ipchamistabra

to wtsp
I’ve been reading your question and responses (and sniggering at many of the responses – which you ably dismissed).
Your question as to why schools don’t/won’t give instruction in the area you are asking about has been correctly responded to, but I would add another more compelling reason: they are simply not qualified to do so. These questions require halachic decisions, and schools are not geared for that. Yes, they can give students a general idea of Laws of Shabbes, tefillah etc, but should never arrogate the position of Posek, most definitely not in such a sensitive area, where the Talmud rules that only one-to one instruction is permitted.
Parents are fine, if you have a sufficiently close and trusting relationship, but few teens would turn to their parents once the problems have escalated to the stage you imply. Not only today, but it was the same when I was your age 60-odd years ago. And probably well before that as well.
Thus questions such as yours must be addressed to such a posek. I don’t mean a Maran-Posek-haDor sort of Posek, but a competent and respected Rov. However, since such a Rov would not sit down and discuss these matters with a woman (and if he offers to, run a mile), the (centuries-old) procedure is that women approach his wife, and she conveys the question to him, and returns with the answer – and in your case will probably sit down and discuss at length with you your questions.
If, for any reason, you don’t feel comfortable with the rabbinical choice you’ve made – eg you might feel they are too judgemental, unsupporting, or whatever – there is no reason why you can’t try elsewhere. Simply not liking the answer is not sufficient reason. But you do have a right to guidance and support, and they have an obligation to deliver that to the best of their ability.
Your present indecision will pass – gam zeh yaavor. I wish you success in your quest, and may you only grow and mature through this test, and – when the time comes – found a beautiful Jewish home of your own.

To Mentsh1 (and a few others writing about buying apartments): The situation in EY is such that this is de rigeur, as you probably well know. Actually, it was not started by frum Yiddn – or by Yiddn at all.
A bit of history: up until 1948, most of the frum community – which still comprised the Old Yishuv + dropouts therefrom – lived in apartments under a system called ‘key-money’ whereby you paid a lump sum up front, followed by a very low rent for the rest of your life. Upon the death of both partners, subject to few conditions, the property reverted back to the original owner. In the new frum centres of Bene Beraq and parts of Tel Aviv, the situation may have been different; I don’t know. At all events, come the day in 1948 when one of the first decrees of the new regime was to declare that anyone living under the ‘key-money’ system had an automatic right-to-buy for a modest payment. Many of course took advantage of this. The logic of this new law was simple: to get as many as possible to buy and own their homes. Benevolence? No way! They knew a war was coming, maybe more than one, and people who don’t own their homes tend to flee wars. The new state was in danger of depopulating. Since then, this policy has been followed assiduously.
Let me divulge a little secret (told by a member of the family concerned): A certain extremely wealthy frum Yid managed to make a deal with those who believe they own the Land of Israel, to build a city for frum Yidn. Everything was going perfectly to plan, until he innocently let slip that he intended renting the properties, rather than selling them. The deal collapsed on the spot. He was told the reason in no uncertain terms. We do not rent. I know well there are rental properties available, but they are a small minority. The official line is, from the top down: you must buy. Even most Israelis don’t know that it’s state policy. They take it as a fact of life. And for them it is. But since they are trapped in a situation over which they have no control, don’t they deserve our help rather than our condemnation?

R E: It’s not that one can be converted to the other. They are one and the same. As KM noted, though, string theory does not add to this understanding. Energy is energy. More pertinent is the fact that the most basic particles are constantly popping in and out of existence. On this level, there is no such thing as static existence.

Rabeinu Bachya, parashas tetzaveh, citing book of gemstones by aristotle. However scholars attribute the work to ‘pseudo-aristotle’. The use of stones is mentioned in a few hebrew medieval medicinal texts, some of which were recently published. Their use was part and parcel of standard medical practice of the time. Claims of pagan origin or imitating non jews have a basis in ignorance of the facts and rationalist (ie haskalah) ideology.

Polish antisemitism was a result of the Germans! in 12-something the Polish King (Kuszmirz?) invited Germans to settle in Poland and granted then a bill of rights. Jews and non-Jews flocked there, and settled in the cities. The king’s plan was to create a class of traders and build up the country. The Germans formed into guilds, as they had in Germany, and worked hard to exclude their Jewish rivals. The Priests that came with them also had what to say against the Jews from the pulpits. Eventually the Jews were expelled from many cities (in Krakow, that meant moving to a new suburb) and many took up employment with the aristocracy. This separation worked, and at least kept the two side physically apart. BTW, the Germans didn’t all assimilate. Many retained their language and customs and were called volksdeutsche. Nazi German radio broadcasts into Poland attracted a massive following amongst this group and this incited serious antisemitism. All that said, there must have been underlying antisemitism – perhaps again fostered by the volkdeutsche and their priests – for it to have taken hold so quickly and so strongly, but excessive overt signs do not appear to have been historically present during the two or three centuries of separation. During the Chmielnicki massacres, the besieged Poles sold out the Jews a few times in return for their lives to the cossacks, but that is only to be expected.

Comment on reply #1712357 – yeshivarockstar

Amil, all the names for the life force, be it Chi, qigong, reiki, or prana, are all Avoda Zara, as they’re designed to worship the world itself over the creator. (Read Rav Belsky’s Alternative Medicine books, for example.)

AMil: From wikipedia
In Hindu philosophy including yoga, Indian medicine and Indian martial arts, prana (प्राण, prāṇa; the Sanskrit word for “life force” or “vital principle”)[1] permeates reality on all levels including inanimate objects.[2] I Five types of prana, collectively known as the five vāyus, are referred to in Hindu texts. Ayurveda, tantra and Tibetan medicine all describe praṇā vāyu as the basic vāyu from which the other vāyus arise.

It’s a deity.
———————————————–
This line of argument is signature of the group that published Rav Belskys thoughts on alternative medicine. How does the final assertion follow from the quote from Wikipedia?

To all those discussing studies of vax vs non-vax: Sure studies have been done – by a doctor who served the Amish community for many decades. Haven’t got my sourse material to hand (it’s packed away cause I’m moving house, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Very easy to sell kano’us. Makes one feel all good inside. The connection to avoida zoro is tenuous – check in wikipedia: it involves remebering the dead, and perhaps the end of the harvest in celtic times. Moreover, if there was a real connection with idolatry, it would not be permitted to participate on the grounds of eivah. so some rather weak logic at the base. Add to that the multiple testimonies of Rav Pam and Rav Kaminetzki’s participation, it would appear that a reconsideration is in order.