Red Adair

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  • in reply to: Kids Birthday Party Kosher Lunch Ideas #2272861
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Ideally, you would have an orthodox rabbi you’d be comfortable asking this question to, not only because he’d be better able to answer your questions, but also a spoken conversation is more conducive to the back-and-forth questions that can arise in this type of discussion.
    I’m not a rabbi (far from it), but I can tell you what I look for when participating in or helping to organize an event where not all attendees reliably keep kosher:
    1) Plates, bowls, cups, and cutlery: Disposable items only. Nothing that could have been used previously should be anywhere near the food.
    2) Uncut fruits and veggies only. Also, no fruits or veggies that require careful checking for bugs.
    3) All prepared foods must be in sealed packages and have a reliable hechsher. You shouldn’t use an unreliable hechsher any more than someone with a deadly allergy should risk an unreliable assurance that the food doesn’t contain an allergen. Don’t worry about having enough of a variety of foods – there’s plenty of bread, chips, dips, cakes, cookies, chocolate, spreads, soft drinks, and loads of other foods with an OU, Kof-K, Star-K and other reliable hashgachos so nobody need go hungry.
    4) In the U.S. milk and bottled water are OK without a hechsher. Plain (unflavored) coffee from Dunkin Donuts is kosher. Plain coffee from other establishments without kosher certification may be problematic.
    5) If any attendees eat only cholov yisroel dairy products they will be a lot more stringent, for example they won’t eat products from Hershey, Entenmanns, and any other non-CY items. You may want to ensure that there are non-dairy choices for those people (or, better yet, cholov yisroel items, if available).
    6) Many orthodox people in New York City will not drink tap water unless it’s been filtered. If you’re serving ice water, lemonade or any other drink that’s made with NYC tap water, you may want to include bottled water as a choice, too.
    7) This is not a comprehensive list and (once again) I am not a rabbi, just someone trying to be helpful. Good luck & happy birthday.

    in reply to: OVER FIVE YEAR COMMENTS LOST #2256012
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Hopefully the issue(s) with this site’s recent update will be resolved.
    Until then, here’s what you can do:
    1) Right-Click on your username and select “Copy Link Address” on the drop-down menu.
    2) Google “wayback machine”. Go to the site (I can’t post the link here per YWN’s policy).
    3) Paste the link you’ve copied in step 1 and click “BROWSE HISTORY”.
    4) A listing of available backups will appear. Select one (probably from late 2023) that is recent but prior to YWN’s update. You should now be able to retrieve info for your screenname, including previous posts you’ve made.

    in reply to: Why was the page about a jewish man ripping down posters removed? #2239417
    Red Adair
    Participant

    It hasn’t been removed.
    On the main page scroll down to “Latest Videos” on the right side of the page and the link is there.
    Here is the direct link (now with 73 comments): https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/2238938/shock-video-man-with-yarmulka-rips-hostage-posters-down-in-flatbush.html

    in reply to: The Israel Pogram of 2023 Jewish Massacre #2233895
    Red Adair
    Participant

    anIsraeliYid:
    I completely agree. Unfortunately, you can’t shame the shameless. Isn’t that sad?

    in reply to: Photographer #2220147
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Yoel Hecht is a photographer we’d gladly recommend. We made a bar mitzva about 1-2 years ago that he was the photographer for and we were very happy with him. He’s a mentsch, a nice person and was easy to deal with. He wears many hats as he also did the music and even made some balloon animals for the little kids to play with. I don’t remember what he charged, but it was reasonable. Google “Yoel Hecht” and his website will come up.
    Mazel tov!

    in reply to: Aron Kodesh Purchase – Portable #2208261
    Red Adair
    Participant

    The size of the sefer or sifrei Torah is critical to your decision. Without knowing the exact measurements you run the risk of getting something either too small or bigger, heavier and bulkier than you actually need. Is security a factor? Will you need to be able to lock the aron? Is a simple lock and thin-walled cabinet sufficient or do you need something more like a safe? I’d consider asking Misaskim for advice since they have several sifrei Torahs and mini arons they lend out to aveilim. It’s probably not a big deal to build one yourself using plywood, but you need the time and expertise to do so, and a plywood aron may be heavier than a thin-walled metal cabinet.
    Good luck.

    in reply to: Pay For One, Keep For Two? #2048421
    Red Adair
    Participant

    shlucha22,
    I don’t see this as any different than buying day-old bread from a bakery or the young guys who wait for sushi to be reduced to half-price before buying. There’s no deception, no dishonesty, no coercion, nor any other improper behavior on the renter’s part. The company wants to rent it out for that two-week period and you want to rent it. Sounds like a win/win to me.

    in reply to: Ashkenazic Trauma #2034583
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Am I missing something?
    Is there a sinas chinam deficit that must be made up?
    Do we really want a thread where we can bash each other over the minahgim we’ve followed for centuries?

    in reply to: What seforim does every Frum house need? #2032051
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Chovos HaLevovos
    Mesilas Yeshorim
    Hilchos Loshon Hora
    Hilchos Shabbos (good suggestions above for specific seforim)
    Hilchos Kashrus
    Hilchos Tefila
    Hilchos Taharas HaMishpacha
    Hilchos Pesach
    Brachos / Brachos Achronos list for common and uncommon foods
    150 Year Calendar

    in reply to: Sick of the name calling! #1949431
    Red Adair
    Participant

    “As G-D fearing Jews, we need to constantly keep ourselves in check and remember the One who is not fooled by screen names.”
    Thank you, MadeAliyah, for an excellent reminder (and one of the best comments I’ve read here).

    in reply to: Wasting Other People’s Time #1948354
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Kaddish is a zechus for the neshoma of the niftar and a nechoma (comfort) for the child, sibling, spouse or (R”L) parent who is saying the kaddish. It is never, ever a tircha to listen to and respond to someone saying the mourner’s kaddish. As a matter of fact, I wish those who talk during kaddish would be more aware not only of the halachic problem, but also how it may hurt those saying the kaddish who may perceive disrespect and uncaring toward the niftar.

    Even those who have never been frum tend to highly value the saying of kaddish. At work we’d regularly have non-frum people come in to our minyan on yortzeits, put on a yarmulka, and say the kaddish for their relatives. Sometimes they couldn’t even read Hebrew or say the “ches” properly, but they’d do their best reading the English transliterated version they had. My wife paid a yeshiva a few hundred dollars to say kaddish after her non-frum friend’s father passed away and her friend was immensely grateful. Please, don’t ever undervalue the importance of kaddish.

    in reply to: Trumpism is here to stay. #1930015
    Red Adair
    Participant

    There have been a total of twenty-two U.S. presidents over the last 125 years.

    Thirteen Republican Presidents:
    William McKinley
    Theodore Roosevelt
    William Howard Taft
    Warren G. Harding
    Calvin Coolidge
    Herbert Hoover
    Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Richard M. Nixon
    Gerald R. Ford
    Ronald W. Reagan
    George H. W. Bush
    George W. Bush
    Donald J. Trump

    Nine Democratic Presidents:
    Grover Cleveland
    Woodrow Wilson
    Franklin D. Roosevelt
    Harry S. Truman
    John F. Kennedy
    Lyndon B. Johnson
    Jimmy Carter
    Bill Clinton
    Barack H. Obama

    Feel free to discuss, debate and argue over these and other points, but please omit the rancor. It isn’t worth it.

    in reply to: If Trump does win, how would you react…? #1921476
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Trump voter here.

    I believe the chances of Trump prevailing are 0%. Not .000000000000001%, but 0%. It’s like asking “How would you feel if it was conclusively proven that the Earth is flat and the moon is made of green cheese?”; it simply ain’t gonna happen.

    Putting the blinders on, let’s say it DOES happen:
    -I’d want to see conclusive evidence that fraud, ballot-tossing and/or other illegal methods were employed in each and every state where the vote is reversed. I’d need to see that it occurred in a number great enough that we are sure the vote legitimately went for Trump.
    -I’d be horrified that the U.S. election is so vulnerable to fraud.
    -I’d be extremely concerned about civil unrest, or worse.
    -I’d be concerned that bipartisanship would be a quaint, archaic word, no longer used in a vicious zero-sum state of gridlock between Democrats and Republicans. The polarization that currently exists would be a picnic by comparison.
    -I’d wish Trump the best of luck in fulfilling his duties and hope that his pro-Israel policies and conservative judicial nominations continued. I’d also hope his personal behavior was less boorish and more presidential.

    I very much wanted Trump to win a second term, but I absolutely don’t want him to be given one at the tremendous cost that overturning the election would entail.

    Denying reality doesn’t change it. He lost. I didn’t expect him to graciously concede, but I do hope that at some point he will work toward a smooth transition, for the country’s sake if nothing else.

    in reply to: Lost Talis and Tefilin in Maimonides Hospital #1874406
    Red Adair
    Participant

    lowerourtuition11210,
    Those are good ideas, thank you.
    One of my siblings has been in contact with Maimonides and the head of security has been involved in the search, but I’m not sure if other areas have been contacted. I’ll ask about the ones you suggested.

    WolfishMusings,
    Thank you. Aside from the cost their replacement would entail, he’s had those tefilin for many decades and it would be a real shame if they aren’t recovered.
    ETA: My brother just informed me that the tefilin were given to him by his grandfather who he greatly admired and respected, so they mean even more to him than I originally realized.

    in reply to: Bedbugs – advice and information request from desperate family #1797127
    Red Adair
    Participant

    It’s now five months since I started this thread and it’s time to provide an update.

    The extermination company (name provided at end of post – mod’s discretion as to whether or not it’s edited out) came to our house and treated twice, three weeks apart. Originally it was going to be two weeks apart, but they did us a favor and delayed the second treatment for a week because we had young children in the house at the time they would have performed the second treatment. They treated all of the bedrooms and also the area in the living room around the sofas where the bedbug-sniffing dog had indicated they were present.

    We all had to leave the house while the treatment was being applied, and stay out until three hours after they’d completed it. If there was any reappearance of bedbugs within two or three months (sorry, I don’t remember if it’s two or three) of the second treatment they guaranteed they’d return and treat it again for no additional charge. The guy who performed the treatment was very nice, patiently answered our questions, and gave us several bedbug interceptor traps to put under our bedposts.

    In the four-plus months since our house was treated we haven’t seen any bedbugs. The bedbug interceptors have caught a few insects, but none of them were bedbugs. Since then, I have had my arm bitten up once, and one of the kids has had their leg bitten once, but we’re not sure what type of insect did the biting or where it occurred. I regularly inspect the bedding, mattresses and box springs (all encased in zippered encasements) in our house and haven’t seen any bedbug evidence since the treatment.

    We hope our house is now bedbug free, but I still have the nagging worry that perhaps something was missed – hopefully that’s just my nervousness. (The fact the we never saw an actual bedbug in our house adds to the overall uncertainty – if we had seen them before and now they were gone there would be more of a feeling of conclusive finality.) We regularly have guests on Shabbos and there’s always a possibility that they may bring additional unwanted “guests”, we never know if we may have picked up an unwanted “hitchhiker” from the office, school, or subway, so there’s never a guarantee there won’t be a (c”v – al tiftach peh) recurrence.

    We’re basically satisfied with the extermination company we hired and the online reviews posted by their customers are overwhelmingly positive. The name of the company is Beach Pest Control.

    I sincerely hope none of you need this type of information – it’s an expensive, aggravating, time-and-effort-consuming headache – but if you ever do so, hopefully some of the information provided in this thread is helpful.

    Once again, thanks to all those who took the time to chime in with their own experience and suggestions, whether professional or not, above.

    in reply to: Bedbugs – advice and information request from desperate family #1739969
    Red Adair
    Participant

    Update:

    First of all, a great big THANK YOU to all those who took the time to share their knowledge and experience in dealing with this problem. Several of you posted long, detailed descriptions of how you dealt with the issue as well as advice and suggestions; it took a while for you to do so and I greatly appreciate your taking the time out of your busy days to help an anonymous stranger who was completely at a loss as where to even begin.

    Shpitzygoilem, 18Forever, Logicyid, Lawrence balabus, A little Sechel?
    Were all kind enough to post their personal experiences. This is extremely helpful because it gives me an idea of different strategies that people used and were successful in ridding their houses or apartments of bedbugs.

    BCBedBugExpert
    It’s great to hear from an experienced professional who has experience in bedbug eradication. He graciously posted long, detailed writeups of various methods and tools that can be used in combating an infestation. Although he won’t get any business from us (it’s a little bit long for a drive), he took the time to list different treatment methods as well as their pros and cons.

    HaLeiVi, mavenschoice, Amil Zola, coffee addict
    Were also kind enough to post several suggestions, all of which we appreciate and some of which we will iy”H be implementing.

    I apologize if anyone was omitted, but let me reiterate my appreciation to all of those who contributed. At this point I feel we have a much better handle on the situation than we did a week ago.

    Were we’re holding now:

    Spouse has a coworker who’s got an exterminator to deal with bedbugs. Coworker was so impressed that coworker’s father hired this exterminating company to take care of an apartment building and they are very happy with this company. I Googled this company and they have about twenty reviews which are overwhelmingly very positive.

    The company starts with a bedbug-sniffing dog (slightly under $400). If no physical bedbug traces are found – even if the dog indicates it detects something – the company will not treat. In our case, it found a scent in one location without traces, and minimal traces in another area. Based on that, we’re having the entire house treated for $1,500. After the first treatment, they’ll return in two weeks, check again, and treat again. After that, they’ll guarantee we remain bedbug-free for two more months.

    Based on my research (including contributions from people on this thread), I have concluded the following:
    1) There seem to be three primary ways of treating a bedbug problem: Chemicals, heat, or a relatively new one which is spraying a fungus called Beauveria bassiana. A product called Apprehend uses this fungus, which apparently is very effective, but it’s only for sale to licensed exterminators. On Amazon, some people have posted that they made their own version of bedbug-killing Beauveria bassiana spray by buying a package of it intended for gardening and then using it for bedbugs, but I have no idea how safe and effective it is.
    2) Diatomaceous earth can be helpful but it should be used VERY lightly or bedbugs will simply avoid it. A good strategy is to buy a duster and blow it (very lightly) behind outlet plates and switch plates and along baseboards. This is in addition to the primary treatment, not instead of it.
    3) Vacuum carpets, especially along baseboards. Vacuum the bedframes, inside furniture, paying special attention to nooks, crannies, cracks and crevices. This also is in addition to the primary treatment.
    4) Wash and dry linens and clothing in hot water. Items that can’t be washed should be run through a hot dryer for 40 or so minutes. This also is in addition to the primary treatment.
    5) A power steamer is deadly to bedbugs and their eggs as long as the steam reaches them. This can be used on carpets, especially in corners and along the baseboards, and on and in furniture. Go slowly and thoroughly. This also is in addition to the primary treatment.
    6) Buy mattress and boxspring encasements. Check reviews to ensure they are high quality – if there is even a tiny opening at the zipper, they’re useless.
    7) Move furniture, especially beds, away from the walls.

    None of the treatments above are magic bullets. Several of the secondary treatments should be done repeatedly; once is helpful but you want to keep doing it to catch any potential escapees.
    It is a tedious, expensive process. So far we’ve spent:
    About $500 for quality boxspring and mattress encasements.
    About $400 for a bedbug-sniffing dog to check our house
    About $1,500 (plus tax) for treatment
    Many days and nights cleaning, washing and vacuuming

    B”N I’ll continue to update. If (and IY”H when) we’re happy with the results I plan on posting the company we used over here.

    While there are far worse things in life than bedbugs and we’re grateful for what we have, this IS an enormous aggravation as well as a significant expense and time-consumer. Thanks again to all those who have helped us.
    Have a good Shabbos and Yom Tov.

    in reply to: Chol HaMoed Bris Questions #1716460
    Red Adair
    Participant

    iacisrmma, thank you for the suggestions. Whitefish salad and herring should go well with matza. We don’t own an urn or pot that’s big enough to accommodate a bris crowd, so asking the shul isn’t the issue. We may get small iced coffee boxes for the people who need their caffeine (like me) if we can find them.
    Amein to and thank you for your brachos – iy”H may you and your family also experience and share many simchos.

    in reply to: Synthetic engine oil is better #1308279
    Red Adair
    Participant

    The last sentence above should be “If the synthetic is diluted enough, you may want to drain it and refill with pure SYNTHETIC, but you certainly shouldn’t need to flush the system.”
    sorry

    in reply to: Synthetic engine oil is better #1308258
    Red Adair
    Participant

    CTLAWYER, props for trying to help, but you may have been misinformed. Mixing oil types (synthetic, blend or regular) is not a problem at all. There are some engines that manufacturers recommend use synthetic oil, but even those won’t be contaminated or damaged by mixing in some regular.
    If you mix regular into synthetic, you are lowering the level of protection from pure synthetic to somewhere between pure synthetic and pure regular; i.e. you have created a blend. If the synthetic is diluted enough, you may want to drain it and refill with pure regular, but you certainly shouldn’t need to flush the system.

    in reply to: Synthetic engine oil is better #1308260
    Red Adair
    Participant

    (cont.) Please confirm this with your own mechanic.

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 20 total)