Chulent and Judaism

Saw this quote from the Mahritz:

סימן נ"ו - הלכות בישול והטמנה מערב שבת ובשבת

שלחן ערוך המקוצר - אורח חיים חלק ב'

[יח] מצוה מדברי רבותינו ז"ל לענג במאכלים חמין את השבת. ולכן מי שאינו אוכל חמין, צריך בדיקה אחריו אם הוא מין, ואם מת יתעסקו בו עממין. וכל המאמין, צריך לבשל ולהטמין, לענג את השבת ולהשמין, ויזכה לקץ הימין{נא}:

Some of you are probably thinking who is the Mahritz?

(Via) - I did not check up on this quote to see if it is authentic, since the book is slightly obscure. I did find it on the link they provided. 

Heine also has a poem about Cholent (Schalet)

" But at noon, as compensation. 
There shall steam for thee a dish 
That in very truth divine is — 
Thou shalt eat to-day of schalet ! 

" Schalet, ray of light immortal ! 
Schalet, daughter of Elysium ! " 
So had Schiller's song resounded, 
Had he ever tasted schalet. 

Well this one is just silly..

From a haredi local paper..

"I took it upon myself to make sure to give my husband his meals on time for 40 days, and I promised to publicise the issue - And we were blessed with finding a Shidduch for our daughter!


Normally I'd make fun of these. However on second thought, this husband might be on to something all of us hungry husbands could use.

Mitzvat Pidyon Shevuim

I just thought this was too funny..

Hat tip: Eldar of Zion.

The Pashkevil War.

This pashkevil has been spotted in Jerusalem:

The Pashkevil says that the Ashkenazi Rabbanim should not preach to the Sepharadim Rabbanim regarding conversions since they on a regular basis convert women for money. It then promises to reveal what they are referring to in the future. Sounds interesting. Clearly this is a response to a Pashkevil against Harav Amar that was posted this week. 

Via

Not Algebra!

From Ynet today (my translation):

Following the Judge's decision that running "Mehadrin routes" (Bus routes separating men and women) is legal, while needing greater supervision by the ministry of Transport - a member of Yahdut Hatora explained to Ynet the silence of their Knesset members on this issue: " We have bigger dangers, like that they will introduce the teaching of Algebra to the Talmudei Torah, and with all due respect to the Mehadrin Lines - we think that to the Haredi public the separation of men and women on busses is less important."

אחר קביעת השופטים כי הפעלת קווי המהדרין חוקית, תוך פיקוח ואכיפה מוגברים מצד משרד התחבורה - מסביר גורם ב"יהדות התורה" ל-ynet את שתיקת הח"כים במאבק: "יש לנו סכנות גדולות, כמו שיכניסו לימודי אלגברה לתלמודי התורה, ועם כל הכבוד לקווי המהדרין - אנחנו חושבים שלציבור החרדי פחות חשובות המחיצות בין גברים לנשים באוטובוסים".

Now the last thing you have to do to get into heaven is to answer this question: Two trains left Chicago travelling 40 MPH in opposite directions and...

To be honest this can be interpreted as both a good thing and a bad thing. It is somewhat comforting to discover that "Tznius" is not the biggest fear that the Haredi Knesset members have. Perhaps this is also an admission that this whole issue was really just representing a small public. So far the positive side. However discovering that Algebra was the even bigger boogeyman – well frankly that is just somewhat more worrisome. 

Another Burqa Story

I'm sorry, I just do like these stories. This isn't new, but has been making the rounds. This time Australia is the country facing a burqa story. This story is slightly too bizarre..

(source - watch the video)

A Muslim woman wearing a burqa was stopped by highway police, and asked to show her identification. The woman started screaming at him that he was racist, and that she would get him. She went to the media and started telling them how the officer mistreated her, stopped her only because of the burqa and even tried to forcefully remove the burqa. She then lodged a formal complaint against the police officer. However what she didn't know, was that all police cars in Australia have a video camera. The video clearly showed her threatening the police officer, and him behaving quite gently.

The story doesn't end there. When the woman was charged for falsely accusing the police officer, her lawyer claimed that there was no way of identifying the woman who made the complaint..since that woman was wearing a burqa!!! oh the irony. She received 6 months of jail, and is currently appealing the sentancI'm sorry, I just do like these stories.This isn't new, but has been making the rounds. This time Australia is the country facing a Burqa story. This story is slightly too bizzare..

A Muslim woman wearing a Burqa was stopped by highway police, and asked to show her identification. The woman started screaming at him that he was racist, and that she would get him. She went to the media and started telling them how the officer mistreated her, stopped her only because of the burqa and even tried to forcefully remove the burqa. She then lodged a formal complaint against the police officer. However what she didn't know, was that all police cars in Australia have a video camera. The video clearly showed her threatning the police officer, and him behaving quite gently.

The story doesn't end there. When the woman was charged for falsely accusing the police officer, her lawyer claimed that there was no way of identifying the woman who made the complaint..since that woman was wearing a burqa!..oh the irony. She received 6 months of jail, and is currently appealing the sentence.

This might be a case where we see how a burqa is being abused by those wearing them.  

Hilchot Supermarket.

I recently posted about the mathematics of standing in line in the supermarket. There is something I hate more though, and which seems to be an Israeli characteristic:

1. People who put their Supermarket cart at the lineup, and then go to fetch more items. I'm not talking of someone who suddenly remembered they forgot 1 item and makes a dash for it. I'm talking of people who intentionally leave their cart to "Keep a spot" and then go to collect a myriad of items of their list. This is really a pet peeve of mine. This seems to occur almost every time I'm at the supermarket.

2. People who show up - ask "who is the last guy in line" and then tell him to keep their spot, and leave. I hate it when I've lined up, and suddenly discover that someone was in front of me without me knowing.

To be honest, I don't think you need to find a halachic principal to show why these two things are not allowed. Good old "Derech Eretz" should really be enough. However this is Israel we are talking about. I was surprised to find that I couldn't really find any sources for either case – surely I'm not the only one who thinks this is inappropriate behavior?

I think at least the second case should be considered a "Gezel Zman" - Had I known there were other people in the line I probably would not have joined the line.  Time in Halacha = Money. 

This could be inferred from the (32b) which deals with two boats arriving at a section of the river, where only one can pass. The boat that passes first, has to compensate the other for the time it had to wait. This would be even more obvious in waiting in line at the supermarket - where standing in line clearly gives you a right over whomever is behind you.  

The first case is slightly harder to pin down. Theoretically, as long as the person isn't holding up the line while he goes to find more items, he can claim that I didn't loose any time. However I would answer that I would have been before him in line, had he finished collecting all the items he needed before he left his cart. Therefore this is another case of Gezel Zman. Furthermore his behavior is against the Minhag of the place (תקנות סוחרים).  

I would appreciate anyone who can help me find better sources for what seems so obvious to me. 

Video of Jerusalem from 1918

Some of the more interesting points:

• Men and Women davening together in the western wall. 
• Sha'ar Yafo seems to have a large clock tower on it. 
• Rachel's tomb is shown exactly as it is normally drawn- with a big olive tree in front of it. 
• Lots of black hats. 

That clocktower was a surprise for me. Some quick Googling revealed:

From "Palestine remembred":

It took seven years to built the Clock Tower at Jaffa Gate, during the Ottoman period of Sultan Abdel Hamid II. It's construction was completed in 1909 at the silver jubilee aniversary of Abdul Hamid's II reign. The Clock Tower at Jaffa Gate was dismantled in 1922, during the British Mandate period. The British moved the clock first to a new tower across from the muncipility of Jerusalem, and then transfered it to the British Museum in London. The cost of building the tower at that time was twenty thousand french franc.

and Wikipedia (Hebrew)

ב-1907 בנו תושבי ירושלים מגדל שעון על גג שער יפו. היה זה אחד מכמאה מגדלי שעון שנבנו ברחבי האימפריה העות'מאנית כמחווה לסולטאן עבדול חמיד השני במלאת 25 שנה לשלטונו. הקמת המגדל עלתה לתושבי העיר כעשרים אלף פרנק, ובשל הקושי לגייס סכום כה רב מתושבי העיר העניים, נבנה המגדל למעשה רק כעבור חמש שנים, במלאת 30 שנה לשלטונו של הסולטאן. בארץ ישראל לבדה נבנו שבעה מגדלים: בצפת, עכו, חיפה, נצרת, שכם, ירושלים, והמגדל המפורסם בעיר יפו. העובדה כי שער יפו נבחר מכל שערי ירושלים כבסיס למגדל השעון, מעידה על חשיבותו הרבה באותה עת, שגברה אף על שער שכם.

מגדל השעון נבנה מאבן גיר שנחצבה במערת צדקיהוהסמוכה. הוא התנשא לגובה 13 מטרים, ובראשו נקבעו ארבעה שעונים, שפנו לארבע רוחות השמים. השעון המערבי והמזרחי הציגו את השעה הרגילה ("שעה אירופית"), בעוד ששני השעונים האחרים הציגו את השעה המקומית ("שעות זמניות"). מעל השעונים, בחלק המקושט והמעוטר ביותר, הוצב פעמון ולידו סמל השלטון העות'מאני, שכלל סהר וכוכב. 

Good Handwriting = Must Be A Fake.

Ynet is reporting that the IDf is questioning the so called death of a protester from tear gas. However I am not shocked by the Palestinians yet again trying to play us all for fools. I was shocked by this paragraph in the Hebrew version of the Ynet article:

על פי הדו"ח, אין סיבה ברורה למוות, הקבורה נעשתה בהליך מזורז ולא בוצעה נתיחה שלאחר המוות. כמו כן, חלק מהדו"חות הרפואיים נכתבו בכתב יד קריא וברור, בניגוד מוחלט לדו"חות רפואיים שהתקבלו בישראל בעבר.

Roughly translated:

"According to the [Medical] report, there is no clear reason for the death, the burial took place in a hasty fashion, and no autopsy was performed. Also parts of the medical reports were written in clear and legible handwritting, something that is completly unheard of in medical reports recieved in the past.

So basically -  Good handwritting = fake medical report. I checked - this shocking proof wasn't mentioned in the English version of Ynet. 

I hope the rest of the proof is something a little more serious.