Avi K

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  • in reply to: Davening with a metronome? #1341607
    Avi K
    Participant

    Unless you are the shaliach tzibbur you have no obligation to daven at the tzibbor’s pace or to take a certain amount of time. Rav Chaim Soloveichik was known for daven “quickly”. On the other hand, many rabbanim daven “slowly” and have standing instructions not to wait for them so as not to inconvenience the rest. Speak to Hashem like you would speak to a king or other important person (think of a job interviewer).

    in reply to: The Casualties of Yiddish in Litvishe Chadorim #1341210
    Avi K
    Participant

    Akuperma,
    1. Secular Yiddish newspapers in the US either folded or went over to English years ago.
    2. Yiddish and German grammar is not at all like English grammar. For example, Yiddish and German separate the prefix form the main verb in sentences and put the infinitive at the end (e.g. in German “I am beginning to learn German” is “Ich fange an, Deutsch zu lernen” – to begin” is “anfangen”.

    Joseph, wrong again. Most Jews in Israel are Sepharadim and bnei Eidot HaMizrach. the vast majority of French Jews are also Sepharadim.

    RY, speakers of Swiss-German might understand a Yiddish speaker if he speaks slowly (so I was told by a Swiss-German speaker) but Germans would have a problem, especialy being that many Yiddish words are of Hebrew or Slavic origin (e.g. “bubbe” comes from the Russian “babuska” whereas in German it is “Oma”. See “Yiddish vs. German: An Experiment” online.

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1341010
    Avi K
    Participant

    See also Megilla 13a that anyone who denies a”z is called a Yehudi.

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1340976
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke, you can find his opinion in Bet HaBechira on href=”http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40773&st=&pgnum=325&hilite=”>Baba Kama 113b .

    This was also the opinion of Rav Kook (Iggeret 89), Maharatz Chajes (Tifferet l’Yisrael, Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (<Collected ritings v. 7 “Talmudic Judaism and Society”, Rav David Tzvi Hoffman (Fundamentals of Judaism edited by Jacob Breuer ch. 8 , Rav Yaakov Emden (on Pirkei Avot 4:13), Rav Aharon Soloveichik ( “Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind pages 139, 151) and Rav Nahum Rabinovich, and Rav Lichtenstein in the name of Rav Joseph Soloveichik (Laws of Medical Treatment on Shabbat by Rabbi Dov Karrol, who all say that gentiles who have an orderly society are considered gerim toshavim. RAS adds that the mitzva of קידוש השם only applies where there is an ethical imperative to so act (קדש עצמך במותר לך) – we do many things despite the fact that the other nations dislike them.

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1340975
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke, you can find his statement here .

    Rav Kook wrote:

    “אהבת הבריות צריכה להיות חיה בלב ובנשמה… להיטיב לעמים כולם… תכונה זו היא שמסגלת את רוחא דמלכא משיחא לחול על ישראל (מכשירה את ישראל לרוחו של מלך המשיח). בכל מקום שאנו מוצאים רמזי שנאה (כלפי הגויים), הרינו יודעים ברור שהכוונה רק על הרשעה, שהיא מרתקת (אוחזת) בחזקה את האיגוד של עמים רבים, גם בהווה ובייחוד בימים מקדם שהיתה זוהמת העולם יותר מסואבת. אבל עלינו לדעת כי נקודת החיים, אור וקודש, תמיד לא זזה מהצלם האלוקי שנחנן בו האדם בכללו, וחוננו בו כל עם ולשון…” (מידות ראי”ה אהבה סעיף ה’):

    “…העיקר כדעת המאירי שכל העמים שהם גדורים בנימוסים הגונים בין אדם לחברו הם כבר נחשבים לגרים תושבים ….” (אגרות הראי”ה פט).

    This was also the view of Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (The Collected Writings p. 225), Rav Yaakov Emden (on Pirkei Avot 4:13), Rav David Tzvi Hoffman (Fundamentals of Judaism ed. by Rav Jacob Breuer p. 182), Maharatz Chayes, and Rav Aharon Soloveitchik (Logic of the Heart, Logic of the Mind pp. 139 and 151. According to RAS the obligation of kiddush Hashem applies because there is a “deeper ethical responsibility” (קדש עצמך במותר לך). This follows from the fact that we do many things even though the other nations do not like them.

    in reply to: Calling cops on frum neighbor #1340932
    Avi K
    Participant

    Avram, you should try to stop him. Throw something at him. Pepper spray him. The call the cops as he will undoubtedly try again.

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1339900
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke and DY,

    1. The Rema says that the “only” reason for having to return it is kiddush Hashem. Is that light in your eyes? May one compel a fellow Jew to do a kiddush Hashem?

    2. Rav Menashe Klein disagrees with the Netivot ( <a href=”http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1878&st=%d7%92%d7%96%d7%9c&pgnum=373
    “>Mishna Halachot 6:305)). This is also the view of Rav Ovadia (הלכה ליום רביעי כ”ט טבת תשע”ד). In any case, the Netivot himself says that the thief must pay for the object.

    3. The Chatam Sofer says (v. 6 Sukka 30) that the Rambam holds that one must return the object.

    4. See also Yerushalmi Baba Kama 4:1 and Biur HaGra EH 28:5.

    5. You have not addressed by citation of the Meiri nor have you addressed my other points.

    in reply to: The Antifa Alt-Left Extreme Left-Wing Violent Anti-Semites #1339901
    Avi K
    Participant

    How about putting them and the white nationalists on an island together?

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1339902
    Avi K
    Participant

    According to Ramban even if there is no mitzva of hashava there might be an obligation of “keduushim tiyu” (see Be’er HaGola CM 348:5).

    in reply to: White-Nationalist Movement in America #1339882
    Avi K
    Participant

    Trump is right. America is becoming polarized (see Antifa and the Alt-Right, Growing in Opposition to One Another in National Review – with antisemitism featured prominently on both sides (besides the BDS movement and its emphasis on “liberation politics”, the BLM movement has conflated antisemitism into its victimhood message, as has the toeva movement.

    In fact, this is what characterized Germany at the end of the Weimer Republic period with frequent street battles between Nazis and Communists. On the other hand, I did hear that there is a tradition going back to Rav Chaim of Volozhin that Jews will never be persecuted as Jews in America. If America did not go fascist eighty years ago when all of the conditions were right it probably never will. Einstein, in fact, said this in response to Gödel’s assertion that the Constitution could be so interpreted.

    in reply to: Would You Stop a Shoplifter? #1339297
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke,
    1. Please cite your source for your contention that the thief does not have to return the object he stole from a goy. How else would he do teshuva?
    2. The Meiri says that gentiles who have the rule of law are treated like Jews for these matters and Rav Hirsch and Rav Kook pasken like him.
    3. The kiddush Hashem would be greater than the chillul Hashem, as it always is (Yerushalmi Kiddushin 4:1).
    4. If he steals from a goy he will also steal from a Jew (Tanna d’Bei Eliahu and see Rema CM 388:12).
    5. Many shoplifters have various mental issues that cause this behavior. If he is one of them you will be doing him a favor as he will be sent to rehab. It might even be an aveira on “al taamod la dam r’eicha” not to report him.
    6. I do not suggest that you take physical action for various practical reasons. I once saw a girl get on the back entrance of the bus and start to proceed towards the rear. I gave her a look and she shamefacedly went to pay the driver.

    in reply to: Vacationing in Alaska #1339264
    Avi K
    Participant

    The problem in northern Alaska in the summer is that Shabbat begins and ends extremely late. I have a friend who is from Anchorage and when he went back for a visit he was told to keep it according to Seattle, which is the nearest organized Jewish community.

    in reply to: The Casualties of Yiddish in Litvishe Chadorim #1339186
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke,

    If they are Israelis it is not surprising that they speak Hebrew. Even those who speak Yiddish at home speak Hebrew as very few people outside Chassidic communities have any knowledge of Yiddish (Litvish rabbanim use Hebrew although sometimes they use the Litvish pronunciation). I personally was in a shiur given by an Israeli who learned in Kol Torah (Rav Shlomo Zalman’s yeshiva) and he odes not know Yiddish at all. Kol Torah was, in fact, the first Chareidi yeshiva (Rav Kook started his yeshiva beforehand) to go over to Hebrew (eighty years ago) and the Chazon Ish said that the language of instruction should be Hebrew because so few understood Yiddish (not to mention Sepharadim and bnei Eidot HaMizrach).

    BTW, the Raavad is quoted by the Sheeta Mekubetzet as saying that it is doubtful if someone who does not learn in Hebrew fulfills the mitzva. One of the reasons why the Bnei Yisrael merited leaving Egypt was that they spoke Hebrew and not “Judeo-Egyptian”.

    Mammele,

    Even if they did know Yiddish they probably would have preferred English as they would have trouble expressing themselves in Yiddish. This is a common phenomena among children of olim.

    in reply to: The Casualties of Yiddish in Litvishe Chadorim #1338250
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke, why do they refuse to speak English? What is so holy about pidgin German?

    in reply to: The Casualties of Yiddish in Litvishe Chadorim #1338209
    Avi K
    Participant

    Joseph,

    1. Where did you find that one about Yiddish being an “international language spoken by Jews”? Most Jews are Sephardic and DO NOT speak Yiddish. Most Ashkenazim also do not speak Yiddish except for words that crept int other languages.

    2. What benefit does someone receive from knowing Yiddish? In fact, a case can even be made (@CTl) that it impedes learning German, which is an important language in international business (while most Germans, especially business people, can speak English there are imporatnt newspapers and magazines written in German. A person who starts with Yiddish must unlearn pronunciation differences. Moreover, much of Yiddish comes from Russian, Polish and Hebrew. One who does not believe that there are signicificant differences should watch a video on YouTube where two men translate English phrases into German and Yiddish respectively. In fact, when the Japanese Interior Minister interviewed a rosh yeshiva during WW2 he needed an interpreter despite being fluent in Yiddish.

    Avi K
    Participant

    Akuperma, how much are you paid to shill for our enemies? Rav Herzog paskened that the Third Commonwealth will not be destroyed – when Rommel ym”s seemed to be on the verge of conquering the entire Middle East. My prediction is that the PA will not survive Abbas. In fact, his new repressive measures might even implode it in his lifetime. The vast majority of Arabs want to leave. All that is necessary is to set up an international relocation fund that wil pay them to emigrate to countries that need immigrants. Canada, Australia, NZ, Brazil and Germany (despite all the refugees it has already accepted) are all up there. Thanks to the internet young Arabs can develop skill sets needed in these countries and even take professional exams by computer.

    in reply to: Calling cops on frum neighbor #1337924
    Avi K
    Participant

    Health, while you are at it why would you call them for a host of other suspected crimes? Moreover, did you ever stop to think that maybe the neighbors are all victims? Did you ever hear of home invasions?

    Avi K
    Participant

    Satmar is irrelevant. A group in denial.

    in reply to: Calling cops on frum neighbor #1337793
    Avi K
    Participant

    LU, there is also no time if you hear screams. If not for the prohibition of derisha el hameitim I would suggest that you ask Kitty Genovese.

    in reply to: Calling cops on frum neighbor #1337373
    Avi K
    Participant

    LU, safek pikuach nefesh is also pikuach nefesh. In the case of the smoke you do not go to the house and investigate. You call the FD. Screams are another matter. Some people are simply screamers. They may be very nice people but they have a nervous problem and need to let it out. In fact, the who kill their whole families are often quiet types who never argue. Then one day they explode.

    in reply to: Are civil rights a bad thing? #1337372
    Avi K
    Participant

    Joseph, you need a remedial English course. RY wrote that they SHOULD accept them. Once when I bought something in a supermarket the checkout lady asked if I wanted to join their customers’ club. I was tempted to say that I would not join a club that would accept me but I figured that she would not get it.

    In any case, the subject of this thread is civil rights. Private institutions do not have to give any rights.

    in reply to: Are You An Apikores? #1335507
    Avi K
    Participant

    Gavriel, “shituf” means associating another being with Hashem. For example, the Notzrim (other than Unitarians and similar denominations) think that Yushki was a manifestation of Hashem (thus they refer to him as their Lord, capitalizing the “L”). In general, their theologians contend that there is only one Gd but that He has three different parts.

    in reply to: Question in Hilchos Loshon Hora #1334548
    Avi K
    Participant

    1. Where there is a תועלת not stating the facts would be a violation of
    אל תעמוד על דם רעך. However, the listener must inform the person as to how he came by the info.

    2. Being מכשיל someone is not necessarily לפני עיוור. If someone else can tell him it is מסעיה לדבר עבירה. As this is a rabbinic prohibition the rules are easier.

    in reply to: Gender in Hebrew #1332996
    Avi K
    Participant

    Sam, some words are ambiguous. There is a discussion about this at the beginning of Kiddushin.

    in reply to: Men’s beaches in Israel #1332997
    Avi K
    Participant

    Joseph, there are guards.

    in reply to: Government Attack on British Yeshivos #1332998
    Avi K
    Participant

    ZD, even without vouchers the state can remove accreditation. So far, however, there are exceptions for religious institutions. Of course, no one knows what will happen in the future but it is very doubtful that with Trump remaking the judiciary attempts will pass muster.

    in reply to: Mazal Tov to the family of CTLAWYER #1332999
    Avi K
    Participant

    Mazal tov.

    in reply to: If you can go to war at 18, you should be able to drink at 18 #1331297
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke, criminalizing drugs has worked as well as Prohibition. Recently the Israeli Anti-Drug Agency recommended following the Portuguese system where substance abuse is treated as a public health problem. However, one really must ask how far the nanny state can go. What about Blomberg banning large cokes in NYC. Those in the US who support federalism should also oppose laws that punish states for not setting the age Nanny Sam wants. As for the army, halachically it should be 20-60 although one rav suggested that 18 is a horaat shaah.

    in reply to: Are You An Apikores? #1331298
    Avi K
    Participant

    Poster, how do you define “ultimately”? Suppose Hashem decided that if Reuven will write a decent resume, dress presentably and speak well at the interviews he will get a certain job. If Reuven does not fulfill any of those conditions who “ultimately” lost the job for him?

    in reply to: Are You An Apikores? #1331301
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yekke, I doubt the exactness of your story (but then I often doubt the exactness of stories). If Hashem decided that a person should do X amount of hishtadlut and he does not could it be said that he did not get the parnassa because Hashem was displeased with his laziness (on this see Mishlei 6:6-11).

    in reply to: “There is no solution” to the Israel conflict: Jared Kushner #1331232
    Avi K
    Participant

    Joseph, the Torah assumes that a normal person will fight for what is his. That is why there is the din of haba b’machteret.

    Really the best solution all around is to establish an international resettlement fund to help Arabs emigrate to countries that need immigrants (Germany, for example, still has nearly 700K unfilled jobs). Polls have consistently shown that most as many as 68% in
    Judea- Samaria and 80% in Gaza would leave if they could (BTW, one can now take various American exams world-wide by computer – and there is a center in Ramallah). However, it would probably take a major upheaval to get the international community to do it – although some Israeli pols are starting to talk about it..

    in reply to: Practicality on the Palestinians #1331225
    Avi K
    Participant

    Why does every problem require a solution, at least for the time being? This attitude cost Eisav his birthright. He wanted lentil soup NOW. The ability to delay gratification is a mark of a mature person.

    in reply to: Government Attack on British Yeshivos #1331226
    Avi K
    Participant

    Akuperma, actually Trump has a good chance of adding another three judges to SCOTUS. Kennedy will probably retire soon. Breyer is 79 and Ginsburg are both over 84.

    As for the UK, it will be interesting to see what will happen when they try to force it on Moslem schools. It serves them right for betraying their mandate. The Jews should get out while the getting is good.

    in reply to: Are You An Apikores? #1331224
    Avi K
    Participant

    1. All of the above. Hashem works through nature. He also wants us to do as much as we can. In fact, Chazal call a miracle “troubling” Hashem.

    2. Same.

    3. Same.

    in reply to: Segulos #1330550
    Avi K
    Participant

    I meant make a great deal of money.

    in reply to: Segulos #1330549
    Avi K
    Participant

    Mod, it depends. The lives of many lottery winners were destroyed because they could not handle their new wealth. If that would be the case with you you will win by not winning. As for becoming wealthy, one who is happy with his portion is wealthy.

    In any case, there is a sure-fire way to get rich – sell segulot.

    in reply to: Protection from Crime in Dangerous Communities #1330471
    Avi K
    Participant

    After the terror attack in Har Nof Rav Asher Weiss ruled that anyone who has a gun license should bring it to shul. In my community those who have licenses were told by the rav to carry them and those who do not should carry some other form of defense (I personally carry pepper spray which I bought after a couple of confrontations with unfriendly dogs). I also heard that today’s cell phones are only uvda d’chol (I do not know the technical reasons) but so far as I have seen only paramedics carry them (at least openly).

    Avi K
    Participant

    In Fisher v. University of Texas I SCOTUS remanded a private suit to the lower courts with instructions to apply strict scrutiny. The result is now pending (Fisher II). I would think that the DOJ would wait for the decision.

    in reply to: Moshiach’s website #1330473
    Avi K
    Participant

    Analyst, I heard that the day’s broadcasts will start with the Korban Tamid followed by Mashiach’s shiur.

    in reply to: Halachic army #1329032
    Avi K
    Participant

    Anon, Chazal fault Doeg for saying LH and Shaul for believing it (Vayikra Rabba 25,7 and Tanhuma Metzora 14,1). I cannot understand how the cohanim of Nove were mordim b’malchut. Shaul was pursuing David unjustly. Shaul may have thought that but he was wrong (and thus David allowed the Givonim, who lost their parnassa, to name their revenge). Please cite the exact place in the sefer where the Chida discusses this.

    in reply to: How can I learn Yiddish? #1328794
    Avi K
    Participant

    ZD, actually there were two communities in Greece and the surrounding area. The pre-Expulsion Judeo-Greek-speaking Romaniote community and the Ladino-speaking Sephardic community.

    in reply to: Tort Reform #1328669
    Avi K
    Participant

    Joseph, defendants who go the pro se route are aided by staff lawyers who work for the court.

    CTl, Itamar Ben-Gvir did such a good job of representing himself that a judge suggested that he become a lawyer. Now he is one of israel’s top lawyers. However, the enormous cost of law school in the US screams for reform. Here in Israel (and not only Israel) Law is a BA like any other BA and it only takes 3-1/2 years. I think that there should also be a return to the apprenticeship system. Lincoln did not even do that but taught himself.

    in reply to: Halachic army #1328670
    Avi K
    Participant

    Yael and Devora did their bits.

    in reply to: Tort Reform #1327772
    Avi K
    Participant

    According to Halacha, a doctor who is licensed, and certainly one who is board certified, is only liable of a gross violation of professional standards. The same goes for any מומחה לרבים.

    in reply to: How can I learn Yiddish? #1327731
    Avi K
    Participant

    CTl, you are correct. In fact, Rav Ovadia used that argument to assert that the Sephardic pronunciation is more correct than the Ashkenazic.

    in reply to: How can I learn Yiddish? #1327471
    Avi K
    Participant

    I don’t remember the title as I read it many years ago but Agnon has a story about a Jew who went to Germany for medical treatment. Every time he spoke in Yiddish he was corrected but he would not budge. Finally they showed him a dictionary and he said “Just because some gentile writes something does not mean that I have to believe it”.

    in reply to: How can I learn Yiddish? #1327469
    Avi K
    Participant

    Ubitquin, no. I would not the meaning of either word if I had not been told.

    CTl, apparently Ladino is closer to Spanish than Yiddish is to German. My grandmother on my mother’s side a”h was from Turkey and spoke Ladino, which she called Spanish (apparently because a variant name is Spaniolit). She could converse with people from Latin America but when the Japanese Interior Minister interviewed a rosh yeshiva during WW2 he needed an interpreter despite being fluent in German (however, I have a friend whose wife is from Switzerland and she says that Yiddish is similar enough to Swiss-German for her to understand if the person speaks slowly).
    BTW, just as there are differences between the British and American English there are differences between French and Canadian French and the Spanish of Spain and Latin America.

    in reply to: Halachic army #1327447
    Avi K
    Participant

    Anon that is not a source. That is your personal opinion. In fact, David had professional soldiers (the Gibborim) and Yoav was a relative of his. When he was running away from Shaul he definitely had a private army. See
    “מבנה צבא דוד” by נסים מזוז on the website “דעת”.

    in reply to: How can I learn Yiddish? #1326545
    Avi K
    Participant

    Ubitquin, suppose they were going to some Catholic event? I personally do not know why any Jew would want to go to Europe unless he had to. As for japan, you then get into the safek about when is Shabbat – and maybe even Yom Kippur.

    in reply to: Sinning in the Messianic Era #1326058
    Avi K
    Participant

    There are two versions of Rambam at the end of Hilchot Melachim (12:5). One says
    ובאותו הזמן, לא יהיה שם לא רעב ולא מלחמה ולא קנאה ותחרות–שהטובה תהיה מושפעת הרבה, וכל המעדנים מצויין כעפר. ולא יהיה עסק כל העולם, אלא לדעת את ה’ בלבד. ולפיכך יהיו חכמים גדולים, ויודעים דברים הסתומים העמוקים; וישיגו דעת בוראם כפי כוח האדם, שנאמר “כי מלאה הארץ, דעה את ה’, כמים, לים מכסים” (ישעיהו יא,ט).

    Another says יהיו ישראל חכמים גדולים.

    So it seems that there will not be sin as such. It could be that some will not fulfill mitzvot in the absolute best possible way.

Viewing 50 posts - 1,551 through 1,600 (of 3,490 total)