rational

Hard to decide which is more irrational (read silly): giving anyone cigarettes, or believing that the chosson’s friends have supernatural powers. Toss-up.

“I don’t know of a single Litvish godol in the world that ever said not to get married at 18. If you know of any please advise who.”
” Chazal have harsh words for someone unmarried by age 21. ”

The above are interesting statements that carry no weight.
After some research, here are some facts:
Age of Litvish Godol at his marriage:
Brisker Rov : 24
Rav Aharon Kotler: 22
Steipler Gaon: 28
Rav Schach: 26
Rav Moshe Feinstein: 27
Rav Chaim Kaniefsky: 24

I finished studying the comprehensive and lumdish analysis of this issue in Tehumin, volume 31, by Rav Fishman

The issues discussed were:
1. היוצא מן הטמא
2. דג טהור שנבלע בדג טמא
3. מי רגליים של חמור, גמל וסוס
4. היתר דבש דבורים
5. כבוש כמבושל
6.בל תשקצו

Most of the topics discussed in the article were mentioned here, although obviously, not in detail. All suggestions made here (personal bal t’shaktzu, changing the taste of the coffee rendering it assur, and others ) were considered, so no one was off base in our amateur discussion.

Caveat: One can always be machmir. The question was is drinking this coffee permissible?
The conclusion was that the coffee is kosher and there is no issur of bal t”shaktzu. Muttar.
Even if we disagree on psak and lomdus, I venture we can all agree that this coffee is pricey.

When the Gedolei Olam speak speak and write in English only, this possibility can be discussed. To the best of my knowledge, not one of the following spoke or wrote in English. Rav Shteinman zt”l, Tav Elyashiv zt”l. Rav Shmuel Auerbach zt”l, Rav Kaniefsky, Rav Edelstein, Rav Deutsch, Rav Friedman, The Gerrer, Vizhnitz, and Belzer Rebbes, and more. Even native English speakers like Rav Hirsch and Rav Asher Weiss do not write Torah in English.

I highly suggest learning Hebrew and reading Hamodia and other papers in their original. I’m sure we all agree that there is nothing like the original. Yes, it’s tough to do, but it’s worth it. The non-Hebrew readers will always be only looking in through the outside glass at what is happening. Torah is in Hebrew, period.

I believe very strongly that encouraging 21 year old boys to get married is just going to exasperate the problem.

I am exasperated by the exacerbation of ignorance of the English language here.

Interesting question. My assumption would be that civet coffee is not kosher, as the civet is not a kosher animal. היוצא מן הטמא , טמא. Since the coffee attains its special properties from its travels through the animal, the bean would not be considered an independent product, but rather a product of the animal.

Argon oil, if processed by goat droppings, would be kosher, as the goat is a kosher animal. היוצא מן הטהור, טהור

“Unless some sort of rabbinic directive is given it will be too embarrassing for people to stop getting gowns. It’s become too much of a given at every chasunah.”

Thank you for this post, the issue is clear to me now. This custom is simply a result of social pressure started by the monied who need to flaunt their wealth. It is against everything taught in the Torah world, as it glorifies materialism for materialism’s sake. And everyone is embarrassed into complying. How Jewish.

In Israel, this unbecoming custom is unheard of. One will not see it among the yeshivish, chassidish or dati leumi. Only in America, the land of chitzonius.

David Y, well done.
They were called the Karaites, and they still exist

Read the thread again, it’s easy to spot

Swordfish were eaten by Jews in the Mediterranean countries for over 350 years. In the early 1900s they were also eaten in the U.S. In the early 1950s a prominent U.S. Rabbi paskened they were forbidden, and much controversy ensued.
Partly because the Conservative movement approved the fish, the Orthodox vehemently opposed it. This psak l’chumra was never accepted in Israel, yet as time passed fewer restaurants and stores were willing to sell it, and one cannot find it here anymore. Its scarcity contributes to the general feeling that it is tzu pas nisht. However, one can find yesteryear poskim who approved it.

In answer to LightBrite’s question, yes, there are a few well-known and some not well-known experts on this subject. When a company or individual wants to market a new fish or four-legged animal, the question goes to the experts at the OU, the Edah Chareidis, the Chief Rabbinate in Israel and Orthodox academic authorities to discuss the issue. Sometimes they agree and sometimes they do not. The aim is to achieve a consensus opinion one way or the other, cooperation which is good for klal yisrael.

All of the information above can easily be found online. I have access to one of the experts on these issues, so I have heard much of it from him.

I suggest avoiding attacking Rav Hershel Schachter, one of the truly great Torah scholars and poskim of our generation. It reflects very poorly on the attacker and displays great ignorance. When asked a question in learning or psak, Rav Schachter answers with full intellectual honesty. OU public policy and corporate considerations will not enter a personal discussion with him, and anyway, are governed by different rules.

There is a kabalah (Rabi Tzadok Hacohen) that eating from a seudat pidyon haben is equivalent to fasting 84 days, which is a segulah for atonement (kaparat avonot, Rav Chaim Vital). The remez is פדיום = פ”ד יום. In order to partake in the seudah and reap the benefits, it is enough to eat even a slight amount of food, provided the food has a noticeable taste. Since garlic and sugar have distinct tastes, there is a minhag to hand out garlic and sugar at a pidyon. That way a large number of people can benefit at a very small cost.

“ADHD is commonly diagnosed so that schools will receive state special education funds.”

So too in Israel, particularly in Chareidi schools.

I wasn’t there, but maybe the gentile cut the line, and so the chossid yelled at him. That would be his right.
The fact that his child was littering is irrelevant. Try stopping your kids from throwing their empty bag of pretzels on the ground. Good luck. Make them pick it up, yes.
I’m not sure what is so dramatic here

The Conservative movement has been on the wane for decades. Just like the period when Shuls were taking over abandoned churches, it makes sense for Orthodox minyanim to use Conservative shul property (basement, social hall, etc…) for Orthodox minyanim, and eventually buy out the building itself, creating a new Orthodox shul. For this purpose, the edict not to enter a Conservative (or Reform, for that matter) shul is irrelevant and certainly does not apply. To claim that by doing this the Orthodox contingent would be tempted to join the Conservative movement is laughable.
I see here that this process is actually happening in certain communities, and it is perfectly acceptable.

On another level, attending a celebratory event in a social hall of a Conservative shul does not in any way lend legitimacy to the Conservative Movement.

white is not a pure color
but then again, neither is black or tan or brown.

white is not a color

I empathize with this father and his emotions, but unfortunately, he did knock the Orthodox system.
It would have been more appropriate to point out that one can be just as proud even if one sits in a different section.

L’havdil, was a certain person any less proud of her spouse Mr. T.B. when he won the Super Bowl even though this person was not physically in the huddle with him? There’s time afterwards for celebrating together. In shul, as on the playing field, play by the rules which have stood the test of time.

It’s interesting that the yeshivishe veldt has almost seamlessly adopted the modern/haskalah/gentile system of education with formal schooling, large classes, tests , grades, and an uncompromising need to “maximize the child’s success in school.” This capitulation to modern Western society norms is most surely not what the Torah had in mind. But it is what it is, the haskalah movement has won this battle hands down.

The result is that we are now chasing this non-Jewish ideal by way of turning our children into drug dependents. Maybe a re-evaluation of the entire system is in order.

If there were a halachic concept of צורה של איסור, it would be found in shas and rishonim. It is most likely a hashkafic concept created by one side in the Great Hashkafah War we are now engaged in.

It is obvious that the whole beard issue is only pseudo-halachic. It is actually a hashkafah issue. It is chassidim vs. misnagdim, mesorah vs. haskalah, American vs. European, zionist vs. anti-zionist and all of them together. The coffee room is just one of the battlegrounds, albeit not a level one.

I would appreciate an answer to this question:

I have been told by a born and bred and bona fide Lakewood talmid chochom, that the local minhag is that a bochur stays clean-shaven with an (approved) electric shaver, but after he marries, he grows a beard. Is this true?

One can tell when a prepared list easily found on the (more assur than shaving) internet is used in an argument. Some of the names are misspelled, and most have identical hashkafos, making it easy to compile long and impressive lists that carry little if any weight and convince no one.

One may just as well find the list of Neturei Karta Rabbonim or other group, all pious and God-fearing individuals to forbid voting in elections. Or to forbid human hair sheitels, or the use of shabbos clocks, or opening the refrigerator on Shabbos or davening without a gartel, or putting laces in shoes, and the list goes on.

This method of persuasion is ineffective and irrational. It is appropriate for early adolescence. Except that even early adolescents should know never to dare utter any word that taints the great and holy Reb Moshe zt”l. Afra L’pumei.

Almost all mehadrin restaurants here in Israel have websites and customer reviews. Most customers give good or excellent reviews , not all. The owner provides this website and is most interested in all reviews. The good ones that develop his clientele, and the bad ones so he can improve his product and service. This system is universally accepted and used, and loshon hara in this system has never been an issue. Yes. the halachah is always the halachah, period. This system, agreed upon and accepted by all, does not contravene any halachah. But incorrect interpretations of the halachah of loshon hara can damage both the consumer and provider, and that would be against halachah , and more than one at that.

Shabbat Shalom from Eretz Hakodesh

Gee whiz, if the outcome of shteiging in yeshiva in America is that the boys are fully emotionally equipped to kill, I suggest closing all the yeshivas. I cannot speak for the esteemed PuhLease, but I suggest he ignore the comments of those who have little to no knowledge of psychology, including the comment to which I am referring.

It makes sense to avoid holding hands in public so as not to indicate whether a woman is a niddah or not. However, that is applicable to everyday life and not to a wedding. At a wedding the opposite is true. Most , if not all couples try to avoid a chuppas niddah and the assumption is that the kallah is never a niddah. If the choson does not hold her hand, the onlookers (and everyone is looking) may assume she is a niddah. Is that what we want? No, we want the opposite. So, hold her hand, it’s normal and desirable on all accounts.

In addition, a couple where the woman is in her fifties or older can never be in a state of niddah. Therefore, there should be no issue with an elderly couple holding hands in public. Besides, any male who is thinking about whether any woman of any age is a niddah or not needs psychological help.

It is very sad that the American Frum Community (or a very large percentage of it) speaks only English, a language foreign to yiddishkeit, and their (not there) English is poor to boot. A Jew should be fluent in modern Hebrew , spoken by ALL frum Jews in EY, including Neturei Karta, Briskers, and Chassidim.
In addition, a Jew should be fluent in Yiddish, the spoken language of Ashkenazic Jewry for hundreds of years, and a wonderful facilitator of bonding. I myself greatly regret not having learned Yiddish.
But Yiddish at the Siyum Hashas? I’m all for it.