Gadolhadorah

In listening to some of the political hespeds today regarding Bush 41, there was an interesting analogy made by a highly respected Republican who noted that some of the same “belated love” had been shown by “Liberals” after the petirah of Ronald Reagan, the same liberals who castigated his policies and agenda throughout his Presidency. However, he followed the point with the rcognition that they were not changing their fundamental views on the Reagan presidency, only on the fact that he had upheld the dignity of the office and maintained a civil discourse with his political opponents (aka the frequently invoked story of his drinking a l’chayim with Tip O’Neill). I think that is the real point many of us on your left feel about the legacy of Bush 41. Did he drag us unnecessarily into a fiasco in Iraq? Probably yes but we probably would have gone in anyway for other reasons. However, the country today is a very different place than it was 2 years ago for reason some will agree with but many obviously don’t.

Neville….What does 43’s bad intelligence/Cheney’s lies have to do with 41? And yes, having a boorish, vulgar and narcissistic occupant in the WH takes us all down. If thats “Robotic” than I’m pleased to work on my immiitation of R2D2 (aka Trumkpofs parroting his tweets)

Remind yourself from the famous exchange between Bush 41 and Mike Wallace who asked whether he was “too nice a guy” to be successful as President. Bush replied that ‘toughness” and “resolve” in foreign policy do not require one to engage in vulgarity or demeaning one’s opponents. Also remind yourself that one can take time away from family and studies to volunteer to defend you country in times of national crisis. If his petirah brings only a brief respite in the current wave of polarization in our political dialogue, it will be the best we collectively do in his memory, both as yidden and Americans.

The artificial pressures to marry at very young ages, for both boys and girls, driven by a fake “shidduch crisis”, only create unnecessary stress and tensions. Let them figure it out for themselves on their own timelines. A boy may be “ready” for marriage in terms of maturity but may want to take time to learn for a year or two w/o the pressure of supporting a family, may want to pursue a secular graduate degree or profession or simply want to take some time to pursue whatever he feels passionate about. Let them decide for themselves.

“Allowing illegals to not face consequences for their law breaking in coming in isn’t a Jewish law; au contraire. The Sheva Mitzvos require that the law be enforced..”
If our parents, and grandparents, especially many of those seeking entry to escape the Shoah or the precious few survivors seeking to escape the DP camps after the Shoah had diligently observed the rules at the time governing immigration to the U.S. and were 100 percent truthful in their responses to the immigration questionnaires and interviewers at Governors’ Island, I personally know of many who never would have been allowed entry. Yes, I’m certain there are some terrible people mixed among the migrants at the Mexican border but the majority are escaping a toxic and deadly environment in the home countries. Please don’t lecture about their obligations to observe the Sheva Mitzvos. On climate change and GHG, I would suggest the vast majority of Jewish scientists who have studied the issue are in agreement with respect to human activity being the primary factor in accelerating atmospheric warming and thus should be the focus of mitigation efforts. If you really believe that burning coal versus using renewables is m’doraissah, than not much more to say about your distorted notion of yiddeshkeit.

There is no reason you cannot donate to a “Toys for Tots” campaign run in our area by the Marine Corps reserve unit and local First Responders…..please show me where it is assur to donate to a goiyeshe charity. These programs operate as non-denominational efforts in low-income communities. While I don’t expect to see a fire truck full of Barbie Dolls and Leggo sets pulling up to the big shul in KJ , there is no reason a yid who has provided funds to yiddeshe mosdos could not also donate to other charities in the communities where he/she resides or at an office-wide collection at their place of employment.

So Trump is the uber-Ohev Yisroel (because he put up a sign outside a U.S. counsel office in Yerushalayim that says “Embassy”, claims he “built” the Embassy for a cost of $1 billion less than “everyone said it would cost’ and invited a bunch of Evangelical galachim to “bless” the sign…..and some rabbonim in in BP, Willy, Monsey and LW “instruct” their mindless sheeplach to VOTE for R’s w/o considering the candidates or the issue and making an informed judgement. Yup, great reasons to support the former Republican party now the Trumpkopf version of “nationalist” (aka racist, white supremacist, misogynistic) Party. Our Troll in Residence is shepping naches from being among the first to climb on board the Trumptrain before it was fashionable

There is a credible theory that one of the root causes of sinas chinam between the Litvish and Sephardeshe tziburs are their respective food and culinary preferences and minhagim. Even within an individual Litvish family, any questioning of their culinary mesorah (“….so you don’t eat XX on yom Tov YY) is likely to trigger as much broigas as announcing your future son-in-law is a Chabadnik. Foods and food preferences strangely are a very powerful force in interpersonal relationships….much more so than we acknowledge

No reason not to be “thankful” to the Golden Medinah for the freedoms and affluence we have been granted here in galus. Turkey tzimmes and cranberry kugkel is fine along with a Tofukey for the really frum Vegans in the family. Stop trying to over analyze every “chag” that comes along. No more a yom Tov than Bibi’s birthday or George Washington’s yahrtzeit but still a good day to spend a bit of extra time with the kids, watch the parade (if you live in NYC) and/or sleep in and daven with the 8AM minyan rather than Vasikim. Also, do some chores (blow the leaves from the driveway, bring in some extra firewood, make sure the downspouts are clear and the snowblower has new spark plugs and filter).

Sariray: You can bring down a gazillion anecdotal stories and they will have the same significance…..correlation does not mean causality and you and your denial chevrah will have the same irrelevance as you historically have had. The best science today says NO Causality and thats how public policy will be made until these families provide more than just “their feelings’. I feel really bad for their suffering but taking actions that would impose such suffering on 10x as many others makes no sense.

Vaccination is like global warming and any other critical policy issue linked to science, where there will always be some research and studies that seemingly deviate from the vast consensus of scientific belief. Governments make policy based on the consensus of the best available science and do not defer critically needed actions because a small number of dissenters raise doubts. If that was the case, nothing would ever be done since there is no policy that is totally “risk-free”.

Sometimes its hard to see the forest through the trees….I’ll go back to my original comments weeks ago, focus on your own Rav or posek and don’t worry about ranking others. Your metrics will be different from mine or any other CR poster. Contemporary psaks have grown very subject-matter focused and complex and the “gadol-hador’ you would consult on kashruth . is very different from who you would consult on gittin or on end-of-life questions.

The Dems, as usual, never miss an opportunity to allow the Republicans to set up a strawman and answer their own question. Did the Republican bill repealing the ACA contain language requiring insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. Well, yes. Did the bill include a requirement for community ratings so that such individuals would not be charged 10X or 20X times the premiums for others of the same gender or age bracket? No. The insurance companies would have to “offercoverage” which gave the Republicans a political escape route during the campaign but most Dems never challenged them on the cost issue and how meaningless the Republican “protection” was in reality.

Any urban planner/land use professional or transportation engineer would know that allowing high-density development to have direct access to roads such as Rt 9 that were originally designed as limited access arteries is a certain formula for the insane traffic conditions and congestion several posters have noted. If as Joseph says, the local voters elected some political hacks to over-rule the professionals then they deserve the chaos. In densely populated frum areas with large families, its simply not possible to accommodate every Moishe, Yankel or Suralah who insists on getting married and living close to their parents and machatunim. Lakewood is in denial of reality but no one in a position of political authority wants to put up the “no vacancy” sign. Perhaps if the BMG leadership announced they ae establishing a new branch in the more rural part of the state and would offer discounted tuition for the first several years, that would provide some incentive to relocate and serve as the catalyst for Lakewood West, If the Satmar could do it….why not a Litveshe westward migration.

Chosen by whom and for what/??? By hashem, to serve hashem, YES. To imply global superiority with divine rights to subordinate or oppress others, NO.

Laskern: Great idea….do tshuvah and beg for mechilla from the Ebeshter on erev Rosh Chodesh for all your aveiros during mar Cheshvan so you can begin with a clean slate for Kislev and Chanukah. Yasher koach for such a brilliant lifestyle strategy

When driving in the Lakewood area, I don’t recall much room to build new highways or even add new lanes to existing roads without encroaching on homes and businesses. Many crowded suburban communities have had some success with discouraging auto traffic by offering free local minbus service circulating through the residential and shopping areas, introducing bike-sharing and even scooter sharing (which may be better for the younger boys and girls). Using more Uber and Lfyt for short-trips to the market, shul or mikvah might also help. There is no single “fix” and building more highways rarely solves the problem, even if could be done. Some of the other posters noted an unopular but ultimately necessary long-term fix that would simply tell yidden looking for housing “Sorry, but Lakewood is full, move elsewhere” and enforce that reality by denying new building permits at higher density.i

Minhag Yisroel din hoo….Minhag Avram (MD or otherwise), not so much

Not sure how you ever define how wide the circle may be outside the home in relation to any so called “schar” in olam haboh or even olam hazeh. I would imagine the Ebeshter looks holistically (excuse the “new age” terminology) at the entitreky of how you live your life as compared to how many credits you may have taken in an online or resident college, how you relate to others, your level of observance of taryag mitzvos (or at least those that may apply), your level of emunah in times of stress or peril etc. Such subjective terms as “innocence’, “purity” etc. are increasingly less relevant as we find ways to conduct a balanced life of torah and secular activities. As we see more frum men and women take leadership roles in both the public and private sector and working hard to make life better for ALL, its difficult to draw a bright line for Yeshivish or other members of the tzibur.

To all the fools and anti-vaxers who have posted here about the paranoia in the frum community related to the risks of not getting vaccinated, please read the kol koreh from several of the biggest gadolim and poskim in EY just posted on the breaking stories page here on YWN where they make the same point several of us have repeatedly noted on this and other threads…….you are mamah murderers by not vaccinating your kids. Specifically, they state as follows: ” Whoever isn’t vaccinated is a murderer” חסורי מחסירנן והכי גרסינן

To Know Little…if you regard this President as the paradigm of the “moral values” you hold near and dear (I’ll spare the details on a family-oriented website) than we have to truly wonder what moral compass you are operating from. Even the most pro-Trumpkopf Christian Evangelical leaders have been honest about having to hold their noses, put their moral values on hold and support the President simply because they value his judicial appointments more than anything else. In their view, and perhaps yours, the ends justify the means.

Two Eyes…..I suspect you also have two ears which suggests you may have have heard that most Jewish and Goyeshe religious organizations (especially the Evangelicals) have routinely found ways to communicate their political views while the IRS (courtesy of the Republicans and certain partisan Democrat yiddeshe woman at the IRS during ) has simply stopped enforcing the rules on political advocacy by tax-exempt organizaitons. No, I’m not advocating either side breaking the law, simply stating a fact…..

Without speaking directly to the Lakewood situation but in general, wherever yidden as a block mindlessly vote for a candidate for public office simply because some rabbonim or askanim said to do so, there will be no political competition. Sure, take what “the Rav” may say into consideration as one factor among many but do your OWN analysis of the candidates and their positions and make your own decision whom to vote for.

As has been pointed out to you before, doing things because your rabbeim said to do so is not mindless, it is called following Daas Torah.  Your habit of selecting when and where your rabbonim should to be heeded is inappropriate

Before nominating anyone, it would help to have a common definition of what we mean by a kanoi. A kanoi in my mind is someone who is ready, at any moment, and nothwithdstanding the cost to him/her self to perform ratzon Hashem. Specifically, I think in terms of someone who is a kanoi for ddas torah and dvar Hashem. a kanoi in ahavas haTorah. a kanoi in ahavas Hashem. and perhaps most importantly, a kanoi in achdus and ahavas Yisrael. When you think about the cumulative attributes of a true kanoi, the list gets considerably shorter as you check off each box.

Such a simple question with an obvious answer.