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Renewing the Old: ‘Yashan’

Yoshon: Why More Today Than Years Ago?

Q. Why does it seem that there is a greater emphasis on Yoshon today than there was generations ago?

A. The Rama (Yoreh De’ah 293:2) writes that where we are uncertain when grain is planted and harvested, it is permissible based on a sfek sfeika (double doubt): The wheat may have been harvested before Pesach, and even if it was harvested after Pesach, it may have taken root before Pesach. In past generations, it was impossible to know when a particular sack of wheat was harvested or in which month it was planted. In addition, historically (until the 1970s) the U.S. stored their surplus grain from one year to the next. Under such circumstances, it was possible to apply the sfek sfeika of the Rama.

However, today the wheat supply can be tracked so efficiently that there is much less doubt as to whether the wheat is from this year’s or last year’s crop. Every shipment of wheat contains paperwork that identifies the type of wheat and the year it was harvested. Crop reports inform us when each variety of wheat is planted for every state. Furthermore, there is little chance that the wheat is from a previous year, since the U.S. exports its wheat surplus. Far from qualifying as a double doubt, in certain circumstances one might even know with certainty that a particular batch of flour is chodosh. The Mishnah Berurah (489:45) cautioned against purchasing Russian wheat which was known to be chodosh.

However, the opinions of the Magen Avrohom and Bach (cited in the previous Halachah Yomis) would still apply, for those who wish to be lenient.

This column comes from OU Kosher’s Halacha Yomis dedicated in memory of Rav Chaim Yisroel ben Reb Dov HaLevy Belsky, zt’l, Senior OU Kosher Halachic Consultant (1987-2016). Subscribers can also ask their own questions on Kashrus issues and send them to grossmany@ou.org. These questions and their answers may be selected to become one of the Q and A’s on OU Kosher Halacha Yomis.

From Matzav, here.

8 Warning Signs of Investment Fraud

WHEN IT ALL SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

November 9, 2016

It’s a disastrous story that happens way too often.  You look cautiously for somewhere to invest your carefully accumulated savings, or possibly an inheritance or a gift.  It’s a nest egg, and you feel it represents a good part of your long-term financial security.  You search around, talk to people, and find what you think is an excellent opportunity offering a projected 15%-17% return but with low risk.

For the first year or two everything seems great.  Until you stop hearing from the financial marketers, who also don’t seem to answer the phone anymore.  Then you read an investigative article about the company in the business press which states that they are suspected of investment fraud.  And from that point onwards, it’s a downward spiral of bad news whereby the only thing not clear to you is whether you’ll lose everything, or manage to recover a part of your “safe” investment.

Unfortunately this scenario repeats itself day in and day out in Israel and around the world.

So the following are some of the major warning signs of investment fraud that every investor needs to be aware of.

  • Don’t judge a book by its cover. People running scams will go to extreme lengths to ensure that their image looks reliable in order to gain people’s trust. But just because they look solid and reliable doesn’t mean they are.  Do thorough background checks before investing your money anywhere, especially if you are transferring the money to them as opposed to keeping your investments in your account.

Continue reading…

From Labinsky Financial, here.

‘Comforting the Mourners of Zion’

BARUCH DAYAN HAEMETH

Melbourne community head, Rabbi Michael Mandel, the father of the head of Machon Shilo, Rabbi David Bar-Hayim was niftar from this world.
Rabbi Bar-Hayim can be seen euloigizng his father at the funeral at the following link:
Rabbi Bar-Hayim will be sitting sitting Shiva in Jerusalem at Rechov Chaim Vital 11/17, Givat Shaul on Yom 3 and Yom 4.
Shiva Times:
Yom 3:
Shacharith: 07:15
Mincha: 16:30
Arvith: 17:30
Hours to be menachem avel:
10:00- 13:30
16:00- 21:30
Yom 4:
Shacharith: 7:15
Mincha: 15:00
Hours to be menachem avel:
10:00-14:30

The First Zehut Conference

SAVE THE DATE – First Zehut Conference

By Moshe Feiglin

Dear Members of Zehut,

Preparations for the first “Zehut” conference have gone into high gear. The date of the conference has been set for 2 Adar 5777 (28.2.2017) and it will take place, God willing, at “Hangar 11” at Tel Aviv port.

The purpose of the conference is to awaken the political heart of the movement, and to present it in an open and respectful manner in the public eye.

Zehut is not an empty vessel serving a personality. If in the past, the role of a party name was to express the essential quality and message of the parties, these days, it is just the opposite; to hide qualities and messages. The founder of the party is the message, and his/her personal magic is the only quality. The role of a name is to sound nice, to express nothing, to bypass the intellect, and to allow everyone to throw their aspirations onto the personality.

Not so for Zehut. When we left the Likud, we rejected the recommendations of political advisors and did not take advantage of our momentum to artificially rush into the current Knesset. We insisted on creating a real political movement – a movement of a real idea, real members (not merely statistics), and real political processes – which would connect the idea and the people.

For almost two years, we have worked diligently to create the precise framework, sharpening our message and connecting to people. The name of the movement and its platform express an absolute change of direction on the political scene in Israel.

Now that we have a substantial political framework, with a real idea and real members, the time has come to launch a real political process and to celebrate – literally – the beginning of the political connection of Israel with its identity, its purpose, and its message.

The “Zehut” conference will be a very joyous occasion and will express the birth of truly new politics – the politics of liberty. We have specifically chosen the Port of Tel Aviv as the location of the event, and not one of the usual places, reminiscent of public conferences, and the stench of tasteless and underhanded political machinations.

To begin with, members will be asked to approve the election of the chairman of the movement. Next, the members of “Zehut” will be asked to approve the final language of the platform that has been put together by the membership and the platform committee. Finally, members will be asked to approve the primaries process by which the list of the movement’s candidates for the Knesset will be determined.

The “primaries” method, as it has been applied in Israel, calls to mind an old joke attributed to Bismark. “Politics is like a sausage. You want to eat it, but you don’t want to know how they made it…” The smell arising from the “sausage” of primaries in the Israeli version, the foul odor of coerced party signups, “deals”, and tricks, have turned the internal democracy of the parties in Israel into a farce. They have paved the way for parties based on a single person and lead to the death of ideology. “Zehut” is going back and purifying Israeli politics from the filth that has become stuck to it. There will be no dirty democracy and no “clean” dictatorship.

Continue reading…

From The Jewish Leadership Blog, here.