haifagirl

Thank you. But the kudos should go to my teacher.

Velveeta cheese.

And Edwardo’s pizza (it’s in Chicago).

And I would like more kosher restaurants in Haifa.

“The fact about clothing is that whenever you choose something to wear, you are presenting yourself to the world and projecting an image of yourself.”

I know someone who was reluctant to cover her hair because she didn’t feel she was at that level and didn’t want to present a false view of herself to the world. I suggested to her she should start covering her hair and it might help bring her up to that level. She did and she is.

“Do rich/poor people have different understanding, laws, and charachters? “

In a particular town there’s a particular neighborhood where there happen to be a lot of wealthy people. One day I was very frustrated and said to my rabbi, “I wish I had money and lived in [that neighborhood] so I could do whatever I wanted.”

Perhaps my rabbi is too cynical, or maybe he just sees how people are treated by the rest of the community, but he answered, “You don’t have to live there. All you need is money and you can do whatever you want.”

Joseph: There are obvious benefits to polygamy.

First, there’s the obvious that we will be able to get by with fewer boys instead of needing equal numbers.

Second, I’m not sure men are designed to be monogamous. This will give them some variety within the bounds of halacha.

Third, and my favorite reason, “You want dinner? Go bother your other wife.”

This year I davened in a beautiful shul with lots of simcha. If there was any drinking, I didn’t see it.

Last year, the drinking got so out of hand that, with the Rav’s permission, I took all the alcohol I could find and poured it down the sink. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find all the hiding places, but I was able to get rid of a lot of it.

Joseph: I’m all for reinstating polygamy. I’ve been trying to get people to listen to me for years.

Actually, I would use coconut oil. The only problem is it’s expensive and you usually can find it only in health food stores.

I davened in a shul where they tied up the shaliach tzibbur on Simchas Torah. And on Shemini Atzeres they poured water on him during tefillas geshem. Needless to say, I stopped davening there.

1) I didn’t say it was HIS rebbitzen. I just said rebbitzens.

2) Believe me – this rabbi would not be afraid to tell me if there is a problem. I’ve heard him tell other people. I’m not sure he would tell just anybody, but he will tell people he is close to. And I’ve been practically a member of his family for over 20 years.

Thank you NY Mom. I’ve been wanting to discuss this topic for some time.

I think tznius is such a difficult area. Nobody can seem to agree on what is and what isn’t tznius. I’ve been told that some of my clothing is not so tznius. I happen to disagree. My rabbi has never told me there is a problem with how I dress, and he would tell me if there was a problem.

I have seen the knees of plenty of women, including rebbitzens.

There is a book on tznius that I was told NOT to read because it’s too frum. I read it anyway. While I am not at that level yet, I do aspire to it.

One day I was reading a tznius book (not the frummy one) which spoke about a particular color of stocking. As it happens, I was going to a wedding the next day, and planning on wearing that color stocking. I went out and bought new stockings to wear. When I got to the wedding I looked around, and found many women wearing the stockings the book said were assur. This included the wife of one of the dayanim in the community.

As for short, I was at a Chinese auction and the woman emcee was wearing a skirt that didn’t fully cover her knees. To make matters worse, she was standing on a stage. From that position, above the eye level of the women seated in the audience, one could see quite a distance up her thighs.

My favorite is from last summer:

Make aliyah now – he may win (with a pic of Obama)

I had a music teacher in high school who said a lot of popular musicians use classical music and laugh because the audience has no clue. He was right. I hear classical music used all the time in goyish popular music. And I hear it Jewish music too.

Joseph: In general I would say it is better to postpone college until after marriage (for both boys and girls). However, like any generalization, there are exceptions. In some cases it would not be detrimental. In fact, there are probably even a few cases where it would strengthen them.

You could probably look it up. It’s euphemism.

Has anybody seen the mods? I think they are on strike until they get their raise. Maybe we should have a dinner to raise money for them.

Thanks ronrsr. They sound like a great organization. I just sent them a donation.

jphone: I once gave a ride to a friend’s daughter (not a stranger). I had my radio on. She asked me to turn it off because the school she goes to does not allow the students to listen to secular music. I told her the radio was staying on and she could blame me.

A few years later I ended up working for the principal at that school, who was now principla at a different school. Same rule. But you should know her cell phone played Mozart!

In a calculus class I once took there was a young man. I don’t know whether or not he was a “yeshiva bochur,” but he wore a yarmulke and tzitzis. Every time he had difficulty grasping an easy concept, I would just shake my head and think “and they think girls are too stupid to learn gemorah!”

Now imagine if I was some BY girl fresh out of seminary and this is my first exposure to a frum boy who isn’t related to me. What a turn-off.

I think AZOLIS was right when he mentioned that there are those who say it’s better after marriage.

feivel: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. When I eat properly, which I hope to resume son, I feel soooooo much better. And amazing things happen to my bp.

Thanks Joseph. I was wondering the same thing but my brain didn’t engage enough to post it.

But it’s harder to set a keyboard up on a street corner and make money.

One thing I’ve noticed about American Olim. They think that moving to EY means moving to Yerushalayim. There are other places. Just the other day I was looking at a friend’s Yated. I still can’t read the articles, but I can usually get through the ads. I noticed the prices for apartments in Jerusalem was about 4 times what it is in Haifa. I am constantly amazed by how inexpensive items are here as compared to what I paid in the US. I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to live here.

Of course there are difficulties. But that would be true just moving to a different neighborhood in NY. Keep a positive attitude and it isn’t so bad.

And btw, contrary to popular (US) opinion, there are chareidim, and plenty of them, here in Haifa.

Where I used to daven it worked out a bit differently. If we didn’t have a mechitzah up, the women wanted to dance and we had to put up the mechitzah. If we prepared, and had the mechitzah already in place, no women danced.

chochmas odom: And do you find yourself “bouncing around a lot more” when you listen to Beethoven?