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Joseph, keli gever and keli isha are according to local custom. Tell me,do you use a mirror to shave, trim your beard or check if your head tefilin is positioned properly (Rav Chaim Brisker used a mirror for this and when told that the Divrei Chaim says that it is a shetut he replied that he would rather be a shoteh with tefillin than a Chassid without tefillin)?
Many of the Cantonists settled in Finland after they were discharged. There are also descendants of Jews form Nordic countries (Finland is not technically Nordic as the
Finns are a Turkic people)and Poland. Interestingly, Jewish soldiers in the Finnish army were given leave for Shabbatot and chagim. Today there are approximately 1,500 Jews in Finland.
There are actually two mitzvot. Talmud Torah and limud Torah. The former involves the inner workeings of Torah (sevarot, middot shehaTorah nidreshet bahen, etc.). The latter involves learning practical mitzvot including mussar and emuna. Women are exempt from the former but obligated in the latter (therefore they say birkat haTorah in the morning). Thus, for example,a woman would not have to learn Mishna Berura or Aruch HaShulchan but she would have to learn Chayei Adam or Kitzor Shulchan Aruch. Whether and what one should teach them in our time is a matter of discussion and different commuities have different approaches.
Crawley,
1. People from different backgrounds in general express themselves differently. In fact,no two people express themselves the same way.Thus no two nevi’im prophesied in the same style.
2. Today only Chasidic schools teach in Yiddish. Moreover, Yiddish also has different dialects which are not necessarily mutually intelligible. In fact, Rav Arye Levine zatzal re-tested a boy from a Hungarian background because he thought that maybe he did not understand his Lithuanian pronunciation. According to your line of reasoning there should be separate schools for each ethnic group.
3. Why can’t they teach both sets of minhagim? In fact, it would be good for kids to know this. It wouldenrich their knowledge of Judaism.
How else are they going to know what to do and not do?
MLK, we have already discussed the issue of shaking hands with women (which also applies in the business world). BTW, when Rebbetzin Jungreis met with Bush II he was told in advance not to extend his hand and there was no problem. For a candidate there would probably be elss than an issue becuaue he shakes so many hands that it’s most likely a nuisance for him.
As for anti-Semitism, that is a problem although today religion is not an issue, Nobody, for example, would consider asking a Catholic if he would let the Pope run the country as they asked JFK. There are Jews on every other level of government including SCOTUS (BTW, Stephen Wise opposed Felix Frankfurter’s nomination because of this issue and it did not pan out even though anti-Semitism was rampant in America at the time). Whatever one thinks of him Obama proved that there are no longer bars to minorities. Moreover, Jews have been advisors to Presidents from both parties with no repercussions (unlike when the new Deal weas called the “Jew Deal”). Of course, being the power behind the throne has certain advantages. How many people know that Ted Cruz’ senior adviser and deputy chief of staff for strategy is a frum Jew named Nick Muzin? Yet he certainly exerts a great deal of influence, possibly more than if he were in the limelight.
Bek, in what type of law are you interested? To get into Biglaw (advantage: huge pay disadvantage: high pressure to rack up billable hours) you will have to go to an Ivy League school. Even then you will have to be near the top of your class – and there are many legal geniuses in those schools. If you want to open you own firm it obviously does not matter but you will have to put in long hours at low pay in the beginning as in any other business. In any case, so far as I know CUNY law does not exact any contractual or moral obligation to go into public law. However, that seems to be the thrust of its program, which is very much tilted to the left (in fact, unlike other schools it does not have any prosecutorial or business clinics).
Miamilawyer, the problem is that sometimes the leaves are from another type of tree. Rav Kook says that that is the purpose of opposition to a new group. In fact “Mekor Baruch” quotes the Tzemach Tzedek as saying that the Chassidim owed a debt of gratitude to the Gra for pushing them back on the right side of the line. I will add though that Rav Kook says that the purpose of these groups is to show where the establishment is falling down on the job.
Miamilawyer, every development in Judaism was created and evolved to deal with the exigencies of the times. Rambam wrote the Guide to deal with the problem of perplexed students of Aristotelian philosophy. The Chassidic movement rose to keep the ignorant masses within the fold and when it wentto far the Mitnaggedic movement rose. This si why we are told to listen to the judges in our time. Dor, dor v’dorshav.
KJ, that was the position of the spies and the Erev Rav
Writer, Mea Shearim started as a settlement. At that time the Old City wall was the Green Line.
Writer, Rav Aviner says that he personally knows a psychologist who has had successes. Of course, as with every other issue it depends on how much the person wants to change.
There would be many halachic problems, starting with Shabbat. In Israel frum Jews have been on the Security Cabinet but here the overwhelming majority are Jews. There is also the problem of the election campaign as many events are scheduled on Shabbat and candidates are expected to partake of the locals’ food. There is also the danger of the Jews being scapegoated for failures. This happened when the Confederacy began to lose even though AG Judah P. Benjamin was totally assimilated and married a Catholic.
MLK, if the gentile records it for himself why should a Jew be prohibited from listening?
Bek, as for CUNY law being left-wing, that is true of most law schools although there are individual professors who are conservative or libertarian. CUNY law has a branch of the Federalist Society so apparently there are a significant number of conservative and libertarian students there. The big plus, of course, is the low cost, especially for NYC residents. If one is considering public-service law that is an even bigger consideration as the salaries are much lower (although with the exception of prosecutors’ offices the hours are more or less 9-5).
Simcha, a mamzer may marry a gioret. He can also go to a country that allows slavery and buy a shifcha Kenanit. After she can no longer bear children he can free her so that he can marry her as she will then be a gioret. As for gays, it depends on whether they are strictly same-sex or can go either way.
Writersoul and Joseph, actually I once read an article by someone (albeit a Catholic) who admitted to being attached to this sin but added that he is celibate.
Both the Gemara (Shabbat 156a) and the Zohar (Parashat Pinchas) recognize pre-dispositions. According to Kabbala it even sometimes happens that a male neshama is reincarnated as a female and vice versa. However, hese are challenges to be channeled or overcome. Having said this, it should also be recalled that financial crimes are also toavot (Devarim 25,13-16) and many who commit them justify them and even brag about them. As these are aveirot ben adam l’chaveiro teshuva is much more difficult, as is well known.
Anyone who commits any aveira, Torah or rabbinic is disqualified (Choshen Mishpat 34,1-3) until he is punished by a bet din or does teshuva (ibid seif 29). This, in fact, was the basis for Rav Moshe disqualifying non-Orthodox weddings. However, a person must be disqualified by a bet din after testimony regarding him.which means two, not ten (ibid seif 25). It would seem though that according to Rav Moshe there would be an anan sahadei, which works like official testimony, where it is known that people are connected to certain non-Orthodox groups.
The distinction between someone who is mechalel Shabbat in public and in private only refers to treating him like a gentile (e.g. rendering his wine non-kosher).
Abba, Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky was once asked why the children of someone who learned (or more appropriately, studied) every day went OTD while the children of an ordinary baal bayit stayed frum. He said that the former bragged about cheatng in business whereas the latter was scrupulously honest. Rav Moshe balme it on the expression “shver tzu zein a Yid”. the kids don’t want another difficulty.
DY, your children are at risk everywhere. How many Jews were killed in the WTC attacks? How many in attacks in Europe? Not to mention intermarriage and cultural assimilation – which also affects the frum community.
Joseph, neither does someone who says lashon hara, cheats in business, steals from government programs, etc. I wonder how many kosher eidim are left.
KJ spy,
We have a mitzva to go to war if necessary in order to conquer EY (Ramban, Sefer HaMitzvot, Mitzvot that Rambam “forgot”). Once Bnei beraq was the border. When someone expressed doubt as to whether to live there the Chazon Ish told him that if Jews would not live there Tel Aviv would be the border.
In any case, the risk of being a victim in Judea and Samaria or any other part of EY is far less than in any American city. There is some risk but if people take risks for material parnassa how much more so for spiritual parnass.
1. According to Faranak Margolese (“Off the Derech”) the most common reason why people go OTD is because of negative religious figures. In fact, I personally know someone who went OTD (and baruch Hashem came back) because of the blatant contradiction between what his father preached and what he sold in his business.
2. Becoming BT does not change one’s basic personality. Each person becomes the type of frum Jew that parallels what he was in his secular life. For example, an academic type will be drawn to a yeshivish life-style whereas someone who is more emotional will be drawn to Chassidut.
Miamilawyer, “contains much allegory and the traditions, customs and law have value but are not absolute” ” is not necessarily non-Orthodox. it depends on how you define your terms (and you know that many laws start with definitions). How many are many? For example, Chazal say that “an eye for an eye” means monetary compensation (and prove that lex talionis is untenable). Traditions, customs and law are certainly not absolute in the sense that the same answer applies to all cases. There is lechatchila and b’diavad, shaat hadechak, hefsed meruba, kevod haberiot, etc.
As for “lo baShemayim hi”, that means that we follow human logic (using internal rules of deduction) rather than to come to conclusions rather than relying on miracles or nevua. By definition Chazal’s halachic and ethical statements are correct. This is even true where they contradict each other as there are several possible conclusions. We also have that in Mathematics. A quadratic equation can have two answers. A cubic equation three, a quartic equation four, etc.
Miamilawyer, you are a proof for the truth of Torah. As Mark Twain wrote in “Concerning the Jews” “The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
The fact that there are apparent contradictions in the written Torah does not mean that it was not written by Hashem c”v. It means that Hashem employed different literary styles for different reasons. If you excelled in Gemara you know that resolving difficulties is the lifeblood of Talmudic discourse. In fact, as Rabbi Gordimer has stated, the mefarshim deal with these issues. I am sure that in Miami there are good Tanach classes with rabbis who can deal with your issues. Try them.
Bachur, once a gentile judge asked how much the eruv would cost the taxpayers. When he was told that in fact the would pay the costs plus rent on the air space he told them to build two.
Karl, some say that you do.
How is this an issue in the election? Pence is a staunch supporter of Israel whose social values are very similar to those of Judaism. Hillary is an opponent of Jewish rights to all of EY, a proponent of the Obamanation and an incompetent, grossly negligent crook.
What do you mean by mixed kiddushim? Different types of fish?
Huju, actually Israeli demographers have predicted that in the next generation or two the majority of Israelis will be Haredi or Dati Leumi. As of 2010 the Central Bureau of Statistics report breakdown according to self-identification was 8% Haredi, 12% as religious, 13% as traditional-religious, 25% as traditional and 42% as secular. The figures for the religious increase as the age group becomes lower. Moreover, over 30% of school children are enrolled in religious schools. Ten years, however, is an exaggeration. BTW, I used to work in the actuarial field.
Ray,
That is where his reason was known. You only know that the doctor and rav are ehrlich and talmedei chachomim. You indeed do not need more in order to judge them favorably. However, you do need to know more in order to extrapolate to another situation. You should have asked them in a respectful manner. If they are truly ehrlich and talmedei chachomim they would have been happy to tell you. Not asking is intellectual laziness and kula shopping.
Health, the only way to get rid of her is for the House to impeach her and the Senate to remove her. Being that she is 83 and not in the best of health anyway they will probably let it ride.
Joseph, America still has registration so it can draft people at any time. The fact that it can make do with an all-volunteer army is davka due to the nuclear deterrent. Just as Russia can wipe America off the map America can wipe Russia off the map. This kept the two countries from a hot war that could have occurred twice (during the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban missile crisis). Moreover, America has a huge pool of citizens almost its own continent and is at peace with both its neighbors. Israel has approximately the size and population of NJ with enemies on most of its borders.
Akuperma, those newspapers cater to the non-observant public. BTW, when a restaurant in Raanana became shomer Shabbat one of the Meretz city councilors announced a boycott. He was immediately rebuked by his own party.Not to mention that there are two yeshivot gehohot in TA (one in the north and one in the south) which are doing great kiruv work. Not to mention Rosh Yehudi right off Dizengoff.
As for when Israel will be majority observant, it will not be in ten years unless you count those who make kidush and hamoetzi on leil Shabbat, have a formal family meal and then watch TV. However, it will not be long.
Chebbybin, why do you think that you can disagree with the Gemara? As for your doctor and rav you do not know why the doctor was allowed lechatchila (as opposed to being driven by a goy) or why the rav thought that he could hitch. See Shemirat Shabbat k’Hilkata 32,78 that a healthy person cannot eat the leftovers of food that was cooked for a sick person on Shabbat.
Member, he ia a daat yachid.
Charlie,
Don’t worry. The Chareidim are becoming more nationalistic and the RZs are becoming more oriented towards learning. I heard from Rav Yeshayahu Steinberger in the names of both Rav Kook and Rav Soloveichik that this is the meaning of Yehezkel’s statement that Yosef’s stick will unite with Yehuda’s stick. Yosef was fully involved in the general society (Mizrahi) and Yehuda established a state within a state in Goshen )Aguda).
As for your demographic question, First of all the UTJ, Shas and Yachad (which did not pass the threshold for representation) together received a total of 13,7% for a total of thirteen seats. Add to that the working Chareidim who voted for either Bayit Yehudi or Likud (the latter has a Chareidi faction) because they did not feel represented by any of the Chareidi parties. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics the Chareidi growth rate was 5% and the non-Chareidi Jewish growth rate 1.2%. Even if there is a 20% OTD rate (the high estimate, which does not take into account Chareidim who become RZ) that still means that the Chareidim are growing faster than the non-Chareidim.
I have heard of finding kulot called “doing somersaults in the air”.
@Duvidmeir, I heard it in Israeli Hebrew: ??? ??? ??????? ??????.Rabbi of Berlin, the driver does melachot d’Oraita.
Cherybim, we cannot learn halachot from a mmaaseh rav (Baba Batra 130b). You do not know the reason why the “chosuv rav” thought that it was permissible to him (nor why the doctor drove himself instead of calling an ambulance driven by a goy, which is the preferred method – and, in fact, the nurses in my community ride to and from the hospital in a clearly marked van driven by someone who is not halachically Jewish).
Rabbi of Berlin, you can also frame anything as uvda s’chol, immodest or moshav leitzim? Rav Yaakov Emden says this about petting a dog (Sheilot Yaavetz 17 at the end- http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1408&st=&pgnum=41). If you cannot tell what is normative look around and see what frum people are doing. As for the difference between an escalator and a train, an escalator is a staircase that moves. Starting it probably does not involve any Torah prohibition and everyone can see that it is constantly running. Moreover, the shul is a private place and the gabbaim can put up a sign stating that it runs constantly on Shabbat and Yom Tov.
The racial angle is in the eyes of the statistician. A Washington Post study found that an equal number of blacks and whites were shot by police but cited the fact that there are many more whites than blacks. A Harvard study published in Commentary only looked at incidents that might have justified deadly force and found that blacks are actually less likely to be shot by police.
Iacisrmma, what about if there is an eruv?
Charlie, Rabbi Pruzansky makes a great deal of sense. Unlike those who do avoda zara to secular liberalism. Not to mention those who give all the reasons in the world why Crooked Hillary should be indicted and then recommend not indicting her.
Rav Moshe (IM YD 1:44) says that it is a zilzul of Shabbat and is prohibited even for a mitzva. Rav Ovadia (Yehaveh Da’at 6:16) concurs. Now it should definitely be prohibited a smart cards are used. An escalator that is constantly running, however, should be like a Shabbbat elevator. Maybe even easier as everyone sees that it is constantly running. these are different as the consensus is that no Torah prohibition is violated. Rav Shlomo Zalman reported even said that there is no prohibition at all (except for turning on incandescent lights) but the minhag is to be machmir. Moreover, riding on buses and trains is an egregiously weekday activity not in keeping with the sanctity of Shabbat. BTW, in Israel there is a motorized buggy called a kalnoa. For disabled or elderly people there is a Shabbat attachment that runs it on gramma. There is one man in my community who uses it and another whose Fillipino aide drives one without the attachment (so far as I know as it does not have the sign “mitkan Shabbat”).
CTL,
1. Why not require that kids go around with armed guards? It seems to me that “helicopter parenting” is getting way out of hand. The persecution of free-range parents by “child welfare” busybodies (where are they in real cases of abuse?) is the perfect example of a choking bureaucracy.
2. In both the US and Israel telephone service has been deregulated with great success.See the Cato Institutes’ paper “What Happens When Local Phone Service
Is Deregulated?” on-line. Crony capitalism only benefits the cronies.
3. Was CT a better state then or now?
Miamilawyer,
1. It cannot be known what percentage of American blacks are descendants of slave owners . As for Bnei Noach yichus is through the father that would make them Brtish.
2. According to many economists, the welfare state is responsible for entrenched black poverty as it encourages the breakup of families. Regarding the current situation, many observers blame identity politics. Libertarians have jumped on this bandwagon and blamed a general collectivist mentality. IMHO, this seems logical. If you look at the person across from you as another individual you relate to him differently than if you look at him as part of an enemy group. Thus, the generals did not allow a repeat of the first WW1 Xmas truce when Allied and German soldiers fraternized with each other.
CTL,
1. Are they schools or prisons?
2. My experience with central government workers is that they do not care about anything. They just want to collect salaries for a minimal effort. Of course, one can also say that they give equally bad service regardless of political affiliation. When people know you it is hard for them to be unresponsive. Conversely, if someone is a problem neighbor it is easier to deal with him as he wants them to remain responsive to him. In fact, one double settlement (there were two founding groups, one baalei-batish and one yeshivish so they made two separate settlements one right next to the other) united so that it could become a town and run its own municipal affairs.
3. You are assuming that there should be state-allocated franchises. I am in favor of free enterprise.
Health,
1. How many do you have? You have sounded at various times like Joseph and HaKatan.
2. So why didn’t you write that it was not a good idea to have a liberal President?
CTL, non-residents in general receive police and fire protection. Should there be a unified world police force to spread the cost “equitably”. Does it matter that non-residents spend money in the town (if your town is like my settlement the kids buy in the local mini-market during breaks). The fact of the matter is that central bureaucracies are more inefficient and less responsive to the citizens’ needs than local officials. I recommend the article “The Secret of Swiss Success Is Decentralization” at fee.org (I would type a link but I still do not know if the policy has been completely or only partially changed).
CTL, you praised local officials as being efficient and dedicated.(after full disclosure on your negia). In my experience on both sides of the desk the inefficiency and laziness that sometimes crosses the line of robbery of bureaucrats is inversely proportional to the level of government from local to national.Moreover, contrary to what you claim, even without these problems a central government cannot give the individual solutions that are necessary but play to the lowest common denominator.
Perhaps because of this Rambam only enumerates four jobs for the central government: national security, fighting crime, upholding Torah and meting out justice (although each province and locality also had its own system of battei din, as Rambam himself discusses at the beginning Hilchot Sanhedrin). Tzedaka is given over to local communities (and, in fact, Rav Cherlow wrote in the name of Rav Kook that this is because of the inability of a central government’s clerks to give each individual an appropriate solution).
CTL, you are, in fact, supporting the conservative view that services (those that should not be privatized) should be as local as possible. As for not being paid, one can also say that it creates conflicts of interest as officials must have business interests in order to live.
Moderator, please clarify the policy on posting links.
It is at our discretion. If a moderator is familiar with the content and context of a link, he or she may decide to allow it.
Additionally, if it contains other links it is less likely to be approved
See “Halachic Issues CommonlyEncountered During a Hotel Stay on Shabbat
and Yom Tov” Rabbi Joshua Flug (on-line) regarding the above issues. With the proliferation of motion detectors and surveillance cameras it will probably become necessary to adopt the lenient opinions insofar as public places and hotel rooms are concerned. Of course, in one’s own home one should be machmir.
147, there is also a positive mitzva of shevita. Doing something not in the spirit of Shabbat is violating this mitzva.