tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59829942011-04-21T17:59:32.766-04:00The journal of a real rabbi in Yehupitz. Any thoughts or comments can be sent to yehupitzer.rov@juno.comYehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1082474212715428642004-04-20T11:16:00.000-04:002004-04-20T11:20:57.496-04:00

Impressed with the content features of the baliblogs family, I have decided to move my blog to baltiblogs, though the hamlet of Yehupitz is quite a distance from Baltimore. All entries have been moved to that site as well. See you on the other side.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1080152202765062002004-03-24T13:16:00.000-05:002004-03-24T13:20:10.606-05:00

I am very very hungry right now. Like, REALLY hungry. A hunger that only fleishigs can soothe. All the milchigs in the world will not suffice to silence the raging beast in my stomach who is demanding to be fed.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1080063004692478782004-03-23T12:30:00.000-05:002004-03-23T12:33:31.000-05:00

Rabbi Yosef Reinman lives in Lakewood, New Jersey. If you have ever davened in a shul in Lakewood NJ you would understand why he considers Shomrei Emunah in Baltimore a "Modern Orthodox" shul.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079714171476052632004-03-19T11:36:00.000-05:002004-03-21T20:26:44.263-05:00

The Ashkenazi custom to refain from Kitniyos on Passover, that's what. All these congregants and balebatim who think it's absurd that they would confuse the corn syrup in their Coca-Cola, or their cranberry bean soup, with chometz ask me for reassurance. And I can't give it to them. I can only smile sheepishly as in my heart of hearts I totally agree with them. And since I defend Judaism to

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079575470309138172004-03-17T21:04:00.000-05:002004-03-21T20:25:56.390-05:00

I was tutoring a Bar-Mitzvah kid today and he made some sort of lame joke about me being very old. My feelings weren't hurt. It got me thinking though. I'm under 30 now. But I thought it was very funny that one day I could be thought of as old, or very old.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079405090552182912004-03-15T21:44:00.000-05:002004-03-15T21:49:56.996-05:00

You all must be tired of me citing Mark Steyn all the time. But gosh darn it, the man is on the ball. In this article he writes what I have been thinking all day. PS My apologies to him for calling him a meshumad a while back. His assistant e-mailed me, telling me that the last real Jew in his family was two or three generations back, on his father's side.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079403127986984922004-03-15T21:12:00.000-05:002004-03-15T21:15:23.936-05:00

This friend of a friend wrote this essay about a new book Marc Shapiro has wrote, poo-pooing the idea that Judaism has articles of faith that are immutable, particularly most of the Rambam's 13 principles. I know from a reliable Hungarian source that the late Rabbi Yaakov Weinberg considered Shapiro to be a "meizid" i.e. he knows that what he's doing with the essay cum book that he is

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079402861046636852004-03-15T21:07:00.000-05:002004-03-15T21:10:57.060-05:00

It's amazing what learning a little halacha can do for a person. All these years we've been hearing and reading about all these women who are "oppressed" with all their extensive Passover preparations. The implied moral was that it's the male rabbis who have made their lives miserable. But a touch of research into the halachic codes reveals that what these women do isn't really required!

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1079298200431738782004-03-14T16:03:00.000-05:002004-03-14T16:06:34.856-05:00

When I wrote "but" in the headline, I did not mean to suggest that the Rabbi whose views are promoted on www.kashrut.org is not Orthodox. But one who peruses the halachic views promoted on the website will discover that the rabbi's views are not considered mainstream by the current convention in the observant world. Among his eyebrow-raising claims: 1) Products that are nominally kosher do

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1078768563123093242004-03-08T12:56:00.000-05:002004-03-08T12:59:08.436-05:00

The secret to a successful Purim: Vodka and Coke.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1077288634036408632004-02-20T09:50:00.000-05:002004-02-20T09:53:15.873-05:00

Mark Steyn does it again. I think this is his third column on the Canadian Conan O'Brien "scandal". And each time it gets better and better.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1076959488383454902004-02-16T14:24:00.000-05:002004-02-16T14:27:25.360-05:00

Bris'n are nice.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1076452745154180362004-02-10T17:34:00.000-05:002004-02-10T17:41:33.950-05:00

I try to be a loyal conservative. I really do. But consider: The biggest deficits recorded occured on the watch of Ronald Reagan and George W Bush. With Reagan, the Republicans blamed the Democratic-controlled House of Reps. Well, now that's not the case. "Take it to the bank - for every dollar appropriated by a Republican ,a Democrat will give two." says the hungarian. Really? You've

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1076002570583075472004-02-05T12:14:00.000-05:002004-02-05T12:38:32.233-05:00

Bush's actions of late have reminded me of just about everything I've read about the Nixon presidency. I know that most of you know little about Nixon except Watergate. But he was president for about six years. And Bush is adopting the same attitude, which is: -Only really care about foreign policy, the kind of foreign policy that has the USA proactively promoting its interests in other

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1072637371182550082003-12-28T13:47:00.000-05:002003-12-28T13:49:47.763-05:00

Our friend the hungarian has been snorkling a little too much, I think. If even Avi Shafran at the Agudah can admit, after a couple of decades, that Chabad blazed the trail in caring about reaching out to as yet unaffiliated Jews, then the Happy Hungarian should find it within himself to do so as well.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1072637143655031582003-12-28T13:41:00.000-05:002003-12-28T13:46:00.283-05:00

Ok, I won't say this again, so read well: France, Germany and Canada are NOT, I repeat, NOT allies of the USA. They used to be allies, about sixty years ago. They aren't anymore. So listen up you people at the AP, Reuters, etc.: Find a new term to describe the relationship. "Former allies" will do. "Backstabing dictator-cuddling amoral appeasers" will also work well. "Allies" is as

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1071105844999944182003-12-10T20:16:00.000-05:002003-12-10T20:24:17.290-05:00

Campaign Finance Reform is the biggest crock that American politicians have come up with in several decades. How people could lie to themselves and their constituents and convince them that participating the political process by supporting political parties and paying for political advertisements is "corruption" is staggering. How the formerly allegedly conservative president of the USA could

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1070597531319925412003-12-04T23:08:00.000-05:002003-12-04T23:13:09.360-05:00

Mark Steyn, a meshumad who is otherwise quite intelligent has penned the following paragraph. I consider it to be the best defense of federalism that I have ever read. Enjoy: ------------------------- I love borders, the more the merrier – town lines, county, state, and, of course, national. Borders symbolize one of the few remaining constraints on government: You don’t like the grade school

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1070037510774220392003-11-28T11:31:00.000-05:002003-11-28T11:38:55.543-05:00

Secretary of course! That is the practical result of the decision the executive commitee of my shul has made. I don't know what I will do now. But to make a long story short, I have a secretary who despises me, has tried to get me in trouble and fired by the shul president and continues to be nasty to me and the Rebbitzen. I told the president and VP that this was not a viable working

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1069815509826337102003-11-25T21:56:00.000-05:002003-11-25T21:58:37.776-05:00

I love a good joke that hits at all stereotypes. I think this is one of those jokes. Heard recently for the first time. Enjoy. A rosh-yeshiva is touring yeshivos giving a shiur on hilchos Ishus in Rambam. He goes into a modern orthodox yeshiva and asks a bochur for hilchos ishus. The bochur thinks for a moment, then brings back "sefer Ahavah". Next, the rosh yeshiva goes into a litvishe

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1069711850267169522003-11-24T17:05:00.000-05:002003-11-24T17:10:58.526-05:00

It is not till leaving the enchanted walls of the Yeshiva/Kollel Beis Medrash that I would appreciate the value of the Chavrusa, the aramaic word for friend. I have had two experienced rabbis tell me that rabbis have no true friends in their communities. I have to say that this is true. It's not that nobody likes me. But there is a certain level of conversataion or exchange of ideas that is

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1068948763177471292003-11-15T21:03:00.000-05:002003-11-15T21:12:49.120-05:00

So what does "na" the Hebrew word mean? Sometimes it means "please" and sometimes it means "now". Right? Wrong. "na" is a Hebrew word that indicates insistence. When a person insists on an idea when he's talking to someone else, he either means that he wants it done now or that he wants to insist that his will be done when the other might be leaning the other way. This is the connection

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1068772182468163002003-11-13T19:54:00.000-05:002003-11-14T13:57:07.750-05:00

This is driving me crazy already! I follow international politics. One story that has consumed Canada for the last several months is the never-imminent-enough departure of Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader Jean Chretien. People in the political hierarchy, including incoming leader Paul Martin, have been wanting him to leave politics for at least three years. Chretien feels

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1068167338322255422003-11-06T20:01:00.000-05:002003-11-06T20:09:02.106-05:00

People who care about what the Bible says have been grappling with the issue of the historicity of the Bible's description of world history from Adam to Noah. I am bothered by the issue, but only a little bit. Without the scientific talk, I would assume that the first ten chapters in Genesis in fact occured. If it turns out that there are elements that are not meant to be taken literally, I

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1068150456885223422003-11-06T15:12:00.000-05:002003-11-06T20:12:51.213-05:00

I experienced something last week that made me reconsider for a moment the American Liberal-Conservative divide when it comes to race. My wife was given a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. She considered it unfair, so she decided to go to Traffic Court to contest it. The Yehupitz Courthouse is in the more unfriendly part of town, so I joined her. Sitting in the courtroom waiting for my

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067536550351476622003-10-30T12:55:00.001-05:002003-10-30T12:57:33.916-05:00

I considered Zev Chafets a philosophical enemy when he wrote for the Jerusalem Report and practically made it his mission to blast Orthodox Judaism on a weekly basis. Well, since he has begun reporting on non-Orthodox issues, his common sense is truly shining through. I recommend the whole article, linked to the author's name above. In case you want to know what I'm so excited about, it's

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067385329804586082003-10-28T18:55:00.000-05:002003-10-28T18:55:30.570-05:00

Dennis Miller is so funny. I thought so long before his Republican awakening. I get a kick out of the fact that I am one of the few who gets his jokes. Part of my inherent Jewish elitism, I suppose. The first paragraph alone deserves a Pulitzer Prize, if the people on the Pulizer committee even get it.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067380400435637252003-10-28T17:20:00.000-05:002003-10-28T17:33:21.493-05:00

I gave a sermon on this topic, made famous most recently by the remarks of my dear friend the Malaysian Prime Minister. Of course the condemnations came quickly. The funny thing is that he was right. I came to the conclusion years ago that Jews do in fact play a large role in ruling the world. But the explanation is not something that requires vast theories about conspiracies, Freemasons

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067353241450036432003-10-28T09:59:00.000-05:002003-10-28T10:00:42.823-05:00

So, you think you want to become a rabbi, huh? But your wife's not interested? Do you think it can be done? Well it can't. Maybe in some of the big super-shtellers in the big city. But not in Yehupitz!

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067313021063777212003-10-27T22:46:00.000-05:002003-10-27T22:51:14.213-05:00

Ann Coulter is a piece of over-rated Republican eye candy. It hurts me to say it. I am the type to rally for a conservative columnist any day. On most issues, I clearly fall on that side of the fence. But I have just listened to some of her, and watched a short video clip of Katie Couric's interview of her. Nasty conservative eye-candy. I am disappointed in my hungarian friend for

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1067011654455456122003-10-24T12:02:00.000-04:002003-10-24T12:07:34.730-04:00

Well, I told the shul president that I could not function in the shul with a secretary who hates my wife and me. He understood. But he doesn't like to make things too difficult. And hiring and training a new secretary is too difficult at this stage. I understand that. You've got to give a person at least one chance, even if you are pessimistic that she's come through. And given the last few

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1066955543867322952003-10-23T23:30:00.000-04:002003-10-23T20:53:50.900-04:00

First Post The person who I am emulating will get a big ego rush from this attempt of mine to emulate his effort. But no matter. I have wanted to write about my experiences here in Yehupitz for a while now. This forum is perfect for now, until such time as I can publish a real book.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5982994.post-1066958738827443042003-10-23T21:21:00.000-04:002003-10-23T21:25:38.813-04:00

It might be obvious to many of you, but it should be said: Tishrei is EXHAUSTING for a Rabbi. This would be true even without other problems added to the mix. Add a secretary who hates you (and your wife) to the mix and you've got yourself a nasty concoction. I am so exhausted and physically drained that I wouldn't mind going into a coma for a week or so.

Yehupitzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00917851750803221889noreply@blogger.com