Making stories up about Rav Moshe

 Mesores Moshe, (vol. 4, p. 434): I asked Rabbi Feinstein whether the well known story that is told about him was correct. The claim is that he once drank by mistake some non cholov Yisroel milk in America. When he was informed of the mistake he went to the bathroom and forced himself to vomit out the milk. Rav Moshe looked at me like I was crazy and he said, "It never happened! Someone who had nothing to do made up this story." I told him that is what I had assumed because it was difficult to believe that he would be so strict in a matter which was essentially permitted. Furthermore what benefit would result from vomiting it out. The critical issue is to avoid the pleasure in drinking. I think he agreed with me.

It is interesting to see that Mordechai Tendler wrote this. However a number of years ago, after I had heard that the story was told at a Beis Yakov graduation by the principal. I personally asked him about the story. He replied that he had no personal knowledge about it but could not believe that Rav Moshe would do something so disgusting. He said it went against his nature

How Do I Choose Between Medication and Therapy?

 https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/patients-and-families/medication-or-therapy

For problems with parenting, marriage or adjustment, psychotherapy is usually the first recommendation. This treatment can help you build skills and respond more appropriately to stressors.

The ‘perfect’ predator

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2024/texas-police-chief-kevin-coffey-child-sexual-abuse/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f001

Speaking out against law enforcement is especially difficult in small towns, where cops are deeply embedded in the communities they serve. For the residents, there are often fewer avenues to lodge misconduct complaints and less protection from retaliation.

Biden Slaps Down Trump and Explains the Mystery Drones

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/biden-slaps-down-trump-and-explains-the-mystery-drones/

On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump nevertheless insisted at a press conference that “something strange is going on” and claimed government officials “don’t want to tell the people” what’s happening. “I think they’d be better off saying what it is,” Trump said. “Our military knows and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense.”

A joint statement from the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Defense Department, and the FBI separately said that over 5,000 drone sightings have been reported to authorities in recent weeks. The agencies found that the sightings to date “include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”

Over one million drones are lawfully registered with the FAA and “thousands” of them are in the skies of the U.S. on any given day, the statement said. “We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast,” it added.

Natural Childbirth

Igros Moshe (YD II #75 p140) His wife wants to be a awake at the time of her birth because they say that the labor pains will be a little easier by distracting her from the pain. If you were to ask me, I would not advise doing this because the birth pains are so great that the distraction will not be of any use and it is only a matter of tricking the mother. However if the woman wants it there is no prohibition in doing it. And if she does have natural childbirth, How long is the husband permitted to touch her when she is lying on the bed since it is not possible to ascertain when she can no longer to walk which is the time she is prohibited to him because of Nida? The prohibition of Nida is from the time she sits on the birthing stool. In such a case she is prohibited as nida from the time she is told to lie down in bed because of the birth pains and requests the doctor or midwife. The husband therefore needs to treat her as a Nidah since it is not sitting on the birth stool that causes the womb to open but rather the closer it is to the actual birth that makes her want to sit on the birthing stool there is a greater possibility that she will be a Nidah. Therefore the husband needs to be concerned for this and the possibility that she can no longer walk and thus is prohibited as Nidah.

I once asked Rav Moshe Tendler about claiming that natural childbirth just tricks a woman into thinking there is less pain. I said, "that since you are Rav Moshe's adviser concerning science and medicine how could he say this is just a trick?" He answered that he was not the sole source of Rav Moshe's knowledge and that he was unaware of the existence of this tshuva. But in fact he agreed with it.  

Coeducation

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.

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.

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?

from Daas Torah - translaton copyrighted

Mahretz Chayes (Toras Neviim #3 Maamar Lo Sasur): The Kesef Mishna (Mamrim 2:1) raises a very strong question against the Rambam. The Rambam says that where there is a dispute based on sevora or drasha concerning a Torah law, a later generation can reject the view of an earlier generation - even though it is not greater in wisdom and number. If so then why don’t Amoraim disagree with Tannaim and in fact we find many instances that an Amora’s view is rejected because his view differs from that stated in a Mishna or braissa. The Kesef Mishna answers, “It is possible to say that from the day that Mishna was completed it was accepted and established that later generations would not be permitted to disagree with the earlier generatons. Similarly when the Talmud was completed, no one had the right to disagree with it.” But there is no evidence in either the Talmud Bavli or Yerushalmi that there was such binding agreement. One can not find the slightest hint in the Mishna or Talmud and the Kesef Mishna’s questions are very solid… However I saw something similar in the Rambam’s Introduction to the Mishna Torah, “However all those matters that are found in the Babylonian Talmud are obligatory for all Jews and they can be forced to observe them… And all these matters were agreed to by all Jews.” We see that the Rambam also writes the reason for the obligation is that all Jews agreed to it. However I don’t know where there is evidence that such an agreement occurred.

Masa Son is promising a massive investment in Trump’s America. Don’t hold your breath

 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/masa-son-is-promising-a-massive-investment-in-trump-s-america-don-t-hold-your-breath/ar-AA1w0Cnx?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=NMTS&cvid=6590849fe299492db067777aa522ea6b&ei=175

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.