Avi K

What about riding bicycles? That way they will have to be shomer negia. In deference to those who think that saying that she is riding a bicycle is like saying that she is riding a donkey we can call it sitting on moving bicycle.

DY, Rav Ovadia very much enjoyed listening to Arabic music. For a discussion of the different opinions you can hear “Ten Minute Halacha – Listening to Secular Music” (actually it’s about sixteen minutes) by Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz.

Winnie, according to I what I heard Rav Soloveichik did not sing zemirot at all. Do you think that he was not a committed Jew? The Gra and the CS spoke about musicology, not necessary being a bundle of emotion. In fact, David HaMelech was punished for calling divrei Torah zemirot
(Sotah 35a). Rav Kook explains that zemirot come from the heart whereas shirot come from the intellect. There is a well-known statement (which the Baal HaTanya also brings) that a person is divided into three parts: moach (intellect), lev (emotions) and kaved/klayot (desires and imagination). If the intellect rules the emotions and the emotions rule the desires and imagination he is a melech. If the the emotions are on top he is Lemech. If it is totally reversed he is kelem (embarassment).
As for Carlebach, the fact of the mater is that most gedolei Yisrael discouraged going to his concerts for well-known reasons.

LB, you can correct them and refuse to answer to the mispronunciation. As for local pronunciation, people should be aware of differences. Growing up in NYC I knew that it was How-stin St. but Yoo-stin TX. Then there was Lon Guyland and Hizzoner Da Mayuh.

Ubitquin,
1. you protested what you consider to be an attempt to destroy Jewish Creole German so obviously you want to preserve it.
2. Rabaul Creole German a.k.a. Unserdeutsch (“Our German”) is a German-based creole language that originated in Papua New Guinea. It was formed among the New Guinean children residing in a German-run orphanage in what was then German New Guinea. About 100 native speakers survive today, most of whom migrated to Australia after Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975. (Wikipedia)
3. I ask out of curiosity.
4. I was comparing spending time and effort on learning Jewish Creole German (a.k.a. Jargon) and Standard German.
5. Yes I do put thought into my comments. Do you?

Ubitquin, why is it a noble effort to maintain Jewish Creole German? Should Rabaul Creole German also be maintained? It is totally useless except to historians and anthropologists. It would be far better to learn Hochdeutsch considering the economic power of German-speaking countries.

Come home to Israel in any case.

Neville ,
1. That is how it started in Germany and Poland (although there they told Jews to go to “Palestine”). The fact of the matter is that there is a climate of fear on American campuses. A tenured professor at CT College, Andrew Pessin, was forced to leave after he received death threats over his protest of Hamas war crimes.
2. That certainly is connected to this thread. How is America safe for Jews if there is rampant assimilation (in fact, it is not inconceivable that those who refuse to date non-Jews will be ostracized as racists).
3. What is the difference tot he victim if he is killed by a political terrorist, a crazed gunman or a common criminal? The fact of the matter is that the intentional homicide rate in Israel is much lower than in America.

DWKL1, actually the quote is from Ovadia HaNavi. As for the others, I suggest that they read Em HaBanim Semeicha. Rav Teichtal realized that their anti-Zionism was tragically wrong and wrote that the holocaust was caused by the sin of the spies, which we see in this thread..

Spread, Ravitzky is a member of the leftist “Neemnei Torah v’Avoda” group that comes very close to being Conservative. Take a look at their website. However, that just proves my statement that the RZ movement is not monolithic.

HaLeiVi.
1.Here is the rundown (some are approximate):
Shekiya: Ramban makes aliya and renews Jewish sttlement
Netz : The Gra begins to learn Kabbala and advocate settling the Land
Sof zeman KS: Rav Kook is born
Sof zeman tefilla: Rav Kook makes aliya and begins to write on the Geula
Sof zeman b”c The State is established, Rav Tzvi Yehuda begins to teach
Chatzot: Secular Zionism effectively ends with the Oslo agreements
We are now in Mincha Gedola

2. Any ideology is by definition divisive as there are those who hold by it and those who don’t.

3. What is “insider logic” and opposed to outsider logic?

There are different subgroups of religious Zionism. The Mercaz HaRav wing sees it as the beginning of the Geula. Whether or not it is considered a stepping stone depends on how one defines a state. France is now on its fifth republic and has had kings and emperors. Does that mean that it is a different state? At present Israel does not have a constitution but a series of “basic laws” that form a quasi-constitutional framework. It could be that a republican Torah constitution will be enacted at some later stage and that at an even more later stage a monarchy will be established. Interestingly, the Zohar states that each 1,000 years of Creation parallel the first six days. That means that 5708 was the last time for burning chametz on erev Shabbat. There is no greater chametz than the Galut. I highly recommend the book Torat Eretz Yisrael (in English) by Rav David Samson and Tzvi Fishman for further elucidation.

ובהר ציון תהיה פליטה
עובדיה א יז

Partially. If he was considered Jewish and then says that he “converted himself” he may not marry a Jew as he made himself prohibited
(שווי נפשיה חתיכה דאיסורא) but his children may ( SA YD 268:11). However, if the bet din knows that he went to the mikva for tevillat Ezra or she went to purify herself from nidda they are considered Jewish b’diavad (ibid seif 3). If he claims that abet din converted him he is believed because of a מיגו (ibid Shach seif katan 20).

Regarding a case where a doubt arises see האם משפחת גויים שנטמעה נטמעה? on the website of Yeshivat Shaalvim. However, in general we have a rule that כל המשפחות בחזקת כשרות, ומותר לישא מהם לכתחילה (SA EH 2:2) so if there is no basis for doubt there is no need to check and perhaps it would even be heretical to do so (Pitchei Teshuva YD 116:10).

Winnie,
1. If they think that their Torah is a protection why did those in Ofakim run for the hills when missiles flew. For that matter, even before the first Gulf War started the airport was filled with chutznikim hightailing it back (one was called up to the reserves and sent to Saudi Arabia – I heard this from his chevruta).
2. Why don’t they says the tefilla for the Medina or at least the misheberach forthe soldiers. Do they not want Hashem to give us a wise government? Do they not want the soldiers to come back in one piece?
3. I agree that those who are really learning should have some kind of deferment. What about learning in an IDF bet midrash in a hesder-type arrangement and saying that it is for the merit of the troops? Why not become chaplains and give shurim? For that matter, why not use their analytical skills in military intelligence (and also acquire hi-tech skills)? However, not all are really learning. There is, in fact, a major problem with “shabanikim” , kids from Hareidi background who cannot learn all day but have no alternative within the community. Would it not be much better for them to go into the army, get out their aggressions in a socially acceptable manner and the get jobs after they have cooled off?

Ubiquitin, if c’v they get divorced they get will have to include Morris (and maybe Moe, and Morrie) as well as Debbie. BTW, on his English side of his letterheads Rav Moshe was called “Moses Feinstein”.

Some English names have been “converted”. Alexander and Julius are long-time favorites (perhaps because they followed pro-Jewish policies). In my parents’ generation Sidney, Seymour, Morris and Selma were common. Many also had English equivalents or English names found in the Tanach (e.g. Abraham, Sarah, Esther, Celia, Hannah, Miriam). What is interesting is that John was not given although it is the English form of Yochanan. BTW, the Puritans also gave their children Anglicized Tanachic names. Increase and Cotton Mather were יוסף and קטן respectively. There was also Ethan (איתן) Allen. On the fiction side there is Ichabod (אי כבוד) Crane.

The eruv, as it’s name indicates, is supposed to bring Jews together.

Someone who does not believe in the Medina should not take money from it nor should the Medina give it to him. This includes social benefits.
As for setting curriculum, with the Chareidi sector growing the Medina cannot afford a mass of people who refuse to work. Every state has a basic curriculum to prepare students for the job market. This, in fact, is the highest form of tzedaka. A man who chooses not to work and is not producing Torah on a high level (the Chief Rabbanate can give exams) should be drafted and ten sent into job training.

The Rebbe never did anything that Rambam say that Mashiach will do. He did not fight wars. He did not bring Jews back to EY (in fact, Chabad is anti-aliya) , he did not build the Bet HaMikdash, he did not bring universal peace. Moreover, Rambam says in Iggeret Teiman that Mashiach will arise in EY and the Rebbe was never here in his life. Not to mention the fact that Mashiach will be a political leader and the Rebbe (unlike Bar Kochba) was not.

Shopping, I wrote that they can survive if their income is from Chutz laAretz.

Winnie, many people who are fluent in both languages sometimes mix. For example, English speakers will say “makkolet” and “Misrad HaPenim” rather than “grocery store” and “Ministry of the Interior”.

ZD, you are correct about French so far as reading (I can, in fact, more or less read a newspaper in French) as what one does not know one can figure out from the context. However, there are also “false friends”. For example, in French blesser means “to wound”. In any case, I still think that Hebrew is easier to learn in a better way because of its regularity and logical structure.

IMHO, people who don’t achieve a modicum of fluency (probably someone who came as an adult will never lose his accent) simply have a fear just as some people have fears regarding Math or other subjects. I had great difficulty with French in school but Hebrew cam easily even though the US State Dept considers the former much easier to learn than the latter. The two keys were motivation and immersion (and BTW, the fact that olim speak in English, French or Russian among themselves does not necessarily indicate lack of fluency in Hebrew – it just feels more natural). I also find Hebrew to be a remarkably logical, regular language unlike French, which has many exceptions.

People who come as retirees can get along without it but others will never feel part of Israel. It will, of course, also severely limit job opportunities as with anywhere else.

As for Yiddish, unless one is a native speaker it will be very difficult to learn. It is more or less a form of German and his experiences studying the latter drove Mark Twain to write an essay called “The Awful German Language”, which can be read on-line.

ZD,
I know someone who has a daughter who tutors disadvantaged kids in English. One kid asked why he should learn English. By he time he grows up everybody will be speaking Chinese. However, English does have many holes.
BTW, in Hungary goyish languages were banned in shul in response to the Neolog (Reform) who were “more Hungarian than the Hungarians”. However, Pressburgers did know German as they earned external diplomas in return for draft exemptions as theological students. The story goes that when Koppel Weiss became Chief Rabbi he endeared himself (and the Orthodox in general) to Franz Josef by speaking to him in German, thus relieving him of the obligation to break his teeth on Hungarian as per his compromise with the Hungarian rebels, whereas the Neolog leader addressed him in literary Hungarian.

Read Ivanhoe, as William the Conqueror believed that a leaderless people would not revolt he wiped out the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy (according to some versions this is why Robin Hood had to flee to the forest) but left the common people alone. This is why a live animal is a cow (koo in Anglo-Saxon) but its meat is beef (boeuf in French). Anglo-Norman French also became the language of the law courts and was known as Law French. While it was eventually abandoned many terms survive (e.g. attorney and bailiff). As the Jews had to interact with the common people they would have had to be conversant in Early Middle English.

I really do not think that the bus driver, etc. care if you call it a Chanuka gift. they just want the gift. Decades ago NYC banks got tired of everybody and his brother wanting a club named after his holiday so they merged everything into “holiday clubs”. Why not just leave a pace on the note and under it write “fill in the blank”?

A HS dropout, an accountant and an actuary applied for a job. Each was asked how much is 1+1.
The dropout said “Duh. I think 3”.
The accountant took out his calculator, tapped “1+1=” and announced “2”.
The actuary closed the door and whispered “How much do you want it to be?”