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A high end grocer in a frum community is hosting a raffle over chanuka. The raffle is for private chef dinners, wines and the like. And of course, meat boards etc. I get it. Raising money for a good cause sometimes requires going over the top.
You enter the raffle by spending money in their store. No proceeds go to EY, to causes, etc. No trip to EY. Not even an offer of “donate to Zaka or Hatzalah” to earn an extra ticket. The store owner has every right to make a parnassah and run a promotion. But this is just so distasteful.
We have over a hundred brothers and sisters held captive in hell on earth. Jewish soldiers are literally being murdered daily. Zaka and Hatzala members are struggling with the shock of what they saw and need money for therapy.
Please, celebrate chanukah and promote your businesses. But do so with some taste. We are a special nation, an Am Hanivchar. Chanukah marks an amazing time, when a hishtadlus and emunah saw nissim. This is the time to focus on more than your daled amos, your business or your food. What does it say about a community when this is an acceptable way to behave?
We are better than this.
One doesn’t attend a rally for the speakers. You come to be counted as a supported of Am Yisrael. This creates incredible political momentum supporting Jewish causes, including funding to help protect acheinu kol beis yisrael. Unless you are already learning full time bzchus those at risk (and possible even for them – each according to his posek), this is hishtadlus 101.
Each organization overlaps with the others, slightly, and each serves a unique purpose.
United Hatzalah is the main body of “Hatzalah” as we in the US and UK know it. They unified most local branches of Haztalah into a single body. Their primary goal is to get onto the scene as quickly and possible and provide initial lifesaving support in the field. In many/most situations, they work together with Magen David Adom (MADA) for emergency transportation, but they also have transportation ambulances in some areas. This is why United Hatzalah has a lot more bikes and ambucycles, with fewer ambulances. United Hatzalah consults with the chareidi gedolim on all issues, has halacha courses mandated for all volunteers and includes volunteers from all walks of Israeli life.
There are local branches of Hatzalah that for different reasons prefer to remain separate from the national body under HaTsadik Eli Beer. No tainas on them, and this doesn’t reflect poorly on United Hatzalah either.
Magen David Adom (MADA) primarily serves as emergency medical transportation team with emergency response capabilities. MADA is run as a semi-government-run, semi-volunteer organization. They also now have some ambucycles for emergency response.
In the past there were politics. Nowadays, nearly all of them collaborate on most calls. When we called Hatzalah, they arrived within 2 minutes. They call in MADA, who came 8-10 minutes later for the transport. They are all worthy tsedakas.
Yes, this is an older story. And no, there is no reputable source for it.
Check out Ohr Naava. Ask your school to set up some after school and motsei shabbos activities. Nothing wrong with girls getting together to kumzits, play a game, have some pizza, fun, sports etc, in a supervised environment. This is what my Mesivta did for us when they wanted us out of the pizza stores on motsei shabbos. This was 25 years ago, but the scene was always the scene. And it worked.
Because we live in the era before Moshiach where we are all confused. We live in a community where politics, power and money are highly valued. As such, we are heavily influenced by the political narrative, even when it isn’t the same as the Torah narrative.
For example, al pi Torah we should celebrate the tsadikim who have SSA and choose to remain celebate their entire lives. I have heard this statement from major rabbanim. But so many shul and community rabbanim will have no problem standing up at a kiddush and going off on the LGBT community, with no regard for those who are in the closet and shomrei Torah.
We need to double and triple down on our sensitivity towards Torah values. Stop listening to political shows and focus on limud Torah and ahavas chinam.
We believe in teshuva. For everyone. Even those who commit financial crimes.
There are tons of ads trying to recruit chareidi bus drivers. In general there aren’t enough drivers. It’s not an easy job. The best way to get a driver to turn up the air on a long trip is to smile when you get on, say hi or boker tov, and even better – give them a bottle or water or chocolate bar. Little things go a long way, especially for people working low wage jobs.
Most airlines will not have a minyan. Many rabbanim will tell you not to daven with plane minyanim for a number of reasons. Ask a Shayla before making this a reason to choose the airline.
Welcome home.
It repeats and restates things it has read. It cannot develope original thought or solutions.
Halevai this should be the greatest issue facing klal yisrael. One day a year many people (re)connect with chassidus, try something that may be new to them, maybe find another way to connect with Hashem – typically through music and chassidishe torah.
The idea of having a special day of dveikus to commemorate a nes or hatzalah is an ancient practice. Joining your neighbor as they celebrate what happened for their rebbe is the same idea.
Having a taste of something refreshing and new – a deeper more spiritual and emotional way to relate to HKBH is at the core of chassidus and hischadshus. This isn’t chassidus out of context. It’s very much chassidus at it’s best.
Volunteering for charity is very important. As is otherwise mandatory social programming – like education and military service / national service.
If you do the math, between spending 2-3 years in the army / sheirut leumi and the 32% chessed for National Religious, this community may have even more total hours dedicated to the kahal.
It’s also important to remember that volunteering is one important way to contribute, but it isn’t the only way to contribute. I hope the tsibbur remembers that just as they should be thanked for the chessed they do within and beyond their community, they should be thankful to the other parts of society that physically protect them, subsidize their healthcare, education, etc.
Israel is a democracy, which is great because we Jews are not uniform, nor do we see eye to eye. This means that there is room for different people to live differently. We are obligated to encourage shabbas, kashrus observance etc. But this is not a theocracy, and we cannot and will not force anyone to follow hallacha.
Unlike the US, there is a universal minimum standard of kashrus, geirus, etc, which is enshrined in law. This allows those who want to maintain a hallachik standard to do so, and those who want a higher standard can add to this common standard as desired.
The ahavas yisrael among nearly all Israelis is very hard to appreciate if you don’t see it for yourself. When you stop trying to “change” people, and focus on loving them, you will see unbelievable people driven by neshamos yearning for a better world. And these salt of the earth people, our brothers and sisters, and by and large maaminim. It’s amazing.
Let’s focus on what is right, and built toward the tomorrow we want to see.
The new “club” isn’t hallachikly condoning actions that are assur, it is providing guidance with people who have a particular yetzer and need support and guidance.
Talk to Oorah and/or NCSY about summer camp. Oorah is often for people a bit further along in their journey, whereas NCSY has camps for people at every stage, but both are amazing options.
I know many people who went through the NCSY system and found incredible support. Contact your local NCSY chapter (just Google it and email them). NCSY will help in so many ways. You will get to know other teens on their own journey, connect with regional advisors (college aged people who can guide you), and so much more. These local resources will be there for you 24/6, with group shabbatonim (weekends together), educational materials, inspiration, emotional support, and honestly, just to go have fun.
Best of luck on your journey, and keep up the great work!
Sefaria is an amazing tool. It is also an open platform. It will be used by anyone who wants to learn from it and contribute to it. Just like a sefarim store is open to anyone who wants to come in and buy sefarim. And the internet is open to anyone with a browser and an internet connection.
The question now is what you want to do with it. If you don’t want to contribute to the source sheets, the shiurim, etc – because there are “open orthodox” and fully “non orthodox” and possibly even non-Jewish academics using it – don’t contribute. I would similarly recommend you avoid these sections of the app/site.
Even “just” as a resource for access to texts alone, Sefaria is incredible. Use it for what makes sense to you.
Or ignore it entirely.
This really varies by one’s financial and personal situation. During Bein Hazmanim the North (Golan / Galil) are packed. If one has the money, some places such as Switzerland also see an influx of chareidim on vacation.
There are few mehadrin hotels, most people will visit an area and then make do with their own setup for food.
It’s not so simple that one should keep two days. There is a serious question of bittul Torah as well.
Each person should speak with their Rebbe, and follow their advice.
In terms of American investors in Israel – please come live in those vacation apartments? Imagine all the impact to your neshama and the economy is you lived here!
Every Jew has a right to live here. But if you choose to ignore your right to live here, it’s not pashut that you have the same right to dictate Israeli policy. It’s like the famous line – American Zionists are happy to fight down to the last Israeli. You have a right to an opinion, but not a right to vote. But move here, and you can shape our future!
Factually, not sure that’s accurate. High tech has dramatically raised the average salary.
Find a mix of inspiration, tachlis learning and fun learning. Once there is one good seder in place and you are loving it, more will come naturally over time. if you are struggling with kviyus, check out Rav Eli’s daf at Mercaz Daf Yomi / 8 min daf. It’s really is good fun.
One can be dati, shomer shabbos, kashrus, taharas hamishpacha and even a gadol btorah and not be chareidi. There are many giants of Torah among the torani leumi crowd. Being dati has nothing to do with politics.
Being chareidi doesn’t mean being ultra religious or closer to hashem. It means subscribing to a specific perspective and community.
And as members of a family, there can be disagreements on what is ideal. That doesn’t undermine anyone’s religiosity.
Being yeshivish or chareidi is not much of a consideration. Modern orthodox have the same challenges. There are challenges anytime someone moves, making new friends, adapting to new cultural norms, language barriers, etc.
English-friendly American Yeshivish elementary schools abound. especially in yeshivish American neighborhoods like Ramat Bet Shemesh. There are many, many options in the Ramat Bet Shemesh Aleph and Gimmel neighborhoods for both boys and girls. The quality of educational options for a typical yeshivish family should not be a concern.
I believe you have to bidud, and you need to have proof that you have a proper place to bidud and reason for coming. Bidud is much stricter in Israel than in America. Call the Israeli embassy for all the details. Having anitbodies in the past does not mean that you cannot be reinfected.
I simply want to say to the comments, think before you write. Their loss is our gain? We are one community! We are one family! These words make me sick.
RIETS is falling apart? Have you been to the YU Beis? I’m not MO, but there are guys learning seriously until all hours of the night. Top learners. There are world class talmiday chachamim and poskim. Don’t speak from the outside, until you have walked he proverbial mile.
This issue is one we can raise within our own world. How many Baal habatim that wear hats on shabbos do not put on tefillin every day during the week? How many local shteibels can hardly make a minyan during the week? Sure, Shomrei Shabbos is booming, but we know we are not fully accounted for.
We all live in glass houses. We all need to stop throwing rocks, and start doing yeshiva! It’s Elul! Elul!
Check out Neve Yerushalayim. It’s an amazing, life-changing program that helps each participant find themselves, not just find “frum”. Participants come from a very diverse background, and everybody is there on their own journey.
Just come home. We are here, waiting for you.
I feel for parents with the cost of the year or two on learning in EY for young men and women. As an outsider who hosts these young Americans for shabbos throughout the year, I can tell you with certainty that it is a game changer for so many.
They gain Independence, confidence, an identity within am Yisrael. They realize who they want to be, and start life off with a former foundation. If you are ready to send your daughters to college and the workplace, it is best to build up an independant sense of who and why they are who they are. This simply doesn’t happen the same way for many when they are still close to home.
EY has a special shemirah.
EY enforced social restrictions faster, and was far more comprehensive in the measures deployed.
The latest data suggests that the US has a different strain of the virus.
With chicken, so many amazing recipes with tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, look them up online. So tender, it’s one of my favorite dishes all year round.
I know someone who used to make a big turkey and baste it in orange juice. Stuff is with matza and goodies. Comes out great.
If you can get a roast (beef), baste it in wine, salt and pepper on the outside, then onion and garlic in the wine on the bottom. Bake it low and slow, it comes out amazing.
I will tell you exactly why this thread is dangerous. I spoke with a relative in BP who has coronavirus, tested and confirmed. They told us that their doctor can’t get the medication they are supposed to get, because there are shortages. But they now knows that garlic and tea are sufficient, and all these guidelines aren’t necessary. This misinformation could be literally sakanas nefashos, endangering millions of lives.
The OP was sharing his/her personal suspicion that they had a deadly virus, and a statistically meaningless personal experience. I’m sure this came from a good place, but this is not how medicine and science works nd these stories endanger lives. The OP did not create this claim – these are false narratives that have been circling the internet for weeks and have been disproven. Check Snopes. Check every reputable medical site and journal. Speak with your own physician. Do not take medical advice from the Coffee Room.
It is dangerous to yourself, and everyone else around you.
You will never lose children from following psak hallacha to save their, and your life. You will show them what it means to follow hallacha, even when it says to stop davening with a minyan. This is nothing new in the history of klal yisrael., It has happened before, and we followed the guidance and are still going strong. Be strong, and don’t fall into the yetzer harah to find an underground minyan. It’s kneged hallacha and a Shayla or retsicha.
I know a few sefardi rabbanim gave a heter for zoom in extreme circumstances, but this was not meant as a blanket allowance as many gedolim have clarified.
There are reports of people getting this twice. Be a chochom.
I personally would not go to a hotel right now. The challenge is that this is literally people’s parnassah. It’s very difficult to go bankrupt for a safety measure. There is no easy answer to this one.
You don’t cancel a wedding. But you may want to do a smaller wedding. Talk to your rov.
Use an email invitation. These are becoming very common in EY, and save a lot of waste.
Ask your local Rav or Vaad Hakashrus. I did this regarding some local 711s when this sugya came up almost 20 years ago, and they said told me that the local machines had sufficient filters.
It should be noted that not all rabbanim or hashgachos require filters. Speak with your Rav, and make your own decisions.
We can and should try to love all Jews. Even when there is machlokes or milchemes hashem, my rabbeim taught to love the person and disagree with what they are doing. Standing up for emes doesn’t mean hating someone who does something incorrect. It means davening for their teshuva.
The rabbeim and teachers (for Sem) in American are amazing. In EY it is often on a different level alltogether.
That said, be carefull that you send to the right program, no matter where they are. I have seen some seminaries (not saying where) that were run as money factories with little attention paid to the young women beyond enforcing strict rules. As a parent, this is so disappointing, considering what amazing options there are out there.
That said, the ability to live on another plain for a year or two, to live in a culture that values torah in a different way is special. The ability to daven and experience yahadus on a different level, to experience a shabbos in Tsfat with a family that has nothing, but invites the whole world over anyway, to experience Bnei Brak, to experience a shabbos with the amazing communities of Olim in (Ramat and) Bet Shemesh, to experience a shabbos in a yishuv where people are moser nefesh for yishuv ha’aretz, these are not things you get in NY of NJ. There is nothing wrong with the US or the UK. But EY is ours. It’s where we belong. And sending your teens here for a year or three sends a message about what matters most. Before we go to college, before we get married, we orient ourselves towards who we really should strive to be, and what kind of lives we want to live. We give our young men and women a choice, we send them off, we show them our trust and let them discover themselves in a fairly safe and growth driven environment. What a beautiful commitment to our children.
Joseph, I’m not here to out you. But if you came out of that frum college with tremendous kishronos and shaychus to your rebbe, was it really so bad? Didn’t we sit together and sing Friday nights on the fourth floor after you made your later Kiddush and hamotsi in a bag of rolls? Didn’t Rav B give you your space to be mishamesh the rebbe when he was in town? I know college isn’t your hashkafa today, but let’s be honest and the damage and growth we experienced in this era of our lives.
I’m not saying college is for everyone. But for many people, it is the reality of making a parnassah. And as a kehillah, a secular education in a frum context is attainable and neccesary to to our long term viability.
Follow your rabbanim. But please don’t put down others for following theirs.
Like many questions, this depends on who you ask. I know frum people who have come on trips with no issues. And there are clearly some who have reasons for concern.
Speak to your Rav, not strangers in the Coffee Room. Regarding Har Herzl, I must object to the comments above. I understand that some have a different hashkafa, and respect your right to follow your rabbanim. Visit there and see for yourself. Speak to the talmidim or Rav Shlomo Zalman. This is a very special place. A place for those who gave their lives for other Jews. Please do not be mevazeh something so holy over political concerns.
There are many great ways to buy shirts for $20-25. From online stores to Cosco, I rarely pay more than $25 for good quality, good design shirts.
Another great way to live more simply is to live more simply, and among others that chose to live simply as well. It’s very difficult to move, but if you find that materialism in your local community is overwhelming, this may be a worthwhile option to consider.
This was a major factor in our decision to make aliyah. Our kids don’t ask for the latest and greatest in fashion or tech, because the culture and community we chose to live in doesn’t talk much about fashion or technology. Most people in our neighborhood work hard for their parnassah, but life is just simpler than we had in the US. Simchas are simpler, cars are a bit older, clothing is usually a bit more tsanuah (in the traditional sense of modesty, not just necklines). Moving wasn’t easy, but it has in many ways defined us.
Bhatzlacha in your journey.
Aish is very successful. It’s not about changing people, it’s about helping people embrace their Judaism and add mitzvos. It’s not all or nothing.
More unaffiliated Jews in America associate with Israel than with religion. It’s a door opener.
Before your criticize, open your own worldwide network of yeshivos and do something better.
To imply that OU Israel is not reliable is motsi Shem rah. To suggest that they accept Heter Mechirah is motsi Shem rah. I have a neighbor who is a mashgiach for the Rabbanut that won’t allow OU products into his home. We have discussed this at length. The rumors he has heard about OU Israel and for that matter, OU would be laughable to anyone that knows the world class organization they run.
The top hashgachos in Israel often maintain standards well beyond what one is accustomed to seeing in the US. But to suggest that OU in the US is acceptable but in Israel they are not is often ignorance or politics.
I have discussed this behind closed doors with leading Yeshivish rabbonim. For example, when I made Aliyah I sat with my Rosh Yeshiva to ask him what standards I should keep. Behind closed doors, he said amazing things about many hashgachos, but he also doesn’t bring them into his home because he wants neighbors to be comfortable eating in his home.
Please do not confuse the issues. There is a reality, and there are rumors and hearsay. Don’t jump to conclusions without doing your own research.
I have written to the OU about this. OU Israel is the same standard as OU Kosher in the US. With the added hallachos of EY. Standards in Israel are different overall, and kashrus preferences often include political considerations.
Tachlis, it’s the OU. Please stop with the motsi Shem rah.
Chevra, Sefardim are called Sefardim because they remained in the mediteranean basin after the Spanish Inquisition and subsequent expulsion (sefard is spain). Some moved northward, joining the communities of France/Germany and became known as Ashkenazim.
The 10 shevatim split off over a thousand years earlier.
This thread is rediculous.
This isn’t a yes or no question, there are varying shades of gray. You can be in EY and still be in galus.
On that note, geulah and moshiach are also generally not regarded as black and white. There are stages and phases. Even the most ardent Zionist say a Yehi Ratzon on Yom Haatamuat and Yom Yerushalayim praying for the guelah shelayma – implying that we don’t yet have the full geulah. And many who are not zionists still believe that we are in ikvesah demeshicha – because of the holocaust, etc.
Let’s focus on what we have in common and daven for progress.
I went to yeshiva with Joseph. Quite sure he is not in EY, though we did lose touch some time ago.
@lakewut
Rabbanut it kosher. They don’t keep the same chumras as OU (e.g. glatt). And OU doesn’t keep the chumras of the Rabbanut (e.g. chadash, chalav akum when it’s not powdered).
These are apples and oranges. The OU is also more centralized and standards are enforced uniformly. The Rabbanut is more decentralized more like a local vaad hakashrus, where each area goes by the rabbanim of their area, with national minimum standards and local enforcement.
It’s not complicated. There are just more choices. If you are a machmir, you will have the highest standards. If you want the basics, you ate more than covered. And every level in between is accommodated.
BH we have so many Jews in EY that want to keep kosher!
If you have any questions, ask an American in EY that you identify with about their standards. Lots of options.
Mods, why are we allowing people to besmirch the OU? They refuse to change the label? This isn’t their label to change. They control the OU or OUD logo.
To quote a notable Rav in Ramat Bet Shemesh, a tsioni is a Jew who loves Erets Yisrael. We all aim to love EY, and chas vshalom would never want to fall into cheit hameraglim and say negative things.
In addition to the above, some culturally use this term to refer to one’s stance vis a vis the medinah. But let’s make no mistake. We are all, as frum Jews, zionists in the pre Herzl state of the word.