Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Interesting Posts and Articles #269

  1. At Geshmak Torah, the importance of controlling your temper, based on Matos. Among the stories told over:



    Rav Yechiel Meir of Zlotchov had special tefillin (phylacteries) from his father. People wanted to buy these special tefillin from him, and bid huge amounts of money to have the the merit of possessing them. One Succos there were no esrogim (citrus fruit used as one of the four kinds) to be found in their town. After searching desperately, he heard that a man in another town had a spare esrog. He sold his tefillin and bought the esrog. When he returned home and told his wife what had happened, she became furious and as a result, she broke the esrog. Rav Yechiel Meir stayed calm. When asked how he was able to stay calm, he replied, “I lost my tefillin and I lost my esrog; I will not lose my shalom bayis (marital harmony) as well.” That night, his father appeared to him in a dream and told him that in shomayim (the heavenly spheres), his shalom bayis was worth much, much more than the tefillin or the esrog.
    The way I heard the story, it was not his father's tefillin but her father's tefillin. To be somewhat snide, I also wonder at the level of shalom bayis that existed at that point, and whether his reaction where he was now in the right would have further infuriated her. This is an extra twist, though, that the town also did not have an esrog, and not just him, such that he was presumably doing this so that everyone in the town could fulfill the mitzvah as well. It all gets down to the precise details, I suppose.
    a
  2. At Emes veEmunah, reactions (here and here) to Rav Malkiel Kotler's condemnation of HaModia for printing / distributing a memorial for Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander.
    a
  3. Rabbi Slifkin is in the US, touring and lecturing. Here is the schedule at present -- and he is looking for other venues.
    a
  4. Hirhurim on whether creativity is possible in the Information Age. He gives some of the difficulties. He ends with:



    Another is to overcome your humility and offer suggestions of new approaches. Caution is required here. Some (most?) original thinkers do not have to overcome their humility because they were not blessed with a large portion of it. This eventually becomes clear to readers, some sooner than others. When I realize that an original thinker is arrogant toward his predecessors, I usually just tune him out. I have no interest in what he has to say. The difference between being reluctantly original and arrogantly original is, I believe, eventually the difference between tradition and heresy.
    a
  5. Over at Hirhurim, the discussion continues about Dr. Sperber and drinking wine during the nine days, where the post's author returns briefly to comment and clarify.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

meir says
In the past you have accepted that means replies to posts from me containing new topical subjects and i thank you for them.
Here is another which ought to be of interest to everyone.i have not heard or found anyone discussing it. but since it concerns everyone it ought to be.

I believe all kesubos today are possul except the sefardi ones.

we have a common nusach for everyone made most likely 1000 years ago or thereabouts.

No one knows, cares or understands whats the written there.
not the choson, kallo eidim and i am sorry to say the mesader who is supposed to be a rov.
they all have no idea what is written there. Yes they can translate the meaningless words and are good at 'reading' it.
i wont go fully into the subject now i first have to see if it is of interest. but i have yet to find a rov who knows whats the written there and when it comes to a get each beth din has a different set of figures usually different for a rich or poor man.
there is an amount quoted in the kesuba which no rov seems to know how much or from which money it originated it is not talmudic.
The chazon ish does quote a figure in silver which is brought down in some of todays seforim on marriage. but how many rabbonim have ever learnt chazon ish. Rav Padwa of london has a tshuva where he says he doesnt know signed by his whole beth din. It seems they never learnt chazon ish.but they are not alone. so how can one expect a normal guy who gets married to know.
the sefarding do the right thing they put the figure in dollars. they dont have a standard kesubah.
one of the reasons it is read out is so the choson shouldnt afterwards say he had no idea what was written there. well if the rov who reads it has no idea either what is the purpose. another reason it to make a hefsek between engagement and marriage.but that is no reason to read out something meaningless.
it is about time todays rabbis and even the great ones were trained to know exactly how much is involved. and not each beth din has a free for all.
there is a tshuva in r m feinstein chelek 4 where he says its too little. i dont understand that either there is an amount keep to it. if its too little make the kesuba a larger amount. there is nothing in the din that says it has to be that amount the sefardim also have varying amounts the gemoro is full of that.
but if that is the amount written why should he have to pay more.
there is an attitude that we always did it this way so it must be right.
this is a total fallacy. when this nusach kesuba originated with the amount in the local currency it was like dollars today and everyone knew what it was. they forgot the currency in the ages but still kept to the old kesuba.
i might add the currenty is deutch marks now find me a rov who knows that.
if this post is not for your blog please delete it

Anonymous said...

meir says
In the past you have accepted that means replies to posts from me containing new topical subjects and i thank you for them.
Here is another which ought to be of interest to everyone.i have not heard or found anyone discussing it. but since it concerns everyone it ought to be.

I believe all kesubos today are possul except the sefardi ones.

we have a common nusach for everyone made most likely 1000 years ago or thereabouts.

No one knows, cares or understands whats the written there.
not the choson, kallo eidim and i am sorry to say the mesader who is supposed to be a rov.
they all have no idea what is written there. Yes they can translate the meaningless words and are good at 'reading' it.
i wont go fully into the subject now i first have to see if it is of interest. but i have yet to find a rov who knows whats the written there and when it comes to a get each beth din has a different set of figures usually different for a rich or poor man.
there is an amount quoted in the kesuba which no rov seems to know how much or from which money it originated it is not talmudic.
The chazon ish does quote a figure in silver which is brought down in some of todays seforim on marriage. but how many rabbonim have ever learnt chazon ish. Rav Padwa of london has a tshuva where he says he doesnt know signed by his whole beth din. It seems they never learnt chazon ish.but they are not alone. so how can one expect a normal guy who gets married to know.
the sefarding do the right thing they put the figure in dollars. they dont have a standard kesubah.
one of the reasons it is read out is so the choson shouldnt afterwards say he had no idea what was written there. well if the rov who reads it has no idea either what is the purpose. another reason it to make a hefsek between engagement and marriage.but that is no reason to read out something meaningless.
it is about time todays rabbis and even the great ones were trained to know exactly how much is involved. and not each beth din has a free for all.
there is a tshuva in r m feinstein chelek 4 where he says its too little. i dont understand that either there is an amount keep to it. if its too little make the kesuba a larger amount. there is nothing in the din that says it has to be that amount the sefardim also have varying amounts the gemoro is full of that.
but if that is the amount written why should he have to pay more.
there is an attitude that we always did it this way so it must be right.
this is a total fallacy. when this nusach kesuba originated with the amount in the local currency it was like dollars today and everyone knew what it was. they forgot the currency in the ages but still kept to the old kesuba.
i might add the currenty is deutch marks now find me a rov who knows that.
if this post is not for your blog please delete it

Nosson Gestetner said...

Yay :)

Thanks for linking! I'll check up sefer I learnt and get back to you whether it was his/hers.

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