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CA, just google “protected classes employment discrimination NY” and “protected classes public accommodations NY”. IMHO the list has gone way out of hand and some of the categories are ridiculous. For example, a physical or mental disability is certainly a valid criterion for not hiring someone, at least in some jobs. If you want to see the statute you can do some more work. Adam l’amal nivra.
Health, you are really funny but don’t give up your day job. It is a tax and the state has the right to punish violators.
CA, some classes are protected as to both employment denial and service denial and some are only protected as to one.
Health,
1. I think that there is some resemblance. In any case, the police cleared him very quickly. Kudos to the NYPD.
2. On what do you base your legal opinion regarding car registration? Where does the Cosntitutionbar states from levying taxes?Eli,
1. When Rav Kook wrote that women were not generally allowed to vote. He said that this step could only be taken by representatives of the people as a whole. Thus if he were alive today he would not oppose it.
2. I do not know of anyone who says that women are not part of the public. They are certainly kahal Hashem (except for giorot and mamzerot – like their male counterparts). The Torah (Devarim 31:11) say this explicitly.The Gemara (Horiot 3a) does say that the Jews in Chutz laAretz don’t count but that includes men.
3. John Selden and Hugo Grotius learned from Rabbi Menashe ben Yisrael. Grotius said aboutthe sheva mitzvot “How well goes the law of Moses with the House of Orange”. In general the Anglo-American philosophers of the 17th-19th centuries were lovers of Tanach (in America it was required in all colleges along with Biblical Hebrew and until 1817 Harvard commencement addresses could be given in it as well as English, Latin and Ancient Greek). The argument over slavery was, in fact, an argument over the Tanach’s attitude towards slavery in general and black slavery in particular (because of Ham’s curse). Both Dr. Yoram Hazony and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik have written and lectured extensively on this.CA, interestingly, employment discrimination on the basis of political belief (so long as he does not express them in the workplace) is illegal in NY denial of service in a place of public accommodation is not. So it seems that the judge was right.
Health,
1. A black person in NYC wearing a MAGA hat (and shirt) is unusual enough that the person should be questioned. Moreover, there is a security camera photo of him.
2. Why is it any more outrageous than any tax?CE, for most just coming to America was a rebellion against rabbinic authority. Some were already radicals in Russia, which is why they came. In fcat, Trotsky lived in The Bronx for almost three months and wrote articles for the Forverts (now the Forward).
ZD, it’s good that she has some relationship with them. There are those who say that according to Kabbala there is a special inyan to bring back non-Jewish descendants of Jews.
TGI, I heard that it is good for a BT get to where he feels that he is an ordinary Jew, that is someone who is comfortable in the Orthodox community rather than someone who feels like an ignorant stranger.
Shopping, what does “co-workers who claim to keep kashrut, you have no idea to what degree, how well they keep things seperate or what hechshers they use” have to do with being Sephardi? As for hechshers, if it is an Orthodox hechsher not relying on it is only a chumra. There is an opinion, in fact, that someone who does not rely on Chazal’s heterim (e.g. ed echad ne’eman b’issurim) is a heretic as he disagrees with Chazal (Pitchei Teshuva YD 116:10 in the name of Sulam l’Mincha Klal 76 DIn 8).
Thank you for the fake news. He was wearing the cap when he pushed a hispanic man off a subway platform.
Avram,
1. In fact, in many countries the Jewish community is called the Israelite community. In any case, the connotation of a word differs according to the language. In Polish “zhid” is a regular word whereas in Russian it is a pejorative. Similarly, if one were speaking in Yiddish “shvartze” would not be pejorative but if he is speaking in English it is.
2. Wearing tzitziot outside for pride is like putting up a mezzuza as an amulet. Rambam says about the latter that one loses the mitzva.
3. A kippa seruga is not a fashion statement but a statement regarding one’s hashkafa.Beee,
1.It is a chillul Hashem if the person is not on such a high level as people judge him more stringently. In a pace where that is not the custom it is also haughtiness.
1. Actually, the poskim did away with some customs, such as covering one’s face during the shiva, because others made fun of Jews.Avram,
1.”Yid” in English is a pejorative. Archie Bunker used it.
2. Someone who wears peyot and tzitziot outside as an expression of pride rather than for halachic reasons has a problem. He has turned them into fashion symbols, like wearing a magen David. Flaunting it is not tzenua. That is not the same as the English word “modest”. It comes from a root that means “hidden”.TGI, Rambam in fact says that if one exaggerates a certain characteristic one should go to the other extreme temporarily. In fact, Shidduchim and Zivugim advises new BTs to wait until they become comfortable in a derech.
Shopping, why can’t you eat their food? I think that you should have a conversation with a rav who can explain to you that there is only one Jewish people as well as the fact that b’diavad is also a b’diavad situation, the exceptions where people will become angry, etc.
If someone already dresses in a certain way and is reprimanded for some ethical violation, as opposed to a goof, he is committing a chillul Hhashem. Changing his dress for being called on the carpet will just be interpreted cynically. If he does not think that he is up to it he should not dress that way .
As for working only with and for YEHUDIM (let the creole German rest in peace), make aliya.
ZD, if we are talking about a Torah prohibition then she has to refuse. If it is a rabbinic prohibition there might be room for leniency unless there is a feeling that the mother will constantly use this. A long-term solution would be for her and her husbands to get (please excuse the language) jobs. They should also get counseling regarding living within their means.
Jakob, it is not advisable to “squash it all” into one year especially if he is coming from zero (many BTs actually come from traditional homes of varying degrees). It is too fast a change and he may leave as quickly as he entered.
ZD, if there is good will on the mother’s side and a rav who knows all the lenient opinions and is willing to use them in the right situations it can be worked out.
Beni, the age of yichud for a boy with a woman who is bat mitzva is nine years and one day as that is when it is considered arayot. Regarding the elderly (and being that I am almost 64 I object to 65 being defined as elderly) see Yichud with an Elderly Man (online) that the determining factor is the man not the woman.
Where one of the parties is a non-Jew then the ages up to bar/bat mitzva as Jewish children under those ages and non-Jews of any age are not obligated in yichud (Yichud — What, Where And With Whom
by: Rabbi N. D. Dubov also online).CTL, I was told not to put away my winter clothing until Shevuot – and this
is in Israel. Sometimes Hashem surprises people – like snowstorms in April.JJ, when I was young driving in a convertible with the top down and a young woman in the passenger seat was what the “cool” guys did. Wearing a cap gave it a European flavor.
CTL, you two must be very hardy people considering weather there even without rain.
Toi, it is a machloket if the door must be ajar.
Beni (and Toi), the situation in a room can also change. The door can be closed. It can even be locked.
Joseph, lo b’reshaim askinan. It is also pretty easy to lock a door.
Laskern, Beruria was being machmir. She also apparently did not like Gallileans as she called him a “stupid Gallilean”. Rav Kook would say that by being overly machmir in one area she fell in another (Avoda Zara 18b Rashi d”h v’icha d’amrei meshum maaseh d’Beruria).
Joseph, if the car is moving fast how will the driver do something other than drive? Moreover, one never knows when one will run into a traffic jam, be stopped for some violation, etc.
Soldier, he went through the whole sugya while driving? I heard from one of his talmidim that Rav Gustman was opposed to listening to tapes of shiurim because it would distract the driver. On the other hand, once a driver asked me to pay with a devar Torah. When I told him that he went into a whole pilpul about why it is really muttar .
As for the social situation now as opposed to in Chazal’s time, we see that saying “shalom” was so important that one could even interrupt keriat shema. Today that is definitely not the case. Yoram Gaon once said a monologue during a concert. He said that he wanted to know if people really cared about how he was doing. He went into a whole song and dance about his supposed troubles and people edged away.
Joseph, the Netziv (He’emek Devar Devarim 17:14) says:
“ואמרת: אשימה עלי מלך” – אין הפירוש “אמירה” כמשמעו בפה, אלא כלשון (דברים יב כ): “ואמרת אוכלה בשר”וכדומה.
אכן, לפי לשון זה היה במשמע שאין זה מצווה במוחלט למנות מלך אלא רשות, כמו ‘ואמרת אוכלה בשר’; והרי ידוע בדברי חז”ל דמצווה למנות מלך! ואם כן, למה כתיב ‘ואמרת’?
ונראה, דמשום דהנהגת המדינה משתנה, אם מתנהג על פי דעת מלוכה או על פי דעת העם ונבחריהם, ויש מדינה שאינה יכולה לסבול דעת מלוכה, ויש מדינה שבלא מלך הרי היא כספינה בלי קברניט, ודבר זה אי אפשר לעשות על פי מצוות עשה, שהרי בעניין השייך להנהגת הכלל נוגע לסכנת נפשות שדוחה מצוות עשה, משום הכי לא אפשר לצוות בהחלט למנות מלך, כל זמן שלא עלה בהסכמת העם לסבול עול מלך, על פי שרואים מדינות אשר סביבותיהם מתנהגים בסדר יותר נכון, או אז מצוות עשה לסנהדרין למנות מלך…
ומשום הכי כתיב ‘ואמרת’, שיהא העם מבקשים כך, אז ‘שום תשים’.
ומכל מקום, אין סנהדרין מצווים עד שיאמרו העם שרוצים הנהגת מלך, ומשם הכי כל משך שלוש מאות שנה שהיה המשכן נבחר בשילה לא היה מלך, והיינו שלא היה בזה הסכמת העם.
Not only is the public’s acceptance necessary to appoint any official (Berachot 55a) but they can also even recall a king (Yerushalmi Chaggiga 3:2 and Responsa Avnei Nezer YD 312:15). Thissi quite democratic.Frum, the government may not give official status to any religious group. However, actually prohibiting voluntary communities would violate the Free Exercise clause. A law banning an Sharia courts was struck down by the Tenth Circuit (Awad v. Ziriax, et al, No. 10-6273 (10th Cir. 2012)). This would also apply to establishing battei din to adjudicate disputes. Basically, the government may neither help nor hinder religion.
Joseph, those who deny the great miracles and fail to see Hahsem’s guidance should indeed tear keriah and don sackcloth (as well as ashes) as part of their teshuva,
DY, Tisha b’av will indeed be a joyous day one day.
It depends. On roads where there is traffic it is a petach patuach lareshut harabbim. Giving a ride to a married woman might be easier if her husband is in town. Someone who wants to be machmir can have his cell phone film the inside of the car (I know someone who does this to protect himself from blackmail), In some situations it might be a mitzva as the woman could be in danger if she stays outside by herself.
Yungerman, please cite Rav Moshe’s teshuva so we can see what was the exact situation he discussed.
Eli, once a man offered me a ride. I thought there was something on the front passenger seat so I sat in the back. He was very offended that I made him my chauffeur. I was also chided by one man for not closing the door enough after getting out and by another for slamming it and possibly causing damage. At the risk of going off topic, I will also add that a passenger, no matter who is the driver, should act with derech eretz. Do not eat or conduct cell phone conversations without permission (they annoy some drivers). Thank the driver and give him/her a beracha (e.g. “kol tuv”, “shavua tov”).
Frum, every organized Jewish community has the power to make takkanot for that community (Rema CH 2). The autonomous Jewish communities in pre-Napoleonic Europe had elected councils (the Maharil, among others, discusses who has the right to vote and be elected) which made laws (interestingly the book Juspa of Worms brings down that his job as shamash included assessing and collecting taxes – he would walk into people’s homes and make his assessments on the basis of their lifestyles). In Poland-Lithuania the Council of the Four Lands formed a national Jewish government. It was called the Jewish Sejm. The rabbanim exercised judicial functions, including judicial review.
TOL, no. I do not read every single post.
Joseph, that could be (not all mentally ill people actually commit crimes) but as I previously posted society would still have to be protected from him. A vicious animal is also not responsible for its actions but we do not let it roam free.
RY,
1. A defense will not do anything unless the court accepts it.
2. Who says what they would prefer? In a mental hospital they would probably not be in danger from other patients.TLIK, you are correct. For example, David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz was diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic. yet was found competent to stand trial, was sentenced to prison and sent to Attica (@RY).
There are four institutions in Judaism: the political leadership (according to Rav Kook anyone the people choose to be their political leader whether he is a hereditary monarch or an elected prime minister), the Nevi’im, the judicial system ( Sanhedrin – in the plural) and the Bet haMikdash.
Thinking, that is also Hashem’s cheshbon. The point is will learning Mussar help him. If he finds out about Slobodka’s sheeta he would probably become an even bigger narcissist. He would just reject Navardok out of hand.
NPD is different than APD, which is similar to psychopathology. Both seem to be genetic. If so we will have to wait for genetic engineering to work on people who have already been born. From what I understand there is no clear evidence as to NPD’s causes. However, a Mussar yeshiva will not do the job by itself.Ben, no I am not (although bnei Noach can be executed for theft, leaving aside what constitutes theft, and ever min chai).
Think, the concept of “nekudat habechira” only refers to how Hashem judges the person not how we must deal with him. If Rambam’s definition of a sheid refers to a psychopath it could be that he has no reward or punishment like an animal. However, that does not mean that we need not protect society from him just as with any vicious animal.
Little, it depends. Really there is no better Mussar than learning Gemara and Halacha (Baba Kama 30a). Some people need to be hit over the head with a hammer. Rav Soloveichik recalls in “Halachic Man” that Rav Chaim compared it to castor oil – it cures the sick and makes the healthy ill. However, a person must first want to change. Even then, as Rav Salanter said, it is harder to change a bad personal characteristic than to learn all of Shas.
Ben, in fact, the Rogochover says that murder is so heinous that even a shotteh is executed (Responsa Tzefanat Paaneach 19). It would seem that one murder is sufficient to execute him. It should be noted that a psychopath is not necessarily a murderer. He could be someone who advances by crushing everyone in his way. According to Psychology Today “Psychopathy is among the most difficult disorders to spot. The psychopath can appear normal, even charming. Underneath, he lacks conscience and empathy, making him manipulative, volatile and often (but by no means always) criminal”.
A psychopath is the sheid mentioned in the Gemara (Rambam, Guide 1:7).
As for a narcissist, there is a story about a bachur who rejected every shidduch suggestion as not good enough for him. his rebbe told him to learn Mussar for a year to become an anav. After the year was up he said that now that he was an anav they were certainly not good enough for him. In fact, the Gra says (Even Sheleima 2) that the torah iscompared to water because everything it is pored on grows. Someone who has naturally a bad midda who learns Torah will become even worse. Rav Aviner added that he will even find rationalizations in Torah for his behavior thus magnifying the chillul Hashem. I, in fact, know someone like this.
Neville,
1. I wrote anything that is not dependent on a machloket between the Mechaber and the Rema.
2. “Every rabbi he’s ever HEARD of”.
3. Obviously there are rules. Safek d’Oraita l’chumra, safek d’rabbanna l’kula. Minhag haolam. What one’s personal rav or the rav of one’s community says.
4. I am not surprised at all. I simply disagree.
5. I did not accuse anyone in particular. I simply wrote that it is common and also happens in the Gemara.Milhouse,
1.I wrote that I was discussing an instance where there is no machloket between the Mechaber and the Rema.
2. I find it very hard to believe that some can get semicha without knowing this.Ready, that is very funny. However, I do not suggest that you give up your day job.
Neville,
1. I was bringing this as an example. Unlike with Sephardim there is no clear-cut differentiation on the basis of galut of origin.
2. I totally disagree with you. In fact, poskim who teshuvot I have seen cite both (and Rav Ovadia cited RM as well as the Tzitz Eliezer and other Ashkenazim). Apparently your brand of Judaism is different than mine. I will say though that where someone currently lives affects whom he stresses. An Israeli (of whatever background) will usually stress Israeli poskim and an a American American poskim.
3. Haven’t you ever heard of a thread being hijacked? This also happens in the Gemara. Someone cites a certain Tanna and the Gemara then discusses his opinions on totally unrelated matters.Neville, so what is an Ashkenazi BT (or even more so, ger) supposed to do? Rema, Gra some chassidut (nafka mina, for example, regarding putting on tefillin during Chol ha Moed in Chul)? However, not everything is a machloket between mesorot (and sometimes it is reversed – for example, Ashkenazim light Chanukah candles according to Rambam and Sephardim like Tosofot).
Milhouse, how do you define difference in pesak? For example, Rav Mordechai Eliahu and Rav Ovadia, both Sepharadim. had a major disagreement regarding the place of Kabbala (which also exists between Litvaks and Chassidim although the Mishna Berura cites the Zohar and Arizal) in Halacha as well as the place of customs developed in Chutz laAretz. Even among Litvaks, there are those who consider the Mishna Berura the main posek and those who look more to the Aruch haShulchan. As I previously posted, the Ben Ish Chai (who corresponded with the Netziv), Kaf haChaim and Rav Ovadia all cite Ashkenazi poskim. Some Ashkenazi poskim also cite Sephardi poskim (the Briskers in particular are Rambamists) in their teshuvot.
Inshalla means “b’ezrat Hashem”. It is a common expression.
Milhouse, the Rosh says that that stopped with Abaye and Rava. Even more so today when rabbanim have access to more sefarim. According to your opinion, a Chassid cannot rely on Rav Moshe’s pesakim and a Litvak cannot rely on Rav Wosner. A Yekke cannot rely on either. The Briskers are certainly wrong for relying on the Rambam fr learning.BTW, FYI many Sephardim learn in Ashkenazi yeshivot and vice versa.
Yitzchokm, there is no evidence that her conversion was not Orthodox.
woman who converts to judaism while pregnant.FYI, Neville, the Ben Ish Chai, Kaf haChaim and Rav Ovadia all cite Ashkenazi poskim and contemporary Ashkenazi poskim cite Rav Ovadia. To make it even more complicated, the Shaagat Aryeh and the Gra both sometimes pasken like the Bet Yosef against the Rema (for example, the Gra only said one beracha on tefillin).
Neville, I heard this from my rabbanim, who are quite mainstream. Your opinion is way to the right of what the Torah world accepts. You are trying to split the Jewish people. Next you will say that an Ashkenazi cannot be the rav of a Sephardic shul.
Benjamin and Ariane de Rothschild of Switzerland are jewish and big supporters of Israel.
Neville,
1. Actually “Happy Holidays” started as a compromise. At first banks only offered Xmas clubs. then they also offered Chanuka clubs. then Kwanzaa was invented and they threw up their hands.
2. Actually some Moslems claim that they are the real Hebrews. They say that Yishmael was Ibrahim’s heir.Midwest, many young Moslems consult “Sheik Google”. There are also “Ask the Imam” sites.
Milhouse, who says that Ashkenazim can only hold by Ashkenazi rabanim? If there is no question of the Mechaber vs. the Rema there is no reason why an Ashkenazi can’t rely on Rav Ovadia, for example. To make matters more complicated, sometimes the Gra rules like the Mechaber against the Rema. For example, the Gra says not to put on tefillin during Chol haMoed and to have Birkat Cohanim every day (interestingly, in northern Israel they do not but do do it during Shabbat Musaf).
Richard,
1. Middle Eastern Jews would be very surprised to be called Yidden (BTW, “Yid” is a pejorative in English – Archie Bunker used it).
2. Actually, Eibishter is a corruption of Creole German for “the Most High” (actually, it is Eibershter). The equivalent of <Allah is “Gd”. It is related to “Ke-l and Elo-ka” in Hebrew.
3. Rambam did not hesitate to criticize Islam. He even referred to Mohammed as “the madman”. However, at the end end of Mishneh Torah he says that both religions came to bring the other nations closer to Hashem. Rav Yaakov Emden says that the intention of that man was, in fact, to propagate the sheva mitzvot.Midwest,
1. I also do not think that most Xtians have a great deal of theological knowledge. Generally they just refer to that man as their savior.
2. Considering the political standing of banks today I would prefer to stick to controlling the Congress.Ubi and Neville, that’s a chumra. You might call it mehadrin. In fact, at one time in EY they decided to require that the shochet say “Alla-hu akbar” (Gd is great) before schechting. A shochet whose parnassa would be affected asked if he could say it. Rav Kook said that he should try to get out of it but if he could not he could say it.
As for your co-worker, Ubi, maybe he should ask Sheikh Google Ibn Wifi Al Internetee. There are also Imam Facebook and Moulana Twitter. Just look on Google. There are also various sites for fatwas.Dor, would you be disappointed if there was not? Hallal is Arabic for “permissable”. It is more or less the equivalent of כשר. BTW, sharia means “pathway” (הלכה).