Avi K

Rav Meir Simcha said that if Jews think that Berlin is their Jerusalem the goyim will inform them that it is not. The same goes for Williamsburg, Boro Park, Teaneck, Monsey, etc.

Zahavasdad, even if you make income outside the US and live outside the US you must report (assuming that you make more than the minimum that requires reporting) although there is a very high deduction for earned income and tax treaties with some countries (Israel is one of them) provide for protection against double taxation. Whether or not you live in the US there are reporting requirements for financial accounts if the total in foreign accounts is at least $10K. The Republicans have called for repealing both. BTW, these requirements also apply to green card holders.

On the other hand, there are advantages to ex-pats who give their children US citizenship as child care aid and scholarships are available, sometimes even if they are studying abroad. In addition, if someone renounces his citizenship he will not be able to receive Social Security benefits while living abroad.

For practical advice ask your local tax consultant or accountant.

Yehudayona, if Jews will not be in his administration anti-Semites will say that Jews don’t want to be part of the country. We have to stop worrying about what anti-Semites will say and do what Hashem wants us to do – be a light unto the nations.

Lightbrite, FYI. the Germans first identified as Saxons, Bavarians,etc. Even now Germany is a federal country like the US. The rest of your rant is sheer hysteria. Trump said what he wants to do? So does every other politician. Whom does he want to kill? No one. Meanwhile, the Democrats have been more or less taken over by the BDS and Black Lives mMatter anti-Semites.

I heard of a case where a rosh yeshiva was given a heter as his elderly shut-in father was living with him.

CTl, Hillary is definitely a public figure so the standard for a libel suit is very high. She must prove knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth. Of course, she must also prove that she was damaged in some way by the statement. As for the sense in which Health used “criminal”, as you admit that he is a layman it should be fairly obviously that he used the term in laymen’s language.

Lilmod,

1. OK. A halachic statement can be metaphoric.

2. The way it is told is not that she had a tail in a metaphoric sense

Froggie, Rambam says some very sharp things about people who think that the aggadatot a literal and believe the literal meanings. Do you also think that Moshe was ten amot (approx. five meters) tall and that Og was similarly large? “John Wass, a specialist in acromegalic gigantism at the University of Oxford, reckons it would be impressive to survive for long if you grew taller than 9ft.

First, high blood pressure in the legs, caused by the sheer volume of blood in the arteries, can burst blood vessels and cause varicose ulcers. An infection of just such an ulcer eventually killed Wadlow.

With modern antibiotics, ulcers are less of an issue now, and most people with acromegalic gigantism eventually die because of complications from heart problems. “Keeping the blood going round such an enormous circulation becomes a huge strain for the heart,” says Wass.” (from the Guardian).

Do you believe that Yehoshua literally made the Sun stand still (really the Earth as it is the one that rotates)? Everything not firmly connected to the bedrock would have been thrown off by the centrifugal force.

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Rambam says in his introduction to Perek Chelek that the aggadot are all metaphoric. I do not take literally statements Chazal make about science which do not pertain to halachot. First of all, I do not think that they cared about a scientific theory if there was no nafka mina (in fact, the Baal haTanya opposes studying it where not needed for parnassa or to clarify one’s learning). Secondly, why would Ravina and Rav Ashi include purely scientific speculations in the Gemara? Thirdly, many things that are written about science are not literally correct.

Why did they do this? I once read a conjecture that they were making political statements that could not be expressed explicitly. It could also be that they were conveying deep kabbalistic ideas that had to be hidden from all but the most advanced. It could also be that they wanted to keep some things baal peh. In fact, I heard that when Rav Miller taught “Ein Yaakov” he would sometimes skip a portion and explain that he did not have a tradition for it.

According to Dr. Miriam Adahan an introvert is not necessarily someone who prefers to be alone although he can be alone without feeling lonely. Rather, an introvert cannot stand large groups but prefers small groups of long-time acquaintances. I myself am in this category.

Of course, there are degrees of introversion as with anything else. From your question, it seems to me that you are not extremely introverted (otherwise you would not be asking it). IMHO, you should seek a small, accepting group/shul.

A gentile told his Jewish neighbor that he rested completely on Shabbat. The Jew commented that a gentile is not allowed to keep Shabbat. “Don’t worry. I carry my siddur to shul”. “But there is an eruv”. “You hold by that eruv?”

Lilmod, instead of tow people being miserable four can be happy.

A woman who learns gets sechar although not as much as a man (Rambam, Hilchot Talmud Torah 1,13). This apparently is a case of people getting sechar for doing mitzvot in which they are not obligated (Baba Kama 87a). I would imagine that her sechar for learning those halachot which she must keep (most of Orech Chaim and Yoreh Deah and all of Choshen Mishpat) would be the same as a man’s as she is obligated to learn them.

Lilmod, she can by it herself and rely on Rambam’s opinion (http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14276&st=&pgnum=265) that she has her own obligation of simcha. The Shaagat Arieh, in teshuva 65 (http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1832&st=&pgnum=119), says that anything that gladdens a person is part of the mitzva (he also rules that a woman has her own mitzva).

You can buy in the shuk area as well as Geula and Mea Shearim. I spent 111 shekels including a set of aravot for each day (6 shekels per set) but that was from a family on my settlement so you might have to pay a little more.

I bought all of them packaged with hechsherim from people in my community so I did not spend more than a few minutes. All together (I bought six sets of aravot as they dry out quickly) I paid NIS 111 (a bit less than $30).

That also means multiple mothers-in-law. LOL

Johnson is a flake. Moreover, he supports legislation that will force people to participate in toeva weddings (he explicitly said that a Jewish baker should be forced to bake a cake for a Nazi event).

TY, lilmod ulelamaid. Gemar chatima tova.

Actually the term is over 200 years old although in different contexts. In the 18th century, the term “politically correct” occurs in the case of Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419 (1793). Associate Justice James Wilson, of the U.S. Supreme Court comments: “The states, rather than the People, for whose sakes the States exist, are frequently the objects which attract and arrest our principal attention… Sentiments and expressions of this inaccurate kind prevail in our common, even in our convivial, language. Is a toast asked? ‘The United States’, instead of the ‘People of the United States’, is the toast given. This is not politically correct.” (Wikipedia)

In fact, each group has its political correctness. This is why in shuls that identify with certain factions not only is the prayer for the State of Israel omitted but even the misheberach for the soldiers.

Softwords,

1. That is not what Rav Moshe said. He was asked by a secular reporter how he became accepted as a gadol and he replied that people asked him questions and liked his answers. They asked more questions and he became known. In fact, while sometimes gedolim tell avereichim to go into the rabbanut (e.g. the Chofetz Chaim with Rav Kook) once they start paskening a consensus develops in the Torah world. Sometimes it happens “by accident”. After Rav Shlomo Ganzfried got married he opened a liquor business (this was a common Jewish business then and there). While he was waiting for customers he learned and wrote. Customers never came and he was more or less compelled to agree to be a the rav of a city.

2. Rav Kook’s positions on Zionism were more from hashkafic and kabbalistic perspectives. Perhaps that is why non-Zionists are quite willing to cite his halachic opinions.

3. While often a pesak is purely halachic (e.g. opening bottles on Shabbat) it is often the result of hashkafa. For example, those who are meikal about Ashkenazim eating in Sephardi homes during Pesach feel that the unity of a mixed community is more important. Those who are machmir feel that communities should be separate (even to the extent of ethnic discrimination in school admissions).

4. Some who call it apikorsut are using the traditional Jewish tool of exaggerated language (lashon guzma). In fact, once Rav Aahron Kotler referred to a certain rav as an am ha’aretz. The Satmar rebbe was very upset until someone said “The rav says ‘am haaretz’ like the rebbe says ‘apikoros'”.

MLK,

1. They are not paskened in any of the codes.

2. Rav Chaim Vital says in his introduction to Sefer Etz Chaim that they were only for 1,000 years.

3. The pasuk quoted refers to the klei hamikdash not to the people.

4. Rav Meir Simcha says that the San Remo Conference cancelled them as now we have permission from the other nations.

5. Rav Soloveick says in “Kol Dodi Dofek” that Hashem has called several times.

5. Tgey violated their oath on several occasions (Crusades, Khmielnitzki massacres, pogroms, Petlura massacres, Holocaust). Thus, the deal is off (Sotah 10a with Rashi d”h huchal shevuato shel Avimelech and Shulchan Aruch YD 236,6).

Joseph, what makes you think that you can give grades to gedolim? Are you a navi? Are you saying “My gadol is bigger than your gadol. YA ya ya ya ya”?

AY,

1. There are generally several orthopedic surgeons who are considered top level. I personally would not ask an OS because he would be hard put not to say himself. Similarly, there are a number of rabbis who are known to be top level. Moreover, it often happens that one is more knowledgeable in one field and another more knowledeable in another fiels. Thus, we generally (but not always) pasken like Rav regarding prohibitions and Shmuel regarding monetary matters.

2. There is no one RZ movement but a number of movements that have support for the state in common. The fact of the matter is that all agreed on the concept of gedolei hador but they coalesced around different gedolim. The two main figures of the last century have been Rav Soloveichik and Rav Kook (and his son Rav Tzvi Yehuda who was his continuation). Even if some faction denied the concept that does not mean that it did not exist and that there were not those who supported Zionist goals even when they opposed some aspects. A tool does not have to recognize the existence of the artisan in order to be a tool.

3. Regarding consulting rabbanim on political matters, the fact of the matter is that there have always been rabbanim in the various incarnations of the RZ political party. However, as Rav Chaim David HaLevi said, the Torah does not set forth which political or economic system should be adopted (in fact, the Netziv, in “HeEmek Devar” on the mitzva to appoint a king says that the people decide the former). it sets forth goals and parameters. The professionals in various fields then have to break their heads and figure out how best to attain those goals. To what may that be compared? A rav tells you if you can drive on Shabbat in a certain situation but he does not recommend which model car.

4. The whole concept of daat Torah did not start until the advent of the Chassidic movement. It then trickled into the Yeshivish sector with a slight switch – instead of possessing supernatural powers the rav has superior wisdom. If the gedolei hador also had wide advanced secular knowledge that would be true but they do not and I doubt very much if that is humanly possible. In fact, neither Rav Kook nor Rav Soloveichik would make personal decisions for their talmidim. They would merely set forth the alternatives and their ramifications and leave the person with the responsibility for making a decision (much to the consternation of those who wanted someone else to blame for a mistake).