WolfishMusings

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  • in reply to: Near Miss! #757169
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    English is a funny language.

    You might also ask why we talk about things that are underground or underwater when they are, in fact, in the ground and in the water.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Basic english #759081
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I am disappointing in your grammar.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Shidduchim – when you think your parents arent realistic #756896
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Know it all,

    I’m sorry… I’ve read your OP three times now and I’m *still* not sure what you’re asking. Can you please make it simpler?

    Thanks,

    The Wolf

    in reply to: HELP! Kosher Ice Cream date #757300
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    On my first date with Eeees, we ran into a bunch of her classmates at the pizza store. While it was a bit embarrassing at the time (only because we’re both not attention-seekers, not because we were embarrassed to be dating), we look back on it and smile about it today.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Lashon Hara vs. the Big Three #756714
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    You can do teshuva for any sin, including the “Big Three.” The components of teshuva for those sins are the same as for any other:

    1. Regret (and asking forgiveness where applicable)

    2. Confession

    3. Change

    The Wolf

    in reply to: bechira and the Truman Show #756430
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Truman wasn’t “incarcerated” because of HIS actions…

    Right. He was simply constrained by his reality… as we all are.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: bechira and the Truman Show #756429
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Reuvain decides he wants to kill Shimon. However, it is not Shimon’s time yet. Can Reuvain use his bechira (IIRC the Maharal) or will outside forces intervene, since it is not Shimon’s time?

    Forget Reuvain. Can Shimon commit a capital crime (resulting in his execution) if it’s not his time? Can he commit suicide if it’s not “his time?”

    Of course, the idea of “your time” is not set in stone either. One’s time can certainly be extended or shortened.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: bechira and the Truman Show #756426
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    do we also have “limited” bechira?

    Absolutely. We’re all constrained by numerous temporal, geographic, social, religious, national, physical, mental, and psychological constraints (and probably quite a few others as well).

    No matter how hard he tries, a midget won’t make it to the NBA. No matter how much they want, a person born outside the US cannot be president under the current constitution. No matter how much I may decide that I love some girl born in 1700, I can never marry her.

    So, yes, our free will is constrained.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: bechira and the Truman Show #756423
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    but was he more limited in his bechira in the beginning – as he couldn’t marry who he chose

    We’re all limited by circumstances in our lives. For starters, I could never marry someone born in the year 1700. While I could, in theory, marry someone who lived in Japan, the overwhelming likelihood is that I would marry someone in the same geographic location as I am. Just because Truman has fewer options than the average person doesn’t mean he didn’t have bechira.

    Christoff could “throw” a woman at him, but if he personally found her uninteresting, nothing could happen.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: bechira and the Truman Show #756419
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    did he have it the whole time and/or just at the end of the movie.

    He always did. As Christoff (the show’s creator said):

    “If his was more than just a vague ambition, if he was absolutely determined to discover the truth, there’s no way we could prevent him.”

    The Wolf

    in reply to: thinking #1105555
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I Cant think of any knew topics to discuss. I am getting bored of the ones that are there.

    [ Linda Richman voice ]

    The Guinea Pig is not from Guinea and is not a pig. Discuss.

    [ /Linda Richman voice ]

    The Wolf

    in reply to: how do i? #756344
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Go to:

    http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/profile/HAKOL-TOV

    and replace your username with someone else’s. For example, my profile would be found under

    http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/profile/WolfishMusings

    The Wolf

    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    If it would survive all that, for a very long time, you wouldn’t be able to intellectually call it chance. The odds of the WTC surviving all this, are greater than were our chances of survival throughout.

    Now you’re the one guilty of a false analogy.

    The World Trade Center is in one place and therefore you only have to go to one place to destroy it. The Jewish people are not in one place. Had Hitler conquered all of Europe, he could not have succeeded in wiping out the Jews.

    The World Trade Center cannot defend itself or run away. People can.

    The World Trade Center cannot learn from previous attacks. People can.

    But you’re still engaging in the Sharpshooter’s fallacy by stating that it is proof that God exists. By the same token, every single person on earth can make the same claim — after all, the odds of any one of the seven billion plus of us actually existing is infinitesimal — if any of our ancestors didn’t meet at the proper time, if any of the other of billions of sperm fertilized the eggs at *any* of those meetings, if any accident occurred to any of our ancestors before they had a chance to have kids, if any disease or accident might have sterilized them before they had children, and on and on. The odds against *you* existing are so remote that they are practically incalculable — and yet here you are. You may ascribe it to God — as do I. But that’s not proof, because anyone else can turn it around and attribute it to his or her deity.

    The Wolf

    The Wolf

    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    However, if not for our “win”, it would be over. We would, G-d forbid. And there were so so many attempts. Very very different.

    It’s not really different at all. There are plenty of cultures that have tried and failed too. The fact that we are the ones who survived is no different than the one who won the lottery.

    The whole point is that you’re looking at something improbable and saying “it had to be because of X.” It doesn’t matter if it’s the survival of the Jewish people or a person winning the lottery. The fact is that improbable things do happen, and you can’t then use that as proof for a different cause. It’s all the same — it’s seeing an arrow stuck in a tree and painting a bulls-eye around it.

    The Wolf

    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    That’s called the Sharpshooter’s Fallacy. One could apply the same reasoning to a devout Christian who prays to Jesus to win the lottery and then wins. Since winning the lottery is very improbable, it must be that that Jesus answered his prayers.

    Or not — but at least now you see why it’s a fallacy.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Pesach Segula For Shidduchim #759447
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Another segulah for a shidduch… go out on dates.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Do you charge friends? #828313
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    As a personal policy, I don’t charge family or friends for my services (photographic, tutor, bar mitzvah teacher, laining, computer repair, software education, etc.). If there is to be a huge outlay, then perhaps I’ll ask them to cover that, but otherwise no.

    That being said, there is absolutely nothing unethical about charging friends and family a fair price for your work. You are entitled to your “free time” and if working for others is going to cut into that, you are entitled to compensation for that time — so don’t feel guilty about charging them.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Avraham, are we the children that you dreamed of? #1133806
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    If I am the child that Avraham was dreaming of, he must have been having one really bad nightmare.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Why American Business Owners are Doomed #755920
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Even if she’s right that American shwarma can’t compare to Israeli shwarma, so what? If you’re in Boro Park, it’s not like she’s going to go to Israel just to get a shwarma, right?

    The Wolf

    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Or Spinoza, Aquinas, Descartes and Locke?

    Completely off-topic, but this reminded me of one of my favorite movie exchanges:

    Vizzini: I can’t compete with you physically, and you’re no match for my brains.

    Man in Black: You’re that smart?

    Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?

    Man in Black: Yes.

    Vizzini: Morons.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Being Anonymous #755902
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Although I use this nom de blog, I hold the same opinions and attitudes in real life. In fact, from time to time, I wonder why I even bother with the anonymity in the first place.

    If you were to meet me in real life, you would find that I am exactly as I am here and on my blog… except perhaps with more fur and longer canines.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: What are you grateful for today? #757469
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I am grateful for the capacity and capability to be grateful.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Females and Hitchers #755408
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf – what saftey issue is there with someone you know?

    None. The point was that the teacher *didn’t* address it as a safety issue.

    I have no problem with it from a safety issue — heck, I don’t pick up strangers (of either gender) myself.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Females and Hitchers #755402
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf – You fail to see the difference between giving a ride to a stranger and to someone you know?

    Once you dismiss the inherent safety issues?

    Actually, I do see a difference — but contrary to your point. I would think that one *should* give a ride to someone they know over a stranger.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758376
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    To protect others from a dangerous person.

    Might a purposeful suicide not be described as dangerous? A person who has no compunctions about killing himself is likely to be unconcerned about killing others as well.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758374
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf – Why did you read only the first half? I wrote except for avodah zorah.

    My apologies. I completely missed that you did, in fact, make that exemption.

    How about Lo Sisna?

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758372
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Before we go any further, I just want to make this point in bold. I said it above, but I want to make it clear lest my question be misunderstood:

    This entire discussion is not to be used on a practical level. If you, God forbid, know of someone attempting or contemplating suicide, do anything and everything you can to save him or her.

    In addition:

    I want it understood that I am not considering the fact that people who commit suicide today are wicked. It is well understood by medical and religious professionals that people who commit suicide today are probably not mentally competent as they are overwhelmed by their pain and suffering beyond their ability to reason. They are not to be considered wicked. They and their families are to be shown every compassion.

    That being said, my discussion is based on a hypothetical that may never even exist in reality (like a Ben Sorer U’Moreh according to many opinions). It’s based on a person who wants to kill him/herself while being perfectly sane and capable of rational decision making.

    The Wolf

    (My apologies. I don’t normally “shout” like that, but I wanted those points to be well understood.)

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758370
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    If a person was a true rasha why would they attempt or truly want to commit suicide? Which rasha has a conscience?

    Not everyone who commits suicide does so because they are a rasha. Hitler commited suicide and I think we can generally agree that he was about as wicked as they come.

    Yes, he did it to avoid capture at the hands of the Russians, but that doesn’t change the fact that wicked people *do* sometimes commit suicide.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758369
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    No matter what a person does, we always have an obligation to save a neshama.

    On a practical level, yes.

    Look in the gemara in Makkos (end of first perek) for examples of what lengths we would go to to try to save people who are accused of even the most horrible aveiros.

    Then how do you explain the concept of “ain ma’alin?”

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758366
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I do not mean to sound rude but I can’t believe someone even asked this question.

    That’s okay. It didn’t sound rude, but you can be rude to me. I don’t mind.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758363
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf – The gemorah in kidduushin says that we dont consider thoughts to be oiver on an avireh

    So, if someone keeps all the (other) mitzvos but, in his heart and thoughts, believes that there is no God, then he’s not committing any sin?!

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758362
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    you skipped a crucial part of my statement, i said they had not yet done the action, which is NOT the case of an ain ma’alin

    Fair enough. Assume a case where the person actually took the fatal action but was saved through miraculous means or advanced medical intervention.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758360
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    so which ones would you classify as totally mentally competent, the ones who actually intend to die?

    I acknowledged above that, on a practical level, we have no way to distinguish between the two and that, as such, on a practical level, we should try to save all potential suicides. My discussion is hypothetical based on someone who is a true potential “me’abed atzmo l’da’as.”

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Any Reason Not To Save A Potential Suicide? #758353
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    most “suicide attempts” are actually an effort to obtain help or let known to the world ones despondency and are not actually attempts to commit suicide.

    You’re absolutely right. However, I would classify those people as not totally mentally competent, and subject to the exemption in my footnote.

    And I grant you that there’s probably no way to know the difference on a practical level. The whole discussion is hypothetical.

    can still do Tsuvah

    True. But the same could be said for anyone who is in the category of “ain ma’alin.”

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Females and Hitchers #755397
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf – Maybe the teacher was reffering to when the hitcher wasn’t a stranger.

    I fail to see the difference.

    Again, once you’re dismissing safety issues, I fail to see why she should not offer him a ride (again, barring issues of yichud).

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Females and Hitchers #755396
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Wolf: Safety issues for a girl picking up a guy (and not a girl) = tznius issues. That’s the cause. Teachers teach high schol girls thought, not common sense (saftey).

    I disagree. I think that if there are safety issues, then they should be taught as such. By making it a tzniyus issue, you are encouraging people to not to chesed when it is, in fact, warranted. A young girl taught to ignore a boy shivering in the rain could just as easily ignore an old man who has slipped on the ice and cannot get up.

    Also, you don’t see the difference between giving tzedaka and helping a guy get dressed?? You know it’s not all equal

    Who said anything about helping someone get dressed? By pointing out the fact that I understood that if there were yichud issues, I thought I made the point clear that chessed shouldn’t always be unrestrained and that there are proper occasions to abstain.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Whats Your Unexplainable Fear? #1029885
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    the line “the only thing to fear is fear itself” is so true as i realized. its like waiting to get a shot. the waiting is more scary than the little prick…

    Not everything in life is as relatively painless as a pinprick. There are some things in life that are very real, very painful and very worthy of being feared.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Kamocha…Do You Actually Love Yourself? #754753
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    If I treated everyone like I treat myself, I’d be an even worse person than I am. I treat *everyone* better than myself and I give *everyone* more respect than I ask in return.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: BLUE / WHITE SHIRTS #754823
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Anyone have any idea?

    Nope I have no idea. Do you?

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Beautiful Food is Pointless #772278
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    The problem often arises when the food looks heavenly but tastes unappetizing.

    I didn’t say the taste was unimportant. I said the visual presentation was almost as important as the taste.

    Would you eat something that looked like it was chewed up, even if it was delicious? Even if you would, can you understand that most people would not?

    The Wolf

    in reply to: BLUE / WHITE SHIRTS #754816
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Kovod Habriyos should indicate one should wear white during the week too.

    I guess I have a definite lack of Kavod HaBrios since I make it a point to NEVER wear white during the week (barring special occasions).

    Oh well, I guess that’s another reason that I’m considered such a lowlife bum in some circles.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: People Who Think They're Above The Law #755536
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Me

    Law

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Females and Hitchers #755393
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    I never give rides to *anyone* whom I don’t know (or who doesn’t know a passenger in my car). I know that I’ve caught flack for this attitude on these boards before, but I don’t care… safety trumps giving someone a ride.

    That being said, I find this attitude a bit puzzling. The OP said:

    When I was in HS our teachers told us its not tzniyus to pick up boys looking for a hitch… even if we feel bad ;).

    If the teacher had said that you don’t give a man a ride for safety reasons, I could have understood it. But to say that you don’t do so for reasons of tzniyus is a bit puzzling to me.*

    Once you’re willing to dismiss the safety issues, why should the mitzvah of gemilas chasadim be any less? Would her teacher also advise ignoring a poor man and not giving him tzedaka because it’s “not tzniyus” to talk to him? Would she advise not helping an old man who slipped on the ice because of tzniyus (assuming, of course, that no one was around to help)?

    The Wolf

    * This is assuming that there won’t be any problems with the issur of yichud such as driving in deserted areas for extended periods.

    in reply to: What makes you SPECIAL? #756054
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    i think everyone thinks they are unique in they’re own way.

    You are incorrect. I am utterly unremarkable in every way.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Beautiful Food is Pointless #772274
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    What is the point of making beautiful food? Obviously food should be delicious and tasty, but it is such a chavel to waste time to beautify food, when the moment the eater puts it into his mouth he will crush it to morsels of crumbs anyways.

    Talk to any competent restaurateur. They will tell you that the visual presentation is almost as important as the taste.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Life Insurance in Torah Hashkafah #754065
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Life insurance will rob us of the zechusim of tzedoka and chessed that are so dearly need in our situation, Hashem Yirachem.

    By the same token, vaccinations rob us of the zechusim of bikkur cholim.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Collections #754614
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    “I have the world’s largest collection of seashells. I keep it scattered on all the beaches of the world… perhaps you’ve seen it.”

    — Steven Wright

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Life Insurance in Torah Hashkafah #754062
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    Areivim, by their own admission, is not an insurance plan.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Buy a house or Rent?? #754085
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    There are a lot of factors for you to consider, including your own personal financial situation, how long you plan to stay and half a dozen other things that I couldn’t think of off the top of my head.

    Consult someone familiar with your personal financial situation.

    The Wolf

    in reply to: Life Insurance in Torah Hashkafah #754027
    WolfishMusings
    Participant

    and some do not allow it.

    Who does not allow it?

    The Wolf

Viewing 50 posts - 4,101 through 4,150 (of 7,792 total)