EZ Reads 3/2/11 (Batch two)

I want to write up a few posts, so rather than save these for tomorrow I'll put them up this evening and post more tomorrow.

• Chana asks if camp should be considered a luxury item, as discussed on the Bergen Cty. Tuition blog. My vote: Yes. No matter how great camp is, it's not a necessity.
• Muqata reports that R' Nosson Tzvi Finkel sent everyone out of shiur to report to government inspectors as mandated, noting that the State is the yeshiva's biggest supporter.
• A Soldier's Mother hopes that air raid sirens will always be viewed as not normal, and hopes for a day without them. She also shows a beautiful video on Israel - well worth the five minutes.
• The WSJ questions why we would rush into ObamaCare before seeing how Massachusetts' currently struggling mini-version fixes itself - or collapses.
• Via Josh (who has a great comic), The Rebbetzin's Husband has two really sharp posts - one on Modern Orthodoxy and Tznius, the other on Modern Orthodoxy being hazy on its self-definition causing a poor perception of it among the rest of Orthodoxy.
• Mishpacha this week is dedicated to honoring R' Moshe Feinstein and R' Yaakov Kamenetsky, 25 years after their passing. Dr. Moshe Levin has an interesting discussion of how R' Moshe delved into the medical field:

  Someone asked him: "Why does the Rosh Yeshivah allow himself to get involved in such cases?" Replied Reb Moshe, "Had you seen the tears of the person who brought the problem before me, you would not have asked such a question" (Rabbi Shimon Finkelman, Reb Moshe, Mesorah Publication, 1986, p.106-107).
  
  Indeed, some perceived Reb Moshe's uniqueness as lying in his compassion. Rav Michel Berenbaum expressed it in this way: "Reb Moshe was the man of halachah, but from seeing his teshuvos, one can see the chesed [kindness] and concern he felt for others." Reb Moshe himself, however, did not see it that way at all. To him compassion and truth were synonymous. Someone close to Reb Moshe was once sent to ask him a halachic question with an unusual request -- to tell the Rosh Yeshivah that the person wants a decision that is strict halachah without any leniencies. "I do not rule with lenience," replied Reb Moshe. "I rule according to the law."

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