Just A Few Thoughts

Don't you find it funny that there are all these little things in life that contradict each other, isn't it funnier when its the big things in life.

YU had a whole convention for the coming out of the closet gay frum Jews. Then every single chareidi rabbi condemns it and there are a bunch of words like abomination going around. YU is targeted and called a Toeivah institution, this causes more hate on it from the frummie community. Here's the funny part, Yeshiva University only had a conference about gay Jews, but yet when the Frum Community is faced with actual acts of sexual abuse they cover it up and hide it for fear that the yeshivos will close down or that chas v'shalom a family name should be ruined. It sickens me that there are people out there that can ruin a persons life mentally, completely destroying it and having the victims lose their sense of self, feeling isolated, and having to undergo years of therapy just to get back to normal, and yet the Jewish community hardly gives a damn. When it comes to a discussion on Toeivah they scream and riot and whatever. Tell me whats the real abomination here it doesnt take a genius.

IM STILL WAITING

Its been over a year now since Obama was elected, and all is fine, well almost. The world is still running, there is no universal wars, I can still live a normal life with the liberty to practice my religion. Who could have thought that we could go a whole year since he was elected without having one of these things, oh wait I thought so, but there were those who didnt.

Flashback to a year ago. Remember people were holding tehillim rallies so he wont be elected, others were fasting hoping hashem will rip up the bad decree. I remember people telling me a lot of things, many weird things, they are going to leave the country and move to monsey, or kiryas yoel was just one of them. Others predicted 2012 to happen early with proofs from prophecies of the neviim, Zohar, Chumash, Gemorrah, or any other sort of Jewish work, and it was quite funny to see how they would try to prove it. They would tell me "If you take this letter from here and add it to this one here multiplied by that it equals Obama". At first I would be perplexed as to why they chose such a random order to prove something when I could do that with anything, they should have used a system that at least had a pattern. Then I would ask "Okay you proved it says Obama somehow, now how does that prove he is the cause of the end of the world?" a smart person wouldn't answer, dumb ones said things along the lines of "Hitler had that whole youth program and Obama is working on one" (oh so that's why Obama wanted to speak to kids in school (sarcasm sarcasm)).

And yet it has been a year, Obama is president and Mashiach isn't here, nor are people running to different countries like they promised, and I'm still waiting for the testimonies of some to come true, who wants to wait with me.

MIXED UP HOLIDAYS AND TASHLICH

Due to the fact that I didn't write anything about my experience on the high holidays, or anything at all, I decided to fill you on it starting with yom kippur because I cant remember rosh hashanah.

This Yom Kippur went pretty well, I liked it, smooth, a little hungry, and I was not like most people who are trying to cry at the end of Neila, I was sort of happy at the end, then I felt stupid for not pleading more with g-d. Now I really don't want to bore you with my whole Yom Kippur experience because I really just summarized it pretty well and anything I write about it will be just an elaboration of what I just wrote, so forget it (although this year I noticed that a lot of people were nodding there heads during the rabbis speech, were they trying to tell the rabbi hes doing a good job?). If you want a Yom Kippur post from me then you can read my last years post, which wasn't much of a yom kippur post either.


In other entertainment for tonight I have Tashlich memories. I went to tashlich right before yom kippur this year, was it a smart idea right before yom ha'din and all its rush, I don't think so. Where I normally do (the) tashlich is known as Cesar's bay, others may know it as "near toy's R us", and others as "The tashlich place". As I was reading away my sins my family and I realized we had no bread to throw, as one of us said, "Thats like doing bi'ur chametz without chametz" . I look around and realized that on the little ledge between me and the shore 7 feet below there was tons of bread that didn't make it into the sea, I could have used it but I didnt have rubber gloves to touch it with. Anyway, it was just standing there waiting to either rot or be eaten by pigeons, now I don't have the best arm in the world here, I do tend to air ball in basketball, but even I could throw the bread just a little further and get it into the sea. The weird fact is that bread is the most unlikely thing to make it into the water there; kippot, shopping carts, soda cans, barrels filled with radioactive stuff, and a streimel have made it more times into the ocean then bread during the tashlich season (the guy who lost his streimel climbed onto a rock sticking out of the ocean and got his streimel back).

To top all the festivities off we had simchas torah and this year was a let down, it just wasn't as fun as last year, I did the hakafos and all but it was more enjoyable last year. Many people have told me the same thing about this year.It seems as if this year I'm messed up, I enjoyed Yom kippur, and Simchas Torah wasn't so great, what happened! I seriously need to reorganize myself.

THE RIOTS ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND DONT PROMOTE IT

Once again the chareidim in Israel protested the use of the parking lot on shabbos, and once again the police came and shot them with rubber bullets, this has been the scene in me'ah shea'arim for the past few months.

There are many bloggers out there condemning this act of violence and rightfully so, its a chilul hashem to burn garbage's and throw rocks at the people using the parking lot, just because you want them to keep shabbos in your city. Yes, people don't find anything sanctifying about burning things and throwing rocks at others, it's a disgrace to g-d's name. Not only is it a disgrace to the shabbos, but in this effort to keep shabbos and chase away the evildoers, they are breaking shabbos, by A) burning and B) throwing rocks in a reshus harabim, since they are melachos which the torah prohibits on shabbos.

In India when they were protesting against the British government they didn't riot, for the most part they did things peacefully, and that's what Mohandas Gandhi preached (one time the Indians did do some violence and he spoke out against that act) . Why aren't any of the Rabbonim doing anything to stop this violence, all I hear are rabbis promoting it, like what I heard recently.

I was in a shul before ma'ariv and a rabbi got up to speak to us for a minute or two. The rabbi said that anyone who thinks what they are doing in Israel is a chilul hashem is wrong and that the protests are the right thing to do. He said that there was one reporter who was filming the violence, the chareidim couldn't hit her because she was a woman, so instead they all spit on her, he justified the act by saying that the camera was like a gun and everyone will do something to save themselves from a gun. There were just too many things wrong with what he said, and his parable was off by a lot. I wanted to go over to the rabbi after davening and ask "How come you don't see Rav Elyashiv at the protests, or why is that they don't call down the chief rabbi of Jerusalem for an inspiring speech before they riot, maybe you don't because its not the right thing to do!", but I didn't want to provoke any rioting in the shul so I kept my mouth shut.

The protests must come to an end, find a better, more peaceful and holy way to get them to stop using the parking lots, violence is not the answer, and Rabbis should stop promoting it.

Things that pissed me off last week.

You may not know it but there were a few things that pissed me off last week, and probably you too. I'm not talking about simple things like, why I cant find a parking spot within a one block radius, or why you cut me off, or even why my thumb cant fit into a normal sized bowling ball, I'm talking about bigger things that haven't only affected me.

I got pissed off last week when I heard that a bunch of Jews decided to do some stealing and tax evasion. Ive been saying it for a long time, the last thing we need is a chilul hashem and yet there they go. "But wait you're allowed to steal to support Torah, right? so they did nothing wrong" said a commenter of yeshiva world news, but the answer is no you are not allowed to steal for torah, its a mitzvah that came through an aveirah (which is an aveirah if you didn't know). And you know what I think? I think that they should all go to jail and serve their sentence because they deserve it, and I wont be like another commenter that said they should have their trial in the month of adar and not av, because av is a bad month for Jews and having the trial now will cause them to lose the trial. So why did it piss me off? it didn't affect me? Ill answer that with a question, "did you get pissed of at madoff and his scandal?" the answer is yes, same here.

Another thing that pissed me off this week was a letter printed in the mishpachah magazine. It was condemning Reb Elyashiv for praying for gilad shalit. I know this is hard to hear for all of you that joined groups on Facebook and twitter in support of gilad but the person writing it said that he thinks it's wrong to pray for him to be released, because Israel will give up many captured terrorists in exchange for him. For the person who decided to write that letter to mishpachah I have two things to say; one is, if you were gilad you wouldn't be thinking that way, and two is that one Jewish life is priceless and it doesn't matter how many terrorists you give up (although we try to lessen the amount).

Yeah those were the things that pissed me off last week, cant see who it wouldn't. On a side note have an easy and meaningful fast.

A NEW BREED ARISES (evolution?)

The creature named Shul Shusher (or in Latin Synagogue Shushisis) is a staple in every shul, from big ones in Manhattan to the small basement shtiebel in Monsey. The shusher doesn't always accomplish their self imposed job, hence they keep on shushing. The life of a shusher is not a fun one, everyone hates you till you let them talk, even the kids hate you (just let them run in the halls will you), plus you seem to spit to often. But in some shuls there is a new type of shusher arising.

This new type of shusher, a more rowdy type, one that is more inclined throw a punch or two just to get you to shut up, is what we are dealing with. They are called the SHHHH I'm Trying To Talk To Someone Shusher, or SITTTTSS for short (the Latin name hasn't come in yet). These creatures love talking so much they make others quiet down so they can hear who they are talking to, just goes to show what kind of shuls they live in.

I myself have abandoned a few shuls due to the infestation, animal control isnt helping and Peta wont let me call the exterminator. But there is hope, they are searching for a species that will counteract the new breed and contain it.

Most experts believe the evolution of this once simple shushing creature is due to a mass of talkers concentrated in one area of a shul, thus drowning out any other noise and sometimes their own. This then irritates the talkers causing them to become more violent and turning them into SITTTTSS's. Others argue and claim they are of a totally different breed. A more recent study done by the "professors" at VIN teamed up with "scientists" from YWN , have attributed this new breed to the lack of tznius in the communities. Although there is no evidence to support their claims, VIN and YWN hold to it strongly.

Whatever the cause maybe, I really don't like being threatened by shushers and rather have them just say SHHHHH and spit on themselves while doing it.

SOLVING THE UNSOLVABLE, I CANT SOLVE THAT PHRASE

We are warned about the shidduch crisis, and all it creates, everyday; whether it be from the yated or mishpachah, the Jewish press, or even our very own Frum Single Female. How many people think they have an answer to it? raise you hands (or press shift on your keyboard 5 times). Well if you are raising your hand or pressed shift 5 times, you made a big mistake (raising your hand is stupid because no one can see through your computer screen, and pressing you shift key that many times will show a sign on your monitor asking you if you want sticky keys).

Reason number one why you made a mistake: The shidduch crisis is based on people. People are human if you didn't know, and humans make mistakes. People make mistakes thinking that, someone who thinks slightly different then them is completely out of the question, and not even worth checking out to see if its a potential marriage. Of course this, as any other human perspective, evolved, it grew from the fact that shadchanim exist. Shadchanim are simply people who tried to fit everyone in a box, if you don't fit into the box you are outside the box, and not worthy enough to be set up with people on the inside of it, simple enough. But the idea expanded, not only did they just make a box, they made it really hard to get into, the slightest of "deficiencies" is going to get you kicked out; if you were once a yeshivah rebel, or you wear blue shirts, or maybe you work, or you have plastic at the shabbos table, if you're a girl you may be to smart, whatever the case maybe your out. Then the idea grew so big it became a crisis within itself, like an epidemic that started out as a flu vaccination, it wasn't originally meant to harm, now everyone is judging who's in this box and in one of three other boxes with every glance, its not just shadchanim. How do you stop an evolving crisis that cant be killed from its source a.k.a. the shadchan, I don't know.

Answer number 2 why you made a mistake: who wants sticky keys anyway? I like mine nice and clean. You shouldnt have pressed shift 5 times just because I said so, I wouldnt have known if you did either way, but if you really think you do have an answer you can leave a comment with your idea.

So the answer is, SOLVING THE UNSOLVABLE is not possible, its to complicated and is therefore unsolvable, because if it were to be solved it wouldnt be unsolvable.

KOSHER SITE?

Have you noticed the ads on Vos Iz Neias? lets just say they are getting worse. First it was anti-Zionism and now its pritzus (see where anti-Zionism leads you?). Do you know how many frum Jews visit vos iz neias just to get their news? and they don't want pritzus; that's one reason why they read that site. They don't want to hear 1010 wins, that's not Jewish, and they don't want to read Yeshivah world, because they have biased opinions (that's right it ain't news, its opinions). These people are being exposing others to what they really wanted to filter out, that's hypocritical, they aren't even doing anything about it. I wonder if koshernet will allow you to go to the site now?

I think that their will be an outburst, and a ban on VIN; this will then push frummies to say, "If a kosher site had pritzus, than any can" and that will be it for every kosher site (how will frummies get their news?). I believe this ban will happen in a few months, so watch out.

ITS KOSHER ALL DAY LONG

Being that we live in a society that is advancing in the most treife ways, the only thing that can possibly save us from this is, new ways to put hechshers on every item (Yay!). Its the only possible way to save us from any sort of treif out in the world. I will now predict the future of us as Jews:


The First thing to come out of the newly installed kosher market will be, people Hechshers; because many times you talk to people, and you just cant seem to tell who is up to your standards at that moment, maybe they are hiding something, and do you want to be influenced by someone treif, especially on a shidduch date? obviously not. So how can we possibly find a person who is kosher enough; therefore, we are going to introduce the human hechsher. At first there will only be Kosher and non kosher people, but somewhere along the way more hechsheirm will come through. Some people will have FFBTD (Frum From Birth Till Death) status, like OU parve, while others will will have a FFBBL (Frum From Birth But Lacking), sort of like OUDe (dairy equipment). Then others will be labeled with OTDCBAHS ( Off The Derech Coming Back on After High School) that's an OUD. Now its easier to keep yourself kosher with labels on everybody, you wont come in contact with someone you don't want to. Of course there will be mashgichim going all around checking up on people. This is an attempt to "fix" the shidduch crisis.


Everyone will be so into hechsherim, that every school will also have to have a hechsher on it. Schools will either be marked with Treif, Ba'adatz, or Kaf K. Treif being; anything that has a secular department. Ba'adatz being; learning non-stop to kollel, and Kaf K will be somewhere in between but frowned upon. If you send your children to the wrong yeshivah then you will be second class citizen.


The next thing to be hit, will be the communities themselves. Williamsburg is going to the dogs, to hipsters and bicycle lanes, this placed is deemed too treif, and that means anyone who lives there is not kosher enough. This doesn't say much for places out of the tristate area, they are for sure not kosher. Boro park and Midwood is borderline kosher, why you might ask? well its obvious, they don't have separate sides to walk on for men and women. Lakewood eer hakodesh and Bnei brak are kosher. New square, kiriyas Yoel, meah shearim, and any other sorts of towns like that are the kosherist (meah shearim is its own town, if kiriyas yoel is its own country) . Of course if you live in the wrong community you are an out cast and not Jewish.

I'll end it with this: I always thought the caste system in India was exaggerated, but now my thoughts are changing.

RANTING ABOUT BAIS FAIGA

You may already know, that the school, Bais Faiga, has closed its doors to 1800 students. The teachers, as you might have assumed, got late, or no pay at all. This school had a strict policy. You work and your children don't get in, you are in Kollel and they do. If the Kollel family, has no means to support themselves, how the hell do you think, they can support the school. Do you think they would pay full tuition? A normal Yeshiva can hardly stand, thats with people paying full tuition! Now you understand the tuition crisis.

The school was for sure teaching the kids to live a Kollel life. Then the merry-go-round continues, but this time, with even less money. Now the Yeshiva is going around collecting money, to keep up the same stupid rules, they had before. Albert Einstein said "insanity is trying the same thing, the same way, over and over again". This Yeshiva is INSANE!! And where do you think they are getting this, new found money from? Not someone in Kollel. They get it from the working class, the same ones they don't let into their school.

How could one institution say please give us money, and at the same time bash the ones giving them the money. Oxymoron's!!! It turns out, not only is this a problem for the girl school, the same is about to happen to the boys school. Did I mention this place is in Lakewood? G-d grant the people of Lakewood, some brains. The congregation answers. Amen.

KILL THE RABBI AND ANYONE WHO DEFENDS HIM

I have read this post recently and I am mortified by our community. At first Dov Hikind came out with it. Then he hired Rabbi Twerski, who resigned due to threats on his family. Another rabbi went as far as to make a hot line for people. He got treated with threatening phone calls and a paper, signed by a rabbinical authority, telling people to call him a liar.

The proof is there, people will do these intolerable acts. Why dont people want to destroy their names? look at what they are doing. Its all because people say "he comes from such a choshov family you cant do that to him". I am pissed off that people can be so stupid. What happens if the person comes after your child next? what would you do then?

Im done steaming off, few things get me as frustrated.

SHABBOS SHUVA DRASHA (a little late review)

It came shabbos shuva and I had absolutely no idea where I would go or even if I would go to a drasha. Then it came around 4:30 and and after much thought, I decided to go to R'Goldwasser's Shiur. I got in and then they started saying tehillim, which I thought was a great idea catching everyone at the moment. He had a great Shmooz he even cracked a few good jokes. He went from the topic of forgiving people (obviously) to we have to help everyone in the community to everyone should be a shadchan in these hard times. In fact it was a great Shmooz I didn't tune out for a second. There was only one subject I didn't agree on. Texting.

Yes he went on about texting well not just texting all electronic items and how you should be less dependent on them since they bring in the yetzer hara (which I agree on). But he mainly stuck to texting. He brought a point the Babysitter had said "People feel like they aren't talking to someone so they also feel they can say/write whatever they want". He gave proof to this with an example of someone texting one hundred texts on Shabbos. I don't agree to this since sending letters or emails is exactly the same. Wait, on emails he did say there was a problem. Even without the point of emails writing in general takes the cake. So sorry R'goldwasser cant say I agree.

I still liked the shiur and it left me on a higher note than when I came in. For all you who didn't go to his Drasha you missed something good. Next year I may choose him again.

ANOTHER GOOD REASON

Last week me and my sister (My sister and I if you prefer) were talking. Somehow or another came up about a certain individual. This person was an idea for a match with another some one we know that came from the same background as this person.

Then came the part were I noticed something. My sister said that "it wont work out dont even try". At first I asked why. She gave me a weird answer of they dont have the same personality. I quickly retorted and said "What you wont even let it have a shot". (this is were I notice). I then said you (and people like her) are the reason why there is a crisis. You never give anything a shot if it doesnt work out on paper it means it would never work. She then dissagreed and defended herself.

All I am saying is that you cant say nothing is going to work because you think so. How many shidduchim could have been made if people would try it out and how many werent because no one thought they can pair up. This is the reason for the crisis (one of them).

WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF...

What would happen if the OU would lose its reputation of being a good hechsher? No good they're serving us treif, their rabbis took some bribes and let things slide. Or they didnt checkup on all their company's they watch. Maybe they were lenient to let the company's be able to meet the requirements. Whatever the case maybe what would happen?

At first the newspapers would go crazy about this making it the front page headlines for all except for the Jewish Press which would put something about Israel on the front (or tie it into israel somehow). The Hamodia, Yated and Mishpacha would all write its a "horrible thing to happen its a big disgrace to the Jewish community" and would bash the OU Saying " it was never really any good. The JP would defend the OU " the OU served the community for so long even though this scandal happened and it was a chilul hashem they will come back and fix it to serve the Jewish community once again".

Then onto people. They (we) would all be putting up different sides. One side would say it was all just a few people who were fired for this. The other side condemning anyone who eats OU to hell. Many people will be wondering whats a good hechsher. Some will be forced to have only the strictest of kashrut since the OU was the most lenient they trusted. Some already had the strictest of kashrut and would only want stricter. Others after this episode will only want the strictest, because who can you trust? On the other hand many will say what was wrong with other less stringent Kashrut than the OU before now, so they are still okay after.... right? What will the airlines serve for their Special Kosher Deluxe Meal. Then will come the Bans and chumros which in the end will call for quadrupled filtered lettuce and only Ba'adatz.

Are we not lucky that this didn't and hopefully wont happen? Are we not lucky for the OU is working hard all day to keep things available to us? Are we not? Yes, we are.

Dedicated to the hardworking people at the OU.

THE SHADCHANS FAULT (update on last post)

It seems that many people have caught on that you can learn and work. Which until recently didn't exist in peoples minds. I have read in the Jewish press (GASP!) that people want an LE ("learner earner"). Now its all the shadchunim's fault they didn't exist. They are telling the guys who want to be an LE that no girl would want them. Then they go to a girl looking to purchase an LE and say there is no such kind of person in stock.

In the article IM YIRTZEH HASHEM (by you) There is a person there looking for an LE. The Shadchun tells her "There is no such thing "either go find a Kollel boy (who only learns does no work) or go settle for a modern boy" ( who doesnt learn and only works or doesn't even work). Why is it that marrying someone who wants to learn and work is impossible to find?

I guess its a conspiracy of the shadchun. When someone becomes a shadchun you have to sign a contract that the only people you work with are the ones that learn and have nothing to do with being able to live with the money they make. Also this person has to have support from there parents otherwise they are disqualified. Going to college is another thing that disqualifies you. So in the end the only way to get a shidduch is to be the perfect person with no variety of different people. Its like you try one and you tried em' all.

It happens to be that in another article in the Jewish Press also talks about the same concept. The REBBETZINS VIEWPOINT had someone write that no "good girl" wants to marry him and he is an LE. I don't know where this person got his perspective but I have a clue. (see upper portion). The Rebbetzin wrote back that there are many "good girls" that want an LE and that she knows them and they want to contact this person. I can see it now the Shadchuns plot of a shidduch crisis is now collapsing.

I conclude that the Shidduch crisis was (I say "was" since it should end now) all the shadchuns fault. We just have to realize that there are people out there that can fit the "new" category of "learner earner" and I promote this new category. A shadchan should allow people to be an LE not against it. Why they are someone please explain. :)

THE "CRISIS" CRISIS

An all to common word used by us Jews to describe anything gone just a little out of balance and make it blown up into one of the worst things so you think all is lost. That word (as stated above) is "CRISIS". Yes CRISIS is a crisis and one day it will consume just about everything we say.

I call it the "CRISIS CRISIS". (which is extremely hard to say 10 times fast)...(did you try it now?) We have too many things with "CRISIS" THE SHIDDUCH CRISIS, THE BUGS IN WATER CRISIS, STRAWBERRY CRISIS, INTERMARRIAGE CRISIS,even a YESHIVA CRISIS,and one day maybe a genetic pig CRISIS(see frum skeptic for details). (please forgive me if I forgot any of these extremely important CRISIS'S). Cant we find a better word for it than CRISIS. A "difficulty" would be nice to have, then maybe we can find a solution for it or a "problem" that is better than having a "crisis".

THE YESHIVAH CRISIS is not one at all. The most it could be is that some people cant afford tuition and get a break of some sort. The crisis business starts from one person writing about it in the newspaper so word gets out and then everyone thinks its the worst thing ever in Jewish history. I think I will try my hand at this Crisis stuff. (watch out it could become a real CRISIS).

THE HEAT WAVE CRISIS: too many heat waves are causing us to use more energy and pay more on the electric bill, how will we afford the GAS CRISIS which is a real crisis. Someone start a tzedakah for this.
As I stated before the CRISIS CRISIS: The word crisis is used to describe disastrous things. Websters dictionary or some other, defines crisis as "a condition of instability or danger, as in social, economic, political, or international affairs, leading to a decisive change".That is not what we call a crisis. Our definition is used for any minor thing and yet it has the same meaning and power of the normal crisis definition. Someone please explain.

We have used it too much and now have worn out the word it . I myself have used it a numerous amount of times through out this post. Its time to give it a rest and bury the word for it has served its purpose and went way beyond the call of duty or definition.