IFCJ Head: I'll Out The Haredim Taking Our Money

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein reacts to haredi leader's ban on taking money from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

Christian donor to out haredi recipients
Matthew Wagner • THE JERUSALEM POST

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, chairman of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, said Thursday that his organization was compiling a list for publication of haredi institutions that receive its donations.

The move comes after Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, considered the most respected and influential halachic authority among Ashkenazi haredi Jews, signed a declaration saying that receiving money from Eckstein's organization was "close to idolatry."

"We are not trying to push anyone into doing anything against their will," said Eckstein, who spoke with The Jerusalem Post from the US. "If they don't want funds, they don't have to accept them. But we are not going to go along with a situation in which haredi institutions accept them under the table without publicizing where they get their funding. So we are compiling a list to make sure everything is perfectly transparent."

A month ago, Elyashiv signed a document together with Rabbi Tuvia Weiss, head of the Eda Haredit's rabbinical court, that stated it was forbidden to receive donations from organizations like the IFCJ, probably the single largest philanthropist to Israel.

According to Eckstein, the IFCJ raises $70 million a year among Evangelical Christian communities around the world who are interested in supporting Israel.

The importance of Christian charity has grown due to the financial downturn in the US. Many haredi organizations that might prefer not to receive money from Christians have no other choice if they want to stay afloat.

Now, with Elyashiv's ruling, it remains to be seen which will be stronger - haredi organizations' fidelity to their spiritual leader, or their desire to continue to do good deeds.

What complicates matters is speculation that the timing of Elyashiv's decision is no coincidence and that his "handlers" might be using him to advance a political agenda.

One of the most high-profile haredi recipients of the IFCJ's money is Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman of Migdal Ha'emek. Grossman, known as the "disco rabbi" for his unique methods of Jewish educational outreach among youth, has been involved with various social activism projects for more than three decades.

Grossman might also be vying for the position of Jerusalem chief rabbi. Those opposed to Grossman might have purposely arranged for Elyashiv's decision to be made and published ahead of the upcoming race to hurt Grossman's chances of winning.

According to Eckstein and IFCJ sources, however, Grossman is not alone. Various haredi organizations in Israel and abroad receive money from the IFCJ or have received support in the past. These haredi bodies include Bnei Brak's largest soup kitchen; a shelter for battered haredi women located in Beit Shemesh; and a soup kitchen for the needy in Haifa run by the city's Chief Rabbi Shear Yeshuv [sic] Hacohen. [Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen is not a haredi. He's a famous Religious Zionist follower of Rav Kook.]

Another haredi organization funded by the IFCJ is Tikva, headed by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, chief rabbi of Odessa, which helps homeless, abandoned or abused Jewish children in Ukraine.

In March of this year, Ukraine's Rabbi Yaakov Bleich lamented that Christians were stepping in to provide funding where Jewish organizations were unable to do so.

Kollel Chabad gave thousands of care packages to needy families in Israel this past Rosh Hashana, funded by the IFCJ.

Rabbi Menachem Brod, spokesman for Chabad in Israel, said that he was not aware that Kollel Chabad received aid from the IFCJ. He said that Chabad's rabbinical court in Israel had issued a halachic decision binding only in Israel recommending to its emissaries not to receive money from Christians.

According to Eckstein, the IFCJ has aided in funding security costs for Chabad Houses in Morocco and India and for the Chief Rabbinate in Turkey.

The document to which Elyashiv added his signature, originally drafted in 2002 by the Eda Haredit, gives three reasons for the prohibition against taking money from Christian organizations. First, publicizing that Christians have given to Jewish charities aggrandizes Christianity, which is a form of idolatry according to many rabbinic opinions. Therefore, it is "close to idolatry." Second, it aids missionary activity by making Jews beholden to Christians. Third, there is a prohibition against receiving charity from a non-Jew when it causes a desecration of God's name.

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[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

Comments

[itchiemayer]

I may have to make a donation to IFCJ.
Way to go, Rabbi Eckstein!

[seymour]

And I thought Washington was interesting

[the Monsey Tzadik]

"Another haredi organization funded by the IFCJ is Tikva, headed by Rabbi Shlomo Baksht, chief rabbi of Odessa"

Bakshit id a buddy of Tropper, he provides Tropper with intermarried couples so Tropper can convert them to hid brand of haredism

http://www.5tjt.com/news/read.asp?Id=4741

[ah-pee-chorus]

this threat is brilliant and will no doubt lead to another one of the retractions amid lies and claims of misunderstanding, or misapplication of this moronic ruling. elyashiv is now a joke. and of course lets not forget that the defense of this ill-informed idiocy will be that he himself didn't really say it, it was the infamous evil followers who have led him astray once again. so what they are really saying is that he should be ignored since we can never be sure what is coming from him and what is not. but i feel pretty confident that another do-over wil be called. amazing that there are still people proud to consider themselves followers of his.

[Shlomo]

Politics involved to find the chief Rabbi? Impossible!

[Nachum]

To make something clearer: There'll probably be a Haredi and Religious Zionist candidate for Chief Rabbi. The latter is R' Aryeh Stern, a great talmid chacham and good man, supported by the RZ's and secular Jews of Jerusalem. (Problem is, they may be 2/3 of the Jews in the city, but have only 40% of the votes.) R' Elyashiv's chief "handler," Efrati, wants the job for himself and looks to be trying to eliminate the only real Haredi opposition, R' Grossman, who, if he ran, might pick up some of the RZ votes as well.

Interesting that "mainstream" Haredim seem so much in bed with the Eda Charedit. Not surprising, of course.

"their desire to continue to do good deeds"

Let's not assume everything they do is a "good deed," although certainly most of the things on list qualify.

[Moshe Zeitman]

Rbbi Grossman is a giant personality, a Tzaddik, but being a great Torah scholar is a key requirement of becoming Chief Rabbi of a major city such as Jerusalem. Rabbi Elyashiv's positions on elevators, converts, etc., etc. are so wishy-washy that, as mentioned by another commentator here, that everything claimed to be comming from Rabbi Elyashiv must be totally ignored. Period. Further, it is plin that these "edicts" are being used to manipulate politics, another super no-no.

[Ahavah]

The reason it's called the Fellowship of Christians AND Jews is because not all of their supporters are Christians. We have given to them over the last couple of years, since my distrust of Rabbinic charities has grown to the point where I simply will not give money to groups that are either sending very little of it to the intended recipients or take money from non-UO/Chereidi Jews and then turn around and slam other sects of Judaism as being not "really" Jews. IFCJ actually does help people, pays for European Jews to fly to Israel to make Aliyah, gives food and services to the elderly and poor who cannot make Aliyah, as well as helping the elderly and poor of Israel. They are a good organization and I will continue to support them. If the Chereidi don't want the money - great. More for other sects. By all means let them shoot themselves in the foot - every stupid ruling they make drives more and more people away from them, and that can only be a good thing.

[Ben]

I hope that R.Eckstein will fulfill his promise to ALWAYS publicise ALL haredi affiliated organizations benefitting from IFCJ.

I hope he will not be like Rabbi Amar who promised to protect converts of state of Israel converstion authority and did precious nothing to follow up on his public promise. Evil Rav Sherman and his mafia are still there and tens of thousands of converts and their families are still in limbo and over 2-years passed since Amar's promise.

[Nigritude Ultramarine]

and of course lets not forget that the defense of this ill-informed idiocy will be that he himself didn't really say it, it was the infamous evil followers who have led him astray once again.

I think a good defense would be that he forgot to take his Aricept®.

[R]

lol.

[shmuel]

Remind me what the original retraction was again. It happened a few weeks ago.

[shmuel]

And: I have learned that non-Jews should not fund Torah study per se, since that is especially the province of Jews, but general charitable undertakings? No problem. So what's bothering the charedim?

[Ben]

What bothering the haredim? They are pregnant. Pregnant with new humrah, and since humrahs that they give birth to get heavier and heavier the birth pains are stronger every time. However they can not stop the natural processa will go on giving birth to bigger and bigger humrah until they destroy themselves and entire Judaism with it.

[Guillermo DaGoy]

I, for one, cannot understand why these Evangelicals donate time and money to people who hate them. Sooner or later they will wake up and quit offering their friendship.

[Ben]

Haredim do everything to make non-Jews dislike the Jews. These sects thrive on anti-semitism. Haredim are 7% minority withing the Jewish people, but their behavior does hurt all the Jews.

[shmuel]

"Haredim do everything to make non-Jews dislike the Jews. These sects thrive on anti-semitism. Haredim are 7% minority withing the Jewish people, but their behavior does hurt all the Jews.
Posted by: Ben | October 25, 2009 at 12:23 PM"
You may have a point there. When your belief is that "all goyim hate Jews", it sure is cognitive dissonance when you observe them minding their own very successful businesses, helping Jews, donating money to Jews, defending Jews on the world stage, offering Jews all sorts of help, allowing $ to be sent to Israel, giving billions in aid to Israel every year, offering police protection at the holidays, and providing Jews with a country of safe refuge and a shelter from the storm for the past 350-400 years. It so confuses them they have no way to make sense of it.

[nobody]

How can they ban money from going to such worthy causes? Perhaps if the list is publicized, when people see how many org's do not take the ban seriously, people will wake up to the fact that Judaism does not really have a pope, even the greatest of gedolim do not behave as if there is a pope, and neither must we.