25 Aug Speak Your Vues
SPEAK YOUR VUES WITH THE VUES MASTER
Please note that the author of Speak Your Vues is in no way affiliated with the publisher of this paper. The author of this column is an independent third party contributor. The views and opinions expressed by this author may not reflect the views and opinions of the publishers. If one has any issues with any of the views, please write a letter to the Vues Master.
INTERNET
Dear Vues Master:
I just wanted to share a small point I heard from an Odom chashuv. MASHAL: If I take water from a not clean place (like from a restroom) and then triple filter it. Would you drink it? Probably not. What if I filter it 7 times? Still no. Why? Because it’s still … NIMSHAL: The same is true with smartphones and the internet. They are the worst things to have. They are disgusting things. They are very harmful to the yiddishe neshama. And even after it’s filtered and triple filtered its still very harmful. Smartphones and the internet are only meant to be used for business and much should block as much as possible. (Even better, if possible, only have the internet on your computer at work.) So again, just because your internet is (triple) filtered, that does not mean it’s a good thing. It should be avoided as much as possible.
SM
Vues Master’s Note: I agree with you, but you need to understand that medicine is a derivative of mold. Sometimes one needs to get something even from mold and use it, whether it is for parnassah or anything else. As we always say, please consult your Local Orthodox Rav or Rosh Yeshiva.
BLOCKING SITES
Dear Vues Master:
I was shocked to see, in response to a letter about internet filters blocking someone’s parnasa, that the Vues Master responded “If the parnassah is something that has illicit photos or gambling or the like why should it not be blocked?”
The original letter said nothing about illicit photos or gambling. I personally know someone who started a simple template website for his business, with nothing inappropriate about it, and the filters blocked. He found this out months after he started, and he lost months of business. It’s a serious halacha sheilah if the filters are allowed to do such blocks by default, where both the customer and the vendor do not want anyone to block them.
YG
Vues Master’s Note: The same way I as a person don’t have to walk into every store, I can choose to have a filter on my internet that will allow me not to walk to one’s site. If I am an internet provider, I have a contract between my customers and myself. I can choose to block whatever I wish. A similar comparison might be Cable TV, which chooses which channels it airs. You, as a customer, can leave this company and go to a different provider. It is up to the customer to find out what is being filtered and why.
GREAT PUBLICATION
Dear Vues Master:
Good Voch.
I enjoy your publication.
It’s distinctively different from the other yid papers and especially the Vue Master editorial replies. Very refreshing and tachlis too.
B F
Vues Master’s Note: Thanks for your kind words!
BAKING IN MEAT OVEN
Dear Vues Master:
Yishar Kohach to Rabbi Moshe Elefant for the great weekly Kashrut guidance & responses. I find them very productive.
Please ask the Rabbi (only) to respond to my question. In the last issue (פרשת ראה) the Rabbi wrote that if a meat (not covered) was baked in an oven, it need to be clean and Kushered (waiting 24 hours or soap & on highest for 30-45 minutes). Why is it not enough to clean it? Why bother the people with kashering it since it’s a Nat Bar Nat Dehetera?
Please let me know.
(Anyone reading this question should not make any halakhic conclusion until the Rabbi responds.)
Thank you very much.
Rabbi B.M.
Vues Master’s Note: I can’t speak for Rabbi Elefant, but it might depend if there are mamashos and not only bliyos. In addition, it might be speaking in a case where the tanur is small not big.
FAVORITE SONG
Dear Vues Master:
Favorite Abie Rotenberg song
No one thought of Mama Rochel?! And for that matter, I noticed you didn’t ask Shwekey.
Y.L.
Vues Master’s Note: These are the answers we got. We can’t change what people think!
NEGATIVITY
Dear Vues Master:
Hi there. I do wonder why it’s a Jewish view to choose a worst sports owner. To find negatives in others? Forget about the fact that the Wilpons are/May be Jewish, but is it really a “Jewish” opinion at all?
Rabbi JG
Vues Master’s Note: This wasn’t a personal question. This question merely reflected the frustrations of the fans of these loser teams that never win.
CHALLAH IN THE OVEN
Dear Vues Master:
In regard to the halacha that when challah is in the oven with meat that’s tightly covered it’s not considered fleishig, is the challah then considered pareve? I always assumed that when doing that, even if one is just warming the challah, it’s been baked previously with only other challahs, it can’t be used for anything dairy like french toast. My friend mentioned that she uses the challah when making french toast which she makes with eggs and milk. I thought that the steam heat which is being used for baking the meat and other items were considered fleishig because only the meat is covered. I realize that the challah is not actually fleishig but didn’t think I could use it with dairy. Is that a misconception on my part?
Looking forward to your feedback.
RL
Vues Master’s Note: Again, I can’t speak for Rabbi Elefant, but if the oven was heated and burned out and then one puts in meat fully covered and Challah in the oven, the Challah would be pareve. But as I always say, speak to your Local Orthodox Rabbi!
TIME
Dear Vues Master:
It is important to know that there is a sof zman Krias shema and sof zman tefillah. Why are people still praying shachris at 11:00? True, I should be Dan lekaf Zechus, but why doesn’t anyone have the slightest embarrassment to pray so late? They make it like praying at 11 is like praying at 7. Is it not embarrassing to pray so late in the day? Even if you have a reason. Even if your an ones, you make it like it’s normal to do this. Where is your embarrassment?
A Litvak
Vues Master’s Note: Being a Litvak myself, I do concur with you, but Chassidim are Lemaleh min hazman and they have their own minhagim. I can’t judge them nor anyone else, and since I have no intentions of becoming a chassid myself, I’ll continue to daven b’zman.
LEFT
Dear Vues Master:
Good heavens! With the Biden- Harris ticket, the Democratic party cannot go further to the left.
Vues Master’s Note: Last I checked the Democrat ticket did not include Bernie Sanders or AOC.
VACCINE
Dear Vues Master:
SHARING IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The New York City School Chancellor would like to mandate the Covid vaccine (which is not being tested in anyone under the age of 18) for all students when it is available. This announcement should set off alarm bells for all school administrators (and parents) in any city!!
How can a vaccine that is not being tested in children under age 18 – and according to a recent survey only 42% of Americans want to take when it first comes out – be mandated for students?
Why are there so many Americans not interested in getting the vaccine (or giving it to their children)? Perhaps because…
- The vaccine is being fast-tracked, skipping medical protocols usually used to test other vaccines for safety.
- The vaccine uses a new technology (mRNA) that has never yet been approved for an infectious disease in humans. “University of Cambridge: RNA vaccines: an introduction”
https://www.phgfoundation.org/briefing/rna-vaccines
- Some scientists are wary of a possibly dangerous phenomenon called “antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)” with a coronavirus vaccine. “Coronavirus vaccine developers wary of errant antibodies”
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41587-020-00016-w
- Clinical trials have excluded anyone with cardiac or respiratory disease, those taking medicine for asthma, those with a history of seizures or epilepsy, and those with other medical conditions. The vaccine is only being tested on healthy individuals over the age of 18.
- Minorities may not be well-represented in the Phase 3 clinical trials.
- “At least 80%” of clinical trial participants endured systemic side effects from the Moderna vaccine. Bill Gates tries to explain this in a CBS interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmsmgj5244Q (Bill Gates Norah O’Donnell CBSN)
- The vaccine can be FDA approved even if only 50% effective.
- Dr. Fauci admits we do not know how long immunity from the vaccine will last. “Fauci says assume any Covid-19 vaccine will offer ‘finite’ protection” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4QwadoBWjY
- Industry experts think that the first COVID-19 vaccines might not actually prevent infection. FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum told Bloomberg. “For licensure, we would not require that a vaccine protects against infection.”… “Moderna’s mRNA-1273, believed to be the leading candidate, also keeps preventing the development of symptoms as its primary goal.” (Thus, asymptomatic vaccinated students can spread the virus to others unknowingly) “Experts think first COVID-19 vaccines might not prevent infections”
- The vaccines may carry a bit of a kick….This kind of discomfort includes headache, sore arms, fatigue, chills, and fever. “Covid-19 vaccines may cause mild side effects, experts say, stressing need for education, not alarm”
Pharmaceutical companies are investing significant amounts of money into creating their Covid vaccines. If most adults do not want to get the vaccine, the easiest way for them to recoup their investments and make a fantastic profit is to pressure legislators to mandate it for all students. And as is the case with all other vaccines, their manufacturers will not be held financially liable for any damage or death that may result from the vaccine.
If your child’s school is considering mandating the Covid vaccine when it is available, please share this information with your school’s administration and ask them these questions:
- Will the benefits of this vaccine outweigh the possible dangerous risks to my child – especially considering the first vaccine approved may not prevent infection nor transmission, but only lessen severe symptoms that children do not even have in the first place?
- Would you give your child a medicine or treatment that has not been tested for safety in his or her age group? If not, why would I?
Sincerely,
YS
Vues Master’s Note: My rule of thumb is follow the money trail and see if it is legit or not.
A PLEA TO SHADCHANIM
Dear Vues Master:
It is with a troubled heart that I write this letter. I do not have an agenda nor do I have an ax to grind. I just wish to bring up a very painful issue to me. It is about Shadchanim. I have spoken to a few people who have also had very negative interactions with them. I wish to make an important disclaimer. Of course, there are many wonderful shadchanim who only mean the best and try their best. I have a son who is 20 and I have just begun the Shidduch parsha and have a complicated family situation: We are a blended family. Yes, I understand not everyone can think of a suitable match, but I have been treated with total disrespect. The following are some of the comments I got: I had sent a shadchan a picture of my blended family and she must have forgotten the details. She called me up and said who are all the others in the picture? So, I apologized and explained that maybe I was not clear, that we are a blended family. She emailed me back, “count your numbers before you count your blessings!” Meaning, I should be aware of how many children I have before I speak to a shadchan. She did later apologize. Another shadchan had this to ask after she heard that this was my second marriage, “who is your ex married to today? And who are his siblings? And who were his children mishaduch with?” Another shadchan put me on the spot and asked me, “is your son a top learner?” Needless to say, I did not hear from any of them. My son may or may not be a top learner, but is that the only thing girls are looking for? Derech Eretz Kadma L’Torah-Yes my son is a boy with beautiful midos, and may he be zoche to strive in learning. I went many nights crying myself to sleep.
Shadchanim- I call out to you, you are doing avodas Hashem and helping Klal Yisroel, please from the bottom of a broken heart be more respectful, understanding and courteous. And when a shidduch may prove to be a bit challenging, and may take up extra time, know you are being a shaliach of Hashem and may you be zoche to have much hatzlochoh in your Avodah!
Anonymous
Vues Master’s Note: I feel your pain, but remember that you can’t paint all shadchanim with the same brush. There are some very nice one’s out there and I hope that you find one who can help your son.