Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Yiddishekop, Swiss-German is not rare. In fact, probably more people speak it than Yiddish.
GG, is “foreung” something before an ung? Is “hoovering” acting like Herbert Hoover or perhaps vacuuming the carpet?
YK, I slightly correct my previous post. There is a long list of Sephardic Achronim as well as Ashkenazi Israeli gedolim who did not use teach in Yiddish. I simply do not have the time to list all of them.
Dovid, forget it. Antisemitic websites are full of English translations along with “commentary”. Anyway, I have it on the authority of the wife of a friend who is from Switzerland that someone who knows Swiss-German can understand Yiddish.
Yiddishekop, I am quite certain that the Ben Ish hai did not give shiurim in Yiddish and I know that Rav Ovadia did not. Rav Soloveichik switched to English at some point when he realized that talmidim were not understanding him. I could go on and on but I have other things to do.
Yekke, unless your nom de CR is sagi nahor you should know that it is never Shabbat everywhere in the world as both clock time and Sunrise/Sunset are different. In fact areas above the Arctic Circle have six months of day while areas below the Antarctic Circle have six months of night and vice versa.
The parts that are not in Shabbat are being recreated while those that are are not.
Hashem did not create reshaim. Every person has complete freedom to be a rasha or a tzaddik. This is a basic tenet of Judaism.
At least at one time a “rabbi” in nYc political parlance was someone who gave a person protektzia for a job. Perhaps a woman would be a rabbit.
RY, did you spend all day figuring out that introverts are introverted? Dr. Miriam Adahan says that introverts do not even necessarily prefer to be alone. We can be alone whereas extroverts feel crushed if they are alone. Moreover, introverts like small groups of long-time friends whereas extroverts like large groups.
Froggie,
1. Does your shadow know what lurks in your heart?
2. How will your voice be heard when there is no audio?Isn’t a group for introverts an oxymoron? It’s like the speaker who opened the atheists’ convention with the words “Thank Gd there are so many atheists”.
Being a victim is greatest honor one can get in the PC world.The greater the victimhood the greater the right to do what one pleases and shut up anyone who disagrees.
AY, these issues have not exclusive to. Yiddish vs. Hebrew was also a big issue among the secularists with the Bund favoring Yiddish as the “language of the Jewish proletariat” (Lenin and, at first Stalin ym”s, even established Yiddish schools while suppressing Hebrew schools and a “Jewish autonomous region” in Birobidzan with Yiddish as the official language. For that matter, various German Protestant groups tried (and some, like the Amish, still try) to preserve German as the group’s language. In fact, a legal battle was fought over the right to teach in German when some states tried to ban instruction in languages other than English. SCOTUS overturned it in Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923) – which was fought over a $25 fine! I suppose that the same battles were fought when the Jews in Bavel switched from Aramaic to a Arabic.
ZD, the Chatam Sofer wrote that in response to the Neolog (Reform) who were “more Hungarian than the Hungarians”. In fact, the story goes that Franz Josef favored the Orthodox because after he was forced to compromise with the Hungarians he had to agree to speak in Hungarian whenever he went there. Hungarian is an extremely difficult language and in the end he simply rattled off scripts that we written for him,. The head of the Neolog spoken literary Hungarian, which very much annoyed FJ. However, the Chief Rabbi (Koppel Weiss) interrupted his script and said in German (in Pressburg they earned external baccalaureates in exchange for draft exemptions as theological students) that he did not understand Hungarian. FJ was overjoyed, patted him on the back and said “We are two old gentlemen. We will never learn this language”).
Dor, do you daven for Hashem to return all of Am Yisrael to the USA? Do you think that the Bet HaMikdash will be built in Brooklyn, Monsey or Lakewood?
Actually the Anglo-American political and legal traditions are based on a Xtian understanding of Tanach. All of the British and American philosophers were lovers of Tanach. John Selden even learned from Rabbi Menashe ben Yisrael. Atthe time ofthe Revolution every American college required students to learn Tanach in the original Hebrew (Madison, BTW, was fluent in the language). The argument over slavery was largely an argument between Protestant missionaries over the Tanach’s attitude towards the peculiar institution in general and black slavery (because of Ham’s curse) in particular.
I personally have no problem with this. A Xtian America would be much better for Israel (as well as Jews in America) than a secular America. Personally though, I am hoping that the interface with Islam will bring both closer to the sheva mitzvot.
AY, I agree. Those dialects are all museum pieces. They were useful in their day their time is past.
LY, what Sepharadim and Eidot HaMizrach? BTW, CTL is right. Just to give one example, the German word for “jewelry” is a vulgar word in Yiddish (yes, the holy Yiddish has vulgar words).
ZD, the above frum Jews do not use Yiddish words except where they crept into Modern Hebrew
Joseph, I seriously doubt that there’s even a single frum Jew in the world today who (“who” refers to a person whereas “that” refers to a thing) has never used Hebrew words interposed casually in a conversation.
RY, according to the Wikipedia it is an antelope but according to the Google translator it is a deer. In any case, it plays.
770. you have it the opposite. The Baal HaTanya thought that Nikolai I ym”s would be better for ruchniyut because Napoleon wanted to make the Jews equal citizens on condition that they renounce national aspirations. In the end the aforementioned rasha instituted the Cantonist program. So we still have Chabad dancing at two weddings.
Mod, I was trying to think of how to put it delicately. Of course, if my name were Tzvi he could call me “deerest”. I, in fact, knew someone named Tzvi who received a letter addressed “Dear Deer”.
Joseph,
1. I think he he has a problem. However, it is not even an aveira to do it.
2. Once he becomes an eved that is something else. However, he can even be freed to complete a minyan. So just find eight other men and decide to daven. Rav Moshe says (IM YD 1:162) that one may even buy him in order to free him and then do so.770, how do you do that when the Baal HaTanya supported the Tsar?
Joseph,
1, Dearest? How did that get past the Mods?
2. Please state your source for a mere desire to be prohibited. I will state my source for it being permitted and even desirable:
ספרא על ויקרא כ כו
ר’ אלעזר בן עזריה אומר מנין שלא יאמר אדם “אי אפשי ללבוש שעטנז. אי אפשי לאכול בשר חזיר. אי אפשי לבוא על הערוה” אבל “אפשי ומה אעשה ואבי שבשמים גזר עלי כך”? תלמוד לומר “ואבדיל אתכם מן העמים להיות לי”– נמצא פורש מן העבירה ומקבל עליו עול מלכות שמים.
3. Does a goy not have to be a servant of Hashem in his way (keeping the sheva mitzvot)?Wrong again, Joseph. Hashem is the master. We are His slaves. Therefore it is improper to desire to be a slave of a person. It would seem that this is also true of a gentile. He should either be a Ben Noach or a ger. However, Hashem gave an out for people who have a slave mentality or are gravely financially embarrassed.
770, you wrote that Chabadniks continues to speak the Yiddish they spoke in Russia. I was wondering if you continue to support the Tsar (“yarum hodo”, which means “may his glory be magnified” was typically added to the names of rulers in teshuvot for the benefit of the censor. BTW, is it true that one of your zemirot uses the tune of La Marseillaise? If so, you are apparently dancing at two weddings.
Kop,
1. “The” Jewish language? What about Ladino, Judeo-Arabic and other museum pieces?
2. Who says that it is not respectful? In fact, Chazal say in Esther Rabba that Lashon HaKodesh is the most appropriate language for conversation.Dor, what does one have to do with the other (although there is summary capital punishment – the ba b’machteret and the manslaughterer who leaves the city of refuge, for example)? The fact of the matter is that there is a form of slavery – prisoners are put to work (the Thirteenth Amendment even makes an explicit exception for ” punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted”). The fact of the matter is that many ex-cons commit crimes in order to go back inside. There they room and board plus work and society. Wouldn’t it be better to give these people the opportunity to sell themselves to a frum Jew and get all that plus Shabbat, Yom Tov, Chol HaMoed, a wife, etc.?
Joseph, actually almost all produce in Israel has had terumot and maaserot separated as having a certificate widens the consumer base. For the same reason even HaShomer HaTzair kibbutzim have kosher guest houses.
Akuperma,
1. Time crowned him “King Bibi”.
3a. Apparently it was economically feasible as some people had them (e.g. Tabi, Rabban Gamliel’s slave). One could not “work them to death” as they kept Shabbat, yom Tov and Chol haMoed.
b. A mamzer is allowed to be with his shifcha kenanit – and Rabbi Tarfon even advises this (Kiddushin 69a).Joseph, please cite the places along with sources. As for the metronome, there is another issue – the noise it makes could very well disturb other daveners.
This was about ten years ago. Since then they have been using Ukrainian hair. Of course, according to some opinions a woman can have one made from her own hair (Mishna Berura 75:15).
ZD,
1. A language is a dialect with an army and a navy (the adage was popularized by the sociolinguist and Yiddish scholar Max Weinreich).
2. Actually, you used that term once. However, upon further examination I see that Yiddish is actually a creole language. “A creole language is a stable natural language developed from a mixture of different languages. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, in the strict sense of the term, a mixed/hybrid language has derived from two or more languages, to such an extent that it is no longer closely related to the source languages. Creoles also differ from pidgins in that, while a pidgin has a highly simplified linguistic structure that develops as a means of establishing communication between two or more disparate language groups, a creole language is more complex, used for day-to-day purposes in a community, and acquired by children as a native language. Creole languages, therefore, have a fully developed vocabulary and system of grammar.” (Wikipedia)
3. In fact, Chazal take a shot at the Romans for not having their own language and alphabet.770, do you also celebrate the birthday of the Tsar yarum hodo?
RY, I am presently studying German (and French) on Duolingo. Actually the relationship to English (and the few Yiddish words I know) make it easier (so sayeth The Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State, which ranks both Germna and French in the easiest learning category for English-speakers ) and more interesting.
In any case, I still see no value in studying it, much less speaking it unless one wants to be an anthropologist or historian.
770, someone who speaks Yiddish n fact speaks pidgin German.
JJ, so if he wants a Rolls Royce he should give one to a poor person?
I see no reason for studying pidgin German unless one wants to teach the literature in a college. After learning English and Hebrew kids should learn a language which will be useful in business such as French, German (both similar to English) or Russian (less so but not completely different as for historical reasons it has French, German and Greek influences).
Yytz, what happens if she moves more slowly and refuses to go to the mikva when he realizes how serious that is? As for Shabbat, in the uS there are anti-discrimination laws. While they have loopholes for employers who need people to come on Shabbat (very few in office jobs) they often only need a limited number of people. If he has a good relationship with his boss and fellow employees (which he should strive to have anyway) he can most likely get a non-Jewish employee to cover for him. If the company pays extra for weekend work the non-Jew will jump at the chance. Of course, the Jewish employee should also meet his employer half way. For example, at one of my jobs I informally agreed to work extra hour Mon-Thurs in order to leave early on Fri in the winter (we so did not have to punch a clock so it was not a problem). Today many offices have compressed time for all. Local governments even encourage it in order to relieve transportation congestion. This is how the real job world works
Yitzchokm, was there mixed seating at the frum weddings in Woodstock? Did it lead to problems?
Joseph, your posts beg for leitzanut.
Joseph, there is a couple in my community who came from the former Soviet Union intermarried. The husband converted and they are now fully observant.
Yytz, he can’t demand that she become a BT overnight or else? What about kashrut and taharat hamispacha?
Por, so speak to them in Hebrew. If you really want them to be different (Pidgin German is close to German and I’m told very close to Swiss-German) speak to them in Aramaic.
Joseph, how did you develop such a knack for being wrong? Being with a gentile for marriage is a lav that isn’t explicit in the Torah (the peshat is that it only applies to the seven nations) so there are no malkot d’Oraita. Being with one for other reasons is a rabbinic prohibition (Chazal decreed that they have the status of zavim). It is true that the Zohar very strongly condemns a man (but not a woman) who does this but only because his biological children will not be Jewish (so if she can’t or won’t it would seem not to apply).
KJ, don’t give up your day job.
According to Kabbala there is a special inyan to brink back non-Jewish descendants of Jews (zera Yisrael). Hopefully these people will become investigate Judaism, discover that they are not really Jewish and convert. I, in fact, have several friends who are products of marriages between Jewish men and non-Jewish women. They all converted and are now quite frum.
ZD, how would the bet din force them?
Yehudayona, so far as Ik now you are correct. However, there might be an issur of lifnei iver in staying with him.
Neville, what about marrying the children of someone who cheats in business or is a baal lashon hara? So far as the gerut is concerned, what counts is her intent when she went into the mikva. It could be that she was not told about this mitzva. It could be that she intended to leave him but had second thoughts later. We discussed this issue regarding a well-known gioret in a previous thread that was full of LH by “frum” Jews. Interestingly, those who attacked Rav Goren for revoking a conversion (which may not have even taken place) were quick to “revoke” hers.
Being “married” to a non-Jew is a lav as is a cohen being married to a gioret. On the other hand, chillul Shabbat is karret. It might thus be better to mekarev the cohen even if he might not leave her.
Joseph, it is not necessary to be right. It is necessary to be smart. If the Jewish partner is a cohen there is no other way other than divorce. However, if he is not it might be better in the long run to mekarev them and hope that the non-Jewish partner will undergo a halachic conversion and then they will get married properly.
Within the halachic framework it is also a Jewish principle. For example, an Ashkenazi does not tell a Sephardi not to eat kitniot during Pesach.
Nechomah, actually baruch Hashem I have been living in EY for almost 30 years. However, Hashem has not seen fit to give me such an apartment. I do have friends in RBS who have an individually-controlled unit but I did not ask everyone has it or if they put it in special.
Iiacisrmma, I was not just referring to השמעת קול. There are also issues of בן אדם לחבירו such as disturbing people’s peace, גזל שינה and impinging on their right to live normally in their homes (the smell). As I posted on another thread, if people want to be big machmirs they should do so in their interpersonal relations.
Winnie, it could be that the very new buildings have individually- controlled units. When I lived in Gilo 25 years ago the apartment did not have such a unit. The vaad habayit (building committee) decided when to give heat (pretty good – baruch Hashem I thawed out very quickly after a big snowstorm) and charged a (substantial) addition to the maintenance fee. The really old buildings do not have anything. Each tenant must heat for himself. Electric radiators and blow heaters are very common (charitable organizations give them out to the poor).
Mazganim are not that necessary in Yerushalayim in the summer but in other parts of the country they are common. I heard that in Eilat they have (or at least had at one time) “desert coolers” which work better and cheaper in dry climates.
As for your acquaintance, how does he heat his apartment? As I pointed out, gas and kerosene heaters are not so safe so he is sacrificing a Torah prohibition for the sake of a chumra (which may be the same prohibition and worse as per Dor.
I am waiting for a chumra on ben adam l’chavero or kiddush/non-chillul Hashem in relationships with non-frum Jews or gentiles.
Binyomint, the “regular” work is also needed to keep the power flowing (although today much of it is computerized). BTW, Rav Ovadia noted (Chazon Ovadia-Shabbat, volume 6 page 158) that this work is also needed for security reasons and is also lenient. On the other hand, if someone wants to be a big machmir he should not use electricity at all on Shabbat because of marit ayin. This, of course. also means using a gas or kerosene heater in the winter with all of the attendant dangers (or bundling up). He thus would not be able to live in the newer buildings in Yerushalayim as they have central heating which is not controlled by the individual residents.
Dor, that is not kosher, it is possibly mehadrin (if the generator makes noise or is smelly it is not even kosher). Rav Shlomo Zalman ruled that because electrical system repairs are needed for sick and elderly people all may benefit (ner l’echad, ner l’mea).