Igros Moshe (YD III:87.2) Question What is proper Torah learning in Yeshiva? Answer The mitzva of Torah study is to learn the entire Talmud and to to know all the Torah laws in addition to studying in depth each subject in the gemora as well as the Rishonim and Achronim which are indespensible even for a big Torah scholar. It is important also to understand the reasoning and the halacha as well as the explanations given by the Rosh Yeshiva
Monday, April 28, 2025
Education of girls Maaser money for tuitition?
Igros Moshe (YD II:113) Question: Can tuition for a daughter’s Beis Yakov be paid from Maaser? Answer There is certainly a distinction between sons and daughters in Torah study since the father has a clear obligation to educate his son in Torah even if he has to pay for it. And thus it is a Torah obligation and he should not use maaser money. In contrast there is no obligation to educate his daughter and if there is need then it is possible to pay from masser money. .However in America the law requires girls to be educated and due to G-d’s kindness they are allowed to study in proper religious schools. Thus if she doesn’t go to Beis Yakov then she would be required to attend public school where she will not get religious training. However he has an obligation that she get a proper religious education even if it costs him money and thus he actually has an obligation to send her to beis Yakov in America so Maaser money can not be used. However according to the Mishneh Berura the obligation is to save her from the goyim and thus it is not a special obligation on the father but a general one and accordingly maaser money could be used However this is problematic since the halacha is that the father is obligated to properly educate his daughter in proper faith mitzvos and avoiding sin. Therefore it is obvious that the father needs to pay for the education of both sons and daughters and therefore maaser can not be used for either. It is only if additional payment is required then for both sons and daughters maaser can be used.
Deception to get mitzvos & spiritual perfection
Shaarei Teshuva(482:2): It says in Bava Metzia (62a) that your needs come before that of other people even in a matters of life and death. This is learned by R’ Akiva in the case of two people in the desert with a single container of water from the verse of “Your brother shall live with you” - which means that his life is secondary to yours. So if this principle is true in physical issues then surely it is true in spiritual issues. (This is written in Igros Shmuel to Megila Ruth. He says that Boaz knew by ruach hakodesh that Ruth would be the ancestress of the Davidic kings and therefore he described her as a Moabite in order that she would be rejected for marriage and he could marry her and he would merit having the royal descendants. Even though it is prohibited for someone to deceive others even to take that which is rightfully his. But that prohibition is in monetary matters but not concerning mitzvos. Even though it is impossible to take a mitzva away from someone who already has obtained the rights to it such as mila, nevertheless if no one has actually claimed the mitzva yet then it is viewed as a wilderness and available to all and everyone has the obligation to perfect his soul and merit having mitzvos. We see this principle also with Yaakov and how he took the rights of the first-born and the berachos since he knew that Esav was headed to do evil and Yaakov needed them to reach spiritual perfection as is explained by the Akeidas Yitzchok…).
Dating Marriage – play house
Igros Moshe (Y.D. I #90): Question A boy and a girl want to get to know each other for the purpose of marriage to determine whether they will like each other. They want to know whether it is permitted to rent two separate bedrooms in one house where the owner and his wife also live. Answer It is clear that if it is known to the owner and his wife that they are not husband and wife – there is reason to be lenient. However if they have not informed then it is possible that they might mistakenly assumed that they are married and therefore it won’t help that the owner lives there. If the owner doesn’t know that they are not married it would thus be prohibited to rent the separate rooms because the owner is no longer a protection against sin because they are not embarrassed to be alone together and other similar problems. Regarding the issue of whether it is permitted for her to prepare meals for him, it seems that there is no concern that this is prohibited according to all authorities. That is because this is not included in the prohibition of utilizing a woman’s services. This type of service is permitted as is serving as a maid – even if she does it for free. All of this is permitted according to the strict letter of the law – however in actuality it is not worth doing. A person shouldn’t try to be too “smart” in these matters. It is sufficient if she finds favor in his eyes - regarding her appearance, her family and her reputation concerning her religious observance - that he can rely on that to get married with the hope that she was the one designated for him from Heaven. It is not necessary to examine her first. Furthermore this “test” is worthless to determine if she will be a good wife. Rather the Torah tells us to be “tamim” (to have simple trust) with G‑d.
Dating: What to look for in a spouse
Igros Moshe (YD I #90) Question Is it a good idea to be cautious in dating and that more is better to make sure it is “the right one”? Answer :Regarding a couple dating excessively to make sure it is ‘the right one’. “One should not be overly smart with regards to shidduchim. Therefore, one could marry the woman that finds favor in his eyes in her appearance and has a good family, and has a good reputation about her mitzvah observance, and assume that she is the one destined to him from heaven. He does not need to excessively tryout if they are compatible because it will not help, as the verse says “tomim tihiyeh im Hashem”, you shall be faithful with Hashem”.
Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said in His ‘100 Days’ Interview With TIME
https://time.com/7280129/donald-trump-fact-check-2025-interview/
What Trump Said: “We lose $200 to $250 billion a year supporting Canada.”
The Facts: Trump has often made the claim that the U.S. is “subsidizing” Canada—it’s a key reason behind his desire to annex the country. In his interview with TIME, he mentioned Canadian cars, lumber, and energy, so it’s possible was referring to the U.S. trade deficit with Canada, which in 2024, amounted to $63 billion for goods.
But that number still is far short of $200 billion. In the interview, Trump also mentioned “taking care of their military.” Trump officials have often highlighted military spending as part of the $200 billion. The Department of Defense requested a budget of $849 billion for the 2025 fiscal year—though the request does not break down spending by region. In March, a White House official pointed The Washington Post towards North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a shared air defense program between the two countries. The U.S. is responsible for 60% of the cost of the radar system—though the system costs just $20 billion, an expert told the Post.
3 children who are US citizens — including one with cancer — deported with their mothers, lawyers and advocacy groups say
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/27/us/children-us-citizens-deported-honduras/index.html
Taken together, the families’ advocates say their removals from the United States underscore concerns about a lack of due process amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Trump First 100 Days Approval Rating Double-Digits Below Biden, Obama—Poll
New polling released by CNN on Sunday shows that Trump's approval rating stands at 41 percent. That is 18 points under his disapproval rating, which stands at 59 percent—including 45 percent who disapprove strongly.
Comparatively, former Democratic President Joe Biden's approval hovered at 53 percent at the same point in 2021, according to CNN. That puts Biden's approval at the 100-day mark 12 points ahead of Trump's.
Former Presidents Barack Obama, a Democrat, and George W. Bush, a Republican, had even higher marks at the same point. Obama enjoyed a 63 percent approval rating and Bush was nearly the same, at 62 percent. That's 22 points and 21 points ahead of Trump respectively.
Notably, Trump's current approval rating is even lower than it was at the same point during his first term in office. At the end of April 2017, Trump's approval rating stood at 44 percent—3 points higher than it is now.
Sunday, April 27, 2025
Rav Moshe Feinstein: Prohibition of social dating
Igros Moshe(E.H. 4:60): Concerning the issue of a young man who is not ready to get married and has no interest in getting married and he is interested in having social dates with young women who also are not ready to get married and have no interest in getting married. They say that since they are careful to avoid the prohibition of yichud (seclusion) there is no prohibition in dating. Even though they know that this is not nice but they say they are not interested in issues of piety and extra measures of modesty and they don’t want to listen to lectures of mussar and rebuke. However they say that they will stop if they hear from me that this is prohibited according to the halacha. Therefore I am forced to respond immediately because this applies to a current activity… There is also a severe prohibition from the Torah in close friendships between a young man and woman. That is even if they avoid hugging and kissing as well as touching and yichud. The problem is that he talks with her for extended times in expressing love and he gets pleasure from this and stares at her. Even according to the Ramban who disagrees with the Rambam and holds this is only a rabbinic prohibition nevertheless agrees that this is a severe prohibition since it has an asmachta from a verse and that it is punished with rabbinic flogging. It is clear that dating is done because of love of women and not because of ordinary friendship since he clearly prefers being with a woman then with male friends. Why is he interested in this woman when it doesn’t give him greater respect or a good name? It is obviously because of love of a woman because she is a woman. In addition even though she is unmarried, she is a nidah which is prohibited with the punishment of kares…
Trump approval rating underwater in Fox News survey
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5265210-trump-approval-rating-fox-news-poll/
The poll showed Trump with an approval rating of 44 percent, down 5 points from the 49 percent he had in March. Fox noted the latest number is lower than where all of his most recent predecessors were at this point in their presidencies.
Former President George W. Bush had the highest rating among 21st-century presidents with 63 percent approval, followed by former President Obama with 62 percent and former President Biden with 54 percent. Trump also had a rating 1 point higher at this point in his first term than his current one.
CNN Data Guru Touts Historic Poll Showing Trump Most Unpopular Prez Since 1953
An overwhelming majority of Americans say the president is botching the job just months into his second term.
“These numbers are just horrible—there’s no way to sugarcoat it,” CNN data guru Harry Enten said while diving into the results of a new survey the network released on Saturday
Trump Tore Up Obama’s Iran Deal. Is He Now Negotiating Something Worse?
https://www.thefp.com/p/trump-obama-iran-deal
“The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into,” President Donald Trump declared in 2018 as he withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He has always claimed that President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement was terrible. And he has always been right.
But if Trump lets Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, continue to negotiate with Iran along the current lines, he will end up with an agreement even weaker than the JCPOA. Witkoff is driving Trump on the road to Obamaland.
A stunning reversal of fortunes in Canada's historic election- Trump saves the Liberals
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78jv246n91o
Last year, the Conservatives held a 20-point lead in national polls over the governing Liberals for months. Poilievre's future as the country's next prime minister seemed baked in.
Then a series of shockwaves came in quick succession at the start of 2025, upending the political landscape: Justin Trudeau's resignation, Carney's subsequent rise to Liberal leader and prime minister; and the return of Trump to the White House with the threats and tariffs that followed.
By the time the election was called in mid-March, Carney's Liberals were polling neck-and-neck with the Conservatives, and by early April they had pulled slightly ahead, national surveys suggest.
Trump's late-March announcement of global levies on foreign automobile imports allowed Carney to step away from the trail and take on the prime minister's mantle, setting up a call with the president and meeting US Cabinet ministers.
Poilievre, in contrast, is a veteran politician and polished performer. But on the shifting political ground, Conservatives appeared to struggle to find their footing, pivoting their message from Canada being broken to "Canada First".
Poilievre had to fend off criticism from political rivals that he is "Trump lite", with his combative style, his vows to end "woke ideology", and willingness to take on the "global elite".
Subscribe to:
Comments
(
Atom
)