Some miscellaneous items:
- One morning this week I was looking for a parking spot in the industrial zone, and I
finally parked my car in a place of questionable legality. I wasn't sure
if it was okay, but then I noticed a police officer in his car. So I walked
over to his car, knocked on the window and asked if it was okay to park
there. He rolled down his window and apologetically gestured that he
didn't know and couldn't talk - because he had his Tefillin on and he
was in the middle of davenning!
- Kudos to Daniel Goldman for taking a public stand about Rav Druckman. See the article here. There will be significant further developments within a week, thanks to the efforts of a number of prominent US rabbis.
- Change
in my travel plans: I am available in the NJ/NY area as
scholar-in-residence for Shabbos February 23. If you're interested,
please email me at director@biblicalnaturalhistory.org.
- The Feast of Exotic Curiosities is coming to LA! Send an email to office@biblicalnaturalhistory.org for details.
- One morning this week I was looking for a parking spot in the industrial zone, and I
finally parked my car in a place of questionable legality. I wasn't sure
if it was okay, but then I noticed a police officer in his car. So I walked
over to his car, knocked on the window and asked if it was okay to park
there. He rolled down his window and apologetically gestured that he
didn't know and couldn't talk - because he had his Tefillin on and he
was in the middle of davenning!- Kudos to Daniel Goldman for taking a public stand about Rav Druckman. See the article here. There will be significant further developments within a week, thanks to the efforts of a number of prominent US rabbis.
- Change
in my travel plans: I am available in the NJ/NY area as
scholar-in-residence for Shabbos February 23. If you're interested,
please email me at director@biblicalnaturalhistory.org.- The Feast of Exotic Curiosities is coming to LA! Send an email to office@biblicalnaturalhistory.org for details.
I know you are asking for it, but...
ReplyDelete"I finally parked my car in a place of questionable legality"
I guess this renders ironic, or worse, your recent piece on Rubashkin and his illegal activities.
There were no markings on the side of the road and nothing to indicate that it was illegal. Lots of cars were parked there. But it made the usable part of the road quite narrow.
DeleteAlso he went over to ask if it was really OK.
DeleteBecause parking in a dubious spot is akin to criminal business practices that lead to ripped off limbs.
DeleteAnd no-one lost a limb...
Deletei guess you hold that dina d'malchusa dina is only drabanan. as such in a case of doubt, you can be lenient. if it would be d'oraysa then you would have to be stringent if the space was of questionable legality. ;)
DeletePeople in glass houses....hilarious.
ReplyDeleteR Slifkin: "I have a question".
ReplyDeleteOfficer: "Sorry, I'm making a berachah achoronah on my donuts".
Okay.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, I'm quite excited as I just bought your Encyclopedia! Something to sink my teeth into over Shabbos...
However my wife thinks even less of me now as her siblings living in EY told us they don't approve of your books.
I am not so sure that it's right for a police officer to be wearing tfillin on duty to the extent that he can't fulfill his duties. We give heterim for police officers to transgress shabbat because of the lifesaving nature of their position, and the need for order as a whole, but then we throw our that idea when they want to wear tfillin ? Doesn't follow. A public employee should not be engaging in any personal activity on the job to the extent that he can't fulfill his public duties.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely wrong. But who says he was on duty?
Delete"But who says he was on duty?" Wow! You are judging someone l'kaf z'chus! Kein yirbu.
Delete"Noticed a police officer in his car". If a police officer is identified as such by way of being in uniform and in a patrol car, I assume he's on duty. If hes not then it's a misuse of public funds and property. Either way, being identified as a police officer carries responsibility which should not be shirked, especially on grounds of religion.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any evidence that answering questions about the legality of parking a long a strip of road in the אזור תעשיה are actually one of the officer's duties?
DeleteA Jewish police officer in a Jewish country unable to answer your question because he is too busy davening. A not so remarkable event but our great grandparents would have assumed it was a story written about the era of Moshiach. Sometimes it pays to look back and see how far we have come.
ReplyDelete