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Mod, two things. Using a pseudonym is not the same as posting anonymously and, clearly, recommending a book or advising that the content of a book might be offensive to some is not only l’toeles, it also meets the Chofetz Chaim’s requirement for purity of purpose, unless, of course, the commenter personally knows the author or the publisher. Blanket condemnations of classes of literature may be offensive but repeating common knowledge does not, in itself, constitute lashon harah. For instance, saying that Bernie Madoff is a thief cannot be l’toeles because he can’t steal anyone’s money any more, but it is common knowledge and therefore not lashon harah.
Look, I have no personal axe to grind here and I will not add my voice to the chorus making snide comments. But one must recognize that just because a comment is rude doesn’t make it assur. IYou mods have absolute authority to edit or delete anything you want but I think the edit of my post was unwarranted
DY The takana on gvinas akum is, as ypu say, separate from the takana on chalav akum. The reasoning for the takana is a six way machlokes. Only Rashi connects the the two takanas. The remaining reasons range from rennet shel Hekdash to gilui (Rabanu Tam’s shita.) The general consensus is the takana is against animal rennet from a non kosher (nevailah) animal. This is problematic as rennet form anywhere isn’t a food and is quite inedible. Nevertheless, the general practice is to follow the takana and only eat gvinas Yisroel. The existence of donkey cheese just reinforces my determination to obey the takana. Oddly, the fact that cheese made from donkey milk doesn’t have much bearing on C’Y. While other animals are milked for milk, horse milk or camel milk is even less available than donkey cheese 9except maybe camels milk in Dearborn)
The OP was asking for recommendations. Certainly recommending any particular book or author does not have any negative implications for books and authors not recommended. Also, a comment to the effect that such and such a book may have questionable content is, without question, l’toeles.
EDITED – seriously? Did you read what the Chofetz Chaim says about the criterion for considering something l’toeles? Do you think speaking anonymously in a public forum would be included?
You know, I’ve always been told that cheese can only be made from the milk of kosher animals (not “processed cheese food”). Now I read that there is a special Serbian cheese made from the milk of Balkan donkeys. At about $1000/lb, I doubt that you’ll find it in the dairy case at Shoprite but it does give added reason to be makpid on cholov and givinas Yisroel
When you speak of young people dying, how young are you talking about? 20 somethings ofr40 somethings?
Every shil and mossad should have and AED and some people trained to use it. Now, most souls have Hatzolo members and the device itslf actually tells (I.E. speaks) how to use it, but note that just having one on the wall is only part of the drill. Please remember to check the battery regularly as recommended in the I.L. that came with the machine.
I don’t always drink beer, but when I do, I drink Dos XX
P.S. I’m not that interesting, really.
DM, that was the point of my post. Some folks who shall remain nameless have a rather inflated view of their place in the Cosmos. Such a view is unwarranted and they may be in for a surprise when the Bill is presented. The believe that being makpid on cholov Yisroel gives them honors points at the Heavenly Hilton. They’d better be careful that they don’t end up in the Room next to the ice machine.
Wolfie, You’re an example to us all. Folks, that’s the difference between a ba’al nefesh and a “ba’al nefesh”. May you mother’s neshama have an aliyah and may the Almighty dry the tears on every face.
Hey, Old Man! Speaking Previously Heavy Smokers, I was one. I quit 40 years ago and haven’t touched tobacco since, but I’m not bothered by other people smoking. In fact, I’m thinking of taking it up again. What’s it gonna do, kill me in thirty years?
Syag, I think Old Man is right and you are wrong. I’m even older than Old Man and my date with the Beis Din shel Ma’alah isn’t that far off. until 120 you will have the same appointment. Then we’ll find out who was right and who was wrong.
To answer your original question, there is a kiosk in Term 1, just past security that sells phones. One time I was on my way overseas and realized that I forgot to take my phone (Told you I was old). I bought a flip phone and SIM card from him for $100. The phone even had capacity for two SIM cards. Just a plain flip phone, no internet, not even email (which was a problem). You might try that.
P.S. Do you really mean racism? aren’t you Jewish like the rest of us? We didn’t even know you’re a woman. Also, You were the one who first responded angrily, not OM.
Most the responses on this thread indicate true phobia (irrational fear or loathing). Roaches are relatively clean, don’t carry any disgusting diseases and don’t bite. Why would you be afraid of them or have them gross you out? I wouldn’t want one as a pet although some folks do (if you really want to be grossed out, go to the pet shop and take a look at an Indonesian hissing cockroach. The thing is as big as your hand). If you don’y want them in your house, (and who does?) put out baits, pick ’em up and flush them.
“Just because it’s ???? doesn’t mean it’s right”. Would the opposite also be true? “Just because it’s assur doesn’t mean it’s wrong”?
Firstly, I ate squab in a kosher restaurant years ago. secondly, those off-the-street New York pigeons are probably a lot cleaner that the chickens you buy.
edited for specificity.
I often get stuck with some of your posts – should I edit, or should I just delete? Sometimes the “shtuch” is your point, sometimes you may just have a general point to make. Perhaps if you could do me a favor and leave out the “shtuch”; your strong feelings may or may not have basis, but I’m not posting them. -29
Shloimy, Anyone, and I do mean anyone, who compares 21st Century America to Sodom doesn’t know what America is like and doesn’t know what Sodom was like. Every generation since Noach has claimed that it’s generation is the worst in history. While it’s true that American society has gotten looser over the last, say, 50 years, we’re still pikers compared some earlier eras. for instance, we’re nowhere near as libertine as Elizabethan England or Classical Greece or Rome, or even present day Europe.
Every dor has temptations and challenges to deal with and overcome. America is still, by far, the most religious of all the developed nations. I’m not talking about media sensations, I’m talking about average every day Americans. Our job in this, or any other society, is not concern ourselves with what the Kardashians are up to but to simply do the Ratzon HaShem as described in Tanach, Sha’as and poskim.
Yes life may be more than three cars and vacations, but they’re okay too as long as one remembers where they come from. There is nothing wrong with taking hana’ah from Olam Hazeh, the point is to recognize and to use one’s good fortune to the service of the One from Whom all blessings flow.
P.S. I do have three cars but I don’t take vacations.
To quote a famous American, “You can do more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word”.
The opposite of believing everything that people tell you is not believing anything that people tell you. The true difference between gullibility and open mindedness is that, as you say, a gullible person believes everything anybody tells them. An open minded person is prepared to believe what anyone tells him but needs to evaluate every statement himself.
When I was a young man, the drinking age was 18 and the voting age was 21. The Country was better off
LG, Yeah. We acted out Julius Caesar too. it was great fun. Goq, I suspect that the Hanhala’s objection to 1984 wasn’t the prurient content, of which there was little if any as I recall, but that the content struck too close to home. Too many institutions are run along the same lines as Oceania.
Not sure what SCOTUS actually ruled. Did they rule that all States must ALLOW same-sex marriage or did they rule that all states must RECOGNIZE same-sex marriage. The former seems to me to be extreme judicial overreach. Marriage issues have always been controlled by the States. The latter, however, is more in line with established practice.
While this particular issue is probably of little concern to the readers of this blog, the issue of recognition and reciprocity is of serious concern to observant Jews in a very similar matter. First cousin marriages are not unusual in unsere veldt, particularly in Rebbishe families. Such marriages are illegal in 21 states but recognized universally for instance, First cousin marriages are illegal in Nevada but legal in California. Nevertheless, first cousins who were married in California are still recognized as married in Nevada.
To Squeek:
Thank you, Winston. I see you’ve been re educated.
Here’s something to consider, and I say this based on my own experience as a choson all those years ago and the experience of marrying off four children. The wedding day, the chasana, belongs to your parents. You know, the ones who bore you, cared for you, the ones who sat with you when you were sick, who helped you with your homework, who sacrificed to send you to sem. Yes, those parents. The chasana is their day, the reward for their work and sacrifice. You and your choson ( I assume you’re a woman) have the rest of your lives. Don’t fergin your parents one day.
To my mind, the only authentic Jewish musical forms since churban Bayis are chazonus and klezmer. All other Jewish music is derivative of Gentile music.
Never mind the Randi test. Let’s look at actuality, not illusion. I think it was Arthur C. Clark who posited that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. This begs the question, what can one do with practical Kabalah that cannot be done with modern technology? Fly? I don’t need Sheimos. All I need is an airline ticket ( talk about kevitzas haderech). We can converse face to face with people thousands of miles away. We can travel to the moon, move mountains, cure diseases, even bring the (mostly) dead back to life. Mind you, I’m talking about practical, not spiritual, application.
Also, capitalize the first letter
It’s not offensive if the emphasis is on the last syllable ” re taaard”
Okay. You want an account of a sign min haShamayim? How’s this:
I have lived in my community for over 30 years and for most of that time I have davened in the same shul. Over the past few years I have become increasingly dissatisfied with the kehilla, the atmosphere, whatever, to the point that it became hard to concentrate on davening because I was ticked off all the time.
I decided to leave the shul and go elsewhere so one Shabbos I picked up my talis and went to another nearby shul. I knew some of the folks there but most of the mispallelim and the Rav were strangers to me. Anyway, that’s where I went. I sat in the back, minded my own business, and davened. everything was pretty normal, no pressure, no irritation. Then the Rav gave his drasha. I don’t recall the parsha but, in the course of his drasha, he cited the Mishnah in Avos that says that one should be from the talmidim of Avraham Avinu and not like the talmidim of Bilam harasha. What was the difference? When Avraham went to daven for Sdom he was unsuccessful, yet he returned to the same place again and again to daven. Bilam, on the other hand, when he was unsuccessful in cursing Klal Yisroel from one place, he tried another and another.
Now this Rav didn’t know me from Adam and he certainly was unaware of my intentions, yet his drash was so pointed and specific that I felt that it could not be other than a direct message to me min haShamayim.
Well, of course I returned to my old shul and there I have been to this day. I’m still dissatisfied and still ticked off but, apparently, this is the place I belong for some reason only the RBSHO knows. We’ll see what happens.
Hebrew names spelled in English are still Hebrew names. For instance, the Poster above remarked that her daughter’s “English” name, Abigail, was selected because it starts with the same phoneme as her Hebrew name, Avigayil. Abigail and “Avigayil” are the same name. Her Hebrew name and her “English” name are the same, just spelled in different alphabets. Many people in America have Biblical (I.E. Hebrew) names. Some of them might sound silly to us like Nimrod or Balaam but, nevertheless, they are Hebrew names, just spelled in English. Also note that using a name from the local culture or language in addition to one’s Hebrew name is not a modern phenomenon. The practice goes back to Golus Bavel, for instance, the name Zerubavel isn’t Hebrew. Many of the Chachmei haGemorah had both Hebrew and Aramaic names.
P.S. Phineas is actually Latin for Pinchas.
P.P.S. An alternative to anglicizing Hebrew names is to just use the initials. My name is Alter Yoseif but in English i’m just A.J.
Not so clear that there’s intelligent life on this planet.
Scolding random strangers is a good way to get a punch in the nose, if not arrested for assault. Anyway, you may have noticed that it’s Elul. Now’s the time to consider your own short-comings, pun intended.
“Your father is a hamster and your mother smells of elderberries!”
Sam, whether or not Lamedvavniks actually exist or are simply a folk legend, the point of the mashal is still valid. All Jews, even the ones you may think ill of, are to be treated with respect. Hey! you never know.
A word about Lamedvavniks, the 36 hidden tzadikim without whose existence the world could no longer exist. The key word is “hidden”. Any lamedvavnik whose identity becomes known must die, therefore, Lamedvavniks take pains to conceal their status and appear as ordinary Jews, even to the extent of pretending to act un-tzadiklike. The lesson for us is that since we can’t know who is or isn’t a lamedvavnik, we must consider that any Jew we meet might be one and, therefore, deserving of the respect and courtesy due such a one.
It seems to me that it is an error to believe that anyone “possesses” Ruach Hakodesh. Ruach Hakodesh is a gift bestowed by the Master of the Universe to whomever, whenever and for whatever reason He so chooses. To state that So and So “has” Ruach Hakodesh implies that that individual is sort of a navi. Something that no longer exists. Everyone of us, whatever our matzav, prays three times a day, six days a week for the Eibishter to share with us His Deiah, Binah, v’Haskel (a pretty good working definition of Ruach Hakodesh). If Ruach Hakodesh is only available to special people, the nusach hatefilla ought to be something like,”make us worthy of receiving… etc. Sometimes, G-d answers those tefilos. Perhaps the better one is at davening, the more likely HaShem is to grant the gift, but it’s never a sure thing and there is an occasional wild card in the form of someone who doesn’t appear to merit such a gift. May the Rebono shel Olam answer our tefilos and grant the gift to us all?
Sam, malaria is, in fact, carried by mosquitos, specifically by several species of genus Anopheles. Tze-tze flys carry another severe desease, African Sleeping Sickness. Tze-Tze flys also carry several deseases that efeect cattle. Native species are immune but European or Indian cattle cannot be raised in areas of tze-tze fly infestation.
Charlie, just signed your petition and I’ll get the family to sign. Where else have you posted this? 1208 signatures!! and we need 98000+ more signatures by Aug 7? Better get to work.
Charlie, Charlie, Charlie. I don’t want to make a new list but I will make a few comments:
1. The IRS became Obama’s IRS when he took office. Further, it certainly appears that the White House directed the IRS to give Conservative (alright, Tea Party) groups a hard time.
2. You’re right. I don’t see any significant difference between Common Core and No Child Left Behind. It’s funny that the Dems who ridiculed NCLB love Common Core and the Reps who supported NCLB take shots at Common Core.
3. Simply calling an accusation a lie isn’t refutation. You should know better.
You typify what is wrong with political discourse in America today. We need a return to civility if we don’t want this country to descend to the level of a banana republic. For that to happen, both sides have to recognize the legitimacy of each others concerns. Conservatives aren’t all slack-jawed yokels and Liberals aren’t all effete snobs (tip of the hat to Spiro Agnew). Whether the issue is women’s rights, gun control, immigration policy, religion in public life, whatever, problems can’t be solved and consensus can’t be reached by school yard name calling. What saddens me is that if an educated,erudite academic such as yourself can fall prey to political hatred and calumny, what hope is there for those of us less blessed with intellect to reach accommodation?
C’mon Charlie.
Domestic Policy:
1. Bush’s TARP is what saved the day. Love it or hate it, it was Bush’s initiative, not Obama’s
2. Same number uninsured as before AHA. Also, AHA does not address the core issue.
3. Really?
4. Well, yeah. but the levels are still unacceptably high with no relief in sight. Obama’s programs are making the the same error that FDR’s programs did. They institutionalize the economic problems instead of solving them. FDR essentially made high unemployment the new norm. Obama’s problem isn’t near as great as FDR’s was but he’s making the same mistake.
5. In spite of Obama, not because of his energy policies.
6. Ditto
7. Double Ditto. That’s unfair. The fact is that Presidents get blamed for poor a economy so it’s only fair that the should take some credit when the economy improves. The fact is that Presidents don’t really have a lot of control either way.
Foreign Policy
1. Good Job
2. Good as far as it goes but it’s like cutting a head off of the Hydra. Three grow back.
3. Do you actually think that the mess we left in Libya is a foreign policy success? It was a really bad idea to interfere in Libya. Qadafi may have been a ruthless dictator but he was
cooperating with the U.S. and the international community.
4. What on earth did Obama have to do with the Greek economic crisis? By the way, Greece isn’t out of the woods yet by a long shot.
5. The intent was good but Putin ate Obama’s lunch on that agreement.
6. Good job
7. Ditto
8. Double ditto
9. Congress not Obama but not near “draconian” enough
10. Higher than under Nixon?
11. Good job
12. Really? Bush left a “stable, growing, democratic” Iraq. (Obama’s own words in 2011). The current complete mess in Iraq is totally due to Obama’s complete failure to obtain a remainder of forces agreement.
13. Good. I guess he learned his lesson in Libya.
14. Good.
Charlie, there aren’t two realities, one D and the other R. There is only one reality and partisanship does not alter it. The simple fact is that Iraq did posess WMDs and the current news proves it. Whether that was sufficient justification for invasion is arguable (I never thought it was the main reason, but that’s another story). Your buddy John Maynard Keynes was famously quoted in the following exchange. When taken to task for changing his position on a particular issue, he is reported to have said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What, sir, do you do?”
Um…Charlie, what lies were they? Do you mean the lies about the WMDs that the very same NYT is reporting have fallen into the hands of ISIS? I guess sarin and mustard gases aren’t really WMDs, are they? Oh, and don’t give me that business about Bush lying about Iraq’s nuclear weapons. He never said thaey had nukes. He did say that Iraq had WMDs and that the concern was that they could end up in the hands of terrorists. Golly!! Ya think?
Emmet, I strongly advise you to find another therapist. This one sounds as if she needs a therapist herself. You engaged her, I assume for her professional advice. If you want to follow her Rav’s advice, you don’t need her.
Chazal prohibit a parent from striking a grown child als lifei iver. The fear is that the grown child might strike back and be guilty of a capital offense. That reasoning would seem to apply in this case. Taking such drastic action against his son would, quite possibly, cause the son to react is such a way as to over an issur missah, C’S.
Oomis, you’ve made a common mistake. The line isn’t, “THE bombs bursting in air” It’s, “Bombs bursting in air.”
My favorite is the last stanza:
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war’s desolation
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation
Then conquer we must
When our cause, it is just
And this be our motto
In G-d is our trust
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.
There are no fun places in Crown Heights
Based on the advice given by the posters above, I think we should wrap our kids and ourselves in bubble wrap, start IVs in all of us and never leave the house. C’mon people! Summer is the time for fun and adventure. A little common sense is what’s needed. Yeah, drink when your thirsty, bike carefully, don’t lock you kids or animals in a closed parked car for hours. You know, of all the “safety” tips handed out it seems to me the most important was left out. Teach your children to swim,(Chazal knew what they were about) and yourself if you don’t know how. Drown-proofing saves countless children and adults. Summer is the time for swimming either in a pool or a lake or the ocean. Of all common recreational activities, swimming is by far the most dangerous and results in the most child deaths(Okay, rock climbing and BASE jumping may be more dangerous but I said “common”). Ocean swimming is particularly dangerous. Never swim where there isn’t a lifeguard and don’t go in the water if he (or she) says not to.
I, too, am put off by lengthy Shabbos davening. Note to Sheluchei Tzibbur: Kedushah has a nusach. Use it. I don’t know how ancient the nusach is but it probably predates MBD.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear enough but I was essentially citing the NB. There is an issur of tzar b’alei chaim but it does not apply letzarech adam.
“If you can aim like Reb Yona Bar Tachlifa then you may hunt birds.”
Actually, there were, and are still, special arrows for hunting birds in flight. It has a wide, crescent-shaped head sharpened on the outer edge. It is intended to cut the throat of, or decapitate, flying birds.
RY, no snark intended but how many homeless animals have you adopted?