anIsraeliYid

CTL – I’m kind of curious as to why the change in deductibility of state and local taxes impacted your overall taxes so significantly. I’ve not yet done my taxes (still waiting for information from certain partnerships), but based on my experience, many (if not most) middle-to-upper income individuals were in AMT in the past – where the SALT deduction is added back – which mitigated the effect of the new limitation. Of greater import is the loss of the personal and dependent exemptions, particularly if one itemizes and therefore does benefit from the higher standard deduction, or had many dependents who are above the age for the child tax credit – but the exemption was subject to a phase-out, so impact is also limited for higher-income individuals. As such, I’m wondering (professional curiosity – I’m a tax professional, though in the corporate area) what the main driver was for your increased liability?

an Israeli Yid

“The Mekubal Mantra”, by an anonymous author:

What should you give to your mekubal?
Every dollar, every Rubel
Every shekel, every lira,
Sell your dishes, sell your dira
Brachos, brachos they will bring
Go hock your spouse’s wedding ring
Brachos come to all our givers
You have no cash? Go sell your livers
Give us euros and you’ll merit
Bill Gates croaks and you inherit
Gimme, gimme all your moolah
And I’ll pray for your segulah
We’re gatekeepers of G-d’s castle
Grease our palms; you’re in, no hassle
Some are skeptics, that’s so tragic
How can you doubt mekubal magic?
Your destiny we are controlling
Your payments get the brachos rolling
In the future (which we can foresee)
You’ll transfer all your cash to me

I’m not the author, but am sharing with the author’s permission.

an Israeli Yid

Oh, boy…

an Israeli Yid

El Al’s policy is not to fly on Shabbos, and in fact, the flight that was diverted to Athens did NOT fly on Shabbos (the other flight was given a Psak to continue). As long as one is prepared to be stuck in an airport over Shabbos if necessary, why should someone – who for various reasons, can not fly on Wednesday – not take a Thursday flight?

There are a significant number of Israelis who are “commuters” – their families are in Israel, while they work in the US (or Europe), who fly home for Shabbos every week. For people like that, leaving Wednesday is not an option. So please, don’t be so judgemental about the situation.

an Israeli Yid (who frequently flies on Thursday night, with emergency supplies in my hand luggage)

A little closer to home (for those who live in New York) – how does the Democratic takeover of the NYS Senate impact Simcha Felder? He single-handedly gave the Republicans control of the Senate over the past several months, even though he’s officially a Democrat. Now that the Democrats are in control and don’t need him, how likely are they to take revenge?

Not good for the Frum community.

an Israeli Yid

Syag – you clearly have a different view, and are not going to be convinced. I continue to believe you are incorrect, particularly when (a) the camp says up front that it is expected to tip the waiters amount X, and (b) the waiters are not only not paid by the camp, they are actually charged for the privilege of working there, with the expectation that the tips received will cover that amount. I suppose the camp could have just raised the fee by $50 per camper and then not charged the waiters, but would that really put parents in a different place? This way, there is an incentive for the waiters to provide good service, and there will always be some individuals who tip more than the recommended amount – so there is an upside for the waiters as well.

As to your comment that I don’t know how you live – you are correct. You also don’t know how I live now, and under what circumstances I grew up – so your comment is really out of line. We are two anonymous individuals on the internet commenting on a general issue, and we should make sure to convey our views logically and respectfully.

an Israeli Yid

I worked as a waiter in a learning camp when I was youinger. The camp charged me for the summer, albeit a reduced fee – however, the only way I was able to cover even that reduced fee was using the $$$ I received in tips – and the camp knew this. The camp also put out that Rav Yakov ZT”L had said that not tipping the waiter in camp was a form of Gezel, as the tip was expected at the time the work was done.

I can truly say that to this day, decades later, I can still recall several individuals who did not tip – as well as several specific individuals who were particularly generous. One thing that really sticks in my mind is one of my tables where one of the guys had worked as a waiter himself a few years earlier. That table in particular was generous in tipping, and the former waiter came over to me to ask me to let him know if anyone there had not tipped, as he’d approach them about it – he said that since he’d been in that position hiself previously, he knew how hard we worked and how much it stung when no tip was given.

I can say that even now, years later, I remain sensitive to those who rely on tips, and tend to tip more generously than most (even when it was a financial strain), since I know how much it means to them.

an Israeli Yid

JJ2020 – a perfect example of this is Elie Wiesel’s “Prayer for the Days of Awe” –

A Prayer for the Days of Awe
By Elie Wiesel
Published: October 02, 1997
Master of the Universe, let us make up. It is time. How long can we go on being angry?
More than 50 years have passed since the nightmare was lifted. Many things, good and less
good, have since happened to those who survived it. They learned to build on ruins. Family life
was re-created. Children were born, friendships struck. They learned to have faith in their
surroundings, even in their fellow men and women. Gratitude has replaced bitterness in their
hearts. No one is as capable of thankfulness as they a
re. Thankful to anyone willing to hear their
tales and become their ally in the battle against apathy and forgetfulness. For them every moment
is grace.
Oh, they do not forgive the killers and their accomplices, nor should they. Nor should you,
Master of t
he Universe. But they no longer look at every passer
–
by with suspicion. Nor do they
see a dagger in every hand.
Does this mean that the wounds in their soul have healed? They will never heal. As long as a
spark of the flames of Auschwitz and Treblinka glow
s in their memory, so long will my joy be
incomplete.
What about my faith in you, Master of the Universe?
I now realize I never lost it, not even over there, during the darkest hours of my life. I don’t
know
why I kept on whispering my daily prayers, and those one reserves for the Sabbath, and for the
holidays, but I did recite them, often with my father and, on Rosh ha
–
Shanah eve, with hundreds
of inmates at Auschwitz. Was it because the prayers remaine
d a link to the vanished world of my
childhood?
But my faith was no longer pure. How could it be? It was filled with anguish rather than fervor,
with perplexity more than piety. In the kingdom of eternal night, on the Days of Awe, which are
the Days of Jud
gment, my traditional prayers were directed to you as well as against you, Master
of the Universe. What hurt me more: your absence or your silence?
In my testimony I have written harsh words, burning words about your role in our tragedy. I
would not repeat
them today. But I felt them then. I felt them in every cell of my being. Why did
you allow if not enable the killer day after day, night after night to torment, kill and annihilate
tens of thousands of Jewish children? Why were they abandoned by your Crea
tion? These
thoughts were in no way destined to diminish the guilt of the guilty. Their established culpability
is irrelevant to my ”problem” with you, Master of the Universe. In my childhood I did not expect
much from human beings. But I expected everyt
hing from you.
Where were you, God of kindness, in Auschwitz? What was going on in heaven, at the celestial
tribunal, while your children were marked for humiliation, isolation and death only because they
were Jewish?
These questions have been haunting me
for more than five decades. You have vocal defenders,
you know. Many theological answers were given me, such as: ”God is God. He alone knows
what He is doing. One has no right to question Him or His ways.” Or: ”Auschwitz was a
punishment for European Je
wry’s sins of assimilation and/or Zionism.” And: ”Isn’t Israel the
solution? Without Auschwitz, there would have been no Israel.”
I reject all these answers. Auschwitz must and will forever remain a question mark only: it can
be conceived neither with G
od nor without God. At one point, I began wondering whether I was
not unfair with you. After all, Auschwitz was not something that came down ready
–
made from
heaven. It was conceived by men, implemented by men, staffed by men. And their aim was to
destroy n
ot only us but you as well. Ought we not to think of your pain, too? Watching your
children suffer at the hands of your other children, haven’t you also suffered?
As we Jews now enter the High Holidays again, preparing ourselves to pray for a year of peace
and happiness for our people and all people, let us make up, Master of the Universe. In spite of
everything that happened? Yes, in spite. Let us make up: for the child in me, it is unbearable to
be divorced from you so long.
Elie Wiesel, a professor in th
e humanities at Boston University, was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize in 1986.

In the book Lieutenant Birnbaum, Meir Birnbaum relates how he became close to a Rebbe (I think the Bluzhever, but I could be wrong) after the war when he was serving in the DP camps. When the Rebbe was given permission to go to the US, while Lt. Birnbaum was still remaining in Europe, Lt. Birnbaum asked the Rebbe whom he should go to for Brachos, now that the Rebbe would not be near him. The Rebbe responded, “When you go into a Shul and see a man wrapping his Tefilin over a tattooed number – go over and ask him for a Bracha. Anyone who went through the hell of the camps and still puts on Tefilin is someone worthy of having his brachos answered.”

So no, I don’t judge. I can only look in awe at those who went through that and stayed Frum, and thank G-d that I was not so tested.

an Israeli Yid

The Psak that I received was that unmarried girls should absolutely light the Menorah – and not as “chinuch”, but as the basic “Mehadrin min haMehadrin” according to the Ashkenazi view. To recap the levels described for the Mitzva:

1. Basis – one candle each night for the whole household.

2. Mehadrin – one candle each night for each member of the household.

3. Mehadrin min haMehadrin (Ashkenazi) – each member of the household lights a number of candles equal to the night of of Chanuka.

Based on the above, the Mehadrin and Mehadrin min haMehadrin require EACH MEMBER of the household – whether male or female – to light. There is grounds for a married woman to not light if her husband does on account of “ishto kegufo”, but that only applies to a married woman – single women are no different from men with respect to this particular Mitzva. Accordingly, all of my daughters light, but my wife does not.

an Israeli Yid

The difference seems to be the level of chashivus given to the non-Torah portion of the equation. Torah im derech eretz has Torah – along with derech eretz (secular studies). Torah u’mada has Torah and science – both of them equal or near-equal.

This is not the way all followers of YU view it, and there is definite overlap between the two philosophies – but that’s a simplified description of the differences.

an Israeli Yid

Lilmod – the Rav I asked was Rav Belsky, ZT”L, and his psak was for a specific situation. Rav Belsky was pretty mainstream, and was definitely someone to rely upon, but the psak was for a specific situation – so as noted in my earlier post, please ask your own Rav for a psak in your situation.

an Israeli Yid

Winnie – given that the OP is likely American (this is, after all, an English-language board), the “neighborhood” Beis Ya’akovs could well be not what they’re looking for. As an RBS resident, though, I can agree with most of the rest of what you posted – but there are a few schools on the list that I’d not recommend due to specific incidents that I’m aware. The OP should speak with someone local and knowledgeable in person to get additional details – a public forum such as this is not the place to discuss these (and it would be considered Lashon Harah in any case – while it is definitely l’toeles for the OP).

Re: calling Rav Kornfeld – he is definitely one of the people to talk to, but I’d recommend speaking with others as well. I have great respect for Rav Kornfeld, but his Shitta is rather rigid – and I know people who have had issues with some of the places he’s recommended on account of the school’s lack of understanding of a more American mentality. Another Rav to speak with is Rabbi Danny Meyers or Menorat HaMaor, or Rav Chaim Soloveichik of Ohr Shalom, both of whom will also give input based on what the individual in question is looking for

As to Shopping613’s comment on Magen Avot – sorry, but you must be thinking of someplace else. Firstly, Magen Avot is only an elementary school, so there are no Bagruyot, and second, most boys there go to either Yeshivot Ketanot once they finish, or to places like Ma’arava, Nehora, or the Mesivta, all of which are considered Chareidi Yeshivot Tichoniot. The general path after any of the Yeshivos in question is to a Yeshiva Gedola, not the army – though some do, of course, go to the army after some time in Yeshiva.

Good luck, and remember that it’s more important to get the child into the right school for him or her, rather than the “best” school – after all, Shlomo Hamelech, the wisest of all men, is the one who said “chanoch lana’ar al pi darko”. Don’t make the mistake of trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

an Israeli Yid

Assurnet – I am the father of a soldier in the Israeli army who is very similar to Elor Azaria – he’s also a Sargent and a medic in Kfir, though in a different battalion. My son’s reaction was that while the terrorist definitely deserved to die, it was not Sgt. Azaria’s place to act as judge, jury, and executioner, and his story about how he was afraid there might be a suicide vest was not credible. As such, while I definitely sympathize with Sgt. Azaria, and on a personal level agree with what he did, it clearly seems that he violated open fire rules, and the army, as a body that only works and is able to function properly based on discipline, had no choice but to charge and try him for violating orders.

That being said, I hope the consequences to him are minimal, and that he is soon able to get on with his life – since, as you say, all soldiers are “our children”.

an Israeli Yid

In response to the OP – there are specific sections that are allowed to be skipped in extenuating circumstances, including when one is pressed for time. If you are in contact with an Orthodox Rabbi, I strongly suggest you raise this issue with him. If you are not able to do so, a basic English-language Halachic text may give some guidance – I know there is an English version of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch out there, and I believe he may address this issue.

Good luck,

an Israeli Yid

Hmm, I wonder what all the Sruga-bashers have to say about the knit Yarmulkas worn by the Rav Arelach? Just sayin’…

an Israeli Yid (currently in CHU”L, where it’s not yet Shabbos)

One reason people stand on the side is to avoid turning one’s back on the Sefer Torah – which is often being held by the one who did Hagbah directly behind the Bima, in such a way that if one stood at the center of the Bima, he would have his back direcly opposite teh Sefer Torah. By standing on the side of the Bima, this possible lack of Kavod for a Sefer Torah is avoided.

I’ve been in Shuls where, after the Sefer Torah is wrapped, they put it back on the Bima specifically to avoid this issue. They use a Klaf for the Haftara, and the Ba’al Koreh does stand in the front of the Bima (though not in the middle – the Sefer Torah takes up some space) when he Leins the Haftara. When there were three Sifrei Torah used on a Shabbos, and there was not enough space on the Bima for all three and the Klaf, they had someone sit with the third sefer, and the Ba’al Koreh moved to the side of the Bima to lein so as not to turn his back on any of the Sifrei Torah.

an Israeli Yid

LF – there are clearly a number of respected Poskim who allow shaking hands in a business setting, as well as a number who do not. If one is asked why they do/don’t shake hands when Moshe Cohen, an Orthodox Jew, does the opposite, the best thing to say is that there are different authorities and views, and he follows a different view. It’s not a big deal, and I’ve never had an issue using this reason in a number of contexts (including explaining why Chasidim don’t shave, while other Orthodox Jews do).

As to what to say when not shaking hands – one thing I heard many years ago is that one who does not shake a woman’s hand should say “I’m sorry, but for religious reasons, my wife doesn’t shake hands with men, and I don’t shake hands with women”. By phrasing it that way, you hopefully avoid insult by making it clear that the issue is not that you consider women unclean or beneath you – the restriction cuts both ways.

an Israeli Yid

mw13 – Apology accepted.

Note that the Psak I received (which I have not disclosed) was not a “hearsay” Psak – I personally asked Rav Belsky the She’ela when I was starting to look for a job after spending time in Torah Voda’as’s Kolel. He gave me a Psak based on my personal circumstances, and went through both his reasoning and its application in various situations. When “new” situations came up, I’d call him up to clarify, and he was always gracious and accommodating with his time.

As to the Piskei Halacha of Rav Belsky brought by Rabbi Moishe Dovid Lebovits – you should note that these are often somewhat simplified, and I’d hesitate to treat them as definitive Halacha L’Ma’ase. I mean no disrespect to Reb Moishe Dovid (whom I know from my time in Yeshiva), but I was in Rav Belsky’s Chulin Shiur for two years (part of the Smicha program), and remained close to him thereafter – and some things brought in Reb Moishe Dovid’s writings do not convey the nuance of Piskei Halacha that Rav Belsky explained in Shiur. That’s why it is so important for people to go ask individual She’elos directly from a Rav.

an Israeli Yid

Thank you, YW Moderator-29.

I’m happy to share general Halachic discussions and “public” Piskei Halacha. Ones that are based on personal circumstances are nobody’s business (especially not a Yenta/provocateur like Joseph).

an Israeli Yid

Joseph – In such cases, I followed the Psak of my Rav – as every Shomer Torah uMitzvos should do.

an Israeli Yid

To the OP:

If you’re just going to reject reliable third-party reports on the status of Israel, there is no point in continuing this conversation.

As one who has had the Zechus to live in Israel for just about the last 15 years, I can assure you that your “observations” are laguhable.

Oh – and just FYI – the OECD stats measure things like GDP, which is a masure of economic output – not amounts remitted by expats or donors. Israel does pretty well by that standard too.

I wish you a good life.

an Israeli Yid

You know, it’s pretty funny how people mention “facts” about life in Israel that have no basis in reality. The OP, for example, describes an Israeli as someone who “doesn’t feel relaxed, he is stressed, tense, nervous”. In fact, Israel ranked 11th in the world in the 2016 “happiness index” – ahead of the US, which ranked 13th.

Poverty is another made-up statistic – the OP says that “more than half its citizens are living in serious poverty”. In fact, the poverty rate in Israel is just under 21% – admittedly too high (the OECD average is 11%, while the US is at about 17%), but far from “more than half”.

The OP also refer to Chareidim as “REAL Jews”, implying that all other Jews are somehow less than “real”. I hate to break it to you, but that’s not the Halachic criteria for being Jewish – and in fact, not even the majority of Shomrei Torah uMitzvos in the world are Chareidi.

As to the preservation of churches – there are several points that the OP ignores. Firstly, it is not clear at all that Christianity is Halachic Avoda Zara for a non-Jew. The problematic belief (which is absolute Avoda Zara for a Jew) is that there is a “partnership” – Shituf – with HKB”H. There are many poskim amongst the Rishonim who hold that for a non-Jew, such belief does not rise to the level of Avoda Zara. There’s also the fact that if Jews in Israel started demolishing churches there, they’d be endangering not only themselves, but Jews everywhere in the world. As such, there is firm Halachic grounding for the approach of the Israeli government on this issue.

None of the above is to say that the State of Israel, in its current form, is perfect – there is clearly much to improve. That being said, the OP’s negative attitude is, in many ways, worse than that of the Meraglim – they at least first praised the land before reporting the negatives, and they did not make things up completely the way the OP did.

Tova HaAretz Me’od Me’od – the land is a gift to us from HKB”H, and we should look at it that way. We accept the generous gift, and will continue to work to bring it to its full potential, unlike those who sit on the side and whine.

an Israeli Yid

The term “Dati” is used to mean what would be called “Orthodox” in the US – which runs the gamut from barely Shomer Shabbos to Satmar. There are subdivisions is Israel, as there are in the US – including “Dati Lite”, which would be the very left wing of the spectrum, and “Chareidi”, which is NOT the same as American Yeshivish, though the “uniform” of black hat/black suit/white shirt is the same (American Yeshivish is generally much more open to secular/professional education and working with the outside world than Israeli Chareidi). That’s the reason many American Yeshivish Olim have issues, particularly with their children, when they move to Israel – they think they are Chareidi and send their children to Chareidi schools, but find that the Hashkafa of the school is not the same as the Hashkafa in the home, leading to confusion and, at times, rebellion.

In Israel, you also have “Torani”, or “Dati Le’umi Torani”, which are the very Frum Dati Le’umi – who can be just as Makpid on Shmiras Torah u’Mitzvos as the Frumest Chareidi, but have a different Hashkafa – they tend to view the existence of the State of Israel, or at a minimum, the widespread return of Jews to historic Eretz Yisrael, as having religious significance, and act accordingly. That’s part of the reason you don’t really have this group in Chu”l – for them, living in Israel has such religious significance, they would not consider living outside of it.

There are, of course, those who are on the borders of various groups – Chardal, or Chareidi Le’umi, who are somewhat between Chareidi and Dati Le’umi, though there can be significant overlap between this group and Torani. And, as we all know – two Jews, three opinions – so all feel free to create their own unique “group” that they alone to belong to…

an Israeli Yid

You know, it’s amazing how Satmar believes that Hashgacha Pratis only applied until 1948. After that, per their view, all the open Nissim that took place in Israel aren’t Hashgacha Pratis – they’re Ma’ase Satan.

I have an uncle that lived in Chevron before 1929 – and his views were quite different from those quoted above. Also, for those who claim that Jews lived so well in Arab countries – why don’t you look into the Damascus blood lible (in the 1800s), or various other “Farhuds” (pogroms)? You have your views, and no contrary facts will change your mind. You can follow your Rav, but don’t denigrate those who follow theirs – including Rav A.Y. Kook ZT”L and his successors.

an Israeli Yid (currently in CHU”L, where it’s not yet Shabbos)