Gadolhadorah

TSB: As the Alpha Kopfinizer in the CR, I must respectfully disagree with your bizarre perception of the state of the American political system and the choices available. I’ve noted repeatedly that there are multiple Republican leaders in the state and federal government whose policies are generally aligned with Trump but whose persona, values and principles are exemplary w/o the racist, misogynistic and narcissistic baggage. The fact that you’ve tied yourself to the latter says more about you than your political ideology.

Poutine is perhaps the best reason to stay south of the 45th parallel ….if you yearn for burnt french fries covered with a greyish-orange gravy and topped with cholov yisroel cheese curds that taste like the small pink colored rubber erasers you used in elementary school than I guess you’ll have to find a chavrusah in Kiryas Tosh.

RMC is the Rare Meat Company, a source of kosher venison and bison we discovered while spending 6 months in London just prior to Covid. They had hashgacha from the Federation Vaad and “shecht to order” based on customer reservations. Aside from the obvious kashruth issues in terms of meat schechted from from a cow or sheep (considered a domesticated behemah) versus the challenges of shechting a deer (a chayah). There were also UK-specific rules against domestic shechita of deer so they had to be imported from the Continent. The quality of their products were outstanding but their prices were very high in comparison to Aarons and other domestic U.S. suppliers of venison etc. we have used since we got back in 2020.

For less than $30,000/year (with tuition assistance), there are multiple MO yeshivos in the U.S. that offer an excellent secular education along with high quality limudei torah with rabbonim who are skilled in chinuch along with their daas torah. It really depends on whether you are looking to have your kids educated in secular studies to the minimal levels necessary to earn a parnassah and function in society to wanting them to have a more fully balanced education that will allow them to excel in a professional career should they decide to pursue that option. We need frum doctors, lawyers, engineers, computer scientists etc. and they will not magically appear from graduates of yeshivos who can only mimimally function in language, science and mathematical disciplines. Yes, there are a small percentage of self-taught yungerleit who manage to go on to graduate school and excel but the are a small percentage and definitely NOT the norm.

Lots of yeshivos provide good secular programs to balance their limudei torah…..are you looking for a yeshiva in EY or the U.S. …..if the latter, what part of the country??

CA: There is always a minyan at the Chabad at Dartmouth in Hanover and there used to be a minyan in Bethlehem but I haven’t been there in more than 10 years so have no idea if they are still in existence and if so, are ‘seasonal” (I was there in the summer).

AAQ: Moishiach will come before HC gets nominated again….sadly, I can’t say the same thing for DJT

” frum Jews should always be behind brown or black haired politicians”

There should be exceptions for folically-challenged but otherwise loyal Trumpkopf politicians like crazy Rudy but they should at least be required to use a hair coloring agent that doesn’t run down the side of their face during news conferences.

“Are there any frum doctors in Brooklyn or Queens doing tests on a motzei shabbos?”

The immigration authorities do NOT require a test from a FRUM doctor or nurse. If you can find a qualified galach administering the tests, thats fine. They don’t care about the hashkafah of the testing firm. There are also 24 hour tests being offered now at JFK and the urgent care near the Belt Parkway by the JFK entrance.

“According to VAERS data, which granted may be misleading for a variety of reasons, approx 20k died from the Vaccine, with tens of more thousands seriously injured…”
Not only is the so called “VAERS data” misleading (as you acknowledge), it is entirely false and being used as part of an intentional misinformation campaign by anti-vaxers and those for whom vaccination has become a political wedge issue. However, by initially overstating vaccination benefits, the Dems have only themselves to blame for creating a fertile reception for these anti-vax lies.

“I think it’s a great hoax…”
The entire issue of “segulahs” and their legitimacy is a really grey area in our hashkafah with some holding strongly by certain segulahs associated with very narrow and specific actions (i.e. being machmir on a certain mitzvah at a certain time/location) or more generally “buying a segulah” by giving tzadakah to a Rav/Mosdos to daven on your behalf for one/multiple segulahs, sometimes linked to a yahrtzeit at the kever of a big tzadik. There are frequent ads on all the frum media an websites promoting various segulahs linked to financial donations.

Bottom line is that some segulahs appear to have strong foundations simply based on their “sponsorship” whereas others appear borderline new age kefirah. I guess its all based on the emunah of whoever is seeking the segulah, the credibility of the sponsorship and their willingness to pay.

Does anyone have a verified segulah for 6 hours (Ambien-free) continuous sleep, assuming one has followed all the usual pre-sleep protocols (i.e. limit caffein/alcohol, dark, cool BR, limit screen usage etc). I’m not a big segulah fan but might make an exception.

There was also another eccentric yid in Brooklyn years ago nicknamed as “Mendel the Coat Rack” who also may have been niftar since he was quite old when I remember reading about him. Its interesting how back then, we had much greater tolerance and were considerably more supportive of individuals who did not fit within the “norm” of the stereotypes we created for various segments of the tzibur. There were also some really colorful characters who were regulars at Landau’s minyanim for whom words could not fully describe.

Pekak: Its not a matter of “kedusha” of a building…its the significance of what happens in that building as it affects our country and political system. . If you believe the Capital or WH have the same significance in real world terms as a post-office in Portland or a courthouse in Seattle, thats your opinion.

I try to never allow anyone to find room on my left in matters of politics and social policy AND I agree that most of your points are true at at a high level….BUT, my progressive friends have OVERSTATED or MISSTATED some key facts under each of your big lies. For example, its 100 percent true that vaccines WORK but from the very beginning under Trump and continuing through the very recent past, they never should have been characterized as providing as nearly 100 percent effective against “catching covid” as compare to a proper characterization of reducing the liklihood of infection and severity of illness if you were infected. Likewise, January 6th was a violent attack on the capitol conducted almost entirely by a wierd and eclectic band of Trump supporters including many white supremacist and right wingnuts (not Antifa or a false flag FBI operation) and reflects a dangerous cancer and polarization in our political system but it was not a pre-planned and coordinated “insurrection” directed by Trump and his meshughah band of “stop the steal” supporters and not on a level with Pearl Harbor, 9/11 etc. Same with virtually your other ponts. We live in a world where there aren’t 50 shades of political grey or even one. Everything is black/white, taken to an extreme and tempered with adjectives adopted to fit the political narratives taken by each side.In a world of 15 second sound bytes, it takes too long to provide an accurate and nuanced description of reality.

AAQ: some good points but you also miss the growing trend in some deep Red jurisdictions (state and local) to actually engage in their own perverse cancel culture by enacting legislation that would literally “neutralize” discussion of slavery in the same way that stupid Texas school administrator insisted her teachers had to present “both sides” of the holocaust. Its one thing to avoid indoctrinating younger student with “guilt” for the embedded racism in America’s founding and lasting to some extent through today but to restrict teaching of the basic facts of slavery and post-civil war racism in U.S. history is the functional equivalent of Holocaust Denial to Black Americans (and I’m usually the one complaining about using the Shoah as a analogy to anything).

Was he the Chabad moishichist who went around singing and engaging with guys on the street to acknowledge the rebbe etc. etc. Last I heard, he was moving to EY but perhaps Covid slowed him down

When was the last time you paid cash for anything besides a babysitter?

Are you a Luddite?? All the babysitters in our area prefer to be paid through one of the ACH transfers like Zelle or Venmo. Most would not know what to do with “cash” anymore.

“The baba sali was the real deal..”
So whats with the ads running on many frum websites soliciting donations for segulahs?

Is this the world-famous CR where ehrliche adult yidden exchange deep thoughts on lamdus and hashkafah or have I somehow dialed into my grandkid’s instagram stream with colorful emojis and mindless diversionary chit chat??

Its a relatively “new” thing. In the Alte heim, one yid meeting another might inquire ? וואס מאכסטו or other variations of “How are you doing bro? or”How are you?”.. What might be interpreted as a perfectly innocent question in English could simultaneously be deemed a provocation in Yiddish, a lashon which does not lend itself to happy talk. “How SHOULD I be?” might be a fairly neutral answer to the question. While theoretically possible to say “gants gut”, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that response.
If you are a non-conformist, perhaps initiate the greeting with “aleichem shalom”, leaving the bewildered respondent to figure out whether he should revert with a “shalom aleichem” (which should have been your initial greeting” OR just echo your aleichem shalom and continue on his way trying to figure out whether he had just been dissed.