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Neville, actually it is 3.25%. the idea is to give minorities a say and the possibility of defending their interests. This is also a form of democracy and exists in some European countries. There are also some countries where one house of the legislature is elected by proportional representation and one by the winner-take-all method (which means that 49.9% of the voters might be disenfranchised and encourages gerrymandering).
CTL, you are correct. The GOP has consistently been against slavery. It doesn’t matter if they masters are plantation owners or leftist bureaucrats.
CTL,
1. Andrew Johnson was elected VP in 1864. Lincoln’s first VP was Hannibal Hamlin of Maine.
2. The GOP did not spend Johnson’s entire term trying to impeach him. He was not impeached until 1868. After that there were no more moves to impeach him. Giving him trouble is another matter. That is part of the system of checks and balances.The American government was supposed to represent the Aristotelian ideal of a combination of democracy (the House), oligarchy (the Senate – which was originally chosen by the state legislatures) and monarchy (POTUS). It has the advantage of stability but the disadvantage of a very unpopular POTUS staying until the end of his term (although the Congress can thwart him by refusing to pass his legislation and overriding his vetoes).
CTL, you should go back. Lincoln’s first VP was Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. AJ was his running mate when he run for re-election. Moreover, back then the GOP was the more liberal party and those who wanted impeachment (as well as a hard line towards the South) were called radical Republicans. At that time the VP was not considered to be an assistant POTUS but mainly the person who presided over the Senate. In fact, it was not clear who would succeed William Henry Harrison. John Tyler decided by himself although some thought that he should be called “Acting President”.
Lucy, please learn proper English. It is “than”.
CTL, in some parliamentary systems there is no President. There is a monarch who serves as head of state. In France the President (currently Macron) has much more power than the PM – whom he appoints.
C A, DV was a talmid who delved to deeply into the Force and was trapped by the Dark (Other) Side. It would be interesting to know if there was others. Perhaps one died and another went insane.
Yserbius, Obi-Wan Kenobi describes the Force as “an energy field created by all living things” in Star Wars. In The Phantom Menace, Qui-Gon Jinn says microscopic lifeforms called midi-chlorians, which exist inside all living cells, allow some characters to be Force-sensitive; characters must have a high enough midi-chlorian count to feel and use the Force [Wikipedia]. This sounds like a scientific principle to me.
Mod, why did you delete my comment about Elisha ben Abuya? Is not discussing him a new chumra?
Every Democrat in the US will enter the primaries and all the dirt from kindergarten will be aired (e.g. Ploni threw a crayon at a girl – incipient misogyny). They will also play “Can You Top This” a.k.a. “Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who is the biggest leftist of them all?”. Trump will win in a landslide, the DP will disintegrate and Pence/Haley will win in 2024.
CTL,
1. Maybe your committee agreed but nobody else did – including the candidates who will probably multiply in the coming year.
2. I just saw an article in The Hill predicting that more leftist Dems in the House will push for impeachment. This will create a media circus with a boomerang effect.
3. You have not responded to my contention that the candidates will be goaded into staking out positions further and further to the left. This will scare moderate voters into Trump’s camp. The same thing happened in 2016. Hillary was ahead by ten points in the polls until she made a speech in which she declared war on religious freedom. This was even too much for The Washington PostRY, what would you say is a smart insult? I heard from one of his talmidim that Rav Gustman said that in Grodno one could hurl any insult on one’s chevruta except “baal bayit”.
CTL,
1. Refua sheleima.
2. I predict that each Democrat will find something wrong another did in elementary school and/or so much try to stake out an even more Leftist position (now that Fake Pocahontas is calling for reparations for blacks someone will have to offer the country back to descendants of the original inhabitants) that Trump will win in landslide and the DP will go the way of the Whig Party.LOTR, a Zionist is someone who subscribes to Jewish Nationalism. He supports the State of Israel while disagreeing, sometimes strongly, with some government policies. He should also at least want to make aliya as soon as possible. He does not fight with Chareidim. Some of them fight but they are just proving how much they should enlist in the IDF.
Laskern, he was a descendant of the Tzanzer Rebbe. Rabbi Abahu says (Chulin 63b) that the ראה (a type of hawk) is called that because he sits in Bavel and sees a נבלה in EY. The Tzanzer says that there is nothing more unclean than that.
Sam, Hashem wants us to be His partner. That is why He made wheat grow and not bread.
Klugeryid, your screen name must be sage nahor. First of all, a screen name has nothing to do with context. Do you think that Joseph, for example, always writes about people named Joseph? I presume that RG is the wife of a rabbi named Golden (or considers him to be a rabbi).
RY, why not? In high school I took a course called the History and Development of Science. Several books have been written about famous scientists and mathematicians. Einstein’s letters are sold at auction for millions.
There is no RGP. She is RG and she is looking for a better screen name, Apparently I have to post this four hundred times.
Neville,
1. Actually she is RG. “Pick a better screen name” is an addition.
2. I was referring to Chazal’s dictum כל הפוסל במומו פוסל.Neville, if you read her screen name carefully you will see that she is Rebbetzin Golden. She also challenges us (or herself) to pick a better screen name. Now you tell us. Is this thread trolling?
Rav Kahane said that the big test of emuna was going to a double header at Yankee Stadium and knowing that you can’t eat the franks. Now it is not true. I even saw a picture of the bassari stand with a sign “Chassidishe shechita”.
I cannot answer better than Rav Nota Schiller. Pook chazi.
At one time the Jews were so dominant in Solonika that the port was closed on Shabbat. It was also the temporary home of Rav Yosef Caro before he made aliya. Almost the entire community was murdered in Auschwitz.
Charlie,
RO’s pesak was only for those Sephardim who don’t say a beracha when it’s a minhag (some say לקרוא את ההלל and לגמור את ההלל on the הלל שלם). RG, on the other hand, considered it a combination of Torah and rabbinic obligation in accordance with the Chatam Sofer (Orach Chaim 208) who writes:
“Commemorating the miracles which saved us from death which occurred on Purim, Chanuka, and the days enumerated in the Megillat Ta’anit is certainly mi-de’oraita… However, the quality and amount of commemoration is mi-derabbanan.”For a general discussion see Yom Ha-Atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim by Rav David Brofsky on the website of Yeshivat Har Etzion (from which the above quote was taken).
CTL,
1. Liberals want to tax. Socialists want to take away but still have free elections. It does not matter how they do it. As Daniel Webster and John Marshall said in McCulloch v. Maryland</em? the unlimited power to tax is the power to destroy.
2. Actually there are several like her. They are the future (or end) of the Democratic Party. Joe Biden is the Great Moderate Hope and he will be a couple of weeks short of 78 on Election Day 2020. Nancy Pelosi is 78 and Dianne Feinstein is just short of 76.Apushatayid, the CS and others I cited seem to not like buying sturdy homes in shmutz la’aretz in general. From what I know of Jewish history I would imagine though that luxurious homes for them (and certainly in Radin – the CC also condemns luxurious living and says that it leads to cheating in business and worse to keep up when times turn tough) were not very big. I know someone whose parents made aliya from the Carpathian region (I think that he was also born there but came a small child), He described their description of the town as “a hole”.
Apushatayid and Funnybone, I thought that expressing disapproval of other people’s actions is the purpose of the CR. As for tzarut ayin, would you say that the Chatam Sofer had that characteristic? I still have not found the exact location of the teshuva but I did find that The Shela Hakadosh, writes (at the end of Masechet Sukkah): “I willThe Shela Hakadosh, writes (at the end of Masechet Sukkah) “The Shela Hakadosh, writes (at the end of Masechet Sukkah): “I will
disclose something that has always troubled me greatly. I have seen Jews building homes like the fortresses of princes, making themselves permanent, these worldly dwellings in impure lands. (I have observed that) it is their intention to leave these homes as an inheritance to their children after them! This appears to be, Gd forbid, an abandonment of the idea of geula. Therefore, even if Gd gives you wealth, build simple houses, to accommodate your bare worldly dwellings in impure lands.”
The Keli Yakar, as well, says on Bereishis 47: “Many are the ignorant Jews who settle in the lands of other nations. They build themselves splendid, secure houses – homes built of stone, buildings meant to
endure. For this reason, they never turn to Hashem with all their hearts to ask that He return them to their Land. Therefore, the Almighty leaves them there.”Anyway, I’m the conservative Republican who believes in property rights. Democrats like AOC would take away CTL’s house and give it to seventeen illegal immigrant families.
CTL, on the contrary, it is good for kids to learn to be considerate of others. When they grow up they will have to be considerate of neighbors, coworkers, etc. My parents, for example, only allowed us to play board games in the apartment and when my father z”l took me to the park on Sun mornings I could not talk until we were out of the building out of consideration for neighbors who wanted to sleep late. For an example of what consideration will do (other than the obligation itself) click <a href=”https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/1711100/mailbag-kiddush-hashem-in-jackson.html
“>here.Funnybone, I cannot find the teshuva right now (b”n I will look later when I have more time) but it is quoted in To Dwell in the Palace p. 82, which you can access on Google (it is now a Google book).
Joseph, the Chatam Sofer adds that someone who builds such a house in Chul shows that that he does not believe that we will go back to EY (or does not want to).
CTL, what’s wrong with sharing a room? I shared a room with my brother until I was 20 and he was 17. Then our grandmother passed away and he moved into her room.
Joseph, if he is definitely a Jew then the chametz is definitely prohibited. If he is only a safek Jew it is permitted as it is a safek d’rabbanan.
Joseph, Rambam, Hilchot Nachalot 6,9.
העכו”ם יורש את אביו דבר תורה, אבל שאר ירושותיהן מניחין אותו לפי מנהגם.Joseph, a goy’s son inherits him mi d’Oraita so if he has a son it is now his. If not, it goes according to secular law (Rambam, Hilchot Nachalot 6,9).
Rebbetzin, you may have a problem. Even if there is a clause requiring him to pay by a certain time it might be an oness that stops the clock. This is a sugiya regarding a conditional gett (Gittin 30a). Ask your LOR.
Rebbetzin, regarding the halacha, the Business Halacha Institute wrote:
“Shomrim / Guardians #12
Q: What are the responsibilities of a guardian for chametz on Pesach?A: The owner of the chametz violates the prohibition of possessing chametz, even if it is entrusted to another. In addition, the guardian also violates the prohibition of possessing chametz if he accepted responsibility for it, even if it belongs to a gentile (O.C. 440:1; Mishnah Berurah 443:14).
If neither the owner nor the guardian sold the chametz, it becomes prohibited and has to be destroyed. Therefore, if the owner hasn’t sold the chametz, the guardian should sell it in time, both to avoid the prohibition and to prevent the loss (C.M. 292:17-18; O.C. 443:2).
There is a dispute whether the guardian carries legal liability if he neglected to sell the chametz. Some say that the guardian is considered negligent, so even a shomer chinam is liable; some say that only a shomer sachar is liable, since he has a greater responsibility to protect the item. Many maintain that the guardian is not liable, because he accepted responsibility only to guard the chametz, not to sell it. [It is questionable whether this logic would apply nowadays, when it is customary to sell the chametz before Pesach and buy it back afterwards.]
(See Mishnah Berurah 443:12; Pischei Choshen, Pikadon 2:[103].)”
On the other hand, Dinonline wrote:
“שאלה זו כבר נידונה בפוסקים. ראה במגן אברהם ובחק יעקב (סי’ רמג) שדנו בשומר שקיבל חמץ לשמור, ופשע ולא מכר את המחץ בזמן. וכתבו לחלק שאם שרפו את החמץ כדין חמץ בפסח, א”כ לאחר הפסח כבר אין חמץ שהשומר יוכל להחזיר לבעל הבית בטענה “הרי שלך לפניך” א”כ השומר חייב לשלם כדין שומר שהיה לו אפשרות לקדם ברועים ובמקלות כדי הבריח את הזאבים מהעדר, ולא עשה כן שהוא חייב, כך גם השומר שיכל למכור את החמץ ולא מכר, הוא חייב לשלם. אולם אם החמץ עדיין קיים, כתבו הפוסקים הנ”ל שהוא יכול לומר לבעל הבית “הרי שלך לפניך.אולם הנצי”ב בשו”ת משיב דבר (ח”ג סי’ יח) חולק עליהם (הנידון שעליו נשאל הוא בענין אתרוגים שהשומר לא הקפיד למכור אותם לצרכנים לפני סוכות, וממילא נוצר הפסד גדול). ודעתו שבכל מקרה השומר פטור לשלם, משום שהראשונים חולקים האם שומר חייב לשלם על היזק שאינו ניכר. וכיון שההיזק במקרה זה אינו ניכר, לדעת הרבה ראשונים בכל מקרה השומר פטור. אולם גם אם נאמר ששומר חייב בהיזק שאינו ניכר, זה רק אם הוא היה מקבל על עצמו לשמור את ממונו של הבעלים. אבל כאן הוא קיבל על עצמו רק שמירה של חמץ, וההיזק על החמץ נעשה ע”י הוראת התורה ולא ע”י השומר, ולכן בכל מקרה יש לפטור את השמור מאחריות.”
Being that it is a machloket the rav would not have to pay in law although a bet din might require him to at least make a partial payment in equity.
Dayenu
by Rabbi Steven PruzanskyThis is the Dayenu for President Trump, based on the simple realization that there has never been a president as pro-Israel as Trump, and it is almost unthinkable that there will ever be another. Let us count the ways, individual acts for which alone we would sing Dayenu, “it would have been enough:”
If Trump had only ceased calling the Palestinians “refugees,” it would have been enough;
If Trump had only rejected the notion that the fate of the Palestinians is the crux of every conflict in the Middle East, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only halted financial aid to the Palestinian Authority to protest their diabolical “pay to slay” program, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only questioned the wisdom and viability of the two-state illusion, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only devastated ISIS in Syria and Iraq, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only canceled the Iran nuclear deal and committed to thwarting an Iranian nuclear bomb, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only acknowledged Israel’s right to settle throughout its ancestral homeland, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only vetoed every anti-Israel resolution tabled at the United Nations, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only withdrawn the United States from the UN Human Rights Commission and from UNESCO for their vicious anti-Israel bias, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only unequivocally supported Israel’s right of self-defense, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only moved the American embassy to Yerushalayim, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only recognized Yerushalayim as Israel’s eternal and undivided capital, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only formally recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only routinely denounced the scourge of Jew hatred, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only said – as he did after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre – that “those who are trying to destroy the Jewish people, we will destroy them,” it would have been enough;
If Trump had only ostracized anti-Israel voices in America, it would have been enough;
If Trump had only warmly befriended Israel’s Prime Minister and its people, it would have been enough.
That is some list, even without reciting the al achat kama v’chama that would marvel at the achievement of each of the above. It is unprecedented in the history of the relationship of the United States and Israel and the president is only two years into his administration. Of course, there have been other presidents who were “pro-Israel,” and others who were less than friendly – but there has never been a President whose support was unambiguous and influenced so many other nations around the world as this President. We should be thankful, and express our gratitude without hesitation.Gratitude is an especially cherished virtue among Jews and particularly on Pesach when we celebrate our nation’s founding. And even if we limit the real Dayenu to the King of Kings, we do acknowledge that, as King Shlomo put it, “Like streams of water the heart of a king is in G-d’s hands…” (Mishlei 21:1).
Sure, he may tweet a bit too much and much too vividly at times, and one can quibble with a questionable policy here and there, and others can criticize a character weakness or two, but we betray ourselves and our deepest values if we do not express gratitude. Only a Trump, not beholden to the tired thinking of all the old Middle East experts and their evenhandedness, their failures, and their anti-Israel animus scarcely concealed, could have pulled this off –a re-alignment of American foreign policy.
And even if Jews are not one-issue voters, it behooves us to at least acknowledge the contrast with prior presidents – some of whom made promises they did not keep, berated Israel and Jews when new rooms were added on to apartments in Ofra and Kiryat Arba, never acknowledged (or acknowledged grudgingly) Israel’s natural, historic, religious and moral right to its homeland, embraced wholeheartedly the chimeras of “land for peace” and the “two state illusion,” urged restraint and proportionality whenever Jews were attacked and wished to retaliate and pre-empt future attacks, and were obsessed with again partitioning the land of Israel and excising its heartland from Jewish sovereignty.
Whether President Trump is guilty of the crime of obstruction of justice or the virtue and natural right of obstruction of injustice (it seems more like the latter) will be settled according to the new American custom: by the media. As for us, even Jewish Democrats should at least acknowledge these blessings and how the current administration has strengthened Israel – and regardless of the fanciful “deal of the century” coming down the road. We should not only see maror but open our eyes to the wonders of a friendship and alliance that has achieved heretofore unimaginable heights.
Sometimes we are tested with an abundance of good and not the incidence of evil. That too is a gift of Providence for which we should be ever grateful.
Joseph,
1. One does not sell the utensils themselves. If you do you have to tovel them again after Pesach as they belonged to a goy.
2. While a goy is obligated in the sheva mitzvot (and some say all of the mishpatim) there is a machloket if they are also obligated in monetary halachot or if they can make up what they want.
3. The status of the sale in secular law is not necessarily relevant. Someone snitched to the Austrian government that the Jews did not pay the tax on contracts. The Emperor said that it was not a real contract but just something the Jews do for religious reasons. Someone then suggested that the contract was invalid because of dina d’malchuta dina. the Chatam Sofer said that it was still valid.(the
Chavat Yair however did mention this as a problem).Purim was a month ago. Many of our zemirot tunes come from Polish and Russian folk songs and even drinking songs. Chabad even adopted one of Napoleon’s marches even though the Baal haTanya supported the Tsar.
However, Rav Meir Simcha tells us the real reason. Thinking that Berlin (or Brooklyn or Monsey or Lakewood) is our Jerusalem. Rav Kook says that there are three types of olim corresponding to the three types of shofarot. The best type comes from a ram – those Jews who make aliya out of a religious desire to build the land and keep its mitzvot. The second type are those who come for nationalistic reasons. This is not the best shofar but it comes from a kosher animal so one may make a beracha. The third type are those who are pushed out by antisemitism. This is the shofar from a non-kosher animal. It may be sounded if there is nothing else but one may not make a beracha.
The Ben Ish Hai says that even if one davens at home one should wear a shirt as one would not walk in the street without one. Rav Mordechai Eliahu learns that if someone would walk in the street without a hat a jacket he need not wear them for davening.
As for what was, if you look at old pictures you will see that a man’s hat signified his station in life. Workers wore caps. Middle class men wore hats that matched (and came with) their suits.
5ish, are you saying that we go according to the first use? Actually, it was used by the Benedictine monks before becoming a drinking song. Moreover, if it was a German folk tune it probably originated in Teutonic paganism.
DY, many of of our tunes (e.g. the popular one for “Maoz Tzur”) come from church music. On the other hand, some say that the Gregorian chants were stolen from the Bet haMikdash. Rabbi Yisrael Najara also adapted non-Jewish tunes. In any case how is Yeshivishrockstar so knowledgeable about Wiccan music and Hindu avoda zara?
In general Rav Moshe was against music. This is a general outlook in some quarters regarding aveiluton the Churban. For lenient opinions see Shut Shoel uMeishiv Mahadura Kama 3:72, Shut Yabia Omer 6 OC 7 and Shut Yehaveh Deah 2:5.
CTL, the funds are, in fact a pork barrel for all kinds of benefits never intended to be part of Soc Sec. However, the National Ponzi Scheme would probably keep going had people kept on having kids at Baby Boom levels and if the now retiring Boomers would do the younger set a favor and die earlier.
CTL, I thought that you like paying taxes. The US national debt is now $22 trillion dollars. Unless something drastic is done the Social Security Trust Fund will run out of money in 2034. At that point only 79% of benefits will be payable. Even after I become eligible for an Israeli Senior Citizen’s allowance that will be half of my income. Of course, if the dollar collapses before that the whole world will be in deep trouble. People will simply have to tighten up. Certainly no green new deals and other economic luncaies, Profligate states will have to put on the brakes to or put in receivership (this is what Israel does when a municipality does not keep its financial house in order.
Laskern, the Gesher haChaim brings down that everyone agrees that asking the dead to do something themselves is avoda zara. Asking them to intercede with Hashem is a dispute. In any case, as Yiddish was not yet invented it would seem that Rachel does not understand it.
Avram,
1. See Rabbi J. David Bleich’s article <Capital Punishment in Noahide Law in volume 2 of Contemporary Halachic Problems. it is available online on sefaria.org. You can read Rav Moshe’s teshuva (written afterwards) here.
2. Leo Frank was lynched not executed. In fact, GA Gov. John M. Slaton commuted his sentence.
3. the extent of Ethel Rosenberg’s guilt is still a matter of dispute. However, she could have saved herself by naming names. She chose to be moser nefesh for her false god. Moreover, as she turned her brother David Greenglass into a communist she might have had the din of a mesicha umedicha.
4. Under what, if any, circumstances would you support capital punishment?
5. I find it interesting that liberals are so concerned about people who have rap sheets longer than height but care nothing for unborn babies (and in “enlightened” Belgium and Holland there is already child “euthanasia” but no death penalty for murderers).CTL, that type of reasoning might impress a jury but don’t try it in front of a judge. What does one have to do with the other? Moreover, he met Nancy after he and Jane Wyman had already filed for divorce (and according to Halacha once Noahides split up they are considered divorced). He was helping get her name of a list of Communists (she had been confused with another Nancy Davis). Anyway, Noahides are not subject to the cherem of Rabbenu Gershom so he did not do anything wrong. BTW, he and Jane remained friends and she supported his political campaigns.
In answer to the O.P.’s question, after they were mugged by reality they went to conservatives every one.
Avram, so what is your method? Any human system is flawed by definition. the Maharal says that that is the difference between אמת and אמת לאמיתותה. Being that the court (and in criminal law that includes secular courts a.k.a. משפט המלך) has permission to rule its decisions are אמת. The latter is what Hashem sees. However, it is necessary to have some system (see Ran, Derash 11). It should, of course, be tweaked as much as possible but there must be a system. Would you also oppose the death penalty for obviously guilty criminals like the Pittsburgh shooter, Son of Sam, Mob hitmen, etc.?
Avram, then for what? BTW, Rav Moshe disagrees with you (IM CM 2:68).
Actually, one of the reasons for the name is that the owners feel that it makes people happy. What about listening to “On Top of Spaghetti”
(בשר וחלב).?Rebbetzin et. al.,
1. Did you look up my reference to Kiddushin 71b? You can go on Sefaria, press “A” and get an English translation. Due to widespread aveirot during the First Temple period and the fact that mamzerut is forever we cannot know who today is a mamzer and who is not. Statistically today we might all be. Argumentative people (except cohanim) are especially suspect.
2. Actually just about all mamzerim can be freed of the stain if enough digging is done. For example, a witness who regularly does an aveira (tax evasion, smoking) is disqualified. Rav Moshe once annulled a first marriage after his investigators discovered that the bride had been undergoing psychiatric treatment and had the din of a shottah.
3. Were the Jews in Bavel considered Yidden being that they did not speak Yiddish?
Yudel, there is no aveira in being gay. The aveira is doing an action. Even then there is no prohibition for non-Jewish women (see Rambam Hilchot Issurei Biah 14:10 and Hilchot Melachim 9:5). Of course, it could be that Big Gay is someone’s name. It sounds like it could be gangster’s. Speaking of which, what is your take on the Bialystoker Shul having a memorial plaque for Bugsy (בערוש ב”ר מרדכי דוב הלוי) Siegel?
Why shouldn’t adultery be a criminal offense? It is one of the sheva mitzvot. In fact, twenty states have criminal adultery laws although prosecutions are rare. Even a law which is only declarative has value. The Akeidat Yitzchak says that this is why Hashem blasted Sedom but not Geva.
Ubiquitin,
1. Please find a proofreader.
2. Government enforces religion with the blessing of the courts. Two examples are blue laws ( Hennington v. Georgia, 163 U.S. 299 [1896]) and Xmas being a legal holiday (Ganulin v. U.S., 71 F. Supp. 2d 824 [S.D. Ohio 1999 affirmed by the 6th Circuit]. SCOTUS itself has a Xmas party.
3. Unless you re an anarchist you obviously agree that morality should be legislated. So whose morality? Hillary Clinton’s? Bernie Sanders’?