Interesting Posts and Articles #252

1. Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths contrasts two different segulos to prevent damaged tefillin.
   
   
2. AstroTorah on whether references to aliens in the gemara are legit, or the result of ignorance on the part of modern folk who read those gemaras.
   
   
3. Bloggers vs. Doers -- purportedly, someone who learns in Lakewood defaced copies of Rabbi Eidensohn's Yad Moshe in a seforim store, rather than merely complaining about the Daas Torah blog online in a comment:
   
   

   “For your info. I recently went into a VERY popular otzar hasforim of a very popular yeshiva here in lakewood ( Im not saying any names). one that is used by many talmidei chachamim 24/7; There are a few Yad moshes on the shelf there. every single Yad moshe in the cover by your name said the following (in hebrew) ‘Rasha merusha, mevazeh talmidei chachamim v'gedolei hador R"L. Baal blog shel motzi shem rah v'lashon horah vchoo. R"L.’” 
   

   It is good to see people take action in meatspace, rather than just complain in cyberspace. (Yes, I am joking.) Read all about at Daas Torah and the Five Towns Jewish Times.
   
   
   
4. At Ishim veShitot, Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky, Mendelssohn, and Jastrow's dictionary:
   
   

   While there are likely fewer students in Torah Vodaas today who would know about the Biur and its author, that particular bochur did, and his horror was visceral. Rav Yaakov immediately understood, and reportedly smiled (he seemed always to smile) and said, “They are surprised that I would own such a work. If only they knew how many difficulties it helped me solve.”
   
   Although not an irrefutable proof, the following excerpt (Emes L' Yaakov YD 281) would seem to falsify the above to some extent...
   

   
   
5. At Matzav and elsewhere, a segulah miraculously doesn't work:
   
   

   
   
   
   
   

   Had the baby turned, the baby would have died. The segulah did not work because the cord was around the neck and the miracle saved the baby.
   

   They performed a C-section and the baby was boruch Hashem born healthy.
   

   Miraculously, in this case, the segulah did not work.
   

   
   

   A nice comment there by Kish Ka:
   
   

   Reminds of a story: A Rebbe missed his train. He was so upset he said: “The train should crash”. His Chassidim pointed out that there might be Yidden on the train. The Rebbe agreed and said “It shouldn’t crash”. Sure enough, the train did not crash!!!
   

   
   
6. At Cross-Currents, Rabbi Avi Shafran explains and defends his comments regarding the earthquake in Haiti. And at Emes veEmunah, Rabbi Harry Maryles defends Rabbi Shafran as well. And Rabbi Slifkin responds to Rabbi Shafran's latest article.
   
   
7. And Rabbi Twersky also attempts to make sense of the devastation in Haiti. Not sechar veOnesh per se, but natural consequence of violation (by non-Haitians) of the sheva mitzvos bnei Noach elsewhere in the world. Check out the comments.
   
   
8. On the Main Line has a bulla from Nechemia Gaon. Also, he considers what would be a greater psul for a dayan -- wearing a brown article of clothing or holding that one can be a full and complete Jew while disbelieving all of kabbalah, relating it to something I discussed in my recent post on Dybbuks, Gedolim, and adding to ikkarei emunah via makchish magideha.
   
   
9. Yachdus discusses a ban on newspapers without a hechsher, from the same rav behind the ban on chareidi websites. He has an image. And a cute post (a spoof, it would certainly seem) on the latest kupat ha'ir segulah.
   
   
10. At the Jewish Press, My Machberes column, Rabbi Tannenbaum discusses praying etiquette and quacking like a duck. My thoughts, perhaps, in a later post.