Romach

Choice of Words

2008-03-06T15:29:00.003-05:00

Recieved the following today from a yeshivish relative

"FWD: fwd: Terrorists infiltrated yeshivat merkaz harav and have killed at least 7 yeshiva boys. Please say tehillim and please pass the message around......."

Quibbles:
1) Jews, not yeshiva boys. Maybe even Israelis (though that may not be entirely accurate, but it would include Druze, who are also Israelis).

2) We haven't had many attacks like this lately, thank god. But I don't recall a txt message saying "10 killed in disco..." or "10 killed on bus..." Maybe text messages weren't as fashionable then.

No, I don't think there was a conscious intention behind 'yeshiva boys.' Maybe it makes it all the more tragic that young people were targeted. If it had been a kindergarten, saying "7 children were killed" would be fine, so why not yeshiva boys? Nonetheless the words stood out.

Advocating Assasination

2008-03-06T00:41:00.009-05:00

Update: The video/title/summary don't even tell us when this was from. Would appreciate any further info.

Update 2: My referring to R. Schachter as 'Schachter' everywhere but the first instance is not meant as disrespect, more out of how journalism is sorta done nowadays, or at least my impression of it. I have incredible respect for him and have heard him speak and enjoyed learning from him on many occasions.

Update 3: I'm still having thoughts on whether or not to leave this post up. But I was sent the link and it has nearly 400 views, so I assume it's getting around. Might as well have a place for a good honest discussion/clarification. What's wonderful about this internet thing is that everyone can (and does) comment in some way, contributing to a great discussion which usually, though not always, helps clarify issues. So for now it remains up.

Update 4: I should also note his tone does make it sound like a joke (however tasteless and unfunny). I'm putting the laughter down to 'whatever the teacher says is funny'

This video of R. Schachter 'advocating' assasination of the prime minister if he were to give back Yerushalayim has begun making its way around the Internet.

A 39 second clip is hardly enough to derive context. A more complete (and honest) video would have the question or some more comment before and after to provide context (did Schachter say 'someone might say as a joke...[begin clip]?). That comments and ratings were disabled fuels my suspicion that there's something missing (does YouTube disable comments and ratings, or the uploader?)

Schachter has said things in the past which, when taken out of context, caused an outcry. Assuming the context is as it seems though, a few comments:

1) [removed the part on disobeying orders. not germane to the real topic.]

2) Assasination: There's a possibility that some lunatic will take Schachter seriously, culminating (God Forbid) in the assasination of another Israeli Prime Minister or cabinet member. How much of that lunatic would be due to Schachter and how much due to others advocating assasination (nutjobs or not) would be up for debate. To a not so small extent, such a thing is like painting a target around an arrow you've already shot.

But when you say something, you should expect it to be repeated, whether you asked for it to be kept private or not. And if you're a public figure you should expect to be taken out of context. Which doesn't mean you should never say anything, but don't be surprised when something you do say causes an uproar.

Was what Schachter said irresponsible? Perhaps. I don't have the context (and would love a link to a complete transcript or clip). But I wouldn't take the comment seriously. If Olmert announced Israel was giving up all of Jerusalem and Schachter had a gun and opportunity, I doubt he'd pull the trigger.

3) The poster 'ConcernedYUStudent' - Some are attmepting to blame him, he shouldn't have publicized it, shouldn't 'air our dirty laundry' the same arguments we see time and again, be it embezzlement, failed school system, sexual molestation, whatever. If you say something publicly, expect it to be repeated publicly. Not just within your small community but in the world at large. Those who cling to the ghetto mentality that nothing is repeated outside of our four walls are at best living in an alternate reality or at worse fools.

What his/her motives were I don't know (I encourage him/her to email me, all info will be kept confidential), an attempt to smear Schachter? Genuine concern? Did he approach Schachter first? Or does he genuinely believe this is the best way to approach the issue?

Also keep in mind that attempts to place blame at the feet of ConcernedYUStudent should also look at Schachter for the same argument. 'YUStudent was wrong but let's not talk about Schachter' doesn't work. And shouldn't.

Push push push

2008-03-02T23:34:00.002-05:00

Jerusalem Post is reporting that Hamas is reaching out for a cease-fire, not having expected such a large response by the IDF. Which makes you wonder if they've been reading the news about a buildup and training.

This seems to be a recurring theme, see the Second Lebanon War as a previous example, with Nasrallah saying they'd never have kidnapped the soldiers had they known such a retaliation would take place.

Which means now is not the time for the IDF to let up. Now is the time to push Hamas to the wall, to show that they really mean business, to wound them in such an amount that it'll take years to rebuild their ranks.

Former Skinhead turned Chareidi

2008-02-23T19:15:00.001-05:00

Interesting article
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/957136.html

Bone Marrow - Scam?

2008-02-13T21:08:00.002-05:00

Its been quite a long time since I last blogged. I wonder if anyone's actually reading this.
Anyway...

In the last two days I have received an email seeking out a supposed gentleman who is a bone marrow match to an alleged someone else who needs bone marrow.

A quick search of "Nahum Almagor", the person's name, turns up many sites discussing and forwarding this email, including blogs.

I think its a scam. I've emailed GiftofLife and will post the gist of any response received. I think its unlikely (just based on my assumptions) that GiftofLife or any other medical organization would so violate someone's confidentiality that they would list name, last known address and phone number along with birthday. Then again, I got the same information (name, address, phone) from someone who was going to help me secure a $5m inheritance from his now dead father, overthrown by rebels...

Ha'edah Responds

2006-12-14T09:24:00.000-05:00

Ha'Edah has responded with an editorial assailing those who went to Iran for the "Holocaust Conference." Read the JPost article here. Shmuel Popenheim, editor of Ha'Edah, and author of the editorial claimed that these fringe members account for 25 people worldwide and are out to sully the Eda Hareidit's name.

Quote from Israel Hirsch, one of the 25 fringe members:

Asked what he would do if forced to choose between joining the Arabs in a war against Israeli Zionists and defending Zionist Jews, Hirsch replied that he would join the Arabs.

"All Jewish Zionists, whether they call themselves religious or secular, are apostates who have cut themselves off from the Jewish people," he said.

Popenheim responds:

Popenheim said that he, too, was virulently opposed to Zionism and agreed in principle with Hirsch that Zionism was equivalent to apostasy and rebellion against God. But he said that there was no justification for joining forces with Arabs or Iranians against Jews.
"If I saw an Arab terrorist trying to kill a Zionist Jew, I would shoot the Arab," said Popenheim...."We have to pray to God that he will hasten the demise of this impious sovereignty in a way that no Jew is hurt in the process."

All Day Rush Hour Traffic

2006-12-13T15:13:00.000-05:00

This article on CNN is pretty stupid. It claims that by 2030, NYC will not have enough electricity to meet its needs, that there will be so many people that rush hour traffic will last all day.

Umm...hello? The electricity bit? Well, they assume the population will continue to grow, but that no new power plants will go online. At the same time, they assume many of the older power plants will be shut down. If that's not a recipe for a skewed observation, I don't know what is.

Ditto for roads. More people and more cars, but not more roads. And presumably, the number of people who can telecommute to work (that wonderful internet thing) won't increase. Gotta love "massaged" numbers.

The article raises good points, about how NYC needs more power plants, more housing, etc. Of course, ideas like deregulation or reforming rent control and housing laws are out of the question. They also ignore that little thing called...the market.

See, the way it works is this: If people have to spend more than x hours in traffic, they just won't go to work. So what will happen? Businessess will relocate outside of Manhattan. They'll hope over the bridge to Jersey.

The real argument is that, in order to continue growing, NYC needs to invest in infrastructure. But they don't tell you that. NYC will continue to exist period, and I doubt it'll fall from 8m inhabitants to 2. It just might not grow as much. But they don't make that argument. They really do say people will be in traffic. All day. Idiots.

Vomit Alert

2006-12-11T21:50:00.000-05:00

Apparently some folks, dressed like Jews, have decided to attend the Holocaust Denial Conference in Iran.

While the caption doesn't state which sect these "Rabbis" are from, if I had to wager...
And the shot is from Reuters. Its telling that when I saw this photo I actually believed it, despite its origin from Reuters, an agency not exactly unknown for falsified news...

And yet people still wonder how I wonder if I could actually daven with someone like this. You tell me, if one of those six was the tenth man at your minyan, what would you do? After vomitting, of course.

[Update: And the third from the right, he really gets me.]

Calling Elderly People by First Names - Respect v. Obligation

2006-12-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Mt. Sinai, a shul in Washington Heights, is a rarity. Members comprise two main demographics, post college and young adults and people who have been in the shul for 50 years. There are a few people, but not many, in between.

What about the Board of Directors? The same. There are people on the board who are in their 70s and 80s, others in their 20s and 30s. The older board members have been members of the shul longer than the younger board members have been alive.

How to address the older members? The simplest case is a formal board, where everyone is addressed by titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., etc). But what if the older members call the younger ones by their first names. Is it proper for the younger members to do likewise?

The thought of calling someone 50 years older than me by their first name is scary. As it is, I call anyone older than me sir or ma'am when I'm on the street. Nonetheless, the younger shul members should call the older ones by their first name, indeed, they may have an obligation to.

Why? A name is a powerful thing. We're more embarrased by forgetting a name than we are of a birthday or school attended. If I can't refer to you on the same level you refer to me, if you're in my personal space but I'm not in yours, you have an advantage. An important one. You also have power over me. You refer to your shul rabbi as Rabbi not just because of kavod haTorah, but because it helps the Rabbi maintain his authority, it keeps a wall between the two of you. One which the Rabbi can breach at times, but you can not.

A board member's responsibility rests not towards the other board members, but to the shul and its members. Each board member has the obligation to bring their full faculties, opinions, and views to the table. To push for what they think is right for the shul. If other board members put a wall up, if they're in your personal space but you're not in theirs, you can't do your job fully or correctly. You violate your obligation to the shul.

Pragmatic concerns enter the equation as well. Rocking the boat your first day is a bad idea, and calling an elderly board member by his first name might lead you to your being sidelined. But the default should be using the first name, unless there's a very good reason not to. And then, let him or her refer to you by your last name too.

(And yes, this was a discussion I had, last shabbos. Of the 12 people at the table only one agreed with me. Let the onslaught begin.)

Stolen II - Checkbook

2006-11-21T11:06:00.000-05:00

Unknown to me, my knapsack contained a checkbook. The friendly individual who stole my knapsack then proceeded to write himself a rather large check, and cash it.

Luckily I had overdraft protection.

Yesterday I filed a police report, closed that account, opened a new one, filed a fraud claim with the bank, put an identity theft alert on my credit report and ordered a new credit report monthly, along with immediate notifications on any change, for the next 6 months.

I'm sure there'll be more to the saga soon. Hopefully, once this quiets down, I can start blogging again.

Stolen

2006-11-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

By now you're all wondering where I've been. After all, I said I would begin posting, and its been almost a week and a half since my last post. So where have I been? Where are all those posts I promised?

Good question.

Y'see, on Election Day I donated blood. While I usually take my knapsack with me (the blood drive was at school), this time I left it in the waiting area, where I could see it if I did turn around. Which I did, numerous times. Sometime between finishing the blood donation and eating oreos and apple juice, someone walked off with my knapsack.

Inside the knapsack, as you've already guessed, was my laptop. Luckily there was nothing important on the laptop (aside from aforementioned blog posts), though I am somewhat bothered by losing two notebooks and a really old, much loved and worn, fleece sweatshirt. The last is what I'm actually most upset about. I also lost my copy of "The Wisdom of Crowds" - which provided an interesting window into how we view halacha.

So, those blog posts will be back soon. My new laptop arrived today. Like my last, its a Thinkpad.

Health Reports & Kashrus Reports

2006-11-05T01:34:00.000-05:00

With the whole 5Towns VAAD and Gourmet Glatt scandal going on, I came up with a great idea.

Kashrus reports.

Nowadays, walk into a restaurant, and on the wall is a City/County/State certificate with the most recent inspection date and a message that, if you want, you can ask and see the most recent health report.

Imagine doing the same for kashrus. You walk in and say "I'd like to see the latest kashrus report." The owner gives it to you, or the VAAD does. Cmon, they inspect these places all the time too. What's wrong with a little transparency?

Except of course, both the restaurant and VAAD, both businesses, gain from the secrecy. When it comes to media wars like the Gourmet Glatt story, they can each point the finger, without divulging any evidence.

Victor's Justice

2006-11-05T00:36:00.000-05:00

Later today, a court in Baghdad will hand down its verdict in the trial of Sadaam Hussein. Does anyone really think he might be acquitted? And if he is, does anyone really think they won't get him on some other charge? C'mon, the laundry list of accused crimes is so long, he'll hang for something.

That's just victor's justice. From the moment he was captured, Hussein was destined to die at the gallows, or in exile, or in jail. He'd never be free to walk the streets of Baghdad again.

That should scare us. Using kangaroo courts to convict someone. But he deserves it. Maybe its good, that even when someone like Hussein deserves death we give the pretense of legality by running a trial. Or maybe we should be even more scared. Sorta like Nuremberg.

Justifying Protests/Rioting

2006-11-05T00:31:00.000-05:00

I had an interesting discussion over shabbos with a couple of friends of mine.

Yerushalayim has seen rioting over the last several days, all due to the upcoming Gay Pride Parade. The question was whether or not the rioting was a chilul hashem or not.

On the one hand, they're rioting/protesting (to an extent, the difference is in the eye of the beholder) against a chilul hashem. On the other hand, well, they're rioting.

Like many other things, whether its a chilul hashem or a kiddush hashem is dependant on how its executed and for what purpose.

Jealousy can be good or bad.
Taking a life can be good (soldier in war, self defense) or bad (murder).
Protesting can be good or bad.
So can rioting.

In my mind, the question was how the riots were being conducted. Were the rioters thinking "We're doing this for God" or just to blow off steam? And I don't mean by the majority, I mean were even 5%, or the original rioters, doing it for God. Mob behavior can lead the majority to do it for venting purposes, but its the instigators I'm looking at.

The second question was the impact the protests and rioting would have. Would the parade be cancelled? It seems like it might be, so maybe the rioting had a purpose. While the cost benefit analysis must be done a priori, that the protests and riots were successful still gives some validation.

The last question was the impact the protests and riots would have *on ther rioters.* In a manner of speaking, the successful cancellation of the parade would be seen as an act of condoning rioting. With the other (objectively inappropriate) riots, the case of the father who killed his newborn daughter, Ponovich, etc, maybe we should push for a zero tolernace riot/protest policy.

Whether to protest (with the aim or substantial likelihood of riots) the gay pride parade or not is a difficult question. By no means is it black or white.

Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'm sure this will engender some discussion and some outrage. I hope to further refine my thoughts over the course of the week.

Hashgacha Violates Halacha

2006-11-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

David commented:

Are you suggesting that breach of contract isn't a halakhic problem?

In a manner of speaking it isn't.

Read the Vaad's letter. The Vaad states that there have been serious halachic and contractual violations. They're the ones that make the distinction.

Had the contract violation been, in their view, a halachic violation, the last paragraph should read that getting a second hashgacha, in addition to being a violation of its contract, also violated halacha.

Of course, explaining to someone that getting additional hashgachot violates halacha, especially in a world where the more hashgachos, the more titles given to the rav and mashgiach, and the more machmir you are the better, might require a bit more nuance than most people are willing to accept. Not to mention a good poker face.

Vaad HaKashrus Contract

2006-10-31T21:54:00.000-05:00

Presumably many readers are familiar with the Vaad HaKashrus of the Five Towns. Like most, politics has reared its head on more than one occasion. Many also know about Gourmet Glatt, a kosher supermarket in Cedarhurst. On Friday, the Vaad terminated their supervision of Gourmet Glatt. Some background (I'm sure there's more on other blogs) - a couple of weeks back, GG was caught repackaging meat. Not packaging meat that wasn't kosher as kosher, at least not to my knowledge, but just repackaging (perhaps so it seemed to come from a different kosher slaughterhouse/company).

The Vaad sent out the following, scary letter:

The Vaad Hakashrus hereby notifies the community that we have terminated our kashruth supervision of Gourmet Glatt....A unanimous decision was made after the review and confirmation of serious halachic and contractual violations over time. The Vaad had attempted, on numerous occasions, to persuade Gourmet Glatt to rectify these situations but violations continued to occur. The Vaad Hakashrus bears the responsibility of maintaining the highest standards of kashruth. Our Vaad has acheived a reputable standing for its kashruth standards, integrity and reliability. To allow any lowering of these standards would be an abrogation of our rabbinic duties and responsibilities.
[skip paragraph]
Gouret Glatt's acquisition of a second Hashgacha, in addition to being a violation of its contract and policies with he Vaad, is an affront to the unity of our community. When there is one universally recognized and accepted Hashgacha in a community, the kashruth stnadards are clear to all. When one store takes on multiple hashgachot on their premises, then there is a threat to the uniform standards we have all worked so hard to achieve.
[bold indicates emphasis added]

So let's get this straight; Gourmet violated halachic and contractual matters. But, the only thing we hear about in the letter are the contractual ones?! Seriously, the Vaad has more credibility dealing with halachic than legal issues, if Gourmet violated halacha, as the letter says, tell us how or why. But don't group halachic violations in with contractual ones and only tell us about the latter, especially when the former are more important.

I fear the Vaad is upset that Gourmet brought in a second hashgacha. As well they should be, it is troubling. But if they're going to hurl accusations, support all of them. Not just the secular legal ones.

Update: Discussion over at OrthoMom

Yawn...Stretch...Back

2006-10-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

Hey guys,

So I'm back. I have lots of things to talk about, which I'm sure one or two of you will want to hear.

Stay tuned....

BIG Announcement & a Meme

2006-09-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

Ok guys, here goes, the reason I haven't been blogging lately.

www.SwapNotes.com

Its a project I've been working on with a couple of friends (including another blogger). For those who have been to YUMesorah (which I was also involved in), this is a bigger and better version. Upload your notes and exams, rate your courses and the files for those courses. Add new professors, courses, etc. There's lots of fun to be had.

Think of it as the Facebook for class notes. A huge social networking site, 3,400 schools in all (so far) with the aim of having notes for every class in the country.

I'd like to invite you to join. You don't have to be a student. Professors and those out of school sign up all the time. You know what, let's turn it into a meme.

I tag Nephtuli, CWY, Krum and OrthoMom to say 5 things about the site. What they like, recommendations, etc. So check it out and pass it on.

Nuts, Life, and Sins

2006-09-16T20:33:00.000-04:00

I was thinking of going out of my way to eats nuts this Rosh Hashana. After all, the gematria of egoz is 17, which is only one off of 'chai' - or life.

A few bloggers know why I haven't been blogging lately. I hope to have an interesting announcement soon, and then to resume my regularly scheduled pace of posts. Stay tuned...

5 years later

2006-09-08T01:27:00.000-04:00

The 5th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks are coming up. CNN has just announced that they will be airing their original September 11th coverage, beginning 8:30am. You can watch it free online. More info here.

I think the footage should be shown more often. Hearing the voices, watching people jump off the WTC in vain attempts to save themselves, watching the buildings fall, reading the stories, seeing pictures of NYC plastered with "Missing" posters, all of whom were, in reality, already dead, is tough and can bring anyone to tears. But it serves as a reminder of the world we live in. Something we should never forget.

Blessed Union of Souls has a mix of "I Believe" in memory of 9/11. Throughout the song you hear radio conversations and telephone calls, including one cut off as a plane crashes. Shivers go down my spine whenever I hear it. I won't even begin discussing the memorial concert that was held soon after, where it seemed like every surviving firefighter and police officer was in attendance.

One moment that will forever stick in my mind occured the first Friday following the attacks. I was on my way home for Shabbos, awaiting the next train from the LIRR. In front of the main ticket center for the LIRR, sat a man, a firefighter. In full gear. Covered in ash of the building and his friends. Helmet half on, face partially obscured. Back against the pole, slumping with his legs out in front of him. His face empty. Dozens approached, some trying to thank him, others asking if he was ok and could they get him something to drink. Only when one woman touched his shoulder and said 'thank you' did he even stir.

Come Monday, CNN will allow us to go back in time. To look outside and remember that Tuesday morning, 5 years ago, when hundreds of firefighters and police officers rushed to their deaths, when people stayed behind to help their friends and paid with their lives. The clear blue sky that was soon marred with death.

Mixed Messages

2006-08-30T00:08:00.001-04:00

Camp is over and the kids are back in shul. Having grown up in a dying Jewish community, I was always one of the youngest in the shul. When I was a teenager it was rare to have a 2 year old running amok, and at times I've had to do a double take when I see a sea of children in shul. Its very nice.

So last Shabbos, I heard an adult telling his son that his davening had improved greatly over the summer at camp. Reinforcement is great. He even repeated himself to make sure the kid heard. When did he tell him? During aleinu.

Blogger Trouble

2006-08-30T00:08:00.000-04:00

Sorry, been having some trouble with blogger lately...seem to have gotten it fixed

Basil Herring's mistake

2006-08-21T01:33:00.000-04:00

I found this story to be more than a little troubling. Basil Herring, executive VP of the RCA urged the IDF to re-examine its rules of war, given the fact that Hezbollah uses human shields to protect armed personnel.

Herring implies that the IDF should just go in, if a few more civilians are killed, well, that's the price that is paid. "Our traditional sensibilities tell us that it is not right to risk the lives of our soldiers to minimize civilian deaths on the other side," says Herring.

Why am I bothered? First, its not clear that anyone over the border in Lebanon is our enemy. And we do risk our lives to minimize deaths on the other side all the time. Surely Herring isn't saying we should just carpet bomb Lebanon or Gaza, killing tens of thousands to save the life of one soldier. Or maybe he is. But of course, when dealing with sound bytes, you always get an extreme statement, nuance is impossible. I don't hold his quoted statement against him.

But that's irrelevant. What Herring doesn't get, the point he's missing, the fact be hammering home along with all those in public positions is simple. Human shields are not civilians. Willing combatants? Also no. Legitimate targets? You bet.

Artscroll Biographies

2006-08-18T16:47:00.000-04:00

Many, including myself, have criticized the whitewashing that Artscroll engages in when they publish a biography of a rabbi. However, note the following:

Why else do we read fiction, anyway? Not to be impressed by somebody's dazzling language - or at least I hope that's not the reason. I think that most of us, anyway, read these stories that we know are not "true" because we're hungry for another kind of truth: The mythic truth about human nature in general, the particular truth about those life-communities that define our own identity, and the most specific truth of all: our own self-story. Fiction, because it is not about somebody who actually lived in the real world, always has the possibility of being about oneself." --Orson Scott Card, Introduction to Ender's Game

Read as fiction, perhaps artscroll biographies are very useful...

Bleg: Displays

2006-08-17T00:25:00.000-04:00

I'm in the market for a new computer monitor. My current one, an AOC 19" CRT is beginning to fail. Only four years old, a slight drop it took in my recent move may have had something to do with it.

So, I'm on the market for a new monitor, an LCD. I'm shying away from widescreens, and plan on eventually getting 2 LCDs. Any suggestions? Important things to me include a height adjustable stand and ability to watch DVDs or movies without ghosting or colors bleeding out/fading (particularly dark ones). I'm mostly using it for word processing, but most LCDs are fine for that.

19/20" is fine. Forget about price, I'm trying to gather information and then I'll look at price after.

Thanks.

Give Olmert Time

2006-08-15T18:25:00.000-04:00

I haven't been blogging much, nor have I been reading blogs. So I can't really comment on what's out there, whether people are happy with the ceasefire or not.

I'll just point out a couple of things:

1) Disarming Hezbollah isn't that important. They'd remain as a political party, in fact if not in name, and if they ever controlled Lebanon they would have control over the army there. What's important is stopping them from attacking Israel, carrying out kidnappings and launching rockets.

2) Every peace/ceasefire carries with it a price. We don't really know if peace with Egypt was worth it, because we don't know how many lives will be lost in the next war (if, God forbid, there is one) or how many were saved because of the peace. Similar idea here.

3) France is sending troops, and the head of UNIFIL has asked for increased authority to deal with Hezbollah.

Olmert may have screwed up, he may not have. But give him some time. Imagine if UNIFIL is transformed, if they do the job that the Israelis would have done if they didn't have hands tied behind their backs. If Olmert succeeds in making Hezbollah an international target, instead of an Israeli one, he'll have done all of Israel a huge service.

Funeral Sensitivity

2006-08-08T10:34:00.000-04:00

Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, the Chief Rabbi of the IDF, was thrown out of the funeral for Yehuda Greenfeld, who was killed defending Israel. Perhaps its just the difference in Israeli mentality, or that some soldiers aren't the best politicians (its hard to argue with a gun, there's no need to be nice) but his response strikes me as inappropriate. The same for the Yesha Council [I doubt the Greenfeld's care about the Yesha Council's objections, what the council sought to accomplish is beyond me.]

After being thrown out by Yehuda's sister, who shouted that he (Weiss) was responsible for throwing people out of Gush Katif, Weiss replied in an interview: "They humiliated me. You can say to a person in the most humane and cultured way in the world, 'Please get out of here,' but to do this in front of a crowd of people - this is [tantamount to] murder."

First, don't make comparisons to murder at the funeral for a soldier killed.
Second, someone should have done their homework to find out if Weiss was even wanted at the funeral.
Third, and perhaps most important, the sister just lost her brother. Someone who she grew up with. Presumably, those who lose close relatives aren't exactly in the most rational state of mind. A little sensitivity on Weiss's part is called for.

What should he have said? "Losing a loved one is difficult, and I can't imagine the stress what Shoshi [Yehuda's sister] is going through. I apologize for any trouble my presence caused, and met only to pay my respects, and those of the country, at the funeral for one of our young men, struck down in his prime, by Hezbollah terrorists."

How many have NOT been killed

2006-08-07T15:17:00.000-04:00

Things have been pretty hectic lately. I took the MPRE, the professional responsibility (read: ethics) part of the bar exam. Yes, an oxymoron. Plus moving, and Tisha B'av, suffice it to say last week flew by. Blogging should resume shortly.

I came up with a great idea. There are tallies of how many Israelis are killed, how many Lebanese. But we should have a tally on how many Lebanese have not been killed. Qana went from 52 to 28, and earlier today, the Lebanese Prime Minister lowered his previous statement from 40 to 1.

So Israel has not killed 63 people, a rather substantial percentage given the total number of Lebanese dead, and an even greater percentage if you count purely Lebanese civilian dead.

Hezbollah Rocket Update

2006-07-24T15:51:00.000-04:00

First we heard that Israel had destroyed over half of Hezbollah's rockets (5000-6,500)
Then we heard the number was closer to a third (3,300 - 4,500)
Now we hear that its over 2,000 - approximately 20%

Using the latest number, along with the 2200+ fired at Israel, Hezbollah has used or lost between 33-40% of their rocket supplies.

Wow

2006-07-21T16:48:00.000-04:00

Hat tip: Ezzie

Pictures from the funeral of Yonatan Hadassi
Powerful movie on suicide bombing

And, courtesy of Gil, a copy of the picture from Drudge, a soldier, in tallis and tefillin, davening with an artillery piece in the background.

Good Shabbos.

[Update: Courtesy of AddeRabbi]

Eruv Psychosis No More

2006-07-21T12:42:00.000-04:00

Oh well, it seems http://maalot-eruv-psychosis.blogspot.com/ is down. Serves the guy right. I sent him an email asking a couple of questions, which he did not reply to. (S)He did reply to a friend of mine, and if I can get permission I'll post the discussion.

Washington Heights Eruv - Again

2006-07-19T16:19:00.000-04:00

A blog dedicated to the eruv, and attacking those who were involved in its construction.
http://maalot-eruv-psychosis.blogspot.com/

Perhaps someone will volunteer to rip this one apart too? While words like "ruffian laity" and "baryonim" are not exactly indicative of someone interested in discourse, such insanity must sometimes be refuted.

[Update: See Jeremy Ginsburg, who ripped apart the previous email. Some of his posts on the subject, I, II)]

Economics

2006-07-17T02:07:00.000-04:00

Chalk this one up to being very tired...
The "Drum" light on my laser printer just started blinking. The drum usually needs to be changed every 20,000 pages (as opposed to the toner cartridge which gets changed every 5-6,000). My drum has about 1,900 pages left on it as it begins its third year of life (I print much more than the average law student, but even I'm shocked of the 10k page/yr average).

Here's the fun part:
New Drum: $152
The toner cartridge that comes with a new printer: $60 (on this printer at least)
Brand new printer: $200 (expensive because of duplexing. I can't stand printing on one side of the page)

Gotta love it.

The Morning After

2006-07-16T14:54:00.000-04:00

No one has addressed the question of "What Next?" Before anyone claims that its premature to ask, let me explain why that day is closer than it appears.

Canada, which first supported Israel, has now suffered the deaths of five [update: eight] of its citizens due to an Israeli air strike on Tyre. Regardless of whether the dead were carrying guns, funneling money, or just tourists, it will be hard politically for Canada to give Israel the backing it has until now. As airstrikes continue, the likelihood of other citizens, including Americans, being killed will increase, and will put pressure on others to blame Israel and call for restraint, despite the reality that the deaths are Hezbollah's fault.

Even if Canada and other countries stand fast, as they should, the next stage will be here pretty quickly. Hezbollah had an estimated 10-13,000 rockets. Hundreds of those, though less than a thousand, have been fired at Israel. Presumably the IAF has destroyed many more. As time progresses, those launching the rockets will be killed, patterns of launch will emerge, and Israels ability to detect and prevent rocket launches should rise. Those who coordinate the firings will slip up, be identified and eliminated. Hiding spots in Southern Lebanon will be neutralized.

With no ability to resupply, air, sea, and land cut off from foreign countries, Hezbollah will soon run out of rockets, or the means to launch them continuously. The situation will "normalize." Note that this makes it even more likely that Iran is using Hezbollah as a smoke screen. Its scary to think that Iran is willing to sacrifice Hezbollah, but why shouldn't they? Once they have nukes, the puppets aren't needed.

As a byproduct of success, once Hezbollah's infrastructure has been damaged and missile stores depleted, the world will pressure Israel to stop bombing. So either way, soon Israel will stop. With or without the soldiers returned. Lebanon can only take so much before its a no mans land filled with burned out wreckage.

Everyone wants to focus on today. Its where the action is, its fast paced and adrenaline filled. But it paralyzes us. There's no need to think, or no ability, when you're bombarded on all sides with the same news, over and over. The names change, the number killed change, but the story is the same. There are a hundred stories on every missile strike but not one asking the important question "What happens tomorrow?"

Neturei Karts and Minyanim II

2006-07-16T13:25:00.000-04:00

Last week I asked whether or not you would daven at a minyan where there were only 10 men, one of which was a member of the Neturei Karta. I happend across the Neturei Karta article on Wikipedia, where they list some of the Orthdox Jewish organizations which condemned the NK for holding a prayer vigil for Yasser Arafat as he lay dying in France.

The group included: Anshei Sfard; Satmar; Bobov; Emunas Yisroel; Ger; Belz; Bnei Yehuda, Nitra; Vizhnitz; Munkacz; Vien; Klausenberg; Torah Vodaas; Novominsk; Torah Temimah; Chasam Sofer; Kiryas Joel - Monroe; Puppa; Young Israel of Brooklyn; Cong. Shomrei Shabbos; United Lubavitch Organizations of Crown Heights; Kamenitz; Agudath Israel 14th Avenue; United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg; Boro Park Jewish Council; Debrecin; US Friends of the Eda Haredit; Lakewood Yeshiva.

And what did they say? (emphasis added)

Their joining in vigils and 'prayers' for the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat [may his name be blotted out] with Jew-haters of all manner, is an outrage that we cannot ignore and will not forgive. We again demand that rabbis and community leaders of all communities ensure that members of this group are refused entry to all houses of prayer. These nefarious associates of Jewry's enemies have unfortunately again succeeded in their crazed hunger for publicity and are being depicted in local and international media — outfitted in their religious attire — bewailing the impending demise of a mass-murderer — side-by-side with Palestinian Jew-haters. The shame and embarrassment to decent religious Jews worldwide is unbearable.
...
We repeat: this contemptible and minuscule gang of traitors to Judaism, were decades ago barred from our Synagogues and communities. Their refusal to abide by the pronouncements of religious and lay leaders of our communities has made them persona non grata.

Guess that answers my question.

Zealots and Incentives

2006-07-16T00:20:00.000-04:00

Pinchas is the paradigmatic zealot. As someone else pointed out (the link escapes me), Chazal don't really like zealots. So what is a zealot? Why should a zealot like Pinchas get such a great reward? We frown on vigilantism, indeed an orderly society can only exist if people obey the law, and that includes how the law metes out punishment. Maybe that's why Chazal don't really like zealots.

A zealot operates outside of the law. Law is imperfect and has trade offs. In American law, if you lose your case in court, you have a certain amount of time to appeal. If you don't appeal, the judgment is final and you're out of luck, even if you have new evidence (I'm discussing civil trials). Likewise in halacha, after beis din convicts someone for murder, the witnesses can't turn around and say "We lied. Don't kill him," even if they were lying and are now telling the truth. Society has tradeoffs, and though law tries to fit as best as possible, at the edges inconsistencies remain.

In fact, according to Roget's Thesaurus, a synonym for zealot is "visionary" or "dreamer." Noticing the injustice, the visionary seeks to correct it. When that's not possible by acting within the law, and when the issue is important enough, the zealot goes outside.

With that we can understand why the zealot deserves such a great reward. The zealot takes the ultimate risk when acting - there's no net, no one to back him up. If he's wrong, he'll be ridiculed at best, killed at worst, and history will not treat him kindly. There's a huge downside, which can only be matched by a large upside. We need zealots, and so, we reward them greatly.
But too many zealots are bad as well. Luckily, the average person examines the downside and not the potential reward. So the number of zealots is mitigated, first not everyone has the vision or desire, and those on the border may not want to risk the enormous downside of their actions.

Lebanon: "Hezbollah's Grave Tactical Mistake"

2006-07-14T19:16:00.000-04:00

From YNet:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Senior told CNN television that "Hizbullah made a grave tactical mistake" when it decided to kidnap Israeli soldiers, adding that the group didn't make the decision on its own.

Seniora said Israel's military operation is an opportunity for the international community to solve the problem of Palestinian refugees which has existed since 1948. (Ynet)

Apparently there's a nice split within Lebanon. Hezbollah on one side and at least some members of the government on the other. Recall that the Lebanese ambassador to the United States said that he supported a prisoner swap, and was promptly recalled by Lebanon. Maybe this is the opening we've been waiting for, the one that can be used to disarm Hezbollah and have the soldiers returned.

Comment of the Day

2006-07-14T19:08:00.000-04:00

S. in response to Harry Maryles:

Harry (regarding the Vatican):

"But don't write them off. They have been remarkably positive in their relationships with the Jewish people ever since Vatican II which has lterally turned 2000 years of Church animosity and hatred of Jews on its head."

I see it as scraps. I'm not a dog. The Protestants don't give a damn about the Vatican and didn't need Vatican II to begin to unlearn historical bigotry. It was very nice of the Vatican to visit the second half of the 20th century in the second half of the 20th century. I'm not particularly grateful for it. They haven't put themselves in the black yet.

Noticeably Quiet...

2006-07-14T14:50:00.000-04:00

are the Neturei Karta.

Break Fast Meme

2006-07-14T11:59:00.000-04:00

I was tagged with a meme by CWY, what did I break my fast on? Before responding, I just want to state something - I think all bloggers should continue with their normal blogging, in addition to what they're blogging about regarding Israel.

Anyway -

I broke my fast on pizza and potato borekas. I broke with the usual family tradition of orange cake.

I'll tag David and LamedZayin

Thank you Canada, ah, the French

2006-07-14T11:44:00.000-04:00

The glorious French President, Jacques Chirac, had this to say earlier today:

One can ask oneself whether there isn't a sort of desire to destroy Lebanon. I find, honestly, like most Europeans, that the reactions are completely disproportionate.

I guess one could also ask if there isn't a sort of desire to destroy Israel. Luckily, we don't ask such questions of Hamas and Hezbollah. Apparently Chirac missed the part where Israel, and the UN, said they want Hezbollah disarmed. I wonder, does France sit on the Security Council? Did they have a hand in passing that resolution calling for Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah? But not all hope is lost, Chirac gave a balanced view. Regarding Hezbollah he said: "These people are totally irresponsible." Thanks for clearing that up.

Canada however, joins the small but growing list of Israel Defenders.

"But Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, speaking on Thursday night, described the campaign of bombing and rocket attacks on power stations, bridges, roads and militant bases as a measured response resting on the right of self-defense"

Hat Tip: Reuters

Thank you Senator, Take a Hike Vatican

2006-07-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

Senator McCain told CNN this morning that Israel's response was not disproportionate. Israel's response is similar to what the US would have done. Hat Tip: JPost
(trying to find the CNN transcript).

I for one will be sending Senator McCain a thank you email for his support. You can do so as well by filling out the form located at: http://mccain.senate.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=Contact.Home

In other news, our Roman Catholic friends chastised Israel today. "[T]he Holy See deplores right now the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and assures its closeness to these people who already have suffered so much to defend their independence." and ""The right of defence on the part of a state does not exempt it from its responsibility to respect international law, particularly regarding the safeguarding of civilian populations." Both of the above come courtesy of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

The Vatican, like many other countries, ignores a major issue - what would Israel (or another country) need to do in order to act responsibly? Israel has dropped leaflets in Beirut, warning those near Hezbollah centers to get out. Should Israel invade, forcibly remove everyone, do their bombings, and escort everyone home? Assuming they could do that without being attacked for "forcible population transfers."

So, let's hear it? What should Israel do? How many missiles can Israel launch per rocket from Hezbollah? Nu? I'm waiting...

Dating & Ethics

2006-07-13T16:08:00.000-04:00

Here's the scenario: A couple has been officially dating for a while, none of that "I didn't know we were exclusive" stuff. A while later, she decides to go on a date with a third party, just to see how she feels about the relationship. (I'm using the girl as an example because guys are usually the ones to ask girls out, the importance of which will be shown shortly). The clincher? She doesn't tell her boyfriend or the guy she's using for the one date.

Problem?

Assuming you believe that she can do this, without telling her boyfriend, I find it very troubling. Essentially she's going out on a date with a guy under false pretenses. On some level she's really stealing his time and money. With no hope of anything coming out of it. The date is to see how she feels about her relationship with her boyfriend, not to begin a relationship with someone new.

But what if he asks her out? Even so, he's assuming she is single. If the girl was married and some guy asked her out, would it be ok to say yes just because he asked? Far from it. By agreeing to go out, she intentionally misleads the guy into thinking she's available (this is why I used a girl as the example, it seems easier to understand that a guy asking out a girl is projecting that he's single and available than a girl who is going out on a date).

I know of people who have done this, and I just think its wrong. If you're having problems with your relationship or have questions, deal with them in a mature way. Its rather egotistical to think that your time, needs, and questions are important enough as to justify wasting someone else's time. Not to mention lying to them.

Surely people will advance other justifications, that its been done before is probably the most common. Just because something has been done before and will be done in the future doesn't make it morally or ethically correct. It just means you're abdicating your responsibility to think to whatever society deems correct. Do you really want to do that?

The New York Times at it Again

2006-07-13T15:30:00.000-04:00

Leave it to the New York Times to selectively print news. In their latest article, they detail the:

-Destruction of Lebanese infrastructure
-The miles of lines that await those who wish to cross the border to Syria,
-The tourists who are stuck due to the Israeli blockade.
-Interview a man who claims his cousin was killed during a bombing.
-The $4b loss Israel will cause Lebanon because of lost tourism

On the Israeli side:
-Government spokesmen, including Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz
-Information on the 120 Katyusha's launched into Israel
-No interview with the family of the woman killed in Nahariya
-No interview with the families of any wounded
-No interview with anyone at all, just publicly released statements.
-No interview or information on tourists watching rockets rain from the sky
-No talk of the billions of dollars Israel stands to lose from rocket attacks across the country

Makes me wonder if Steven Erlander, who contributed to the article from Jerusalem, actually got off his tuchis to do some journalism today. Or if he just used Google news. Hassan Fattah, who wrote from Beirut, definitely did a great job.

Criticism Begins

2006-07-13T09:43:00.000-04:00

"Greece expresses its serious concern and is intensely troubled," Antonaros said.
"It is vital, to stop the (situation) worsening, Hizbullah must immediately release the soldiers taken hostage," he said. "At the same time, Greece calls on the government of Israel to avoid the use of excessive and pointless force which cannot provide a solution to the problem."

Hear that Israel? Don't attack Hezbollah, don't target their weapons or militants, even when they send rockets into cities to purposefully attack civilians.

How they can say that with a straight face is beyond me

War

2006-07-13T01:20:00.000-04:00

It should not come as a surprise that Hezbollah attacked Israel yesterday. The attack, even if it was unsuccessful, would have accomplished numerous goals for Hezbollah. Hezbollah showed solidarity with the Palestinians, something which helps their public image. Additionally, if Hamas was about to release Shalit, this gave a breather, not to mention a possible loosening of pressure that Hamas was facing. Last, and perhaps most important, Hamas threatened to overtake Hezbollah as "the" people fighting Israel. Hezbollah has been quiet, Jihad and Hamas have not. They needed some publicity. And now they have it.

And so the war has begun. What started yesterday with the killing of 8 soldiers and capture of two others continued today with a barrage of Katyusha rockets, which killed at least one and injured a dozen more. More rockets are sure to follow.

But now the scenario is different. When Fatah controlled the PA and Hezbollah was just a militia group, the governments had plausible deniability. Hamas and Hezbollah could be castigated publicly while approbated privately. But no more.

You could have argued that Lebanon couldn't control Hezbollah, that the PA couldn't control Hamas. But that argument doesn't work now. Its not a different faction attacking Israel, its the government. Of the Palestinians. Of the Lebanese.

Imagine a lone gunman comes over the Canadian border, shoots up a school and is killed or escapes. Surely you can argue that its not the fault of the Canadian government. Now imagine a hundred tanks come flowing over the border. Tanks of the Canadian army. With Canadian generals, and maybe a government official or two. Is it anything but an act of war?

We now have the governments of the Palestinians and the Lebanese actively attacking Israel. Remember Hezbollah is part of the government now, just like Hamas. They aren't just bad mouthing, not only inciting. Granted, the Lebanese recalled their ambassador to the US, presumably because of his public statement that he supports a prisoner exchange. His words were telling - "They have prisoners. *We* have prisoners." Not Hezbollah. Not a militia. We, the government. The government Hezbollah is part of.

So when the Lebanese cry, we should tell their government to reign in their forces. The forces loyal to the members of their parliament. Assuming Israel lets their government live.

Right to Die

2006-07-12T16:50:00.000-04:00

Abraham Cherrix, 16, has cancer, Hodgkin's disease to be exact. Last year he had chemotherapy, which left him weak. But his cancer has returned. Instead of going back for more chemo, Abraham went to Mexico to try an alternative treatment, a sugar free, organic diet and visits to a Mexican clinic. The tumor in his chest has since grown.

The state is trying to force him into chemotherapy, which his (American) doctors advocate. The family wants to allow him his alternative treatment. The parents may lose custody of Abraham, who has told the judge he doesn't want to go through chemo again.

The family's lawyer makes the usual argument, though he's wrong:

"I don't think any family in the commonwealth would be comfortable with the fact that a social worker with no medical training could make a medical decision for their child...It's an assault on the American family."

So if his doctor, who has medical training, said he should have chemo, that wouldn't be an assault on the American family? Do these doctors in Mexico have medical training? Or are they just running a clinic based on holistic approaches?

If an assault, it would be an assault on the American family regardless of whether doctors or social workers decided he should go for chemo. That the state is interfering in the parent's decision (the child, a minor, really doesn't have much say) would be the assault.

But I'm willing to bet most people think this isn't a bad move. Should parents who want their child to have a protein-less diet be allowed to starve a baby to death? Should parents be allowed not to vaccinate their children? We recognize the state can get involved, especially when it comes to children.

Oh, and does the family have any medical training? Just because they love Andrew and have watched him grow up doesn't mean they are any more competant to make medical decisions. In fact, I'd say they're less competant. At least the social worker deals with this on a daily basis with many people. Andrew's family has dealt with him, and that's it.

2 more

2006-07-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

It will be interesting to see how the world reacts to the two soldiers recently captured by Hezbollah. According to the "international community" the Palestinians have at least some justification, Israel is occupying Palestinian land. But according to the same community, including the UN, Israel isn't on any Lebanese land. Shebaa farms, which Hezbollah claims is Lebanese, is really Syrian, even according to the UN...

Update:
United States:
"Hezbollah's action undermines regional stability and goes against the interests of both the Israeli and Lebanese people" -Condoleeze Rice

Germany:
"Irresponsible new escalation" and urged their unconditional release. -Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner

England:
"We condemn this morning's infiltration and rocket attacks by Hezbollah on northern Israel," said a statement by Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells. "We are particularly concerned by reports that Israeli soldiers may have been kidnapped or killed"

Japan:
"I understand the anger of the Israelis," Koizumi said in joint press conference after his talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "But I hope you will not seek an eye for an eye and keep in mind the importance of peace." --Japan's Prime Minister (I guess we'll see if they launch a pre-emptive strike on North Korea)

France:
"I condemn the rocket strikes this morning on the town of Kiryat Shmona. I also condemn the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and I ask for their immediate and unconditional release" --French Foreign Minister

The French added some stuff about a "cycle of violence" where "civilians" would be the "first casualties." The usual drivel. But we'll see how they change their statements over the next few weeks.

Screwed Up Children & Adults

2006-07-11T15:35:00.000-04:00

If you took the time to analyze your friends, you'd probably realize that not all of them are really thought out. Some just go with the flow. Friends watch TV, so they watch. Same with concerts or school (some say that law school is where people go when they don't know what else to do and want to push off life for three more years) and with religion, personal relationships. Others are very well thought out. They know what they do and why. They might be cool and calculating, impersonal or just be hard to approach. Some advocate "tough love" and others become all lovey dovey.

My theory is that people who are screwed up are more likely to be well thought out that your average run of the mill person. A child who grows up in a normal household, two parents, nothing exciting, goes to yeshiva his or her entire life, followed by college, never really faces any pressure to think things through (at least until the Israel Flip Out occurs). After all, if your biggest crisis is which toy you're getting for Chanukah you don't have much reason to mature.

But, if parents are divorced, or God forbid deceased, or a sibling or close friend died, it forces the child to deal with different, and difficult, realities. How do you balance spending time with parents who despise each other, and fight or bad mouth each other in front of you? Or, due to problems at home you grew up going to schools where you stayed as a boarder at some total stranger's house, a new stranger every few years.

When you're forced to compete, you improve. Likewise, when you're forced to confront difficult scenarios you have two choices; either become a hermit or become mature. Children from "stable" homes with "normal" childhoods don't face the same issues as others, at least not until Israel or college. So they end up being better thought out than others, or at least get a headstart. The same troubled children are also more likely to be screwed up, but that's for another day.

Eventually the gap narrows. Israel and college are probably great equalizers. But I'm willing to bet that the initial difficulties leave imprints on the messed-up child's development which even adulthood has trouble erasing. Look at the number of abused children that go onto become child abusers themselves. Or troubled children who have problems socially as adults. I don't know of any studies one way or the other, but it seems to make sense to me.

Quick Poll

2006-07-11T00:59:00.000-04:00

You're at a minyan where there are only 10 men. One of the 10 is a member of the Neturei Karta. Do you stay and daven? Or do you walk out? For convenience sake, we'll say he's a prominent member, and not someone just born into it who knows nothing else.

I had this discussion with David a few months back, but never posted on it.

Do you stay or do you go

Being a Lefty

2006-07-11T00:50:00.000-04:00

I'm left handed. The few things I do with my right hand include throwing a frisbee and using scissors. Righties, take a scissor and try cutting with your left hand. You can't, not to mention it hurts a lot.

When I was a child, my mother bought me left handed scissors (which I still have) and a left handed ruler. She bought them in a store at the World Trade Center. The latter had the inches and centimeters going from left to right instead of right to left, and broke. More of a gag gift than anything else. I've been trying to find a replacement but haven't been able to. But the scissors, those were great. Imagine using scissors with your left hand! No pain. And the scissors cut! But of course, due to conditioning, I would still use them with my right hand about half the time. My desk at home had the drawers built into the left side, not the right.

Being left handed in a right handed world isn't always easy. Your computer mouse is probably molded for your right hand. Power tools, right handed. Reading whatever is on your coffee mug? Only if you use your right hand. Small things, like the remote control for my speakers - if you hold it with your left hand, your palm covers the "mute" button. The location on the right side is empty. No, I haven't accidentally muted my speakers. Yet.

Left handed people are said to be smarter and are visual learners. I've heard that they're better at math but not art from some and art but not math from others. I'm a visual guy. I love flowcharts, picturing arguments in my head, and graphs.

Not sure if we are smarter, but I do remember reading that left handed people aren't smarter, but are more varied. Take 100 right handed and 100 left handed people. The right handed ones will have 10 geniouses, 10 idiots and 80 average. Lefties...20 geniouses, 20 idiots and 60 average. Maybe that explains the higher rates of learning disabilities. Bored in elementary school I taught myself to read and write in mirror image. Not a problem at all. When a right handed student sees a right handed teacher writing on the board, he can copy the teacher. The left handed student has to mirror the teacher.

Forget about writing. Southpaws are known to have horrible penmanship. In elementary school no one would write on the back of the page. What happend? Left handed students would only be able to write with their hands coming up against the binding. For those that know me, check out my hand position when I write. One time my elementary school assistant principal was "inspecting" our notebooks. He asked if my notebook was really mine, since the notes seemed to be taken with two different handwritings. Having gotten sick of my hand bumping up against the notebook spirals, I switched hand position. In high school I switched to notebooks with the spirals on top and haven't gone back. Saved me lots of pain.

Not to mention smearing your work as your hand passed over it. Sort of like what you righties do in Hebrew. And in english, left handed people have to push their pens, while right handed people pull, another minor but annoying difference when you spend hours writing. Maybe that's why I do everything on computer. I've been using computers for 17 years and though its harder to make graphs and charts, I much prefer it to writing.

What's the point of this post? I don't really have one. Just some thoughts on being left handed in a right handed world. Please add your experiences in the comments, I need to get to sleep.

Try this one at home

2006-07-11T00:17:00.000-04:00

All my fellow bloggers, gather close. Copy this post word for word and paste it into your own blog account. Then try to spellcheck it. Tell me which words blogger.com's spellcheck doesn't recognize. And when this spreads around the blogosphere, remember the hat tip.

[Note: Very funny]

Soccer Ball Terrorists

2006-07-10T15:41:00.000-04:00

The IAF killed three Palestinians, between the ages of 17-20, in an airstrike today. According to Ha'aretz, sources claim that the teenagers were playing soccer when missiles were launched. Here's the kicker, the kids were playing soccer near some Qassam launchers that had been set up in the yard.

At worst, this is a case of an actual misfire, where the missile struck far from the rocket launcher. Or, launching in civilian areas is a case of using human shields. Regrettable that they died. But according to JPost's article, the four (one was injured and not killed) were there to extract the launch team. Here's some advice to you soccer players in Gaza. If you see someone launching Qassam rockets near you, go the other way.

Frum Criminals?

2006-07-09T13:22:00.000-04:00

One of my rebbeim in Israel would often say that a murderer is not Orthodox. That guy on the front page of the paper, arrested for stealing or embezzlement? Not frum, hat or srugie notwithstanding. Sure, he davens next to you in shul, his kids are a year ahead of yours in the same school, he may even have semicha. But frum? Nope.

The idea made sense to me at the time, but soon I began to question it. Finally, yesterday, in a conversation with Miriam, I realized that it doesn't make sense.

Man sins, he errs. If man was perfect he'd be God, and since there's only one God, man is out of luck.

Can you really tell me that someone who committed a murder isn't frum? Anyone that sins isn't Orthodox? If that's true, I challenge you to show me a single person that is Orthodox or frum. Doesn't go to minyan? Or learn? Isn't shomer negiah? Charging your neighbor interest? Loshon hara? Did I leave anyone out?

So then what is Orthodoxy? Not a simple arithmetic formula. Constants like dress, geographic location, and political leanings fall away, they're not central, like constants when you take derivatives in calculus. Its closer to beliefs than actions. Believing in one God (or at least not acting on a belief of no God), committing to torah and mitzvos, even if you have some that you're ignorant of, negligent in, dismissive of, or just succumb to.

Maybe there's a deeper understanding of what that rebbe said, whether he intended it or not. The guy on the front page is Orthodox. But he's also an example of what can happen if you decide not to improve yourself. A reminder. A midrash.

But its still not a very satisfying answer to the question.

Name

2006-07-09T13:20:00.000-04:00

If you still haven't figured out where the name for this blog came from, go back and look at the end of yesterday's Torah reading.

Paying for Gilad's Release?

2006-07-06T18:19:00.000-04:00

"I know that releasing prisoners was up for discussion as a gesture before the incident, so there's no reason it shouldn't be up for discussion after the incident, as well, for the sake of releasing a soldier who was sent to the battlefront by the state."

"At the end of the day, it will be necessary to pay a price for Gilad's release. I don't understand why the government is delaying negotiating for him"

The above quotes (via JPost) are from Noam Shalit, father of Gilad, who is still being held captive by terrorists.

The above quotes also show why parents and family, often the most emotionally involved, should not be making these decisions. And luckily, in this case, are not. Who is Noam Shalit to decide how many prisoners his son is worth?

Prior prisoner releases may have resulted in Gilad's capture. Hamas knew that Israel would negotiate, or at least thought they did. Who is Noam Shalit to decide that those injured and killed by the released terrorists are worth Gilad's life? Will Noam Shalit show up at the hospital or at a funeral, telling a mother that it was worth her daughter being killed by a released terrorist so that his son will live?

Additionally, Shalit doesn't seem to understand that not negotiating is a negotiating tactic. Hamas wanted 1,000 prisoners for information on Gilad. No one has been released, yet we've heard that Gilad was treated by a doctor. The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Hamas now demands the release of 130 terrorists. That's a large step down from 1,000. They might even release him if Israel agrees to a gradual *plan* for prisoner releases.

I know the Shalit family is under a lot of pressure, and my prayers are with them and Gilad. Noam obviously wants his son released, and anyone should be able to understand the great strides he'll take to secure that outcome. We all want Gilad released and returned. But at the end of the day, it may be necessary *not* to pay a price for Gilad's release.

Lawyers - Why We Need Them

2006-07-06T10:28:00.000-04:00

A few months ago, AddeRabbi asked what benefit lawyers give to society. Why do we need them? It seems you can't go anywhere without seeing their influence, from warning labels on cigarettes to buying a home to signing up for a new credit cards, the lawyer is inescapable. Have you ever been to a courthouse? Worked at one? I did, last summer. Let me tell you, its an experience. Not a day passed without a car accident case where the injured party had "soft tissue injuries" and just enough range of motion loss to bring the case (Allstate insurance has stopped settling these cases and instead brings them to trial, knowing that in the short term it is more expensive, but will stop frivolous claims. Though I have no hard data, Allstate appears to win most of these cases, and some personal injury lawyers no longer take Allstate cases).

Second you have lawyers, thick as flies, the same ones day in and out (on a recent visit to the judge I worked for last summer a number of the flies said hello and asked where I've been, whether I was working or still a student), who just hang around the courthouse running from case to case, a half dozen per day.

Truth is, and this may shock you, lawyers are tightly regulated. Conviction of a felony results in automatic disbarment. Not only that - get disbarred in one state and other states may follow suit automatically. Unlike doctors, who can lose a medical license in one state only to kill patients in another, lawyers have no such recourse. And pity the lawyer who lies to his clients, or even misleads, as to why the disbarment occured. Want to get re-admitted? Fat chance.

Yet lawyers still have a bad name. It doesn't help that many politicians are lawyers, or that lawyers defend child molesters, rapists and murderers. Not to mention the odd lawyer who absconds with escrow money belonging to the client. And the ones that take out ads on TV, you know, in case 25 years ago you didn' get the exact doctor you wanted for your child's birth. A great sight which chronicles these types of cases is Overlawyered.com - take a visit.

So why keep them around?

The truth is we need lawyers because *we* don't trust each other. I don't trust you to keep your word, so I hire a lawyer to make sure the contract is iron-clad. John is selling his house to Mike, and tells Mike that the heating system works perfectly. Comes winter and the system doesn't work at all. John denies ever telling Mike it worked. Mike should have checked it out. So? Lawyers. Contracts. Red tape. Court. Don't believe me? Next time you buy a house or sign a contract, tell the other side you've decided to get rid of the lawyers. No legalese no nothing. Just a handshake. And, if you have any disputes, any problems, you'll sit down over a cup of coffee and figure it out. Heck, you'll even sign an agreement stating it. Think you'll
get anywhere? Why not?

Its not an indictment. American law (and to an extent halacha as well) has an adversarial system. With both sides advocating their view points, (after all, can I really know what's in your best interest, the tradeoffs you're willing to make? competing with each other, the judge/jury can figure out what really happend, at least in theory. Everyone looks out for their own best
interest, presents their own story, and the truth emerges.

Lawyers make an easy target. There are so many of them. I'm only suing John Q. but lawyers are everywhere. If I lose the case, my lawyer wasn't good (stupid lawyers). If I win and don't recover enough, same thing. But if I win, that means my opponent lost. He hates his lawyer for being stupid and he hates my lawyer for lying to win, since my opponent has every confidence in his story. You'll always have an upset party, and invariably lawyers they'll be upset with. We won't even get into contingency fee actions, where the attorney shells out thousands (or more) of dollars on the off chance that his client might win and thus be able to reimburse him.

That's not to say the system is perfect, far from it. But the bad lawyers get all the publicity. They're our scapegoats. But lawyers are the oil that lets society run. They cut across every area, help negotiate every dispute. Lawyers are the go betweens, the negotiators, the people who understand what obligations you have to your fellow man and why.

That's why we need them. Think society is bad now? Get rid of the lawyers and judges (they're lawyers too) and we'll see how long you last.

Nephtuli's Wedding

2006-07-02T17:57:00.000-04:00

I just got back from Nephtuli's wedding to Shifra Bronstein. It was a great wedding, saw a number of people I hadn't seen in a while. A number of bloggers were in attendance as well, including Nephtuli (of course), Josh Goldman, CWY (his role in the bowling over of Nephtuli is unclear), and of course, he who needs no introduction.

So, just wanted to say mazal tov to Nephtuli and Shifra, along with all the usual words. And to Miriam, who set them up.

One of a Kind

2006-07-02T00:07:00.000-04:00

In this post, Orthonomics links to an article by R. Yakov Horowitz. Its a great article, one which everyone who gives tzedaka should read.
Then it hit me. He's the same guy who spoke up against the riots in Boro Park a few months back. In fact, he was one of the few.

I haven't read his other articles, or his book. But you can be sure I've put them on my list to do. If he's as good in those as he has been on the two issues above you can bet that I've found a new place to send tzedaka to (when I get out of school).

Women in Shul

2006-07-01T22:25:00.000-04:00

A man brought two of his children to shul for Mincha, the older one 2 1/2 or so. The younger one behaved, but the older one did not. I'm all for bringing children to shul, provided they don't misbehave. Having grown up in a neighborhood where I was one of the youngest children (the place no longer has a Jewish community) I appreciate, perhaps more than most, what having small children in shul can do to the atmosphere.

After a couple of minutes of misbehaving, the father took the child outside to the lobby and placed him in his stroller before returning to shul. That's when the child started screaming. Nice set of lungs on the kid too. The wailing didn't stop, and though slightly muted, was easily heard through the thick wooden doors that are the shul entrance.

A short while later (remember, this is mincha, so everything is short) another man in the shul heard the child screaming. He didn't know why. So what did he do? He walked over to the ezras nashim (the shul is set up with the men in front and women in back, the man was sitting in the last row) and said "There's a child screaming outside, I'm not sure why. Could you go over and take a look. I don't know who he belongs to, but maybe you could go look."

First I thought he was speaking to his wife. But he wasn't. All three women put down their siddurim, walked out and checked on the kid. The father, who saw them leaving, followed, and presumably explained the situation, for the women were back in their seats within a minute, the child still yelling.

I wasn't sure what to think. On the one hand, he cared enough to get someone to check on the baby. But, he didn't do it himself. He went to the women. Something about that just doesn't sit right with me. After all, they didn't come to shul at mincha to babysit someone else's child. Or to have some strange man ask them to check on a third person's child.

Thoughts?

$20

2006-06-30T14:17:00.000-04:00

Friday means an interesting phenomenon. A group of people, usually the same, line up on the main thoroughfares of cities, asking for money. I was walking down one street with two friends today, when we were approached by one of the regulars, wearing a brand new, bright, white shirt.

"Please, some money for Shabbos. Perhaps you can give me $20."
"$20? No sorry," said my friend
"I have kids, I need the money. Just $20."

I wasn't so astounded that he said he had kids and needed the money. He may well need it, I was surprised by how much he asked for. $20. Usually its "do you have any change?" Maybe I just haven't been out enough lately.

All for One and One for All

2006-06-27T21:24:00.000-04:00

Unfortunate doesn't begin to describe Shalit's capture. Giving the French and Egyptians the chance to secure Shalit's unconditional release through negotiations (assuming they didn't have information that Shalit had been killed or was in danger of being killed), was a prudent move, which ended in failure.

Now, negotiations having failed, Israel is taking action.

It sends shivers down my spine when I see the pictures of the IDF arrayed to enter Gaza. Negotiations for his unconditional release having failed, hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers are streaming into Gaza to find him. All for one and one for all may be the wrong army, it may be cliche, but it sure describes what's happening now.

RCA Prenup - II

2006-06-27T15:24:00.000-04:00

Victor v. Victor
177 Ariz. 231, 866 P.2d 899
Ariz.App. Div. 1,1993.

Yesterday I discussed a case where a court ordered a husband to give his wife a get, arguing the ketubah to be a valid contract. Today we look at the flipside, where the ketubah was not enforced.

The dissent in yesterday's case argued that the ketubah was too vague to be enforced, and the court in today's case agreed. The court further noted that the ketubah doesn't refer to a get, and that forcing the husband to initiate giving a get would involve the state in religious matters. The case explicitly cites the Goldman case we mentioned yesterday and disagrees, stating that the First Amendment didn't allow the court to get involved in religious exercise.

Again, note that this doesn't mean the RCA prenup would be enforced. But stay tuned! There's another case coming...one that deals with a prenup

Life in a Warzone

2006-06-27T13:51:00.000-04:00

America and Israel are vastly different. I still see people throwing sidelong glaces at NYPD officers armed with assault rifles. But in Israel you can walk into a bank with an assault rifle and no one thinks to question you.

There's a great article on the ambivalence of Israelis towards the situation, that walking down the street can end your life. Where? On ZDnet.com of all places (link)

Washington Heights Eruv - III

2006-06-26T22:53:00.000-04:00

Here's a good critique of the eruv email (one which I still haven't found time to write). Luckily, now I don't have to.

http://blaingritch.blogspot.com/2006/06/few-comments-on-washington-heights.html#comments

RCA Prenup - I

2006-06-26T12:19:00.000-04:00

[Note: Post has been re-written]
Gil has a post over at Hirhurim discussing the RCA prenup and whether its enforceable in court. Though I have yet to find a case on point, I did find this:

In re Marriage of Goldman, 196 Ill.App.3d 785, 143 Ill.Dec. 944 (Ill.App. 1 Dist.,1990)

Annette and Kenneth Goldman were married on May 27, 1979 in a Reconstructionist Jewish ceremony. In 1984 Kenneth filed for divorce and requested custody of their children, Shoshana and Daniel, aged 4 and 2, respectively. Annette, who had become Orthodox soon after her father passed away, insisted on an Orthodox Get, so that she could get remarried.

She argued that the ketubah was a prenup contract. That, coupled with the fact that Kenneth had given his previous ex-wife an Orthodox Get led the court to conclude that a ketubah was not just artwork, but an actual contract.

The court ordered Kenneth to either give a get, authorize someone to give it, or appear before the CRC and authorize them to issue a get.

The court held that being involved in the ketubah did not enter the court into religion. Citing the expert testimony , including that of R. Gedaliah Schwartz, the court said that marriage and divorce in Jewish law are secular matters. Jewish law is a full set of law, religious and secular. Essentially, the ketubah was a prenup, mandating that the husband give the wife a Get.

Whether the RCA prenup would be enforceable or not is a different question. Damage clauses in contracts are limited to damages, not punishments. Where damages are hard to ascertain, we allow for liquidated damages, the contract sets out the damages. An example that almost everyone is familiar with is a house contract, where, upon default, the seller can keep the downpayment. Why? Because damages in those situations are difficult to ascertain, and its easier to use a liquidated damages clause.

Does the $150/day support constitute liquidated damages, or is it too high? I have yet to see the question addressed, and will do more research on the matter over the next week or so.

Stupid Settler (and Attorney)

2006-06-21T10:35:00.000-04:00

Kudos to Israeli security officials on capturing a pair of sniper rifles, thousands of bullet casings and caps, along with other equipment that Jeffrey Emanuel Seth allegedly attempted to smuggle into Israel.

Points to the attorney for ingenuity on an alibi, that his client was going to give the guns and bullets to an Israeli sniper unit. Because Israel has problems getting weapons from the US. Right.

Palestinian Human Shields

2006-06-21T01:05:00.000-04:00

The death of civilians is always a tragedy, especially when they are children. Even those who believe civilians don't exist have room to agree that children have no place being killed in a war.

Recent actions by the IDF (not including the Gaza "incident") have resulted in the deaths of numerous youths, some too young to have participated in anti-Israel activities, others who might have but were peaceful at the time.

Who is to blame? Some would argue the Israelis, having launched missiles into civilian areas, at cars surrounded by civilians, bears responsibility for the resulting innocent deaths. But should that be the case? Should human shields really be useful?

Under the Geneva Conventions, houses or worship are to be protected. Use it as an armory or staging point, launch an attack, and it loses its protection. The blame for its destruction rests not with those defending themselves by destroying the church/mosque/shul but by those who used it for war.

Likewise with human shields. You need to take out a target, knowing it will result in civilian casualties. So you make a judgement. Perhaps its how many innocent lives will be taken vs. how many will be saved. Absent a blatant overreaction the fault rests with the target, for surrounding himself with civilians. (There exists an independant actor issue here, but that's for another post).

Not that terrorists or others have much choice. When you're in an inferior position (as the Palestinians are militarily) you have to blend in. Guerilla warfare is the only way to go. Terrorism works. Just because you choose to fight the only way possible doesn't mean the other side takes the blame for the death of those around you.

That's why I'm glad of the following statement by a high ranking IDF officer: "The Palestinians launch rockets from urban areas, and therefore we need to hit them there." Not because Israel hasn't done it in the past, but because they're admitting how war really is fought. Publicizing the point places the blame back on the terrorists. Hide in civilian populations, and the blood is on your hands.

American English

2006-06-20T12:09:00.000-04:00

Saw this on Ezzie - what did you get:

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofamericanenglishdoyouspeakquiz/

Your Linguistic Profile::

55% General American English

30% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Peretz

2006-06-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

So far I've been happy with the way Peretz has been acting as defense minister. But this bothers me. Publicly stating that military action will increase Qassam rocket attacks? So what's the other option? Do nothing?

Washington Heights Eruv - II

2006-06-11T16:20:00.000-04:00

Don't worry, my counter to the HaEdah email will be coming shortly (this week). Its hard to rebut a poorly written article...its taken more time than I had thought.

Missing ID - What to do

2006-06-11T13:15:00.000-04:00

While out with friends last night, I happend upon an ID. I must say, the new NY State licenses are much nicer than the older, pink ones. Seeing as the address was one near my apartment, I figured I'd stop off today and drop it off. Surely, the person who lost it would be glad to get it back. Mailing it would take a couple of days, and by then the person would doubtless have gotten a new one.

One problem. The address...doesn't exist. Not on Mapquest at least, or on whitepages.com. Before everyone says that its a fake ID, it has printed, in bold red letters "UNDER 21". If you're going to make a fake ID, don't you think you'd leave that part out?

Note that its not a driver's license. Like other states, NY allows the DMV to give out IDs. They look like licenses, but have "IDENTIFICATION CARD" printed on top.

So now the question is - what to do. Mail it and hope it gets there? Just shred it on the expectation that the owner will get a new one? Walk to the northern end of the block in question to see if the address actually exists?

Thoughts?

Dershowitz on Zarqawi Double Standard

2006-06-09T16:48:00.000-04:00

Good article by Alan Dershowitz

Bloody Hands: Before and After

2006-06-06T18:45:00.000-04:00

One of the refrains we've often heard during the last few years is that Israel won't negotiate with those who have blood on their hands, not just those directly involved but those who facilitate terrorism also.

A laudable goal, but is it really plausible? Those who care enough to fight for their independance are the only ones that would really be interested in talking. The farmer on the corner, the guy that doesn't care which flag flies, you don't gain anything by talking to him.

On the other hand, once negotiations do begin, once the sides are talking and agree not to fight, a clean break can be made. Which is why it bothers me more that Qassam rocket attacks come from the likes of Majdi Hamad, killed by the IAF on Monday, who a member of the Popular Resistance Committees and also a member of the PA's Preventive Security Service, than if he were just a terrorist. That these people aren't weeded out shows bad faith on the part of the PA.

Israel Day Parade

2006-06-04T21:18:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful time at the Israel Day Parade today. Ran into many friends I hadn't seen in a while, met lots of new people, enjoyed the concert, and some frisbee and football catches on the lawn.

The Neturei Karta weren't as bad this year, in number or presence. The sight of them with their signs didn't sicken me as much this year, but it did arouse pity. Despite that, if there was a minyan of 10 people, and one was NK, I'd walk out. Not sure I'd be able to daven with them (whether correct or not).

But one complaint - before the concert there were some speeches. Not just any speeches either. While sitting on a large rock outside the concert with a couple of friends, we were "entertained" by this man. Forget that Gush Katif was a year ago (some at the parade must have saved their signs from last year) and that reasonable people can differ. Forget that Sharon was PM and not Olmert. This man was insane. The rhetoric flowing from his mouth was horrendous. He wasn't a great orator either, forgetting to take breaths and mumbling over words. The guy after him wasn't much better.

Why do the organizers let people like that speak? What, there was no one else willing to give a 10-15 minute talk? No army vets willing to discuss what it meant to go through Israel's wars? Heck, I'll do it, and I'd give a better message too.

He reminded me of a line from a Phil Ochs song, Here's to the State of Missisipi:
"And the speeches of the governor are the ravings of a clown." Couldn't have said it better. And it works for the NK too.

Washington Heights Eruv II

2006-06-04T10:26:00.000-04:00

The previous post, with the article from haedah@gmail.com, concerning the new eruv in Washington Heights, is hard to read on the blog. I didn't feel like changing the formatting (nor did I have time before yom tov) and the constant bold, underline, italics and font changes didn't translate well to blogger.

If anyone would like a copy of the article, please email me (romach613@gmail.com) and I'll send it over.

Washington Heights Eruv - Article

2006-06-01T16:28:00.000-04:00

I received the following article via email. There are many troubling parts in it, if not problematic ones. However, I won't be able to post on them until post-Shavuos. So please, print and read it, and after yom tov we can discuss it: (If this has been posted on other blogs, please let me know)

From Haedah Today . revisions May 28.

please delete all previous copies of this article

Editors note: The initial version of this article has been revised since the first one was misunderstood by a number of readers on account of a small numbero of people misunderstanding what was written. Most people took it for granted that the content is all true and obvious. We hope that this revised article, with its tortuously repetitive and redundant verbiage, will reduce readers' tendencies to mistake the meaning of this article.

"There is an eruv around Bennett Avenue".

That sentence contains a lot of presumptions, and one of those presumptions is that you and I can use it to carry on Shabbat.

But can we? That is the subject of this article, and the PERMISSIBILITY of using it will be explored. The purpose of this article is not to explain the halachos of eruvin, but rather our Mesorah's unanimously held of procedure for employing rabbinic authority to our lives in a relatively narrow type of situation which will be described below-- an example of this scenario is what we are faced with in regard to this Bennett eruv.

First a summary of the conclusion of the article, then we'll provide some background, then we'll elucidate the main point of the article further:

WE STATE what should be obvious, after careful consideration of the facts mentioned in the rest of this article as to what special situation exists with regard to this eruv on Bennett that would require special psak halacha to be allowed to use it. We all take it for granted that all agree that a non-gadol hador can pasken shailos. Indeed, that is the structure of psak. There are local poskim who do render their own decisions. Of course, we trust them since we expect them to apply the principles and precedents of the Greatest Torah Authorities in the world in the arena of rendering psakim - But the point of this article is that if the [ vast majority of ] the greatest authorities in the world were to contradict what we took to be a "pedestrian psak" [ a psak from a bone fide rav who poskins for his talmidim or congregants who however is not one of the Greatest Torah Authorities of the generation] then we would have to give it up [ the pedestrian psak ] and either

[1] ideally, go ask for a psak on the matter from our rebbe muvhok who is- through a rebbe- talmid/ posek- talmid relationship - one of the greatest Torah Authorities of the generation, as per the criteria explained below, and then go in accordance with their psak, whether the psak is 'asur' or 'mutar', whether the poseik is in the majority or in the minority OR

[2] we would need to default to the majority of the greatest Torah authorities of the generation who paskined stringently on the matter at hand [ e.g.for [2] ....in the event that we happened not to have a rebbe muvhok, or we didn't have access to him for this shailah, or he indicates he cannot render a decision on this shailah and doesn't know to whom to direct us to for the shailah, etc....] [ the lomdus for why the above is the case is not the concern of this article. We advise anyone to simply go to any of the Greatest Torah Authorities for their particular lomdus as to why all of these authorities maintain this position.

This is the thrust of this article. Now for some background regarding the Torah Greats positions regarding an eruv covering a street in Manahttan. The majority of the Greatest Torah Authorities of this generation who have poskined on Manhattan Eruvs have said that its prohibited to use this type of Manahttan eruv [ all things considered].

Amongst these top authorities who prohibited its use are ....

Rav Yosef D Soloveitchik

Rav Ahron Soloveitchik

Rav Moshe Feinstein

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky

Rav Ahron Kotler

Rav Chaim Bick

Rav Gedaliah Schorr

This is a question of an isur skilah { Torah Prohibition } according to the above [ though the precise lomdus behind the psakim of these individuals may differ ], and, according to others ( not the ones listed above ), it's a shailah of an isur malkos { Rabbinic Prohibition, on account of the construction }.

From an adam chashuv who is a rav currently living in NY comes this report as to what a number of talmidim of Rov Soloveitchik reported: A group of Manhattan rabbis came to meet with the Rov in the 1960's in his apartment in Washington Heights - on the YU campus. These rabbis came armed with a list of arguments formulated by Rabbi M. Kasher to demonstrate that Manhattan was not a reshus ha-rabbim d'Oraysa. Before the rabbis were able to finish their presentation to the Rov, the Rov stopped them and indicated that he could not accede to their point, commenting that it seemed like the rabbis felt that the eruv issue was of the same level as a question of one forgetting to recite Ya'aleh V'yavo on Rosh Chodesh. The Rov's intent was to indicate his surprise that these rabbis were willing to advocate leniency in a question of an issur chamur me'od - a very grave prohibition (Chillul Shabbos) - whereas in other matters of far less gravity, everyone is extremely careful. The Rov felt that this was inconsistent and very wrong.) And so as one person summed it up, RYDS's basically communicated that this is not a shailah of forgetting Ya'aleh V'yavo on Rosh Chodesh. This is a sofek s'kilah, and we cannot be maikil on it.

This very day, Rav Hershel Schachter, nor Rav Willig, nor Rav Bleich, nor Rav Genack, nor Rav Meyer Twersky, nor Rav Dovid Feinstein nor Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, nor Rav Yisroel Belsky ( just to mention a number of prominent names ), none of them poskin for their talmidim, " go ahead and use it if you want to"; some of them actually asur its use.

We're being painstakingly explicit in saying that some do not " allow " its use; we're not saying they have all paskined that it is 'asur' to use the Bennett eruv. Some will not poskin on the issue. As of today, w e have yet to hear of any of the universally recognized "Greatest of the Living Torah Authorities" poskining " one may go ahead and use the Bennett Avenue Eruv". So far this is all just background information. [ of course there are Top authorities who teach their talmidim some of the serious considerations to this shailah and present permissive opinions regarding those considerations. But to hear these teachings are not enough to permit us to use the eruv. The question, " Why not? " will be explored instantly.]

Incidentally, and also not to the main point of this email, the following rabbis who live in Washington Heights or have communal Rabbinic positions of authority in Washington Heights who have been asked " May I use the eruv? " have not paskined to anyone " Yes, go and use it if you wish" [ regardless of whether they hold that this is not a reshus harabim and that the construction is perfect]: Rav Gelly, Rav Schachter, Rav Posen [ Poseik of KAJ ], Rav Kohn [ Dayan of B'D of KAJ], Rav Levy [ Rosh Kollel and Dayan of KAJ B'D], Rav Block [ Rav of W.H. Cong ], Rav Maybruck [ a Rav of Mount Sinai Shul ] , Rav Hoffman [ Rav of Shaarei Tikvah], Rav Reider and Rav Balsim [ Ravs of Reider Shul ], and Rav Goldberg [Rav of the Agudah Shul] [ forgive us if we are leaving anyone out].

Again, we are not saying that each of these rabbis asur it- we're only saying that they are not permitting [ as a psak ] the Bennett avenue eruv. [ unless private heterim have been handed out, which of course doesn't concern us since we didn't receive the heter].

Once again, due to the invective that some people who don't read closely have heaped upon us on account of a more succinctly written version of this article, we explicitly reiterate: We are not saying all of the above have asured it, rather that they are not issuing a psak permitting the eruv to their talmidim who ask them, " Would you poskin for me that I may use this eruv of bennett avenue? ".

One more point before we elaborate upon the main point of the article: Rav Herschel Schachter has orally told multiple people that he holds the Bennett Avenue eruv is posul [ as per a shailah of an isur derabbanan- unlike the at least 8 above who asured it on account of a shailah of an isur deorasia [ a shailah of an isur skilah ]. And Rav Schachter refers people to his written sefer B'Ikvei HaTzon in siman 13 for his reasons. That's an actual psak of " asur". [ A false rumor has spread that he permits use of the eruv and only personally holds a chumrah that causes him to not use it, but that he really allows this eruv. This rumor is a grotesque falsehood created by people who feel that they can " Psyche- out " a Poseik's inner position and give the impression on his behalf that permission exists where none exists. Others have actually posted on a web site that 'they' are unaware of his position on this Bennett Avenue eruv. As of May 28th this seems almost impossible, and we wonder why this pleading to ignorance has not been removed from the site. The fact is however, that Rav Hershel Schachter has not given permission for ANYONE to use this Bennet Avenue eruv and has poskined it is actually posul. Finished. Rav Schachter's non allowance of use of this eruv can be easily verified: call him up if you are one of his talmidei muvhok, or read his sefer.

As we've said in the beginning, the vast majority of the Greatest Living Torah Authorities who have paskened on this matter [ not theoretically but rather limaaesh ] and who could likely be the rebbe muvhok [ up the chain of " Rebbe muvhok to talmid relationship "] of various numbers of residents of the Heights continue to not paskin " Go ahead and use it if you want to". We don't know of one of the Greatest Living Torah Authorities who have paskened on this matter for their talmidim " Go ahead and use the eruv".

This is the background .

Where did this mantra come from that we're hearing from many people in the Heights and elsewhere that you and I can just use this eruv? Answer: The people spreading the idea do so on account of the fact that the Rav of a shul instructed a Rav Hamachshir, who makes many eruvim, to make an eruv surrounding Bennett Avenue- and it's inferred from this that the very fact of this allows us to use it. That is some people's assumed Torah justification for permitting us to use it.

So is that assumption at all valid? No. Of course it isn't. It isn't valid because the vast majority of the Generation's Greatest Torah Authorities who HAVE poskined on the matter have asured it's use [ mentioned above] and nearly all, or all of the rest, of the Greatest living authorities are not issuing psakim for their talmidim or congregants that one may use this Bennett Avenue eruv, for whatever the particular reasons of the rav in question are. So the fact that a rav hamachshir made an eruv doesn't give us the authorization to use it [ *** this of course doesn't imply that a rav hamachshir can't use an eruv, or that a rav who allowed a rav hamachshir to make the eruv can't use it- no such suggestion is being made. The opposite of course is taken for granted....that they are either from the Greatest of the Generation or surely went to their Rebbes/ Poskim who are from the Greatest of the Generation for clearance, and received a psak of " mutar".]

Before we go back to the main point of the article, let's mention that a few weeks after the use of the eruv began and some people started carrying on Bennett on Shabbat, one of the shul's in the community, the Mt. Sinai Shul, inserted this text in their FAQs section of their web site, which reads:

"...everyone is encouraged to decide whether to use any eruv based on a discussion with his or her personal posek....''

This statement is a communication by the writer of the web site that the permissibility or prohibition of using this eruv is not decided by the de facto construction of it by a rav hamachshir; but rather it's decided by one's poseik ( actually the wording on the web site could be read in a way that is misleading, though I am sure the writer didn't intend as such: Really, the halachic permissibility of using the eruv is not "based on a discussion with his or her personal posek..." but rather, based upon receipt of permission to use it BY one's poseik].

Back to the main point of this article: There is one possible situation whereby someone who isn't one of the Greatest Torah Authorities could use this eruv [ given all of the above background information]: namely, via the employment of a halachic policy and procedure that is unanimously held of by all of the Greatest Torah Authorities alive, which, depending on the outcome, could be employed to allow use of this eruv. This policy and procedure was mentioned above briefly, and will be described again below shortly. [ see Rav Hershel Schachter's " The Qualified Few" brought below ]:

Requirement # 1 - we ask our poseik whether we can use it [ the poseik we ask most of our questions to, our rebbe muvhok] and...

Requirement # 2a - if our poseik is one of the Greatest Authorities of the generation and he permits it, then we can use it even if he is a minority opinion, OR

2b - if our poseik is not one of the Greatest Torah Authorities of the generation but he himself has a rebbe muvhok who is one of the greatest Torah Authorities of the generation, as per the criteria explained below, and that Rav permits the eruv, then we can use the eruv.

[ *** if we found ourselves in a situation where the rabbi we go to for most of our questions actually ignores the majority of the Greatest Ones who render a psak of " asur" on an issue, and this Rabbi isn't one of the Greatest Ones of the generation himself, and he doesn't have a rebbe muvhok he goes to himself who is one of the Greatest who has poskined for him ] and he nonetheless simply poskins on his own, "mutar" in a shailah in this category then it seems like it's time to get ourselves a new rabbi. ]

There is no entitlement for us to simply choose to use it because we like the halachic rationale behind the eruv as we hear about it from other authorities, even a great one, who is in the minority, unless he is - or connected through - a "chain" back ot the one who is our rebbe muvhok.

Living up to the truth of course is our life's struggle and it's few people's place to render judgment on another person, we all agree- but this has nothing to do with this article.

Question- Now how do we know that this is the halachic policy and procedure we must follow for the specific category of shailah discussed above?

Answer- Because the answer can be determined empirically- it's the unanimously held halachic policy position of all of the Greatest Torah Authorities in the world--- and this can be verified by asking them..

Now we want to repeat [ ad nauseam ] what should be obvious with careful reading of the above as to what special category of circumstance it is to which these requirements apply, and to which set of general circumstances these comments don't apply: The above requirements takes it for granted that all agree that a NON-gadol hador can pasken shailos. Indeed, that is the structure of psak. There are local poskim who do render their own decisions. Of course, we trust them since we expect them to apply the principles [ sometimes precedents] of the Greatest Torah Authorities in the world in the arena of rendering psakim - But the point of this article is that IF the greatest authorities in the world were to contradict what we took to be a "pedestrian psak" [ a psak from a bone fide rav who however is not one of the greatest authorities of the generation] then we would have to give it up and go with our rebbe muvhok as per the criteria explained above in " Requirement 2a or 2b, or we would "default" to the majority psak of the greatest authorities of the generation who HAVE poskined stringently on this matter [ e.g. examples of when we would find ourselves in this situation may be in the event that we happened not to have a rebbe muvhok, or we are in a situation where we go to a few set rebbes for different types of shailos due to our comfort level with each, or we didn't have access to our rebbe for this shailah, or he indicates he cannot render a decision on this shailah and doesn't know whom to direct you to for the shailah, or he is ill etc....]

We found it quite astounding that while most people we speak to take the "above" as something totally obvious and known to all, there are nonetheless a number of people - quite a number of people- who do not. To some we have communicated with, this is the first time they have ever heard of anything like this, or they "kinda" heard something like this, but never knew how it really went.

Final Note:

Some irresponsible people are clamoring to others regarding rabbis in the community that don't permit the eruv, saying that ' the eruv issue on Bennett is all politics and has nothing to do with halacha and I therefore don't have to concern myself with these rabbis politics and can decide [ sic ] that they really permit its use [ meikur hadin ], and/or the above listed Great Torah Authorities who prohibited it are not relevant' . Also it's been passed around regarding some of these rabbis " They are lenient with some halachic positions on eruvin and not others and haven't explained themselves to us as to why they poskin the way they do, and so they are fraudulently communicating that this issue is a shailah of being machallel shabbes bifarhesiah , etc....[ hameivin yavin]"

The statements above infer that there are Rabbis who are poskining improperly on this issue because their positions are not based on halacha but because of 'politics' [ implying that values or halachos outside of isur/chiyuv, tamei tahor questions are not halachic and are thereby invalidated as matters of Torah by calling them "politics" ] - or that these rabbis are making mistakes or being hypocritical by saying the questions are questions of isurim when they really are not. A warning: to say such a thing, to impute ulterior motives to qualified rabbis when they make a particular halachic announcement, charging that the rav isn't being honest with the psak, doesn't truly hold by the psak, but is only using it as an excuse for other non Torah motives is an isur of Mach'chish Maggideha'. To cite Rav Hershel Schachter:

http://www.torahweb.org/torah/2003/parsha/rsch_mishpatim.html

Did the Rabbi Distort the Psak? [excerpted]
by Rav Hershel Schachter

"Rav Soloveitchik zt"l pointed out on various occasions that when the Rambam speaks of the various heretics, he puts together the "one who denies the (Divine origin of the) Torah shebaal peh, and the one who contradicts its teachers ['Ma'ch'chish Maggideha'-blogger's note ]." One who imputes ulterior motives to the psakim (halachic decisions) of an honest bona-fide rabbi, and says that Rabbi X was a convert, so that's why he always favors converts, and Rabbi Y didn't like women, so that's why in his decisions he will always put down women, and Rabbi Z is a Zionist, so that's why he will always pasken lehokel in matters regarding Eretz Yisroel, is in violation of this Ikar (principle) of faith. We not only believe that there existed at one time a Torah shebaal peh which was Divinely ordained; but rather we believe that Hashem continues to assist the G-d fearing qualified rabbis so that they should pasken properly. Emmunas chachomim is the foundation of all Orthodox Tradition!"

another piece of Rav Hershel Schachter:

THOSE FEW QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS.....

Rav Hershel Schachter on the Reliability of the Ba'alei HaMesorah

http://www.torahweb.org/torah /2004/moadim/rsch_shavuos.html
excerpted from "Why Was the Torah Forced Upon Us?"
Rav Hershel Schachter
[emphasis added]

[A]ccording to Talmudic tradition (Shabbos 88a), G-d pressured the Jewish people to accept the Torah, and forced it upon them against their wishes. The commentaries on the Talmud all wonder, why it was necessary to force the Torah upon the Jews if they had already enthusiastically expressed their willingness to accept it? The people were prepared to accept both G-d's written Torah, and all the halachos l'Moshe miSinai – transmitted directly from G-d. But the bulk of the Oral Torah is really [ ] halachos which were developed over the centuries with much rabbinic input. This the Jews at Har Sinai were not prepared to accept. This is a human Torah, and all humans can err. Why should they agree to be subservient to the idea of other human beings? And it was this part of the Torah that G-d had to force upon us. Whether we like it or not, G-d expects us to follow the positions set forth by the rabbis in interpreting the Torah. This is the significance of the expression we use (from the Rambam's formulation), that we believe (ani maamin) that the Torah as it is observed today, is an accurate transmission of that Divine Torah which was given to Moshe Rabbeinu. This added phrase, "as it is observed today", implies exactly this idea – to include all of those halachos where there was rabbinic input. We have "emunas chachomim". We believe that throughout all the generations there was an invisible Divine assistance given to the rabbis to develop the halacha in a correct fashion . Of course, the application of those "middos" is a science unto itself, which is only mastered by a small handful of qualified individuals in each generation . And the new additional halachos that read "in between the lines" have to "fit in" with "the spirit" of the rest of the Torah, which again can only be fully sensed by those few qualified individuals who have a proper sense of what "the spirit of the law" is!"

.......................

from a shiur from RHS at this link called eilu v'eilu [ notes taken by Saul Mashbaum

http://www.aishdas.org/articles/rhsEilu.pdf

"There is another aspect to eilu v'eilu – one may accept minority opinions of one's rebbe muvhak, and a community may continue its traditions and follow its rov even if other opinions reject their minhag or his psak."

In line with the above mentioned approach, the writer of this article assumes that the statement above of Rav Schachter agrees that if a sudden call from the vast majority of the Greatest Living Authorities of the Generation took a position of "isur" on a shailah, then the rov [ were he not one of the Greatest of the Generation ] would need to have to go to the authority he went to for shailos he couldn't answer [ e.g. his own rebbe muvhok who was from the Greatest of the Generation- entitled to an opinion on such matters given such a situation ] and ask him if they could maintain the present practice of the shul or would they need to change their position and go with the majority.

Finally, one more interesting quote from the RHS shiur:

" Rav Soloveitchik said several times, and wrote this as well, that it is not true that halacha
and hashkafa are to separate domains. Hashkafa is the halacha of the mind.
Just as there are things it is forbidden to do, so there are things it is forbidden to believe.
Eilu v'eilu applies to hashkafa as well, but there are boundaries, just as there are in
halacha."

___________________________________________________________________

Appendix:

Scenario # 1: If Yankel's rebbe muvhok , Rabbi "X", was one of the Greatest Torah Authorities of the generation and did not consider Bennett a reshus harabim, and did not have any problem with the construction of the eruv, but had another problem, whatever it might be, let's say for example, the fact that one shul out of many decided to go along with constructing an eruv without the agreement of the others in town, and that issue caused Rabbi "X" to refuse to permit use of the eruv, then Yankel is not permitted to HALACHICALLY use the eruv.

Scenario # 2 The fact that one may look to the Rav Hamachshir as an expert on eruvim doesn't help us with the permissibility of OUR using the eruv since he isn't our sole poseik / rebbe muvhok, nor is he of perhaps any of the residents of Washington Heights. We therefore don't even need to go further into discussing his role in this eruv.

Scenario # 3 Someone suggested to me that Rav Ovadiah Yosef - surely one of the Greatest living Poskim of our generation- would allow this Bennett Ave. Eruv. First off, we have no idea if ROY would, bottom line, allow this eruv in every respect . But let's say he did! We still couldn't use it! Why? For the same reasons as stated above, namely, none of us has a rebbe muvhok who is connected by a "chain" , rebbe muvhok to rebbe muvhok back to ROY.[ I assume ]

Scenario # 4 And let's say Rabbi "X" is Yankel's rebbe muvhok, and is one of the Greatest Torah Authorities of the generation, and says privately that the eruv is probably mutar to use, but that he will not actually permit its use for reasons X, Y, and Z, one of them being that politically he doesn't want to cause further erosion of the status quo or some other reason, --- then Yankel can't HALACHICALLY use the eruv because he didn't get a psak to do so! Yankel can't choose which aspects of a psak he will accept and which aspects of a psak he will reject. It's kind of like saying that our rebbe would permit a certain kind of woman's tefillah group in terms of 17 siffim in the Shulchan Aruch, and only refuses to allow it on account of one remaining sif, so we are going to take part in a woman's tefillah group since we're not so keen on our rebbe's interpretation of that last remaining sif. That's not acceptable. That way of keeping mitzvos isn't part of our Mesorah according to any of the Great Torah Authorities in the world, and is simply a clever idea created by those who are not entitled to an opinion on the matter. [ see R H Schachter's article above]

[ What if a psak was privately given over with the condition that the name of the authority not be divulged. Well this would really put the public user of the eruv in a quagmire if asked, upon whose psak do you rely to use the eruv and he says " My rebbe wants me to keep it quiet " - after all, this is a public action. ]

Osirak - 25 Years Later

2006-05-31T23:49:00.000-04:00

25 years ago eight fighter pilots flew a mission which astounded the world. In less than two minutes, Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor was destroyed. Despite numerous risks, including the jettisoning of fuel tanks surrounded by 1,000lb bombs, all of the Israeli F-16s, and their pilots, returned to base safely.

The Jerusalem Post is running a pair of articles (I, II) which all should read. I also highly recommend the book "Raid on the Sun" which details preperations for and the actual attack.

Menachem Begin on Eve of Osirak

"Saddam Hussein is a hard-headed megalomaniac, cunning, sophisticated and cruel. He is willing to take high risks and drastic action to realize his ambition for self-aggrandizement. His possession and use of a nuclear weapon will enable him to threaten and strike Israel and, thereby, win supremacy over the Arab world. He is prepared to act at an early opportunity, even in the awareness that retaliation might follow." --Opening paragraph of the Mossad's psychological portrait of Hussein.

"What greater act of self-defense could there be than to demolish Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, designed to bring Israel to its knees, kill our people, vaporize our infrastructure - in a word to destroy our nation, our country, our existence? Over these past months I've told you again and again, Sam, that either the US does something to stop that reactor, or we will have to" -Begin to Sam Lewis, US Ambassador to Israel

"[P]rowling the room, head down, face grim, arms behind his back, his lips moving imperceptibly in the manner of one muttering Tehillim" -Begin, as he awaited word on the attack

Leader of the Osirak Raid

"Everything went as well as we could have planned. If I were religious, I would tell you it was the hand of god." -then-Lt. Col. Ze'ev Raz, Commander of the F-16's which destroyed the reactor

Tuition "Crisis"

2006-05-31T11:19:00.000-04:00

Orthomom and others have spent the last few weeks discussing the tuition "crisis." I missed most of it because of finals, but wanted to throw out a couple of points. Is there really a tuition crisis?

1) Both public and private schools spend an obscene amount of money on student education. Do yeshivas really spend more? Take into account that a Yeshiva has a double curriculum, has more teachers, keeps the kids for more hours. Kosher food is more expensive and many yeshivas are open on Sunday as well.

2) Parents, wake up. Education is the most valuable gift you can give your child, and therefore will be the most expensive. You have to be an idiot to think it'll really cost only $5,000?! Are you nuts? So you tell me, how much do you think education should cost? Break it down by year if you want, making it more expensive as the kid gets older. But give me a number. And, if you're feeling really adventerous, a plan on how you can actually get to that number.

3) Continuing on the last point, expect your child's tuition to cost a significant (if not the most significant) portion of your income. And realize that amount will only rise with the number of children that you have. That's the way things work. A house costs more the bigger it is, two cars cost more than one, and educating 5 kids is a heckuva lot more expensive than educating 3.

3) Yeshivas should be more transparent. Yes, they are private entities, but they exist on tuition the parents give them, as well as money from donors. Pool yourselves together, unionize, and demand that the school open their books. See how much they're paying the teachers, the principals, and see where they are wasting money. Hold them accountable, or open your own school and do better.

4) School vouchers are a partial answer, but realize that if the yeshivas are guarenteed money from the state through vouchers, tuition will continue to rise at very fast rates. First step, hold them accountable for the money, your money. If you don't do it now you won't do it when the state gives you vouchers. And when tuition rises at 30% instead of 12% you'll be back in the same position.

5) Just because education is expensive doesn't mean there's a crisis. It just means its expensive.

Conclusion: Make yeshivas accountable and transparent.

Same Sex Marriage - Today

2006-05-31T10:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted about gay marriage and how some, even opponents of gay marriage, should be worried about banning it, not because gay marriage should be allowed, but because all marriage should be deregulated. Dan Crane, a professor at Cardozo Law School, has a great article on the subject, titled "A 'Judeo-Christian' Argument for Privatizing Marriage" which will be published in the Cardozo Law Review.

Killing in Self Defense

2006-05-31T08:48:00.000-04:00

The problem with this story? That it starts off stating that Autry won't be charged in the girl's death. They only get to what happend at the end of the story. Four people, with a shotgun and pistol, tried robbing the ex-Marine. He fended them off armed with only a pocketknife, killing one and critically wounding the other.

The first paragraph should state that he's being awarded a medal, or the keys to the city.

Same Sex Marriage - Tomorrow

2006-05-30T22:21:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow, the highest court in New York State, the Court of Appeals, will hear four cases on whether or not the state can bar same sex marriage. According to the NY Sun, there will be a gathering tonight (probably finished already) at B'nai Jeshurun, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, a sort of vigil.

When asked to testify about abortion, many, including the Agudah, have begged off, stating that it isn't their job to push their religious views on others. That's smart for numerous reasons, including that non-Jews and Jews have different laws. Try explaining that, and then decide what non-Jews have to do, and you'll have more than a mess.

Is a vigil really the right thing to do? Will allowing gay marriage really cause more gays? Will it really make it more or less acceptable? People live together all the time, married and not, but do you see one as being less acceptable in the eyes of society? Obviously the best avenue is to convince someone the correctness of your cause, and just as obviously, many don't think that's possible, and seek to impose their views.

But should we? Would you like it if the legislature began passing laws on what constituted a bris milah, when it could be done and how? Or if NYS paskened that we allowed only chasidishe shechita, or forbade it? Its not really the state's decision or their role. Those against gay marriage are wrong because the state shouldn't forbid it. But those in favor are wrong too, since the state shouldn't sanction it. Maybe the state shouldn't be involved.

Men vs. Women Learning - Why?

2006-05-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

Everyone is familiar with the Mishna containing the opinion that equates teaching women Torah with tiflus. Fewer realize that this isn't the lone opinion and that many, including recent luminaries, advocate women's learning, even if limited. After all, how do you expect a woman to remain religious if she has a college education but no religious background? Forget about all those that went to law school, medical school, or have PhD's in other areas. You can't turn your brain off, and having a doctorate with a second grade religious background is sure to be dangerous.

To those who say its because women are better at twisting things, sorry. Its not like women have an ability to twist Torah and pervert it that men lack. Look at the major apikorsim of the last two thousand years. Men or women?

So why limit women? Men have an obligation to learn, women do not, and I think that's the crucial point. Only recently has education become prevalent (though from news stories and test scores one might wonder). For the past two thousand years, women and most men were uneducated and illiterate. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, just look at some statements made today, both in the name of religion and outside of it. If you're uneducated and given a little Torah knowledge you can do great harm, even when well intentioned.

Men had no choice. They had an obligation to learn. There were risks, yes, but when you're obligated you have to chance it. And if no one were obligated to learn, what would happen to Torah? Someone had to do it. Women had no obligation. There was nothing to balance out the
danger, no obligation. In that case, it may well be that they had an obligation not to chance it, and men had an obligation to limit any potential damage to Torah.

Today the situation is radically different. Women regularly peer perform men in any area, if not outperform. The dangers of have too little knowledge are muted, everything is available ot everyone. Women still lack an obligation to learn, but the risk associated with anyone's learning has shrunken. Including for women.

Academic Gown Colors

2006-05-18T20:02:00.000-04:00

In case you were wondering how colors are chosen for academic gowns (from bachelor's until doctorate), piping, etc, the American Council on Education has a guide

Lag B'Omer Mini Meme

2006-05-16T20:10:00.000-04:00

My compadre CWY pegged me with this meme:

"What's the first song you listened to this morning?"

I'm one of those that does listen to music during sefirah, with the usual (live) some unusual caveats. Since I've been studying most of the day, I actually haven't listened to anything. So the first song to randomly play is...Evanescence "Bring Me to Life" Yeah, I know, Christian rock on Lab B'Omer.

Racial Groups for (almost) Everyone

2006-05-15T14:00:00.000-04:00

A Democratic candidate for AG in Alabama, Larry Darby, is going to speak at a pro-white organization that many view as racist. Darby also denies that the Holocaust happend, saying at most 140,000 Jews died, mostly due to typus. I'm sure Alabama voters won't elect him, from the rest of the article he seems to be one of those candidates that crops up in every election.

He's speaking at a "pro-white" group. So what? Obviously its politically incorrect for whites to get together for racial purposes, moreso than any other group. Latin, Black, Asian, Jew, Muslim, every group can have their association except for whites.

Historically of course there have been problems with white groups. Just look at the KKK. But there are problems with Muslim groups now, and blacks haven't been angels either. I don't know enough about those of Asian descent, but suffice it to say that Japan and China haven't been the most racially tolerant of countries in the not-so-distant past. Nor have all Jewish groups. There is a double standard when it comes to white racial groups.

After all, they don't have to be racist (at least if you use the same definition for the NAACP, Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups, etc). Indeed, thinking that they are automatically racist, that somehow, whites can't have their own racial groups, that they lack the ability to meet with their own without hating others, is the definition of (bad) racism.

English Speaking Israeli Chareidim

2006-05-09T21:41:00.000-04:00

Apparently English and Math are now part of Charedi education in Israel (link).
Interesting

Kennedy: Drinking or Medication - Does it Matter?

2006-05-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) was involved in a car accident the other night, slamming into a barricade after narrowly missing a police cruiser. Many are inferring that he was drunk. It was around 3am, his eyes were red, he was staggerin the full 8 hours. etc. But someone, not Kennedy, ordered the patrol officers to drive him home, without conducted field sobriety tests.

Imagine if Kennedy were a Republican. But put that aside...

Kennedy claims that he was taking sleeping medication, Ambien. He was also taking Phenergan for gastroenteritis, which can magnify the effects of Ambien. Interestingly, Kennedy did sleep, but woke up, disoriented (a side effect of the drug) before getting into his car and driving.

I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. From what I hear, Ambien is some pretty powerful stuff. If I take 2 Benedryl I get knocked out, and when I was on Vicodin I was knocked out pretty quickly too. But there is an interesting legal question here. Should it matter?

Should it be any different if someone goes out drinking, then, disoriented, gets behind the wheel of a car? Or if perscription medication, with known side effects, and whose purpose is to put you to sleep? People are only supposed to take the drug if they know they can get 8 hours of sleep. Kennedy, who awoke for some odd reason at 3am, presumably would have had time to sleep

There is no doubt that societally we frown more on drunk driving than on disorientation from medication, but that may be due to frequency, there are more drunk drivers than Ambien drivers. And, assuming they aren't addicts, drug takers have more of a need for medication than anyone needs alcohol.

I'm about to start finals, and last year's Criminal Law course is the last thing on my mind. But both the legal and policy points are interesting.

Same Speech, Different Views

2006-05-04T09:57:00.000-04:00

Compare the stories written in Ha'aretz and the Jersualem Post on Olmert's recent policy speech.

First paragraph:

Ha'aretz: Olmert: Settler blocs to be part of Israel forever

Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, setting out government policy guidelines as he presented his new government for Knesset approval on Thursday, said that major settlenent blocs in the West Bank will be part of the sovereign state of Israel forever.

JPost: Olmert: Isolated settlements put Israel in danger

Incoming Prime Minister Ehud Olmert laid out his vision for Israel's future borders in a major policy speech to the Knesset on Thursday, saying that settlements in Judea and Samaria put Israel in danger. He said however, that Israel would maintain control over large settlement blocs forever.

Carnegie

2006-04-30T01:05:00.000-04:00

Let's do a little experiment. Over the next couple of days pay attention to your conversations. On the phone, in person. With strangers, friends, your spouse. Start counting how often you use the word "I" or "me."

One of the best books I've ever read (and continue to review) is Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." There are no big chiddushim in his book, but in a self centered world, where everything is "I" and "me" he reminds us that there are others in the world. The key is realizing other people have interests too.

Borrow or better yet, buy it. We're in middle of sefirah. Before you know it the 3 weeks will be upon us, and then Elul. But how can you really ask someone for forgiveness, how can you expect to get along with anyone else, if everything is "I" and "me?"

It's such a great book that, Marc Shapiro, in his latest work, Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox, notes that R. Dessler often used Carnegie's lectures, sometimes word for word, in his mussar shmoozes.

Read it. You'll thank me.

Salaries

2006-04-27T20:08:00.000-04:00

There's a discussion on Orthomom which you should be reading (especially those in the 5 Towns and School District 15).

School teachers are entrusted with the education of our future, our children. They deserve to be paid more.

Police officers are entrusted with the security and safety of everyone, at the risk of their own lives. They deserve to be paid more.

Firefighters rush into burning buildings, at great risk, to save complete strangers. They deserve to be paid more.

Truck drivers bring everything from food to toothpaste across the country. Without them we couldn't function the way we do. They should be paid more.

Sanitation collectors protect our very health. If garbage piled up in the streets, the stink, not to mention health risks, would be insurmountable. They should be paid more.

The above argument can be used, and has, almost everywhere. But I have yet to see someone pin an actual dollar amount that a teacher should get. They only discuss how much of a raise to give, this time. Never is the end amount, the goal, mentioned.

There's a legal idea that is useful here. A duty to all is a duty to none. When everyone is supposed to be paid more, no one is.

Teitelbaum, Ben-Ari, Yom HaShoah

2006-04-25T08:40:00.000-04:00

R. Moshe Teitelbaum, rebbe of Satmar, passed away today (I, II) after leading Satmar for about 26 years. Let's hope the succession fight between his children, Aaron and Zalmen, doesn't spiral further out of control. If it can.

Cross-Currents has a guest post, with interesting comments, on the boro park riots a couple of weeks back. I just got to it, but do read it if you haven't (link).

Uri Ben-Ari, a retired Brigadier General in the IDF, has a new book out, "Betabat Hahenek" [In a Stranglehold]. Ha'aretz discusses the book here. The last few paragraphs are really interesting:

Ben-Ari believes that the world has not internalized the lessons of the Holocaust, "Terrible things still happen in the world and a new Holocaust can emerge now even in Europe and not only against the Jews." He is also concerned by the threats of Iran and Islamic extremists and believes that the Palestinians will never agree to recognize the state of Israel.

About a year ago, Ben-Ari published an article in Haaretz calling for Israel to respond to Qassam missile attacks by bombing Palestinian cities and villages in the Gaza Strip. Does he still think this is an appropriate solution? "I believe in what all the major figures in our country believed for years: If in our own streets, citizens cannot live in peace and quiet, our enemies will have similar living conditions. That was the motto of every proud Jew. That is how every normal people behaves."

Including direct attacks against a civilian population?

"Yes. Only the Palestinian people - no one else - can stop the terror. Only if that people suffers."

Of course, today is Yom HaShoah, where we remember the deaths of six million Jews killed by the Nazis in World War II. Lots more needs to be said and done on that.

Blogging will continue to be light through the middle of May.

McKinney the Fool

2006-04-25T08:27:00.000-04:00

Cynthia McKinney, is facing a challenger in her upcoming primary for reelection, an attorney named Hank Johnson. I hope he kicks her butt.

McKinney, if you care to recall, ran into some bad publicity after she assaulted a Capitol Hill police officer. Members of Congress do not need to go through metal detectors upon entering the capitol. Instead, by wearing a pin showing them to be members, they are waved through. McKinney wasn't wearing her pin. The officer didn't recognize her. When he stopped her, he got punched. She's lucky she wasn't shot. Think about it. Terrorist threats and a woman walks around a metal detector and attacks an officer?

After charging racism (McKinney is black, the officer in question was not), she apologized for the escalation on the House floor. She has yet to apologize to the officer, who should be commended for doing his job properly.

From CNN:

Arriving at the Georgia Capitol Monday on the first day of qualifying for the July 18 primary, the outspoken McKinney was all smiles and exuding confidence, telling reporters that "people love me because I tell the truth."
"They know I told the truth about September 11th. They know I told the truth about George Bush's war," she said. "And can you imagine that now, in this election season, we're talking about a nuclear strike on (Iran)?"

Actually, she's more like the National Enquirer. You know, that tabloid on supermarket checkout lines that you look at because you're bored, its a slow news day, and the little old lady in front of you is paying with exact change.

Oh, and the best part? Not realizing her microphone was still on, she called the aide who arranged an interview a "fool." Then she went back and told the producer that "anything that is captured by your audio, that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair, is off the record and is not permissible to be used. Is that understood?" Who's the fool?

The Reality of Dayenu

2006-04-16T01:11:00.000-04:00

There has been one change to the seder in the last hundred years. A major one. Not all of us appreciate it, not all of us can. I can't. Those who really can are dwindling in number each year, but for them, its much easier.

Even tinokot shel beit rabban (children in school) know that we have an obligation to feel as if we left Egypt personally, not just our ancestors. That's increasingly hard to do when "liberation" means Florida, take out food, or your cleaning lady scrubbing your floor.

During the second seder, at al achas kamah... after dayenu, my grandfather remarked. "When I was a child, I used to say v'hichnisu l'eretz yisrael. We all did. But we didn't know what it meant. But now, I say it, and I know what it means."

After being turned back by the British, my (paternal) grandfather spent over a year at a displaced person's camp in Cypress. Only in 1948, after the State of Israel was declared, were my grandfather, his brother, and his sister (the survivors of 7 children) able to enter Israel. He served in the Army and stayed in Israel until 1958 or so, before making his way (with my grandmother, father, and uncle) to America via Brazil.

Imagine that! We look at dayenu and its all history, tradition, and stories. The one we relate to most? The Torah, and only because we see what happens without it. Even Israel, could you imagine not having it? But the big deal wasn't having Israel, but being brought into it. The transition of being countryless to having an actual homeland. But he does. He grew up saying the same thing his parents and grandparents said for hundreds of years.

Before 1948 my grandfather said it not knowing what it meant to have Israel. I say it not knowing what it means not to have Israel. Neither of us knew what it meant to get Israel. But he does, and has for nearly 60 years. He was brought into Israel. Not a story. For him, v'hichnisu l'eretz yisrael is reality.

HAFTR & Rambam - Analysis: Hashkafa & Conclusion

2006-04-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

Previous questions were technical. Who will stay and go? Will courses be offered? Can they be offered? Financing? But there's one question, more fundamental, which has yet to be raised.

Hashkafa.

Rambam and HAFTR have (seemingly) different hashkafos. Coed education and single female teachers are but examples. As I've mentioned earlier, I don't think parents choose between HAFTR and Rambam. The two are too different. Nor would it surprive me if the contingent of students from outside of the five towns hail from different communities and different elementary schools. I know of Brandeis students that have gone to HAFTR, none to Rambam. How many Darchei students have gone to HAFTR?

In essence, HAFTR is more LW than Rambam, with a wider variety of students. In a community which is moving "to the right," this bodes ill for HAFTR (why the community is moving to the right is not for now). In fact, in order to maintain current student levels, they'd need to increase their diversity, which won't help with cohesiveness. Pressure from Northshore doesn't help matters.

Expect HAFTR parents to be very concerned, just as Rambam parents would be if HAFTR administration was running the show instead.

But what hashkafic changes will be brought to HAFTR and Rambam? Provided the schools maintain their own admissions standards, the student bodies shouldn't change greatly. From the student body perspective, we won't see a "Rambamization" of HAFTR or a "HAFTRization" of Rambam. Any attempt to impose hashkafic views which HAFTR parents disapprove of could be disastrous.

But there are plenty of areas which parents won't disagree with. Its my understanding that while Zionism courses are taught at HAFTR, they are focused on seniors. We might see the introduction of those courses at the freshman level, where they'll do more good.

Interestingly, this partnership may arrest the communal move to the right. To paraphrase a friend, the average Chaim is more "religious" than the average "Mike." Additionally, MO adherents are willing to be in a secular world, they face challenges that the UO do not. While a level of religious belief and grounding might suffice for UO, the same level doesn't begin to suffice for MO. The idea of "Torah uMadah" is a hard one for adults. I regularly get into discussions with learned and intellegient people, who just can't understand that science or philosophy provide for a deeper understanding of Torah. Imagine how hard it is for children? As a result, these kids go to yeshivas, where there heads are filled with other views, views which make sense. In the face of no alternative, is it any surprise that many "flip out?" In the long term, this partnership may make it a more serious MO community, instead of a RW community.

To conclude:

Like the other issues, the hashkafic views are more complicated that this single post. But I'm trying to wrap this up before Pesach. Please feel free to bring up additional issues in the comments.

This deal has some upside, but its far from certain that HAFTR and Rambam can pull it off. Financing is an issue, the girls school is an issue. Hashkafa is a huge issue, I'd wager its one larger than most people give it credit for.

If they can't pull it off, the deal will collapse. The schools will remain where they are today. Even if they do pull it off, I can easily see a new school or two opening its doors to cater to parents who feel like HAFTR or Rambam abandoned them? I can also see HAFTR's high school population decreasing in the coming years, so that the two schools are more evenly matched, population wise (especially if an all girls school opens up).

There's a lot we still don't know. How will internal administration work, what's the exact power given to each of the personalities, and how will HAFTR's lower and middle school be impacted? I've tried looking at some of the major issues (this last one less than most due to time constraints), but as they say, the devil is in the details.

A-Z Meme

2006-04-11T17:36:00.000-04:00

[Updated to include "P" and "V." Thanks CWY]

I'm bored, basically done cleaning, and don't want to do schoolwork. So here goes, thanks to Irina

Accent: I actually had one person ask me if I was from Chicago (not sure why, all my Chicago friends laugh at that), and others who asked where I was from. When involved in a heated discussion, my accent moves towards NY. Otherwise, its pretty neutral.

Booze: I don't really drink. Except wine.

Chore I hate: I'll let you know when I get to them.

Dogs/Cats: Neither. I don't mind either of them, but I'm more a fish person

Essential Electronics: Wow, we can be here for a while. My computers (yes, more than one). No iPod, Blackberry or Palm for me.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Irish Spring and that new smell that Head & Shoulders came out with, I think its Citrus...

Gold and Silver: Not really a jewelery person

Hometown: New York

Insomnia: Not really. If I get a long nap Shabbos afternoon it can be a problem. But usually I can just meditate myself to sleep.

Job Title: Student

Kids: None

Living Arrangements: Apartment with a roommate

Most Admired Trait: By who? Me? My friends? The latter would be fixing computers or giving advice. Though advice might be one I pick too. Public speaking? But that's a talent, not a trait.

Number of Sexual Partners: None.

Overnight Hospital Stays: I was born on erev shabbos, so then. Aside from birth? None.

Phobia: Not really sure. If I can stay calm for half a second and not panic I can pretty much handle anything. At least so far.

Quote:
There are so many to choose from, but here are three random ones:
"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war." --Winston Churchill

"Arrogance is thinking that you're always right and brilliant. Confidence is realizing that you're not always right, that you've got a lot more thinking to do, but that you nevertheless have interesting thoughtful observations to contribute to the discourse. " --Daniel J. Solove

Religion: Judaism

Siblings: One younger brother

Time I usually wake up: Varies greatly

Unusual Talent: Multitasking? Extemp Public Speaking? Typing and having two real conversations at the same time?

Vegtable I Refuse to Eat: Asparagus

Worst Habit: I'll get to this later.

X-Rays: Sure! Plenty of times.

Yummy Foods: Bunch of cakes, kugels, some Hungarian-type dishes.

Zodiac Sign: No clue. The end of March/beginning of April one.

Tag:
Nephtuli, CWY, LamedZayin, and David

FIRE!

2006-04-11T17:18:00.000-04:00

The Fire Dept. is across the street from my backyard. At first I thought it was a false alarm. I looked out the window, into the sun, and didn't see anything. Suddenly, yelling, loud radios, and sounds of glass breaking. Looking outside now there's lots of smoke. Hope they're ok and that its not chametz related

Eilu v'Eilu for Me...None for you

2006-04-11T00:24:00.000-04:00

Do we really believe eilu v'eilu? Or shivim panim l'Torah? Its rare for a UO to say that secular education might be a good idea for some. For chareidim in Meah Shearim to say that a kollel life isn't for everyone. Or for an MO to understand the paradigm of chassidus or charedism as being helpful for others.

The Talmud Yerushalimi, in Sanhedrin 22a, mentions that each issue has 49 arguments in favor and 49 against. That's just one of the many examples (another, whose location escapes me, discusses which Rav is more qualified for the Sanhedrin. The winner? The one who could point to more reasons that a tamei sheretz should be tahor) showing that things aren't as simple as they seem.

So? Do we really believe that there are multiple paths? Or do we only believe that multiple paths work when the path is ours?

The Jewish Number Line

2006-04-11T00:15:00.000-04:00

[Moved to the top so those not interested in HAFTR don't have to scroll down]

Who would you rather go out with? A girl who wears pants but plans on covering her hair, or a girl who only wears skirts, but won't cover her hair?

The above is one of the hypothetical scenarios that my friends and I like to throw around (the learning/minyan question is another). Most people equate the two, thinking that skirts and hair covering stem from the same source, both are obviously required, and a "good" girl must do both. But the real answer is much more complicated.

Take secular education. Stereotypically, MO types approve of it while UO types do not. But the connection isn't causal, you can be MO and not care about secular education, or UO and a strong proponent.

There are dozens of examples and questions which fit this mold. What's my point?

Everyone talks about religious observance and philosophy as if its a number line. One dimensional. Either the right, the left, or the middle. But they couldn't be more wrong.

Religious observance is more like a 3D (or if you're really feeling adventurous, a 4D) image. You can be on the left for some issues, the right on others, and still the center on more. For each dimension. The possibile combinations are infinite. If more people understood that, we'd all be able to understand each other a little better.

HAFTR & Rambam - Analysis: Clarifications

2006-04-11T00:13:00.000-04:00

I hope to get the rest of my analysis done before Pesach, but for now I'd like to clarify a couple of points:
1) There seems to be some confusion over R. Hochbaum's previous position. I've heard (and read) that he's from HANC, TABC, Yavneh, etc. My research indicates that he's coming from Yavneh, and HANC was one of his previous positions. Not sure where TABC fits in, but hey, that's what rumors are for.

2) A number of people have been commenting in manners that are highly inappropriate. Please keep your arguments on the merits. Saying that you don't think two personalities will/can get along is a merit. Attacking the commenter for observing that is not. If you have something to say, keep it to the topic at hand, not personal attacks on commenters.

Thank you.