Gadolhadorah

Given that most of the “social distancing’ and capacity limit rules have been lifted, even in the more medically “conservative”/politicall progressive jurisdictions, and we have probably vaccinated most of those willing to be vaccinated, a high quality N95 mask may provide YOU with a small level of incremental protection when you are in a crowded venue or you have a compromised immune system, even if you are vaccinated. No guarantees, and difficult to quantify benefits but certainly will provide some small measure of protection.

Organize and facilitate support groups for those suffering from TDS

Aside from evaporation, potash production on both the Israeli and Jordanian sides are biggest water users. A three-way agreement among EY, Jordan and Egypt on regional water use that included a program for replenishing flows in to the Dead Sea would likely be the quickest way to move the ball forward since any unilateral efforts would trigger significant opposition.

“..so why haven’t they pumped water yet If its such an easy solution??”

First of all, its NOT “easy” beyond the simplistic notion of digging a 125 KM ditch and letting the water flow downhill from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea. Huge cost, some significant engineering issues, even greater environmental issues and MEGA geopolitical problems with neighboring countries.

Akuperma is correct. A great deal of study and analysis has been dedicated to various formulations of a project that would essentially consist of of a 100-125 km conduit diverting sea water from the Mediterranean (with an intake somewhere near the Gaza Strip) flowing down to the Dead Sea with hydroelectric turbines producing roughly 800-1000 MW of peak capacity. Aside from the enormous capital cost , there have also been strong protests by neighboring Arab countries and Israeli environmentalists opposing the project (even though more recent efforts have considered if/how Jordan and Egypt could partner in the effort). The idea has been around for over 50 years. In 1981, the UN General Assembly actually passed a resolution (surprise??) opposing any such project.

“….or expect to live at someone else’s expense (hopefully freely giving in-laws and donors rather than unwitting taxpayers)…”

I’m not sure there is a reliable statistical source, but I would expect that the numbers of young frum families that rely primarily on government subsidies to get buy are much greater than the number of those fortunate enough to have wealthy in-laws writing the rent and tuition checks each month. Most ikely that many families rely on both sources of “income” but obviously would be better off if at least one is able to earn a parnassah and provide forat least a portion of their financial needs. Taxpayers providing a subsidy are NOT ‘unwitting” since the issue of high welfare dependency in certain communities are well known and politicians have refused to limit those payments or impose a “work” requirement or limit numbers of eligible dependents.

Syag: Sorry you are having a bad day…..I found you post quite confusing, even for satire so I have no clue on what point you were trying to make. Just so there is no confusion on your end, I totally agree the Rittenhouse verdict was legally correct under the relevant Wisconsin statute and the Judge’s rulings and instructions to the jurors. Conversely, I think the statute is indicative of the “stand your ground” type statutes prevalent in half the states which fail to take account of the assailant’s contribution to the circumstances nor require any effort to stand down/mitigate.
From what I’ve heard in the Georgia case, I take the opposite perspective and believe these guys had no business acting as vigilantes and running down a black man using “citizens arrest” as a basis for shooting him when he attempted to defend himself.
P.S. Vus is a “Kardashian”

“I’m not a journalist…
Azoy. And we thought you were on the staff of The Forward.

The real “rock stars” are those who are able to consistently articulate their beliefs and positions in a respectful way without engaging in hateful, racist or otherwise hyperbolic commentary regarding those with whom they disagree.

When you add the “visible” caveat to frum, relatively few outside the NY/NJ metro area. Very small numbers of elected/appointed officials in Maryland, Illinois, Florida, Colorado and Florida and in those cases just one or two, unless you get down the very local board levels where you may have several more.

“can everyone please stop writing so long replies”

No. If you are have time constraints Down Under, consider scrolling down to the next post. As noted above, it take many posters a while to rationalize the pervasive racism that has existed in the world for generations, sometimes cloaked in religious and historical context.
In the case of Noach’s curse of Chom’s progeny, the four or five lines in Bereishis were used to justify the subordination of the Canaanim to Bnai Yisroel. However, later centuries, the narrative was interpreted at varying times by some Christians, Muslims and Yidden as an explanation for black skin, as well as a generic justification for enslavement of black people. For Southern slave owners in the mid- 1800s who were faced with the abolitionist movement to end slavery, the curse of Cham was one of the most frequently justifications upon which Southerners relied as an ideological and moral defense of slavery.The rationalization for discrimination evolved among other religious groups over times such as the LDS (Mormon) church in the U.S. for decades invoking the curse of Cham to prevent the ordination of black men into its priesthood. Even among our own meforshim, there is a wide range of understanding of both the literal and implied meaning of the story.

There are several conservative Republican leaders with similar economic, national security and social policies who are likely to defeat Biden or any Dem candidate w/o the lying, self-adulation, racist and misogynistic baggage. Why put the country through another 4 years of that garbage if you say you liked Trump’s policies but not the individual.

In many cases, it is impossible to differentiate the positive benefits resulting from certain public policy decisions or action as between yidden and people in general. There is no reason so forego praise of someone whose actions result in benefits to society as whole, where such outcomes are not contrary to daas torah.

Agree that clinical evidence thusfar supports vaccination for those who have not yet had Covid both in terms of reducing risks of infection and lower risks of hospitalization/serious affects if you are infected. Studies on benefits for those already infected seem to suggest some benefits in terms of increasing resistance over time, although results are thusfar open to varying interpretation. From a practical perspective however, absent SCOTUS intervention on legality of mandates, being “fully vaccinated” including booster in some cases, may become a defacto requirement for most work and travel so “get over” your philosophical resistance if you want to engage in most forms of commercial activity and movement.

Most yeshiva yungerleit are responsible and are able to use the time of bein hazmanim to renew and refresh, visit with family and engage in some of the special programs available that best meet their interests and needs. There is no single formula. Some prefer to organize their own time and others need a structured agenda. Both options are available.

I think several of the above posts stated it very clearly. Given Hamodia’s ownership, no coverage was better than a series of personal attacks and hyperbole.

In 2015, Rav’ Aharon Leib Shteinman, Z’L, sent a letter to an Agudah/Degel conference on higher education for Chareidi young women in which he insisted that girls not attend college and be educated exclusively “framework of Bais Yaakov”. In the intervening time, studies have shown a substantial increase in the number of frum women attending college, many in special programs designed to address the usual concerns. While still the exception, women are getting out of the kitchen into boardrooms, operating rooms, courtrooms. Check carefully next time before you schedule a root canal or colonoscopy or fight a traffic ticket. Also, make sure that the local first responders know NOT to dispatch a woman to your home and just wait until the right “guy” becomes available. .

It formally ended on the third-day of Chol Hamoed Succos.

Both Chai18 and AIYID sum it up well. As Bill Clinton would say, it depends on what you mean “Survive” and where that “survival” occuurs. Also depends on whether you are talking about a couple just starting out, a family with 2-3 kids or a family with 6-8 kids.

You can sustain a family of 2-3 kids, a used SUV or van, a rental apartment and yeshiva tuition in BOTH the U.S. and EY under the equivalent of $100K (US) income, but easier in EY based on larger government subsidies for schooling and health care. Cost of housing is very locational specific in both US and EY. In all cases, we are talking about a relatively simple lifestyle, buying in bulk at CostCo (or its equivalent), with no spending Pesach at a hotel or expensive summer camps and/or trips to Europe.

Sadly, there still too many frum families at the lower end of the income scale (e.g below $40K), some with very large families and limited employment/earning (either by choice or lack of education/skills) who are nearly totally dependent on government subsidies and struggle day-to-day to stay afloat.

At the other end of the spectrum, a frum young man or woman just out of college today and taking a position with a top U.S. law firm or investment bank (as many more are these days) will earn about $180,000 year and yet they are still kvetching about the high cost of living in downtown Manhattan, Boston or LA.
Its all relative. There are also young frum men and women with less fancy academic credentials but really smart and entrepreneurial, who have started their own computer and internet-based businesses and able to do well while working from home and starting families.
The good news is that there are more opportunities today for frum families than ever before if they chose to pursue them.

Do you think they[IRS Agents} are chopped liver?

AAQ:: No, but I suspect with your 7 figure income, multiple vacation-home deductions etc, you get to deal with a higher calibre of IRS agent in your compliance audits. Sadly, the only two I’ve ever dealt, while extremely courteous and otherwise quality human beings, seemed challenged in understanding their own farblunget rules, much less my lame efforts to find precedents for my tax positions in English common law.

Syag: Sorry if my rather obvious sarcasm was lost in translation. I doubt that even my “progressive” friends believe that AOC has contributed to any real “progress” in their agenda in the House other than perhaps providing occasional social media diversions to some of the equally useless Republicans like MGT. They could have given Dems something to run on 2 months ago by passing the infrastructure bill, although Tuesday’s losses went much deeper than that.

“Comrade” sounds a bit “yesterday”. Any replacement for “participant” should be something more contemporary that also has a least a bit of a yiddeshe taam would be more appropriate. A noun that captures the essence of the high level intellectual discourse and total absence of hubris that permeates every post allowed by the mods. Does anyone have a thesaurus readily available?

AAQ: I trust that most IRS agents have never read the works of a famous 19th century mathematics professor from Oxford University named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Caroll)