FailedMessiah.com

Haredi Chutzpah Knows Few Bounds

The AP reports:

Securities companies that disparage employees in required dismissal forms cannot be sued for the statements, the state's highest court ruled Thursday in a decision affecting one of the state's biggest business sectors.…

In 1997, MetLife hired Chaskie Rosenberg to work in its All-Boro Agency in Brooklyn. Rosenberg and most of the staff were Hasidic Jews whose focus was selling insurance policies to the local Hasidic community.

The next year, the company began investigating improper sales practices at the office, including the sale of speculative insurance. Under such policies, an unrelated person pays premiums on a life insurance policy as a form of investment, expecting to collect when the insured person dies. The office was closed in 2000 and its employees were transferred to another office.

Following another audit, MetLife fired Rosenberg in April 2003, stating on the U-5 form that "Rosenberg appeared to have violated company policies and procedures involving speculative insurance sales and possible accessory to money laundering violations," according to court papers.

The NASD stores the forms on its online registration and licensing database used by regulators throughout the securities industry. While not available to the general public, certain information from the forms can appear indirectly on the NASD's "BrokerCheck" program that allows investors to obtain information about securities dealers.

Rosenberg sued MetLife in federal court, claiming he was fired because of his religion and charging the company with defamation. He denies selling speculative insurance policies.

The lawsuit was dismissed, but Rosenberg is appealing.…

Yup. Antisemites everywhere. Not.

New Links

Many of the links in the posts are now automatically generated by Amazon.com. This means that you may click on the link and be taken to a page selling an offensive item – a haggadah for Jews and Buddhists, say, or a book detailing the sins of haredi kiruv (outreach) groups. (Well, you'll have to wait a bit for that last one to pop up – I haven't finished writing the book yet.)

It is my unproven opinion that the best way to be protected from thiis onslaught is to purchase lots of books from links you like, thereby skewing the system to find more books just like that. But I might be biased.

I'm hoping to use the words porn and sex in a future post, just to see what goodies Amazon comes up with. I wonder if they have a Babes in Toyland store? Time will tell …

The Kuzari Proof, The Exodus And Passover

Many of us are familiar with the so-called Kuzari proof, the idea that, because millions of Jews participated in the Exodus from Egypt and saw the Revelation from Mount Sinai with their own eyes, and then passed these stories down to their children and grandchildren throughout the generations, therefore the Exodus happened as written in the Torah and the Revelation at Mount Sinai is true.

This has bothered me for quite some time, largely because (despite the claims made by my friend Simcha Jacobovici) archaeological and other historical and scientific evidence does not support an Exodus of more than a few thousand people at best, and no evidence for the revelation on Mount Sinai has yet been found. That, combined with the impossibility of the Joshua account of the "conquering" of the Land of Israel and the growing body of evidence showing that Judea was a hick backwater rather than a large kingdom, leads me to believe much of the 'truth' we have been taught is not really true after all.

But how could this be? The Kuzari proof after all means that the Torah's account must be true, right? Wrong. And now I'll show you why.

First, we know from later biblical books that the returning exiles knew nothing about dwelling in succas on Succot and they also knew nothing about matralineal descent or any ban on intermarriage. In other words, we know the so-called "unbroken chain of tradition," the mesorah, was really broken after all. Another bit of evidence to prove this is the sudden "discovery" of the book of Deutoronomy, Devarim, previously unknown in that entire generation to anyone.

But if this is true, if the mesorah was clearly broken or non-existent, why would Jews venerate a group of stories that are clearly false? The answer, I think, is that Jews did not view those stories, what we call today Genesis, Exodus, Joshua and some other biblical books, as history – they viewed them as myth.

What is myth? Myth was a means by which non-literate societies passed on important information. Structured as stories that were easy to remember and recite, myths taught lessons. The stories told were not necessarily true in the historical sense, but they were true in the mythological sense. This is clearly how Jews viewed much of the early parts of the Torah until the Second Temple period.

Ezra is known to have "fixed," i.e., standardized, the text of the Torah. There are Rishonim who hold that "fixing" included moving psalms attributed to Moses from the Torah to the Book of Psalms, the adding of verses throughout the Torah to add clarity, and lots of other "tweakings." He also taught this remodeled text to the masses, who clearly knew little, if anything, about it before he started teaching it

At the end of the Secomd Temple period, it was the rabbis' need to derive laws from the text of the Torah that intensified, I think, the process that turned these myths into "history." If law was to be derived from the text, then the text must be unalterable to ensure uniformity of the law. It must also be not just sacred, but divine. This added a new layer of rigidity in how that text was viewed.

What happened is paradigm shift. Ezra took disparate myths and unified them, in the process moving these stories from myth to something almost akin to history. The shift in this direction continued until Rabbinic Judaism added further layers of both law and dogma.

The point is, the Kuzari Proof does not hold up. So, was there an Exodus from Egypt? Perhaps. If there was, it was much smaller than the one described in the Torah.

Then why celebrate Passover if the story as we now have it is corrupted and there may never have been an Exodus at all? What if, as now seems to be the case, the three pilgrim festivals (Pesach, Shavuot and Succot) were celebrated as agricultural festivals during the First Temple period with the freedom/exodus/giving of the Torah components a back story or even no story? Why do this? Why sit around a table for hours, uncomfortably stuffing ourselves with huge quantities of undressed lettuce, raw horseradish and nearly inedible giant crackers (often burned beyond any hope of palatability), while reciting an early Rabbinic text praising an event that never happened?

(And how screwed up is it that the best ritual food of the seder – meant to symbolize the mortar used by the Jews to hold together the mud bricks and form massive state building for Pharoh – is supposed to shaken off the food  that was dipped into it? You want to eat three ounces of freshly ground horseradish root while you scream in pain and tears and mucus cover your face? That's perfectly fine. But eat 1/4 teaspoon of the charoset? Sheygetz! How screwed up is this? But I digress.)

So why celebrate Passover? I don't know if there is a good answer to that question. However, I'll celebrate it anyway. I won't eat hametz (although I may eat some kitniyot). I'll make seders. I'll read the Haggadah. And as I do so I'll keep wondering what really happened 3300 years ago (give or take a few hundred either way). Will we ever really know the truth? Rationally, I don't think so. But I still hope that one day we will.

For more on classical myth from many different cultures including our own, see When They Severed Earth From Sky: How The Human Mind Shapes Myth.

Marijuana Not Kosher For Passover, Rabbis Warn

Well, now I've seen just about everything. There is an actual debate taking place in Israel about the Passover status of marijuana. The Jerusalem Post called a number of rabbis trying to get a definative ruling. The following sums up what they heard:

As Rabbi Daniel Kohn of Bat Ayin explained, the issue ultimately boils down to an individual decision by each rabbi about whether hemp seeds themselves could be considered edible. If a rabbi decides that the seeds are edible, then hemp - and, by extension, marijuana - would not be considered permissible for Pessah.

How is this playing out among the masses? Sigh. Like this:

Hemp's tricky Pessah status has caused the first marital rift for Daniel and Sarah, who recently moved to Jerusalem from Chicago. The newlyweds, who asked not to use their last name, said they had just finished their Pessah cleaning when a friend asked them if he could buy the rest of their marijuana.

"We just had no idea what he meant. It turns out he was buying it from a lot of his observant friends so that they wouldn't have it in the house, [like] hametz," said Sarah. "We aren't habitual users, but we certainly smoke in our house, and we really aren't sure what our pipe may have come in contact with. It has caused a big crisis for us."

In the end, the two decided to quietly get rid of the rest of their marijuana (not by selling it to a friend, since it was kitniyot, and not hametz, they explained), and give their home one more cleaning before the holiday.

The Post also quotes Mobius of jewschool fame:

Kitniyot is no longer applicable. It's a tradition people keep going because they want to extend a perimeter so far outside the actual law of Torah that they could not possibly violate the actual law," said Dan Sieradski, an editor at JewSchool.com who has been at work on a book on Jews and drugs for several years.

"Clearly, you can use hemp in food," he said. "You might mix it into brownies. You aren't going to make bread out of it."

Here's my take:

1. the kitniyot ban is foolish.
2. marijuana can cause cancer (when injested as smoke).
3. smoking marijuana rather than eating it in a brownie is a sakana.
4. therefore, eat a loaded brownie (made from matzah meal or potato flour). Your health comes first.

Heeb Hookups – Heeb Magazine In The NY Times

The NY Times reports on Heeb Magazine's unique way of staying in print:

AT a recent photo shoot in the garment district, Joshua Neuman was dressed all in white, except for a black bowler hat and black combat boots. He wore fake eyelashes on his right eyelid, and held a cane in one hand, a glass of milk in the other.

It was a homage to Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange,” with a twist. Mr. Neuman, the editor and publisher of Heeb Magazine, the 5-year-old quarterly magazine marketed to urban Jews in their 20s and 30s, also wore a fake beard and the type of fringed prayer shawl worn by Hasidim.

“It’s a bit of the old ultra-Hasidic violence,” he said. Then, he asked the photographer, David Neff, “Should I be stroking my beard?”

When it was introduced in 2002, the magazine, particularly its name playing on an anti-Semitic slur, drew headlines and the ire of the Anti-Defamation League. “When we started, we didn’t have advertisers and literally couldn’t give ads away, because people were freaked out by the name,” Mr. Neuman said.

So Heeb started running parody ads. Unbeknownst to Streit’s, the 82-year-old kosher foods company on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Heeb published a full-page parody of Streit’s in late 2003.

“We were just goofing off,” Mr. Neuman said. But then, Streit’s got so much positive response from the ad that the company paid to run it in the next issue, and has been paying for ads ever since.

Since then, Heeb has served as what Mr. Neuman called a “quasi ad agency.” The staff conceives and executes ads that don’t appear in other publications for several of the magazine’s advertisers, including LoHo Realty and Gold Pure Food Products. Although advertisers usually pay agencies to design ads, Mr. Neuman waives that fee, but requires that such advertisers buy full-page ads and sign multiple-issue contracts.…

Four pages of ads in the current issue were Heeb’s handiwork, and the previous issue was a “milestone,” Mr. Neuman said: For the first time, ad revenue — more than half from Heeb-conceived ads — paid the issue’s print bill. “There’s no way we’re in business without functioning as a quasi ad agency,” Mr. Neuman said. “No way. Maybe we’d be in business as a Web site, but there’s no way we’d be printing a magazine without it.”…

Check out the hysterical Heeb Hookups video on Heeb's website.

Lakewood Bus Scam

Nigritude Ultramarine points out a scheme by Lakewood haredim to replace non-Jewish bus drivers (paid with government funds) to all haredi bus drivers. These haredi drivers will be paid with government money, as well, but haredim will also supplement the "frum" drivers' salaries by charging each family a certain amount of money per pupil. These extra funds will be laundered through the haredi schools and given to the haredi drivers.

Is this legal? Ethical? Good? As Lakewood Kollel Wife notes:

…The main organizer of this effort (I forgot his name, but ISTR that he is the eidem of R' Zimbal from Westgate) estimated that it would cost $5-$10 per child per month. I imagine that this is probably a typical low ball estimate, but haven't done any calculation myself. But in any event, for a large family it could easily work out to $500-$1,000 per year.

In addition to the costs involved, I don't see how this can be legally done. Even if it can, you can only imagine what the reaction of the average goy will be when he finds out (and like everything else, he will find out) that Jewish drivers are getting special subsidies that non-Jewish ones don't get, and to ensure that Jewish kids don't have to come into contact with non-Jews.

And note that the township busing is already a very hot topic to begin with.

People like to complain about anti-Semitism, and I'm sure when the inevitable fuss is made over this people will be all innocent. Eisav sonei l'Yaacov, yeah, that's what it is ...

I say a resounding "no" to all three. It is illegal, unethical and decidedly bad.

 

Inside Le Affair Le Marais

By now, many of you are aware of the controversy surrounding the kashrut of Le Marais, a popular French-style steakhouse in Manhattan under the kosher supervision of the OU. In brief, a mashgiach has made serious allegations against a chef and against the OU. He alleges the OU is covering up the chef's misdeeds (which are supposed to range from ordering non-kosher shellfish to bringing (and using) in dairy margarine.

The OU strongly denies the allegation and seems convincing in its refutation of the mashgiach's charges.

But there is more to this story. The mashgiach is Isaac "Yitzchak" Bitton. Yesterday, the (non-Jewish) owners of Le Marais filed a $10 million lawsuit against Mr. Bitton for defamation of character. (Here is the court filing, in PDF, courtesy of L: Download lemarais_lawsuit.pdf )

I was asked earlier this week about Mr. Bitton. Before I saw the court filing, I could not comment – now I can. Mr. Bitton lives in Crown Heights. His address in the filing is on Eastern Parkway. A quick search of the Shmais Anash list shows only one Yitzchak Bitton in Crown Heights. The address is different – a less prestigious building – but people do move. So, it seems the Yitzchak Bitton of Le Marias is the same Yitzchak Bitton I thought he was.

Yitzchak Bitton's story is sad. He is one of the very best rock drummers in the world. In France, before becoming Chabad, he led a band, Jackie and the Variations (mentioned in this Wikipedia article simply as the Variations; see 1970s before punk), which kept the Beatles out of the top spot on the French pop charts. He gave up his 'sinful' life and moved to Crown Heights. He learned, and he eventually formed a band Raya Mehemena, which was one of the best live bands I ever heard, religious or not. He played gigs and released an album that included a version of Lecha Dodi that is perhaps the single most beautiful contemporary religious song I have  ever heard.

But the haredi and Chabad worlds (apart from BTs) were not ready for real musical talent. Bookings were not frequent enough to pay the rent, and the Rebbe would not  give his blessing for the type of shows Matisyahu now does, surfing mosh pits and dancing in front of and sometimes with women. (This is a problem many BT musicians faced in the 1980s and early 90s.) So Yitzchak Bitton sold cameras for a living. He apparently went from that to serving as a mashgiach. Last I heard he still played gigs, as well.

Some of you may know Yitzchak Bitton from another venue, so to speak. There is an iconic picture of the Crown Heights riots (posted above, please click to enlarge). The man lying on the ground is Yitzchak Bitton. that's his son, now a shaliach, I believe, crying next to him. Bitton was felled by a projectile during the riots. I was told at the time that his injuries were not serious, but I do not know this first hand.

I don't know whether Yitzchak Bitton is correct or if the OU is correct, although, on the surface at least, the OU's presentation and refutation seem convincing.

But this I do know – Yitzchak Bitton is a victim. He is part of system that cast aside his special talents and left him without a viable career. At the same time, he's had to watch poseurs like Matisyahu benefit from a Chabad PR machine and leniencies in Jewish law no one would have allowed Yitzchak Bitton, or Avi Piamenta, Peter Himmelman, or many others. In other words, Bitton's stridency may be a result of this treatment, and the years of financial and emotional deprivation it surely caused.

A very wise rabbi, Yizchok Berkowitz, who was at one time the posek of Aish HaTorah, spoke at a Jerusalem conference for budding and current kiruv workers sponsored by Heritage House. Among the things he said was that if you Rabbi Kiruv Worker are going to make a person frum, you have to worry about his/her income and talents. Is she an actress? Be prepared to promote women only plays. A singer? Women only concerts. Is he an artist, a musician, a poet, a writer? If his job cannot be continued because it is incompatible with Orthodoxy, you Rabbi Kiruv Worker must find a way for him to use his talents and keep his profession, but within Yiddishkeit.

The vast majority of kiruv workers present objected. Why? To them, even a frum life of poverty is better than a non-Orthodox lifestyle. The money, the creativity – that doesn't really matter. Rav Berkowitz would have none of it, and told these kiruv workers in no uncertain terms that this was their responsibility, whether they accepted it or not.

By and large, the kiruv-outreach world, including Chabad, even including Aish HaTorah itself, does not follow Rav Berkowitz. But Rav Berkowitz is a wise man; beyond that, a very caring man. And he knew the truth, even if they did not. If you bring someone to Orthodoxy like Yitzchak Bitton, and you rob him of what makes him special, makes him what he is, you have done deep and lasting damage.

Yitzchok Bitton should be leading his band on world tours and perhaps spending his off time teaching music in Chabad schools. Instead, he sweats away in kitchens, checking lettuce for bugs. That is a tragedy. And that tragedy may be the real story behind this whole sad affair Le Marais.

More on the internal Chabad controversy surrounding Matisyahu's live performances can be seen here or downloaded as a PDF here:

Download chabad_frum_music.pdf

JEWISH TRIVA ALERT: The name Le Marais comes from a district of Paris carved out of marshland in the 12th century –  le marais means the marsh. It is now a center of Jewish life. For example, Goldenberg's famous kosher restaurant is located there. But the ever helpful Wikipedia has this interesting bit of triva to link the original Le Marais with rock music: In 1971 Jim Morrison of the Doors died in 17 Rue Beautrellis in Le Marais.

Who lived at 17 Rue Beautrellis in 1971? I believe it was the apartment of Meir Abehsera's brother. Meir – a friend of Bob Dylan and many other rock musicians, artists and writers – functioned for many years as a near-rebbe for Chabad BTs, including fellow Moroccan Yitzchak Bitton.

What Would Passover Be Without A Good Matzah-Fueled Disaster?

Haredim in Spring Valley were caught with a woodfired matzah bakery set up in an old school bus adjacent to homes. The bus had live gas lines running through it. The home the bus was directly behind is owned by a synagogue. Presumably, the bus served as the synagogue's matzah bakery. Apparently, someone in the haredi community called police after smelling smoke (on Shabbat morning) in the vicinity of the bus bakery. Police say the illegal bakery had been operating in that location, from that bus for two to three years. News 12 gives us this video report from the scene.

Please click the images to enlarge.

[Hat Tip: Yeshiva World.]

UPDATE 4-1-07: VosIzNeias is reporting that the matzah bus caught on fire today. It was being used to illegally bake matzot.

German Student Hounded By Nazis

A German student helps to organize an anti-Nazi educational conference. She is hounded by Nazis who want to terrorize her and force her to stop. Ynet reports …

$100,000 Prize

Tamar Yellin won the Rohr Prize (worth $100,000) for her novel, Genizah at the House of Shepher. Have any of you read this? If you have, please leave a brief review of the book in the comments section below.

50 "Most Influential" Rabbis In The US – Chabad's Rabbi Krinsky #2

Newsweek has an insipid listing of the 50 "most influential" rabbis in the US. Number one is the Wiesenthal Center's Marvin Hier. Number 2? Chabad's Yehuda Krinsky, who is described this way:

Krinsky has truly built a “shul” on every corner and brought the Chabad movement mainstream prominence.  He is the leader of Chabad and its CEO.

The only other haredi rabbis on the list are Zalman Titelbaum of Satmar, who comes in at number 15 (and the article does not say why he's on the list), Artscroll's Nosson Scherman and an Aish rabbi, both much further down on the list. The list identifies 'rabbi' Berg from the Kabbalah Center as "Orthodox." (He comes in at number 4.) And it has Saul Berman, Modechai Gafni's disgraced supporter, at number 14.

Krinsky really is extremely influential. Is this good or bad for the Jews? Unless Rabbi Krinsky comes out and clearly distances himself and the sections of Chabad he controls from all forms of Rebbe-centered messianism, I would say Chabad's influence is a bad thing.

Haredim and Background Checks

The Record Online reports:

Michael Bergoine of Hawley, Pa., was on his way to work one night in 2001 when he got stopped by a cop in the Village of Kiryas Joel. The cop claimed that Bergoine had rolled through a stop sign.

Kiryas Joel is a village of about 18,000 Hasidic Jews. It doesn't employ any cops. Which is exactly why Bergoine is suing the village.

He's claiming that the guy who stopped him, Patrick McGrath, had no business stopping him, notwithstanding that McGrath was wearing a police uniform.

It turned out that McGrath was 6 foot 4 and 260 pounds of convicted felon and that Kiryas Joel's chief constable at the time, Mendel Greenberg, didn't do any kind of background check on McGrath before approving him to "patrol" the village back in November 2001. Greenberg lost his job over this.

All I can say is, at least they fired the guy. If he had been a rosh yeshiva, and the the man he hired had been a convicted child abuser, he'd still have his job – and, odds are, so would the abuser, as long as he's a heimish guy, that is.

Rabbi Riskin Demands Religious Zionist Rabbinical Courts – YeshivaWorld: MO Judges Not "Frum"

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The rabbinic court system must offer alternate judicial services not under the auspices of the haredi establishment, Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin said Thursday in response to the appointment Tuesday of 15 new judges to the rabbinic courts, 12 of whom were haredi.

"After this week's selection of an inordinate number of haredi judges, many of whose chief qualifications were family relationships, I call for an alternative court of religious-Zionist, modern Orthodox judges who will include love of Israel together with concern for the purity of Israel and will express the principle of 'for the sake of preventing agunot. [women trapped in a marriage by Jewish law] our law finds leniencies,'" Riskin told a conference dealing with the Israeli constitution in Jerusalem on Thursday.

"The situation is horrific," Riskin told The Jerusalem Post Thursday regarding the problems rabbinic court judges face, including the fate of agunot and conversions for the hundreds of thousands of non-Jewish olim in Israel.

"The question is what you are mostly concerned about," he maintained. "Are you mostly concerned about the purity of Israel, afraid of a forced get [divorce certificate given by the husband] that may not be legitimate? Or are you equally concerned about the aguna herself, who is being held up by a husband with an unfair advantage in Jewish law?"

The problem, Riskin believes, is not one of halacha. "The Talmud again and again gives all sorts of leniencies to help women in such a situation," he noted, "but most judges do not implement those leniencies. Very often they don't have the psychological sympathies [needed to do so]. It's a parallel situation with conversion, where very often the judges insist on a haredi - not merely religious - lifestyle [for the aspiring convert]. These are roadblocks at a time when there shouldn't be roadblocks."

Riskin has begun gathering together a group of supportive religious-Zionist rabbis to ask Israel's Chief Rabbinate to recognize a separate religious-Zionist rabbinic court system, as was done in the past with the haredi Badatz system.

If the Chief Rabbinate, loyal to haredi leaders Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv, refuses to sanction the new court system, Riskin said he would "very likely" turn to the High Court of Justice. "But I don't want to think about that," he emphasized, confident that the Chief Rabbinate and the official courts will agree to sanction the new court system.…

The article goes on to cite an expert who believes the Rabbinut will fight Rabbi Riskin tooth and nail to prevent new courts from forming, because their haredi backers – Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – will not cede power to Modern Orthodoxy, no matter how just MO's cause is.

Personally, I think this is a case of too little, too late. The MO-NRP world wasted its time on land and expanding Jewish 'control' over the West Bank and Gaza. While it did so, haredim hijacked the apparatus of state religion, making life worse for everyone but, perhaps, a few haredim themselves. And, at the same time, secular Israelis and the Israeli center – made up mostly of traditional Jews who at one time valued rabbis and Orthodoxy, if not as a daily way of life then as an ideal –  have  moved farther away from religion and have increasingly hostile views of  Orthodoxy and of rabbis.

Both Netanyahu and Olmert need the haredim to have a chance of forming a government in the next election. Therefore, neither will risk alienating haredi leadership. This means a new MO-NRP religious court system is dead in the water. It also means MO-NRP leadership has again failed, and that is no surprise – they have consistently failed most every test for last 40 years.

Interestingly, YeshivaWorld had this headline over its coverage of the election of rabbinic judges:

Israeli Government appoints 12 new Frum judges [emphasis added]

The headline has been up for more than two days and, despite complaints, YW has not corrected the headline. What's to correct? Fifteen rabbinic judges were appointed. Twelve are haredim. The other three? Modern Orthodox-National Religious. YeshivaWorld is calling those three judges not frum, not religious. His defense? He claims only to have known this, which is the body of his post:

A government committee appointed 15 new dayanim on Monday, including 12 Chareidim, sparking protests by modern Orthodox rabbis and women’s advocacy groups, who said the government and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann are sacrificing the interests of thousands of agunos - women who have been refused a Jewish divorce - for political reasons. (Jpost)

In other words, no defense. And in more than two days, he has not corrected the headline.

Do haredim respect Modern Orthodoxy and Modern Orthodox rabbis? No they do not, despite what certain MO rabbis – like Hershel Schachter – may lead you to believe. (And this has its impact, as you can see here.)

[Please click the image to enlarge.]

Earlier coverage of the haredi takeover of the religious court system can be found here, here and here.

More On The Lost Tomb Of Jesus

Ruthie Blum of the Jerusalem Post has a wonderful interview with filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, centered around his newest film The Lost Tomb of Jesus (made with James Cameron of Titanic fame). This small excerpt should be interesting for most FM readers:

You didn't grow up religious, yet became so in adulthood, correct?

I grew up in a spiritual, but not observant, home. As a child of Holocaust survivors, a lot of my Jewish identity had to do with reacting to negative things - you know, the Holocaust, terrorism and all that. And I had to ask myself at one point, "If everybody loved us, would there still be a reason to be Jewish?"

That led me to start studying the positive message of Torah. And the more I studied the Torah, the more it made sense to me. But it was a process. It wasn't like I was walking down the street and a lightening bolt flashed before my eyes. It took about 10 years from the time I started investigating it to the time I would say I became a full-fledged Orthodox Jew. But our first kid was born into a kosher home. So our kids are FFB, as they say - frum from birth.

Isn't being Orthodox hard for you, given the Hollywood kind of lifestyle you lead?

If anything, it's helped me. First of all, when I go on location where there's no kosher food, I eat power bars and lose a little bit of weight. And when I go to places where I insist on kosher food, I find that people are really accommodating and respectful of that. I'll go to big shots in Hollywood and they'll order kosher food and we'll all eat with little plastic knives. People are respectful of my keeping Shabbat as well. It's never happened that I've lost out on something because of it. At the end of the day, if you refuse to compromise, others come around.

The article mentions Simcha's Jewish activism as a student and his early work to rescue Ethiopian Jews (which, by the way, is how we met). Anyway, Simcha has a book out on the Lost Tomb that, he says, cites all the sources. It should be worth checking out for people on both sides of this issue.

A Perpetual Nida? Continued …

Commenting on the case of the haredi woman whose rabbi has in effect ruled her to be in nida for the next 12 to 15 months, Anonymous writes:

There was a famous case in the 1950's in Israel of a woman who was in a
state of perpetual nida. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach wrote a brilliant
teshuva article in the old Moriah journal describing a radical solution
but well within the framework of halacha.

But sadly, within days the posters went up in Meah Sha'arim denouncing
him and threatening him.

He withdrew the article.

Halacha rules by threats.

I also was told by a leading haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva of another possible solution to this woman's problem (which really seems to be her rabbi's problem, but I digress). You can read about that, and comment, on the original post

Dead Policeman Jewish

The body of Auxiliary Police Officer Eugene Marshalik exited the I.J. Morris Funeral Home as police officers stood saluted paying their respects. Police helicopters flew low over the procession. (NY Sun.)

Apparently one of the auxilary policemen killed in the Greenwich Village shootling last week, Yevgeniy (Eugene) Marshalik, who was also an NYU sophmore, was Jewish. (The funeral arrangements were made by the I.J. Morris Funeral Home in Flatbush.)

The Jewish Week reports:

… Dr. Marshalik said he and his wife Maya moved with their two small sons, Yevgeni (the Russian variant of Eugene) and Maxime, from the southern Russian city of Pyatigrosk to New York in 1994 because of concern about political instability in nearby Chechnya and their desire to ensure their sons a more stable environment in which to grow up.

A standout student, Eugene was selected to attend the elite Stuyvesant High School in Lower Manhattan, where as a freshman he witnessed the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Dr. Marshalik believes the impact of 9/11 contributed to his son’s decision to get involved in police work and announce to his parents that he planned to become a prosecutor.

“Eugene was a very kind, even soft person, and my wife and I certainly didn’t raise him to be a hero,” he said. “Yet, when he made up his mind to do something, there was no way to talk him out of it.”

Marshalik said that his son cared deeply about politics and issues involving the environment. “Yevgeni was committed to making the world a better place and was a wonderful human being,” he said.

Why not much, if any, titter about this on our favorite NYC-based JBlogs? Perhaps because the death of a Jew who apparently was not Orthodox did not rise to the level mandating coverage. I wonder what the response would have been if Officer Marshalik had been attending Touro, Lander or YU?

By the way, the deaths of the two auxilary officers has spurred a campaign to get bullet proof vests (and, perhaps, stun guns, as well) for the police auxilary. More information on that here.

UPDATE – YeshivaWorld did cover the funeral, pointing out that a haredi police chaplain made arrangements and prevented the autopsy. It has pictures from the funeral (prominently featuring haredim from the Chevra Kadisha, Jewish burial society). But as far as I can tell by reading and searching, no Jewish blogs – not Hirhurim, or Ezzie's, or any other OJ outlets, including CrossCurrents – mentioned this. Marshalik was a Russian Jewish immigrant who wanted to serve his adopted country and gave his life doing so, right on the streets of New York. One really must ask what the JBlog coverage would have been if Marshalik attended YU, Lanner or Touro (all OJ schools) or had been shot down on the streets of Jerusalem. And that is my point.

New Square To Lose Firefighters Due To Rampant Code and Safety Violations

The Journal News reports:

The fire district serving New Square wants a public hearing on removing the village from its jurisdiction.

Citing fire and safety code violations persisting for years, the Moleston Fire District wants the Ramapo Town Board to schedule a hearing on relieving the district of providing emergency services to the village.

Concerns involve the safety of the volunteer firefighters who face dangerously unknown conditions in the village of more than 6,000 people, ranging from staircases to nowhere to commercial enterprises in residential buildings, Herbert Silverstein, fire district chairman, said yesterday.

"We've been in a life-and-death situation for many years," said Silverstein, a 46-year member of the Hillcrest Fire Department, which is overseen by Moleston. "I'm worried about my firemen."

At the insistence of Moleston and Rockland Fire Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr., the state began inspections of the village four years ago. Wren also is a Moleston commissioner.

More than 80 buildings failed to meet state fire and safety codes, according to the state's partial survey.

New Square did not adopt the state's codes, which are mandatory for municipalities, until 2005.

Though progress has been made - state officials have noted that new multifamily housing has the required sprinkler systems - hazardous conditions remain.

Houses have little space between them, permitting fires to spread easily, and limited parking means more cars on the streets to block the path of emergency vehicles.

Silverstein recalled a fire Feb. 7 in which two residential buildings were destroyed and another was damaged. The fire was spotted by a man walking by about 2 a.m.

"He alerted the people in the house," Silverstein said of the passer-by. "If that did not happen, we would have had body bags all over the place. It was just a matter of luck."…

Realize what this means. New Square, home of the Sqverer Rebbe, a village under his complete control, has for many years systematically violated state and local laws and codes meant to ensure the safety of citizens and public safety personnel alike. The article notes a similar 1991 effort to remove New Square from the fire district. That earlier effort stalled when politicians reached a "compromise" with New Square officials – a "compromise" New Square immediately violated.

These hasidim are holy men? Please. They're criminals, both in the eyes of secular law and in Jewish law, as well. Halakha recognizes secular law (dina d'malchuta dina) in all matters not in direct conflict with the Torah; it also recognizes the need to take proactive safety measures. (See, for example, the halakhot mandating a fence around one's roof and the covering or fencing of a pit or well. Those halakhot are interpreted broadly to require other forms of safety precautions.)

Remember the New Square pardon scandal? The one where four New York Hasidic leaders who were convicted of stealing $40 million in student grants, small-business loans and housing subsidies were pardoned by President Clinton on his way out of office? New Square voted in a block for Hillary Rodham Clinton in an allegedly  quid-pro-quo arrangement brokered by the Squarer Rebbe himself. Add the disregard for public safety and other crimes. Now ask yourself the following question: Why have the leading Orthodox rabbinic and communal bodies and leaders not publicly condemned this behavior and the man who clearly has sanctioned it?

Of course, the answer is complex, but one salient reason stands out from the rest – people in glass houses should not throw stones. In other words, the rest of our Orthodox leadership is at least as dirty as New Square's. And that is the lesson you should learn from this post.

A Perpetual Nida? Can This Be True?

A haredi mother with six children is pregnant again. Her doctor says she's at high risk of losing the baby. He offered her an abortion, which she rejected. And then, there's this – she's in a perpetual state of nida:

This perhaps seems the most trivial - but really just makes all the other issues worse. A side effect of my situtation is constant spotting. First of all this is just a sign that things aren't going right - a constant reminder of my situation and possible implications. Second of all - a big hug would probably do wonders for me right now.. and well that is just not going to happen - at least not in the forseeable future. I was practically begging our rav for some kind of way around this - some halachic loophole.. seems there is nothing to do. So I am doomed to this state for a while - maybe even a year...A WHOLE YEAR?? 9 months and 6 weeks postpartum -is that even possible?

Because I'm not married, I never learned hilchot nida. (The normal policy, at least in the haredi world, is not to teach these laws to unmarried men.) But it seems to me her spotting problem can not fall under a d'orita (Torah) prohibition because, by definition nida blood is menstrual blood and is directly tied to a woman's monthly cycle, and pregnant women do not have monthly cycles. Even if this is classified as a ziva flow, one would think pregnancy removes any fear of actual tuma (ritual impurity). What's going on here?

What I'm asking for here is help – for me to understand why she has been declared a nida by her rabbi, and for her, if possible, to find a way out of this. Readers?

[Hat Tip: Dr. R-F and also seen on DovBear.]

UPDATE – Anonymous writes:

There was a famous case in the 1950's in Israel of a woman who was in a
state of perpetual nida. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach wrote a brilliant
teshuva article in the old Moriah journal describing a radical solution
but well within the framework of halacha.

But sadly, within days the posters went up in Meah Sha'arim denouncing
him and threatening him.

He withdrew the article.

Halacha rules by threats.

I also communicated with a well known haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva who told me there is a possible heter if the bleeding is due to injury (which, I think, includes scarring from infection or injury):

There is a concept called "makko motziah dam" which is basically a waver (heter) that allows a (non-period-related) bleeding woman to be examined by a female, competent individual. if it is established that the bleeding is caused by an injury, she can go to the mikvah. Some very respected charedi rabbonim do this and send 'clients' to be checked.

UPDATE 2 – In reading the newer comments on this haredi woman's post, it seems that her rabbi told her there were other halakhic options (heterim) to get around the problem. He just doesn't believe in them, he told her, but he wanted her to know about them. It also seems this woman is uncomfortable relying on any of these heters. In other words, this woman got the incompetent rabbi and the insipid rabbinic advice she deserves.

Montreal Mikva Controversy

A community builds a mikva, intended for monthly use by women and for conversions from all Jewish streams including Reconstructionist, Reform and Conservative. The funds come from the general Jewish community and from the Orthodox community as well. A local Chabad rabbi is put in charge of the day-to-day operation.

Flash forward 25 years. The Orthodox community begins to to its conversions at other, privately owned mikvas. The Chabad rabbi, still in charge of the community mikva, decides to ban all conversion immersions, meaning the non-Orthodox converts have nowhere to go to immerse.

The community, including Modern Orthodox rabbis, is fighting this unilateral move by Chabad. The Canadian Jewish News reports on the Montreal mikva controversy:

…“This is a Chabad-based cabal,” Rabbi Lionel Moses of the Conservative Shaare Zion Congregation charged. “This is a community mikvah built with community money, which has been a symbol of co-operation and pluralism across the religious spectrum.

“This co-operation still exists between modern Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbis, and they have gone to bat for us. This is clearly a move by Chabad to interfere with community harmony.”

Rabbi Mordecai Zeitz of Congregation Beth Tikvah in Dollard des Ormeaux believes Mikveh Israel changed its policy because, for over a year, those undergoing Orthodox conversions under the Rabbinical Council of Montreal’s beit din had been using another mikvah located at the Sephardi Hechal Shalom Congregation in St. Laurent.

That meant, he said, that most conversion immersions taking place at Mikveh Israel during that period were non-Orthodox.

“That’s why we think he did it,” Rabbi Zeitz said. “It’s created a tremendous obstacle because it should be a community mikvah.”

Rabbi Michael Whitman, spiritual leader of Adath Israel-Poale Zedek Congregation, who is president of the Rabbinical Council of Montreal representing the city’s Orthodox synagogue rabbis, also was critical of the mikvah’s new policy.

“Non-Orthodox converts now have nowhere to go,” he said. “It is not a private mikvah. It was built by funds raised by the community.”

Rabbi Whitman pointed to a 20-year-old ruling by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in New York that allowed non-Orthodox converts to use a mikvah built by the community, in the interest of harmony.

“It is a question of continuing the precedent,” Rabbi Whitman said. “Many other communities operate in the same way.”

[Chabad's] Rabbi [Itche Meir] Gurary, however, dismissed these concerns and rejected any notion of a hidden agenda.

“They overstayed their welcome,” he said of the increased use by converts. “If I let them in, I would have to compromise on cleanliness.”…

Montreal's haredi-dominated Vaad Ha'ir had no comment on the issue, claiming not to be involved in any way.

What is happening here is clear. 25 years ago, Modern Orthodxy was the dominant force in Montreal's Orthodox community. That is no longer true. MO Jews left Montreal in droves during Quebec's various attempts at secession while, at the same time haredim have flocked to the city, unconcerned about a possible Francophone takeover because haredim operate outside of the larger communities they live in. Yiddish is their lingua franca and the surrounding society is always kept distant. Most MO Jews in Montreal were and are native English speakers and worked outside the Jewish community, interacting regularly with non-Jews.

In every community where haredim have become dominant, these types of thuggish issues surface. It was how haredim behaved in Brooklyn after reaching domiance there in the late 1970s, and the same story is repeated from Manchester to Minneapolis to Jerusalem.

And this is the future, at least as far as the Jewish community is concerned. Before long, your JCCs and community institutions will fall under haredi control or influence. The Judaism you belive in will be trampled underfoot, and your children – if you remain in the Jewish community – will be indoctrinated by haredim.

Fight now or leave now, but for God's sake do not remain passive. The time is running very short.

New Jewish Blog

There's a new Jblog out there. Breaking Away For Dummies is written by an ex-haredi who broke away and is now living a non-haredi life. The author describes himself this way:

I was born and raised in a Hasidic community in New York. My world until recently was Boro Park, Boro Park, and Boro Park. . I didn’t have any idea what the real world outside of the narrow ghetto is about. To me the world was created only for Chasidic Jews. Non-Jews or secular Jews are here only to serve us. I had chosen to change my lifestyle with help from Footsteps, as their web site explains, Footsteps is an organization dedicated to providing educational, vocational and social support services to those seeking the world beyond the insular ultra-religious communities in which they were raised. My English is not the best Yiddish is my native language. My posts will probably be with some spelling, grammar, and word order errors. I hope you will have patients with me.

As always, Footsteps can use your help. They need donations of time, expertise and money. Please help in any way you can.

The Rebbe Will Answer Your Questions – Just Ask!

Rabbi Bruce Warshal was approached by messianic Chabad members in the NYC subway system and given literature proclaiming the Rebbe (who passed away in 1994) alive, the messiah, and a prophet. The Rebbe answers your questions 24 hours a day, it claims, and gives instructions for submitting the questions and getting the answers. He wrote an op-ed about it for the Saint Louis Jewish Light:

…The pamphlet says it comes directly from 770 Eastern Parkway, so I assume that it is official Chabad doctrine. I am told that there are sophisticated local Chabad rabbis that do not believe the above, but I don't hear their voices. Until I hear them say that they do not believe that the Rebbe is the Messiah, I assume that they do. I also assume that they believe that the United Nations sits in New York because of the Rebbe, etc.

No responsible Jewish authority would accept the Messianic Jews (Jews for Jesus) as authentic Jews. Is there a difference between Jesus and Menachem Schneerson as the Messiah? Why do we feel comfortable davening with Chabad and not with the Jews for Jesus? Why do we invite Chabad emissaries into our Day Schools and into our Reform and Conservative religious schools to bake matzah? Would we invite Jews for Jesus to bake matzah for our children? And why do liberal Jews build Chabad houses? I think I know that answer — these Lubavitchers remind them of their grandfathers and in some sad way they look upon them as more authentic Jews.

This brings us to the crux of the matter. The pamphlet described above states: "The Rebbe of every generation provides spiritual life force for the whole generation. We, on our part, must do all we can to be 'connected' to him, only then can we receive all our physical and spiritual needs from him." That's not Judaism. We don't need Jesus, Menachem Schneerson or any other Chasidic guru to find God. The essence of mainstream Judaism (Orthodox through Humanism) is that we can have a direct relationship with God. The word rabbi means merely teacher. No one stands between a Jew and his or her God. That's the distortion that Chasidism introduced into Judaism, whether a particular Chasidic rabbi believes that the Rebbe is the Messiah or not.…

Who is Rabbi Warshal? The publisher emeritus of the Jewish Journal of South Florida and one of the few people involved in Jewish journalism willing to challenge Chabad.

CrownHeights.info has posted this article. At this point there are 48 comments, most of which attack Rabbi Warshal but admit the his representation of the materials handed out is true. Please take the time to show Rabbi Warshal's article and the comments from Chabad.info to your local rabbis and community leaders. They need to know the truth about Chabad, even if their local Jewish newspapers won't tell it to them.

[Hat Tip: A new JBlog, Chabad and its Hocus-Pocus.]

Is It Fraud? Jerusalem "Compass" Back In News

A fraud by any other name is a? "Compass." A Jerusalem "Compass," to be exact. Remember the so-called Jerusalem "compass" sold by ArtScroll? It's back in the news, so to speak, on VosIzNeias (and taken without attribution from the Christian Broadcasting Network):

Moshe Ashin is an Orthodox Jew who said that he got inspiration to develop what he calls the Jerusalem Compass.

"I started thinking to myself, wouldn't it be wonderful if the compass could point in a direction that had more meaning to all of us? A direction that was more important. So here we are, the holiest city in the world, the center of the universe and all roads lead to Jerusalem, let the compass point here," Ashin said.

The Jerusalem Compass, unlike a typical compass that points north, is designed to point to Jerusalem.

"I developed a patented recalibration system and this keeps the needle of the compass constantly pointing in the direction of Jerusalem from anywhere in the world. Just open the cover and it's pointing there," Ashin said.

There was a lot of Jblog traffic when this "compass" debuted, most of it critical  of the claim that the "compass" always points to Jerusalem. The contention of many bloggers was that the "compass" merely was modified so that the needle pointed north (as with any compass) but displayed east, meaning that people to the east of the Temple Mount, or due north or south of it, would have a "compass" pointing in the wrong direction. Backers of the "compass" disputed this

But here is Ashin making this claim again, yesterday, to the CBN:

As a way of reminding believers about the significance of Jerusalem, Moshe, an Orthodox Jew has come up with a unique reminder of the eternal significance of the city the Bible calls "the city of the Great King." As we explained on last Thursday's 700 Club, he believes he received divine inspiration to develop what he calls the Jerusalem compass.

Overlooking the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, he told us, "I started thinking to myself, wouldn't it be wonderful if the compass could point in a direction that had more meaning to all of us? A direction that was more important. Where would that be? So here we are in the holiest city in the world, the center of the universe, and all roads lead to Jerusalem. Let the compass point here."

Moshe said he developed a patented recalibration system that keeps the needle of the compass constantly pointing toward Jerusalem from anywhere in the world.

The problem? The Mount of Olives is to the east of the Temple Mount, and the "compass" will not point to the Temple. Why? The patent claim for the "compass" as filed by Moshe Ashin, which clearly states it is a novelty item:

Claims:

What is claimed is:

1. A novelty item comprising a compass-like device having a housing and a magnetized compass needle suspended therein, said device further comprising a compass face positioned above said needle and hiding same from view, wherein said magnetized needle is rigidly attached, via a linking means, to a non-magnetized pointer positioned in a plane parallel to the plane of said magnetized compass needle above said compass face and angularly displaced from said magnetized compass needle, whereby said non-magnetized pointer always points to a direction other than North.

2. A novelty item according to claim 1, wherein said non-magnetized pointer is angularly displaced from said magnetized compass needle at an angle of about 90.degree. and positioned to always point to the East.

3. A novelty item according to claim 1, wherein said housing is non-transparent except for a transparent top face.

4. A novelty item according to claim 1, wherein the distance between said compass face and the housing top cover is at least twice the distance between said compass face and the housing base.

5. A novelty item according to claim 2, wherein said compass face carries a message of religious significance relating to the direction indicated by said non-magnetized pointer.

6. A novelty item according to claim 1, wherein said non-magnetized pointer is shaped and colored to provide an appearance similar to that of a magnetized compass needle used in a normal compass.…

[0014] It will thus be realized that the novel device of the present invention can be marketed in different countries with a pointer oriented to match the direction towards which prayers should be recited. For example, a compass indicating South can be marketed in Finland and Russia, a compass directed towards East can be marketed in the USA and Mexico and a compass indicating West can be sold in India, Pakistan, Burma and Japan. Intermediate directions, for example South-West, would be suitable for Mid-Europe and the UK.

In other words, the "compass" always points east, which for many people means they will be praying not toward the Temple, but north or south of it. In the worst case, Jews will be praying with their backs to the Temple.

How is this "compass" marketed? First, more from Ashin's patent filing:

[0007] There is no doubt that a more direct and easier to use method [i.e., the new Jerusalem "compass"] would be useful, particularly for less-educated worshippers. However, a search of prior art for such device produced only improvements to North-pointing compasses but nothing relevant to the present disclosure.

"Less-educated worshippers," precisely the people who would use the "compass" while traveling in Eastern Europe or Israel and pray in the wrong direction.

Who is the primary marketer of this "compass"? ArtScroll, the main haredi publisher of books geared for – ba'alei teshuva, Jewishly uneducated so-called returnees to Orthodoxy:

You may be wondering why the compass is called "the Jerusalem of Gold Compass". Well that's because it points only in the direction of Jerusalem from any point on the Globe. Now that is unique - think about it... all other compasses point North and this one points to Jerusalem...

How's that done you ask? That's Israeli Technology for you... No batteries, No outside energy source, Nothing at all... and it appears to defy nature.

Instead of pointing North it will always point to Jerusalem. This compass was developed in Jerusalem over many years, and is patented in the United States.

This compass is beautifully crafted from solid brass, and is finished in rich genuine gold, buffed to a mirror finish. It is also includes a matching gold finished chain attached to the compass.

Have you ever found yourself away from home, and suddenly you realized that it is quickly approaching the final time for Mincha? You may be in a car, your office or a friends home. If you are like most people, at best, you will approximate the direction for East, and start davening. But…East is not the direction for Jerusalem. However, it is the direction for China, and Syria!

Ashin's patent does not support these claims. I believe that makes ArtScroll (and Ashin) in violation of Federal law.

UPDATE – A commenter writes:

On the Jerusalem Compass website there's a prominently featured database of calibration settings for cities around the world.

There is. But nowhere in the text of the front page of the website is it made clear calibration is necessary. I tried this calibration tool. It does not work in the Mac browsers Safari or Firefox. I accessed it using IE. But the results I got were the same for Los Angeles, Saint Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, Moscow, Tel Aviv, and other cities. All were shown, with their correct name, as being 5124 kilometers from Jerusalem. Each city has the same calibration setting, 046.

In other words, for many users the calibration database is useless. Further, the ad copy for the "compass" makes false claims. Without manual calibration for each location, the "compass" will be wrong. No real surprise there.

Also no surprise is the endorsement of this piece of junk by some of the haredi world's leading gedolim, including Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch of Edah Charedis and The Novominsker Rebbe, head of Agudath Israel of America's rabbinic arm. Also not too surprising is the complete lack of endorsements from NRP/MO rabbis of note, most of whom, presumably, would have noticed the problems with the 'compass.'

You can click on the images above to enlarge them.

Thousands Held As Slaves In Sudan

That's right. The BBC reports thousands of southern Sudanese, many Christian, are still held as slaves in Sudan's Arab north. (Some may have been taken from Darfur, as well.) Something to keep in mind as we move from slavery to freedom at this year's seder.

[Hat Tip: E.L.]

Hooters To Open In Israel

Ynet reports:

…"I strongly believe that the Hooters concept is something that Israelis are looking for," Ofer Ahiraz, who bought the Hooters franchise for Israel, told Reuters on Monday. "Hooters can suit the Israeli entertainment culture."

At Hooters, scantily clad waitresses the company calls Hooters Girls serve spicy chicken wings, sandwiches, seafood and drinks.

Ahiraz said a specific location in Tel Aviv, Israel's most cosmopolitan city, had yet to be chosen, but he said it would not open restaurants near large religious populations, and they would not be kosher.

He said his plan was to open as many as five Hooters restaurants in the next few years, including one in the southern resort city of Eilat.…

Haredim Take Rabbinical Courts, Womens Groups Up In Arms. "Who needs the mythological halo of a religious marriage?"

Yesterday, the panel that selects rabbinic court judges met to choose 15 new judges. The panel, now controlled by haredim (i.e., anti-Zionists), voted 12 haredim in as judges for life. By contrast, only three National Religious (i.e., Zionist) judges were selected. The haredim selected are split between Shas and UTJ, and most all of the selections meet the standards set down by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. Rabbi Elyashiv is a strict constructionist, so to speak, when it comes to divorce law, and his judges rule so strictly that women are left without religious divorces, unable to remarry, often for many years. And the judges? Under qualified but well connected, as Ha'aretz notes:

Many of the judges are relatives of politicians, public figures or veteran rabbinic court judges, and only one has a background in law.

Women's rights organizations said Monday was a black day in the struggle for women's rights in the rabbinic courts. Many view the rabbinic courts as favoring men in divorce cases and as failing to do enough to minimize the problem of women whose husbands refuse to divorce them.

The irony here? As the Jerusalem Post notes:

Most of the haredi community don't use the state rabbinical courts. Their divorce rate is low and they take most of their disputes to rabbis within the community. The great majority of litigants in the state rabbinical courts are secular, but that doesn't mean the haredi rabbis are prepared to relinquish control.

That's correct. Haredim are forcing their strict version of Jewish law on Modern Orthodox and secular women.

Ha'aretz also reported on Sunday that haredi judges have been granting women conditional gets; as long as the women follow the judgment of the rabbinic court, they are divorced. If, however, years later a woman wants to change a child's education or switch synagogues from one Orthodox to another Orthodox, the get can be annulled leaving the woman still married to her first husband and her second marriage bigamous. Perhaps worse yet, any children from that second marriage would retroactively become mamzerim, bastards, unable to marry into the Jewish community.

The situation exists because a get if coerced may not be valid. The amount of coercion and the definition of coercion needed to render a get invalid has steadily changed over the years. The amount of coercion necessary to void a get has dropped to minute levels under Rabbi Elyashiv's watch, and the definition of coercion has been broadened – in other words, it has become much easier for vengeful or criminal husbands to withhold granting a religious divorce, and much harder for abused and extorted women to become free.

This situation is intolerable, and it flies in the face of what used to be (at least in the fairy tale that passes for Orthodox Jewish history) normative halakha (Jewish law), where everything possible was done to prevent women from becoming chained and freeing them if they somehow had become agunot.

Like so much else in Orthodoxy, the strictness does not bring enhanced kindness or concern for God's creations; the strictness tightens rabbinic law while it hurts human beings and does no good.

Does this mean I pine for the good old days? No, I don't. As I've noted many times before, Judaism – especially the Orthodox variants – is broken, I think beyond repair.

And I'm not alone in this thinking. Ha'aretz reports:

Last week, at a conference on agunot, Jewish women whose husbands have refused them a divorce, the audience was in for a surprise. The founder of the feminist-religious organization Kolech, Chana Kehat, dared to challenge the sanctity of halakhic marriage.

"Who needs the mythological halo of a religious marriage?" she asked, adding that the more distance women maintained from the rabbinate, "the better for the whole nation."…

The Jerusalem Post notes Kehat's remarks signal a shift in MO and NRP views toward the state's religious apparatus:

In some liberal Orthodox circles, there is a growing feeling that it isn't worth fighting any longer for the appointment of Zionist rabbinical judges. The system can't be changed in any real way. Last week, veteran religious feminist Dr. Hanna Kehat told a conference that young women, especially secular ones, should be discouraged from getting married under the auspices of the rabbinate, because it puts them at the mercy of dayanim if they have to divorce. Her statement, which caused a minor uproar, was an early signal that even many religious Israelis with a basic commitment to Halacha are becoming so disillusioned with the rabbinate that they are willing to divorce from it.

Kehat is correct. Rabbis are not problem-solvers; rabbis are problem-makers (and, all too often, abuse enablers). Knowing what I know now, I would not let my daughter (if I had one) or any of my female friends marry with a ketuba, any more than I would let a child enroll in a school where Rabbi Yehuda Kolko or other known abusers teach.

Do you want your daughter or sister to end up an agunah because of these men? If you do not, take action now. As I've said so many times, stop funding any and all haredi causes and make your displeasure known in any other ways possible. Fight the good fight and fight it now, while there's still time.

The Unnerving Touch

Phil Jacobs, executive editor of the Baltimore Jewish Times, writes about the rabbi-on-boy sexual abuse that, in many ways, defines the Baltimore yeshiva experience (in this case, Torah Academy):

Unnerving Touch
Phil Jacobs
Executive Editor
MARCH 16, 2007

There was plenty of herring, whitefish salad, pastries and crackers to go around. There was coffee and for those that wanted, wine.

Blessings were said over food and drinks.

Collective "amens" responded.

About 10 men sat on chairs around two tables. They all seemed to be friends. They ranged in age from their 20s to 50s.

There was a D'var Torah given over the week's portion Ki Tissa. It was a chabura or gathering after shul in this Pikesville home.

Many of the men had something in common that made this group unique here. Several told about the sexual or physical abuse they had endured over the years as students at one of the area yeshivas. It wasn't a one-time get-together. Some of them have been friends since childhood. They know one another's stories almost by heart. Some tell their stories, because it feels good to know they weren't the only victims.

On this cool, sunny morning, with men in black hats and women pushing strollers just yards away on the street, a debate broke out.

A businessman with rabbinic ordination had a friendly confrontation with another friend, also a businessman. Both men, happily married with families, had been sexually molested while teens by a now-deceased rabbi of an area yeshiva and synagogue. It should be noted that men as old as their mid-60s have contacted the Baltimore Jewish Times about this man.

"He was a father figure to me," said one man. "How can we talk just about the bad when he also did some good?"

"You are a textbook case," answered his friend––as in "textbook denial."

Their stories were graphic, and might be too uncomfortable for some people reading this publication.

Finally, the question posed to the businessman who called the rabbi a "father figure:" Would he have permitted his own children to be alone with this man? The answer: an unqualified "no."

There were plenty of other discussions. Only the name of the rabbi would change. The stories of molestation, inappropriate touching and intimidating glaring was a commonality.

One man joked that he was given good grades sometimes for classes he never really took as long as he kept his mouth shut about being molested at both the rabbi's home and school. Another said that should the group write a book, it would be called "Touched by a Rabbi."

There was the issue of protectxia, Hebrew and Yiddish for "protection." Their parents, they said, sometimes went to community leaders, but little was done.

And then there was the hitting, a virtual black- and-blue-board jungle of hitting and humiliation.

One man told of being six years old and placed in a classroom trash can by his teacher.

Others spoke of being hit or poked. One man took his hand, put four fingers together like a wedge and showed how his yeshiva teacher would poke and hurt the students.

As lunch time approached, the crowd started to leave, guests rolling up the plastic tablecloths and crumbs swept into the trash can.

There was not much more to say today.

On the way home, the discussion turned to city politics. And when the walkers started splitting off, one person's parting words: "When I was in ninth grade, I was one of the smarter students. But then this happened, and I started on the way down."

Or as one man had said minutes before: "I held this in for 14 years until I was sitting in the car driving with my wife, and I told her. The more I thought about it, the more I understood what happened to me and to others. It's something that I think about now every day of my life."

The men went home to their wives and children.

They'd sing Shabbat songs, give words of Torah, entertain guests and return to shul for Mincha and Ma'ariv. The week would come and go.

They'll be back this Shabbos.

Comments Banned?

I haven't banned anyone (recently, that is) from commenting here. If your comments won't post, please email me. TypePad has bug that's causing this. When will it be fixed? I don't know yet; I hope, soon.

Chabad Center Burns On Shabbos – "We got out the kids and the Torahs"

Chabad's Staten Island Israeli Center burned down on Shabbos. The Staten Island Advance reports:

Ice and snow were piling up outside as a barefoot Chaya Segal and her husband carried their four children and two Torahs from their burning home Saturday morning.

"We got out the kids and the Torahs," said Mrs. Segal, who with her husband, Rabbi Nachman Segal, opened the Chabad Israeli Center in New Springville in 2003.

The family lives upstairs in the Nome Avenue home. Sabbath services take place downstairs over the weekend.

Rabbi Segal awoke after 1 a.m. Saturday and smelled smoke. Waking his wife, he went to look for the source of the odor as she called 911.

When the rabbi opened the bathroom door, he saw flames coming from a heating vent. The couple roused their children, ages 7, 5, 2 and 11 months, and ran from the home.

Outside, neighbors who had spotted the flames had just begun to pound on their door.

"It was freezing outside. I didn't have shoes, my son didn't have shoes," Mrs. Segal said. "It was like we were frozen in place."

Damage was extensive in the home the family rents, Mrs. Segal said.…

[A]nyone who would like to help the family or synagogue can send contributions to the Chabad Israeli Center in care of Chabad Lubavitch of Staten Island, 289 Harold Street, Staten Island NY, 10314.

She Has Been Refused A Get For 11 Years, And Rabbis Will Not Help Her

Ha'aretz reports:

"Is it possible to explain the bitter disappointment a woman feels during years of futile back-and-forth discussions in the rabbinic court, when she still doesn't receive a get [religious divorce]? How many tears does she shed over the wasted years, the loss of motherhood, the failure to enjoy the joy of a loving relationship?" asks Rahel Bahat. Bahat, a religious woman, has been refused a get for 11 years.

About a year ago, she decided she would not keep silent, and is now demanding her husband compensate her financially for her suffering. However, this has boomeranged: Since the rabbinic court heard about the damages claim she submitted to the family court, it has refused to continue discussing her case until she withdraws her claim.…

Only in 2002 were the judges convinced that her husband "is systematically ridiculing us as well as the supreme rabbinic court," they wrote, issuing a ruling in favor of divorce. Only a year later, at the next hearing, did she get an enforcement ruling. According to procedures, this means that within 30 days the judges should take sanctions against the husband, including even jail time, if he refuses to grant the divorce. But they did not go this far with Bahat's husband. "These people are afraid to do anything because according to their worldview, the husband cannot be forced into a divorce; otherwise it will be artificial," she says.

The Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women's Status at Bar-Ilan University received data from the rabbinic courts this month showing that out of all the cases in which a get is mandated, only 1 percent of refusing husbands were punished.…

Attorney Batya Cahane-Dror of Mavoi Satum, an organization that helps women who have been refused a get, says the fear of artificial divorce is "one big lie. That is the most hard-line approach that exists, and there are solutions even under the Orthodox approach."…

The committee for appointing rabbinic and civil judges will convene next week to choose 13 new rabbinic judges. There are 100 in total. Cahane-Dror says public attention is on the civil appointments, and the matter of rabbinic judges has been pushed to the sides. The ultra-Orthodox therefore can take advantage of this, because they have a majority on the committee. The committee meeting is particularly fateful this time, she says, because the new appointees will comprise a significant percentage of the 100, who are appointed for life and are overwhelmingly ultra-Orthodox.…

As Ha'aretz noted yesterday, this hardline position is the work of one man, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the head of non-hasidic haredim worldwide. We need to spit him and his henchmen out of the Jewish people. In the meantime, stop funding all haredi organizations. Instead, give your money to Footsteps and its Israeli counterpart, Hillel.

Ha'aretz also has another piece on the upcoming meeting to appoint new rabbinic judges, where it notes that almost all of the candidates are haredim:

A rare coalition of women's groups, the National Religious Party (NRP), Orthodox and Reform rabbis united yesterday to call on Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to prevent today's planned meeting of the rabbinical judges appointments committee, which he heads.

The committee is slated to select rabbinic judges to fill 13 to 15 open positions from a list of candidates that is almost entirely ultra-Orthodox. The resultant strengthening of ultra-Orthodox elements in the rabbinic court system would be a blow to thousands of women who are unable to obtain a divorce, and to tens of thousands of candidates for conversion to Judaism.

Ha'aretz also notes the claim that many of the haredi candidates do not meet the minimum requirements of a rabbinic judge, and are lacking in both Jewish and secular education. Of course, as noted in the my post linked below, the current Ashkenazi chief rabbi is a stooge put in power by Rabbi Elyashiv. this stooge is so under-qualified, he cannot sit as a rabbinic judge. But he's chief rabbi anyway, and he does the bidding of Rabbi Elyashiv.

Companion post here.

Women, The Military, And Rape

The New York Times reports:

…A 2003 report financed by the Department of Defense revealed that nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking health care through the V.A. said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service. Of that group, 37 percent said they were raped multiple times, and 14 percent reported they were gang-raped. Perhaps even more tellingly, a small study financed by the V.A. following the gulf war suggests that rates of both sexual harassment and assault rise during wartime. The researchers who carried out this study also looked at the prevalence of PTSD symptoms - including flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbing and round-the-clock anxiety - and found that women who endured sexual assault were more likely to develop PTSD than those who were exposed to combat.…

Vos Iz Neias And The "McDonalds Bagel Boycott"

Vos Iz Neias has an item claiming British Jews are planning a boycott of McDonalds. Why? Because it advertises bagel sandwiches made with ham and pork. VosIzNeais doesn't normally link to its sources, although this post did note it came from "theboarduk," but still without a link. I Googled "McDonalds British Jews" and found the item and the website. And I noted this warning on the right sidebar of its page:

Important Notice:
This is a satire site based on real life. "Ridicule is nothing to be scared of"
Rabbi Adam Ant"

In other words, no boycott, no bagel issue, nothing to make a fuss over. All you OJs can go back to eating your fast food treife in peace.

Haredim To Make Divorce Harder – For Women

Ha'aretz reports:

While everyone is meddling in the affairs of the Judicial Appointments Committee - its composition, its considerations in selecting judges, the cliques and various camps - a process that is no less dramatic is about to take place at the committee for appointing rabbinic court judges (dayanim). But, until now, this discussion has been hidden from the public eye. The committee is slated to convene tomorrow to select 13 new dayanim, comprising about a sixth of the dayanim in Israel.

The question of who is appointed to be a dayan has significant impact, of course, on the sensitive issue of divorce, which falls under their purview. And from this perspective, the situation is definitely worrisome: It appears that the list of dayanim will reflect the preferences of the leader of the ultra-Orthodox public, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. This in itself would not be a problem if Elyashiv (and his disciples already serving in the rabbinic courts) were not proponents of a very strict outlook that reduces to a minimum the coercion exercised against husbands who refuse to grant divorces to their wives, or allows the husbands to impose conditions on granting a divorce.…

Yair Sheleg goes on to list the intimidation and threats from Rabbi Elyashiv directed at others on the committee, especially Shas delegates. One threat listed is that Rabbi Elyashiv will block the appointment of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's son as rabbi of Jerusalem if Rabbi Elyashiv is not given what he wants.

Rabbi Elyashiv is the man who knowingly brought us a chief rabbi incapable of heading a religious court and who was censured by the Rabbinate for corruption. This man, Yona Metzger, was also alleged to have sexually harassed males and females. He is now chief rabbi, put into office with the backing of Rabbi Elyashiv.

And who is Rabbi Elyashiv? The head of all non-hasidic Ashkenazi haredim worldwide.

In a companion piece, Yair Sheleg of Ha'aretz explores a bit more into Rabbi Elyashiv's psychosis:

His harshest edicts are against women: It is not enough that they have to simultaneously raise their children and support their family, but recently he forbade them from receiving an academic degree, thereby arousing waves of protest even among Haredim who usually honor the community's great Torah scholars. His associates treat women in need of a get in the same spirit.

Sheleg also notes that rabbinic courts are now issuing "conditional" gets. If a woman fails to live up to agreements made in rabbinic court – for example, pulling her children out of a haredi school and putting them in a National Religious school, or any other change in education or other areas mandated by the rabbinic court – the woman's get can be retroactively annulled.

In the case that Shelg reports, the woman is already remarried and has a child from that second marriage. Now her get may be revoked and the child ruled a mamzer (bastard). Worse yet, she would be forbidden to sleep with her second husband.

Rabbi Elyashiv and his henchmen can do this to women, but they refuse to do anything to men who will not grant their wives a religious divorce. This leaves women chained (agunot), often for years, sometimes for a lifetime. At the same time, moderate rabbis (including moderate haredim) are blocked from serving as religious judges or serving on the committee that selects religious judges. Who does this blocking? Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the closest thing to an anti-Christ Judaism has.

Picture caption: The farbissin one, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

Shechita Pictures

LifeInIsrael has photos of shechita done by casting. The animal is a young calf. The pictures are graphic, but they give you an idea of how the process works. Keep in mind, though, that casting with an older, larger animal is different. The animal is much stronger and fights much harder and the cruelty issues are commensurately worse.

[Hat Tip: Mentalblog.]

Darfur Refugees In Israel – NY Times Reports

The New York Times has a moving piece on Sudanese refugees in Israel. It notes these people were so badly treated in Egypt that they fled to Israel, preferring an Israeli jail to life in Egypt, where security forces have killed many Sudanese refugees.

The refugees are now being released from prison and sent to kibbutzim and moshavim (collective farms and industrial settlements) to live until a country can be found to take them in.

The Israelis helping the Sudanese are overwhelmingly secular. Silent in this tragedy is Israeli Orthodox Judaism of all stripes. Orthodox Jewish leadership lacks a moral message – it can tell you how to tie your shoes, when to pray, and what to eat and not eat, but wider morality is foreign to it. What a shame.

[Hat Tip: Dr. Gershon Mendel.]

Dancing At Two Weddings

The New York Times has a piece today on Chulent, the weekly gathering of disaffected Orthodox Jews (mostly haredim) in Manhattan. There's a slide show narrated by Isaac Schonfeld, the event's host, and this mention of a fellow JBlogger, SholomAnarchy:

Among the early arrivals this evening was Sholom Keller, a 24-year-old with black glasses and an overgrown mohawk. Mr. Keller grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in a Lubavitch Hasidic family, the seventh of 10 children, but became disillusioned with that life early on. To escape, Mr. Keller enlisted in the Army at age 18, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. He returned home two years ago with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, newly radicalized political beliefs and a new name — Sholom Anarchy.

And then, this:

A man named Avrohom burst through the door, shaking the rain off his peacoat and cargo pants. A 36-year-old writer who lives in Sunnyside, Queens, he grew up in an esteemed Lubavitch family in Crown Heights but had always been drawn to literature and art, subjects far distant from strict Orthodox education.

In 1989, when he was 18, Avrohom received a special dispensation from his grand rabbi to study outside the community’s religious institutions, and he ended up at Brooklyn College studying poetry with Allen Ginsberg. Within three semesters, Avrohom had stopped wearing his yarmulke and shaved his beard. Once during the next decade, he returned to his strict Orthodox roots, only to leave the community again in 2004.

“There’s a lot of warmth in the haredi world that I miss like crazy,” Avrohom confessed. “Twenty-four hours a day, your life is wrapped up with your family and friends. There are certain beautiful things, certain truths there that don’t exist in the secular world.”

His friend Shmulik Nemanov, 38, a man with melancholy eyes who was dressed this night in a gray sweater and jeans, had reached a similar conclusion. Mr. Nemanov left Hasidism as a teenager, only to realize that much of the outside world was populated by, as he put it, “neurotic, desperate people sitting in bars with short skirts.”

He said the movement between the two worlds had sharpened his understanding of the nature of suffering. “You have to get beyond being upset with one environment and extolling another,” he said. “The worst thing about growing up religious is falling under the illusion that your misery has to do with religious stifling, not realizing how universal it is.”

The author, Jennifer Bleyer, quotes Marvin Schick (of all people) and Aguda's Rabbi Avi Shafran. But she doesn't quote Hella Winston (now Dr. Hella Winston, I believe) who first wrote about Chulent and about hasidic rebels, and the author does not mention her book, Unchosen, even though she clearly draws heavily from it. In other words, borderline plagiarism, just enough on the the right side of line to be legal but still unethical. Bleyer also seems to have read and used Shoshana Olidort's Current piece as unattributed background. Almost, but not quite, Jason Blair.

UPDATE: Lapsed Chabadnik Radloh (who still pimps for the cult) challenges my understanding of Jennifer Bleyer's work:

WTF?

Failedmessiah:

Jennifer Bleyer happens to be an integral part of the Chulent community. She is there every Thursday night. Not as a journalist, but as a participant.

You obviously got all your facts wrong. She didn’t have to read Winston’s mediocre book, because she is friends with and part of the community of tens of characters who can fill twenty such books.

Her story is different than all the others because it speaks of the need for a community for those that left. It is not an anti-religious piece, ala the Village Voice.

I call upon you to apologize.

I have confirmed that Bleyer has attended Chulent weeky for more than a year, just as Radloh writes, "not as a journalist, but as a participant." Ethically, Bleyer needed to fully disclose this relationship – she did not do so. And, as I wrote, she clearly used Hella Winston's work as background. This is unethical. Worse yet is what Radloh writes, "[Bleyer's] story is different than all the others because it speaks of the need for a community for those that left. It is not an anti-religious piece, ala the Village Voice."

In other words, not reporting on the rampant drug use, on the real violence and ostracism hasidic rebels face, the homelessness, the other real problems that reflect poorly on the haredi world or on Chulent was Bleyer's choice – a choice she and the Times did not share with readers.

This is horrible journalism. The only apology here should come from Bleyer.

Hasidic Man Sentenced For Drug Money Laundering

Nathan Weiss, another hasidic member of the Williamsburg-Kiryas Joel Ecstasy drug money laundering ring has been sentenced to jail. Weiss was one of 13 people arrested for laundering money made by importing and selling the illegal drug Ecstasy.

Y-Love Plays The Heartland

So Y-Love, the "hasidic hip hop artist" from Brooklyn, was in town for a show tonight. I met him briefly on Friday with his two DJs as they were coming in for a sound check (hope you guys enjoyed the challah). I caught a few minutes of the show tonight. I'm not a hip hop fan (although I do like Miri Ben Ari's work, especially Sunshine To The Rain, with Scarface and Anthony Hamilton) so I can't do a fair review of the show. I like the Y-Love recorded tracks I've heard, and he raps in Aramaic, Hebrew and English, which is really wild. But turnout was weak tonight and, early on, at least, the crowd seemed stiff. Perhaps Y-Love's sound is a bit too urban for a suburban Saint Paul, Minnesota, audience.

Clinton Whitewater Figure Stands Up For Jews In Prison

The New Jersey Jewish News reports:

She made headlines in the 1990s as a business associate of Bill and Hillary Clinton who defied prosecutors investigating the controversial land deal known as Whitewater.

She spent two years behind bars in connection with that case on charges including fraud, conspiracy, and contempt of court.…

Susan McDougal also happens to be a Southern Baptist …

“It was a terrible thing to watch [the Jewish women prisioners] being harassed,” said McDougal. The proselytizers “wanted the Jewish women to come to prayer meetings and kept telling them they weren’t being saved. Even though I grew up as a Baptist, I was not comfortable with that right-wing sort of thought, and the Jewish women really welcomed me,” she said last week, speaking by cell phone from her home in Camden, Ark., some two hours south of Little Rock.

So, in an act of defiance that McDougal said is emblematic of much of her life, she asked prison officials to identify her as Jewish rather than Christian.

“My statement was, ‘If you’re going to be harrassing these other people, you’re going to be harassing me, too,’” she said.

McDougal began attending Jewish services at the prison, eating kosher food, meeting with the Jewish chaplain, and even learning to bake hallah.

“She said, ‘I’m going to be Jewish, too, as a statement of conscience,’” said Kriegel. “She is an incredible person.”

When McDougal was transferred to the federal detention center in Los Angeles … McDougal said she was pressured by the warden to cease identifying as a Jew. “He could not believe a good Southern Baptist girl could do such a thing,” she said. “It was really the first time I was ever talked to in an anti-Semitic way.”

Former RCA Head – "People have a lack of appreciation and think of non-Jews in simplistic ways”

A former president of the RCA is taking an important stand on what has become a tough issue in Orthodoxy – how Orthodox Jews view and relate to non-Jews. The New Jersey Jewish News reports:

Are yeshiva and day school students taught to value friendships with non-Jews, or are they being given lessons in fear and mistrust?

Rabbi Kenneth Hain, former president of the Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America, has been asking this question and has found some disturbing answers.

“Extreme views are current and popular. It’s easy to be lazy and name-call,” he said. “People have a lack of appreciation and think of non-Jews in simplistic ways.”

Hain, religious leader of Congregation Beth Shalom in Lawrence, NY, believes such attitudes are prevalent in day school and yeshiva education. “People are kind of shocked when they get to college campuses after 12 years in Jewish day school or yeshiva and find out non-Jews are real people, too, and they have worthwhile, valuable, and intelligent things to say,” he said in an interview.…

[H]e describes ramifications for social action and tzedaka. “What does Jewish tradition say about saving the life of a non-Jew? And what about charity — which has priority, the victims of [Hurricane] Katrina or the Jews of Jerusalem?”

Hain does not intend to resolve these tensions — only to warn of the danger in not confronting them.

Rabbi Hain is speaking on this topic at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy/Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School in Livingston on Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. Would anyone care to tape this and/or report on this for us? If you're able to do this, please let me know.

Haredi Bait-And-Switch In Ramapo

A haredi yeshiva opens a branch upstate. It acquires land in an existing town and proposes building married student housing on it. The town's planning commission approves apartment buildings with two and four bedroom apartments. The yeshiva agrees, but then advertises in Hamodia claiming six bedroom apartments and town homes.  The town is outraged. The yeshiva's attorney says nothing is stopping the yeshiva from combining apartments. Of course there is something – town ordinances and building codes. (Worse yet, it may be the yeshiva is actually selling the apartments.)

The yeshiva's name? Chofetz Chaim. I wonder what the yeshiva's namesake, the mavin of lashon hara law, would say about this bait-and-switch scam?

Read more, after the jump:

Putin Moves To Censor Internet

The DrudgeReport reports:

President Vladimir Putin has decreed the creation of a new super-agency to regulate media and the Internet, sparking fears among Russian journalists of a bid to extend tight publishing controls to the relatively free Web.

Putin signed a decree to create one entity that will license broadcasters, newspapers and Web sites and oversee their editorial content.

Raf Shakirov, who was dismissed as editor of the Izvestiya daily after critical coverage of the 2004 Beslan school siege, tells REUTERS how Putin's decree could extend Soviet-style controls to Russia's online media, which have been relatively free to date.

"This is an attempt to put everything under control, not only electronic media, but also personal data about people such as bloggers," he said.

I can't say this loudly enough: Chabad's backing of Putin has helped him stay in office even as he has systematically destroyed freedom. Never forget this.

Ethiopian Suicide Rate More Than Double Norm

Ha'aretz reports:

In the years 1990-2000, the suicide rate of youths of Ethiopian extraction was double that of their age group, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry released this data in a position paper that was discussed in the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee yesterday.…

The health ministry's position paper on suicide states that during the years 1996-2000, Ethiopians aged 15-24 constituted 5.2 percent of all suicide cases, even though they accounted for only 1.75 percent of the population in that age group.

Officials in the Immigrant Absorption Ministry say that the high suicide rate among immigrant youth is related to inadequate education and low socio-economic status, as well as the cultural and linguistic difficulties immigrants encounter in Israel.

Why the high suicide rate? Let me list a few reasons:

1. Pathetic absorption. The Israeli government failed on a massive level. They were warned. They were pleaded with. They were offered real, professional help – but the government turned it all down and did the absorption its way.
2. Almost no job opportunities for Ethiopian men. Even many Ethiopian college graduates end up working in menial jobs.
3. Discrimination by the Ashkenazi elite (and a lot of other people, too).
4. No role models. This is now starting to change as young Ethiopian Jews begin to succeed in professions.
5. The (largely successful) attempt by Ashkenazi haredim to keep Ethiopian rabbis out of positions of authority.
6. No Old Boys network to rely on for proteksia.
7. Skin color that makes them identifiable as Ethiopian Jews, and allows others to profile them with ease.

In other words, a combination of arrogance, corruption and racism has led to the deaths of these Jews. And who cares? Who stands up and fights for them? Can you name on non-Sefardic rabbi who has done so? One politician? One elite?  Outside of Ariel Sharon (may he become well), I can't think of any. Can you?

Chabad Theology & 770 Lawsuit Both Back In News

The Forward reports on the lawsuit over control of the main Lubavitch synagogue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn:

…There probably would not have been a protracted lawsuit if it were not for the fact that the views of the young vandals coincided with the elected leaders, or gabbais, of the religious congregation in the basement of 770.

In his affidavit, the lead gabbai, Rabbi Zalman Lipskier, wrote that “the real issue in dispute involves conflicting views on how our faith views the passing of the Grand Rebbe Schneerson and whether or not at this time he may be referred to publicly as the Messiah.”

Lipskier and the other gabbais were chosen most recently in a 2005 election that was open to Lubavitch community members in Crown Heights. The gabbais have long been able to control discourse in the synagogue because they have run the day-to-day affairs in the downstairs area of the building. For the lawsuit, they have submitted documents showing that they pay the electric bills and also that they have paid for the entryway in which the offending plaque was installed.…

A recent visit to the synagogue downstairs indicated the strong influence that the messianic gabbais have over the sanctuary. During the services, most worshippers joined in a spirited prayer that celebrated the rebbe as the messiah. On the northern wall of the sanctuary is a long banner that says “Live Our Master, Teacher, Rebbe King Moshiach Forever and Ever.”

“What does it mean, he is alive?” said Yitzhak Fuchs, a 47-year-old congregant who was standing outside in a worn suit.

“We learned the king messiah is not going to die. He is going to disappear, but he’s not dead,” said Fuchs, who, like many of the other worshippers, wore a small, yellow lapel pin with a crown and the word messiah in Hebrew.

The unanswered question at the core of the lawsuit is whether the global leadership of Chabad — men like Rabbi Yehudah Krinsky and Rabbi Yisroel Shemtov — actually disagree with Fuchs and the gabbais about the rebbe’s status as messiah.…

In the court case, the global leaders of Chabad avoid commenting on the messiah issue, and state that the matter to be settled is one of real estate and not religious dogma…

In the basement at 770, the fervent messianists appear to be carrying the day for now. Despite repeated attempts to install a new plaque [mentioning the Rebbe's death, not his "disappearance"], the only sign of it today is a gap in the wall, with messy streaks of plaster. In the middle of the gap is a brown stone that was originally put there by the rebbe. As men walk into the synagogue at all hours, they touch the stone and kiss their fingers.

As many of us have pointed out, there are no clear statements from Chabad so-called anti-messianist leadership stating that the Rebbe is not the messiah, and I have yet to meet a shaliach (Chabad representative) who would say the Rebbe is not the messiah. The Forward piece quotes Rabbi Dr. David Berger who believes the real division in Chabad today is over whether the Rebbe "died"* and will reappear as the messiah or whether he has simply "disappeared" and will reappear as the messiah. *[But this death is not viewed as death is in the wider world. See here for an example of this.]

As usual, Berger has missed the forest for a tree. The anti-messianists say the Rebbe died only because death is how the world understands what happened to the Rebbe. Saying the Rebbe did not die or is still alive makes the movement look bizarre and hurts fundraising and outreach. But privately, these people do not refer to the Rebbe as deceased in the way the world understands death.

For their part, the messianists don't play those games. They believe the Rebbe is still alive and did not die, did not experience death – and they say so.

The difference between the two camps is only over how to publicly deal with the event they refer to as Gimmel Tammuz (the date of the Rebbe's passing).

The Forward itself errs when it describes 770 as the Rebbe's "home." (Although it could be argued the Rebbe lived there after his stroke.) It was the home and office of the Previous Rebbe, and the home of his older son-in-law Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary and his family. It became the Rebbe's office when he took over leadership of Lubavitch after his father-in-law's passing.The Rebbe and his wife had a home on President Street a few blocks from 770.

Read the entire Forward piece here.

Rabbis and "Rebellion"

Something to consider, a plan of action of sorts, for haredim. Rabbi Berel Wein writes:

…In the 18th century in Vilna, during the lifetime of the famed Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Eliahu Kramer, a bitter dispute between the rabbi of the community, Rabbi Shmuel Avigdor, and the lay leadership occurred. The issues that led up to this struggle were in retrospect minor and mainly personal. Nevertheless, Avigdor insisted upon asserting his rabbinic authority prerogatives and the community leaders refused to accede to his instructions and wishes. In the ensuing escalation, both sides issued bans of excommunication against each other and the entire situation spun well out of control.

This struggle lasted for decades, with the behavior and tactics employed by both sides deteriorating into the bizarre. After more than 30 (!) years of dispute, the parties finally reconciled, at least on a pro forma basis, but Avigdor died soon afterward, exhausted by his battle to assert his rabbinic authority over a difficult and rebellious community undergoing the changes wrought by modernism and the Haskala.

The lay leadership took its revenge on Avigdor - and rabbinic authority generally - by refusing to name another official rabbi in Vilna for the next 170 years until forced to do so by the Polish authorities in the early 1920s. As a further act of disgrace, they placed a large rock on the official seat of the rabbi in the main synagogue of Vilna, signifying the permanent rejection of rabbinic authority over them.…

I suggest our rocks be inscribed on both sides with these words, "No Penetration, No Abuse."

VIDEO: Paparazzi At Kotel Harass Leonardo DiCaprio & Israeli Girlfriend

New Huckster Kabbalist?

Israel's newest "hot" kabbalist and outreach guru, Rabbi Shimon Dahan, is a man worth paying attention to – not because he should be followed, but because he should be monitored. Here a few choice quotes from an interview the "tzaddik" recently did. The comments in square brackets are mine:

Question: Rabbenu, who are the Netunei Karta that meet our enemies?

Answer: In Aramaic, Netunei Karta means 'the guards of the wall'. They are originally from Hungary. I believe that their thinking will break and we will be united into one Degel (flag) - Degel of HKB'H. The government of Israel also meets with the enemies, although they do it in secret. Netunei Karta do this to attract attention. They love the Jews but want attention - it doesn't mean they are not good. If you go to their homes, they will invite you in, open their homes and hearts.

[The "tzaddik" clearly equates the government of Israel with Neturei Karta. He also believes NK are good Jews.]

Question: Is it true that there are treasures of the Bet HaMidash in Rome, Italy?

Answer: Yes. They are placed in the Roman Pope's dungeons. A Roman Ceasar wrote in a bood that they took the treasures of the Bet HaMidash, and the proof for it is the picture embedded in Rome's gates of the Romans carrying the Menorah (there were many Menorot in the Bet HaMikdash). In Tripoli, Libya, there was a family friend who was friendly with the Pope and once, when they played Chess, he won him. The Pope told him he can ask him for anything. The friend said "I want to see the treasures of the Bet HaMidash". The Pope agreed and he went down to the dungeons to view the treasures of the Bet HaMidash, he saw what he saw but a tremendeous light blinded him, till today.

[For a sane, scholarly approach to this long-running urban myth, please see here. In short, the vessels are not in the basement of the Vatican.]

Question: What about the virus that recently got exposed?

[This is the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that has killed many imunosuppressed people in Israeli hospitals over the last few months. It is unrelated to Influenza A or Bird Flu. The story of this terrible outbreak was just published last week.]

Answer: I spoke about the virus 30 minutes before it reached the public ear thru the media*. The fears will be cancelled when Moshiach comes. The fear comes from lack of fear from HKB'H. If you fear HaShem, there is no fear of atomic bombs or flus. For instance, a shepherd - why does a shepherd take a dog to help him to take care of the sheeps? The dog gives the sheep fear, and the fear causes the sheep to stay close.

*"...Today, there is danger of deadly bacteria flu plagues, it is worse than the atomic bomb. It can kill minimum 30, 40 million people - it is very quickly transferred from person to person. Sometimes virus plagues are hidden and people die without explanations in less than a minute. Scientists are more afraid of flu plagues than atomic bombs. Saying the Ktoret Samim prevents all virus plagues".

[Here the "tzaddik" is clearly speaking about infections like Influenza A and Bird Flu, not the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections plaguing Israeli hospitals. Yet in a clear bait-and-switch he conflates the two and takes credit for "foreseeing" these antibiotic-resistant infections.]

Question: Rabbenu, how did you get the knickname "The Rav who foresaw the Tsunami"?

Answer: For almost 20 years after Shabbat Mincha, I've been giving a shiur. Probably, thru the Limud (learning), it came in to my mind thru the Kedusha of Shabbat. I said what I said, and that's how it became popular.

Here is another choice quote from his English language website:

The autistics were asked how can this generation be saved? They all unanimously answered "Do Chesed" - this will be your link to be saved.

[This is clearly a reference to the discredited "facilitated communication" scam that took in many haredim during the 1990s. Rabbi Dahan apparently believes this facilitated communication is real.

Here is what Britain's National Autistic Society says about FC:

…Nevertheless, experimenters have over recent years built up a useful body of research. Howlin (1997) in her review of 45 controlled trials of FC involving over 350 subjects found confirmation of independent communication in only 6% of subjects. In more than 90% of cases the responses were found to be influenced unwittingly by the facilitators rather than the clients.

Bebko, Perry and Bryson (1996) found some evidence of independent communication in nine (of 20) subjects. However, among students who were capable of responding independently, their responses were worse under facilitated conditions than they were unsupported.

Meanwhile in the United States, in an unprecedented move, five major national professional bodies have now adopted a formal position of opposing the acceptance of FC as a valid mode of enhancing expression for people with disabilities. These bodies include The American Association on Mental Retardation, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

The research review on educational interventions commissioned by the Department for Education and Employment (Jordan, Jones and Murray 1998) concluded that it would be hard to justify further research on FC. There has already been a large number of anecdotal and ethnographic case study reports detailing the technique's supposed benefits, followed by an even greater number of controlled scientific studies, all showing that the phenomenon fails to materialise once facilitator effects have been controlled.

Mostert (2001) in his review of studies into FC since 1995 confirms that their conclusions support those of earlier studies that claims are largely unsubstantiated and that its use as an intervention for people with communication impairments should not be recommended.…]

Is this guy a fraud? I think Rabbi Dahan is himself mislead (or delusional) and really believes his own PR. What do you think?

Memorial For 4,000 Ethiopian Jews Who Died On Way To Israel Inaugurated

Ynet reports:

"I have no idea where my mother is buried. Now I will be able to unite with her memory and the memory of my brother," Yaakov Gonchel, 29, who immigrated to Israel from Ethiopia in 1982, said Wednesday.

More than two decades after a large wave of immigration from Ethiopia arrived in Israel, a memorial commemorating the 4,000 members of the community who perished on the long journey to the holy land was finally inaugurated in Jerusalem.

The memorial was erected with the help of the Immigration and Absorption Ministry.

"This took many years, during which many people have not had a proper opportunity to mourn," Gonchel explained.

The mass departure of Ethiopian Jews from their country as part of the "Moshe Operation" began in 1983, when thousands started moving clandestinely towards the Sudanese border. During their journey and stay in temporary camps in Sudan they endured murders, rapes, diseases, robberies and hunger.

Some 8,000 were flown from Sudan to Israel in the framework of the "Moshe Operation".

Uri Rada, chairman of the Ethiopian Jews Remembrance Fund, who lost his mother on the journey to Israel, told Ynet: "This was a kind of holocaust for the Ethiopian community. Most of us don't talk about it to this day, because this is a very emotionally charged subject for the community."…

The number of EJs that tried to reach Sudan in 1983-84 is probably closer to 14,000. Hundreds died on the way, hundreds more in the refugee camps, and several thousand died trying to walk back to Sudan after Operation Moses was halted by the Sudanese government after leaks in the Israeli and American media. Those leaks are directly traceable to the highest levels of the Israeli government. Operation Moses stopped on Friday January 5, 1985 after then-PM Shimon Peres held a press conference confirming the airlift while nonsensically asking people not to talk about it. Sudan killed the airlift moments after Peres stopped speaking.

It is worth noting that the NY Times and Boston Globe both had the story of the airlift more than a month earlier. They held their stories on the direct request of the US State Department, convinced that publishing meant killing Jews. The Washington Jewish Week was then tipped by a person close to the Israeli leadership. It refused the Stae Department's plea and published the story. The NY Times and Boston Globe were furious, and published their stories. The airlift did not end because President Ronald Regan upped the amoiunt of bribe money the US was paying the Sudanese leadership. As long as Israel did not officially acknowledge the airlift, the Sudanese had enough cover to let the airlift continue. That is why Peres called his press conference, whose only possible purpose was to derail the airlift. Thousands more EJs died horrific deaths as a result of Peres' actions.

A lesson to be learned here is that the airlift succeeded because the US paid for them and backed them with the entire weight of the US Government, and that publicizing the airlift endangered lives.

Now imagine the airlift had worked this way: EJs airlifted from Sudan and taken to hotels in Cyprus, where they would have lived for a few days while undergoing a conversion process. From there, the EJs would have been flown to Israel. What kind of publicity would have been generated by dropping off starving, disease-ridden Africans in the middle of Cyprus (or Rome, another suggested location)? The airlift would have been leaked earlier and more EJs would have died as a result, probably along with a few Israeli agents.

Yet this insane plan (one, it must be stressed, that the government of Cyprus – and the Italian government – would not agree to) is the plan pushed by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein in his responsa to me. When I received Rav Moshe's answer, I told him this would never work, that the plan was impossible. His response was that we should try and that it should be our first resort.

There is a lot one can say – little of it good – about the judgement of someone who suggests this type of Rube Goldberg behavior. (As, indeed, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef points out about Rav Moshe, in language no more polite than mine.) Yet Rav Moshe wanted them all rescued. He wanted them all educated in Orthodox Judaism lest they be lost to the Jewish people, and he forbade discrimination against them, especially discrimination based on skin color.

But the bottom line is clear. Many Ethiopian Jews died unnecessarily because of the actions of other Jews, and even more would have died if haredi rabbis had been followed. And, of course, almost no one cares about any of this.

Halakhic background on Ethiopian Jews can be found here. The Rebbe's letter to me on rescuing Ethiopian Jews is here, along with other documents of interest. Agudath Israel's attitude toward rescue can be seen here. And an interesting tidbit on haredim and Holocaust rescue is here.

More Bush Administration Corruption Exposed

How did those 8 US Attorneys get fired? Like this:

Administration officials said then-White House counsel Harriet Miers had suggested to Sampson two years ago that the Justice Department fire all of the nation's 93 U.S. attorneys.

That was immediately rejected. "I felt that it was a bad idea," Gonzales said. The White House approved the idea of dismissing a smaller group, the officials said.

The eight prosecutors were fired last year after Bush spoke to Gonzales about complaints that some of them were not energetically pursuing voter-fraud investigations, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Of course, those complaints were about alleged Democrat voter fraud – complaints that originated with sitting Republican officials. Worse yet, Meyer's was Bush's candidate for the Supreme Court. Attorney General Gonzales has accepted "responsibility" for this travesty, but has refused to resign. For his part, our crony and chief calls Gonzales "a standup guy."

For more on this sickening affair, listen to the PBS report linked here.

Assault In 770

VosIzNeias is reporting an assault in the main Chabad synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The Hatzolah ambulance service was called to the scene. Do any of you know the details? If so, please post them below.

UPDATE, 7 a.m.: So far, it seems this was a mugging. The victim apparently walked to 770 from the crime scene a few blocks away after the thugs left.

NETUREI KARTA LEADER SEVERELY BEATEN BY HAREDIM IN AUSCHWITZ

The JTA reports:

A fervently Orthodox Austrian Jew who embraced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly was assaulted by a group of Israelis in Poland. Ma'ariv reported Monday that Moshe Aryeh Friedman, who attended the Holocaust denial conference hosted by Ahmadinejad in Tehran in December, was spotted while visiting the former Auschwitz and Birkenau camps over the weekend. A group of fervently Orthodox Jews from Israel also touring the sites set upon Friedman, who was born and raised in Monsey, N.Y.

"We gave him a good beating, the kind we have not given in a long time," a member of the Israeli group, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, told Ma'ariv. "We took off his coat and hat, so he would not look like a Jew." According to the newspaper, Meshi-Zahav, who is one of the founders of the Israeli volunteer emergency service ZAKA, was later honored with a special Torah reading in the synagogue.

Well, there are two ways to look at this, both troubling. The first, quite simply, he deserved it. He really did. Going to Auschwitz after covorting with Iran's Hitler-wannabe at a conference denying the Holocaust is too much for most of us to take.

But is street thuggery and violence the answer to NK's vile theology? I don't think so.

The second is to look at who did the beating – a group, led, it seems, by notorious Israeli haredi street thug Yehuda Meshi-Zahav. These are the same thugs who beat dissenters on the streets of Mea Shearim and Beitar Illit.

Haredi society is violence prone in large part because it has no formula for dissent, no way to express, debate and reason through divergent views – even views far milder and much less reprehensible than those expressed by Neturei Karta. Perhaps that is the lesson to learn from this disgusting affair.

Professor Menachem Friedman wrote a paper on contemporary haredi violence. Here it is as a pdf download:

Download Haredi-Violence.pdf