Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Lombard Street, San Fransisco, CA
There is one block of Lombard Street that consists of seven hairpin turns, one after the other. What you can’t see from the map or satellite view is that the street is also on a steep incline.
Lombard Street (and its curves) was featured in what I consider to be one of the funniest movie chase scenes of all time at the end of the movie “What’s Up Doc?”
The Wolf
IIRC (and I’d check with a rav to be sure), the bodies of non-Jews do not transmit tumah via ohel. So, even if there are mummies, it is highly likely that they are non-Jewish mummies and therefore, not a problem.
Again, however, please CYLOR.
The Wolf
Okay, lets discuss that point.
Does that mean you’re conceding the other point? 🙂
The Wolf
Okay, Wolf, if you say so then it must be it. I have never learnt these halachas.
It’s not a matter of halacha, it’s a matter of dikduk.
Tumah is a noun. Tamei is an adjective.
The Wolf
If you are distancing yourself from your Creator and feel like “not davening at all” because there are other Yidden who have Hashkafos that differ from yours, its not really what “they” are saying, but your own connection that feels lacking.
No, it’s not because people have different hashkafos. If you want to wear a hat/jacket all the time, that’s fine… God bless and all the more power to you. I have a son that does that. It’s when people feel the need to compel everyone else to conform to their interpretation of halacha that I begin feeling despair.
The Wolf
Mazal Tov! May you and your family see much nachas from them in the coming years.
The Wolf
Wolf, name ONE SPECIFIC ROV anywhere even debatably near Rav Chaim’s stature who disagrees with the important nature of a hat/jacket (putting aside the precedence question.)
Ah, but what you want to “put aside” is just the case we’re discussing. We’re discussing a case where a person has a choice — daven alone or with a minyan without a hat/jacket. R. Chaim is entitled to pasken one way, but, WADR, that does not mean that his p’sak is halacha l’ma’aseh for everyone.
If you want to argue about whether it’s better (in general) to wear a hat/jacket or not to, that’s a separate argument.
The Wolf
OK, let’s try it again…
1) There is no ”problem” with Rav Chaim’s position.
We were evaluating R. Chaim’s position in relation to Pascal’s Wager. In Pascal’s Wager there is little downside to taking the stricter path — and you aren’t faced with an either/or decision. R. Chaim’s position, OTOH, does lead to an either/or position — if a person finds that they will miss the only available minyan because they don’t have a hat/jacket what should they do? R. Chaim maintains that you should daven alone. But perhaps t’fillah b’tzibur takes precedence, as it seems to be for most people.
2) Rav Chaim’s position is in concurrence with ”common practice.”.
Considering that I have yet to see a rav kick someone out of a shul for lack of a hat/jacket, and considering the fact that I don’t know of anyone who has seen it, I would say that it’s not, in fact, common practice.
3) Rav Chaim is in fact following an open Mishna Berura.
Yes, but there are two factors to consider here:
1. The MB is not always the final word in halacha.
2. The MB is predicated (IIRC) on the fact that we generally wear hats/jackets in the street. Since that’s not always the norm, the premise of the MB may not apply here — and hence the final halacha as well.
4) ”Most of the world” takes this approach.
Obviously not. If you think that people are kicked out of shuls in the majority of the world for not having hats/jackets, then you should look up the meanings of “most of” or “the world” in the dictionary.
5) In fact, not one poster on this thread thus far has cited a specific identified opposing Rov, and certainly not anyone near the stature of Rav Chaim.
That may or may not be true, but WADR to R. Chaim, he is not the final word in halacha either. Furthermore, it seems fairly clear that, your assertion to the contrary, most of the world does not hold like him in this instance.
6) Even if someone of such stature is found, the disagreement at most will be whether minyan or hat/jacket takes precedance. There will be no disagreement with Rav Chaim by anyone of stature over the critical nature of a hat/jacket where possible.
But considering the fact that we’re evaluating R. Chaim’s position vis-a-vis a Pascal’s Wager approach, then we’re not discussing a “where possible” question. We’re discussion an either/or question.
The above may not suit well your American ears, but the Emes is the Emes.
Oh, my “American Ears” may be getting a bit deaf with the years, but I have no problem hearing the truth. It’s discerning what, exactly, is the truth, that’s the problem.
The Wolf
Doesn’t the word chassid used in the Sh”A refer to people who are mekayeim the mitzvos with a measure of chassidus, meaning EXTRA-devotion and are machmirim (as opposed to the way in which we use the term “chassidus” today to refer to people who follow a rebbie such as Bobov, Lubavitch, Satmar, etc.? If so, then it has nothing to do with the latter at all.
Considering the fact that the S”A was written in the late 1500s and the Ba’al Shem Tov lived in the 1700s… 🙂
The Wolf
Laining without a hat and jacket maybe muttar, but it’s like golfing without a golf club, or bowling without a bowling ball.
No it’s not. That’s a silly comparison.
You cannot bowl with a bowling ball. You cannot play golf without a club.
You can, however, lain without a hat and/or jacket.
The Wolf
Helpful,
I had a response, but the Mods apparently didn’t like it.
The Wolf
I always get so irritated when people discuss how expensive seminary is.
Yep… that’s the issue I’m facing with my oldest (on the male side). He graduates high school next year, but I doubt (if things remain as they currently are) that I’m going to be able to send him to beis midrash full time, simply for financial reasons.
The Wolf
Akiva,
The problem is that Rav Kanievsky’s position is contrary to what the common practice seems to be. It’s one thing to say “cover the bases” when it costs nothing extra or when it’s possible to do all options. However, here, you can be faced with a dilema:
It’s near Mincha time and you don’t have a hat/jacket. There is no time to get your hat/jacket and still make the minyan. So, what do you do? Do you daven alone or do you make the minyan?
R. Chaim’s position (as reported) is to daven alone later with your hat/jacket. Most of the world seems to take the opposite approach. The two, however, are mutually exclusive, which does not fit into Pascal’s Wager.
The Wolf
(Of course, Pascal’s Wager has a HUGE flaw in the logic, but that’s another argument for another time.)
I say go for it! I’ll be first in line.
Somehow I doubt you really mean that.
The Wolf
the chazon ish would vomit when he saw bochurim without beards
Source, please. I find that very hard to believe.
The Wolf
Akiva,
Is it your position then that one should always be machmir in every instance in life in order to make sure that “all the bases are covered?”
The Wolf
There is only one way of avodas hashem and that is my way. Didn’t you learn that in yeshiva? ;o)
Actually, I did.
But then again, I ended up rejecting my yeshiva’s model of Yiddishkeit in favor of a more reasonable one.
The Wolf
THEY ARE TUMAH
Pet Peeve Moment:
Nothing is Tumah. Something can be TAMEI and be a source of TUMAH, but an object cannot be TUMAH in and of itself.
Carry on.
The Wolf
I want to go to McDonald’s.
Come on?? Is that the best you can do?
If you can’t see the difference between eating tarfus and going to a hotel, then I can’t help you.
The Wolf
Why do ppl go to hotels for Shabbos Nachmu?
Because they want to.
The Wolf
Helpful,
WADR to R. Chaim, he is not the be-all and end-all in halacha. He is certainly entitled to his opinion and, if you want to follow him, you have a solid basis on which to do so — but that does not mean that his word is the end of the matter.
Yesterday, I lained in shul, twice, without hat or jacket. My rav, no slouch he, said not one word about it, nor has he said a word to me about it any other time that I lained without hat and/or jacket. If it was so clear-cut that it’s assur, then he would have certainly said something.
The Wolf
How did you fast?
By not eating or drinking 🙂
The Wolf
As a Litvak, I strongly believe there is a lot of merit to the Chasidisha dating system.
How can we go about implementing it? i.e. Bishows, etc.
Simple. Just do it yourself. Don’t impose it on the rest of the Litvishe (or any other non-Chassidic) world.
The Wolf
Men can be yotzei all shittos by simply having a beard.
And women can be yotzei all shitos by shaving their heads, covering it with a sheitel, followed by a tichel (which covers the entire sheitel) and then covered by a hat.
What? You don’t want to do that?
The Wolf
The Rabbi is sometimes powerless to stop these wanton women.
I have a hard time believing that…
I have a hard time believing that you seriously believe that a woman talking in the street is “wanton.”
The Wolf
Theres no reason why when Im walking hoem from shul I should have to dodge numerous congregations of wives in order to get to my home!
Ef,
Would you be just as mad if it were a bunch of men?
The Wolf
Wolf: Where is Goldilocks?
Don’t know. She had a run in with bears, not with a wolf.
The Wolf
Perhaps you can purchase from a Yid at a higher price, and deduct the difference in price as maaser?
Maybe. Have you asked whether or not that’s acceptable?
The Wolf
How are you Wolfish?
I have some characteristics in common with wolves. I kill old Grandmothers who live in the woods, put on their clothing and wait lying in their beds until their granddaughters (wearing red hooded cloaks, of course) come to visit so that I can tell them that my big teeth are “the better to eat them with.” Then I gobble them up.
The Wolf
“shelo shinu es malbusham” i’ve never seen a guy in a streimel.
You are aware that a shtreimel was originated by the Polish aristocracy, right?
The Wolf
Wolfish no offense but thats REALLY a strange requirement, of all things!
im no posek but from what i know it’s assur to shave. Period.
Obviously, the administration of my son’s yeshiva disagrees with you. Here’s the relevant section of the student handbook (emphasis mine):
Additionally, on certain special occasions, such as a visit by a Talmid Chacham, special Yeshiva functions and Rosh Chodesh, talmidim will be required to demonstrate proper kavod by wearing a solid white shirt and tie.
deemed inappropriate by the Administration.
The Wolf
there is no way considering the teva the RBS”O gave us not to notice.
Apparently there is, because I don’t notice these things. Seriously, I couldn’t point out a single woman (other than my wife and my daughter) whom I saw on the way to or from shul in the last few weeks — and it’s not because there weren’t any (I know because I make it a point to say “Good Shabbos” to everyone*) — I just don’t remember their faces, what they were wearing, etc.
The Wolf
* Yes, I know… some of you will feel that I’m the worst person in the world for saying “Good Shabbos” to a woman. I guess it’s a concept my corrupted little warped brain can’t handle.
Unfortunately too many don’t even understand the *concept*.
So then perhaps you can humor me and my feeble brain and explain it to me. Why is this different from girls than for boys? Was the Navi only talking to girls when he said “Hatzneiah Leches…?”
The Wolf
Some people who think of themselves as optimists should look over their posts to see if what they write is consistent with how they think of themselves regarding seeing only the good in others.
Ouch. Trying to parse that made my head hurt… and I still didn’t succeed.
The Wolf
incredulous people who won’t even grasp the issue or problem.
Yeah, like me, I suppose. I must really be an absolute rasha because I don’t believe in locking my daughter in the house all Shabbos long.
Nonetheless, I’m curious if the OP has the same issue with boys? Would it be a problem if a boy is walking around outside on Shabbos?
The Wolf
okay, it just seemed that way.
I understand.
Truth of the matter is that I have two sons. One wears a hat and jacket to davening and one does not. I don’t knock the one who doesn’t and while I do encourage the one who does, I don’t praise him to the point where it will make the other feel negatively about not doing so.
The Wolf
The Optimist will view it as half full; the Pessimist will view it as have empty.
The existentialist will debate whether the glass is even there.
The Wolf
i dont know why you feel it imperative to knock down every ideal you see posted here.
I don’t feel an imperative to knock down every ideal. I do feel an imperative to protest when someone tries to make the ideal de riguer on everyone else. But what the heck, we all know that I’m far from the ideal Yid anyway, so I suppose it’s only natural for me to go after the lowest hanging fruit.
The Wolf
wolf:
Why the extreme sarcasm and negativity? Theres a source for all of these segulos. The Gedolim from hundreds of years ago did all these segulos with the wine and the relighting the candle and sniffing the candle. Theres a reason for everything even if you dont know it. No reason to give attitude.
Ah, I see. You misunderstood me.
I wasn’t ridiculing the segulos. Heck, I put grape juice in my pockets each week too. I was stating that, in my complete and utter ignorance, I had never heard that this was a segulah. I thought it was a “practical advice” type of suggestion.
My apologies if it came out sarcastic. That wasn’t my intent. Yes, I’ve been a bit negative of late, but not sarcastic. I was merely being self-critical of my ignorance.
The Wolf
I don’t understand why ppl wouldn’t wear a jacket by davening. Would you go in front of a king w/o it?
Would you go in front of a king in *anything* but your best finery? If not, then why not wear your best clothing to every davening?
I know I’m an idiot who can’t put two sentences together cogently to save his life, but, I’ve always found that argument to be very specious. If you’re going to make the argument that HKBH only deserves the best, then you should wear your best suit, shower, polish your shoes, etc. before every tefillah. What? You don’t do that? Would you go before a king without doing all those things?
The Wolf
If you pour into an empty glass, halfway, it is half full
if you empty out a full glass, halfway, it is half empty
Old joke:
Suppose the glass is filled halfway with arsenic. *Now* how does the optimist see it?
The Wolf
Baltimore!!
To the best of my recollection, Baltimore is not within a 2-3 hour radius of New York as specified by the OP. Of course, since I’m completely ignorant, it’s possible that I’m wrong, but I don’t believe that I am in this instance.
The Wolf
In fact, the heads of both my son’s yeshivos *require* them to be clean-shaven (barring sefirah time).
The Wolf
Theres always something good we can see in another person as long as we try to and are interested in seeing good in them.
Agreed. Far too often I see people knocking people down, insulting them, calling them names, etc. rather than trying to find something good about them. It’s far too easy to shout “rasha!” at someone, but it takes far more character to find something good to say about another person.
The Wolf