Noteworthy

Last week, the Obama campaign decided to bar certain television stations from interviewing either Obama, Biden, or their wives after those stations asked rather tough questions in interviews (of Biden, in particular).

This week, it is interesting to note that the campaign has barred a number of newspapers from covering the campaign - though they had been doing so from the start - after those newspapers' editorial pages endorsed John McCain for President:

Journalists from three major newspapers -- each having endorsed John McCain -- reportedly have been booted from the Barack Obama campaign plane for the final leg of the presidential campaign.

The Washington Times reported Friday that they were notified of the Obama campaign's decision Thursday evening -- even though the paper has covered Obama from the start.

"I hope the candidate that promises to unite America isn't using a litmus test to determine who gets to cover his campaign," Washington Times Executive Editor John Solomon said in the article

The New York Post and Dallas Morning News also have been kicked off Obama's plane, according to the Web site The Drudge Report.

It will be interesting to see what kind of effect this has - knowing that only media outlets who support Obama are allowed close coverage of the campaign. Should he win the Presidency, it would be an incredible blow to the American populus to not have any serious or critical coverage of the White House and the decision-making process of the President. (Note that FOXNews is still on board, but they are not print media.)

Back to Basics

I loved this post on A Simple Jew:

One has to begin from the basics: to be a simple Jew.

(Yehudi HaKadosh of P'shischa)

Halloween

Question:

Is there something inherently wrong with orthodox Jews going trick or treating? Sure you can get into the historical specifics, but you can probably do that with any holiday. Today, halloween is just a fun cheesy holiday to dress up, get frightened, and get some free candy.

Words, Words, Words

We watched this short clip in my speech class today.

Sometimes it's not about what you say but about how you say it. You may not think you've said anything wrong, but innocent words can still be hurtful if said in an insensitive way. On the flip side, harsh words can sometimes be easier to swallow for the listener if said with care.

Just Say No

This letter at YWN is mind-boggling: [emphasis added]

...

My issue however is what has been going on recently with both girls AND BOYS alike as far as brand name clothing is concerned. Many of us do not realize that many sixth and seventh grade girls are going to school with $175 knapsacks. Sweatshirts that run $75 a piece, and can’t be worn more than once a month. I recall being in school and wearing the same pair of school shoes all winter. Now the girls need their Ugg boots ($110), and three pairs of shoes.

Many high school boys are now wearing ties that I am told run upwards of $150. That is correct…..$150. Their glasses (and g-d forbid you should only have one pair) are all designer names many of which I have never ever heard of. Belts can run over $200 and yet somehow so many of these yeshiva bochurim have them.

I know that many of you are going to comment that you need to learn to be mechanech your kids and learn to say NO. I know all about it. A few months ago YWN posted an article (HERE) about the cost of seminary and most of the comments (ludicrous in my opinion) were how this parent didn’t understand how to say no. My guess is that many (not all) of these comments came from people who are not in the “parsha”.

We need to understand the ENOURMOUS pressure that is put on these kids in school by their friends and classmates. It is easy to sit back and be an armchair NO NO NO parent. If I had a daughter… I would tell my son… If you are able to and it doesn’t backfire, great. Consider yourself very lucky. But many of us do not want our children to be outcasts and want our children to be happy. With all that is going on with children at risk today, the number one priority you hear from the people that deal with this is to make sure your children are happy.

I don’t have a good answer to the problem and while I am inclined to say no, and my gut tells me to say no, it breaks my heart to see unhappy children.

Any advice?

First commenter there said it well: Just say: No!

What's ridiculous about this letter is that she completely discounts saying "No" - even calling it ludicrous - and yet still has the audacity to complain about the problem. If you're completely unwilling to be a parent or do what is obviously necessary, then don't complain about the problem.

{I'd never heard of $200 belts until Squooshball mentioned it when we stopped by their house last year - how insane is that?! I'm still wearing the same $10-15 belts I've had for a few years, and they're holding up just fine. My grandmother even told me last night that recently, my nephew's pants were falling down, so she gave him a shoelace to use as a belt. Much cheaper. I say sell the belt and invest in something thats price is low because of the market.}

An Interesting Study

I was asked to post this, and after taking it, think it's interesting and worthwhile:

"A research team from the Psychology Department at New York University, headed by Professor Yaacov Trope and supported by the National Science Foundation, is investigating the cognitive causes of voting behavior, political preferences, and candidate evaluations throughout the course of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. This stage of the study focuses on the information people use to inform evaluations during the last few weeks before the election. They seek respondents of all political leanings from all over the country (and from the rest of the world) to complete a 15-minute questionnaire, the responses to which will be completely anonymous..."

Take it here. http://www.psychsurveys.org/brietruesdell/2008elections

It took me about fifteen minutes, but I did it rather slowly. Enjoy!

Rabbonim vs. Roshei Yeshiva

I noticed over Yom Tov this piece in the Jewish Action discussing with seven older, former rabbonim some of the issues facing Orthodox Jewry today and the transitions within the community over the past half-century. I still haven't read through the whole piece, but this section caught my eye:

Mr. Savitsky: Many people today are claiming that the community rabbi is being replaced by the rosh yeshivah, since more and more she’eilos, questions, are being asked to the rosh yeshivah, and not the rabbi. What do you see as the role of the community rabbi in the years ahead?

The answers varied, with different Rabbis taking different positions on the subjects. It was the final comment that struck me in particular:

Rabbi Schonfeld: Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik told us thirty years ago that the tekufah of the rav is [over and that a new] tekufah of the rosh yeshivah was beginning. We didn’t quite understand what he was trying to say [at the time], but we can see it today.

The function of a rosh yeshivah is to teach Torah, to be a model to the community, more than the rabbi is. Oftentimes, a rosh yeshivah is brought in from Israel to be a mesader kiddushin, at an expense to the [parents]. By the following year, the rosh yeshivah forgets the talmid’s name! There are great roshei yeshivah who remain part of the talmid’s life, and those are outstanding people. But the rabbi who lives day and night with the family should not be excluded when it comes to times of joy. It’s not a question of kavod. It’s a question of the function of the rabbi as a servant of the community—an eved Hashem and an eved of Klal Yisrael. Very often, [they are] pushed aside.

The function of a rosh yeshivah is not to get involved in paskening [rendering a rabbinic decision] the she’eilah, unless you ask him. That’s the function of the rabbanim, who know Yoreh Deah. Not that the roshei yeshivah don’t know [it], but their function is to set the mode of life to the talmid. The rabbi’s function is to be involved in the life of the congregation. The daily life; the day-to-day problems. We have to find a modus vivendi of not overlapping each other.

It's worthwhile to read the comments of all of them on the subject (and on breakaway minyanim and on kiruv, which I may write about later), but this last one in particular was interesting. Firstly, do people agree with the split R' Schonfeld has stated? One of the other Rabbonim seemed to disagree somewhat. Second, if you do agree with R' Schonfeld, where does the problem lie in order to fix it - is it the people who seek out the Roshei Yeshiva over the Rabbonim who are not understanding what the functions of each of them are, or should the Roshei Yeshiva be instructing these students to seek out the advice and psak from their Rabbonim instead of from them? Whatever one feels, what can and should be done about this - or should nothing be done?

The Perfect Perfect

These photos were all taken in Cleveland over Sukkos; the first by a friend, the others by me at Starbucks. It's probably worthwhile to note that this was tagged as a picture of me. Sweet. Thanks, SCoops!

And of course, as everyone knows, just after God comes... football:

And on the other end of the spectrum, you have abominations like this:

For what it's worth, she matched her car. Really. Matched perfectly. Dead serious.

I Can't Believe...

...but it's starting to sink in, that we're helping to host a Shabbos Kallah for Pobody's Nerfect this weekend, along with the Raggedies and another friend.

{inserts earplugs}

A Journalist Admits and Explains Media Bias

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Story?id=6099188&page=1

Not Your Uterus

Aliza Hausman has a fantastic post up at BeyondBT titled My Uterus is None of Your Business. It is, unfortunately, right on the money.

Motherhood is hard. And I don’t just mean raising the babies. I mean having them. I mean trying to have them. There is just so much pressure in the Jewish community to have children.

The first year we were married, people - men and women - would ask constantly whether or not I was trying to get pregnant or was already pregnant. And if the answer was “no” and “no”, people hummed around me with sympathy and wished me luck having a baby. ...

At another Shabbat meal, a married woman whispered conspiratorially in my ear that people would stop asking about my womb once my husband and I survived our first anniversary.

“They’ll think you’re having problems,” she whispered.

“Problems?” I murmured, mystified.

“Getting pregnant.”

She's right on the money. Unfortunately, countless people in the frum community are just... rude! When we first got married, a few friends threw me a surprise birthday party. Serach wasn't feeling well at all - so of course, they assumed she was pregnant, despite her even saying "No, I not pregnant." (Not that it was any of their business.) In an insane twist, when she had to have surgery months later for something, a friend informed me that people apparently had suggested that she either miscarried or had an abortion.

Really.

She would also get questions such as "Oh, did you wait?" (Favorite response: 'No, God waited.') A close friend from Cleveland lamented to us when we came to visit once a couple of years ago how so many friends from New York would call him to say hi, and in the context of conversation, ask "So, is your wife pregnant yet?" He found it incredibly rude, and noted that if they wished to inform people if she was pregnant, they would. If they didn't, they wouldn't. At some point, it becomes obvious; and if she isn't pregnant, it is simply insulting and rude. Either they are trying and it hasn't happened yet, or they don't wish to get pregnant at this time, or perhaps they're having trouble getting pregnant. In any of those situations, it's not anybody else's business.

Thankfully, there are numerous organizations in the Jewish community and outside of it that help people who wish to have children and are having trouble for whatever reason. From a friendship side, if a friend wishes to confide in you, leave it to them to choose to do so and make yourself available. You probably should not, however, be asking questions unprompted.

It's just none of your business.

Save The Date: November 2, YU Tanach Yom Iyun!

For everyone who enjoyed last year's fabulous YU Tanach Yom Iyun...the opportunity has come again! Welcome to the NOVEMBER 2nd production featuring controversial figures in Tanakh!

Did you ever wonder about Shimshon's marrying non-Jewish wives? What about Hoshea having to marry a prostitute? Were you ever curious about how these people fit into the spectrum of Judaism and Jewish life?

Well, here's your chance to find out more! Just join us on November 2nd at the Wilf Campus from 9:00 AM-1:30 PM to hear some fabulous speakers...and enjoy!

For more information, times and speakers, please see here.

Polls Trolls

WestBankMama says it well enough - only November 4th matters - and points to a decent piece in the NYTimes on the subject, but for all those concerned about the polls, here's a quick breakdown of possible swing states. Before calculating these states, assume 255 electoral votes to Obama, 174 to McCain, including a Bush state, Iowa (7), to Obama. 270 are needed to win. Red went to Bush, blue went to Kerry. Note that polls have a margin of error between 2 and 4 points, usually, and that polls tend to skew slightly to the left. In a given state, I'd put anything that is less than 2 points toward Obama into the red column, and anything less than 4-6 points into a tossup.

I'm using the Zogby Interactive Poll from 10/19 (McCain has been surging since, for what it's worth), since it's a more reliable poll than most. Jim Zogby is an open Democrat and a solid pollster.

• Colorado (9): Obama +0.3
  
• Florida (27): Obama +3.6
• Missouri (11): McCain +0.3
  
• Nevada (5): McCain +7.5
  
• New Hampshire (4): Obama +0.3
• New Mexico (5): Obama +0.6
• North Carolina (15): Obama +3.1
  
• Ohio (20): McCain +2.8
• Virginia (13): Obama +3.6

In none of these states does Barack Obama have greater than a 3.6% lead according to Zogby, which essentially puts them all in serious play. It's important to note that the last-second undecideds may often flip toward McCain in many of these states; not only are they red-leaning states, but people will either prefer a steady hand over an inexperienced one or will not wish for a liberal supermajority (White House - Senate - House of Representatives all blue).

McCain can lose either Virginia; Missouri; Colorado + New Hampshire; or any two of NM, NH, and NV and still win. He can lose all three of NM, NH, and NV or CO and NM or NV and still tie.

Obama/Palin Ticket

Not sure if this is more funny or sad. (Opens MP3 file.) [Hat tip: Josh L]

The basic gist of the clip is an employee of Howard Stern walking around Harlem, asking Obama supporters if they support him for different policies - McCain's policies. They all support staying in Iraq, they are pro-life, anti-stem cell research (McCain actually is not against, but okay), and most importantly, would be perfectly fine with Palin as VP should Obama win.

Winston Churchill used to say that the best argument against democracy was 5 minutes with the average voter.

A Thousand Miles

Over the eleven days ending Wednesday night, we'd driven over a thousand miles at night*, taken down and then put back up bamboo sticks that held some raccoon droppings and a couple ant colonies, decorated a sukkah [hut], undecorated and dismantled another, had five days where no work could be done but much eating and walking was, watched a Presidential debate (pretty decent), a spoof of a debate (pretty funny), a football game (not so good), took Elianna bowling for the first time (44!), had some Shannon Road Ice Cream (awesome), attended a panel on Iran (pretty good), and listened to a couple panelists afterward (very good).

Seeing Elianna play with her cousins lets us see just how old, big, and mature she's gotten. Full sentences, a really clean grasp of what's going on, a sharp understanding of how to do things... it's amazing. Throw in how she is with Kayla (who enjoyed having a cousin her age around and is laughing like crazy at Elianna when she plays with her), and it's really something.

How was your Yom Tov?

* New York to Cleveland: 473 miles. Sat. night, 11:20pm-6:20am, Pobody's Nerfect in the front, Serach and the girls in the back, twice stopped for gas, once stopped for a cop [no ticket, just a warning].

Cleveland to Baltimore: 370 miles. Sat. night, 1:17am-6:45am, girl who needed a ride in front, Serach and the girls in the back, once stopped for gas.

Baltimore to New York: 206 miles. Wed. night, 11:12am - 2:15am. No stops.

On Journalism

Orson Scott Card nails it.

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights?
By Orson Scott Card

Editor's note: Orson Scott Card is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this opinion piece he takes on both while lamenting the current state of journalism.

An open letter to the local daily paper — almost every local daily paper in America:

I remember reading All the President's Men and thinking: That's journalism. You do what it takes to get the truth and you lay it before the public, because the public has a right to know.

To Text or Not, That Is The Question

LWY on dating etiquette. 'Tis a fair question...

Performance Reviews Are Dumb

Amen. Hat tip: Mom.

Crossword

We (Adina and I) found out on Shavuos that our friend, Dani Raymon, had his second crossword puzzle accepted by the New York Times.

It was published today!!!!!

Check it out...

Say a Little Prayer for Her

Please daven for my nine-year-old niece who was just diagnosed with Leukemia this past erev Shabbos.
דינה שרה בת שיינא מירה
Dina Sora bas Shayna Mira

May she have a refuah shelaima, and may we only hear good news from one another this year.