The Star of David. That is Dimitry Slaita's nickname. Salita, the Jewish, orthodox, boxer, has been a rising star for about 6 years... He has yet to get a shot at the title in his class, despite his 27-0 record.

Sports Illustrated has an article about him...

On the one hand, it is hard to feel too bad for Salita. Some in the sport consider him to be only a slightly above-average talent, whose sterling record has been paved on the backs of subpar opponents like Munoz. Yet, as MMA steals boxing's thunder, and HBO hands us one forgettable (and often recycled) schlub after another, the question I have is this: Why not give the guy a chance?

If Salita is turned into matzo farfel by a Kotelnik or Ricky Hatton or Willy Blain, well, he slinks off into the sunset and pursues his next goal of earning a law degree. "They give me a title shot and I get killed," said Salita, "and I promise HBO, I will never bother them again."

But what if Salita, the "Chosen One," wins? What if the kid with the funny name, the quick fists and the phylacteries steps up and gives boxing its first Jewish junior welterweight champion since Barney Ross more than 70 years ago?

matzo farfel? do people make that on Pesach?

I say they should give him a shot at the title. Go Salita! Make us proud. Orthodox jews can be athletes!

What is the appropriate response by the public at the end of a speech? A great speech let's say. Oftentimes the crowd will clap.

Somehow, somewhy, that never feels right at a frum event. And I think most people feel it as well, but don't know what else to do.

How many times have you gone to a bar mitzva or a wedding or some other frum event - at the end of a speech, the crowd hesitates, and there is a smattering of clapping, most of it out of sync as people clap without knowing that that is what they should be doing but don't know what else to do. Kind of an awkward clap.

Really all you want to do, all that feels right perhaps, is to scream out "shkoyach!" and maybe knock down another l'chayim or two...

Why does it feel so wrong to clap as a response at a frum event/speech? What do you think is the right crowd reaction?

Am I just out of my mind?

Ever hear the conundrum of what to get the person who has everything?

This is taken from the Neturei Karta's most recent newsletter....


The above conundrum can now be revised to say "What do you protest when you have already protested everything?"

Looks like all that is left now is the moon. Next month we will be protesting that nobody should say kiddush levana anywhere that has permission from the Zionists... stay tuned for details. We are making arrangements to fly to Iran for the ceremony...

Chelsea Lately sits down for a funny shabbat dinner with Rabbi Shmuley and other guests...

woman in sleeveless shirt warning... watch at your own risk...

Are you wondering about how big a deal everyone is making about the upcoming Birkat HaChama? A Simple Jew asked me for my thoughts on it...

While I still don't really "get" the purpose of Twitter beyond other forms of social networking, I must say it does provide some very good links...

Here is something I got off of Twitter today.... that would be Benjamin Netanyahu at age 28...

The problem of the finances of marrying off children, specifically in Israel among the yeshiva crowd, is well known. The "custom" has been that aside from paying for the wedding, the parents also often have to buy the children an apartment. Generally that obligation has been of the parents of the bride, but even in the best of situations it is split 50-50.

Recently, in the past few years, the issue has come to a head. The problem with the scenario is that few can afford it. Those that can, fine. But overall, the social group that is using that method is the one that is among the lowest socio-economic levels in the country. It has been widely discussed in the haredi press, and many attempts have been made in the last few years to try to alleviate the problem and remove the pressure, even if just a bit.

The problem really is that because most cannot afford it, they travel the world trying to raise money as they go collecting for "hachnassas kallah". It takes a toll on their lives, on the health, on the family. They go into serious debt to marry off the kids and provide them with a home.

BHOL is reporting on a new attempt to alleviate the problem. A group of avreichim from Ponevezh who are in the stages of marrying off children have realized that what they made their own parents do is just not possible anymore. Maybe their parents were working people and could take out another mortgage or dip into savings to buy them apartments (I have no idea why people think that just because you have a job you are able to afford extra apartments - maybe a different post). But they learn in kollel and barely make it to the end of the month and that is with just the bare minimum of basics. There is no way they will be able to buy their kids apartments.

So these avreichim have gotten together and decided they would agree among themselves to spend no more than $60,000 on their kids weddings. What that includes I don't know - the wedding itself? Also part of the price of an apartment? Gifts? I don't know - the article does not go into detail on that, but I will be staying tuned looking for more info on this.

As well, they are going to be going around the country trying to sign up 10,000 avreichim to agree to the same commitment.

Where they will get $60,000 is another problem, but it is better than a parent having to dish out $150,000 he does not have. So it relieves some of the pressure. And by signing up a large number of people, it lessens the social pressure that forces parents to take on all that debt - if others are not doing it, I will not feel obligated to do it. If they are only doing so much, I will only have to do so much.

The group went to Rav Shteinman to get his haskama that what they are doing is ok. Rav Shteinman agreed, and decided to set up a rabbinic committee to head the initiative.

I think the idea is great, and hopefully this is just the beginning of working solutions being found. What I find funny is that people want to spend less money, go less into debt, make weddings that cost less, buy cheaper apartments, buy apartments in cheaper neighborhoods, etc, and they feel they need the haskamah of a rav to do so. And we all know what happens once rabbinic committees get involved. You had a great idea - just follow through and spend less money. Why get others involved?

PM-elect Benjamin Netanyahu has requested, and been granted, another 14 days to try to form a government coalition. He needs the extra time because he spent a lot of time trying to woo Labor and Kadima into a quasi unity government, and he wants to have some more time to continue trying.

Netanyahu explained his continued attempts to form a unity government, "It is not just what the nation want, it is what the nation needs."

What eludes me is that immediately after the elections, Livni claimed victory based on the fact that Kadima won the largest number of seats of any party. Netanyahu, on the other hand, claimed victory based on the fact that the right wing won the largest bloc of seats and want him to lead the right wing bloc.

So, Netanyahu's whole claim to victory is based on the majority of the nation being right wing (or at least voting for right wing parties) and wanting him, yet he says the nation wants and needs unity and not right wing politics.

If the nation needs, and wants, unity, perhaps it is only right to allow Livni the first chance to form a unity coalition - Netanyahu is the morally correct choice to form a right wing coalition.

(Disclaimer: This rant has nothing to do with the fact that all the right wing parties, and I mean all of them with no exception, have been acting irresponsibly and have been horse trading for positions well beyond what they each deserve, and in Netanyahu's desperation to satisfy them all and have them sign on, he has been extremely forthcoming)

Interesting link:

Rah discusses how the History Channel ended up demonizing King David

Gmail comes through again with another new feature that is very useful.

Undo.

They now give you 5 seconds to realize you changed your mind and did not really want to send that email. What used to be a built in delay of 5 seconds before gmail actually delivered your email, is now turned into a feature that allows you to change your mind within those 5 seconds. All you have to do is click the "Undo" link where it says it is sending your message.

You have to enable this feature in Google Labs, but I see it as totally useful .You just have to be quick - you have to realize right away that you did not mean to send that email just yet, and also be quick to click the link.

5 seconds might just not be enough, but any longer than that and users would be complaining that email delivery is slow. Think about it - you obviously cant undo a sent message after it gets delivered. If it would take more than a few seconds to deliver an email, allowing you more time to undo, you would complain how long they take to deliver your message.

One future adjustment to this feature that I can see as adding to it and making it even better is allowing you to set in the settings of your mailbox how much time to wait - how many seconds - before delivering your email. You would be able to set 10 seconds, 30 seconds, whatever you think is reasonable for your demands on email usage. That would allow you to decide how much time to have for your undo.

One more thing, I found out that if you have "Offline Gmail" enabled, this will not work. I tried testing it and could not figure out why I was not getting the undo link. Then I disabled "Offline Gmail", and the "Undo" suddenly started working..

Way to go Google.

Rabbi Moshe Tendler on Har HaBayit...

It is great to be living in a country like Israel. Here I can talk openly, even non-anonymously, against the government and its policies, against the prime minister and his cronies and their corruption, against whatever I feel like, and I do not have to fear going to jail and dying in prison.

I apologize for the lack of regular posting this week. I have had an extremely busy week - both at work and at home..

Hopefully we'll get back on track quickly.

I was sent the following response, in Hebrew, written by Rav Bar Hayyim of Machon Shilo to Rav Ovadiah Yosef. The response in a response to ROY's recent declaration that ashkenazim must remain with the issur of kitniyot...

בשם השם א-ל עולם

‏יום שלישי כ"א אדר תשס"ט

(‏17/03/2009)

תגובת הרב דוד בר-חיים, ראש מכון שילה, לדבריו של הרב עובדיה יוסף שאין להתיר לאשכנזים לצרוך קטניות בפסח:

"דבר יודע ומפורסם כי הרב עובדיה יוסף סבור שכאשר האשכנזים החלו עולים לארץ ישראל לפני כ-220 שנה, היו צריכים לקבל על עצמם את מנהגי הספרדים שהיוו את כל היישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל באותה תקופה. בעבר נהג הרב יוסף לתת פומבי לדעתו זו. מסיבות של תקינות פוליטית – כלומר כדי לא לפתוח במלחמת עולם עם הממסד הרבני האשכנזי – החליט הרב יוסף להפסיק להשמיע דעתו זו.

לעצם הענין: גם פוסקים אשכנזיים רבים התנגדו למנהג אי-אכילת קטניות. כך כתב רבינו יעקב בן הרא"ש בעל הטורים: "ויש אוסרין לאכול אורז וכל מיני קטניות בתבשיל לפי שמיני חטין מתערבין בהן. וחומרא יתירא היא זו ולא נהגו כן" (או"ח תנ"ג).

הרב יוסף, כידוע, דוגל בפסקיו של השלחן ערוך. על דברי הטור הנ"ל הביא מחבר השלחן ערוך הרב יוסף קארו את הדברים הבאים: "גם רבינו ירוחם כתב אותם שנהגו שלא לאכול אורז ומיני קטניות מבושל בפסח מנהג שטות הוא, זולתי אם הם עושים להחמיר על עצמם. ולא ידעתי למה"(או"ח תנ"ג).

ועל כך הוסיף הגאון האשכנזי היעב"ץ: "וכמה פוסקים חושבים אותה לשטות ומנהג טעות שאין צריך אפילו חרטה והתרה...." (שם).

ידוע גם שבעקבות מלחמת יום הכיפורים, הרב יוסף ישב על המדוכה של התרת עגונות רבות, גם במקרים לא פשוטים להיתר. כשהרב יוסף רוצה, הוא יודע להתיר. אם אינו נוהג כן במנהג שטות כמו קטניות, אין זה משום שאינו יכול, אלא שאיננו רוצה. חוסר הרצון הזה נובע לדעתי לא מסיבות הלכתיות אלא מסיבות השקפתיות-פוליטיות".

In English.... he basically says that even many ashkenazy poskim through the generations have called the minhag of not eating kitniyot to be a minhag shtus, and have rejected it. He brings specific examples, such as the Tur and the Yaavetz among others.

Rav Bar Hayyim says that Rav Yosef is famous for working hard to find hetterim to be mattir agunos after the Yom Kippur War. Rav Ovadiah knows how to find hetterim. If he does not do so in this case, which is a minhag shtut, it is not because he cannot find a hetter, but because he does not want to. This lack of will [to find a hetter], is not for halachic reasons but for hashkafic-political reasons.

I would really like to see Rav Ovadiah Yosef respond to this, but he will probably just ignore it.

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz hits another home run in his latest article. Rabbi Horowitz, writing in response to the recent conviction of Elchonon Buzaglo to four years in prison, goes further than ever before.

Buzaglo, in case the name means nothing to you, was the guy working for the Mishmeret Tzniyus who attacked a woman in Maalot Dafna because he considered her behavior inappropriate.

Rabbi Horowitz writes,"

The time has come for us to speak out, telling our children and students in unequivocal terms, “These people are criminals and sinners – and do not represent us!” Our publications should begin reporting these incidents in the news sections of our papers, condemn them in our editorials, and call upon the police to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.

We should stop using politically correct terms like “misguided youths” to describe cowards who beat women for sitting in the “wrong” sections of buses and physically assault peaceful citizens who do not dress according to their standards – observant or otherwise. “Misguided youth” implies that they engaged in a prank, like a water fight, or that they went overboard in pursuit on a noble goal. There is nothing noble about these acts – or the terrorist mentality that glorifies them.

The violent members of these self-appointed modesty patrols are, in fact, a modern-day version of the Sadducee sect (Tzedokim) – having long ago veered off the path of our Torah and formed their own cult. They kneel to the idol of intolerance and bring the blood and bruised bodies of their victims on the altar of hatred. They only lack the intellectual honestly to declare themselves a new, non-religious movement divorced of any rabbinic teaching and tradition.

But violence corrupts not only the souls of the perpetrators, but also those of the silent majority of decent people who sit by silently and allow it to take place. And in this era of the 24-hour news cycle and worldwide digital communication, like it or not, admit it or not, these thugs have replaced our venerable sages as ambassadors of our charedi community to the world at large (a Google search of the words charedi and violence generates 26,200 hits) To our great shame, we have allowed these evil people to represent us before the world media instead of our noble sages from whom we receive inspiration and guidance. The Chafetz Chaim and Rabbi Aryeh Levine of blessed memory have been replaced by Yasir Arafat and Hassan Nasrallah. Burning garbage cans and hurled stones have supplanted Torah learning and acts of kindness.

We must clearly and unequivocally condemn the violence each time it happens in the strongest language. Halachic (Judaic law) rulings ought to be issued, that those who commit violence against innocent people are rodfim (individuals who present a real and present danger to others) and one is obligated by our Torah to defend the victim and report the criminals to the police.

The full article has been posted and published by the Jerusalem Post, along with Rabbi Horowitz on his own site.

Rabbi Horowitz has gone a step further. He has decided to make his article into a quasi petition against such behavior. Please post your real name, city where you live and your email addresses on the thread on his website if you support what he wrote.

If enough Torah-observant individuals stand up, distance ourselves from these criminals, and demand action from our elected officials, we might affect changes which will restore honor to G-d’s name and end these acts of terror that plague us.

If we can get hundreds of people to sign this mini-petition. that would be a huge kiddush hashem, showing the frum public rejects that type of behavior.

Please forward this article to your friends and email lists if you are as fed up as we are with the animals speaking for us -- and that now we finally have an opportunity to stand up and be counted.