rational

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Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 369 total)
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  • in reply to: Different levels of religious observance (frumkeit) #2005820
    rational
    Participant

    ujm: בושה לך

    in reply to: Different levels of religious observance (frumkeit) #2005697
    rational
    Participant

    ujm: In your last post, your first sentence contained 85 words and was quite unintelligible. Please shorten those run-on sentences. That will help me understand your message. Thank you.

    in reply to: Different levels of religious observance (frumkeit) #2005348
    rational
    Participant

    To the best of my knowledge, all or almost all Orthodox people in the U.S. eat only glatt. I doubt one can even find non-glatt at a reputable butcher. Due to the high standard of living of most Orthodox, this chumra has been well accepted and is easy to observe.

    However, this uncompromising and modern chumra comes with a heavy ideological price tag. One can throw out the vast majority of hilchot treifos, as these halachot have become irrelevant. Not glatt? throw it out or sell it to the goyim. For more than a thousand years, poskim were consulted to make a halachic decision on kashrut that made torah she’be’al peh a living torah and not an ancient relic. I am not advocating eating non-glatt meat. But I do not think that it should be a litmus test for inclusion in the frum community. No one would question a Posek’s authority to pasken hilchot nidah, an area which has not undergone modern revision. When a posek sees a mar’eh and paskens l’heter, no one questions this heter, that’s why we go to the posek. But for treifos, a deision l’hatir has become obsolete. it is unfortunate that any question of glatt/not-glatt-but-kosher has been sent to the dustbin of halachah.

    in reply to: Mysterious Gemstones? #2004912
    rational
    Participant

    “The rule with a Kamaiah is that once someone opens it and looks inside, it stops working”

    I am most interested in a list or at least a description of the rules of the kameia.

    in reply to: Frolicking Selichos Concert #2003812
    rational
    Participant

    I am fully in favor of the traditional pre-selichot mussar shmuess, followed by a traditional selichot with the traditional nusach. No guitars, no dancing, just selichot. That’s what we had in my Dati L’umi shul, western edge of Mateh Binyamin. God’s country. We’re preparing for shmittah, by the way, but I guess that isn’t included in the religious concerns of most of the clientele here.

    I am confused by the complaint of the OP: Ma Nafshach; If the new musically-oriented selichot are MO, then why bother mentioning it at all? You are preaching to the choir here (no pun intended) and that is batel b’shishim in what the MO stand for, as we all know. If you are preaching to the yeshivish, then shumu shamayim, how could this possibly be happening? Say it ain’t so…

    in reply to: Ahavas Yisrael for those in YU/the MO community (Ask me anything) #2003451
    rational
    Participant

    I admit I was wrong, common saychel and others were right. This is a very clever troll thread that accomplished exactly what it intended. MO-bashing is endemic to this forum, but this technique brought it to a new level. Good work.

    I must protest one thing. It is one thing to bash MO, as I said this is the forum for it. But out of nowhere and without provocation to tear apart Rav Hershel Schachter is unforgivable. I once gave him a ride and asked him how he handles the abuse he gets from some in the yeshivishe oilam. He said “It’s like water, just runs off my back.” So he would not protest his demonization here, he’s way above it and way way above all you little people, but as a little person myself, אני מוחה. Shame on you.

    in reply to: Ahavas Yisrael for those in YU/the MO community (Ask me anything) #2003046
    rational
    Participant

    To the OP: Well, you asked for it. If you have any complaints , you’re in the wrong forum.

    in reply to: Mysterious Gemstones? #2003048
    rational
    Participant

    “The question is if the stones themselves have certain healing properties similar to natural herbs, obviously not by ingesting them : )”

    “PT Barnum said it best, there is a gullible fool born every minute”

    It’s easier to quote others who have put it quite succinctly. Thank you.

    in reply to: Mysterious Gemstones? #2002731
    rational
    Participant

    “Gemstone therapies work. Emotional maladies, mental complaints, and acute and chronic illnesses of all kinds have responded to gemstone energy medicine in unprecedented and exciting ways.”

    The most effective gemstone for any malady is the placebo stone. But you have to believe in it for it to work.

    in reply to: balding #2001756
    rational
    Participant

    Had to laugh at this one. But seriously, the proper tefillah is:
    יהי רצון מלפניך אאו”א שכשם שנושרים שערותיי, כן ינשרו ממני כל עוונותי.

    in reply to: The secret to finding your beshert? #2000900
    rational
    Participant

    Phony segulahs. Correct, but redundant.

    in reply to: Is the frum “business/economic model” sustainable? #2000899
    rational
    Participant

    ‘People are likewise “astounded” to learn that there’s no mitzvah to love one’s parents…”

    Nor are parents biblically commanded to love their children. And yet, these types of comments, aside from being absurd and unthinkable, give a bad name name to Torah Judaism.

    in reply to: The secret to finding your beshert? #2000553
    rational
    Participant

    OP: Nice thought.
    There is no such expression as “yemei tovim”. “Yamim tovim” is correct.

    in reply to: Water Safety #1997076
    rational
    Participant

    Syag, I don’t understand your point. Do you mean that frum kids are not expected to learn how to swim? Can you explain?

    in reply to: Charaidim #1995372
    rational
    Participant

    after me. you may have to wait a bit.

    in reply to: Pushback on Ben and Jerrys #1994979
    rational
    Participant

    Really, Coffee. This is not a parent-child issue where if the child fails he still remains the child of the same parents. This is a corporate issue where the owner of all subsidiaries (unilever) is indeed 100% responsible for all corporate decisions (including Ben and Jerry’s) and if they disagree with a decision they can reverse it. If they don’t, they suffer.

    in reply to: Politicizing kashrus #1994644
    rational
    Participant

    יישר כחך is a common Hebrew expression. For those of Eastern European ancestry, it is pronounced ישר כויח , but they are one and the same. It’s always amusing to see people claim linguistic knowledge that they don’t possess.

    in reply to: Social Destruction #1994481
    rational
    Participant

    Is CR a social media? Absolutely.

    in reply to: Politicizing kashrus #1993712
    rational
    Participant

    Kashrus has always been subject to extra-halachic considerations. Every learned person knows that a Rav can declare meat treif if it comes from out-of-town and endangers the financial stability of the local kosher butcher. When I was young, the Rav of Silver Spring, Md. did just that to the meat coming from Baltimore.

    in reply to: Is Maroon an OK colour for a girl/women to wear? #1992278
    rational
    Participant

    Dear fish
    As an expert in vision, I found your comment regarding colors that are found in nature very interesting. Their relationship to tznius is an insightful concept.
    There is almost no black in nature. The black that does exist is a product of fire , volcanic eruption and destruction.

    in reply to: Do you try on clean clothes before the 9 days? #1991543
    rational
    Participant

    Before one rants about what the halachah is and determines with no hesitation that a given halachic opinion offered here should be disregarded, one should consider the following:
    1. Have I ever learned the halachos of hachanah from the primary sources?
    2. Do I know how to look up the halachic sources in order to offer a halachic opinion?
    3. Is the responder possibly a Rav or halachic authority himself, and if so, who am I to berate him?
    4. Am I qualified to determine what is a widely accepted halachic loophole?
    Sometimes a bit of self awareness helps.

    in reply to: Is Maroon an OK colour for a girl/women to wear? #1991540
    rational
    Participant

    No.
    Black only.

    in reply to: Judgemental people #1991393
    rational
    Participant

    IYK:
    I’ve read your posts carefully. You write English and transliterations very well, indicating educational depth and maturity, both on a Torah and secular level. Therefore, it surprises me that you came to the coffee room with such heavy baggage. You know very well that no one here will solve your issues, if indeed you have them. Get professional help.

    in reply to: Men and tznius #1991317
    rational
    Participant

    “I’ve never seen anyone complain about short sleeve button up shirts ”

    In Israel short sleeves button-up shirts in the chareidi world are frowned upon after bar mitzvah.
    I have a rebbe friend who took his high-school class to visit a major godol in Bnei Brak. When the boys came in, many in short sleeves, but all in button-down shirts, the godol asked the Rebbe why his talmidim weren’t dressed. Not surprisingly, the rebbe needed the nuance to be explained to him; he (D”L, R”L) apparently wasn’t aware of this inyan.

    in reply to: shiduchim #1988579
    rational
    Participant

    I am far from this hashkafah, but I must ask eishis chayil: If you use shadchanim exclusively in your chassidishe environment, what did you think the Coffee Room could possibly offer you?

    in reply to: Otzar HaCochma vs. HebrewBooks vs. Bar-Ilan #1988560
    rational
    Participant

    from wikipedia:

    The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Venice by Daniel Bomberg 1520–23[68][69][70][71] with the support of Pope Leo X.[72][73][74][75] In addition to the Mishnah and Gemara, Bomberg’s edition contained the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination. Bomberg’s edition was considered relatively free of censorship.[76]

    I invite all to my place of work, Bar Ilan University , to meet the people who work on the Shu”t project and discuss hashkafa. I don’t think they support the Pope, but one can always be suspicious.

    in reply to: ger rebbi vs. r’ shaul alter #1988152
    rational
    Participant

    “If the scorecard is for fundraising skills, than its R’Alter by a knockout”

    Not really. Although $20 million is a hefty sum, the Gerrer empire is worth approximately 100 times that amount and fundraising can be accomplished almost at the snap of a finger. The surprise was that there was more support for the opposition than was assumed, and that this breakaway faction was a spiritual and political force that needed to be reckoned with.

    in reply to: ger rebbi vs. r’ shaul alter #1988107
    rational
    Participant

    “This is what frum people worry about?

    No, they mostly don’t worry about it. The litvishe certainly don’t worry about it, it doesn’t affect them. The chassidim don’t worry about it, but are wary lest it happen in their own chassidus, which it has and does. The Gerers don’t worry about it, they live it 24/7

    in reply to: ger rebbi vs. r’ shaul alter #1988106
    rational
    Participant

    “They’re on the same page.”

    Someone’s either living in la-la land or doesn’t keep up with the news. Or both.

    in reply to: Sukkah roof idea #1988085
    rational
    Participant

    Gadol Hadorah,
    I enjoyed you poking fun at a potential “sukkahs are supposed to get wet” chumrah.
    Of course, the opposite is true. Succahs should always be kept dry. It reminds those still living in chutz la’aretz that Succot is at the time of year when it has not rained yet in Eretz Hakodesh, and a rained-upon succah before tefillat geshem is actually a klalah. Come live in Israel and enjoy a rain-free succah filled with brachah.

    in reply to: Can use some help in deciding what to call my sefer #1984857
    rational
    Participant

    “Sefer Bamidbar: Studies in Lomdus”

    in reply to: Figuring out our purpose in life #1984856
    rational
    Participant

    “So my question is what am i to do how do we paskin פסקין להלכה

    The litvish notion that these questions require a psak l’halachah is mistaken and is a sign of obsessive behavior. Do what your heart tell you.

    in reply to: Top Five Yeshivas #1984031
    rational
    Participant

    Hardest to get into?
    A much more accurate barometer of quality is the market value of the boys in shidduchim.

    in reply to: Outdoor Minyan still going. #1983269
    rational
    Participant

    These arguments for the outside minyanim are plainly absurd, and no creative pilpul will succeed in swaying a person who thinks straight. A Jew davens in shul. Pack up and go back to shul.

    in reply to: Its impossible to make a living in Israel #1982693
    rational
    Participant

    You don’t have to make a living in Israel. Your wife does. She was moichel her k’suva, no? You should just learn and have bitachon that the money will work out somehow. There are plenty of America-based jobs available for her including hi-tech, medical billing, book keeping, etc…

    in reply to: Halachah of sharpening pencils. #1982096
    rational
    Participant

    “I wonder whether sharpening a pencil is מכה בפטיש, טוחן or even מחתך!”

    I think it’s muktzah and metaken kli. Your suggestion of mechatech also makes sense. I don’t think it’s tochen, nor makeh b’patish, which is only in the original manufacturing process.

    in reply to: Where have all the Yekkes gone? #1981942
    rational
    Participant

    “DY, he means to say that it beautifies the tefila like cufflings on a shirt or icing on a cake which should not be a hefsek.”

    Reb Leizer, well put, that is exactly what I meant.

    Furthermore, there are piyutim in the davening that are so integral to a specific tefillah that few even realize that they are piyutim. Ha’me’ir la’aretz is a piyut that contains the acrostic aleph-bet. The paragraphs preceding the birchot kriat shma (l’kel baruch, ahavah raba, etc…) are all piyutim. The fact that they are very early piyutim as opposed to later piyutim written after chatimat hatalmud doesn’t change their character. Mimkomcha in kedusha of Shabbat is a piyut, as are all the intermediate phrases of the kedusha of both shacharit and musaf on Shabbat (mimkomo, hu elokeinu, adir adireinu, etc…) . No one would dare say these piyutim are a hefsek.

    Furthermore, the fear of hefsek seems to have been totally forgotten on tefilot yamim no’ra’im. The examples are so many and so well known they don’t require itemizing.

    I find the hefsek argument to have too many indefensible holes, without even mentioning that piyutim are steeped in both the Ashkenazic and Sephardic mesorot. Kol ha’meshaneh yado al hatachtona.

    in reply to: Where have all the Yekkes gone? #1980466
    rational
    Participant

    I respect all minhagim. However, all piyutim were written expressly to be recited within the specific tefilah. Marrovis, yotzros, zulos, krovetzim and all other similar piyutim. To claim that they are a hefsek makes no sense. It’s like saying the icing is a hefsek in the cake. Or that the cufflinks are a hefsek in the shirt.

    in reply to: Where have all the Yekkes gone? #1980230
    rational
    Participant

    In Israel, Minhag HaGra says piyutim only after Chazaras Hashatz.

    in reply to: Bochurim Self-Funding #1975963
    rational
    Participant

    Syag
    Thanks for calling me frum, others on YWN don’t grant me that.
    Nice to see you agree with the content of my message. Unlike you, I am not at all embarrassed that this page was set up. Yeshiva boys practice what they are taught, and this is the message they take home from the yeshiva. Nothing to be embarrassed about. The truth hurts, and I’m just pointing it out. No hate involved, but it’s easy to use that accusation when one doesn’t like what they see in the mirror.

    in reply to: Bochurim Self-Funding #1975919
    rational
    Participant

    I am a yeshiva bochur
    I want money that I don’t have
    I can ask Tattie, he has money
    If he won’t give me, I can ask Zaidie, he has lots of money.
    If Zaidie won’t give me, I can ask the rest of the world. There’s tons of money out there.
    It doesn’t really matter who gives me the money.
    The bottom line is that I am a YESHIVA BOCHUR and the world exists thanks to me. And I want money. Someone out there should just give it to me. NOW.

    in reply to: Bochurim in Isreal #1975150
    rational
    Participant

    Dear Bochur
    There is no lockdown here, and you need not worry about the war. Get vaccinated, get all the forms filled out, and come here to learn. Stay as long as you can. B’hatzlachah.

    in reply to: Pashkevil #1971163
    rational
    Participant

    I guess most pashkevil printers are unreliable. No wonder, pashkevilim are a socially acceptable method of ruining people’s lives without having to prove anything, and without the affected person having a way of defending himself. Go for it, מתאים לך.
    Of course, there are productive uses for pashkevilim such as promoting a sefer or announcing a petirah. But there are better methods for both. If needed, YWN provides this service in a very dignified way.

    in reply to: Why do yeshivos give off or end early on Lag Baomer #1969699
    rational
    Participant

    one hardly needs the chasam sofer to know that lag ba’omer is not a yom tov. Of course, chazal used the term loosely, mentioning occasionally that when something good happened “וחכמים עשו אותו יום טוב”
    obviously these yom tov days are simply happy days where one enjoys some wine and a good meal ( ועושים בו קצת משתה ושמחה) and have no connection to keduhas yom tov. Other examples are isru chag,and purim katan

    in reply to: Why do yeshivos give off or end early on Lag Baomer #1969459
    rational
    Participant

    Do yeshivas really give the boys off on Lag Ba’omer?
    I know of no litvish yeshiva in Israel that does that.
    Yes, the chassidim go to Meron, but no one really holds them to litvish standards.

    in reply to: Gadol vs. Rebbi #1968588
    rational
    Participant

    If someone has to ask a shailah if he is ready for shidduchim, the answer is that he is not.

    in reply to: Where can I buy a kosher Zohar? #1967970
    rational
    Participant

    Beethoven cannot be translated into English, and Shakespeare cannot be translated into Hebrew. So too, the Zohar cannot be translated into a foreign language. You’ll first have to learn some Aramaic and some Hebrew. Then you can only begin to learn Zohar. The Pseudo-Aramaic in the Zohar requires studying with someone with Yiras Shamayim learned in Kabbalah and Zohar. Don’t do it yourself, you will get nowhere very fast.

    in reply to: My gezeila error #1965899
    rational
    Participant

    Always:
    It may be more important to help the poor buyer than a specific store.
    1. One person not buying one time will not make a store owner poor
    2. the store is in business to make money, not to help multiple poor people. Multiple poor people are helped by free giveaways, not for-profit stores.
    3. It is no one’s job to encourage people to go into business.

    I totally agree with you that entrepreneurship is much preferable to welfare, gmachs, free giveaways and the like. I am in favor of buying from businesses and supporting them. I am in favor of all people supporting themselves financially and not relying on others, we both pray for exactly that in bircat hamazon.
    However, I do not think that Syag did anything wrong, nor do I think she will begin handing out freebies in front of all the local stores to drive them out of business. A proportionate response is due here. What she did was a judgement call and she was the best (and only) person to have the tools to make the judgement. Kudos to her.

    in reply to: My gezeila error #1965668
    rational
    Participant

    Dear Syag

    What you did was very commendable. Halachically, it was “lifnim meshuras hadin”. There certainly was no gezeilah or gneivah on anyone’s part.
    One could have made a reverse argument. Assuming you knew you had these items that you would gladly give your friend at no cost, why would you allow a situation in which your friend had to incur an unnecessary expense? Why is the profit (minimal) of the store inherently preferable to the expense (maximal) of your friend?

    Don’t sweat it. you did a noble act and you need not worry about it.

    in reply to: Making a Barocho on a Blossoming Tree in Nissan #1963709
    rational
    Participant

    It’s obvious that the birchat ha’ilan is for blossoming trees in Nissan in Eretz Yisrael. Applying it to Chutz La’aretz may be halachically sound, but it’s trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. The lemon trees in my neighborhood are in full bloom in Nissan and on my tree I’m already seeing fruit alongside the blossoms.
    Why play “pretend”? Come home to Israel , the Torah was written for this land.

Viewing 50 posts - 1 through 50 (of 369 total)