Kosher Meat Solution

Not too long ago, DovBear allowed me to guest post about glatt and the high cost of kosher meat and poultry. At the time. I asked for some suggestions to help alleviate this high cost of being a frum Jew. Since then, I managed to gather some information and even come up with a viable solution.

I spoke with a fellow at AgriProcessors about the high cost of meat and poultry. He told me they slaughter about five hundred head of cattle per day. Of those five hundred, only one hundred twenty five (yes, 125) are actually kosher. The rest are completely traif. Of the 125, only between thirty-five and forty (yes again, 35-40) are considered "glatt" for Ashkenazim (Sepharadim won't touch it!). The rest are sold under their "David's" label as non-glatt kosher meat.

Now remember, since for some reason Ashkenazim don't like to use the back half of the cow (because they don't like to traiber or something like that...), we only get to use the front half, which cuts this whole number in half. Hence, the extreme high price of glatt kosher meat.

When I asked him about poultry, which doesn't have the issue of being glatt, he gave me a very straightforward and simple answer: "We can't get enough chickens!" So this is a beautiful case of supply and demand.

Then, this fellow gave me a solution. He told me to call one of the kosher meat suppliers in my area and proceeded to give me the supplier's name and phone number. I called this person, and he gave me prices that were about half the price of the kosher butcher stores. In other words, THE KOSHER STORES DOUBLE THE PRICE OF THE MEAT AND POULTRY THEY SELL!!! How crazy is that?! Anyway, this supplier is happy to sell me meat wholesale, as long as I buy by the case. I can buy ANYTHING, even stuff the kosher stores don't sell, and for HALF THE PRICE!!! If you don't want to buy by the case, get a few people together and put in a big order! Meat and poultry freeze well and keep in the freezer for up to six months! So, here's the solution: Call AgriProcessors. Find out who the wholesaler/supplier is in your area. Get a group together, and buy kosher meat for about the same price (maybe even less) as the traif meat you see in the supermarkets!!

Oh, and find out about delivery. My guy here told me if I order over two hundred lbs. worth of meat and poultry, he'll deliver it for FREE!! And when you order as a group, two hundred lbs. adds up pretty quickly. He brought me a sixteen page list of the products they carry or can get, stuff you almost never see in the stores! So, start saving money and call AgriProcessors today at (563) 864-7811 or (563) 864-7539. I don't remember the name of the person with whom I spoke, but I'm sure the operator will direct you to the right person.

Ancient Sacred Texts That Blow Me Away

I love the Tanakh. I love its resonating poetry. I love the political intrigue in its stories, its many colorful characters, the way it brings ancient stories to life, the way it attempts to solve social issues. I love how morally complicated it is. I love figuring out how those ancient words were cobbled together. I love that it's a demanding read at times, but also endlessly rewarding. There are even some passages that I know by heart (and some that I wish that I knew).

But this wasn't always so. Before I discovered the Documentary Hypothesis, the Tanakh had me completely bewildered. I couldn't understand why God is behaving like a brute, an out-of-control schizophrenic, creating flawed humans, testing them, and them smiting them for failing absurd tests. God seemed so unjust, so petty, at times needlessly cruel and vengeful, punishing innocent children for the misdeeds of their parents; condemning unoffending people for the sins of others. I wondered why God's ideas of social justice were so far behind the values of equality and justice hard-won only in the last century. How can God be such a racist and a misogynist? Why is God so obsessed with animal sacrifices? And finally, how could God get so many things wrong in so many fields: geography, biology, geology, genetics, chemistry, zoology, astronomy, and almost any other scientific field.

All this confusion lifted when it finally clicked: God did not dictate the Torah. The Torah was not God's effort to communicate His ideas to us mortals. The Torah was written by ancient men, and the Torah documents their writing efforts. The stories in the Tanakh say very little about God, but very much about the people who wrote it. Once I started viewing the Tanakh as a venerable book of anthropology, it all made perfect sense.

Now I take real pleasure in reading a book that is thousands of years old, and I marvel at how I can read it in the original language used by those ancient, primitive people who wrote it. I enjoy reading how thousands of years ago, these people grappled with the same moral and philosophical questions humankind still grapples with today. I'm amazed to be able to trace a fundamental sense of morality which all humans share, now in the 21st century, and in the time before years were counted. So even devoid of belief in its divinity, the Tanakh holds considerable gravity and importance to me, for it has stood the the test of time. It is truly a masterpiece.

Thunder, Perfect Mind is not any less beautiful, although a more compact manuscript, than the Tanakh. It was discovered in 1945 in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, and is part of a collection of religious texts written in Coptic by a Gnostic sect, sometime before 400 CE. The Gnostics' theology is extremely complex (and not very dissimilar to the opinions of the Baal Hablog, Dov Bear) in that they believed parts of Genesis to be divine revelation, and parts to be humanly reconstructed.

To understand some of this epic poem, one needs to know that the Gnostics ascribed androgyny to be a divine characteristic, which explains why it is spoken by a paradoxical voice of a goddess that contains a multitude of polarities. Because the Gnostics are long gone, and because this manuscript was only discovered relatively recently, it is open to anyone's interpretations. It has no oral tradition exegesis tacked on to it. There is no Rashi or Ramban or Unkelos to try to make sense of it. There is no Rambam to codify its legalities. Without benefit of medrash or parshanut, its deep, hidden and often paradoxical meanings are accessible to anyone. Unlike the Tanakh, it does not demand dogmatic belief, or any belief at all. In fact, it has little to do with religion other than provoking deep thought, which may be a spiritual experience for some. It does not attempt to outline a way of life, there are no 613 complicated mitzvot or archaic rituals demanded of the reader, nor does it aspire to provide the reader with a deep meaning of life. It remains mysterious and beautifully haunting, and it blows me away every time I read it.

L'Kovod Erev Shabbos, here is a sampling:

I am the knowledge of my inquiry,

and the finding of those who seek after me,

and the command of those who ask of me,

and the power of the powers in my knowledge of the angels,

who have been sent at my word,

and of gods in their seasons by my counsel,

and of spirits of every man who exists with me,

and of women who dwell within me.

I am the one who is honored,

and who is praised,

and who is despised scornfully.

I am peace,

and war has come because of me.

And I am an alien and a citizen.

I am the substance

and the one who has no substance.

----------------------------------
I am the one whom they call Law,

and you have called Lawlessness.

I am the one whom you have pursued,

and I am the one whom you have seized.

I am the one whom you have scattered,

and you have gathered me together.

I am the one before whom you have been ashamed,

and you have been shameless to me.

I am she who does not keep festival,

and I am she whose festivals are many.
--------------------------------------------
Hear me,

you hearers and learn of my words,

you who know me.

I am the hearing that is attainable to everything;

I am the speech that cannot be grasped.

I am the name of the sound and the sound of the name.

I am the sign of the letter

and the designation of the division.

Read it in its entirety here

In which I talk about a kofer with my friend Josephine

Background: Josephine is a sort-of kofer, but in the Torah True sense. Like me, she knows the score, but doesn't much care, and therefore stayss frum (like me) though she knows what she knows. Anyway, recently, Josie and I had a little online chat about a guy we know who's fallen under the influence of Mister X, one of the local anti-Torah fanatics. I thought the ganze readership would appreciate it and that perhaps it might even provoke one of those discussions Akiva says he likes.

Josephine: Poor guy. So is he abandoning the faith?

Me: I don't know what he's doing in real life. But on the blogs he's now worse than Mister X.

J: That's so, so, soooooooo sad. He's married with a family, yes? If so, Mister X should know when to keep his mouth shut. Screwing up a person's mind is one thing, but it's an entirely other matter when there are others, especially children, involved.

Me: I don't have any problem with Mister X,. Mister X, doesn't lie. He hasn't said anything that's not true. The problem is with the other guy who clearly doesn't know what to do with the truth.

J: Yes, and in those cases I don't think it's fair to tear the rug out from someone's entire life and identity unless you know they're able to handle it.

M: I disagree. The truth need not be concealed.

J: I disagree. People's lives need not be destroyed

M: So let's go back to the middle ages. Life was simple, and easy then,and nobody knew the truth about anything.

J: Sounds good to me. Except for those pesky Christians. And, you know, the plague.

M: God is truth. Torah is truth. So how can we be 'ltaken olam bmalchusshadai" if all we do is lie to each other?

J: I dunno. But who says we have to be metaken olam bemalchus shadai? That line in Aleinu refers to the yemot hamashiach, which these are not. I do think it's often better to protect people from the truth if they can't handle it.

M: If they can't handle the truth let the truth destroy them.

J: And their children too, I suppose? Nice. You consider that being metaken the oilam, do ya?

M: Yes, as a matter of fact I do.

J: You're a tough nut to crack.

M: The truth will set you free, or the truth is the Almighty's seal. Or something.

To all beautiful ladies in the frum Ichud bungalow colony

click

Doesn't this dope know that the hot honies at Ichud aren't cruising craiglist?

Hat tip MM

Renzi Says He Will Not Seek Re-Election

Renzi Says He Will Not Seek Re-Election

Sadder than sad. Yet, another "ethically challanged" Republican congressman is calling it quits.

THIS IS NOT A POST

Fellow blogger Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) is cohost of a blog entitled Mad Ascythianazzi Skillz.

He is also a guest blogger here.

Not a very prolific one, though.... he's posted only once to my four times (albeit that an argument could very well be made about quality versus quantity, but I really don't want to go there).

So how about it, Steg? How about posting again? Soon? Before the bear yanks the plug? How about some mad ascythianazzi skillz?

Many other readers are also curious... although only one of them, in an unguarded moment caused by consuming the drugs she stole from Ed, actually admitted it.

We're dyin' here, dude, shreib voss!

Double your Mitzvah before Ein Kitzvah!

A post by Jameel at the Muqata.

Two years ago when the residents of Shirat Hayam in Gush Katif (a town I visited at the time) were forced to leave their homes and communities, they were promised by the government that their community would be able to stay together and build anew in Maskiot in the Jordan Valley. A site founded 20 years ago by the IDF Nachal Brigade.

However, for the past 2 years, this community has been bounced around like ping pong balls by the bureaucrats and government, and with Rosh Hashana approaching they find yet another obstacle in their way.

They have no shul to pray in on Rosh Hashanah!

They simply need a caravan where they can sit together and pray as a community.

Before Rosh Hashanah - Double your Mitzva.

Before you sit in your air-conditioned shul praying for a good year for yourselves, ask yourself, could you help this shattered Jewish community get the same opportunity?

Any sum (tax deductable) you donate would help them a lot (but they need $33,000 for the caravan).

You can find out more here, or contact their representative, Aviva Harbater at 050-874-3484 or 1-516-515-95-92.

While the DovBear blog may have been pro-Disengagement, I am sure he is definitely pro helping those fellow Jews rebuild their lives, let alone, have somewhere to daven on the Yamim Noraim.

Challenging to Repair vs. Challenging to Destroy

by Akiva from Mystical Paths.

We are a people of tradition, as the Torah specifically says, "a stiff necked people". Mesorah, the chain of transmission and tradition, has been a key part of Jewish survival.

This method has its faults. It picks up some cultural context and transmits it the same way. So the information of how to conduct Passover includes not only the strict halacha, but family customs (the ways of the seder), recipes, and local foods that are appropriate and inappropriate (which may not be local anymore). Much of that makes sense, but some doesn't.

Similarly, Judaism can be very selective about adapting to the modernity of the moment. Some tools, for example a phone or a microwave oven, are quickly adopted without issue. Others, ones that have greater potential for societal or cultural damage, are treated very carefully, sometimes rejected, partially accepted, carefully controlled (for example, TV and now, the Internet).

And of course, though in many ways much more of a close society, it's got plenty of problems. Some are very different from the countries in which we live, such as communal balance between Torah learning and working, others may be similar (though we may hope or, occasionaly, pretend, in less quantity that the surrounding culture), such as (G-d forbid) adult abuse of children or spouse abuse.

Over the years I've been involved in blogging, especially with DovBear, as a reader and commenter of about 3 years, this has been an excellent forum for those discussions. While indeed, we probably wouldn't get up in synagogue and argue about whether kitnios makes sense, here it's a rousing discussion. And, G-d forbid, when there's word of authority abuse of position for terrible misconduct, these forums are a valuable tool to arouse public awareness.

But of course, there's a danger in being the watchman all the time. It's proven behavior science (yes, science, see the book Blink! by Malcom Gladwell) that those who spend time in roles that require a negative outlook, or even just spending time making unpleasant facial expressions, actually generate negative feelings, depression, anxiety, a negative outlook.

I've been surprised during this guest posting spree, and over the past week or two as well (where I've paid a bit of attention to DovBear that I haven't in about 6 months), that the tone here has turned. No longer do I find an honest and open (and heated) discussion of custom or halacha or history or authority issue. No, rather I find a full force attack.

This used to be a forum of argument for the sake of heaven and enlightening entertainment. I rarely agreed with DovBear, and disagreed with many of the commenters, but would not have been the slightest bit uncomfortable davening next to DB or (most) of the commenters.

No longer. This no longer seems to be a place to discuss, challenge, and argue, with respect for Yiddishkeit. Now it seems to be a place to make fun of, degrade, and denigrate orthodox Judaism.

And that's sad. Our world is poorer for loosing that honest discussion. And our world is harmed by the negative face that has developed in it's place.

Bring Back the "Summer of Love"

Let's go a little crazy. Caption this!

SHEITEL SHEITEL SHEITEL!

Why am I posting this? Because I can!

Dov parked the car, threw the key to seven of us, and the other six gentlemen seemed to have gone off and gotten drunk, leaving me as the designated driver.

Bad move, boys.


It's time to talk of sheitels!



SHEITELS!

The best sheitlach are made with real human hair, inferior ones with heavens knows what. Fortunately, you can look like a Soprano widow at either end of the price range.

A while back there was a groise machloikes over sheitels made with hair from India. Women panicked, running through the streets of Boro Park and Lakewood screaming and shedding hair. Or so I've been told.
[And I always believe everything I'm told by ehrliche menthsen - don't you?]

The problem was that the hair (either all, or three symbolic tufts) was shorn from Hindu women at religious ceremonies - don’t ask, I haven’t a clue!
But it had to do with purification for idolatrous rituals, and temple profits from the sale of the hair, and thus shmecked of avoidah zara (strange service, hence idolatry). It is issur to partake of, share in, or in fact have anything to do with idolatry. Especially monetarily.


Why is hair from India used in wigs?

The two main sources of hair used in wigs and hairpieces are Europe and India. The desirability of Indian temple-cut hair lay in the length, strength, and alignment.

Hair that is aligned (that has all its cuticles pointing in the same direction – called Remy hair) can be used for high quality wigs that have a natural look, whereas hair that is not aligned will need to be chemically stripped of the cuticle layer to keep it from becoming tangled.
[Note: to dye hair, it has to be stripped and bleached; this is never done to Remy hair. Keeping hair aligned is done by tying it with ribbons prior to cutting, which was also the custom at the temple. The hair was then sold, and the money benefited the getchkeh served at that temple.]

Such aligned hair is more expensive than stripped hair, and is used for better wigs, whereas stripped hair is often also chemically bleached, dyed, and conditioned.

So the problem is this: if your sheitel is glossy, black and expensive, it probably is made of Indian Remy hair. If it is any other colour but did not cost an arm and a leg, it nevertheless also may be made of Indian hair.


Is all hair from India suspect?

Only ten percent (more or less) of the hair purchased from India comes from the temple in question (Tirumala). Because a much larger percentage of Remy hair from India is temple hair, it might be argued that a wig made from dyed hair (remember, Remy hair is not dyed) should contain far less temple hair. But there is no way of telling – a sheitel of dyed hair could be all temple hair, because not all temple hair is Remy.

In the same way that one can not assume that a piece of meat is kosher without evidence (presumption based on place purchased, trust in the merchant having full knowledge of the derivation, and verifiability based on trusted agents who oversee and examine), one can not blithely assume that because the sheitel is not Remy it is safe.


What about European hair?

Hinduism is not prevalent in Europe, and there are no religious practices in Europe in which a woman cuts off long hair. So, based on currently known data, European Remy hair should be considered Halachically acceptable.

Several ravs have spouted psak and teshuve ad nauseum, most either coming out against Indian hair wigs except under certain circumstances (psak l’issur), or stating l’heter that they were acceptable unless it was definitely known that the hair was tainted by A.Z., or in fact outright takruves (offerings) to the getchkeh (idol).

Some went on for several pages, quoted multiple authorities most marvelously, without actually saying anything. And a few proved nothing more than that an obsession with hair is might be common among poskim, so if you have a fetish, you’re in good company!


That a lenient ruling should be made is in keeping with the decision made by rebbeyim over fifteen years ago (AND thirty years ago) when this issue came up before. But it may be that, at that time, the poskim were not fully aware of the details of the issue, hence their being matir.


Chinese hair

There are some very fine sheitlach made from Chinese hair, which is as strong as Indian hair, but has a much softer look.
[But if you must have a luxurious head of Chinese hair, might as well keep the entire Chinese person to whom it belongs. You won’t regret it.]


Other hair

On the other hand, hair from a harlot, or from a murderess shorn at her imprisonment, would also be perfectly acceptable - as long as she was not involved in idolatry.


Caring for the Sheitel.

Many women use a sheitel liner in between their head and the actual wig, which keeps it cleaner and prevents their own hair from intruding on the elegant, sexy lines of the sheitel. Synthetic hair is easier to clean, but bear in mind that synthetic wigs end up looking ratty and eccentric within a year, whereas a good real hair wig maintains its looks a bit longer.

If you wish to wash the thing yourself, instead of taking it to your local sheitel macher, do so every five or six weeks. It is best to place the thing securely on a Styrofoam head (use pins), wet it with warm water, lather with shampoo, and rinse gently. Conditioner can be applied, but apply AWAY from the root. Rinse after a minute or so. It can be air-dried, but in moist environments it is advisable to speed up the process with a blow dryer on low heat – also good for styling.


Why a wig in the first place?

Rabbinic law states that married women should cover their hair before all save their husbands, for reasons of modesty.

In the eighteenth century, when ultra-orthodoxim first started wearing sheitlach, the deceptively real appearance of certain wigs was manifestly not a problem; wigs were observedly unnatural, and no immodesty could be imputed.

Many orthodox rebbeyim at that time opined that covering one’s hair was more effectively done l’halocho with a sheitel than with a tiechel (headkerchief) or hat, as the sheitel can cover all of the hair, while also being convenient for wearing indoors.

Since then wiggery has become a firm custom, which many do not have the confidence to discard, and yet do not think deeply about. And there are those who, b’hiddur mitzvah, also wear a kerchief or a hat, in addition to their perruque.


A final consideration

A good wig can mislead other women (who cannot see that it is fake, and may therefore assume that if a woman who is known to be respectable and frum is showing hair, it is acceptable to do so), and may in fact be as immodest in its effects as flaunting a luxurious head of hair for men to see, to smell, nay even to brush their faces against on the bus, inhaling deeply of its delicate aroma of perfumed shampoo.
[The fragrance may actually be so intoxicating even during Elul as to cause the poor man to miss his stop, limply unresisting, and consequently loose his job.... do you really want that on your head? Do you?]

If showing hair is tantamount to immodesty, I have to wonder whether it is not best for men to expose their big (!) bushy (!) beards (!) only to their wives, and only in the home.

------------------------

Note: Some of you may remember that I posted much of this material back in 2006. And so what? I'm not above canabalising my own stuff. I'm both lazy and opportunistic.

Further note: If the six other guest-posters don't sober-up and start posting soon, I will be forced to tell you all about Nidah, Zivah, and Zavah. You don't want that, do you?

FOUR AMOS

Per Slobodka minhag, the entire space of a Jewish residence is to be considered as four amos. This in regard to nayglvasser. I have heard that this derives from the Vilna Gaon, who considered the woof of the world altered after the death of Avraham ben Avraham.

Which is fascinating.

Does anyone know more about this?


-------------------------------

Related thereto,

Who was Avraham ben Avraham?

Avraham the son of Avraham was a Polish nobleman, Count Valentin Potoki, who was exposed to Judaism while studying in Paris. After becoming convinced that Judaism was the true religion, he travelled to Rome, and then to Amsterdam, where he formally converted.

He was also know as the Ger tzedek.

There is much about him in Jewish sources. There is no actual evidence, however, that he ever lived. We must conclude that, like a character from Talmudic meshalim, there was a need to invent him.

Suppose I begin an anecdote with “once there were these three men – a rabbi, a galach, and a height-impaired tax-accountant...”. I then proceed to tell an absolutely hysterical meisse, ending with a punchline that sticks in the mind for days afterward.

You remember the punchline, yes? You tell someone else the tale. They too remember the punchline.

Does it actually matter that the rabbi, the galach, and the height-impaired tax-accountant didn’t really exist?

CREATIVE DUTCH INVENT NEW NASTY SLUR

The Dutch language is sodden with slurs and insults. We speakers of Dutch are not known for our subtlety.

A sampling of Dutch terms of misaffection will be illustrative:
Kut-Marokkaan = “Erva-Moroccan” (generic term for any North-African).
Kanker-Jood = Cancerous Jew (generic term for a Jew).
Klote-Jenk = Testicle American (again, a generic term – applies to either gender).

There are many more. Some, like the extremely long list of insulting sixteenth century terms for the different types of German, are scatological. Some are heretical.
Some sneering, and repulsive.

Such as this recent one: Kroepoek
Pronunciation ‘crew-pewk’. Diminutive: kroepoekje - 'crew-pewk-yuh’.

[Krupuk is a crispy snack cracker made of tapioca flour (manioc or cassava starch), seafood flavourings, salt and spices, kneaded to a dough, rolled into a snake shape, sliced thinly across, and dried in the sun. The resultant chips are deepfried when needed – they swell up enormously. They are very popular in South-East Asia and Holland. Called ‘shrimp-chip’ in English. Most are not kosher. There are also entirely vegetarian 'shrimp chips', but I do not know the brand names or whether they are even imported. Sorry.]

As the term applies to a human, what is meant is an attractive woman of partly or entirely Dutch East Indies ancestry, especially one to have a brief and exploitative affair with; a tasty little snack of a woman, but not the kind you would marry. The term is both racist and sexist. And, if you think about it, additionally offensive on so many different levels.


BACKGROUND
Indos are people of an Indonesian background, often of mixed race - Dutch mixed with Malay types or Chinese. They were citizens of the Netherlands, who after Indonesian independence either voluntarily "repatriated" to a country they had never seen , or were later chased out.
In the fifties and sixties, most Indos were self-effacing, and did their very best to assimilate. They were ashamed of their Indischkeit, and spoke excellent proper Dutch in public and at work. Maybe at home they spoke Petshaw, Betawi, or Malay, but they did not want their children to speak it. They were the perfect immigrant group.

Now their children and grandchildren are exploring what it means to be ‘different’. And what it means to have inherited non-standard cultural traits. They do not keep quiet when sneered at, they talk back when patronized, they object to stereotypes.
They are no longer quietly just like ‘everybody else’.

Everybody-else does not like this one bit. It somehow feels like a devaluation of everybody else, and of everybody else's values, or a deliberate insult. Everybody else has a remarkably fragile ego and a tendency to act pissy.


Now, while the point of this may seem to be that majority behaviours show similarities in different countries, especially if you are in the deep South or Rotterdam - and if you wish to read that into this, please do - what I am really doing by posting this is expressing my displeasure at Dutch attitudes. I expected much better from them, dammit. Buncha farty kaaskoppen.

Come on you lazy gits

Dear Guest Posters:

I'd have expected the seven of you to have gone more than twice today.

Let's have something else please. The readers are growing anxious.

XXOO
DB

DovBear Update

I thought the readership deserved to know where in the world dovbear is vacationing on his week off. Will it be a nice villa up in some country side? Perhaps he is more the golf man heading to Florida to play a round. Washington DC? Israel? Cuba?

Dovbear is spending his time off in Vermont.

In a glorious victory for the forces of greater nakedness, Vermont's clothing-optional capital is stripping off its short-lived ban on public nudity.

Brattleboro passed a temporary prohibition on naturism a month ago, after an elderly tourist strolled naked through the center of town.

But city board members voted 3-2 on Tuesday to reject a proposed ordinance that would have made the ban permanent. When the emergency temporary ordinance expires next month, public nudity will no longer be illegal.

We wish him well and hope he doesn't get a sun burn where the sun shouldn't shine.

I'm kidding. He is on a secret mission

Temporary Lift of Rabbinic Ban (by special arrangement)

This Yiddish CD has been banned by the Gedolim. Why? I have no idea. This CD's availability is very limited, and in accordance with the ban, is sold with a sticker that says, "Not for Chareidi Jews" (I kid you not!). If you understand why kite flying has been banned in Afghanistan, you probably have some insight into what is wrong with this CD.

Using my extensive connections, I have arranged for Dov Bear readers only to be able to listen to one of the songs off the CD, with the stipulation that it only be heard once, and only today, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., Standard Eastern Time. If you choose to take advantage of this temporary lift, as a courtesy to your fellow ban-observing Jew, please lower the volume when listening in the vicinity of others.

For your listening pleasure, here is the controversial song.

More about the ban.

Cool Shul

Propagated Misconceptions

Guest post from Akiva of Mystical Paths.

CNN writes - ...She left her high-powered, high-paid job as a Wall Street lawyer and moved to Israel in 1984. ... Baras moved her family to Karnei Shomron, a settlement deep inside the West Bank.

Here we find CNN propagating misconceptions again. "Deep inside the West Bank?" Karnei Shomrom is a 15 minute ride from Kfar Saba. How far do you drive in 15 minutes? To the local mall? Local grocery store? It's 30 minutes to Ariel, that's central West Bank, 45 minutes to Elon Moreh, that's about as far in as qualifies as West Bank, and another 20 minutes to the Jordan Valley (which, I guess, is past the West Bank.)

Perspective is an amazing thing. I recently had a Shabbos guest from Utrich, Holland. She mentioned she sometimes goes on a shopping trip to Berlin (Germany). I'm thinking, O M G, such distant traveling for shopping??? So I asked her, "how long does it take to get there." She answered, "about an hour and a half".

Apparently for this reporter, deep in the West Bank is a 1 hour trip from his hotel in Tel Aviv. For me (unfortunately), that's a frigging daily commute.