KeenObserver

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  • in reply to: Hair Loss with Yeshiva Guys #1170605
    KeenObserver
    Member

    I am not convinced by the premise of this question. There’s no reason to believe that Yeshiva guys have any more hair loss than anyone else with similar genes. One confusing factor is that it’s relatively fashionable for balding non-religious men to shave their heads, so it may be less apparent in that population.

    in reply to: Classical Music #925023
    KeenObserver
    Member

    zahavasdad writes: “Felix Mendelssohn was one of the founders of the Haskalah”

    No, you are thinking of his controversial grandfather, Moses Mendelssohn. Felix Mendelssohn was baptized as a Christian by his parents (both of whom were born Jewish, of course), and practiced Christianity throughout his life.

    in reply to: Ball tshuva girl who's father is not jewish #900583
    KeenObserver
    Member

    A what?

    noun ?ri-g?-m?-?r?l, ?rig-m?-

    1

    : confused or meaningless talk

    2

    : a complex and sometimes ritualistic procedure

    in reply to: Road Rage #857641
    KeenObserver
    Member

    Leave early. You will find yourself much calmer if you are not running late or in a hurry to get to your destination.

    in reply to: shemoneh esrei and the spine #851973
    KeenObserver
    Member

    It’s actually 7 cervical + 12 thoracic + 5 lumbar (you missed those). The 5 sacral vertebrae are fused into the sacrum in adulthood, so you might count that as one bone. The coccyx is also made of several rudimentary vertebrae, which are generally fused in adulthood.

    So it’s at least 24 + 1 sacrum + 1 coccyx = 26, and possibly over 30 if you count the sacral and coccygeal vertebrae separately.

    in reply to: Reason The Gedolim Are Sick #851258
    KeenObserver
    Member

    That’s incredibly illogical.

    in reply to: Serious Segula for Child Birth #843139
    KeenObserver
    Member

    Are you saying it’s a bad segula? Who’s the koifer now?

    in reply to: Serious Segula for Child Birth #843137
    KeenObserver
    Member

    One excellent segula which I’ve heard is to make sure to live in the 20th or 21st century.

    in reply to: URGENT PLEASE HELP the israeli embassy has gone to sleep! #819188
    KeenObserver
    Member

    No, and the problem will start with the airline at your point of departure, not with the Israeli government.

    in reply to: I moved! #797766
    KeenObserver
    Member

    Well… let’s say it was one of the many fine yeshivos I attended during high school.

    in reply to: I moved! #797761
    KeenObserver
    Member

    It’s spelled “Ottawa”, not “Ottowa”. When did you live there? Do I know you? Did you go to OTI back in the day?

    in reply to: Chinuch in public-What Do You Think? #891855
    KeenObserver
    Member

    @s2021: With all due respect, the vast majority of Jewish sources show that “potching”, reasonably and properly used, is very much a part of chinuch, traditionally. For some recent relatively strong views which might make you uncomfortable, I would refer you to Rav Dessler on the subject.

    I am aware that some contemporary rabbonim frown on it, but others certainly don’t, and those that disapprove generally say that it is because things have changed in this day and age and a different approach is needed, not the potching is an inherently bad chinuch tool. I certainly understand that some families follow that, but it is simply incorrect to flatly state that “potching is never chinuch.”

    in reply to: Would you vote for a woman? #777072
    KeenObserver
    Member

    Pac-Man, I am unaware of the Torah placing any limitation on whom Gentile nations may appoint to public office. Do you have a source for that?

    in reply to: Small Claims Beis Din #1194679
    KeenObserver
    Member

    real-brisker:

    As soon as I saw this topic I knew someone would say that, because it sounds very nice and frum. However, it does nothing to answer the original question.

    in reply to: Yeshivah guy ordering beer on a date #770575
    KeenObserver
    Member

    showerzinger says:

    “Coke is NOT a thirst quencher! Neither is beer! BOTH caffeine and alcohol (which I “believe in”)are diuretics- they dehydrate you by drawing water out of your system. “

    That’s incorrect. Since they have caffeine, alcohol, sugar, etc, they are not as good at hydrating you as water would be. But if you were stranded on a ship with only Coke, tea, or beer you wouldn’t die of thirst.

    in reply to: Yeshivah guy ordering beer on a date #770514
    KeenObserver
    Member

    Without addressing the other issues here, I’d like to point out that there is nothing wrong with driving after having a single beer, especially if he was not planning on driving for an hour or so. His blood alcohol level would never have been near the legal limit, and after an hour or so should be close to zero.

    in reply to: Boys go to Yeshiva Girls go to Seminary #748139
    KeenObserver
    Member

    On the contrary, “seminary” is the generally accepted English translation for “yeshiva”. It is a somewhat inadequate translation, because a seminary is generally a place where religious officials are trained, so it carries the implication that it exists to train Rabbis, unlike the idea of learning l’shmah. However, “seminary” can simply mean a place where religion or theology is studied.

    As far as I can tell, the use of “seminary” for Jewish female educational institutes is the same as the first sense above: a school which trains religious teachers. In this sense it’s short for “teacher’s seminary.” In fact, some schools such as Gateshead have “Teacher’s Seminary” as part of their name.

    Nowadays, it seems that the majority of female seminary graduates do not go into teaching, and some seminaries offer different tracks to students who want a teacher’s certificate, so “seminary” is being used in pretty much the same sense it would be used to describe a yeshiva: a place where religion and religious texts are studied.

    in reply to: driving to Shul on Shabbos? #745572
    KeenObserver
    Member

    One of the Chevra:

    Your metaphor falls apart because those who drive to shul are driving to shul instead of driving to the golf course, not instead of staying home. Yes, of course they shouldn’t be driving on Shabbos, but the step forward here is that they are going to shul.

    SJS:

    What possible heter could a doctor have for driving to shul on Shabbos? Was there an urgent medical situation taking place in the social hall?

    in reply to: driving to Shul on Shabbos? #745545
    KeenObserver
    Member

    I don’t understand what you mean Dan L’Zchus. By definition Orthodox Jews, “very modern crowd” or not, don’t drive on Shabbos. The people who were driving on Shabbos weren’t Orthodox. Perhaps they’ve only recently started coming to shul; maybe they are non-frum friends or relatives there for a bar mitzvah.

    in reply to: Finding Out if It Will Be a Boy or Girl? #1028736
    KeenObserver
    Member

    In kollel, a Maggid shiur (very Litvish, Ponevezher) told us “Some people say you shouldn’t find out because hanistaros l’Hashem… ridiculous! If you can tell the gender with ultrasound, it’s obviously not nistar anymore. Besides, my in-laws wanted to know whether they should buy arbis or not.”

    in reply to: 'Old Fashioned' medical treatment or modern – which are better? #742740
    KeenObserver
    Member

    “”That’s what he did? Those are primitive methods employed before the Second World War. Today we amputate!” they said.”

    What an odd story. Amputation is not a “new method” of treating anything. In fact, it was certainly much more common 60 years ago. Nowadays there are more precise surgical and medical techniques which allow doctors to avoid some amputations.

    There’s a saying in the medical field: “There’s no such thing as conventional and alternative medicine. There’s only medicine which works, and medicine which doesn’t work.” So, as has been mentioned, there are rare occasions where leeches are used. There’s even a disease which is successfully treated by bloodletting. Most old fashioned treatments don’t work for most things; they used to use bloodletting for every disease which mush have weakened and killed a huge number of patients.

    in reply to: Shalom Bayis in our community #740289
    KeenObserver
    Member

    This thread is totally off the rails. Do you all really think that every little squabble between husband and wife is caused by the neighbor’s tight skirt?

    in reply to: I Know This Is Trivial,but… #724555
    KeenObserver
    Member

    eclipse: I don’t know if I had specifically seen it before. I just googled to see if anyone used it, and they had.

    in reply to: I Know This Is Trivial,but… #724545
    KeenObserver
    Member

    WADR and LQTM are well established abbreviations. I think you can take credit for the other 3.

Viewing 24 posts - 1 through 24 (of 24 total)