens at 10a AND slowly with kavana – that he would need a piece of cake before that. I saw a quote fomr Kotzker who answered his student, a grandson of R Akiva Eger, how to justify the practice to his zeide: Rambam says that if you hire someone to axe your logs and he spends most of the day sharpening the axe and only then using it – he is paid for the whole day. Maynr Kotzker to Rambam specifically due to the kashya of the Rambam above? Anyway, people who don’t get a profession before getting married live in glass houses (if they can afford them) and should not be quoting Rambam they disregard. <Ducking>

Avira, such kallah could finish or almost finish a bachelor degree by the time of getting married, at reasonable cost with loans to be paid over long time or even forgiven eventually if she doesn’t earn much, not sure of details
She can then work a small number of hours at higher rate, exactly what a busy mother needs.

NY is huge not because it is so great that everyone from US moves there. To the opposite, maybe hundred millions arrived there from the other countries, and eighty millions left, the remaining 20 are temporarily stuck on an island before they can afford to buy a car, pay the tolls and cross a bridge to America proper. .. Jews had good historical reasons and fear of assimilation to be stuck in NY for longer, of course, so we move gradually to Elizabeth, Monsey, Stamford, and Lakewood …

N0, maybe we just use different terms. I am not claiming that “he is not afraid”. I am not into hero-worship or similar avoda zara. I see him as Yaftach be’doro … His middos are both the source of his great things and his problems too, like with most people.

I was comfortable – at a time – with Romney’s policies, but he had no heart to fight dirty politics. He was laughed off for claiming that Russia is our biggest enemy – maybe there would be no war at the moment were he a President. While Romney correctly concluded that 47% will vote for handouts, Trump was able to win elections in his own ways, changing calculus of the 47% through his populist inspiration – “what do you have to lose”.

As you just added judges to the long list of his accomplishments, we need to acknowledge the achievements, rather than trying to explain them away just because you do not like the guy personally. It is a very Jewish thing to do, even as it is hard.

Poland, Lita and couple of other small places were exceptions where Jews lived – on average – better and more independent. Germany was similar to the most of Europe – and that is why “Ashekanzim” moved from Germany further East.

Communism was popular among Eastern European Jews at the time when most of them were not under Poland or Lita but under Russian empire, with those countries being “beyond the Pale” and not allowed into Russia proper. They were discriminated against, but still better off than actual Russian serfs.

n0, could you look at your post with a fresh look – you are tying yourself into a pretzel finding far-fetched explanations for each of the cases. In each of them, you agree with the fact, but then find a way to say it was popular, it does not really mean that he did it on purpose, etc.

On Afghanistan, you seem to agree with my thesis, while highlighting that T had doubts too. I agree, I am not trying to paint him as a super-hero.

On embassy, I do not know of evidence that any previous Presidents were bargaining rather than just simply postponing. When T did that, it was met with usual condemnations how stupid and risky it was. Thanks for adding accords to the list. I presume you also discount it for some reason.

NS2 is now seen ass the center of German folly in their accommodating policy towards Russia. T tried to force them to reconsider, Biden caved, making it another factor in Putin’s decision to start the war, planning for no opposition. This is very “consequential”.

ten comm are coming pretty close to what we are supposed bnei Noach to believe. I understand concern for church/state separation, but it is hard to take a position against your own religion for the sake of a constitutional principle. At least, suggest some modification to the stature but just arguing against 10 commandments is plain backwards. Especially, from posters who find some other bill of rights provisions, like 2nd amt, questionable.

Right, cctv might not prevent an attack but it will ensure that the crime will be proven. Whether this is enough of a deterrent will depend 9n the location, time and your barber… if he of the type who might want to steal your car, he’ll be deterred, but if he is a possible jihadi, then maybe you need a mirror..might be awkward though to first look at the barber and then ask for a mirror. Maybe lo plug here and ask for a mirror all the time and not get accused of being a latent racist

huju, my guess – Robert Byrd?

“As no people have the same faces, no people have the same opinions”, said one of the acharonim. So, if you expecting achdus by waiting until everyone else agree with your opinion, you are an obstacle on the way to achdus.

I suggest yeshivish invite some of the gvirim to give seminars on how to emter the business world and to succeed there. Even if, in your opinion, a particular gvir is “keeping up with the joneses”, yeshiva bochrim can take the good from the bad.

Maybe, if someone expand to the gvir about maalos tzedaka and then disclose to him the secret (that is usually not mentioned in the appeals to him) that the biggest tzedoka is to help someone with making a living, the gvir can take some of the more aspiring bochrim as apprentices.

n0,
on Afghanistan: it was reported that T indeed wanted to leave and would have benefited politically and chance his mind based on strong message from his military leaders. Biden did not. T had strong-minded advisors, some disagreeing with him. They were given a chance to express them, and – in some cases – he listened. B has non-leaders in key positions, who do not confront him when needed, or are not capable of forming independent opinions.

On embassy: classic pattern of ingratitude. He did something we were asking for, everyone was telling him how wrong he was, but we still have reasons to not be grateful. Try to look at this without a bias.

I agree that T may not have an overarching theory of government, the way Reagan (“I am from the government …”) or Obama (“you did not build it”) were. He is more a transactional guy, focused on a particular deal and making it work. Say, explain a simple thing: why was T trying to stop Russian pipeline and got some concessions from Germans, and B reversed the course (and so did Germans after B won).

coffee, reading and quoting other religions ls also annoying, even if it is also a comic.

You are missing something here in this jarring comparisons: Trump voters forgive his quirks for the attractive sides he brings: dismissing establishment, doing things others were afraid, etc. Biden had only one attraction – that he is a safe choice. Now, turns out a safe choice has corrupt connections, can not even retreat troops from a 3rd world country, etc.

Jackk, I would be interested to hear your opinion about what is in the report, but you seem to be rehashing your opinions without reading it. Is it some sort of denial mechanism that you are protecting yourself from a cognitive dissonance?

I am too lazy to scroll up to see what was mentioned, but last page of Sotah mentions halochos that are different for “karov l’malchus” learning hochmas yavanit by R’ Gamliel’s students, a goyishe haircut ….

Jackk, yes, gov agencies that have extraordinary powers over citizens have laws and policies to keep them straight. For example, FISA applications to allow surveillance of US citizens have special forms with specific questions that need to be verified and signed by several people. In this case, it appears that some of these questions were answered based on not looking at them, some people were routinely signing them presuming others checked them out, some were given to junior people who did not understand what they were doing. The FBI agent who was found guilty put into the form the inverse of what he was told. And multiple cases, where they act because the senior leadership is asking them daily – “Nu?”, and opposite for Hillary investigation.

In one case, when agents realized that all the information about, I think, Carter Page was not supported – they AGAIN renewed fake FISA, justifying it by – let’s verify that this is all wrong and clear his name. This is totally against the rules – they are not charged with investigating someone until “proven innocent”.

One interesting conclusion is that the whole saga was started by Mrs. Ohr bringing fake info from Justice dept to her British employer, who then resold that back to US via … Mr. Ohr and then used to trigger investigation.

Note that all of this is NOT an indictment of a typical FBI agent. Most of T investigations was done by the headquarters taking over the investigation instead of regular offices – a highly irregular thing, and therefore there was no “chain of command” supervision.

I don’t want to go through everything – you would not believe me anyway, and I can mix it up. I would suggest that you do this exercise yourself – just read first 20 pages of the summary, and then scroll to some random places and tell us what you think.

Computations were not that hard. After you shoot an object, trajectories follow laws of physics, there is no wind or rain to confuse in the space.

Trajectories of the planets were computed so precisely a couple of centuries ago, so that the planets that were not yet seen were predicted by the variations of the paths of the visible planets.

I am, like Neville, puzzled why Yidden would care about some King, but I agree with anon Jew that it is your business, and especially your Rabanut, how to deal with the powers of your country. But there seems to be a strong recent tradition here, and everywhere, for people with little knowledge to disregard opinion of experts whether it is politics, beis din, medicine etc. This just shows how ‘modern” we are, even those of us who proclaim that they are most traditional. Would a Yid who lived in a Hungarian shtetl 700 years ago send their advice to Beis din in spain? I don’t think so, and he should not start now.

Not being boke in this, I googled a little. It seems that Ohr Sameach considered Balfour declaration sufficient for matir nedorim. I wonder whether we have statements on Oaths from other gedolim shortly from pre-state time, without being colored with later history. Any info?

Chofetz Chaim was for political separation from anti-religious Jewish groups in Poland, but I do not see him decreeing against those who went to EY (and he almost went himself, if not his wife’s sickness). Indeed, from his description it seems that anti-religious pressure among Polish Jewry was not different from EY. Seems that some here oppose Zionists more than Bundists or Communists. Not sure, why.

Avira > Anothet rebbe of mine held that once they’re violated, the act is done,

Ok, great, so your Rebbe (no name for this opinion!?) is looking at the same issue I was thinking about. I was trying to show that there was no violation under Turkish/British government, so it was nolad b’heter. Your rebbe seem to count from 1948, but it was not the time when masses of Yidden entered EY, it was done before. Now, maybe you can address my sevora then.

I suggest reading the short 300 page Durham repo issued today.
Describes in plain terms how senior leaders at fbi misbehaved in creating Trump investigations while being afraid of Hillary because she might bear a grudge after the election. If you are a real liberal, you should be mad how these people damaged your cause by their lies.

n0 >So he is saying that we should continue supplying Ukraine with weapons. Were you trying to misquote or not?

right, I am pointing out that Ze is misquoting, or, more likely, reading some source that misquoted. I this misquote in Iranian news, for example. I hope Ze will clarify what her sources was, and we can learn something from that.

I guess a lesson for politicians is – speak precisely so that you can not be misquoted…

In many states, you can buy electrons from a list of companies. Sounds like, people should buy ot Sun to Fri from that Yid, but shabbos from someone else.