Igros Moshe (Y.D. 01:137): Coeducation, for even the youngest children, is surely something that would not please our Sages. While small children experience neither temptation nor lewd thoughts, we must still train them to distance themselves from women. Yet when they study together, they become accustomed to closeness. They will remain accustomed to this when they grow up, as well, when they do face temptation, and the danger of lewd thought. Therefore, although there is no risk of breaking any prohibition now, our educational duty still stands." I am willing to be lenient in an emergency, where an all-girl school cannot be formed, and the alternative is public school." which teaches neither faith nor good deeds. Better that very young children, regarding whom the prohibition does not apply, should be educated in schools founded by the God-fearing, even if boys and girls study together. It is clear and simple that if there is any chance of founding an all-girl school, it must be done. Of course, slightly older children are legally forbidden'" to study either religious or secular subjects in such a school.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Therapist who is not religious
Igros Moshe(YD II 57 p77) Regarding mentally ill people that need to go to doctors, the psychiatrist or psychologist. Is it permitted to go to those who are non believers and heretics? In my humble opinion they should not go to such doctors to be cured. That is because the healing doesn’t come from drugs but from the intensive discussions they have with their patient which reveal the thoughts which are causing suffering. The therapist then advises the patient what to do . Obviously, there is concern that the therapist will give advice occasionally that is against the laws of the Torah and even against fundamental religious principles, conduct and modesty. This is not comparable to being healed for physical ailments by a regular doctor who is a heretic or denier since the cure comes from physical medicine or treatment and thus the religious beliefs of the doctor are irrelevant. The prohibition to be cured by heretics is only with those cures involving incantations or idolatrous names {Tofos Avoda Zara 27; Shulchan Aruch YD 155]. However in the case of psychology and psychiatry where the cure comes entirely from words, there is a clear concern that he will use words of heresy or nivul peh. However if they are truly professionals and they promise the parents that they will not speak anything against religion and mitzvos of the Torah, then perhaps you can rely on the fact that they are professional and will not lie. Therefore it is best to find a therapist who is Torah observant but if one is not available you should obtain a promise that there will not be any discussions with the patient concerning faith and Torah.
Kesuba saying she is a virgin when she has already told the groom it isn't true
Igros Moshe (OC IV #118) Writing the ketubah for a woman who had been sexually active and she has already informed the groom, there is no need to tell the rabbi performing the ceremony since the groom will sign the ketubah and he has agreed to the kesubah saying that she is a virgin even though it isn’t so. Since she is not deceiving him and he in fact wants to obligate himself according to the amount for a virgin and thus is no different than any additions voluntarily added to the kesubah.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Shidduchim: Does a sexually active unmarried woman need to reveal this to the man she marries?
Igros Moshe (OC IV #118) And as for whether you need to tell the guy that wants to marry you, of course you need to tell him, but you don't need to tell him the first time that you meet when it is not yet known if he wants the match at all and in any case then you must not tell him then. Only after you know that he clearly wants to marry you and has already told you and spoken regarding marriage, you only need to say that it happened, when you didn't have such a serious head to withstand temptation against repeated seduction, and you immediately regretted sinning and were upset that something like this happened until he recognizes from your words that he should not be concerned that it will happen after you are married. Only then should you reveal this information since he wants you because he realizes how wonderful and pious you really are and truly believes that you won’t do it again and that you will be totally devoted to your husband and faithful to him
Shalom Bayis
Rav Moshe used to return home everyday for a hot lunch meal. This was his main meal of the day prepared carefully by his wife. One day just as he arrived for the meal, the phone rang and he was distracted from the meal for a long time. His wife kept telling him to hang-up and eat his lunch but he continued speaking and thus missed his meal. After a long time, when he had finished the call he returned to the yeshiva. The students who accompanied him asked why he had skipped his lunch. He replied simply that it was an important call involving shalom bayis (domestic harmony). The students then asked, ”Why was the caller’s shalom bayis more important than his own?” He replied simply, ”In the case of the caller there was two people fighting but in his case there was only one.”
Shaking hands with Women
Igros Moshe (E.H. 04:032.9):Shaking hands with women as greeting. It is obviously prohibited as I have written previously (O.C. 113) because of concerns for sexual arousal and pleasure. However I wrote (E.H. 56) that if you see religious Jews who are lenient to judge them favorably and assume that they are relying on the absence of sexual arousal and pleasure but I also wrote there that it is difficult to rely on this. I don’t see any inconsistency between prohibiting shaking hands but permitting riding on buses (E.H. 2:14) since there is no affection involved there for almost everyone.
If Talmudic authority is result of acceptance - where is evidence?
Masa Son is promising a massive investment in Trump’s America. Don’t hold your breath
On Monday, Japanese investor Masayoshi Son joined Trump to announce a $100 billion investment in US projects over the next four years, with a goal of creating 100,000 new jobs in emerging technologies, including the development of artificial intelligence. (Because what investment in 2024 isn’t tied to AI?) The planned investment will come from Son’s SoftBank Group, which, despite its name, is not a bank — more of a sprawling global tech investing company.
This is hardly the first time a president has sought to gin up economic goodwill through agreements with companies on the promise of reviving American industry. But, as Trump knows well from his first term, these sorts of arrangements are often heavy on fanfare but light on actual value.
But you get the idea. Good intentions are great, and then they often encounter economic realities.
They’re all after roughly the same thing: a spot on Trump’s “nice” list, or at least a shot at remaining off the “naughty” list for as long as possible.
Kol Isha - Parents coming to hear Children Singing?
Igros Moshe (O.C. 01:026):Listening to a young girl singing. This that you write that it is impossible to protest that parents should not come to listen to their children singing without causing great controversy, therefore you want to know my view regarding what the halacha regarding listening to children singing? Beis Shmuel( E.H. 21.4) explicitly states that the voice of an unmarried woman is permitted except during prayer and the Magen Avraham (E.H. 75.6) states that only the singing of a married woman is always prohibited. This that an unmarried female is permitted is only if she is not a nida. This is stated by the Pri Magadim and it seems that nida is viewed as erva. The Be’er Heitiv (E.H. 21.4) cites the Be’er Sheva saying that unmarried females or a widow is prohibited and only the voice of a man’s wife is permitted except during prayer. That seems to mean that even an unmarried female who is not a nida and thus disagrees with the Beis Shmuel. Thus the halacha is in accord with the greater number of those that permit and furthermore the Be’er Heitiv does not note that the Be’er Sheva disagrees which indicates he has no concern that that view is halacha.In addition the Mishna Bereura (75.17) also permits an unmarried female who is not a nida when it is not during Shema. What needs to be a point of concern is that which the Mishna Berura writes that the singing of an unmarried girl is permitted as long as there is no intent for pleasure so that it doesn’t lead to lustful thoughts. So possibly there are some who come with the intent to listen and have lustful thoughts which is prohibited. But it seems that the Misha Berura means someone who listens for lustful rasons.and we can assume here also that people are not coming to listen for lustful reasons and we don’t need to be concerned that lustful thoughts will be produced by listening to girls singing. Thus the prohibition only applies to females that are prohibited to him inherently to get any pleasure from them which excludes unmarried girls who are not nida. So even if there is concern that listening will result in lustful thoughts, this is relevant only for older girls who might become nida and not young girls. In addition there is normally no lust for sex with children and consequently looking or listening to children does not produce lustful thoughts even when done for the sake of pleasure. This is true even for girls older than 9 years. In conclusion you asked for the actual halacha and that is that it is permissible for girls singing as long as they are not more than 11 ears old. More than 11, even if it is known that they are not nida and according to the straight halacha it is possible to be lenient as I have explained, nevertheless you should be strict since it is possible for some to be nida, If there is no pressing need you should always prohibit because in these matters all who take the strict view are called holy.
What’s Behind Masayoshi Son’s $100 Billion Pledge to Donald Trump
https://www.wsj.com/finance/softbank-ceo-trump-deal-ca0d3ab3?mod=hp_lead_pos10
Tech investing heavyweight Masayoshi Son offered a gift to President-elect Donald Trump: a pledge to spend $100 billion on artificial intelligence and related technology in the U.S.
“President Trump is a double-down president,” he said Monday, standing next to Trump at a Mar-a-Lago press conference—a reference to how his commitment was twice the $50 billion he pledged at a similar event eight years ago.
Left unmentioned: Son, the chief executive of tech conglomerate SoftBank Group 9984 4.42%increase; green up pointing triangle, doesn’t have $100 billion. Following through will require Son to embark on some combination of a massive fundraising effort, a huge amount of new debt or selling chunks of the company’s holdings to raise cash.
Sheer stockings are modest?
Igros Moshe (EH IV #100) Question There are people who make sure that their wives and daughters do not walk without stockings on their feet, but no one makes sure that the stockings are in such a way that it does not show the flesh. Why should seeing the flesh through stockings be permitted? We hold that all the flesh of the leg below the knee is considered nakedness. Why should it make a difference seeing it directly or through transparent stockings? We hold that nakedness in a transparent container is prohibited. Obviously if you hold like the Mishna Berura (75:02) that this area is not consider nakedness then there is no need to wear stockings at all? Answer In fact the concern in wearing stockings is for extra care because of modesty as the halacha is that the leg until the knee is not considered nakedness and the reason wearing transparent stockings is considered modesty is because in reality the threads of the stockings, even sheer ones, do not actually allow one to see the actual flesh of the leg. The proof is that when the stockings are colored white or black, one does not see the flesh of the leg. Thus it is only because the stocking are flesh colored it appears like you are seeing the flesh.Thus when wearing sheer stockings the leg is in fact covered and despite what seems to the on looker to be the leg is not the actual leg at all. So even in a situation of halachic nakedness it still would be considered covered . However then it would be prohibited because of arousing licentious thoughts. Thus with children for which there is no hirhur, even for areas considered nakedness in adults it would be sufficient.
Elon Musk’s X Corrects MTG’s ‘Vaccines Cause Autism’ Claim
https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musks-x-corrects-mtgs-vaccines-cause-autism-claim/
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) took to X on Monday to falsely state that vaccines caused autism—but not without backlash.
This time, she declared unequivocally that vaccines cause autism—a claim that has been studied extensively, with no evidence to suggest that the two are connected.
“I fully believe vaccines cause Autism,“ she wrote. ”It’s another example of crimes against humanity. And innocent babies, children, and their families are the victims."
Faced with mounting public anger, a weakened Hamas starts to compromise
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/16/hamas-gaza-israel-war-ceasefire-negotiations/
With its military power depleted and its political influence on the wane, Hamas is under growing public pressure to help bring the war in Gaza to an end.
Palestinians in the besieged enclave are desperate for a ceasefire after 14 months of conflict, and many residents said they are increasingly fed up with the militant group as they struggle to survive hunger, displacement and Israeli attacks. Last week, Hamas publicly softened its negotiating position with Israel.
Past FBI Informant Pleads Guilty To Lying About the Bidens
Former FBI informant Alexander Smirnov has pleaded guilty to lying about a false bribery conspiracy that was once a main point of contention against Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. Smirnov’s allegation sparked widespread controversy against the two Bidens, starting the House impeachment inquiry into the president by Republicans. Smirnov, 44, pleaded guilty to four federal charges relating to the fake allegations, as well as tax evasion charges that alleged he hid millions of dollars in income, according to The Hill. He told the FBI that the head of Burisma, a energy company in Ukraine, had paid the president and his son both $5 million. The allegations were false. No proof has been released that Joe Biden accepted bribes or engaged in corruption during his time as president nor vice president and he has denied all allegations. Court documents also revealed that Smirnov said he gave “false derogatory information,” according to The Hill. Smirnov had been an informant for more than a decade, his identity was not revealed until he was indicted. Smirnov, who will be sentenced next month, agreed to a sentence of between 48 and 72 months. An attorney for Smirnov declined to comment after the hearing in Los Angeles federal court