Interesting Posts and Articles #257

1. Life In Israel on how Etrog is reopening under a hechsher, and how it is owned by Yated. And at Yachdus, how American Yated has opened up a website.
   a
2. A Mother In Israel on Teens, Facebook, and Cyber-Bullying.
   a
3. Jewish Blogmeiser posts on credit card acceptance and myths, and has a special offer:

   If you have great rates but can't get someone on the phone when you have a problem then what is that company really worth? My company offers all this and more. What is the more you ask? For a limited time I will assist all new clients with a Free seo analysis and assist them with marketing their website and/or business online free of charge. This will certainly help them expand their business to gain new customers.Feel free to pass this information along to anyone who is currently accepting or would like to accept credit cards. The company: Prestige Merchant Services.

4. At Vos Iz Neias, Golden Flow has new procedures to keep their cholov Yisroel milk even fresher, such that it is guaranteed to last to the printed expiration date. As might be expected, the comments are all about why in the general case of cholov yisrael milk, it does not, and whether this is din or chumrah.
   a
5. Blog In Dm about how some are using the poor economy exploit musicians.
   a
6. Lazer Beams in favor of the authenticity of Near Death experiences:
   
   
   But what will he do with all of the Near Death experiences from those millions he mentioned who had a near death experience of Jesus? See here for countless examples. And Rabbi Brody endorses a book, "Closer to the Light", by Melvin Morse. From its first chapter:

   
   
   
   
   

   "Do you mean when I visited the Heavenly Father," she replied. Whoa, I thought. "That's a good place to start. Tell me about meeting the Heavenly Father."

   "I met Jesus and the Heavenly Father," she said. Maybe it was the shocked look on my face or maybe it was shyness. But that was it for the day. She became very embarrassed and would speak no more.

   This is what happens when you embrace non-Jewish ideas, New Age ideas, endeavoring to increase people emunah. You will increase people's faith alright -- but it might just be faith in Avodah Zarah!
   a
7. More on the actions of the chareidim in Eretz Yisrael who act like perfect malachim -- by which I mean chayos hakodesh. At the Yeshiva World, Renewed Violence in Meah Shearim. And at Emes veEmunah, Getting Results.
   a
8. Here at parshablog, I wrote a post yesterday arguing that life is complicated and nuanced, and that it is not so clear that one should call Dor Yesharim before any shidduch date. Rather, perhaps one should date a few times and only then call Dor Yesharim. Unfortunately, somehow this got misunderstood to be an attack on Dor Yesharim, and genetic testing, in general.
   a
9. The latest Haveil Havalim, at Shiloh Musings.
   
10. Life in Israel on a surprising purported psak from Rav Elyashiv:
    

    The latest psak to be making the rounds in the name of Rav Elyashiv is that a woman cannot dunk in the mikvah if she is wearing braces (for anybody from England or other countries where this word might have alternate meanings, it here means the train tracks wired to someone's teeth in an effort to straighten them out, and not to suspenders). The braces would be a chatzitzah and dipping in the mikvah would be futile, as dipping with a chatzitza is not really doing anything.

    He explains why it should be surprising, and wonders about some of the repercussions. Meanwhile, Rav Ovadia Yosef rules otherwise, leniently:
    

    Chacham Ovadia Yosef (in Taharat Ha'bayit, vol. 3, p. 143) rules leniently and allows immersing while wearing braces, on the basis of a number of different factors: the braces are located inside the mouth, they cover only a minority of the area of one's mouth, the woman wants the braces to be in her mouth, and they are very difficult to remove.  For all these reasons, the braces may be seen as part of the woman's mouth and therefore do not constitute a Chatzitza.  Retainers, however, must be removed before immersion.  Needless to say, a woman with braces must ensure to thoroughly clean the braces to remove all food particles that might have become attached to them.