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Joseph, that is a discussion that centers on whether or not it is a ????. In any case, is only if he is Gd-fearing like his father and the tzibbor wants him. There was one kehilla that had a by-law that no relative of a member could be the rav. When the rav passed away his son-in-law claimed the position but it turned out that he had a relative in the community. If I remember correctly the Chatam Sofer ruled that he could not become the rav.
Joseph?
1. I did not see where the Seridei Esh says that. In fact, the Chafetz Chaim rescinded an invitation Rav Meir Shapiro when the latter asked that the CC’s wife not sit at the same table.
2. The Levush (Minhagim 36) defends mixed seating at weddings. Rav Moshe also permits it (Iggerot Moshe OC 1:41).
Time, I hope that he did not give any to people who are allergic. In nay case, it could be that the Steipler realized from speaking to them that their illnesses were psychosomatic. Once a woman who was suffering from a seriosu illness asked the Noda b’Yehuda for a kameia. He gavce her a rolled-up rag and told her to open it in a week. If it was blank it meant that she was permanently cured. She got better and to her joy when she opened it it was blank – as it always had been (see Meiri regarding the evil eye on Baba Metzia 107b and compare the masakana regarding pairs on Pesachim 110b).
Gavra, generally speaking in Litvish communities people are not choshesh.
Time, yes he is a talmid.
HaLevi, the question is on what level is it true. The Maharal(Ber Hagolah 6) says that they are referring to the spiritual world and not the physical world. Indeed, it is very difficult to think that Ravina and Rav Ashi put scientific statements into the Gemara, which is a Torah work and not a scientific work. It could very well be that the spiritual counterpart of a physical phenomenon behaves differently. It could also be that a legal definition differs from a scientific definition. Thus putting food into water a keli sheini does not cook it halachically even if it does cook it chemically.
JM, they can have whatever opinion they want butthey will have to jsutify it with sources. They will also have to find a terutz for the reality of guys who are going OTD and worse because it is not for them and they do not have an alternative.
Zahavasdad, you should join the remedial reading class. According to Dictionary.com “Should” means “must; ought (used to indicate duty, propriety, or expediency)”.
Geordie, I am here so that you can drink from the fountain of my wisdom. Insulting an entire segment of the Jewish population is a prerequisite for membership in the CR.
Lilmod, in fact, I know a Chareidi rav who tried to justify the fact that some “frum” guy helped people receive insurance payments even though they were not insured by saying that he did not personally profit but just wanted to do chesed (interestingly, the Torah says that marrying one’s sister is chesed). So far as I know, OO rabbis say that certain acts are sins but that the sinners should be mekareved by looking the other way.
Time, your points are also true about people in other factions. There enough opinions for people to pick and choose. There is even an opinion that it is permitted to rob a goy (Baba Metzia 111b). Ok so it’s not the halacha but why can’t one rely it anyway? Not saying lashon hara about a fellow Jew? You call him a Jew? Not derided a talmid chacham? You call him a talmid chacham?
Catch, you are correct but that is not the spirit of some in the CR. BTW, the reason why the majority in Lakewood are no longer learning full-time is that budget cuts forced the yeshivots to give exams and cutoff those who were not up to pa. This si what I meant (@Golfer) but “waving their fat fingers”. Full-time life-long learning should be only for a small elite. They should also be paid at least as much as research fellows and could be if the butterflies (as they are called in Israel) are put to work.
Catch,
1. I was referring to current practices. In Israel only 45% of Chareidi men work and most of those are in low-paying “religious” jobs. Some leaders have issued bans against secular education, even in Chareidi settings, which effectively ban professional training. In America the situation is different although among some Chassidim there is great opposition even to learning and using English.
2. I do not remember the name of the person who did that but various problematic practices were recorded in the book “??? ??????” which caused the Gra to issue the cherem.
3. I agree that tolerance is a good midda. What about tolerance for MO and RZ?
K-cup,
As a matter of fact, according to Rav Kook (Ein Ayah on masechet Shabbat 2:8) every movement that rises up has some part in Truth. However, there is also much falsehood. The task of chachamim in every generation is to show how some current movement has a Torah source but after it falls we need not refer to it any more.
As for Chassidut, it started as a populist rebellion against the learned elites and therefore was very problematic. One leader said horrible things about talmidei chachamim and another announced during Yom Kippur that he had seen through ruach hakodesh that the gates of Heaven were closed and there was no longer a reason to fast. He then had something to eat. The Baal HaTanya did a great deal to bring it back into the fold.Later the rebbes of Gur, the Sochochover and others made it a halachic movement.
As for reinterpretation of Halacha and hashkafa, what about the current notions about full-time life-long learning for all men, women supporting families while their husbands wave their fat fingers and rabbanim having the answers to all questions, including purely secular matters (even though it is, of course, absolutely forbidden to study secular subjects).
CTL, the more highly educated the jurors the less you can engage in histrionics when neither the law nor justice is on your side. LOL BTW, just out of curiosity, what do you do if a Jew comes to you wanting to sue another Jew? I heard that once a frum judge rebuked two Chassidim for not going to a bet din.
There is an OO manifesto (“Open orthodoxy! A modern Orthodox rabbi’s creed”) which is on-line and by itself seems fine to me. However, Some OO “rabbis” have crossed the line perhaps due to the influence of other groups on YCT. This has led to a push-back by rabbis such as Avraham Gordimer.
So far as I know from what I read on the Internet (I live in Israel) there is a difference in the shuls welcoming (apparently looking the other way) active (as opposed to celibate) gays and giving greater roles to women (e.g. aliyot, leading Kabbalat Shabbat). Hopefully they will take the criticism to heart and retreat a bit as did the Chassidim (according to the Tzemach Tzedek quoted in “Mekor Baruch” by Rabbi Baruch Epstein). According to Rav Kook this is the purpose of opposition to a new group.
I think that MO is a bit more traditional in synagogue practice although now there is also Centrist Orthodoxy and Morethodoxy. Maybe the list of subgroups will become so cumbersome that people will return to tzaddikim/benoni’im/resh’im (also Rav Kook’s view).
Maybe they should move to Houston. They take pride in not having zoning laws.
CTL, how were you allowed on a jury? My understanding was that lawyers do not want anyone who will exercise great influence over the other jurors because of his status and/or who knows too much.
Yehudayona, if you google “Trial Juries: Exemptions, Terms of Service, and Payment” you will find a list of exemptions by jurisdiction. Some are very interesting. For example, Ohio explicitly exempts Amish. In any case, I concede that most jurisdictions do not explicitly exempt clergy but I would imagine that it would make getting a religious exemption easier.
Rav Kook says that there is yeridat hadorot by talmidei chachamim but aliyat hadorot by ammei aratzot. In fact, we see a difference in attitude towards ammei aratzot already in the time of the Amoraim. Apparently education for the masses, started by Yehoshua ben Gamla, did the trick but at the expense of a certain lowering of the level of the elite, perhaps due to diversion of resources.
CTL, someone with semicha might have an extra claim to a religious exemption as some authorities say that Rabbi Eleazer b’Rabbi Shimon was only wrong (Baba Metzia 83b) becuase a talmid chacham should not engage in such activities (Bet Yosef Choshen Mishpat 388 near the end of the siman). I do not know about other religions but it would seem logical that they would have similar attitudes. In any case, I remind you that I wrote “probably” not “definitely”. Please learn the proper use of the English language. You yourself implied that in some jurisdictions there is an official clergy exemption.
Litebrite, a rodef is not necessarily someone who is threatening one’s life. he could even be a forger (Rema Choshen Mishpat 388,12).
CTL, I am surprised that you are not familiar with “In Re Jenison “, that established a religious exemption from jury duty.
Time, I asked Rabbi Hominick and he said that he never heard Rav Soloveichik say such a thing. He added that for RS there was no one greater than Rambam.
CTL, I very strongly suggest that you take a remedial reading course. I wrote “probably”. Even if there is no official exemption I would imagine that the judge has discretion to excuse people based on occupation.
Joseph,
1. I strongly suggest that you join CTL. If enough of you get together you can even lobby the bar association for CLE credit. I wrote that one should ask one’s rav. If you google “jury duty halacha” you will find several opinions. I personally have difficulty with two:
a. One opinion says that it is safek gezel. As the litigants accepted the jury that should not be a problem (see SA CM 22:1 – mishna in Sanhedrin [3,2] says even three shepherds).
b. Another opinion says that experts should judge and not lay people. I have the same difficulty with this opinion.
Of course , the plaintiff is committing a chillul Hashem if he does not have permission from a bet din but in our case the litigants are already in court. BTW, I heard of a case where two Chassidim took their dispute to a secular court and were rebuked by the frum judge for not going to a bet din.
2. The secular authorities have the right and obligation to enact criminal laws for the maintenance. These courts are not bound by halachic rules. YWN coffee room capital punisment. See the extended discussion at http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/capital-punishment. See also (on-line) “Serving as Judge in Secular Courts”.
Joseph, maybe the person should first ask his rav if there is a halachic problem. Even if both parties are Jewish there might not be as the jury generally acts as an arbitration panel. It might even be an opportunity for a kiddush Hashem as a knowledgeable person could bring in Talmudic principles such as ??? ??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????. BTW, if a person has semicha he probably can get a clergy exemption.
Time,
1. If you are referring to Rabbi Yaakov Hominick, I happen to know him and bli neder I will ask him.
2. I find that very difficult to believe unless Rav Moshe was a child at the time (his father also ordered him to teachh is son himself as his Chabad melamed was spending time on Tanya and neglecting Gemara).
Zhavasdad, mi hu Chareidi?
Zahavasdad,
1. In 1900 JTS was an Orthodox institution. As late as the 1980s it had several Orthodox rabbanim on its faculty (they resigned over the ordination of women).
2. American Orthodox institutions began to be built much earlier. Young Israel was formed in 1912 and YU was established by the merger of Yeshiva College and RIETS in 1915.
Litebrite, regarding Chareidim who are not chreidim l’devar Hashem read Rav Kook’s essay “Massa HaMachonot” in “Maamarei HaRaya”. There he discusses how these labels prevent teshuva. The proof is the fact that every Israeli prison has a”Torani wing”. For that matter, I read that there is a prison in America that has two minyanim – Aguda and Young Israel. There is also a prison in upstate NY that has a kosher kitchen run by a man who murdered his wife and child (but is shomer Shabbat). He also blows the shofar on Rosh HaShana for himself and the other Jewish inmates.
Lilmod, while the Mizrahi (actually there were two until they merged to form the National Religious Party sixty years ago, Mizrahi, which represented the urban middle class, and HaPoel HaMizrahi, which represented the kibbutzim and moshavim) considered Rav Kook to be their posek and he held them in high regard he was never a member of any political movement. His dream was to establish a non-political coalition of all frum people who wanted to work for yishuv Eretz Yisrael to be called Degel Yerushalayim. Unfortunately, he could not find talented organizers and the plan was never actualized. His son, Rav Tzvi Yehuda, never explicitly endorsed any party but gave a beracha to anyone who asked for one as he considered all to have a part of the truth.
Less, actually set prayers and shuls began after the destruction of the First Temple (Hoshea 14:3). Archaeologists have found the remains of shuls from the Second Temple period.
As for the claim that no changes having been made since Sinai, this is errant nonsense. We just celebrated a change (Chanuka) and iy”h we will celebrate another one in Adar. Minhagim are all changes. Kabbalat Shabbat, for example, was instituted by the Chochmei Tzefat (which is why Ashkenazim say it from the bima – to stress that it is not part of Arvit).
Gavra, the Rema says (Choshen Mishpat 163,1) that whenever there is a disagreement over some public matter each person should give his opinion l’shem Shemayim. His opinion and not his rav’s opinion. L’shem Shemayim and not l’shem interests.
Winnie, within the religious public the term “dos” is used to refer to anyone who is more machmir than the speaker.
1. The term “Chareidi” to refer to anyone observant was in vogue 100 years ago. Since then the number of labels has grown. “Dati” refers to non-Chareidi frum.
2. So who orchestrated the rise of nationalism in the 19th century and who is orchestrating its present revival?
3. Which Chareidim? There are also various sub-groups. Besides the different Chassidic groups, there is Lithuanian, which is further divided between Bnei Beraq and Yerushalayim. There is also a new group of working Chareidim. There are the olim from America and France who are more like Chardal (Chareidi Leumi) except for not having been in the IDF. As for following gedolim, I can tell you that at least in the Anglo Chareidi world Rav Kook, Rav Yisraeli and even academics such as Prof. (Emeritus) Schochatman and Dr. Vigoda (Asst. AG for Jewish law) are quoted in shiurim (I have heard this with my own ears).
Lilmod, you are absolutely wrong. “Dati” is used for someone who is considered (some people talk the talk but in private don’t walk the walk but that is true across the board) a member of the non-Chareidi (or Chareidi Leumi – Chardal) religious public. Someone who is up front about no longer keeping mitzvot is a datlash/it (dati/a leshe’avar – formerly religious). Someone who cuts corners is “dati lite”. I have also heard of people named Datia, apparently the Hebrew equivalent of the Yiddish name Fruma.
Xtians and Zoroastrians notwithstanding, anything the Samech-Mem does requires Hashem’s permission. This is stated explicitly in Sefer Iyov. I actually once heard a suggestion that the miracles were performed through non-observant Jews to confuse him.
Time, where is that record? The Briskers were Rambamists. In any case I will reiterate. Who are “We”? Rav Kapach is certainly not in that group.
Joseph, quantum theory, which Einstein dismissed, has partially overturned it. It would be interesting to think about how it relates to the question of free will vs. Hashem’s foreknowledge.
What about the Quakers? The name is a translation of “Chareidim”.
Winnie, the same with “yom”. It sometimes means time period (in English also we say “in his day”). So the six days of Creation might be six time periods. Interestingly, archaeologists say that writing only started a bit over 5,000 years ago. It cannot be known when people began to speak but either could be considered the beginning of the world so far as Judaism is concerned.
Lilmod,
1. Rav Kook also did not necessarily take statements literally. For example, he said that the Theory of Evolution could be reconciled with Torah views.
2. So look them up. You can certainly find the books in any Torah library and even on-line.
Here are Rambam’s statements:
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=9462&st=&pgnum=27
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=9463&st=&pgnum=31
Here is Maharam Shick’s opinion:
http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1494&st=&pgnum=260&hilite=
3. So ask whomever is your rav or look up the various contemporary opinions. You can start with “Challenge” edited by Rav by Aryeh Carmell and Cyril Domb, which you can purchase on-line.
MW, who are “we”?” I once heard that someone did not like something that was done in a certain shul. He said to the rav “We do not do that”. The rav replied “we do”.
Lilmos, TY. Actually some Geonim, Rishonim and Achronim do say that Chazal were wrong about scientific matters and others say that they were actually talking about the spiritual counterparts of the physical world (on this see “Did Chazal Know Science? (Rhetorical Question)” posted on-line by the Bet Midrash of Bayswater).
Sources:
Teshuvos HaGeonim 394:
Our sages were not doctors and said what they did based on experience with the diseases of their time. Therefore, there is no commandment to listen to the sages [regarding medical advice] because they only spoke from their opinion based on what they saw in their day.
*Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim 3:14:
*Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim 2:8:
It is one of the ancient beliefs, both among the philosophers and other people, that the motions of the spheres produced mighty and fearful sounds… This belief is also widespread in our nation. Thus our Sages describe the greatness of the sound produced by the sun in the daily circuit in its orbit. The same description could be given of all heavenly bodies. Aristotle, however, rejects this, and holds that they produce no sounds. You will find his opinion in the book The Heavens and the World (De Coelo). You must not find it strange that Aristotle differs here from the opinion of our Sages. The theory of the music of the spheres is connected with the theory of the motion of the stars in a fixed sphere, and our Sages have, in this astronomical question, abandoned their own theory in favour of the theory of others. Thus, it is distinctly stated, “The wise men of other nations have defeated the wise men of Israel.” It is quite right that our Sages have abandoned their own theory: for speculative matters every one treats according to the results of his own study, and every one accepts that which appears to him established by proof.
Rabbeinu Avraham ben HaRambam, Ma’amar al Derashos Chazal:
Maharam Schick, Teshuvas Maharam Schick 7
: Matters that were not received by Chazal as halachah leMoshe miSinai, but rather which they said according to their own reasoning – and with something that is not received [from Sinai] and has no root in our Torah, but rather comes from investigation and experience, it is difficult to determine [that it is true]. And there are many occasions when the sages determined, according to their own intellects, that a matter was a certain way, and the subsequent generation analyzed the matter further and disputed the earlier view.
* Regarding Rambam’s opinion, in his introduction to Perek Chelek he says that all of the aggadic statements are very deep metaphors.
Chazal themselves say that they deferred to gentile scientists (Pesachim 94b and Sanhedrin 5b).
However, either way you slice it we do not learn this-worldly scientific facts from the Gemara and midrashim. We learn how to conduct are lives in accordance with Halacha and ethical principles. According to all opinions, someone who wants to be a doctor goes to medical school. When Rav Hutner’s talmid muvchak, Rabbi Israel Kirzner, decided to become an economist he went to Brooklyn College and then NYU where he studied under Ludwig von Mises, who was an anti-religious Jew.
You should be consistent. If your father was Ashkenazi you should be Ashkenazi until you get married (you will not have to change your hashkafa, only your minhagim although some poskim allow keeping your davening nusach if trying to change will hurt your kavana). As for habara, if you learned Hebrew according to the Israeli habara you can use it in davening (the same goes if you are of Hungarian or German descent and learned the Lithuanian accent, etc.) as trying to daven differently could hurt your kavana. Some say that in any case you should pronounce Hashem’s name with “oy” atthe end rather than “ay” as the latter sounds like “my lords” but others disagree. See “????? ????? ??????? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ??????” (on-line).
First, I will repeat my post above regarding Rav Kook’s objection to labels (and BTW, Chassidut has changed greatly form its populist roots to adopt intellectual Torah learning).
“Chareidi’ism”, as it is called, is a movement. In general, it rejects secular studies and sends women to support their families and thus is a re-interpretation of Judaism. There is also Chareidi Leumi (Chardal), which is Zionistic, only opposes secular studies not connected to parnassa (e.g. Philosophy) and emphasizes Torah learning much more strongly than the traditional Mizrachnikim.
Rav kook was talking about a specific legal issue. In many cases poskim say that nature has changed or that we do not understand what Chazal meant 9for example, there is a cherem of the Gaonim against using the medical advice in the Gemara). See “Medicine in the Gemara” by Elli Friedman (on-line).
Neville,
1. Good riddance to Yiddish! It is no more than an a dialect of Alemannic German. In fact, I have a friend whose wife is from Switzerland. She said that she can understand Yiddish if the person speaks slowly.
2. Not all Ashkenazic names are worth keeping. If someone could not pay a high enough bribe he received a derogatory name. For example, “Krumbein” means “Cramp”. Some names were nice in their original places but not in new places. For example, “Fink” is often a name of levi’im because it means “finch”. As the finch is a songbird it came to mean I squealer in English.
3. Actually, the Jewish settlement was found by Sephardim. Observant Ashkenazim who came here also adopted many of their customs, especially beingthat in many cases the Gra and Chassidic leaders agreed with the Bet Yosef against the Rema. For example, not wearing tefillin during Chol HaMoed and ducahaning every day (at least outside the Galil – there for some reason they only duchan on Shabbat Musaf).
4. I try to love all of Hashem’s creations and especially Jews.
It is fairly obvious if the person is drunk/homeless. Do not do anything yourself unless you are a qualified to give medical aid. You can make matters worse. Even if you are not actually at fault you could set yourself up for a major lawsuit. Call the local emergency number (in the US 911, in Israel 100).
No one outside the Chareidi and Chiloni extreme Left is against the state. People are are against the government, people are against the present make-up of the Supreme Court, but no one wants the state dismantled. This is a critical difference. Louis XIV notwithstanding the state is not the government or even the constitutional framework. The Wikipedia defines “state” as “a type of polity that is an organized political community living under a single system of government”. Thestate, like a corporation, continues while governments and constitutions come and go. France, for example, is now on its fifth constitution and has been a monarchy. However, no one says that it is a different state.
Lightbrite, if Hashem does not have a body how can He feel chilly?
In Chul they are much more likely to go OTD. Even c”v marry out.
Often the choice is not between good and bad but between bad and worse. Tillerson might be able to calm down relations between the US and Russia. Apparently Bolton is going to be Deputy Secretary. According to the State Dept. website the Deputy “serves as Acting Secretary of State in the Secretary’s absence; and assists the Secretary in the formulation and conduct of U.S. foreign policy and in giving general supervision and direction to all elements of the Department. Specific duties and supervisory responsibilities have varied over time.” If Tillerson defers to him on professional matters (and as a good exec he must be able to do this) things could work out well iy”H.
Rav Moshe says it is permitted to take public transportation if necessary (Iggerot Moshe, Even HaEzer, 2:14). All of these far-out chumrot are gezerot that almost none of the public can keep. The result of pushing them will be a light attitude towards real halachot. This, in fact, is happening in Israel with the craze to find a way for everything to be under the prohibition of kitniyot during Pesach. Next they wil claim that an Ashkenazi can’t talk to a Sephardi because he might have kitniyot on his breathe.
I would think that any Jew would refer to any soldier who saved him as his hero. Moreover, American exceptionalism is an empiric fact. America is a nation of nations. In many ways it has been the Am Yisrael of the gentiles (e.g. seeking tikkun olam). IMHO, an America based on traditional American values would be the perfect partner for an Israel based on traditional Jewish values. It is for this reason that I share the view of David Brog and Yoram Hazony, as expressed on-line in “The Nationalist Spirit of 2016: A Conservative Spring?” that the rise of nationalism is good for the Jews.
In any case, I must agree with Joseph (difficult as it is for me to type these words – LOL) regarding hakarat hatov. A book, “At Home in Two Countries: The Past and Future of Dual Citizenship” by Peter J. Spiro, has even been published attesting to the benefits of dual identification (full disclosure: I have only read the review and I unfortunately do not receive a commission for mentioning it).
YW, Lilmod.
Joseph, the Sate of Israel’s murder rate includes terrorist murders (bli ayin hara attacks in the last couple of years have been almost completely unsuccessful) – and also “family honor” crimes. Civilian war deaths have also been, ba”h, negligible. In fact, baruch Hashem, the rain of scud missiles in the first Gulf War resulted in only two deaths – one heart attack from fear and an asphyxiation death due to not putting on a gas mask properly.
My question is why are you motzi dibbat haAretz? Are you wracked by guilt over not making aliya or are have you been elected President of the Association of Erev Ravniks and Spies?