Redleg

Slonimer, exactly! Your community standards apply to you. You are entitled to disapprove of other standards but as long as those standards have some reasonable rabbinic support, even a das yachid, they are still within the daled amos of Torah.
For instance, it is well known that many frum married women in Lite did not cover their hair which would, in our communities, constitute erva. The limud sechus on them was that in general practice, married women routinely went without hair covering so uncovered hair no longer constituted erva.

I grew up in a home where Yiddish was spoken as well as English so I did not encounter much difficulty in understanding Taitch. The problem these days is that most American born Rebbis (except those in Chassidishe communities) don’t really speak Yiddish very well so most of what they teach in is “Yinglish” (sometimes called Yeshivish). I maintain that Instruction should be in English. English has, by far, the largest and most nuanced vocabulary of any language, enabling precise translation of the most complicated concepts. Of course, the problem with that is that most American born Rebbis don’t speak English very well either.

P.S. RMF maintained that all Ashkenazi Jews should learn Yiddish as a Minhag Kadosh.

Some random thoughts on tznius:
1. When the Navi says,”…hatzneiah leches im Elokechah.” He isn’t talking about women’s hemlines. For that matter, he isn’t talking to women. He is telling all of Klal Yisroel to eschew arrogance and ostentation in their service of HaShem (“look how frum I am”) and in their daily lives.
2. What constitutes ervah is, at least in part, determined by community standards. For instance, in a community where women wear sleeves to the wrist, a bare forearm might very well be ervah. Whereas those communities that only require the arm and elbow be covered would be perfectly okay with bare forearms.
3. The prohibition that a women violates when immodestly dressed is Lifnei Iver. The thing to remember about Lifne i Iver is that the issur is not causing someone to stumble but placing the michshol itself. Therefore telling men not to look or to control their thoughts is meaningless. The fact is that the overwhelming majority of men can and do control themselves. That doesn’t mitigate the issur in the least.

“Let’s all agree to mythologize American history”
Why not? We’ve done a pretty good job of mythologizing our own history.

Re Slavery: Two types of slavery were practiced in the Colonies (later States).One type was Indenture, in which an individual was sold (or sold himself) to serve a master for a fixed period of time. to learn a trade or pay off a debt or any other cause of need, the terms of which roughly correspondto those of an eved Ivri.
The second type, and the type of slavery usually referred to, is chattel slavery in which the master actually owns the physical person of the slave, much as one may own a horse or a cow, the terms of which pretty much correspond to those of eved K’nanni.

If the rav said that “he would take care of it”, It seems reasonable for the OP to follow up in the issue, I.E. ask what, if anything, the Rav found out and what, if anything, he “took care of”.

Any measuring system works when one is sufficiently familiar with it so as to be able to visualize the measurement and think in those units. For instance, If I tell you that someone is 6 feet tall, you probably have a good mental picture of about how tall that is, but if I say that he’s 1.8 meters tall you generally have no mental image at all. Likewise, If I tell you that it’s 21 degrees Celsius out side, you don’t know how to dress but if I say that it’s 70 degrees F you know instantly what to wear.

Besides the fact that it takes some getting used to, there are, in my opinion, two significant deficiencies in the metric system.
1. There is no metric equivalent for the the imperial foot. The existing metric units are either too big or too small for convenient use.
2. While this doesn’t actually effect every day use, Metric countries also generate electricity at 50 cycles instead of the 60 cycles we’re used to. This is completely silly because. even in the metric system there are 60 minutes in an hour, not 50, and 24 hours in a day. A circle still has 360 degrees not 300. back in the days of analog electric clocks, it was physically impossible to make an accurate one on 50 cycle current. It would run either too fast or too slow.

The unveiling of the Kallah is not only for the Choson. The Eidei Kiddushin must also get a good look at the Kallah or their eidus is not valid. How can they be mayid that Plonis bas Ploni is married to Chaim Yankle Plonawitz if they don’t know what Plonis looks like?

My family did not eat milchigs on Pesach. Also, my Zeidies only drank white wine at the Seder because of the blood libels. I personally do not follow that custom as it was done out of fear of the Goyim at that time and place.

There is a kuntres by the Chofetz Chaim, ZTL, called, if I remember correctly, Machaneh Yrhudah which covers how one should conduct himself when drafted into the Army. He was referring to the Russian or German armies. I read it when I was drafted into the U.S. Army and found it very helpful as it did point out leniencies that one could use in such circumstances.

Based on the reasons quoted above and others, can someone explain why potato starch ISN’T kitnios?

What does Ad d’lo yodah have to do with Pesach. The mitzvah of Pesach is zechira which clearly requires the Seder participant to be awake and cogent. The daled cosos, as every one knows, are keneged the four lashonos of geulah and are part of the the zechira. Those individuals who cannot drink four reviis size servings of normal wine over the course of a several hour period without nodding off have a couple of eitzehs:

1. Low alcohol content wine. Normal wine is 12-13% alcohol. Low alcohol wine, very much like “new wine” which was drunk in antiquity, is about 5% alcohol and modern pasteurized grape juice has, of course no alcohol. Note that many poskim hold that using grape juice is a b’dieved at best.

2. While the largest shiur of reviis that I know of is 5.3 fl oz per the Chazon Ish (N.B. 5 oz is a normal serving of wine in the U.S.) there are recognized poskim who hold that s reviis is considerably smaller. One man d’amar, I forget who, holds that a reviis is only 3 fl oz. While it is, of course, preferable to be yotzei all shitos, it might be wise to use a smaller reviis in order to stay awake and and be mekiyaim the main mitzvah of the seder, zechira.

Sichah for tachlis perfectly OK. Just keep it short and to the point.

LB, there seems to be some confusion over a definition of heroism. Some previous respondents want to conflate heroism with being a good role model. While there is, of course, considerable overlap, not all legitimate heroes are suitable role models. Likewise, many truly excellent role models may not be particularly heroic.

Not believe in heroes, LB? Preposterous! Thank G-d there have been heroes in Yisrael who arose in time of need and did great things. There are heroes among us now who are moser nefesh for Torah and Klal Yisrael and G-d willing, new heroes will arise when we need them. You could be one of them.

Which brings us to my candidate for Worst President in my Lifetime, I give you the man who cured me of voting Democratic, James Earl Carter. He helped create and presided over what was thought to be an economic impossibility, double digit inflation with double digit unemployment. 1n 1979, he single-handedly created a gasoline shortage where none actually existed. His foreign policy made America the laughingstock of the international community not to mention a punching bag for every two bit dictator and mullah who wanted to show off their toughness by beating up on the U.S. Add to that the fact that he was a not so closet antisemite and you have the absolute quinella of Presidential rottenness

Nice to hear from you!

According to the Dept. of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, review of Moderate Alcohol Consumption, moderate alcohol consumption has been observed to beneficially modulate several diseases including cardio-vascular disease, Type 2 diabetes among others.

“Moderate alcohol consumption” is defined as: Two 1 1/2 oz shots of 80 proof spirits, or two 5oz glasses of wine or two 12oz servings of beer daily for women the amount listed for men is halved, I.E. one shot, one glass, one serving daily

While you all are busy forgiving all the people you may have wronged, don’t for get to forgive yourself as well. S’shteit “b’tzedek tishpote amisecha.” you are also “amisecha” so judge yourself favorably as well.

Joey, peaceful picketing is, of course, legal. However, If patrons are aggressively accosted and harassed, not to mention if the establishment is vandalized, the action rises to the level of criminal activity. This is what the the owners wanted to avert by reaching an agreement with the Kanoim. The point is that a simple boycott by people who wouldn’t have gone to place anyway would not have been intimidating enough to the owners to force a concession from them.

You know, I sometimes think that, rather than offering chizuk and mussar to the CR, MA is really subtly mocking the feelings and ideas he offers with such seeming sincerity and, by extension, the other members of the CR that do, in fact, actually hold those views and attitudes.

The fact is that Hillary getting sick on the campaign trail is not much of an issue. Nu, folks get sick once in a while and it’s not such a big deal. The big deal is Hillary’s propensity for obfuscation and her obsession with privacy that verges on paranoia. In any situation, it appears that her first instinct is to lie. She lies automatically. She lies when the truth would be to her advantage…

I’m sorry but I can’t continue. I’m feeling overheated and dehydrated.

RE: horseback riding. What ever happened to women’s riding skirts? They were actually pants with very full pleated legs so when a woman was standing it looked like she was wearing a full, mid-calf length skirt but since they were actually trousers it allowed her to ride astride. Actually, in some circles it was considered immodest for a woman to ride astride even in a modest riding skirt. A woman’s side saddle allowed a woman to ride while dressed in modest feminine attire.

Wrong again, Joey!

Learning with an audio tape or CD still requires one to follow along inside. Audiobooks, novels or non-fiction, are great for long drives. I much prefer them to music CDs or listening to the radio.

This is what politics in the U.S. has come to: A bloviating bully or a female Richard Nixon. The evil of two lessers. I have voted in every general election since 1964, either in person of by absentee ballot, but I think I may sit this one out.

My guess is that the OP’s concern is based on his (or her) belief in what the Messianic Age will be like. There are, of course, many opinions on that issue. I, myself, think that the RAMBAM’s description is the most mistabra but I’d bet that I and everyone else, whatever shita we hold, will be surprised when the Day comes, b’meheirah b’yomeinu.