Can A Synagogue Give A Known Pimp An Aliya?

Can a synagogue give a Torah honor to a known pimp? This question was asked of a gadol, leading haredi rabbi, and was answered. The answer may surprise you.

Can a synagogue give a Torah honor to a known pimp? This question was asked of a gadol (leading haredi rabbi) and was answered by him.

That rabbi was the Ben Ish Hai, Rabbi Yosef Haim ben Elijah Haham of Baghdad (1835-1909), the leading Sefardi haredi rabbi in the world and the Av Beit Din, president, of the Baghdad rabbinical court. His answer was published in a book of his responsa, Rav Pe'alim.

The question and his paraphrased answer posted below comes from Trafficking and Prostitution: Lessons from Jewish Sources, Naomi Graetz and Julie Cwikel, Australian Journal of Jewish Studies 20 [2006]: 25-58:

Question: What happens when there is only one Cohen in town and he happens to be a Shabbat violator, can he be called up to the Torah? And what happens if in this small town there is only one Levi and he is a pimp, can he be called up to the Torah for an aliya?

R. Joseph qualifies the question: it wasn’t stated if this is a pimp who practices exclusively among “goyim” or among Jews as well. “I will relate to both cases.” In the first case, if the clientele is non-Jewish the bottom line is that it is possible to honor the pimp. But in the second case, (if Jews are involved) if he brings a non-Jewish prostitute to Jews or Jewish women to non-Jews, he cannot be called up to the Torah.

But it is not easy to deny a Levi his honors and so R. Joseph in his final judgment writes that despite the fact that the profession of pimping is frowned upon, if it is just alleged that he deals in prostitution with Jews, he can still be honored.

Comments

[seymour]

tell me again why goyim hate us

[Garnel Ironheart]

Nowadays it depends on what kind of donation the pimp made.
I davened once in an old shul where the former gabbai, recently deceased at the time, actually ran his pimping business out of the basement of the building. And it was tolerated because the funds, along with the shul's bingo, helped pay the bills.

[ah-pee-chorus]

"Can A Synagogue Give A Known Pimp An Aliya?"

1. yes, as long as he isnt wearing woody allen type glasses.

2. yes, but only if the spinka rebbe, berland the magnificent and weberman are unavailable.

3. how can i answer without knowing how much they pledged to the rabbis fund and the building fund?

[GAON]

"the profession of pimping is frowned upon".
Kudos to Jacob and ah-pee-chorus.
Reminds me of the famous joke of the guy who goes to his RABBI and asks him to make him a Kohen. Keeps on upping the ante. When he reaches 10 million, the rabbi relents, consents, and inquires why it is so impt to him to be a Kohen,
response "well, my father was a Kohen, my grandfather was a Kohen?
apologies if everyone has heard this 10 million times

[ah-pee-chorus]

+++if he brings a non-Jewish prostitute to Jews or Jewish women to non-Jews, he cannot be called up to the Torah.+++

so a jewish prostitute to jews is ok.

[seymour]

another old Joke

a chussid went to his rebbie to tell him he sinned that he went to a brothel the rebbie said which one, the one on 14 avenue and 51 street, or the one on 16 avenue and 56 street and so on naming a few more.

his friend who was waiting outside asked him so what did the rebbie say.

I do not know but we got some new places

[GAON]

APC, many many years ago, a frum YU smicha guy who worked with me at IBM, and this was long enough ago, that efshar they were a different institution than today, informed me (and no, there was nothing going on with us), that an unmarried woman and unmarried man can have relations, without benefit of Kiddushin, although, it is, in general frowned upon. He left out the prior Mikveh, which perhaps his sensibilities thought would offend me.
Like some think that in an email to all YU rabbis, the term "sexual favors" is less offensive than "MBP". This is re a redacted published drasha, by anon author. methinks you know.

[GAON]

Seymour, thanks for the LOL.
Re: the goyim hating us. I hope you don't think that their souls are purer than ours.
Employee of family member used to drive a cab in BKLYN before he got a real job. Those large Woody Allen eyeglasses with a dark tint, were considered to camouflage their house of prostitution destination. But having it in the shul basement is so much more convenient. Another reason that MBP is so dangerous. But also all of that inbreeding in the different cults (Satmar is a great example) in any case, even without MBP promotes mental defects. and other congenital problems.

[FF]

why the surprise! if well known pedophile and sexual predator can have aliya, pimp can as well.

[real]

Your question should also be can the synagogue use his money. You may also be surprised at the answer. Although sacrifices would not be allowed from it.

[Moshe Aron kestenbaum, Williamsburg]

Most gaboim and rosh hakohals today are pimps and ganovim, so I don't see as a problem if another pimp gets an Aliya . It's actually Motsa min es minoi , these pimps don't obey or hold anything that the Torah says anyways , so what's the problem? It's all for the couple of dollars that the pimp gives and nothing about the Torah , so what's the problem ?

[Chicago Sam]

Very good Seymour.

It's like the old story of the student who saw the Rebbe at the brothel and asked, "Rebbe! What are you doing here this evening?" The Rebbe answered, "The Rebbetzin is asleep and I did not wish to disturb her."

[Reese]

Do you think the rabbi that was featured here this past summer, gives Aliyas to the Registered Sex Offender he went to court with to try to end his probabtion?

[FormerPostviller]

Of course. Lisbon is the Rabbi of an LA shul and KSA heksher and he has prostitution soliciting convictions going back from 1990, 1999, all the way to 2008 that are well documented in public courthouse records. That's 20 years of screwing around that is known. It is the people who want to do away with him that are the ones who don't get called to the torah.

Moshe Aron Kestenbaum is right. It is the Rabbis that allow him to remain in these positions that are just as guilty as he is. Bunch of whoring thieves.

[Sarek]

("Sweet Cream Ladies", The Boxtops)

Goya kurvehs, forward march
I still can read the Torah
Goya kurvehs, do your part
It won’t hurt my aliyah

Even religious Jews sometimes get the urge
They didn’t learn the birds and bees from their Rabbi
So they buy you in the darkness
To their God it isn’t madness
So for this night their penis can emerge

Goya kurvehs, forward march
A kohen or a levi
Goya kurvehs, do your part
The rabbi is an ally

Between us men we will look the other way
It just won’t be the concern of our Yahweh
It’s a mitzvah on the Shabbos
It won’t make me change my ethos
I can go about it without any dismay

Goya kurvehs, forward march
Just pay me a percentage
Goya kurvehs, do your part
You’re my business that I manage

[Yerachmiel Lopin]

This explains how a certain bais din administrator in Williamsburg get aliyas.

[western jew]

No you can not call up a man to an aliyah who hates Torah.