Redleg

Perhaps in earlier times the “ruach HaEitzah was stronger than it is today. My experience with such issues with well-known Rebbes is spotty at best. While I have occasionally received valuable, to-the-point advice on minor matters. I have also received an egregiously wrong eitza on a serious medical matter. If on has a serious issue it’s best to consult with a a real expert. (N.B. Some Rebbes are, indeed, expert in some secular matters, but not all Rebbes on all such matters.)

Well, I’ve never been to Tosh, but i kinda like the music.

P.S. When Sam Klein wakes up, I’m sure he could do 500 words on it,

Went to work. Here in Israel, Sunday is the start of the work week.

Neville, I am not paskening. It is beyond question that most of the reponsa concerning electricity ere based on incomplete or misunderstood information. Apparently, this includes you. You state that the powerplant workers are doing melacha. What melacha do you think that they are doing? I certainly agree that the use or operation of electrical appliances and devices is assur (with possible exceptions, such as a cho;eh sh’yesh bo sakana). Starting or shutting down generating units would certainly involve forbidden actions. such operations are normal during the week, but on Shabbos when the electrical demand is the lowest, operation is automatic. The operators melacha consists of sitting and watching a computer monitor. Generator load is controlled by each unit’s governor with no human intervention. The Jewish operators may be oiver uvdeh k’chol but they do not perform actions directly involved in producing the energy of controlling it. Of course, the Xtian and Muslim operators are not a concern. Please note that I have been building and operating power plants for 50 years and I have a pretty good idea how they work.

In Lite, “Gaon” (often pronounced “Gain” in Litvishe Yiddish) was an occupational title used for Roshei Yeshiva as in “HaRav, HaGaon” When my father, A”H, use to come to yeshiva he usually referred to Rav Ruderman, ZTL, as der “Gain”.

When Moshiach comes (b’meheirah b’yameinu) I’ll be oleh regel on Yomim Tovim just like the folks who lived in Bavel and Alexandria did when there was the Beis HaMiqdash was working.

Sam Klein is always entertaining.

Reb Eliezer, If a Rav, or anybody else, is only wrong three times in their lives, they are nevi’im.. Most folks, including Rabiyim, are wrong hundreds of times in their lives. Of course, you have the distinction of only being right three times in your life

No mesorah, the flying spaghetti monster is real.

On the principle that even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, Biden is correct in requiring a Declaration of War or authorization of Congress for before taking military action against Russia (or anyone else, for that matter). Note, though, that there isn’t a Blumberg form for a Declaration of War and Congress could authorize military action short of full-out war such as enforcing a no-fly zone, naval blockade, providing arms, etc. Of course. Russia might very well consider such actions a de facto declaration of war and act accordingly.
The U.S. historically, has been reluctant to get involved in European wars. From George Washington’s advice to “avoid European entanglement” to our late entry into WWI and WWII, this has been a tradition in the U.S. (Re WWII, The U.S. didn’t declare war on Germany. Germany declared war on us.)

To Mentch:
Um, .5 and .50 are the same amount.

While all Yidden may have a reservation at the Hilton Garden (of Eden) Inn. Some may end up in the room next to the ice machine for eternity.

Re: Calling someone “Baldie”. You know what happened to the kids who called Elisha HaNavi that.

A couple of observations:
Concerning Aliyah vs visits. While tourism is closed for Jews and Gentiles alike (until Nov 1, maybe), making Aliyah is still possible, its just that that the consular requirements are involved, time consuming and a general pain.

The real problem is that closing Israel to foreign tourists makes no sense. Israelis are free to travel all over the world and return. Why is that less of a risk than allowing foreign tourists in?

A couple of thoughts:
1. The general low intellectual level of Democrats prevents them from recognizing the irony of Trump and his supporters’ reaction to the election of 2020 being the same reaction of Democrats to the 2016 election.
2. While there certainly was fraud and hanky-panky in the election (election fraud is a well established, one might even say traditional, practice of the Democratic Party), Trump’s reaction was wrong and divisive. What he should have done was to emulate the reaction a previous great Republican President. The Presidential election of 1960 was so obviously rigged that late night television comedians made jokes about it. But the losing candidate, Richard M. Nixon, decline to contest the results, even against the urging of his supporters and legal team. His reason was that he felt such action would be excessively divisive and would damage the unity of the nation. He felt that the body politic of the Nation was more important than his vanity. Would that President Trump have followed President (eventually) Nixon.

Perhaps the OP’s purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning o others.

What are the halachic issues involved in owning and handling a sheretz, which would include both gerbils and ferrets?

The thing that bothers me about the current usage of Yiddish, particularly in Chassidish usage, is that it is often spelled phonetically instead of according to the standard spelling. As a simple example, the Yiddish word for “good” can be pronounced Gut or Git, depending on which side of the Gefilte Fish Line one comes from, but, either way, it is properly spelled with a vav, not a yud as I have seen on many signs in New Square. Yiddish is a real language with standard spelling and grammar.

P.S. The Gefilte Fish Line is a real thing. Google it.

I have been responsible for EHS on major industrial construction sites for most of my professional career. I have written and enforced safety procedures for construction and operation of electric generating plants. My experience it these matters allows me to make a couple of observations.
1. No catastrophic failure is the result of a single cause. Every major accident or disaster is always the result of a chain of individual events the elimination of any one of which would have prevented the event. In the Meron event, for example, If there had been fewer people, or if a different exit had been used, or if the floor hadn’t been slippery, or if it hadn’t sloped down, or if the exit hadn’t been temporarily blocked, or if… You get the idea.
Safety procedures are a pain in the neck. They are often inconvenient and time consuming and interfere with the necessary work. In addition, the often seem unnecessary, even silly. Don’t be fooled. Here’s an example that recently occurred on one of my projects.
2. OSHA (occupational Safety and Health Admin) requires that fall protection be required for all work more than six feet above the floor or deck. This means that workers must wear a fall harness with lanyard which needs to be secured at shoulder height or above in the work area. Now, the fall harness is uncomfortable to wear and the lanyard always gets tangled between your legs and there often isn’t a convenient place to secure it and it has to be unhooked and re-hooked when you move and six feet isn’t really that high, etc. The fact is that this particular requirement is often ignored altogether or the harness is worn but lanyard is just tucked in. And you what. The worker ignores the requirement and nothing happens. He does it once, twice, ten times, a hundred times, and the hundred and first time he slips and falls and breaks his back!

A couple of points about the “duty to retreat” in NY.
1. Retreat is required only when possible to do so in” perfect safety”. If retreat places you in continuing jeopardy, no retreat is required. As an extreme example, it the assailant is armed with a gun, no duty to retreat exists as you probably cannot outrun a bullet.
2. The duty to retreat only exists when the confrontation is at hand. There is no requirement to avoid going to, or being in, any place where one has a legal right to be simply to avoid a possible confrontation.

There is a general problem with English translations o Kisvei Kodesh. Very often the “frum” translation is inaccurate due to poor English skills of the translator. as an example, I saw in a well known English Mishnayas, “melach S’domis” translated as “Sodomite salt”.

(If you don’t know what’s wrong with that translation, stick to the Hebrew.)

A stable genius

The Democrats aught to be careful what they wish for, ’cause they might get it. As mentioned above, the filibuster is a tool that protects the minority from the tyranny of a slim majority thereby requiring negotiation and compromise, the cornerstones of democracy, in order to pass legislation that all can live with. If the Dems are successful in removing the protection of the filibuster this go-round, they’re likely to regret it the next time the Republicans are in the majority.

The Hebrew writing that you find strange is ksav Ashuris (in English. “Syriac”) and was the alphabet in which Hebrew was written until Galus Bavel. After the return and binyan Bais Sheini the Aramaic alphabet (ksav Aramis) was adopted and is the Hebrew alphabet with which we are familiar today.
N.B. Sifrei Torah are NOT written in ksav Ashuris! The alphabet characters in Sifrei Torah are simply a different font of ksav Aramis.