Interesting Posts and Articles #249

1. According to Yachdus, the Mishpocha newspaper has reported that Rav Kanievsky has (now?) dismissed the dybbuk as merely being someone with mental problems. See there.
   
   
2. On the Main Line on an earlier fish story, which preceded the Monsey talking fish.
   
   
3. Life In Israel about flipping the switch after a conversion, and a giyoret who distanced herself from her son:
   
   

   A young man writes to Rav Cherlo that his family was not Jewish and his parents divorced a few years ago. His mother moved to Bnei Brak to be near her work. Over time she became closer to Judaism and eventually converted. Now, he says, she has become haredi.... Since her transformation, his life has become very difficult. She tells him because she converted he is not her kid, she cannot hug him and touch him, he cannot touch the dishes lest he defile them, she threatens to throw him out of the house, since he is not her son anyway (because she is a convert).
   

4. More on the lawsuit between the North Face and the South Butt.
   
   
5. Yeranen Yaakov sent this one to me. A conference regarding Jewish Aggadah stories -- facts or allegories:
   
   

   
   
   
   

   (IsraelNN.com) The Lander Academic Institute and Bar Ilan University held a two day conference focusing on the traditional Agadah Rabbinic literature. Arutz Sheva TV attended the event and spoke with Prof. Carmi Horowitz, Lander Institute's rector.
   

   
   

   Check out the interview there. I think that this presents only two possibilities, ignoring the possibility of something intended as fact rather than allegories, even though we do not (necessarily) accept it as historical. This conflation of literal intent and historicity is fairly common. Also, I would disagree, and assert there certainly is aggadah past Chazal. Whether they are midrashim created by Geonim or Rishonim; or the midrashic suggestions of Rav Yonasan Eibeshitz; or Gur Aryeh's analysis of various midrashim and introduction of new and fantastic details to harmonize the two -- certainly there is a lot of aggada created post-Chazal. Though in present day, it certainly is not so popular.
   
   
   
6. Emes veEmunah on bloggers vs. doers.
   
   
7. The Yeshiva World with a transcription of a radio program exchange between a proponent and opponent of mehadrin bus lines.
   
   
8. In the Jewish Star, Rabbi Avi Billet about midwives of the Hebrews, which discusses several meforshim who maintain that the midwives were Egyptians. In my post which touched on the subject, in the comments, I mentioned Abarbanel and Shadal. He also mentions Kli Yakar, Malbim, and Josephus. (Indeed, Shadal mentions others maintaining this, IIRC.)
   
   
9. My post roundup for parashat Bo.
   
   
10. Coverage of the guy wearing tefillin on the plane. Given that they didn't know what tefillin were, I would say they acted appropriately.