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TorahWeb (from YU Roshei Yeshiva) advises us regarding the Pope's funeral. For those who don't want to read at their site:

Regarding the upcoming papal funeral TorahWeb would like to inform the public of the following

In 1963 Rav Soloveitchik zt"l reacted to reports of Jews watching television coverage of President John F. Kennedy's funeral service. At that time the Rov was distressed and stated that, according to Halachah, it is forbidden for a Jew to watch such a religious funeral service.

It's worth noting that R' Nosson Slifkin has put his responses back up at Zoo Torah - The Book Controversy. Last month, in a noble attempt to bring closure to this issue, R' Slifkin took down his responses, lest anyone mis-interpert them. However, after about a month with no evident effort by his accusers (there are my words, not his), he has restored the site. Personally, I'd like to see this concluded, and not just hushed up or swept away, even if he were to win. I think the issues here are too important to have an "out of court" settlement, but I could understand his reasoning last month. Nevertheless, I'm glad to see that he is continuing to fight for what is right. His comments on his reasons are also available.

Several days before Chaya Tova gave birth to Rivka, I remember saying something like, "I'll do it tomorrow, if you haven't had the baby by then." I was immidiately struck by a thought -- this is how we're supposed to relate to the coming of the Moshiach. (more...)