this is from last year, but relevant to every years sefirat haOmer.. and funny..



If you want interesting daily reminders for sefira, you can follow my twitter feed or friend me on Facebook. At some point during the night I post an interesting reminder, using the #countOmer hashtag

Here is a story with two take-aways:
1. Bnei Braq miracles are the best!
2. until recently it was very rare for a yeshiva student to grow a beard. After a bochur got married and joined a kollel, growing a beard was always common - but as a bochur it was rare (not including in Hassidic yeshivas). Now it is not only common to see yeshiva bochurim sporting beards, but it has almost become a "must".
3. it looks like Litvish boys now date like Hassidic boys
4. perhaps we have a new solution for the shidduch crisis in America...

Here is the story, as reported by Kikar:
During the week before Pesach, the mayor of Bnei Braq, Chanoch Zeibert, went with a group of people to pay a visit to Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Included in the group was Deputy Mayor Avraham Rubinstein and sons. Rubinstein asked for a bracha for one of his sons to find his bashert.

According to the story, Rav Kanievsky looked at the relevant son and asked him why he was not growing a beard. The young man replied that he is, but his hair is very light so it is barely noticeable.

Rav Kanievsky took a closer look and then gave him the bracha that if so, then Hashem should help him get engaged very soon.

Sure enough, within the week he was engaged!

Kikar continues with another story of a French businessman whowent to Rav Chaim Kanievsky for a bracha to find his bashert. Rav Kanievsky looked at his smooth-shaven face and asked if in France they don't grow beards. After he promised to grow a beard, Rav Kanievsky gave him a bracha to get engaged very soon.

No word on whether or not this fellow got engaged yet...

Baruch Hashem we have solved all our problems and can busy ourselves with fighting over the color of the cloak of this or that rabbi.

Either that or the haredi commentators have added a "style column" to their repertoire.

At last night's "mimouna" celebrations in the Moroccan community, [former] Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar made his appearances wearing his honorary robes, as former Rishon lTzion. What has everybody in a tizzy, and I feel almost like TMZ right now, is that he wore his robes that are embroidered with the, sit down, gold threads, rather than the robes with the silver threads!

The problem? Not really sure, but they say that he has only worn the silver robes in recent years, so this looks like he is planning something bigger.

The questions are why? what is he aiming for? is he making a move to be the next Maran? Is he trying to bring the new Chief Rabbi down a notch?

Rav Amar, of course, denies all this. Even says he has worn the golden robes at various functions over the past few years.

And sure enough, someone even went and checked that. They probably had to sift through hundreds of pictures, but they did! They discovered that, at least in public fundtions, he only wore the silver robes in recent years.
source: Kikar

Baruch Hashem, our big concerns are now gossip-column material. "Fashion and Style of the Gedolim" is going to be the newest feature in Haredi newspapers.

Here is a bunch of articles of interest that I have been collecting in the past couple of weeks and just have not gotten to posting... I am just posting this now to clear my browser tabs...

1. man skips seder to go to casino, wins $1million

2. Portland drained 38 million gallons of water, because one person peed in it - what would they do with the Kinerret???

3. Let my people work by MK Rabbi Dov Lipman

4. pair acting suspiciously near Kate and William - Jews or only dressed up as Jews?

5. a moment of truth for Haredi leaders

6. the bias against black-hatters

7. Chicago also headed into Passover with a shortage of gefilte fish

8. 14 anomalies found only in Israel

9. kosherZumba craze in Brooklyn

10. leadership lessons learned in the IDF

11. a wafalafel - really? where do I get it?

12. an ultra orthodox perspective on army service

13. to my haredi brothers

14. a rabbi makes aliyah

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in Gaza they also put out a version of the Happy dance...

funniest part is how the shopping cart is lined with aluminum foil!

Tsfat Ladies Get Ready for Pesach from aviva spiegel on Vimeo.