sRepliesHTML = "";iReplies = 51;mReplies = iReplies;iDiv = 8586
AddReply(405409,"Yehuda, you haven\'t convinced me","rationalist","Israel","02/25/09","Is that \"synagogue\" in the stadium still the back room of the hot dog stand? Although maybe having a real synagogue would be a bigger embarrassment. What the Gedolim suggested was healthy exercise, not wasting time and money sitting in the stands. A stadium is no place for a Jew. If you want to do kiruv there to get Jews out, great. Don\'t encourage them to come by providing them with kosher food. Why don\'t you come back home and do some kiruv here so that we won\'t have Beitar Yerushalayim games on Shabbat, or at all?\nYishai is using Bar Rafaeli as an example epitomizing the state of \"Jewish\" culture in Israel. He\'s not blaming her for all of Israel\'s problems.");
AddReply(404830,"Bar Refaeli","Joseph A. Cleary","Sand Springs, ","02/23/09","From the time we rise to the time we sleep we see images of people we are told is a good thing, we don\'t consider that what we see is a Jaded immage of what they want us to see and believe. Only when we follow the ways of Hashem can we know the truth. \nI formally apologize to Yishai Fleisher.\nShalom, Shalom, Yosef of Oklahoma");
AddReply(403991,"David-Judea/picking on the wrong guy! (part 2)","Yehuda","Monsey","02/22/09","Also, David, since you don\'t know me, please don\'t assume that I\'m addicted to the Hellenust host country. If you lived in Monsey, you would find a place on Shabbos where there are NO cars!  It\'s not easy finding such a serene Shabbos like that in Israel? BTW- I am not\ndefending living in Galus. In fact, I\'d love to move back home to Israel, but being involved in Kiruv here, I can\'t abandon my fellow Jews. Anyways, I was just trying to prevent you from going off the deep end!  Eretz Yisrael has the same access to the Hellenist \"shmutz\"  that we all despise. When the moshiach comes, we will finally be rid of it! Until then, be grateful for the incredible respect we get when we daven at the ball park, from both Goyim and non-frum Jews! In fact, we were able to mekarev people at these minyanim and kosher  hot dog stands! Good luck with your minyanim at the soccer games on shabbos!  ");
AddReply(403990,"David-Judea/picking on the wrong guy! (part 1)","Yehuda","Monsey","02/22/09","Shalom David- Sorry to inform you, but you\'re picking on the wrong guy! First of all, the article is not spot on at all!! Yishai, while he means well, is wrong to lay the blame of an Israeli woman (who got all her morals from the hellenists while living in Israel which is saturated with shmutz!) who poses for S.I. on orthodox Jews who do their utmost to maintain their yiddishkeit while enjoying a harmless baseball game.  Let me ask you, are there minyanim on Shabbos afternoon at the Beitar Yerushalayim soccer games? \nFurthermore, I lived in Israel for 5 years and went to high school (Yeshivat B\'nei Akiva)while there and know the halachos of living Ba\'aretz quite well! I suggest you don\'t paint me with a broad brush assuming you know the details. According to halacha, One is allowed to live in Galuth under certain circumstances.    ");
AddReply(403840,"Bar Rafaeli","Maureen","Zürich, Schweiz","02/22/09","Say what you like about her and drag her name through the gutter, if that\'s how you feel but, Bar Rafaeli is a beautiful woman with many gifts from God, and she should be admired... not worshipped.... but admired. I wish I looked like her.");
AddReply(403807,"TO YEHUDA MONSEY","DAVID","JUDEA","02/21/09","Actually this article is spot on,especially about our  very  assimilated frum community in the USA. I spend time there and most off the frummies there are more American then Jewish. Maybey it is time Yehuda to realy learn Torah , because if you did then you would know that living in the land off Israel is a Mitsvah dereita and not a matter off free choice. Also the fact that you refuse to come here is a sign that you are not willing to fix the tikun from the 10 spies (2 came back with good reports). It is time to be honest and admit that you are addicted to your Hellenist host country that gives you all your so much desired creature comforts. It might be wise to brush up on our long Galuth history to see that so far there has been no good ending for any Jewish community in any host country.The Ramban  stated that the mitsvot done in the Galuth are a only practice,in Israel they count.");
AddReply(403739,"Created in the image of G-d","Kevin","Springfield, MO","02/21/09","She is exactly the way that G-d created her. Why should she be ashamed of it? Why must it always be about choosing physicality over spirituality? Why can we not appreciate all of the beauty that G-d has given us?");
AddReply(403733,"To Dacon9","Ron","Amsterdam","02/21/09","I don\'t understand. Because she is/was with a Goy she\'s not good anymore? Is this Halacha? Is it not a Kidush Hashem to make sure that this girl will be with a Jew rather then stay with the Goy? If that is the case a lot of Jewish girls and boys ...you know what I mean or5 does it only count for girls\n? Or is it all about ego? No offense meant! Shalom\n\n");
AddReply(403691,"Sports & Jews","Philip","Florida","02/21/09","A beautiful story in today\'s JPost about football great Andre Tippett...I lived near him, but I never knew he had converted to Judaism, and is today in Israel fpr his daughter\'s bat mitzvah.\n\nA man who appears to me to exemplify a healthy balance of mind, soul, and body.");
AddReply(403519,"Absolutely Right","Dana McPheron","Lima, Ohio","02/20/09","Your words are truth and while aimed at your countrymen, we in America need to take to heart that message as well. ");
AddReply(403451,"sanctimonious pea brains","Steve","","02/20/09","Bar Rafaeli has probably done more  good for Israeli PR than anyone else of late. As Israel becomes a veritable pariah state for the audacity of defending herself I think that a beautiful Israeli woman gracing the cover of SI is not such a bad thing. As far as you sanctimonious busybodies who are so steeped in religious repression why not focus on your own simple lives and stop chastising those who have achieved success and are enjoying their own. Holier than thou, I doubt it.");
AddReply(403404,"A bit of a stretch!!","Yehuda","Monsey","02/20/09","While ANY woman (Jewish or not) should be taken to task for posing as she did, (although it will fall on deaf ears), tying it to sports is a bit of a stretch! Yishai, with all due respect, how would you explain orthodox spectators in the 1950\'s and 60\'s having an interest in prof. sports.\nSports was a mainstay in society and nobody was worried about the S.I. swimsuit edition! Interest in sports was usually encouraged by many Gedolim allowing their bochrim to \"chill!.\"\nJust as an aside, the cheerleaders from the Univ. of Iowa, shown in a 1958 photo, were dressed more tsniusdik than any Bais Yaakov girl today!!  So, Yishai, feel free to blame the Soton for the meltdown in societies morals.  Blaming orthodox Jews who eat their kosher hot dogs and are scrupulous in davening with a minyan at the park, are NOT to blame! Get Real! ");
AddReply(403339,"TO ALL BEAUTIFUL GIRLS","DACON9","","02/20/09","LISTEN UP: I AM NOT FRUM I AM NOT BLACK HAT.I AM JUST A PLAIN OLE BROOKLYN OBSERVANT JEW ON THE INSIDE.SEPHARDICS DONT USUALLY WEAR THEIR OBSERVANCE ON THE OUTSIDE.\nTHIS IS MY MESSAGE.\n\nI AM A KOHAINE AND MET A BEAUTIFL JEWISH GIRL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE.\nWE WANTED TO GET SERIOUS AFTER A FEW DATES.\n\nAS A BELIEVER OF TORAH AND \'ONE GD\' OF ISRAEL I COULD NOT MARRY HER.\n\nWE LIVE ON THIS WORLD TO SERVE IN THE NEXT WORLD.\nIN THE NEXT WORLD I AM A PRIEST A KOHAIN. WHICH HAS CERTAIN RESTRICTIONS. DETAILS ARE NOT FOR THIS OPEN FORUM OF HALACHIC LAWS.\n\nAFTER MY FIRST MARRIGE FAILED,I FELT THAT I WAS READY AND EXPERIENCE ON HOW TO BE A GOOD HUSBAND AND A WIFE THAT WOULD APRRECIATE MY WAYS.\nTHIS GIRL WAS IT!\nWE SPOKE AFTER 3 DATES OF BUILDING A FAMILY ETC\nTHEN IT CAME OUT\nSHE WENT WITH A GOY. SHE WAS FORBIDDEN TO ME.\n\nGIRLS,YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOU  WILL MEET. DO NOT GO WITH ANY GOYIM ! ");
AddReply(403325,"While kassams hit Sderot ... hey, Martin (32) ...","sk","USA","02/20/09","... I\'m sure glad you\'re here blathering with Yishai about a swimsuit edition. This triviality must take your mind off of the missiles hitting you and your failure to do anything about them.  Did you vote Kadima again, as the plurality of Sderotians did after the Gaza pogrom?");
AddReply(403278,"#21.  I agree with the facts, but","Yosef Kenner","Torrance, CA","02/19/09","what does it have to do with the issue at hand?  Tzius is the issue at hand.");
AddReply(403270,"Mr. Cool","David B","tsfat","02/19/09","Bs\"d\nI might add that wearing your sunglasses on your head like you do in your picture is also a trend started by trendy Hollywood Greco Roman athlete body god worshiping types as well. Glasses were made to be worn over the eyes. Do you wear your sweaters on your shoulders and sip Evian in the name of being \"cool\" too? Do you try to have the coolest cellphone with the latest gadgets?Fastest computer?You get my drift.You look and sound like the type.You might look in a mirror, Mr. Fleisher,before you worry about others.");
AddReply(403264,"The hat burns","David B","Tsfat","02/19/09","Bs\"d\non the head of a thief.Who cares?...Someone who worships the body.Who is looking?...One who worships the body. How many innocent Jewish kids are going to look at her empty pictures now on the internet because you brought attention to her?It must turn you on. Who cares?A tree is a tree is a tree.Like Ronnie Reagan said..You seen one tree, you seen em all\"");
AddReply(403253,"Male Hypocrisy in the Orthodox Community","Baal Teshuvah","Brooklyn","02/19/09","(Male) members of the orthodox community really should be wary about criticizing secular Jewish women.  Mr. Fleischer may not be aware of this, but a lot of Baal Teshuvah women are not treated like potential \"Shabbat Queens\" when it comes to shidduchim.  Baal Teshuvah women have slim prospects of meeting someone suitable to marry. i.e. Clergy and shadchanim often try to force them to go out with men old enough to be their fathers, and many single men, regardless of their looks, want women who look like Bar Rafaeli.  Ironically, in a way, Bar Rafaeli is better off than a lot of Jewish women who became observant.");
AddReply(403117,"Bar Rafaeli","Jeff Newman","Coral Springs","02/19/09","It is nothing new, why waste your time writing such an article, it will not help, and it is not Greco Roman ethics she is following, but rather Capitalism and money.");
AddReply(403093,"She does exemplify the Kadima cult","Martin","Sderot","02/19/09","Bar Refaeli is being used by the perverted Kadima and J-Street crowd to confuse the world about Jewish values.  \n\nJudaism has always been honest about sexuality, but kept it framed in the context of decency and holiness.\n\nIt was (still is) common among the Frankist congregations to have a provocatively dressed beautiful young woman come dancing into the meeting during the last verse of Lecha Dodi.  See Rabbi Antelman\'s \"To Eliminate the Opiate\" for details.\n\nBar Refaeli is being used by those whose purpose is to pervert and distort everything that\'s beautiful and holy.");
AddReply(403079,"Yossi, the two are related","rationalist","Israel","02/19/09","The common thread is worship of the human body. Watching a sport (couch potato style) is not the same as playing a sport (keeping the body healthy).");
AddReply(403058,"Asian Football Confederation chief threatens to behead colleague","Brana Lobel","Israel","02/19/09","Yishai,\nJust thought you might be interested in the situation when sports really get problematic:\n\nhttp://www.jihadwatch.org/\nAsian Football Confederation chief threatens to behead Korean Football Association head");
AddReply(403007,"#27 Leah--You\'re Entitled To Your Opinion","Brana Lobel","Israel","02/19/09","I notice on this list of postings about an op-ed about a woman, that a large number of the posters have chosen to criticize you, a woman, about something that you raised that is clearly OT (off topic). You are entitled to your opinion in public...even if I do not agree with you. I urge you to research what is going on and learn about the Israeli govt. The posters\' \"rebukes\" do not address your concerns. The medinat is far from perfect, however you can be part of the group that makes it better. Get your legitimate concerns answered by people who will give you straight answers based on their experience. This may help with your aliyah choice. However do not allow these posters to shut you up on A7.");
AddReply(402986,"and her goyish boyfriend","Tsivya","Israel","02/19/09","Yishai, well said and heart felt.  We can add that we look forward to the day when she marries a Jewish man instead of selling her soul to \"every woman\'s dream man\". The Jews are meant to stay far from the desires of the nations of the world. May she learn to spread the true Jewish light instead the shedding of her clothes.");
AddReply(402983,"I stand rebuked","Leah","","02/19/09","I should not have an opinion unless I am willing to make aliyah and make the changes necessary.");
AddReply(402978,"feeling safe leah?","another imal\'shlosha","raanana","02/19/09","nice leah -- a good offense is the best defense.  are you feeling safe with the liberal government you just voted in?  did you feel safe on 9/11?  are your children safe playing in your front yard?  do they even play in your front yard?  do they walk home from school?  or do you have to drive them everywhere?  can you walk around your neighborhood at night?  you don\'t want to make aliya, don\'t come.  but don\'t cite impossible conditions to offset your guilt at not being here, when really, you probably feel you should be.  you just can\'t hack it.");
AddReply(402925,"Exploitation","daat y","jerusalem","02/19/09","You should have stopped with Rafeali.However in sports we marvel at their athletic abilities not their bodies.");
AddReply(402911,"Response to #20","D\'veed Natan","Kfar Adumim","02/19/09","Okay, You\'ve got a point. I was responding a bit harshly. He brings up several good points. Like the fact that we\'ve let the \"light unto the nations\" slide for a couple of thousand years. These guys need to be told about the Noahide Covenant. I tend to rail about the zenophobia and \"I\'m more Kosher than you\" stuff being spouted off by so many of us. Too many think a life in the Yeshiva world is the end all. It is not. Learning is supposed to lead to doing; not just more learning. I personally feel, only a very few should spend their lives learning. Those who are capable of supplying guidance for the rest of us. I really don\'t appreciate the vast majority who are using the Torah as a spade. Non religious people are the product of bad rabbis. Good Rabbis can answer their questions; so they can understand why they should remain religious. Your faith should be able to live more than 4 amot.");
AddReply(402819,"Nudity and sports?! Totally irrelevant comparison! ","Yossi","Brooklyn, NY","02/18/09","While this issue is a grave one, I fail to see how any of this is related to sports. \n\nI attend many sports games, because I find them to be very entertaining!\n\nI do not worship anybody, and I think it is wrong to tie together the evils of temptation with the entertainment of sports competition.\n\nIt seems to me that the writer is taking advantage of this tragedy to address an unrelated issue. It\'s a shame, because it takes away the seriousness of the real issue at hand.\n\nChoose your words carefully!");
AddReply(402796,"response to goyisherebbe","TS","Newton","02/18/09","Your response to Leah and the general overall tone of your comment was so positive (unusual for comments here , in general) that I was moved to check out your yishuv on the web. If all your neighbors have such a positive approach, it looks like a nice place to settle, provided it\'s not traded away!\nA refueh shalemah to your neighbor.\nExercise makes the body produce endorphins, natural antidepressants, so it\'s essential also for good mental health. \nSome sports figures present positive figures for young people, even some religious Jews could learn something of cooperation and teamwork from some sports teams.\nThe main gist of the article is, of course, right....women, Jewish or otherwise, have higher purposes, than for sexual exploitation.");
AddReply(402785,"If Rabbis want Jews to be a light to the nations they can start with.. ","JMK","NYC","02/18/09","telling the world and other Jews that Jesus never existed, instead of being cowards and accepting these ignorant mythical stories of total nonsense as having some crediblity when they have no idea what they are talking about. Maybe he lived but wasn\'t a god, nonsense Rabbis know nothing about Jesus because he NEVER lived, that is cowardice and stupidity, Bar Rafaeli is a moron like so many poorly educated but at least she is fantastic and obviously knows how to use a razor.");
AddReply(402769,"D\'veed, you\'re out of line - again","rationalist","Israel","02/18/09","What Yishai is opposed to is couch potatoes. Just like you are. And people worshiping their bodies. Like I hope you are.");
AddReply(402730,"If you think lambasting barRafaeli is helping anything  you are mistakin...","David B","Tsfat","02/18/09","Bs\"d\nIt may evoke a momentary feeling of shame,remorse or guilt,but so what?? Very little positive will ever come of it,except your ego ( that is also bowing down to your own physicality,see the many Talmudic responsas and this week\'s parsha).I think waxing poetic about the greatness of Hashem and his kindness and mercy would work wonders on her.Creating a space for her to actualize her innermost qualities in an environment of kindness and a direction of gentle persuasion is paramount for a \"girl\" as you call her.  After all, it is written and understood that the root of the soul of the woman is higher and more sensitive to spirituality than a man( Arizal). As we all know , you can get a lot more flies with honey than vinegar.");
AddReply(402716,"Superb article, thank you Yishai","Gary","USA","02/18/09","");
AddReply(402556,"That\'s very unfortunate sk because...","rationalist","Israel","02/18/09","Yishai is 100% correct. Steven, the purpose of exercise is to have a healthy mind in a healthy body, beyond that our time is better spent with other pursuits: Torah, medicine, engineering, building etc.");
AddReply(402535,"Another Anti-sports rant.","D\'veed Natan","Kfar Adumim","02/18/09","Yeah! All those obese dudes sitting in Yeshiva dying in their 30\'s and 40\'s are SO much to be admired! Why! Look at them learning Torah all day! I\'m SO impressed. Impressed that their clogged brains can absorb anything. I\'ve seen \'em. I\'m NOT impressed with what they cannot remember after all those long years and, especially, with what they refuse to learn from the Torah!\nPS. I\'m, also, NOT impressed with Bar Refaeli. Though Yishai Fleisher appears to be threatened by her success.");
AddReply(402520,"Nice Leah","Imaleshlosha","Ranaana","02/18/09","That\'s very nice of you to hand over the responsibility to all the other Jews struggling to build a Jewish homeland here so you can waltz in when it\'s just right for you and your family. I guess you think it would be better if we made the same choice as you and all packed up and left and waited for someone else to build a Jewish homeland.\n\nAs the great heilege New York Lotterer Rebbe once said: You have to be in it to win it.");
AddReply(402514,"Use assets for kedusha","goyisherebbe","Kochav Hashahar","02/18/09","I agree that the human body is not to be exhibited but covered and used for the purpose of making a loving family to serve Hashem. I also agree that the human physique is not to be idolized. Those guys eating the kosher hotdogs should get some exercise and eat healthy. If here in Israel we had some athletes who were playing sports leshem shamayim (for the sake of Heaven) and encouraging other people to live healthy lives with Torah, that would be good. The gladiators of professional sports who live dissolute lives are negative. The use of sports leshem shamayim would be positive. Rav Kook talks about the need for a health soul in a healthy body to build Eretz Yisrael. Leah, Eretz Yisrael isn\'t going to become kosher with you and others sitting as spectators in a foreign land. We need you all here to liberate our country from the yoke of foreign influence. Macabees, where are you now?");
AddReply(402513,"The real story is the Generation Gap","Lenny","St. Louis, USA","02/18/09","The young Israelis who tattoo themselves - they are rebelling against the fuzzy inconsistent message they received from their parents\' generation.  Often they feign ignorance of anything to do with Jewish observance, that appears to be the \"cool\" attitude to have.  Why?");
AddReply(402512,"parental responsibility","shmarya","jerusalem","02/18/09","sure she\'s grown up enough to make her own decision, but what of the mitzva of \"not prostituting your daughter\" by the father, Mr. Rafaeil?\nIt\'s start in the home.....");
AddReply(402497,"I\'m more disgusted with the fact that","sara","","02/18/09","she got married to some guy for 2 seconds to get out of serving for the IDF. Her and her stage mom know how to get fame, they\'ve been unbelievably pathetic in their desperate attempts over the last decade.");
AddReply(402487,"Yishai, You Come Across Like  Scold","Brana Lobel","Israel","02/18/09","and a small-minded one at that. No doubt the Chazal were even more aware of the sordid world around them, and yet...Rabbi Akiva\'s second wife was the widow of a Roman governor; Rabbi Yochanan arranged for Resh Lakish to marry his sister. As you will recall, their severe falling out centered around Yochanan\'s calling negative attention to Resh Lakish\'s former life as a gladiator. So be careful about your criticism, especially of women who often can\'t take it, even if it in some way justified. It may have the opposite effect. In addition, We are enjoined to say a bracha after seeing an especially beautiful person: \"shecochoh lo b\'olamo\". She is exquisite, to be marveled over and in fact much better looking than Jennifer Aniston (the Greek). And if you are going to make so much noise about Bar Refaeli, I expect to see a column of yours after every Israeli male athlete scores a big win. ");
AddReply(402474,"absolutely true, all of it","Leah","","02/18/09","now, I ask you. You want us to make aliyah. Great. love to. but you have a country where you allow arabs to make national decisions in the Jewish homeland. I\'ll come when my life and my children\'s lives are not on the line and at risk because of stupid liberal secular governments there.");
AddReply(402456,"Body Worship","Philip","Florida","02/18/09","Is there no happy medium?  Is Mr Fleisher saying there shd be no sports, beauty contests, or physical competitions of any kind?  Not too long ago the wicked Iraqi, Muqtada al-Sadr, lamented that his countrymen were too busy watching the national soccer team to impose the Shariah on their country...Isn\'t Mr Fleisher in danger of falling into the same extreme attitude?\n\nOr does he think it is actually good for Jews, and the world?");
AddReply(402409,"very profound","ben","boston","02/18/09","this is a very wise article. A great soul wrote it. May your words come true.");
AddReply(402405,"bar refali","shalom","ny","02/18/09","i almost cried when i read this truer words have never been said but the damage shes done to her own soul and to men all over the world is unbearable  ");
AddReply(402403,"the hypocrisy of the religious","Steven","San Francisco","02/18/09","The religious hypocrite always think they know better, and would have the rest of us believe they are superior, but most people know they are not.  If a man cannot appreciate and at times enjoy the body of a woman, then why would that person call himself a man in the first place?  He would not be a man, but prudish.  Pro sports and porn are flip sides of the same coin?  That\'s ridiculous.  I know Barney Ross, Benny Leonard, Mark Spitz, Sandy Koufax...the list is long and distinguished, would be quite embarrassed and even amused to listen to Mr. Fleisher\'s holier than thou jibberish.  I just find his diminuation of athletics insulting to all athletes of any race and time.  Live and let live, Mr. Fleisher and stop moralizing long enough to enjoy the beauty -- in both women, men, animals and in nature, that surrounds you.  ");
AddReply(402384,"She\'s Doing What Israelis Do Best","YMedad","Shiloh","02/18/09","stripping off their best assets.  unfortunately, the politicians do it with our national heritage, our security or religious ethos.");
AddReply(402382,"First It Was Olmert","JTP","USA","02/18/09","Then Livni.  Now Rafaeli.\n\nBlameIsraelInc.\n\nLook at the terminology used in this article.  Yeesh.\n\nAs of latter 2006 a level of global authority had been (re)affirmed and left the stage.  The focus then turns inward, the next person.  \n\nIn other words; the tenets of a global social hierarchy have been established or reaffirmed.  (Collective unconcious.)  Anything said/done within those tenets passes for normal yet we inherit the wind of the ideas that possess us.  And we pass for what we are.\n\n(? Comments which include INCITEMENT, slander or foul language will not be published.)");
AddReply(402359,"ALREADY ADDRESSED","sk","USA","02/17/09","Yishai\'s blog of Shevat 21, 5769, 2/15/2009.\n\nThere are already many responses, many of which are unsympathetic to Yishai.");
AddReply(402319,"It is time for the Remnant to stand up","Gary","Monterey, CA","02/17/09","and recognize G-d\'s purpose of regathering of Jews back into the Holy Land.  It is for His name\'s sake that He has gathered you for one purpose;  to prepare the way of the coming of the Mashiach, even if it takes one thousand more years - but it could be tomorrow.  But your calling as His Remnant back into the Holy Land is not for your comfort of residential and local provisions; though that\'s His blessings to you.  It is for the Kingdom of the Mashiach and the saving of the world from total destruction.  Set your eyes upon your calling.  Set you faith on his promises. Those of us who understand Scriptures and the Prophets are depending upon your faithfullness to G-d\'s plan of redemption in His Kingdom.  Therefore, Satan is deceiving the masses with carnal attractions.  But if you stand on His Word, G-d will issue in His Kingdom as prophesied.  We are praying for you.");

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