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That’s an old saying, “A butterfly flapping its wings in China can cause a tornado in the Great Plains”. I don’t know how true it actually is though.
In theory, any torrential rain with high winds should merit an “Oseh Ma’aseh Beraishis” or a “Shekocho Ugvuraso Malei Olam”.
Right WIY, so why is your definition of a Ben Torah the only one that matters? (I understand, there are plenty of Gedolim and sources backing you up, but there are also sources that can justify what he did, for several reasons. Nothing says that he is obligated to only rely on the sources that you rely on.)
Popa, you clearly didn’t read my entire post. I said that focusing on this disaster as opposed to all the others that occur worldwide throughout the year was a New York-specific egocentricity. I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear enough on that. I agreed that it is happening for a reason and that regardless of the actual reason there is always something every individual can learn from it. I was just disputing the point that this disaster more than any other is meant to teach all of us something.
WIY: You realized yourself that you put a “label” on and you still mocked that it was a bad thing. Why is your definition of a “Ben Torah” so strong that complimenting a girl automatically makes him not a “Ben Torah” by any definition?
I honestly feel like the recent outpouring of “what is this trying to tell us” is both short-sighted and egocentric. There are natural disasters all over the world all year round, where thousands die and there are Jews there affected too. Saying that these (incredibly minor by comparison) natural disasters are to teach us a lesson is discounting the pain that is caused elsewhere and what those much bigger disasters are telling us.
The proper question to ask is “What can we learn from this?” Because even if this disaster is not necessarily directed at us (or any individual), there is something that every individual can take away from it.
Hashma’as Kol. At least for Ashkenazim. The Mechaber seems to be Matir. But if you’re working with the assumption that leaving the radio on is Assur every Shabbos, then either there is a Safek Sakanah and you’re Mechuyav to leave the radio on or there isn’t and this Shabbos is no different that any other.
This “can leave the radio on” bothers me. It’s either a Chiyuv or it’s Assur.
The Gemara has some very harsh words for someone who composes a song from a Passuk. R’ Moshe has a Tshuvah about it where he cites the Poskim that say this is only about Pesukim from Shir Hashirim. There is no Heter whatsoever to sing a song from Pesukim in Shir Hashirim. Personally, I erase those songs when I back up music from any CDs of mine onto my computer.
Pure coincidence doesn’t exist. Both the earthquake and the hurricane had some purpose. Whether that purpose was to continue the natural order of things, teach one individual somewhere a lesson, or do something for all of K’lal Yisroel we will never know. It happens for a reason. Many times we just have no way of finding out for sure what that reason is.
Itche: I do not know about Sephardim. I do know about the Rappeport family but there are very few of them who still actually have a Shtar and I was told by some prominent Rabbonim that the Meyuchasim in the family and their Shtaros were lost in the Holocaust. It’s entirely possible that I (or they) have been misinformed because much of this is just what people hear. If some still have Shtaros then I will take back what I said.
Abe: That was my point. I don’t think the Arayos they are worried about is Frum Jews meeting other Frum Jews.
Therealmagma: I think people against sending kids to college are worried about much more than this. In fact, if having young frum people meeting other young frum people was the worst thing in college, then many more people would probably be accepting of it.
Shlishi: I don’t know if that community is a larger problem. They are equally problematic. Dismissing any Torah Jew as being not so because of what they do or don’t wear is the issue.
All Kohanim today are considered not Meyuchasim. You would need a Shtar proving it. No one has that.
I heard that several Rabbonim have already told their communities to keep their radios on over Shabbos in case the order to evacuate comes in.
Bezalel, that’s a Machlokes in the Poskim. Many assume that it is weight.
Toi: It’s more so in certain communities in Eretz Yisroel, but I guarantee you that not wearing a hat automatically labels someone as a Tziyoni and therefore an Apikores in some places.
Ah, A K’zayis Lechumra is generally accpeted to be 1oz. or 28 grams. If you live in CHU”L there really is no reason to be that Machmir since Challah is only a Minhag, but people seem to just take off a decent-sized chunk anyway.
It’s big. To Vaddai make a Bracha I think they say 4-5 pounds. And Rav Bodner’s Halachos of Brochos book is excellent. You also can’t go wrong learning it in the Mishnah Berurah if you can understand Hebrew well.
Shabbosim is Yiddish, Shabbosos/Shabbatot is Hebrew.
Health” If someone is insane they cannot be held responsible in Beis Din. Only Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows how in control they were of their mental faculties and how much, if any, Teshuvah needs to eb done.
It’s short for “head shrinker” or “brain shrinker”. I’m not sure where those names come from though.
I don’t think so Chacham. This isn’t a standard case of Davar Sheyeish Lo Matirin. Normally, it wouldn’t Bateil because you can just wait. But here the question is if it’s Muttar already or not. It’s not like there’s a Rov and Miyut and we’re being Mevatel the Miyut. We’re using the Rov to assume that all the grain we get isn’t Chodosh. It’s acting more like a Chazaka than a Rov. Because if we were being Mevateil the Chodosh then you would need 60 (100? Need to bursh up on my Mishnayos Zeraim) times the amount, not just Rov.
I would ask her about it. That never hurts. It could also be that she is pregnant. The hormonal changes can cause changes in behavior. But it never hurts to bring it up and if Chas V’Shalom there is a major issue you will have done a tremendous thing.
M80, I’m sure no one says that. But what happens when you ask the average black-hatter (just for example) if they think they are better or more frum than someone who doesn’t. I guarantee that you will get a shockingly high percentage say that they are, or even that those who don’t wear black hats aren’t “frum”. I know that my family has had people (more than one) not trust our Kashrus before because my father doesn’t wear a hat.
Toi: I guess I kind of see your point, but I wish it weren’t true. And I don’t think it should be true. I don’t think we should have different articles of clothes that state: “I’m a different type of Torah Jew than that Torah Jew”. There are Torah Jews who hold different things. That’s fine. But why do we have to advertise that I’m going to wear a certain article of clothing which says that not only am I a Torah Jew, but I am a Torah Jew who thinks that not wearing this article of clothing isn’t as much of a Torah Jew as I am? If you want to be like a Rosh Yeshivah instead of the Breslov guy, go learn Gemara instead of doing what he does all day (which probably involves a lot of learning also). I don’t see why you have to dress differently than him. And I certainly think it’s wrong that people feel like they’re better than him because they dress differently.
The Gemara in Makkos says that. Depending on the type of bug there are either 4, 5, or 6 Issurim because there are different Pessukim. (There is an interesting disagreement between Rashi and the Rambam as to how those are counted, if I recall correctly.)
I have an older female relative who was walking through a certain neighborhood (I won’t say where). She has serious eye issues and needs big sunglasses that completely block all sunlight from her eyes. She was not-so-kindly asked to take them off in public. She is a bit bitter about this story, and always asks if they would do the same for Rav Ovadia and his sunglasses.
That story cannot be true. Trotsky’s family was never religious and his parents sent him away to Odessa to get an education at the age of 9.
Being blind also draws attention to oneself. I would think that someone is safer with sunglasses, especially if they have vision problems. Maybe not the big, fashionable ones if your community doesn’t like that but would anyone have a problem with normal-sized glasses with tinted lenses or photo-grade lenses?
There is a huge difference between tornadoes and hurricanes. However, hurricanes can be just as deadly if you ignore them or don’t take precautions. If you don’t have a television, keep the internet on a laptop on a local weather site and follow instructions. Googling worst-case scenarios doesn’t hurt either. Bad weather can be deadly, but those who are prepared very rarely get hurt.
I am not positive, but I am pretty sure that wahtever they use for the chemotherapy has to be able to kill the placenta, and then the fetus sustains damage from there. I am not positive though and read that years ago, so I could be mistaken. I still don’t think it’s integral to my argument anyway. Even if they do attack the fetus directly, they would have to cross the placenta first. It would be like a case of having a tied-up person sitting in an empty riverbed, you remove a dam blocking the water-flow, but there is a second dam in the way. The water may or may not overpower that second dam, but removing the first dam is only a Grama.
I honestly hate that the designations exist. Why can’t we all just be Halacha-observant Jews? However, for simplicity’s sake, sometimes terms need to used just to make things obvious.
To quote from a Shiur about Shemmitah that I once heard from a prominent Rabbi: “People say that the argument about whether or not the Heter Mechirah works is an argument between Tziyonim and Chareidim. This is wrong for 2 reasons. First of all, it’s Assur to say such a thing. Secondly, it’s not true.”
Hello: Are you sure R’ Elyashiv even holds like R’ Moshe. But assuming he does, and assuming that we still can’t call the baby a Rodeph because his existence is preventing the mother from taking a life-saving medication (which is a tremendous assumption), then the issue is not the “kill or be killed” issue. The mother wouldn’t be doing the killing, the doctor would. Thus, we would be looking at the Mishnah and Gemara in Horiyos 13a which lists who to save first. Now, the Gemara (or Rishonim) don’t discuss anything with a fetus, presumably because such a case was inconceivable where we could choose between saving the life of a fetus versus a person, especially when we take into account that the Mishnah says we kill a fetus to save the mother. So we have a choice between saving a woman who is Vaddai living and a Vaddai Kasher, versus saving a fetus who we can think of a limitless number of Sfeikos about. We should also save the woman because she can claim that the baby is a Mamzer and thus she would get preference either way.
And I don’t think you’re right about this not being a Grama. Without getting into biological details, the chemo does not directly attack the fetus. It will affect things inside the mother’s body that will eventually lead to the detriment of the fetus. Aside from this, chemo won’t definitely kill a fetus (there are documented cases of a fetus surviving chemo for as many as 5 months). Which might make this a case of Safek putting someone in danger to save someone else’s life, which is obviously not allowed. But once again, these two are linked so it is up to us to decide who to save first.
Also, even according to R’ Moshe we should call this fetus a Rodeph. Pregnancy and labor is always physically traumatic regardless of the health of the mother. For someone with a late-stage cancer, going through something that physically traumatic would always increase the possibility of life-threatening complications and it’s impossible to claim that there isn;t a Safek Pikuach Nefesh issue for the mother here. And unless I am mistaken, it is clearly brought down that you kill the fetus even if there is only a Safek on the mother’s life.
Hello: I apologize. I did not mean to imply that one Posek raised a question about all of them. My point was you can find at least one Posek who would not make Hamotzi on each of the 5 grains. There are many by oats nowadays. I do not recall who said what, but if I am not mistaken Rav Unterman and Rav Hertzog had the issues with spelt and rye. I do not recall who raised questions about wheat and barley but I remember that it was more than just historians.
Regardless, I was just saying that if you would assume that the poster’s Sfek Sfeka above should work. I am not Makpid on Yoshon for other reasons that I mentioned earlier in this thread. And your questions are exactly why I wrote my aforementioned “Purim halachah” years ago. As I also said above, there is nothing wrong with assuming that the 5 grains are really the five grains and that I would never tell someone who cannot tolerate gluten that they cannot make Hamotzi and Bentsch on oats, which is the most questionable of the 5.
Correct. I am no one to disagree. I would not answer such a Shaila if it was brought to me. R’ Elyashiv is under no obligation to explain himself to me or care what I think. But I am not obligated to blindly accept this either, so I can honestly and fairly say that I have not yet found a way to understand a justification for this P’sak.
Mod, what point is there at all about bragging about anyone’s level of genius, even a Godol? We should be inspired to wish we were born with that ability? People tell stories about Gedolim to inspire with us an appreciation of their caring, Ahavas Yisroel, Dikduk B’Mitzvos, and things like that. Things that we can emulate and do. These people did not become Gedolim simply because they were born with a stronger memory or better intellectual capabilities. I’m not telling anyone what to be inspired by. I’m just pointing out that the part of the story that emphasizes the Rogochover as a leader of K’lal Yisroel is not the part the OP focused on.
Hello: It’s not only historians. There is at least one very big Posek from the past 100 years with a Ta’ana on each of the 5 Minim.
I did not (or do not) know if the P’sak was given by R’ Elyashiv. I do not want to know if it was given by R’ Elyashiv. All I know is that a woman died because of a case that is Mefurash in a Mishnah. I have spoken to R’ Elyashiv before and disagreed with him in person before. I would love to hear his interpretation of this if he ever explained it. I in no way claim to be anywhere near even close to being 1% as knowledgeable as he is. If asked a Shaila I would never disagree with him without someone of equal stature disagreeing with him first. That being said, I have still never heard any justification for this particular P’sak.
Hello: Can you explain how that P’sak isn’t killing the woman? I can’t. Can you find anyone who can explain it to me? Until you (or anyone else) can, I will continue to believe that that P’sak was made in error. Either he didn’t realize how life-threatening it would be or just made a mistake. Either way, I cannot find any Halachic justification for that P’sak and I have been searching for years.
Msseeker: Stories told with no point bother me. If you read my entire post, I was clearly bothered by the OP missing the entire point of the story.
Adorable: P’sakim can be bad. Even big Talmidei Chachamim make mistakes or forget things sometimes. This thread is asking what to do in such an uncommon situation.
Toi: And my argument is that who cares what those people do? Everyone who sees me will know I am Jewish by my Kippah and Tzitzis. I am supposed to suddenly add something else because some nutcases want to wear Tzitzis? Clothing should identify us as Jewish, not create artificial stratifications within Judaism. I know an elderly man who recently became a Ba’al Teshuvah. He has a long white beard. He was once visiting a Shtiebl in Israel, and they saw him, called him “Rabbi”, gave him an Aliyah, and asked him to give a D’var Torah. He doesn’t even speak Hebrew. It’s ridiculous that people take one look at you and decide what kind of person and Jew you are based on it. I follow Halachah, so I wear a Kippah and Tzitzis. Judging me by more than that from how I look is just wrong.
Hello99: Unless they changed the rules since I recently worked as a Mashgiach, the OU says pilot lights are fine for Bishul.
And Health: We assume the reason we eat “Chodosh” is because of the Bach or one of the other Poskim, not the Rama’s “interesting’ Sfek Sfeka. I have to brush up on the rules of Sfek Sfeka (which are ridiculously complicated; see the incredibly long Shach in I believe Yoreh Deah 110), but “Is it really Chameshes Minim” and “If this is one of the Assur Minim, is this specific product Yoshon” should work.
Hello99, that cancer case is actually famous because she was the daughter of an important/famous person. I don’t know who told her to wait on the chemo (supposedly it was a big Posek) and I really don’t want to know. I thought that the Rov who told her to wait was very close to Shofech Damim when I first heard the story and I have seen nothing since then to make me think otherwise. I will never understand that P’sak. Chemo wouldn’t even kill the baby directly. It was a G’ram killing of a fetus in a case of Pikuach Nefesh. I will never understand that.
Correct. A Torah Jew who wears a Kippah and Tzitzis is easily identifiable to the public. Unfortunately, people “only” wearing a Kippah and Tzitzis are not considered Torah Jews by many other Torah Jews.
Hacham, now you see my point. He made a statement, which clearly was not meant to last forever (I believe the quote here had the word “current”). So how do we know what he would say today? We don’t. I’m not saying he would say otherwise today, but I am saying that a statement made up to 40 years about what clothing we should wear (which has changed pretty often throughout history) is not necessarily a proof as to what we should wear today. Will R’ Miller’s statement means Jews should wear hats and jackets 100 years from now? 200? It obviously was not meant to be a P’sak L’doros, so how do we know when society has changed enough for that to change? The answer is we don’t. I’m not saying he would agree with me today; I’m just saying that his words do not necessarily prove anything.
Toi: That is one of the major things that is currently wrong in the Jewish world. We let one article of clothing identify who we are. Don’t you think that’s sad? When I see people, wearing their Tzitzis out (see the very strong Magen Avraham on that) not counted for a Minyan while people with a hat on but their Tzitzis tucked in are, I see a serious problem.
It is actually a huge problem for some people. Our family has a very close friend who has Celiac disease (an intolerance for gluten). The only one of the 5 Minim that is gluten-free is oats. However, because some dispute oats as 5 Minim, celiacs who follow this have no way to ever make Hamotzi (Matzoh on Pesach is a huge problem). So the vast majority, if not all, celiacs in the world assume that oats are really one of the 5 Minim and don’t worry about recent Ta’anas against this.
I think the whole proof about oats is wrong anyway. They claim that gluten content is what is Machmitz and therefore, by definition, something without any gluten cannot be one of the 5 Minim. But the Mishnah in Challah (and other places) has the Machlokes between the Chachamim and R’ Yochanan Ben Nuri about whether or not rice is one of the 5 Minim. The Yerushalmi there asks that they should test if it is Machmitz. The Gemara says they did and the Machlokes was whether the experiment resulted in Chimutz or Sirchon. These Poskim explain this Gemara as saying that rice has a minimal gluten content but not enough so it’s a Machlokes, while oats with no gluten at all are Vaddai not one of the 5 Minim. The issue with this is that rice has no gluten at all also. So it’s very hard to say that Halachic Chimutz is tied directly to gluten content. For that to be true, R’ Yochanan Ben Nuri would have to have such a drastically different definition of Chimutz than the Chachamim, and if so it would be incredibly unlikely that rice is the only thing they dispute. Oats have many of the same properties as the other 4 Minim (aside from gluten) and react much more similarly to those 4 when mixed with water than it does to rice.
A lot of Gedolim stories bother me. What is the point of this story? We all know that the Rogochover was an incredible genius. We don’t need more and more stories to prove just how much of a genius he is. A Godol is not measured by the extent to which Hashem gave him mental capabilities. (Not to mention the fact that the Rogocover answered most letters by listing off Mar’eh Mekomos that discuss and will answer the question.)
The lesson to be learned from this story should be that the Rogochover took over 2 hours out of his incredibly busy schedule to personally answer these letters. I’m sure some of them were easy questions and he could have had a Talmid sift through them to weed out the simple ones or he could have not gotten to some due to time constraints. The lesson here is that he spent over 2 hours (immediately after not being able to write anything down for 25) answering questions from all over the world just because people mailed them to him.