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IMHO – there are many factors that may sway the advised halacha or haskafa in each specific situation.
Yes, I can clearly see that there are situations where a smartphone/ipad/e-reader might be much better than a regular siddur. Some examples that have been suggested above:
– someone with poor eyesight that can use the app to greatly enarge the text
– when you need to say a special tefilla and don’t have access to a printed text, or even regular davening,
– a newly frum person that does not have instructions on what to say when, can use certain apps that automatically insert or delete appropriately on special days.
– maybe even in the dark
That having been said, I strongly believe that whenever possible a person should NOT substitute a smartphone for a siddur. Besides that the Mishna Berurah discusses the preference for a siddur that is printed by Yerei Shomaim over one made by goyim, there is a much more practical issue – I have witnessed with great disgust numerous occasions where people using smartphones in shul instead of siddurim did things that no frum person should ever do. It comes from holding the yetzer hora right in your hands during davening:
– I hope that no frum person would pull out a newspaper and start reading it in shiul, just because he finished shemone esrei earler than everyone else. Yet I have seen too many people on phones do exactly that by looking at the news. Even if they are only looking at YWN, it is not any better in this context.
– No normal person would set up a desktop or laptop computer on the table in plain view of everyone in shul, and start browsing dell.com to shop for the latest computers. Yet I have seen a person do precisely that in middle of davening.
– It is inappropriate anytime, anywhere in shul to look at youtube videos, yet I have seen people looking and even showing their neighbors videos, whether in middle of davening, laining, or not.
– Some (rare) siddur apps block incoming texts and phone calls. But most don’t. I don’t think that I have to explain how I have seen people reading and responding to texts, and answering phone calls IN MIDDLE OF SHEMONE ESREI!!!! I am not even referring to those idiots that don’t have their sound turned off.
– I have seen people play games on phones in shul, in middle of davening, speeches, or just in shul at all.
All of these show an extreme lack of even the smallest iota of yiras shomayim and kovod for the tefila and bais hakneses. Boruch Hashem I still feel that it bothers me. To too many people, this has become so common that they no longer even see what is wrong with it. This is affecting the younger generation ever worse. Once the older people tolerate it, the younger people take it for granted that it is ok.
To put it very simply – an interview with the King of All Kings, Supreme Ruler of the entire world, is not a trivial thing. It requires preparation, respect, and your full attention. Your phone is a big distraction at best, and a should be turned off and put away. Show Hashem that you care enough to give him a few minutes of your time and attention!!
Although B’dieved we can rely on Pogum after 24 hours, we don’t rely on it Lekatchila. So if you know for sure that an item is refurbished, or the box and packaging looks like it was previously opened and resealed, and especially if you see food specs and other obvious signs that the item was used and returned, you should not buy it and return it if you already did.
Just my opinion, which everyone is entitled to. I am not a kashrus rabbi.
I don’t mean anyone specifically in this thread, and I don’t know if it qualifies as being a Jerk specifically, but I see it all the time and it bothers me. People come consistenly late to shul, spend precious few minutes actually davening, and then rush out before it is anywhere near over.
There is someone at my minyan that comes at the same time every day, 7:05 to a 6:45 AM shachris, and he is gone by 7:20. It probably takes him the whole 15 minutes only because he is learning daf yomi while he is davening.
Meanwhile I come early and have to struggle to have enough time to say everything (with at least minimal Kavanah) along with the minyan. I usually stay long after the minyan ends sat 7:30. And yes, I work for a living and have a family.
I get the most upset when I see people flaunting the Kovod of the tzibbur and minyan publically. Just this past Shemini Atzeres, our minyan started davening (Brochos) at 8:00. Someone walked in the shul at 8:55 carrying a coffee in one hand and his tallis under his arm. Even though we were already past Borchu, He proceeded to talk to people right in middle of the shul. At 9:25, as we were saying Hallel, he was still standing there wearing his Streimel, not yet even putting on the tallis. He showed no interest in what was going on around him.
Interestingly, this same person, when he davens by the Amud, takes three times longer than any normal person can stand, streching out every word unnecessarily and singing ling songs between each sentence. Maybe he has a different sense of time.
Popa – it might matter if you promised to bring ‘this dog’ to service, or just said ‘I promise to go with a dog.’ Or did you promise to bring the previous one, and then said ‘this one should be instead of that one’?
In case you want to send him to services without you, I saw a minivan in Manhattan with a sign on the side that said “Canine Car – Taxi for Dogs”. I took a picture.
When you were little, did they call you Puppy?
I admit ignorance here. The joke was funny even for the normal definition of Service Dog, adding the nuance of the ‘exchange for another dog’ and the dual/triple meaning of ‘service’.
People may have misunderstood the question as to if any regular service dog can come to services, but I don’t know of any other meaning than the official definition – A service dog is a type of assistance dog specifically trained to help people who have disabilities including visual difficulties, hearing impairments, mental illness, seizures, diabetes, autism, and more.
I think we are all better off if you DON’T explain what you think he meant.
BTW – I believe that a Guide dog is the same or maybe just a subset of the general term ‘Service dog’. “Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. Examples of such work or tasks include guiding people who are blind”
popa – you are hilarious!
Is it Kelev Yisroel?
On a somewhat more serious note, why would any Rabbi even try to ban a blind mispallel from coming inside a shul with his service dog? There is surely no halachic issue, (other than the humorous ones proposed by Rav Popa) and these dogs sit quieter and behave better than many mispallelim.
I never heard one talk during davening, or get a phone call.
I know someone that has one, and I davened at the same Mincha minyan with him many times. One time the dog was quietly hiding under the table, and someone carelessly pushed a chair in on the opposite side of the table, and hit the dog with the chair legs. The dog jumped and looked very unhappy, and for a moment I thought he would attack the Shor Hanogach. But he never made a sound, and his owner held him back by the handle (or whatever it is called) and he calmed down quickly.
Getting back to original topic (I mean the misleading title one, not the actual content)
There is nothing wrong with …
Eating a bag of Potato Chips
Saying Tehillim (by heart only)
Singing out loud
Listening to torah tapes (or CDs)
Listening to your children
Paying attention to the road
and driving a car ..take it from me.
I can’t speak for the safety of some of the other things people try, like:
putting on makeup
watching TV on a dashboard screen
talking on a phone (especially handheld)
Eating messy food two-handedly
Rabbi Yisroel Reisman spoke about this one year before Pesach. He used a special industrial thermometer to test the temperature of various ovens on Self Clean mode.
Whereas the old ovens used to get to 900 degrees, which is certainly enough, many of the newer ones DO NOT reach that high. Some of them only got to 700 degrees, which is NOT enough for Libun Gamer.
Footnote – he also tested the temperature right at the gas burner, and actually broke the thermometer. It was MUCH higher than even a self-cleaning oven. Maybe around 1400 degrees! So another option for the Cast Iron pan is to put it on the burner (or across two burners) and keep rotating it every 12 minutes or so until every inch of it (top and bottom) has become red hot for a moment. Unlike a Mikvah, kashering can be done an inch at a time. Make sure you use pliers or heat-proof gloves to move the pan around. This can cause very bad burns.
I don’t have a self-cleaning oven, and I have kashered pans and stove grates this way many times. More recently though I just ask my neighbor if I can add my grates into their oven when they self-clean it.
BTW – as far as Youtube ‘testimonials’… As everyone should know (though you probably have to be slightly more intelligent than the average US citizen,) you should not trust anything you see or read on the internet.
There are numerous youtube videos ‘proving’ hundreds or things that are totally false, bogus, baloney, faked, and impossible.
If you don’t believe me, you probably still think you can unlock a car door with a tennis ball, or use your keyless remote over a cell phone…
That might make a good CR topic – wacky internet claims ‘proven’ by youtube testimonials!!
And just to set the facts straight, I just did a youtube search for ‘Rabbi Kimmel’. I found 45 videos praising Rabbi Kimmel, and not even one against him. But a slightly more careful look shows that ALL 45 videos were posted by the SAME PERSON – his Gabbai (or maybe former Gabbai), Moshe Handler, all about the same time, around two years ago. So how convincing is that? They are from an Eid Echad, who was as Nogeia Bedavar as it gets. Thus, the simple answer to a question “why are there so many youtube testimonials” – it is called media advertising and it generates business. If there are a lot of ads for a product, it does not in any way mean that it is a good product.
The question was if someone who needs help can/should go to him to get advice, a brocha, or an outright miracle.
Whether or not he has ‘supernatural’ abilities does not entirely answer the question. It depends on where it comes from, and how it is used.
I ask my Rebbe advise all the time. I am not aware that he has any such mystical abilities. But he knows a lot of Torah, and gives me clear well-thought out practical and intelligent answers. And its free.
It also depends on what type of person you are. I know someone that went to Rabbi Kimmel and was very impressed by his advice. To me it sounded ridiculous and useless, but to him it was like a bas kol. He was told to change all of his Mezuzos because they have ‘brown spots’ on the parchment. Sure enough, they did! I asked a sofer, and he told me that 90% or mezuzahs have them and they are 100% kosher. But even after hearing this, my friend was STILL pleased with the advice he got. He said to me (seriously) “You see! – Rabbi Kimmel knew that I had the spots, and he EVEN knew that I am the type of person that would want to be makpid to get mezuzohs without them!!” And yes, he actually changed his mezuzohs.
If you are a person that PREFERS supernatural and mystical advice and methodology, maybe you can go there to get some. I am not passing judgement, but to me that would seem nonsensical and meaningless. He would probably know that about me as soon as I walked through his door, and either throw me out, or maybe give me practical advice instead. If I could afford it, that is.
Note – Generic statement, not specifically about Rabbi Kimmel: Rabbi Yisroel Reisman has warned people not to go to any ‘mekubal’ that tells you to bring along your wife’s kesubah or other such important documents etc… Some of them like to find invisible problems with them and say that you can’t have good children or whatever because of that. Rabbi Reisman claims that it is wrong to passul or to create a re’asah or doubt about such things. For example a pesul on a kesubah which applies lemafreiah, for a couple that have been married for many years!
Of course I heard of him. I have even seen him on the street, as his office is near my house. The question is “has he helped anyone”. That no one seems to know.
Everyone seems to say the exact same words about him – “He ‘knows’ things!” – whatever that means. That does not necessarily mean he can give brochos or even good advice. Google also ‘knows’ things.
I also know that he (or maybe his Gabbai etc…) charges quite a hefty fee for his precious time – around $360!! My niece (a single girl) went to him, and could not pay that steep amount. She offered $20 and was given about ten seconds of his time – literally. Then she was thrown out (probably not literally.) Ont the other hand, they may have felt that she was not serious and was actually just wasting his time.
Nevertheless, I try to avoid passing judgement on him without any specific evidence. Maybe the right people are being helped by him.
Personally, I would not waste my time and money though. Rabbi Yisroel Reisman is very vocally against any young ‘Kabbalists’, and SPECIFICALLY Rabbi Kimmel. I suppose He has a bad story or two, but he is not on this forum, so please don’t believe them or repeat them unless they happened to you or your family.
If you go back far enough, there was a time when children all knew the entire Tanach. And if you go back to the days of Shaul Hamelech, what was the expression – from Dan to Be’er Sheva they all were proficient in even the complex sugyos of …?
Wow, so much detailed information and meaningful responses. I am humbled, and almost not worthy of sticking in my 2 cents. But I can’t resist. I am not trying to argue with any previous psak, I really just intend to provide technical information:
1. The term ‘Water Fountain’ is generic, and could mean many things. Most of the responses here seem to be referring to what is actually a ‘Water Cooler’. In other words, just a ‘fountain’ could mean a dispenser with a faucet, like you find in NYC parks. No electric whatsoever. If so, in New York City, where we have good water pressure and there are no pumps involved, a simple fountain with non-electric valve (whether it be a faucet, button, bar, or lever) should pose no Shabbos issue, other that the filtering question that exists in many homes. And if unfiltered, another set of shailos, albeit not having to do with Shabbos.
Although it is not found in NYC, I imagine that there might be places that need a pump to provide even plain water at any pressure, whether it be from a holding tank, or even a well. (Maybe in a bungalow colony?) That could be a shaila too, but really has nothing per se to do with a water fountain, as it would apply even more commonly to a household sink.
2. Once you transition into the realm of Water Coolers, there are many different types. Some modern ones are completely electronic, including a dispenser button. Clearly a problem.
3. On the simpler water coolers that are either fed by municipal water pressure, or a gravity fed spring water bottle, there is usually a holding tank that is kept cold. The process of dispensing water is typically completely non-electric, and does not directly activate anything. When the warm new water enters the tank, it could trigger the thermostat to turn on the compressor. That is an indirect action, but is certainly agreeable to the consumer. So the question would be if it is considered a Psik Reisha or not. One thing I think not mentioned by previous posters, is that it really ought to depend on the size of the holding tank, the quantity of water that you are removing (and thus replacing with new uncooled water) and the temperature of the newly entering water. Some coolers do not turn on until many cups have been removed. Furthermore, there might even be a purposeful delay built into the thermostat to extend the life of the compressor (preventing it from turning off and then on again too soon.) This could all change whether it is a Psik Reisha or not.
Niskatnu Hadoros. What the Noda BeYehudah felt was so poshut that even schoolchildren know, is totally unknown to many Jews today.
I hear them daven by the Amud sometimes and cringe.
You can’t just make one fork. You have to make one for Milchig and one for Fleishig. You have to look in the seforim to determine what colors are kosher for each one.
Then you can debate if ABS plastic utensils need tevila.
I noticed that Rashi in Taanis quoted a Tosafos!!
So I did Google it. and I still have no idea what it is. None of the links found had any pictures.
On shabbos, you can peek at out of the corner of your eye as you sing “Tzur Mishelo”.
If it dies R”L, you can say “Hatzur tamim Paolo” at the levaye.
You can give it ground coffee for breakfast.
Name yours ‘5 miles’, then tell everyone you walked 5 miles today.
I think you meant that the literature is kosher enough for you. There was no questions of whether Holmes was Frum. He wasn’t even Jewish!
With any literature (even 100% Jewish books) there is always the issue of Bitul Torah. A Frum Man should be focusing his time on Torah and mitzvos, not wasting it on reading books (or posting on YWN.) Except in between, for a few minutes here and there when you need a break.
Vus Epes an Onion?
The phone number for Tanurei Yerushlayim (Jerusalem Ovens) in Israel is: (011) 972 545 512-800. I don’t think they speak English, so if necessary have a translator call for you.
It is probably too late to get one in time for this year, but since this post was started last year and is still going, it is likely that it will still be seen next year, or someone may take down the number now, to buy one next year.
You can probably find one of his shiurim with them on Kol Haloshon. Why not get them straight from his holy words, instead of from here?
Technically, it is still coming from the internet, but you know what I mean.
The two approaches depend on what you are trying to make. If you want a real matzah bakery, just portable and small scale, you need a real gas-fired oven. Twisted’s idea sounds like an electric skillet (think of a crepe maker at a fancy wedding). Similarly, you could look for a table-top electric ‘dutch’ oven, which may barely be enough if you just want to demonstrate what a matzah looks like at a show, kiruv meeting, or for a classroom. The results might not necessarily be baked fast enough to actually be kosher l’Pesach.
I don’t know the actual amount, but I just called the shul’s office, and they gave me the following information:
The place we bought it from last year is now advertising publicly. It is called “Tanurei Yerushalayim”. They are available in two sizes. It comes with both orifice valves to work with Propane or Natural gas. If you order it enough in advance, they ship it by boat from Israel. Otherwise, it has to get sent by air.
My shul bought the larger one last year, and had it shipped by air. The shipping was about $800, but I have no idea how much the oven was. Maybe it was 2 or 3 thousand. It is not really complicated, and might even have been much cheaper than that.
It is a well made serious oven, not a toy. I helped them transport it, assemble it, set it up, and used it with them last year. We had it on almost the lowest temperature it could go, and it was way hotter than a pizza oven. The oven floor has stone plates, and the oven body has a domed roof to concentrate the heat, just like a brick oven. It is an excellent choice for any Matzah bakery, and the small one (though I have never seen it) might be good for a portable set up too.
One warning though – the heat underneath and around the oven gets dangerously high. Don’t go putting one of these in your basement, on your wooden deck, or anywhere NEAR anything meltable or flammable. That does not mean you cannot use it indoors. We used it inside a storefront. You should be fine as long as you put it near a door or window, have fans and plenty of ventilation, and most important, the floor under it must be concrete, metal, stone, or something equally heat proof. We ended up laying down cement boards (aka. wonderboard) under it (after the vinyl tiles melted!)
Also (just as a curiosity) it consumes propane faster than a normal BBQ grill. The small 20lb cylinders are not designed to release the gas so quickly, and they froze up. So we had a few and alternated them. It was just interesting. We also kept the tank in a tub of water, but I am not sure what exactly that accomplished. It probably helped insulate or defrost them?
My shul bought a steel matzah oven from Israel. It could easily be mounted on a trailer or pickup truck. It is fueled by Propane tanks. You could also probably put wheels on it. It is a very simple steel box design, on four steel angle-iron legs.
It depends on what type of metal and how much you have. The market also fluctuates. Steel is only about 15 cents per pound. Other metals are worth more. Copper for example is sometimes $2.50 per pound. Benson scrap metal next to the Gowanus canal pays better than Cropsey. I hope you have a few hundred pounds!
Take out the matching screw from the opposite side (or from another cabinet.) Go to Corner Hardware in Brooklyn, on Nostrand Avenue near Avenue I. They have the “Hilman Fastener System” where there are hundreds of different screws and other hardware in little drawers. You can put just one screw into the supplied bags, and write the part # on the bag and take it to the register. I have found dozens of rare screws this way over the past 11 years, since I moved near them.
They used to have even more, but unfortunately, they recently reduced their inventory to save space. Other stores that used to have the same system eliminated it due to shoplifting losses.
I once put a bag of onions into the fridge by mistake. In just a day or two they become soggy and spoiled.
By the logic proposed by WIY, it might be okay to kill a cat if it bothers you. I am not paskening anything, just observing the logic.
I think it is quite clear from many gemaras (once again I am not giving a psak,) that straight forward killing an animal is not “Tzar Baalei Chaim.” That is only for causing pain or prolonging a slow death.
The question is ridiculous! A simple ‘Yes it is Ossur for a number of reasons’ would clearly answer it, but why would anyone even ask it in the first place?! It is so obviously illegal.
Imagine going up to the Customer Service desk of a store to return the merchandise, and the clerk asking ‘Why are you returning it?’ The honest answer would be ‘I only bought it to make money on my credit card, I intended to return it all along!’
Are you going to ask us next ‘May I lie when answering the question?’