BaltimoreMaven

Forum Replies Created

Viewing 50 posts - 201 through 250 (of 266 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • in reply to: How do you keep your children interested @ the Shabbos Seuda #1531677
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I don’t think speeding through the Seudos is a good idea or solution. The Seudos are there for our pleasure. If we don’t get pleasure from them, it’s us that is the problem – not the seuda. The Shabbos Seudos are supposed to be a 5 or 7 course meal. Fit for a King. Would the President zoom through his State Dinner so he can catch a ball game? Of course not. Shabbos in Baltimore must be different that in these places where people are dissatisfied with their Seudos. You all are welcome to come visit and enjoy.

    in reply to: How do you keep your children interested @ the Shabbos Seuda #1531674
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I believe that it is the parent’s responsibility to steer the conversation towards “Shabbosdige” conversation – Parsha, Hashkofa – and not areas that are “Chol” or could easily lead to Loshon Hora. The Gemora clearly says “Lo Yehei diburecha b’Shabbos k’diburecha b’Chol (your speech should be different on Shabbos than weekdays). Indeed many Sefardim and others have a ta’anas dibbur on Shabbos and avoid all non-essential speech. This is codified in the Shulchan Oruch. Yes it’s a challenge but what the kids learn when they are young they mimic when they grow up. I heard that the Malachim don’t sing on Shabbos – that is left to the Yidden. So we should also sing a lot and there are wonderful participatory zemiros. On the issue of traditional foods, yes we can also serve foods the oilom likes but the foods we already eat are there for a reason. See the Shabbos Secrets book by Miezels. Many add up to 7 in mispar koton Gematria. As is usual in Yiddishkeit, the minhogim are there for a reason and to just discard them for our own reasons would be a mistake of tragic proportions.

    in reply to: How do you keep your children interested @ the Shabbos Seuda #1531649
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    OK the OP is obviously asking a serious question and isn’t getting straight answers. That’s so sad. Why don’t we take it seriously? Especially such a very important topic. How many of us actually enjoy the entire Shabbos seuda? I have been accused of schlepping out the Seudos and I may be guilty. But we do pack it full of games, Torah and zemiros. There are many resources in English and (even more) in Hebrew. First you can subscribe to many weekly Divrei Torah by email such as Rav Biderman and Meoros HaTzaddikim. They include stories which keep everyone interested. Shabbos Tisch is in pamphlet or Sefer form. Check the Feldheims website or Eichlers for English or Hebrew Shabbos stories. Rabbi Brull put out some great books with interesting stories of chesed. “4 Your Shabbos Table” and “Emes V’Emuna” are very good. In Hebrew I find the Rav Yitzchak Zilberstien seforim great – Aleinu LeShabeyach (also in English). His most user friendly IMHO is in Maaseh SheYayo form, called “Meah Shearim”

    in reply to: Meshulachim #1519678
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Part of me wants to meet Joseph in the same room as the other CR personalities. Just to see the interactions.

    in reply to: Meshulachim #1519403
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Baltimore pays $15 a day I believe.

    in reply to: shadchanim in America #1516603
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Contact American shadchanim in Israel through the Mir. Rav Elefant knows many. Chanoch Teller used to do shadchanus also. The best shidduch is through friends anyways.

    in reply to: besamim that really smells #1513077
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Fresh or dried out Hadassim work well.
    Go to Etz Bakbukim Kibbutz in Israel and buy a cured lemon in a bottle. The smell lasts for years.
    Buy a container of Besomim from the supermarket – Ner Mitzvah and others sell cloves.
    My favorite is to buy whole cinnamon sticks and crush them up.
    I actually know a few people who have no sense of smell and cannot say the Brocha on Besomim so we should appreciate what we have and use it well.

    in reply to: Questions for the experts #1510331
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Why do I waste my time on inane posts like this one?

    in reply to: Shadchanus #1509700
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    There is a normative amount in each community.
    The Minhag in Yerushalayim – I have heard – was to give 1/3 of the shadchan gelt after the engagement, 1/3 after the Chuppah and 1/3 after the first child was born. Makes a lot of sense.
    Shadchan of course stands for “Sheker Dover, Kesef Notel”

    in reply to: Alarm clock shabbos #1509336
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “The problem is hashmoas kol”

    – *A* problem is hashoas Kol but I doubt it can be heard outside. Another problem may be the Rav Moshe peak on using timers on Shabbos

    “And how will you turn it off?”

    – it used to be that almost all alarm clocks turn off after a minute. They still sell them.

    in reply to: Alarm clock shabbos #1509326
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Rav Moshe

    in reply to: Yeshiva of waterbury #1509089
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Rabbi Gluck in Monsey meets with boys and advises them on a wide range of Yeshiva options.

    in reply to: What if I don't want to buy back the chometz from the goy? #1501942
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I’m not sure why Joseph doesn’t just learn Gemora Pesachim and the Shulchan Aruch etc. I think he’s just trying to start a conversation. Everyone agrees that the whole mechiras chometz is a halachic trick. It is truly a ha’ar’oma. Bitul b’alma sagi – from a Torah perspective Bitul is sufficient. All the rest is d’Rabbonon. Don’t forget that we also rent the part of the house / business that the chometz is contained in.

    in reply to: Challenge: Help Me Find an Intriguing Hagaddah #1495468
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Rav Weinberg ZTZ”L from Ner Israel allegedly said it’s a Mitzvah d’Oraisa to buy a new Haggodah yearly as it is mekayem v’higadita l’vincha. We have a large collection – you are looking only for English or also easy Hebrew? Dubno Maggid mishaps? Stories?

    in reply to: How Careful Must We Be When Eating Out With A Hechsher #1491804
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Star K has always required a mashgiach tmidi, although many Hechseirim do not. It’s not perfect but Star K also requires that the kitchen be locked and that the Mashgiach have the only key. The more failsafes built in the better.

    in reply to: He’s Hot, She’s Cold; Windows Open or Closed? #1483139
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “It is nice to agree with yourself, is it not?”

    If there is anonymity then there is anonymity.
    If there is not, YWN might as well say so.

    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    sweet fake cream sauce herring like shtiglitz.

    Why knock it? Some people love it. Also honey mustard.

    in reply to: How Was Vashti Killed? #1476701
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Joseph:

    You are saying she was bumped off?

    in reply to: Single Malt Scotch #1473377
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “I see idolaters everywhere”

    Uhhhh. Not sure what to say. Maybe read the Chazal that all avodah Zoran was uprooted and no longer exists?

    in reply to: Single Malt Scotch #1473339
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    idolater’s scotch – is this Purim Torah? So soon? Drink enough of any intoxicating beverage and bad things can happen. Chas v’shalom.

    in reply to: Single Malt Scotch #1473295
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    ” Why rely on a probably obsolete hazakah that a product is inherently kosher, when we can get the same product with certification from a proper kashrus agency.”

    Because it’s not the same product. Unlike Kosher wines, Kosher whiskey is not yet, unfortunately, even close to the quality of the non-hechshered brands.

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1472421
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Sushi: yes, it is included in “anything.”
    The Gemora says that noone eats raw fish but they do eat raw meat but as nowadays most people eat sushi, it is included. I personally eat deep fried sushi including banana sushi.

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1472401
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Chulent obviously predates whatever GHT is referencing by hundreds and thousands of years.

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1472375
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “You believe the Chazal means that if someone failed to eat General Tso’s Chicken or Chinese food in his life, he’ll be punished in Shamayim?”

    Yes. He / she must try it at least one time in their life (according to whatever shechita they hold).

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1472327
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Talmud Yerushalmi Kiddushin 48b

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1472325
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “Will people who fail to go bungee jumping have to give din v’cheshbon for that failure?”

    I’m sure you know the answer already as it is a well known ma’amer of Chazal I am quoting. It refers, I believe, to eating. Not jumping.

    in reply to: Trief Recipe #1471983
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Chazal say that one who fails to try something permissible will face din v’cheshbon.

    in reply to: Clones In Halacha #1470772
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Logically, any human with nishmas Chaim has a Neshoma. One question here is birth. Another may be yerusha. And Shidduchim may be a problem.

    in reply to: chillul hashem when praying? #1470343
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I was on a plane and a “minyan” of Yidden actually blocked people who were IN the bathrooms from leaving. Huge chillul Hashem. Oh – they were frum women in the bathroom!

    in reply to: Jokes #1467566
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Lasker: this is not a joke (Why did the shevotim circumcise the people of Shechem? When they are Jews no one cares.). It is pshat in the Parsha said by the Kli Yakar.

    in reply to: Blue Money #1467138
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    CTL: “they are offering to serve you a meal on their terms and you accept by placing your order…forming a meeting of the minds and a contract for goods/services.”

    Classic contract of adhesion.

    in reply to: The Outrageous Video #1466358
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I think MDD1 is referring not to Rav Yehuda (who would get it to rain after only taking off one shoe) but rather to Adda Bar Abba who ripped off a non-tznius piece of clothing from upon a woman he thought was Jewish.

    in reply to: @Chabad Shluchah Please Explain Why Davening To/Betten a Rebbe is Okay #1465240
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Toi – you don’t learn basic Gemora? there is a machlokes if neshomos know what is going on down here. I believe Brochos 18b. Also learn Derech Hashem about the olam haneshamos

    in reply to: Late Weddings: why do they get so late? #1463977
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I’m glad to see that TLIK has become more polite, issued a semi-retraction and admitted the deep and holy sources of the Chassidishe minhogim. Whether the original language used was trash talk or not can be debated but I see we are heading in the right direction. I actually agree that many things are shlepped out too long and I’m happy to end this conversation. My comments were never aimed at TLIK but rather for the benefit of the CR oilom for balance. Looking forward to Adar and it’s Brocha for the Yidden.

    in reply to: Late Weddings: why do they get so late? #1463595
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Question isn’t how my post was allowed. It’s how this was allowed: “chassidishe chasunahs … ritual … drone on … no one listening…”

    TLIK wasn’t paying attention to the Chosson weeping and doing Teshuva – which is very much the point and if it takes 5 or 10 or 20 minutes – so what? We are human not robots.

    How about this ad hominum attack on a Heilige minhag:

    “MItzvah tantz … drone on… eulogies.”. This is OK?

    ” I fail to see this as meaningful at all.”. OK so you are unlearned- instead-of learning you trash others.

    “obscene … cavorting as if engaged in some exalted exercise …”

    Then the last paragraph doesn’t qualify itself as being applicable to non-Chassidishe chasunahs, which is false and misleading.

    If someone doesn’t understand or appreciate something then maybe the problem is with them. My point is – why make fun or be hurtful?

    in reply to: Late Weddings: why do they get so late? #1462864
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “The Little I Know” indeed knows very little.
    Demeaning the minhogim of Chassidim – in crass, rude terminology – reveals that TLIK is a bor. In the CR, TLIK is a bor bi’rishus Harabbim. I don’t envy it’s oilam Habah.

    in reply to: RV Rental NY to Orlando – One Way & Month Long #1456223
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Mazal Tov on the celebration. Make sure they go to Niagara Falls. I’ve looked into renting an RV before and there are many options. none appear inexpensive. Cruiseamerica dot com and rvshare dot com are two options. There are many campgrounds that have water, electric and sewer hookups, and they may be able to find rest stops with them as well.

    in reply to: Yisroel or Yisrael #1454322
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Chassidim pronounce most patach as an “oo” sound so it would be “Yisruel”

    in reply to: Refusing to take a get. #1453313
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Disillusioned; Joseph is talking about a case where the husband is forced to give a Get, not a case where the marriage is annulled (which is extremely rare).

    in reply to: Could we have dinosaurs if we wanted them? #1453226
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    curious: evolution / Hashem-guided changes – what’s the difference? Have you done any serious research on this? Rabbi Gottlieb books / lectures? Did you go read the Tiferes Yisroel? He was ecstatic when they found dinosaur bones because FINALLY the Medrash that says the world was created / destroyed, created / destroyed 364 times, now makes sense.

    in reply to: Could we have dinosaurs if we wanted them? #1453083
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I apologize. The Mammoth was not a dinosaur and did not live during the Mesozoic era when the dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Mammoths were actually a member of the Eliphantidae family.

    in reply to: Could we have dinosaurs if we wanted them? #1453044
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I don’t understand why people are not taking the question seriously. If we have dinosaur DNA (or a preserved wooly mammoth in ice) we could clone them. The trick would be the surrogate mother (elephants have been suggested). For those interested, the Tiferes Yisroel on mishnayos has, after Sanhedrin, a fascinating piece on dinosaur bones (which were discovered during his time) and in particular Wooley Mammoths (discovered in Baltimore!).

    in reply to: CDC/FDA alert on romaine lettuce #1444219
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Ban or recall / warning?

    in reply to: Single State Solution for Israel #1443992
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “but Hareidim dropped out of politics after Jacob Israel de Haan was murdered and currently only worry about survival and bits of patronage.”

    So hateful. I see Hareidim in politics in every country where they live. Making positive change. Akuperma is, however, an armchair critic who does nothing.

    in reply to: Single State Solution for Israel #1443850
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    how could it be the best solution for Israel if the non-Jewish population could eventually outnumber the Jewish population?

    in reply to: Parsha question- old age? #1442580
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Ibn Ezra (to Gen. 46:27) argues that Yocheved was not in fact born when they entered Egypt, but some time later, so that she bore Moshe at a normal age.

    However, Ramban (ibid. v. 15) sharply disagrees with him (he goes so far as to use the semi-derogatory expression יוצק זהב רותח בפי החכם הזה!), and points out that since (a) Yocheved was the literal daughter of Levi (as per Num. 26:59), (b) 130 years passed from when they came to Egypt until Moshe was born, and (c) Levi was a grown man (in his forties) when they came down to Egypt – then there had to have been some kind of miracle here: either Levi fathered Yocheved, or Yocheved bore Moshe, at a very advanced age.

    So he goes on to distinguish between miracles that Hashem performs (as sort of “standard operating procedure”) to help righteous people or to destroy the wicked, which are not generally described explicitly in Tanach, versus those that are foretold by a prophet or an angel sent by G-d. Sarah’s being able to bear children at 90 – and this, after decades of infertility – is a miracle of the latter type; Yocheved’s bearing Moshe at 130 is of the former, and so it needn’t be described in the Torah.

    in reply to: Beis Hamikdash #1440294
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    I’m not aware that the begadim have to be made exactly as they were previously. The Gemora discusses them in great detail and the Temple Institute people have spent a tremendous amount of time and energy to do it right. You should contact them with specific questions.

    in reply to: Beis Hamikdash #1440287
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    It is a retaining wall for the Har HaBayis. The Beis HaMikdash stood on the Har Habayis. Just Google “map of har Habayis” and you will see the rough placement

    in reply to: Beis Hamikdash #1440266
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    Temple Institute(מכון המקדש) seems genuine. Their website and 3D tour of the Mikdash are spectacular. If you haven’t visited their Old City location, it is well worth it. They have made actual keilim as well as clothing for the Kohanim and give Kohen training classes.

    in reply to: Socks #1436377
    BaltimoreMaven
    Participant

    “Modal” socks are unbelievably soft. Unfortunately they don’t last too long.

Viewing 50 posts - 201 through 250 (of 266 total)