yitzyk

A friend of mine is a Mashgiach for a large Kashrus organization, and was once sent to China. He has many fascinating stories to tell from just that one trip. One of them is very relevant as one possible answer to this question.

He visited a factory that uses cabbage to manufacture some food ingredient. Trucks come in the gate of the factory and stop near the building. A man then unloads the cabbage from the truck and carries it 20 feet to a hopper, where he dumps them in to begin the processing. He asked the boss why he doesn’t just install a conveyor belt that goes from the trucks to the hopper?

He answered that a conveyor belt would cost $12,000 and if it broke down, the entire production would be held up while waiting for repair or parts. The man OTOH gets paid $100 per month (!) and he can therefore feed a man and his family for ten years for the same cost as the conveyor belt. (No payroll tax or health benefits obviously.) And if the man should break his leg and be unable to work? The boss pointed to gate of the factory, where a few poor unemployed men hung around all day, just waiting for that to happen so that they could immediately replace him.

So ironically, in this model, people are cheaper than machines! And the factory owner is a hero for employing people instead of replacing them with machines.

There were some great tzaddikim that bought lottery tickets. Not everyone agrees, but certainly Yesh Al Mi Lismoch, so it can’t be totally assur or a P’sul.

Certainly it must have only been occasionally, because Leis Man D’Palig that buying it regularly is a waste of money.

There is a Chassidishe legend about a certain tzaddik who learned and did chessed every minute of the day. Once every few months when funds ran low, he did his ‘Hishtadlus’ by buying a lottery ticket (and winning apparently.) But I think no one today is on that level of bitachon and Melumad Binissim (a Baal Mofes).

I am not complaining, I enjoy your detailed explanations. Especially because of your profession and education, you include details that no one else would, with legal and historical reasons.

“My neighbor broke my mailbox with a screw driver.” – Shulem, you had a mailbox with a screwdriver? I can’t picture that. It’s a shame that your neighbor broke it. How did it happen?

This innocuous thread has had me laughing all the way from the start. Sorry CTL, but Joseph was funny, even though not very polite. And your response did not disappoint, at least in the depth of detail and history, even though it was modest. You even managed to get the word Grandfather in there!

And Lightbrite’s question, though innocent, just made the joke that much funnier.

All this was only funny because I knew exactly what the joke was making fun of, right from the title.

IDK why the first part of my post never made it here. I found a news report from Lakewood in October 2013 that warned about kids playing with these radios. The picture here on YWN of the radios is the same one used in that article. The title was “Kids on 2-Way Radios Interfere With Emergency Calls”.

So it is not a new problem that Hatzolah has to start telling the world about.

Ah – the age-old question that was addressed in Pirkei Avos. How did they make the first set of Tongs, without Tongs! The Mishnah teaches us that Hashem created them (Yesh Meiayin) and presumably gifted them to mankind.

Then again, even given Tongs, would you know what to do with them? How did they know to add salt to their food? or bake bread, grind wheat, or even to eat the fruit and not the wood and leaves of the tree?

Animals are born with a certain instinct for whatever they need to survive, including what type of food they eat and where and how to find it. My guess is that mankind was also created with a certain amount of necessary knowledge. It must be, because they were created as full-grown adults and never had parents to teach and care for them.

Bowls and lids were around at the earliest times of man. They are even mentioned in the Torah. I assume the other basics like rope and buckets came along with the tongs.

LittleFroggie – Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t Record the RBSO. He transcribed his words. But I had the same thought when I saw the tile.

Seriously though, if the OP still needs the answer, my son will have it. He is a ‘musicologist’, studying the origins of old Jewish music, especially anything originally released on Record.

Halevai the mispalelim would wait until the end of davening!

If someone wants to make an appeal and asks the Gabbai for permission, he is told to wait until after davening. By then there is barely a minyan left. The rest of the collectors just walk around freely. That is typical for a busy shul in the middle of Brooklyn.

Note that locking the door is not an option, because just like there is barely a minyan by the end of davening, there is also barely a minyan at the beginning. People continue to walk in late, and very late.

The saddest part is that the first 10 to arrive and the last 10 to leave are mostly the same people!! To paraphrase Shabbos Zemiros – Hameachrin Lavo U’Meharririn Lotzais…

I don’t think the judgement is necessarily applied to normal ‘poor people’.

I can picture it in a situation where you want to decide if a person claiming to be poor is telling the truth. For example:

On every Wednesday (I don’t know why specifically that day) I am faced with 20+ collectors during shachris. I cannot afford to a) give all of them a decent donation, and b) cannot interrupt my davening so many times. I therefore feel the need to dismiss/ignore some of them if possible. Almost all of them are ‘regulars’ who come every week.

There is one in particular who wears gold rings, a fancy watch, and drives a very nice car.

Does that mean I am complaining that he is ‘not poor enough’? Rather I assume he is not as needy as the other people that I choose to give my money too.

It helps that he is rude, does not know how to answer Amen and does not even know not to ask people for money during Shemone Esrei. Maybe the next CR discussion can address whether they are “not Jewish enough”!

Little Froggie: My son is an expert on Old Jewish Music. There have been so many bands in the past with funny names. I can’t name them all like he can, but a few come to mind:

Rashi and the Rishonim (The band leader was Rashi Schapiro – that is really his first name.)
Shmah Koleinu
Raya Mehemna

To The Little I Know – yes, when it comes to repairing a washing machine, you go to an expert. But when asking advice – even if it is social and not directly halacha related, one should still ask Gedolim. Their way of thinking is conditioned by all of the Torah that they learn, and their advice is what we call “Daas Torah”. That term doesn’t refer to a Halachic answer, which is a psak. It means an opinion from one who is infused with Torah.

Even when it comes to washing machine repair, you could ask your Rav (assuming you are not just wasting his time.) The sage advice he will give you would be to call a repairman! He might also point out what sins you could be doing that lead to such unfortunate breakdowns of appliances! (Today’s equivalent of stains on a Beged that won’t wash out – like Tzoraas?)

This is a quote from him:

“I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail,” he said. “There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.”

Would you say he is in for a surprise??

Borsalinos must be really cheap – many of the Meshulachim that come to my shul are wearing them…

But seriously, I have been very happy for years using Forster hats on New Utrecht Ave in Brooklyn. Cheap is easy to find, as is good. Both together is the challenge.

The same question should apply to every other piece of technology that gets outdated each year or so. Where did all the previous models of Canon Cameras go, when the stores only sell the latest models? Or Sanza Clips, iPods, Cellphones, Laptops, and everything else.

Where do all of yesterday’s newspapers, and last month’s Reader’s Digest go?

If you want to stick to Yeshivish – where are all of the giant Chosson Shas’s, Rambams, or Shulchan Orachs that were still in the old print – not from Oz Vehadar, Frankel, etc…?

Rabbi Yisroel Reisman gave a shiur on this topic a few weeks ago. His opinion is that almost all of these ‘alternative cures’ ‘are not only totally Assur, they are also completely fraudulent.

The gist of the issur is that Avodah Zarah means ‘serving’ – by attributing any power to ‘zarah’ – any being, creature, or spirit other than Hashem Echad.

So therefore, using any ‘method’ that involves tapping in to the hidden/secret/invisible/spiritual/virtual/imaginary power of’ [insert wacky name or concept here] is almost always going to be real Avodah Zarah. It might not even matter whether you actually believe in it or not, if the practitioner or inventor believes in it.

Mema Nafshach – if you believe that they have powers that don’t come from Hashem, it is Avodah Zarah. If you don’t believe that they have any power at all, then you are an absolute fool for going to them for a non-existent cure.

BTW – even if they somehow did have actual power to heal, it doesn’t make it muttar. Kishuf was also assur, even though it had real power. It came from Tamei sources. I am not saying that this exists today – just “even if.”

It depends which City. I biked to school and work for 30 years in Brooklyn (mostly just Boro Park and Flatbush), but now I work in Manhattan. Every day I cringe at how dangerous the bike traffic seems to be, both to the riders and pedestrians. There seems to be no safe path that they can ride on, having to weave around taxis, trucks, and stopped cars all over. I take the subway.

Lightbrite – who said anything about non-dairy?

I think that a different understanding of the Rav Miller’s precious advice will answer many of the issues that people brought up. I don’t think that he meant that the husband should bribe his wife. Perhaps he meant that the husband should demonstrate to her in a clear and kind way, how important this issue is to him.

For some husbands and wives, a diamond ring is a significant but attainable gift that will show the wife that the husband both loves her and very much wants to see her change the way she dresses. For others, it will take a more expensive gift, or OTOH maybe just sweet words alone without needing the large expenditure.

This understanding explains why the advice is not insulting to the wife, not too expensive to afford, or too cheap to be meaningful. Each husband had to use words and actions that are appropriate to deliver the Rav’s message – “I love you, and I just want you to realize that this is important to me.”

Here are some Interesting facts that I learned when I contacted the Dairy Counsel customer service a few years ago:

The fat percentage from Holstein cows in NY is inconsistent, and It is also too low on fat content for ‘regular’ milk. (It averages about 2.5%.) The milk cannot be used/sold as-is. While typical household consumers might not mind, manufacturers need to be consistent.

Therefore ALL of the fat is removed from the milk, and then added back in with precise amounts to form the different types of milk. Thus, the milks are all identical in vitamins etc… The ONLY difference is the fat content.
Regular milk has 4% fat
Low-fat (aka ’99’) milk has 1% fat
Skim milk has no fat.

So if you had just regular and Skim milk in your fridge, but wanted Low-fat, you could mix 3 parts skim and one part regular and get what you need!

Don’t confuse Hesped and Tachanun. In Nissan, we do not fast or make hespedim, and also don’t say Tachanun.

In Tishrei – from after Succos, there is only a minhag not to say Tachanun because most of the month already past without tachanun. Hespeddim and Fasts are still practiced.

I am just saying what I learned from the Mechaber, Remah, and Mishne Berrura. I am not claiming to understand it – is it in fact Rov?

I always buy talis koton’s with the Thick tzitzis. They are thicker than the pathetically thin regular ones, which rip too easily.

Not as thick as a Tallis Godol but definitely noticeable if you plan on tucking them in. I switched over long ago when I looked at the thin tzitzis and felt like a baby. Once I switched I felt more proud of the mitzvah.

Mystery solved, thanks to Google.

“The phone rang one day and I was asked by one of Uncle Moishy’s sons to create a new cartoon mascot character of Uncle Moishy. ”

From there on it was taken over by a ‘Marketing Company’ so basically it is the same singer (with a white beard) we all know and loved, with some over-the-top rebranding. “New” refers to his new CD and his new Avatar.

Meanwhile, getting back onto topic. I too, like iacisrmma, arrive early to Shul. I try to be helpful when I see strangers looking for a seat, to direct them to available seats. It is a very difficult task because our shul is usually quite full. The Gabbai has to know exactly who is not going to be coming on a particular Shabbos or Yom Tov.

One of the difficulties I have is that there are people who consistently come very late, but sometimes not at all. Their empty seats are an enticing draw for otherwise ‘homeless’ (seat-less) guests, who inevitably end up sitting there. I am always torn with the indecision whether to tell them that the seats are reserved and potentially look like a mean idiot when no one else comes to claim the seats, or to say nothing and then painfully watch when the rude seat-owners show up late and ask the guests to leave their seats. By that time, there are usually absolutely no other seats available.

I have on occasion given up my own and my son’s seats and stood in the aisle in order to rescue guests from the embarrassment of this banishment.

It bothers me greatly, but I basically said it all right at the start, when I mentioned that I always come early to Shul. Obviously I might be unhappy with people that do not care enough to ever come on time, but especially if they are mean to guests as well.

I just got a new laptop to replace a very old 15.3″ and I opted for a 17″. I never carry it around, it is my home computer so I figured that I might as well enjoy a bigger screen size.

Things to know, (now that I learned them):
– the actual size difference between a 15″ and a 17″ is not that much. It is a diagonal measurement, so while the area and hypotenuse might be much bigger, the width and height are not.
– Far more important than size of the screen is resolution, color depth, or other quality factors. My 15″ was an expensive Dell, while my new 17″ is a cheap HP. There is simple no comparison – the smaller screen was so much sharper and clearer.
– I like the 17″ size because they typically come with a larger keyboard – specifically the separate number keypad. Nevertheless, on my cheap HP they still managed to skimp on the keys and mushed some of them together and skipped the dedicated F-keys. I have to press Function+number to get an F key. OTOH – My 15″ Dell had all of the desired keys in the usual locations.
– A 17″ might be too large for many laptop bags, briefcases, or other carrying devices. It might also be too heavy too lug around.

All in all, if the quality and everything else are exactly the same and you don’t need to transport it, I highly recommend getting the largest screen you can. More and more computer use involves pictures and videos, as opposed to the old days of just typing documents and reading emails. Plus, Your eyes are not getting younger, and you might some day appreciate the larger fonts and screen real estate.

My picture of the eclipse is not saying “Look – here is something that you can’t see anywhere else”. It is saying “This is what I myself saw, enjoyed, and was part of.”