FailedMessiah.com

Forward Story On Rubashkin Nominated For Prestigious Loeb Award

… given for best business writing. The piece, an exposé, In Iowa Meat Plant, Kosher ‘Jungle’ Breeds Fear, Injury, Short Pay, was written by Nathaniel Popper and deals with worker abuse at the Iowa plant that produces Rubaskin's, Aaron's Best, David's, Shor HaBor, Nathan's and other brands of glatt and non-glatt kosher meat.

Let's hope Popper wins this award. Let's also hope Rubashkin and his rabbis finally do real, certified and independently verified teshuva.

Women Cantors – How Halakha Evolves

…The Shira Hadasha Synagogue in the German Colony of Jerusalem is defined as an equal opportunities Orthodox institution. Women chant from the bima and serve as cantors where Halachah rules that even small children can serve as a shaliah tzibur (messenger for the public). Only when texts are viewed as sacred, men serve as cantors.

"Every time I go to Shira Hadasha, I'm deeply moved," said Dr Aliza Lavi of the Bar Ilan University, author of the book "Women Singing."

"It is wonderful to see and hear women, mothers and daughters, chanting together. After all, we are going back to our roots. In the 12th and 13th century, women were cantors in European synagogues. There were even women who were hired to pray for others because they spoke and understood the language."

There is something in a woman's voice that awakens the hearts and sets the minds on prayer mode, said Lavi. She does not mind the ban on women's voices. We need to examine who imposed the ban, she said, what did they want to uproot for good, and what happened to the wise men who viewed women as threats.

I have not researched this yet but, if women did serve as cantors (hazzanim, shalicha tzibbur) during the time of the Ba'alei Tosofot, Orthodoxy's gonna have a lot of explaining to do. What do you all think? Readers?

More Rubashkin Related News

This week's Kosher Today responds to two readers – one who also a frequent visitor here – who criticized the publication for not disclosing the financial relationship between its editor, Menachem Lubinsky, and Agriprocessors and the Rubashkin family:

"...and we remind two readers who contacted us about last week's Agri
story that both this publication and I do have a historical bias when
it comes to protecting the supply of kosher food, especially meat. I
have gladly represented them as a professional marketer in the past and
have the highest trust in our kashrus agencies and government agencies,
so nothing new there!"

This issue isn't up on the web yet. The above quote was left as a comment to this post by Chaim Yankel, one of those two readers, who noted:

Well, well... it IS something new to the vast majority of KT readers
that had zero idea that the author of the articles was on Agri's
payroll.

Understand this well: Lubinsky has worked as a paid consultant for Rubashkin. His duties included dealing with parts of the PETA scandal and other Rubashkin troubles. Yet, writing in his industry trade publication in defense of Rubashkin, he does not disclose this relationship until outed.

This is what Orthodoxy is today. Dishonest, rotten to its very core.

Meanwhile, writing (belatedly) on the latest NY Times coverage of the Conservative Movement's Hechsher Tzedek, YLove sides with the Orthodox rabbis who have assailed the Hechsher Tzedek:

…From R' Chaim Ozer Grodzienski to the Chofetz Chaim to today's Orthodox leaders, the idea of "interdenominational cooperation" within the various Jewish "denominations" is largely eschewed at worst, and severely curtailed at best. With the possible exception of anti-missionary campaigns, there is virtually no issue regarding Jewish observance that will get the "denominations" -- which range in belief from "personal autonomy" and "decide your own laws" to "do not depart from your ancestors' ways in the slightest" -- to "agree upon." And indeed, this was a primary if not the main issue when when the Jewish Press ran the article in January:

In December 2006, a call came from outside the sphere of Orthodox kosher certifiers for a tsedek heckscher or justice certification that would ensure that kosher food producers “have met a set of standards that determine the social responsibility of kosher food producers, particularly in the area of worker rights.”
The [Orthodox Rabbinical Organization] views the suggestion as an attempt by those outside the observant community to infiltrate and dilute the existing framework of kashrus certifications.

I am right there with my esteemed rabbis on this point.
These things need to be addressed by the haredi communities themselves.…

I could not disagree more. The Orthodox world has proved itself incapable of handling this and many other issues. Only "outside" pressure – be it from Conservative rabbis or, better yet, the Federal government – will ever bring change.

But YLove isn't blind to the reality around him:

…Are we really unable to enforce -- either practically or economically -- the Shulchan Aruch's definition of "legal obligation"? There is no concept of "you shall not assist a EEOC law violator" in Jewish Law, but there IS a recurring theme of ein mesaye'in l'ovrei aveirah - you are not supposed to assist a sinner in the commission of his sin.

Would we buy free porn for masturbatory teenagers? Would we offer "free fill-up on premium for all getaway cars"? Obviously not. We do not give people additional sins or "beef up" people's already-being-committed sins.

While external, nebulous "standards" derived from "verses in Deuteronomy" do originate from "alien impositions" as the Jewish Press Op-Ed piece stated (apparently), my fear is that we could create an environment where, for the food service industry, the entire Choshen Mishpat, the entire body of Jewish civil and labor laws, is effectively relegated to irrelevance and impertinence.…

If we can get food lelo chashash tevel orlah u'shvi'is, we should be able to get food lelo chashash gezel, oshek v'ribbis. Ha'meivinim yavinu v'yaskilu.

Well said. But YLove misses (or skirts) a fundamental point – haredi society is a thugocracy. It is run by thugs (a.k.a., kanoim) and despotic, often elderly rabbis who behave like Sudanese warlords as often as not. Change ain't gonna come, Yitzchok, until transparency and democratic governance comes to haredi society. When's that gonna happen? It rhymes with ever, my friend.

All Haredi Teachers To Be Paid At Level Of Non-Haredi Teachers With College Degree

In Israel, people are paid based on the level of education they aquire. This means two people doing the same job and performing at the same exact level will be paid differently if one has a B.A. degree and the other does not. Haredi schools that get government money follow (at least on the books) this regulation, and haredi teachers without B.A. degrees in education or related fields get paid less.

A few years ago, programs were opened that catered to haredim seeking education degrees, and many haredim, mostly women enrolled. This year, haredi leaders, led by Rabbi Yosef shalom Elyashiv, banned women (or men) from attending these programs and from getting college degrees. They also shut down the Beis Yaakov school system, putting thousands of girls on the street, as way of forcing the government to change its regulations and pay haredi teachers a higher salary, even though they lack credentials.

The government used to allow haredim with a "B.A. equivalent" to be paid the same as a teacher in other school systems with a real B.A. But this was not enough for Rabbi Elyashiv. Why? Because he wanted to keep haredi women away fom higher education. And so, we now have this:

…Until now, teachers with an academic degree earned higher salaries. The Education Ministry had long granted the same salary increase to Haredi teachers who had a "bachelor's equivalent," but now, even this will not be necessary: All graduates of Haredi seminaries will be paid as if they had a bachelor's, as long as they teach only in Haredi schools.

The ministry also canceled the rule that instructors in Haredi teachers' seminaries must have an academic degree. Instead, instructors will now be required only to have "expertise" in their subject.

To be deemed "experts," they will need to have teaching experience in their field and take 720 hours of supplementary classes.

Of these supplemental classes, however, 180 hours can be devoted to Jewish subjects rather than whatever field the instructor is actually teaching.

In addition, all the supplemental classes will be taught by Haredim, and the Rabbinical Education Council will have to approve the curricula.

The agreement followed months of negotiations that began after leading Haredi rabbis shut down the Beit Ya'akov chain of teachers' seminaries for two months and forced it to cancel its academic degree programs, dismiss some of the staff and accept rabbinic supervision of its curricula.

That move elicited a storm of criticism from independent Haredi newspapers, but has now essentially been ratified by the Education Ministry.…

In other words, a haredi "science teacher" will take one or two semesters of science classes taught by other haredim with a ciriculum censored by the haredi rabbinic leadership. This is like having Rev. Jerry Falwell's followers write, teach and supervise the science education of public school science teachers. And all of this is being done by Ehud Olmert, who is busy trying to ensure haredi participation in his coalition so it can survive the anticipated withdrawal of the Labor Party after its new election results are finalized. Here is how Olmert's government tries to spin this disgraceful issue:

…Sarah Ziv, who heads the ministry's teacher training department, insisted that the changes were merely "semantic."

"An academic degree is a red flag for the rabbis," she said. "But our flexibility [on this issue] is a semantic matter; it is not very substantive. The requirement is that every lecturer have an appropriate education; the issue of the degree doesn't matter that much." …

Please.

But the deal is not done yet. Why? Haredim want more. What do they want? This:

…The only issue still under negotiation is certification for guidance counselors.

Thus far, the ministry has refused to waive its demand that counselors take psychology courses and study issues such as prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse among teens.

Yup. Just want you want. "Guidance counselors" with no knowledge of psychology or alcohol and drug abuse.

Rather than foster positive change in haredi society, the policies of successive Israeli governments generally promote the most regressive elements with haredi culture. This is disasterous for both haredim and the people of Israel.

Haredi poverty continues to deepen and widen as haredi men still largely refuse to work. Haredi leaders encourage separation from wider society even in things benign. Haredim neither fight to defend the country or do social service to make up for that deficiency. Even in times of war, haredim sit on the sidelines, content to let others less regreeive fight and die to protect them. secular and non-haredi religious Jews pay for haredi slothfullness with their cash and their blood.

I do not believe Israeli society cannot continue to function this way for much longer. Something must be done to change the status quo. Do you have any thoughts on this? Readers? 

New Revelations About The Lubavitcher Rebbe

Apparently timed around his 70th birthday, Ha'aretz has feature about Professor Menachem Friedman, the noted scholar and expert on Israeli ultra-Orthodoxy, haredim. The piece contains some new revelations about Chabad, and some old truths not often publicized, including [and I quote here, with minor editing for clarity]:

1. In order to preserve the family's distinguished lineage, there were many marriages within the family; these often led to the birth of mentally and physically handicapped children.
2. The Rebbe himself had a mentally ill brother, Dov Ber, who was murdered by the Nazis in the Ukrainian hospital where he was hospitalized, and his memory has been obliterated from the history of Chabad Hassidism. [This is the "young boy" the Rebbe saved from drowning. He was walking with DB on the edge of a river or lake (I don't recall which). The Rebbe became distracted and DB jumped in. DB could not swim. The Rebbe heard screams from others who saw DB sinking. The Rebbe realized his brother had jumped in, and went in after him and saved him.]
3. Another brother of the Rebbe's, Aryeh Leib, turned secular, but Chabad followers tend to portray him as a very pious and righteous man.
4. Chabad Hassidim claim that Rabbi Menachem Mendel studied at the University of Berlin. After lengthy research by Friedman and others, the Rebbe's name was found in a list of people auditing classes at the university. It turns out that during his six years in Berlin (1926-1932), the Rebbe studied philosophy and mathematics for a semester and a half.
5. A similar search in Paris revealed the legend that the Rebbe had studied medicine and engineering at the Sorbonne was also far from the truth. In fact, he studied electrical engineering at Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics, du Batiment et de l'Industrie (ESTP).
6. Why no book from Friedman on Chabad? Because the hasidim blocked access to two archives: Despite the considerable effort invested, Friedman has yet to publish the book. "There were all kinds of excuses I told myself," he says, "such as, I have more pressing and important studies to work on, but the truth is that I didn't feel sure enough to publish the book. The Hassidim blocked access to several of their important archives, and I felt that without those archives, the work wouldn't be accurate. I had excellent material and I felt that I had indeed found the story of this life, and still I was concerned." [Those archives would include the main Chabad library and archive in Brooklyn, the one that the Rebbe claimed in a court deposition belonged to "all hasidim." He also claimed the library needed to be kept intact to allow scholars access, rather than have it broken up and sold. He made these claims to keep Barry Gourarie, the only grandson of the 6th rebbe, from inheriting the books and the archive materials. Chabad regularly denies access to the materials or allows selective access under tight supervision.]
7. Friedman heard the Rebbe [who died childless] was afraid to bring children into this world because of the "precedent" of his mentally ill brother.
8. According to a rumor among Chabad Hassidim, the Rebbe had a child who died young.
9. There was a power struggle after the 6th rebbe's death between the older son-in-law, Shmaryahu Gourarie, and the younger son-in-law, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. MMS was named Rebbe, but not before there was a sharp clash between the two camps in the year following the 6th rebbe's death.
10. Even after his selection, the widow of the previous rabbi did not accept the choice and "did not allow the Rebbe to set foot in her house and also did not agree to give him the Riyatz's shtreimel [fur hat]. That is how the custom began of the Rebbe wearing a fedora instead of a shtreimel."

Realize this: The Rebbe lived in Berlin on community money sent by his father-in-law. He was there for almost six years, supposedly in university. His total attendance? A semester and a half, about six months total. He was in Paris for almost nine years, according to the Ha'aretz calculation. He also supported there by community funds sent by the 6th rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson's father in-law. He got what amounts to a two year junior college degree in Electrical Engineering. He did not work in either Berlin or Paris.

People who knew the Rebbe and his wife in those days have claimed that neither behaved like hasidim. Some have said they did not behave like observant Jews. The material Chabad makes public about those days is based on testimony from people who saw the Rebbe a handful (or fewer) times in all those years, often at a public event or place where the Rebbe knew he would be seen by Orthodox people. But the Rebbe did not live in a Jewish neighborhood in Paris, and café owners and others there and in Berlin who saw the daily life of the Rebbe and his wife have a different, more interesting story to tell.

Read the whole article here.

Haredim Stone MO Jews In Jerusalem

A Modern Orthodox guy drives with his family through a haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem 20 minutes after Shabbat has ended. Haredi kids try to wreck the car by stringing rope across the street. (Remember the Burt Reynolds movie, The Longest Yard? Remember the very tall guy who played Lurch the butler on the Addams Family t.v. show? He clotheslines a guy in the Longest Yard, and then happily says, "I think I broke his f**king neck!" That is what these haredim tried to do to this MO guy's car.)

The MO guy sees the rope in time and narrowly averts impact. Then, a few days later on motzoie Shavuot, a few minutes after the holiday is over, the MO guy and his family drive through the same haredi neighborhood, down the same street. This time the haredi kids stone the car, breaking a window and narrowly missing one of the family.

A co-worker tells MO guy that the previous motzoie Shabbat, he drove that same route, did not see the rope in time, and damaged his car.

MO guy points out that the government closes that street, Rehov Yirmiyahu, at great inconvenience to the secular population, every Shabbat and holidays. This is what the haredim wanted. They got it. Why the rocks after Shabbos when the street has already been reopened to traffic? Why the clothesline? Where are these kids' parents? Their rabbis? Their neighbors and families?

What do you think? For my part, I think that much of the haredi world views non-haredim as somehow less Jewish, even as not Jewish at all. I've heard Jerusalem haredim actually say this about secular Jews, and I think this belief has become almost widespread in that community during the last few years as the community has radicalized even further in reaction to modernity pressing in on them from all sides. And non-Jews are little more than animals to some (note the word here: "some") of these haredim. That attitude is becoming even more pervasive.

It used to be rocks were thrown to "defend" Shabbos. Now they are thrown to "attack" "goyyim." The change in attitude may be subtle, but that change does not bode well for our future.

Jews who "defend" Shabbos by throwing rocks may not hate secular Jews. Jews who throw rocks to stake out turf, to push around "the goyyim," do hate other Jews.

What can be done about this? I really don't know. Do you? Do you have any suggestions? Readers?

Evolution Treife?

Writing in Ynet, Yitzhak Kakun complains about the 'secularization' of Shavuot that is becoming increasingly common in Israel. Secular Israelis gather in lecture halls and theaters to listen to and participate in discussions about Jewish history, Zionism, the origin of the universe, etc. Kakun does not like this because he considers these gatherings to be perversions of Judaism, and Orthodox rabbis who participate in them to be traitors:

…The Shavuot tikkun popular with the “enlightened” secular public is a desecration of what is holy, on the day of the receiving of the Torah. We sometimes see people with a kippah on their heads (and not necessarily Reform Jews) who attempt to give their stamp of approval by participating in discussions at an illusory tikkun.…

Of course, some of what bothers Kakun bothers me, as well – especially the admixture of Eastern polytheistic religious thought with Judaism, something that occurs at a minority of these gatherings, usually linked to the rave scene. But Kakun is upset with more than Zen Judaism:

So why do they find a reason to attack our Jewish roots at the lectures they give on this holy night in particular? Is the night of Shavuot intended to teach us Darwin’s doctrine of evolution? In fact, the opposite is true.

This is truly the heart of his argument. Evolution is treife because it appears to contradict the written Torah. Therefore, understanding the origins of life – a topic that takes up a good chunk of Genesis – is forbidden. That there are Jewish sources dating back almost 2000 years which speak of a world much older than 6000 years, and a history much more complex than a surface reading of Genesis gives, is lost on Kakun.

Kakun's view, which is shared by haredim (Rabbi Slifkin book bans, etc.), is closer to fundamentalist Christianity than to traditional Judaism. It is a view that asks us to abandon rational thought and simply believe. No mainstream Jewish movement has ever asked this. The idea of suspending rational thought is foreign to Judaism. Today, acceptance of that foreign concept has become a benchmark for Orthodox belief. How strange.

Win A Free Book

Name what you believe to be the top five Jewish-written and themed short stories of all time. (Note to Mis-nagid: Biblical texts are not up for consideration.) Post your list in the comments to this post (or email me; the link is on the right sidebar of this page).

The best list (chosen subjectively by the prize committee, i.e., me) will receive a prize as yet to be determined, probably a current Jewish-themed book, perhaps Nathan Englander's The Ministry of Special Cases. (The winner will have some say in what the prize is.)

The contest closes Friday, June 1, 2007, at 8 pm CDT.

In order to win, you'll have to have a valid email address (and, once notified of your prize, you will need to provide valid contact and shipping information in a timely fashion). If the winner cannot be contacted, the prize *may* be awarded to someone who can be reached.

Good luck!

The Story Behind The Story Of Nathan Englander's New Book

Nathan Englander's new book, The Ministry of Special Cases, deals in part with the Jewish children of prostitutes and pimps in Buenos Aries. The Zwi Migdal Association was a white slavery operation run by Jews. It took poor young Jewish girls from the shtels and small towns of Eastern Europe and brought them to Argentina to work as prostitutes. The girls most often thought they were to be maids or nannies. Ynet has a piece on a new nonfiction book dealing with Zwi Migdal, and gives even more background, but doesn't mention Englander's book, probably because the book is not out in Hebrew yet.

[Hat Tip: KK.]

Popular Nahariya Rabbi Arrested For Sexual Abuse

Ha'aretz reports:

The arrest of a popular Nahariya rabbi for allegedly committing indecent sexual acts was made public Thursday, after a judicial gag order was lifted.

Rabbi Shimon Gerlick serves as rabbi of the Nahariya hospital as well as rabbi of the city's Amidar neighborhood.

Police arrested him three weeks ago after an 8-year-old girl and 30-year-old woman accused him of indecent sexual acts. Police extended the remand of the rabbi twice before putting him under house arrest last week.

A 15-year-old girl came forward and issued a third complaint against the rabbi while he was under arrest, police said.

The 8-year-old, who was escorted to the police station by her family, said that when she was five she visited synagogue where the rabbi took her to a secluded area and sexually abused her.

The 30-year-old, who is married, said the rabbi sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions. Once when she came to him for counseling at the hospital and another time when she met him at a shop in the city. In her testimony she said that in both incidents Gerlick took her hand and placed it on his crotch.

The 15-year-old testified that she met the rabbi near one of the synagogues in town where he committed indecent acts.…

The Pope's Favorite Rabbi

Guess who?

Shavuot

The Revelation at Sinai – fact or fiction? Discuss …

Imam – Breastfeeding From Co-workers Frees Adults From 'Yihud' Laws

The Jerusalem Post reports, somehow without wetting its collective pants:

Al-Azhar University, one of Sunni Islam's most prestigious institutions, ordered one of its clerics Monday to face a disciplinary panel after he issued a controversial decree allowing adults to breast-feed.

Ezzat Attiya had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, saying adult men could breast-feed from female work colleagues as a way to avoid breaking Islamic rules that forbid men and women from being alone together.

In Islamic tradition, breast-feeding establishes a degree of maternal relation, even if a woman nurses a child who is not biologically hers. It means the child could not marry the nursing woman's biological children.

Attiya - the head of Al-Azhar's Department of Hadith, or teachings of the Prophet Muhammad - insisted the same would apply with adults. He argued that if a man nursed from a co-worker, it would establish a family bond between them and allow the two to work side-by-side without raising suspicion of an illicit sexual relation.

[Hat Tip: Peter the Great, who notes this is something that – finally –  makes our haredi gedolim look good. Personally, I kind like the idea … Ladies?]

The Dishonesty Of Menachem Lubinsky & Kosher Today

Menachem Lubinsky is a paid mouthpiece for Agriprocessors and Rubashkin. Lubinsky writes and edits Kosher Today, the kosher food industry's "trade paper," and covers controversies at Agriprocessors. But Lubinsky does not disclose past or current relationships with Agriprocessors and Rubashkin. This is, to say the least, deceitful and unethical. But this is Orthodox Judaism and the kosher food business, and ethics and truth do not seem to be on the radar screen of those who make, distribute or consume kosher food.

Lubinsky has a hit piece this week, reprinted in full below after the jump, 'exposing' the Forward's "crusade" against Agriprocessors. In brief, here are Lubinsky's main points in Rubashkin's defense:

1. Other companies have been sued by workers for the exact same reason workers are now suing Agriprocessors. The Forward fails to mention this in their report.
2. The government monitors and regulates treatment of workers. That is enough supervision to ensure fair treatment.
3. Non-kosher plants are worse.

Let's deal with Lubinsky's points in order:

1. Yes, the Forward does omit this fact. But by omitting the fact it omitted a very strong point against Agriprocessors – the workers won those other lawsuits.
2. If government supervision is enough to ensure workers are fairly treated, it should follow logically that government supervision is enough to ensure food is free from non-kosher ingredients in countries like the US that have strong labeling laws. Therefore, it should be that any food marked, for example, Vegan, should be kosher for Jews to consume even without kosher supervision. I suggest you all follow Lubinsky's logic and start to buy products that have no kosher supervision but list no non-kosher ingredients on their packaging. If it's fair to trust the government to deal with worker abuse, even though many Jewish laws dealing with worker abuse are biblical (d'orita), then certainly it is okay to do the same with food, where most of the applicable law is rabbinic.
3. Even if this were true – and there is no indication that it is; in fact, with Agriprocessors, the opposite may very well be true – it does not make it kosher. Two wrongs simply do not make a right.

A reader forwarded this letter he sent to Kosher Today:

I have read with interest the article in today's Kosher Today regarding the ongoing issues at Agriprocessors in Iowa. It is most interesting to me however, that not once in your 'coverage' was there any mention that your editor-in-chief, Mr. Lubinsky, has also acted professionally on behalf of Agriprocessors, handling some of their PR needs and placing some of their advertising. Some of that work may have actually been done in regard to this labor issue and to counter the reporting of the Forward.

This is truly troublesome to me, a kosher consumer and member of the orthodox community, that this has not been disclosed to readers. There are many Halachos, Jewish Laws, relating to honesty and this seems to fall very far outside the norm.

Now, not only has this story been covered in the Jewish media, but it is now in The NY Times, quoting material from your weekly newsletter as industry gospel, without such knowledge that the author is/has been on the payroll of Agriprocessors, specifically in a PR capacity.

Please explain how this can be rectified, so as not to continue to mislead the Kosher Today, and broader, readership.

Of course, Lubinsky has been called on this before, including here. Neither he nor the companies and rabbis he works with have ever tried to rectify this gross ethical lapse. Clearly, they do not believe conflicts of interest need to be disclosed.

(You can also add this to list of things the NY Times' Samuel G. Freedman missed in his coverage of Agriprocessors worker abuse and the Conservative Movement's Hechsher Tzedek.)

Agriprocessors and its rabbis broke Humane Slaughter law. Agriprocessors also broke EPA regulations and, it seems, OSHA regulations. It also broke the National Labor relations Act. During all of these offenses, one class of people have been overwhelmingly silent about Agriprocessors failings while loudly defending the company and the Rubashkin family from "attack." That class of people? Orthodox rabbis, many of whom profit from Agriprocessor's business.

Tuesday night is Shavuot, the "anniversary" of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The Torah prohibits much of the worker and animal abuse Agriprocessors has been accused of. These are biblical offenses. Yet our rabbis remain silent.

All the drashot and speeches about accepting the yoke of the Torah are meaningless if the Torah's representatives stand silently by while the poor and weak suffer. They make a mockery out of God's Torah, and they make a mockery out of Judaism.

Perhaps this Shavuot is the time to make your rabbi own up to his responsibility. If he does not, make sure you find a different synagogue to go to this coming Shabbat.

[Hat Tip: Chaim Yankel.]

Free Book On Chabad

The Elder just sent me an extraordinary email with a link to M. Avrum Ehrlich's website, where he has a complete pdf copy of his book, Leadership In The Habad Movement available for free download. I think this is Ehrlich's best book to date on Chabad, and it's well worth reading.

He seems to have new book on Chabad in the works, as well.

Update 12-31-2014 – Ehrlich's website is no longer functioning. So here's the book as a PDF file:

Download Leadership in the Chabad Movement by M. Avrum Ehrlich

On False Messianism

Stephen M. Tolany, once a frequent commenter on the old Protocols blog, wrote a piece for the YU Commentator about two years ago debunking Chabad messianism. It's a solid, well-argued piece that is also brief enough to easily read. I don't have Tolany's contact information, so I'm posting this under the Fair Use Doctrine. You can read why the late Rebbe cannot be the messiah, after the jump …

A Messianic Lag BaOmer In Queens

Chabad ran an outreach event for Lag BaOmer in Queens, NY. A reader sent me these pictures from that event. He noted that he had no idea the event was messianist until after he paid his money and showed up with his kids. You can click on the pictures to enlarge.

The above photograph shows a messianic picture of the late Rebbe next to the "Third Temple," with 770 Eastern Parkway as part of the Temple "edifice."

This is a closeup of the picture of the late Rebbe from the photograph above this one.

[Hat Tip: The Elder.]

NYU Jewish Academic Issues Anti-Sefardic Slur

NYU professor and noted Dead Sea Scroll scholar Lawrence Schiffman repeated an anti-Sefardic slur at a talk in Minneapolis yesterday. With regard to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's decision finding Ethiopian Jews to be Jews, Schiffman said:

No rabbi who can read a European language would believe Ethiopian Jews are Jewish.

While the above is a paraphrase, because I was ill and not there when Schiffman spoke, it matches with what I have been told by others over the past several years who have heard Schiffman repeat this ethnic slur. So much for the "Jewishness" of Lawrence Schiffman.

[And, lest you think think Schiffman is referring to the language of available scholarly material, much of that scholarly material is available in Hebrew. Some of it was, in fact, first published in Hebrew, in Israel.]

Most Israeli Sefardic rabbis speak only or primarily Hebrew. (Some, especially older rabbis, speak Arabic, as well. Others speak some French, especially if they spent some years in France.)

Schiffman also said Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled Ethiopian Jews to be non-Jews. This is false. Rav Moshe ruled that there is a doubt (sofek) about their status, and that relying on the Radbaz, who in the 16th century dealt with Ethiopian Jews and considered them to be Jewish, is problematic because it is unclear how much the Radbaz really knew about them and, even if he ruled correctly, there is a real question about intermarriage taking place since the time of the Radbaz.

Rabbi Yosef rips Rav Moshe's teshuva apart, as rabbis often do in Shu't literature. (See Yabi'a Omer, vol. 8 Even Ha-Ezer no. 11 for Rabbi Yosef's main ruling.)

Schiffman claims that Rabbi Yosef did not understand the Radbaz and that anyone who does understand the Radbaz's rulings would not think Ethiopian Jews are Jews. When he does this he makes fools out of Rav Kook, Rabbi Hildesheimer and dozens of other leading rabbis throughout the years who read the Radbaz exactly as Rabbi Ovadia Yosef does.

Schiffman also uses selective scientific evidence to bolster his case. He notes the DNA evidence against Ethiopian Jews, but does so without noting the scientists who did that research object to it being used in the way Schiffman uses it. At the same time, Schiffman fails to mention the Lemba, a tribe of black Africans now in South Africa who have a tradition of being Jewish. They also have much DNA evidence to support that claim, including prevalent "Cohen" DNA that often matches those they consider kohanim.

Schiffman believes Ethiopian Jews derive from an early medieval Yemenite Jewish family that crossed from Yemen into Ethiopia and mingled with the local populace. This may in fact be true. But the oldest explanation for Ethiopian Jews comes from the Ethiopian Jews themselves. An early legend of theirs says that, when Solomon's kingdom split after Solomon's death, the ancestors of the Ethiopian Jews, Danites, fled to Egypt rather than fight in a civil war. They then migrated progressively southward, perhaps joining with other Egyptian Jews, eventually (about 1500 years later) ending up in the mountains of Ethiopia. Because we have no way to do DNA testing on what are now the 10 Lost Tribes, we do not know how or if this Danite hypothesis would play out. There are also scholars who believe the Danites were actually an amalgam of Canaanite populace and sea peoples, and this explains, in part, the "two-state" partition of Danite land.

Schiffman also quotes a book (I don't have the name but the author *may* be Waldman) published in Israel that Schiffman says shows the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson held Ethiopian Jews are not Jewish. But see the Rebbe's letter here where the Rebbe refers that question to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, and where the Rebbe says clearly that he, the Rebbe, is not a posek (one who decides Jewish law).

Schiffman is also responsible for the NYU "scholarly" conference on the late Rebbe. Schiffman barred anyone with largely negative views of Schneerson from participating. The conference was funded by noted Chabad-supported George Rohr, and co-chaired by an open messianist and another academic, this one a Chabad flunkie who wrote a book about Chabad years ago. Despite All Odds was pitched by Chabad. The publisher agreed. Chabad selected the author. So much for academic integrity.

At any rate, one thing here should be clear, no matter your views about Chabad or Ethiopian Jews – Lawrence Schiffman is a bigot.

Rabbi J. David Bleich's overview of the halakhic situation of Ethiopian Jews, current to approximately 1980, can be read here.

Mars Candy Treife?, Part 5: Mars Gives In To Vegetarian Pressure, Returns To Microbial-Derived Whey

Reacting to immense pressure brought by vegetarians, Masterfoods Great Britain has decided to return to microbial-derived whey. Ha'aretz reports:

…Earlier this month, the British-based company began using rennet in many of its chocolate products including Snickers, Milky Way and Twix. The move infuriated vegetarians and generated a flood of complaints.

Though the London Beth Din had issued a ruling that the products would remain kosher, the announcement is welcome news for many local chocolate lovers. According to reports, the Israeli rabbinate remained wary of the new animal-derived ingredient and was considering revoking its seal of approval if British firm Masterfoods, which produces the chocolates, continued its plans.

"We made a mistake. We apologise," the company said in a statement on its Web site. "The consumer is our boss. Therefore we listen to you and your feedback. Therefore we commit to you today, that we at Mars UK will ensure that a selection of your favorite brands Mars bars, Snickers bars, Galaxy and Maltesers, will be suitable for vegetarians in the near future. To this effect we are starting to change our manufacturing process today."

Of course, Masterfoods did not begin using "rennet" in its candy last month; it began using whey derived from a cheese-making process that used animal rennet, as opposed to what it had used previously and will be using again – whey derived from microbial rennet in the cheese-making process. Other ingredients are also animal derived or animal – milk, the whey itself, cream, butter, etc. From a kosher perspective, the more proper term for the "problematic" whey would be "non-vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian derived."

That being said, from my (primarily) vegetarian perspective, I'm glad the whey is again microbial-derived.

[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

The NY Times On Rubashkin, Conservative Hechsher Tzedek

Rabbi Morris Allen

Samuel G. Freedman has a piece in today's NY Times profiling Rabbi Morris Allen and the Conservative Movement's Hechsher Tzedek. Freedman mentions the allegations against Rubashkin, but does not mention any related information. He does not mention the PETA scandal (and the NY Times broke that story), does not mention the EPA scandal, does not mention Aaron Rubashkin's related legal troubles, National Labor Relations Board decisions, or the like. It is as if the issue of worker abuse had dropped from the sky. Freedman does not even mention Rubashkin's documented recruitment of illegal workers (see Stephen Bloom's book Postville for details).

Freedman mentions Rabbi Asher Zeilingold (the rabbi who "excommunicated" me), but does not mention Zeilingold's fake OSHA report, first exposed here.

The Times is notably gun-shy about covering crime in the haredi world. Is Freedman's piece an example of this? Is it simply sloppy journalism? Or is it "lite" coverage, fluff, a puff piece?

I do not know. But I'll tell you this much – Rubashkin and his rabbis have little to fear from the New York Times, if Freedman's reporting is a taken as a benchmark.

Gerrer Rebbe Declares War …

…on home computer use. Ha'aretz reports:

…Every Gerrer Hasid with a computer can expect a house call in the near future, meant to persuade him to get rid of the treyf device. Those with an Internet connection - the height of spiritual contamination, which only a few members of the community have rabbinical permission to use, and that for work purposes only - will receive special attention.

The purpose of the campaign is not to threaten computer users with sanctions, but rather to explain the "spiritual dangers" to which they and members of their household are exposed. If the Gerrer rebbe so wished, members of the community say, he would have ordered the computers removed from his followers' homes. But the rebbe is not doing so, perhaps because he, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, knows how difficult it is to round up the horses once the stable door has been left open. And so, the campaign's purpose is informative: Every shtibl [small synagogue] is to appoint two people to go from house to house with the message that it is preferable not to have a computer at home.…

…For over a year, the Gerrer community has been following the fascinating battle in the courts of Gerrer Yisrael Ackerman, who is petitioning for the revelation of the identity of "Ploni Almoni" (the Hebrew equivalent of "John Doe"), who is also apparently a Gerrer. In 2004, Ploni Almoni posted an anonymous announcement on a Hasidic forum claiming that Ackerman beat up another Hasid, a nam [sic] named Levine, whom he suspected of disloyalty to the current rebbe.

The conventional wisdom in the community is that "Ploni Almoni" is one of a small group within the sect that questions the current leadership of the community, and that behind the lawsuit of Ackerman, the scion of a respected Hasidic family, are associates of Rabbi Alter. Many believe the legal battle is intended to deter community members from using the Internet, which can provoke the use of slander. On Heder Shaket and similar forums, one can easily find content that is critical of the Gerrer leadership.…

Mars Candy Kosher or Treife? Part 4

What is the rationale for ruling Mars candy – including Snickers, Mars Bars and Milky Way – kosher or treife? Remember, the candy's composition changed recently when Masterfoods, the parent company, began using whey derived using animal rennet. A reader in London sends us, via email, the London Jewish Chronicle's report:

… Rabbi Jeremy Conway, director of the London Beth Din’s Kashrut Division, declared the sweets “100 per cent kosher”.

Rabbi Conway said the authority had been “aware for many years that whey can be a by-product of cheese-making and that, even today, animal rennet can be used in cheese manufacture. Since whey derived from this source contains only trace amounts of rennet, it is permitted according to halachah [Jewish law].”

“Regardless of the source of the rennet used in the cheese, however, halacha allows the whey and its derivatives [such as lactose], as the amount of rennet left in the whey is negligible, probably parts per million.”

…Rabbi Hillel Royde, of the Manchester Beth Din… told the JC: “We don’t allow any dairy products without a hechsher [supervising authority licence] and all snacks have to have a hechsher. There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?”

Masterfoods … products on the London Beth Din’s approved list remain permissible….

Let me put this debate into real terms for you. The haredim that control the Manchester Beis Din do not care what the actual halakha is. Using whey derived from animal rennet is not a "leniency," just as using cheese so derived is not. The halakha is concerned about animal derived rennet because, in the case of cheese (but not in the case of whey) it is a considered a dvar maimid, the thing that causes the end product to exist. Yet, in halakha animal rennet – even so-called non-kosher animal rennet – can be used to make cheese, as long as some – even a minute amount – of the rennet used is from a kosher source, as well. This is called ze ve ze goram. Because cheese is a stand-alone product eaten alone, dvar maimid applies. Whey is not a stand-alone product eaten alone, so dvar maimid does not apply. This is the halakha. 

When Rabbi Royde says, "There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?,” what he means is, "I supervise other (more expensive) products that contain only vegetarian-sourced whey. This level of kashrut is better than the halakha requires. Why should you settle for regular kosher candy when you can have 'glatt' kosher candy?

Again, the amount of rennet in the final product is in the parts per million range. It is battel. Further, whey is a tasteless, inedible product that needs to be flavored to be eaten. It is a byproduct of the cheese making process and, until recently with the rise of the Atkins  and South Beach diets, was viewed as a waste product. High in protein, low in human usage, whey was often dumped or used in animal feed. It was used in food products, to be sure, but sparingly. 

The London Beit Din is following the halakha as it has been for at least 1000 years. The Manchester Beit Din is not. Period. End of story.

[Hat Tip: London Jewess.]

Messiah's House To be Demolished?

Seems so. And you can't blame Yudel for this one …

Conservative Rabbis 'Race' To The Rescue

The Conservative Movement is moving ahead with its Tzedek Hechsher, meant to supervise how kosher food producers and other related businesses deal with their employees. The Forward reports:

“If you haven’t been supervising for these issues, it’s not automatically going to happen,” said Rabbi Morris Allen, who has chaired the five-person committee. “Just like if you don’t supervise how a chicken is killed, it won’t necessarily be killed properly. What we are doing now is beginning to provide a means by which we can say, ‘We’re watching; this matters.’”

Allen’s committee is now in the process of planning a pilot program that may be used with select kosher factories. The committee is contracting with a consulting company that specializes in evaluating manager-employee relations. Allen said he hopes that the groundwork for the program will be complete by Rosh Hashanah, which falls in September.

The progress here is very slow, to say the least. The "groundwork" will be "completed" almost 1.5 years after this process began. God knows when, or if, these guys will ever supervise a real, live plant. But at least these rabbis recognize the problem:

“There shouldn’t be any Jew that isn’t concerned about this,” Allen said. “There has, until now, been a greater stringency in kashruth on the smoothness of a cow’s lung, and people have forgotten that the Torah also speaks about the safety of the worker.”…

“We have turned our focus from trying to fix one piece [Rubashkin] to trying to fix the entire industry,” Allen said. “We did one preliminary screen in which none of the major players in the kosher meat market did well on [Occupational Safety and Health Administration] reports.”

How have the Conservative rabbis impacted the problem? Not at all, it seems:

…The Conservative rabbis who visited the Postville plant issued a report in December, in which they said that “there are significant issues of concern at the plant, including issues of health and safety.”

At the time, the members of the Conservative committee said they were trying to work with the Rubashkins to change conditions at the plant, but there was little concrete movement on that front. Today, workers at the plant say that nothing has changed.

Hard to bring change shuffling paper, now isn't it? Well intentioned? Yes. Effective? Not even close.

Heschel would have been on a picket line. He would have organized boycotts. He would have inspired others. He would have demanded change. And he would have achieved.

These guys send each other memos and "lay groundwork." And they wonder why their movement is collapsing around them.

Another Reason Why Our Leaders Are Not Gedolim

From FamousRabbis.com:

…In Telz, Reb Eliezer [Gordon, the famed Rosh Yeshiva and communal rabbi] was also deeply involved in communal affairs, and the amendments he instituted there are indicative of his greatness of spirit and his mussar nature. At that time, matza bakeries employed men, women and even children during the day and throughout most of the night. Deploring this situation, Reb Eliezer issued strict orders to close all of Telz's matza bakeries by 11 p.m. His official reason for the order was that after that time the workers were too tired to maintain scrupulous kashrus standards. However, he told his family that his real purpose was to protect the workers from being exploited and overworked.

To enforce this order, Reb Eliezer ruled that any bakery owner who disregarded it would be deprived of his kashrus certificate. He disguised his true reason for issuing the law because at that time social welfare was not in vogue.

Seeing that storekeepers used worn and inaccurate weights and measures, he also issued an order requiring them to exchange their weights for new ones. To enforce this order, he personally inspected the weights of the market vendors, forbidding them to use the old ones even when non-Jewish customers made purchases. Reb Eliezer's son-in-law Reb Zalman Sorotzkin relates that when non-Jews came to Telshe's market, they would ask that their items be weighed on "the rov's scales."

Compare Rabbi Eliezer Gordon to the Rubashkins and their rabbis. Note the vast difference in morality?

Nu? Rabbis Sholom Mordechai Rubashkin, Heshy Rubashkin, Aaron Rubashkin, Menachem Genack, Tzvi Hirsh Weinreb, Gelly, Osdoba, Heller, Weissmandl, the Novominsker, Avi Shafran, David Zwiebel, etc. – what have you to say about this?

[Hat Tip: Daniel.]

More Rubashkin Trouble – Are You Supporting A Form Of Slavery By Eating Rubashkin Meat?

The Forward's Nathaniel Popper has filed a report on the newest troubles at AgriProcessors, the company that makes Aaron's Best, Aaron's, Rubashkin's, Shor HaBor, David's and other meat brands, including private label brands. The Forward's report confirms what I wrote here two weeks ago.

Workers sued AgriProcessors for refusing to pay them for the time it takes to clean and sanitize their equipment, to don safety equipment and the like. One month after filing that suit, Agriprocessors sent a letter to employees telling them that their Social Security numbers did not match numbers in the Federal system. If these workers could not rectify this situation by proving their numbers are correct, they would be terminated.

These workers are, for the most part, undocumented. Rubashkin not only hires these people – he recruits them, as is well sourced and documented in Stephen Bloom's book Postville.

The workers were allegedly told that, if they came back with new Social Security numbers they would be able to continue working, but would have to start at the bottom of the pay scale all over again.

The Forward also confirms the post I did about the National Labor Relations Board judgment against Rubashkin's Brooklyn facility. Rubashkin claimed that a vote to unionize was not valid because – suddenly, just after the vote! – Rubashkin noticed the workers were probably undocumented. How did he notice this? He searched the Social Security database to see if their numbers were valid. The NLRB found no merit in Rubashkin's claims, and decided for the workers and the union.

What Rubashkin is doing is knowingly employing and recruiting illegal workers and then using the workers' illegal status to pay them less and treat them poorly. It can be argued this is a form of slavery. Think about this carefully. Do you want to benefit from slavery? Is your glatt kosher steak or chulent worth that?

Here is an excerpt from the Forward's piece:

…The Conservative rabbis who visited the Postville plant issued a report in December, in which they said that “there are significant issues of concern at the plant, including issues of health and safety.”

At the time, the members of the Conservative committee said they were trying to work with the Rubashkins to change conditions at the plant, but there was little concrete movement on that front. Today, workers at the plant say that nothing has changed.

Morillo Jimenez told the Forward that the Rubashkins did say at one point during the past year that they would help workers straighten out their visas. He said this led many workers to stick around, but nothing ever happened.

“Things are almost exactly the same,” Morillo Jimenez said.

Among the original complaints reported by the Forward were those about the lack of pay for work performed at the beginning and end of the day. A Supreme Court decision in 2005, known as IBP v. Alvarez, affirmed past decisions that found companies to be responsible for paying workers to put on and take off protective gear — known in the business as “donning and doffing.”

The lead counsel on the lawsuit in Iowa, Brian McCafferty, said that workers at AgriProcessors are not being paid for anything other than the time that the production lines are moving. At lunch, the workers have a 30-minute unpaid break, but McCafferty said that, in practice, they get little of the break because they have to clean up before eating and then prepare again before working.

Murillo Jimenez, a named defendant in the class-action suit, said another problem at lunch is that the company provides only one microwave for the dozens of workers on break at any one time.

McCafferty said that the biggest of the alleged shortchanges comes at the end of the day.

“At the end of the day, you’re covered in blood and guts and you have to wash all of that off, and you have to wash all the equipment” he said. “According to our interviews, they’re not getting paid for any of that.”

McCafferty, who has led past successful lawsuits on the donning and doffing issue, said he believes that AgriProcessors may have to pay upward of $1 million in back pay.

Burillo and Lopez said that until now, the workers had put up with the short pay because they did not know any better.

“Here the people don’t know,” said Yovany Lopez, who de-veined beef at the plant. “They don’t know English or laws or how to read and write.”

Haredi Jews, Chabad hasidim with black fedoras and long black coats, Orthodox rabbis, take advantage of these people and exploit them. And they do it with the hechsher (imprimatur) of the Orthodox Union (OU), KAJ, Crown Heights Beis Din, Supreme Kosher (Rabbi Weissmandl), and many others.

Mars Bars Treife, Manchester Beit Din Rules

That's right – the apparently haredi Manchester, England Beit Din has ruled Mars candy treife because of an animal-derived ingredient that according to halakha is clearly battel. The London Jewish Chronicle will have the story in tomorrow's paper. You can read our earlier coverage of this insanity, as well as comment, here. (I'm closing the comments for this post for housekeeping reasons.)

[Hat Tip: London Jewess.]

Rabbi Dov Lior – Racist

Rabbi Dov Lior, the rabbi of Kiryat Arba is an ethically challenged individual. Never has this been more clear than today, when Rabbi Lior issued a ruling regarding refugees from Darfur who have fled to safety in Israel. First, Rabbi Lior's ruling:

Israel must not allow Darfur refugees into its territory or enable them to stay in the country, Kiryat Arba's rabbi Dov Lior said in a halachic ruling published on Arutz Sehva's website Wednesday.

"We are not currently in a state of peace. We are in a state of war, surrounded by enemies, and we don't know whether tomorrow they (the refugees) will join those who hate us," Rabbi Lior said. "Therefore, the State of Israel must not allow such a thing."

The rabbi added that the fact that Sudan fought against Israel during the War of Independence in 1948 was another reason why the refugees should be rejected.

Jews fleeing Nazi terror should not be allowed in Palestine, Britain or the US because Germany is an enemy state, we are all at war with Germany, and these Jews may one day turn against us.

Support Lior? Fine. Then also support the British Mandate authority and the Roosevelt Department of State.

Isn't Lior from a Chabad family? Does anyone know? Tell us in the comments. It would certainly make sense, given the Tanya's racist attitude.

I tried to find Rabbi Lior's ruling on the English-language Arutz Sheva website, but could not find it there. It's only up in Hebrew. Now why would that be?

She Saved 2,500 Jewish Children

A Polish woman saves 2,500 Jewish children in Warsaw during the Holocaust. She smuggles them out of the ghetto one by one, taking care to write their Jewish names and family information in code so they can be reunited with their parents after the war. She and about 20 helpers risk death every day. Eventually, she is captured and tortured, refuses to give the Nazis any information, is slated for death and then resuced by the Polish underground, which bribes a Nazi officer to list her as deceased. She gets out of Nazi custody and does what? Retire? Flee to a safer location?

No. She continues to save Jewish children, risking her life every day.

Irena Sendler is now 97 years old. She lives in a nursing home in Warsaw. There is a move – backed by many of the children whom she saved, along with the Polish Government and others – to nominate her for the Nobel Prize.

Irena Sendler was a socialist. And, like most of those she worked with to save these Jewish children, she was also a Roman Catholic.

Yad VaShem named her one of the Righteous Among The Nations in 1965. She could not travel to get her award because the then-Soviet-controlled communist government of Poland would not allow it.

Yesterday, she was honored by Poland's parliament.

What type of person is Irena Sendler? Here she is in a 2003 interview:

You risked your life to save the children.

I was taught by my father that when someone is drowning, you don't ask if they can swim, you just jump in and help. During the war, everyone was drowning, but mostly the Jewish children.

How did you convince parents to give up their children?

I had to answer honestly that I didn't even know if we would get past the guards.…

Did you tell your own two children what you did?

I never told them. Only when my daughter went to Israel did she learn all about me. I thought it was so normal that I was helping, so there was nothing to boast about. And it was a very painful subject. It was always on my mind that I couldn't do more.

Note this quote well:

What was the most frightening moment?

When I saw a priest in charge of an orphanage for Jewish children in the ghetto walk with them out to be killed. The children were in their best Sunday suits. The priest was killed with them.…

There are those who attack the Church for its alleged "role" in facilitating the Holocaust. These people base their opinions on evidence, to be sure, but that evidence is one-sided and often pre-filtered. That is why others including historians Sir Martin Gilbert and Rabbi David Dalin find much evidence to support the idea that the Church – including the Pope – did a lot to help Jews survive during the Holocaust.

Irena Sendler risked death. She did so every day for years. She is part of the evidence that supports the Church. She is an exceptional human being, a Raul Wallenberg, who deserves a Nobel Prize.

We cannot give her that. We do not control the Nobel committee. But we should give her something. If money were no object I would suggest a gathering of those she saved and their families, to be held in Warsaw. Or, perhaps, a sefer torah written in her name and placed somewhere special to all of us, like the Kotel (Western Wall).

So, I ask for your suggestions. What could we give Irena Sendler? What can we do for this saint? Readers?

You Are Not Jewish Anymore! Haredim Revoke Conversion Done 15 Yrs Ago – Woman's Children Ruled Non-Jewish

Israel's haredi-dominated state-sponsored rabbinic apparatus controls the personal lives of millions of Israelis. They cannot marry or divorce without it. Haredim continue to abuse that system and abuse the Israeli populace, as Rivkah Lubitch reports in Ynet:

A rabbinical judge ruled recently that a woman who converted to Judaism 15 years ago was no longer Jewish, and that her children, who were born after she had already converted, were also not Jewish.

Moreover, the judge stated that the woman's marriage was invalid, and that there was therefore no need to grant her a divorce.

The judge ordered that the woman, her children and even her husband, a Jew by birth, be added to the list of those not allowed to marry by an Orthodox rabbi.

Rachel (not her real name) converted 15 years ago in a special conversion court headed by Rabbi Haim Druckman. Following the conversion she married Boaz (not his real name), and they have lived in Israel ever since. There two children were brought up Jewish and Israeli.

Recently, the couple decided to get a divorce. They separated on good terms, reached a dignified divorce settlement and held a respectable divorce ceremony at the rabbinical court.

However, during the divorce process, one of the rabbinical judges decided to inquire a little further about Rachel's conversion, and asked her about her mitzvot observance. Displeased with the answer he received, the judge ruled that Rachel's conversion was null, and that subsequently her children were not Jewish too.

All conversions invalid 
Did the judge forget the Halacha ruling that states that a convert is a Jew in the full sense of the word? Where is the "love for the foreigner" Judaism prides itself in? Where are the compassion and morality?

The judge in fact ruled that all conversions signed by the special conversion court were invalid, because the court was headed by "heretics" and "criminals." [I.e., Modern Orthodox rabbis.] This ruling implies that the thousands of conversions conducted by such courts were unacceptable.

Rachel and Boaz decided to fight the ruling, for their sake and the sake of their children, but their personal battle also represents tens of thousands of people, who according to the new rules will discover that they are no longer considered Jews and are therefore unable to wed by an Orthodox rabbi or be buried in a Jewish cemetery.

Rivkah Lubitch is head of the Center for Women's Justice Haifa office. She is a rabbinical pleader with six years experience and has an MA in the history of the Jewish people

[Hat Tip: KK.]

UPDATE 5-17-07: The Center for Women's Justice tells me the rabbinic judge in question is Rabbi Avraham Atiya from Ashdod.

UPDATE 5-18-07: The Jerusalem Post confirms the Ynet story and adds the name of the judge – Avraham Attiya of Ashdod, as we reported earlier. It is clearly a political decision. Rabbi Attiya refers to Rabbi Druckman as "Het," ("sin") in his judgement. I'll post the JP story after the jump …

Mars Bars Not Kosher, Rabbinute Claims?

Just as the idea that sanity would dominate the issue of animal-rennet-derived-whey in Mars candies made in Great Britain, haredim at the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's office have stepped in to provide our daily dose of haredi-inspired stupidity. Ynet reports:

…“If they are using rennet, then this is a very, very serious problem,” said Rabbi Haim Lasri of the import department at the Chief Rabbinate.

“We approached rabbis abroad who are dealing with the matter, and it’s possible that kashrut will be granted in the future only if there is a change in the ingredients,” he added.…

This "rabbi" clearly is ignorant of the whey-making process and the candy-making process. He doesn't seem to understand the issue. He's heard the word "rennet" and gone into crisis mode.

I'm closing comments on this post for housekeeping reasons. You can comment on the original post here.

For more on why rabbis like Hiam Lasri make the mistakes they do, you can read this and comment there.

[Hat Tip: KK.]

Still Time To Vote

You can still vote in the JIB Awards. FailedMessiah is nominated for best Jewish Anti-Establishment Blog. Vote here.

Open Your Eyes And Learn How To See

I'm regularly surprised at how little Orthodox Jews – even haredim – know about the halakhic process.

Increasingly, even "rabbis" learn only surface applications of parts of Yorah Dayah and Shabbos. They don't learn poskim or look deeply into commentaries. (An exception to this are those who take and pass the Rabbinute's smicha tests, which are extraordinarily deep and difficult.)

Hasidic groups, especially Skver and Chabad, are notorious for this – but they are not alone. Many "heimishe" yeshivot are the same.

And OJs who do not study for smicha are even worse off.

A former teacher of mine was very close to Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. Early in his studies with him, Rabbi Auerbach decided a particular case in a very lenient fashion, and it suprised my teacher. Rabbi Auerbach explained the ruling and said (and I paraphrase here), "It is easy to be strict. It is very difficult to be lenient. My job is to do what is necessary to relieve the burdens of Jews, not to increase them." (This does not mean every case goes to kula.)

Most Jews have no understanding of that. They see halakha as black and white, and as a result are shocked and often disgusted and confused when they see how halakha really works.

Increasingly, major rabbinic figures in the haredi world are not true poskim. They are roshei yeshivot who primarily teach Talmud. They do not deal with piskei halakha on a deep basis. They also are largely divorced from the day to lives of Jews who do not sit all day and learn. Their halakhic decisions are increasingly strict and increasingly divorced from the real world.

As Rabbi Herschal Schachter noted, they err in critical areas, especially in how to deal with rabbis and others who sexually abuse children. They invoke inapplicable halakha – lashon hara laws, laws about honoring sages, and the like – and reach decisions that are disasterous for the Jewish community and for victims of rabbinic sexual abuse.

In kollel (where I learned but was not a kollel member), I once voiced strong disagreement with a rabbinic commenter who was clearly misconstruing a halakha and then using that error to reach a stringent decision. I pointed out the historical and other errors, and showed how his logic could not hold up to the facts at hand.

This upset kollel members who thought I was being disrespectful to this particular rabbi. I asked them to attack my logic and the facts. They could not.

I told them this type of mental gymnastics is fine, as long as it is done to help Jews, to make their lives easier. But it is wrong to do what that rabbi did in order to go to humra, to make Judaism more restrictive and more difficult to follow.

This was a new thought for these kollel men. Their years in Lakewood and its affiliate schools were spent for the most part learning Talmud. They learned little halakaha, and what they did learn was learned in the new style – "x says y but we hold like z." In other words, "There are two or three opinions. We hold like the one of them because big rabbi Ploni held that way. Next case." This is not how halakha is meant to be learned.

I think a large part of the rot that infuses Orthodoxy can be traced to the decision, made somewhere in the not too distant past, to learn halakha like it is an affinity group. "We hold x. Therefore you hold x or you are not part of our "'We.'"

While outside truths – science, modernity, humanism – have done much to weaken Orthodoxy, I believe it is damage from within that has done the most hurt.

On an Erev Shabbat in the not too distant past, the story goes, two Jews brought the same chicken to the local rabbi with a question – is this chicken kosher?

To the rich woman, the rabbi ruled non-kosher. To the poor woman he ruled kosher. Why two different rulings on the same bird? Because the rabbi's job was to decide with kindness, to make life easier for his people. The rich woman could afford another chicken. The poor woman could not.

Today, I think most rabbis, if faced with a similar question, would rule the mythical chicken non-kosher for both women. The rabbi might find some tzedaka money for the poor woman or he might tell her to face this chickenless Shabbos with mesirat nefesh, and make do with potatoes and halla alone.

The rabbi's skills at applying the halakha have atrophied because he has become dependent on a far away rosh yeshiva to decide cases. He views himself as part of an affinity group. He does not wish to exclude himself from that group by deciding in a way that group does not, even though his decision would be well within halakhic norms.

He also has to fear other members of his group who, on hearing his decision may very well challenge him and harass him.

It is a system that is far more likely to give a wealthy person a lenient decision. It fosters inequality. And it breeds rot.

If you're still Orthodox, go learn Yorah Dayah with all its commentaries, with hundreds of years of poskim. Learn to see the flow of halakha, to see the humrot for what they are and the leniencies for what they are.

Open your eyes and learn how to see.

It is the only chance Orthodoxy has to survive.

A Halakha Not To Follow

Rabbi Eli Monsour writes:

Is It Permissible For A Son To Treat His Father In The Case Where Blood Might Be Drawn

The Torah forbids causing a bloody wound in one's parent, or doing anything that results in the drawing of blood from a parent. The Rishonim (Medieval Halachic authorities) debate the question of whether this prohibition extends to situations where a son draws blood from his father for medicinal purposes. For example, may a physician perform an operation on his parent or draw blood for a blood test? This question arises in other situations, as well, such as if a parent wishes to donate blood, or if a parent has a splinter and asks the child to remove it, which often results in bleeding.

The Rambam (Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, Spain-North Africa, 1135-1204) held that in such situations, a child may perform the given procedure if nobody else is available to do so. By contrast, the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi, North Africa-Spain, 1013-1103) and the Rosh (Rabbi Asher Ben Yechiel, Germany-Spain, 1250-1327) held that under no circumstances may a child draw blood from a parent, even if nobody else is available. Despite the fact that the child seeks to draw blood for medicinal purposes, such as for a blood test or to remove a splinter, the Torah prohibition nevertheless forbids drawing blood from a parent.

The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Dei'a, 241:3; listen to audio for precise citation) rules that a child may not draw blood from a parent for medicinal purposes. The Rama (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, Poland, 1525-1572), in his glosses to the Shulchan Aruch, comments that where nobody else is available to perform the procedure it is permissible for a child to do so – in accordance with the Rambam's position. The Shulchan Aruch, however, makes no reference to such a distinction, indicating that he followed the stringent view of the Rif and the Rosh, forbidding drawing blood from one's parent even if nobody else is available to perform the required procedure.

Accordingly, Hacham Yishak Yosef (as cited in Yalkut Yosef – Laws of Honoring Parents, p. 539) ruled that it is forbidden for a child to draw blood from a parent for medicinal purposes, even if nobody else is available to perform the procedure. He added that this applies even if the parent granted the child permission to draw the blood.

Is it permissible for a child to shave his father's face? If, for example, the father is sick or elderly and cannot shave independently, may he ask his son to shave his face for him?

Hacham Yishak Yosef (ibid.) ruled that nowadays, when electric shavers are used, shaving is very unlikely to cause bleeding and it is therefore permissible for a child to shave his father's face. It is likewise permissible for a child to cut his father's hair. Hacham Yishak Yosef adds, however, that if the child uses a blade to trim the back of his father's neck, he must exercise particular caution to ensure not to cause any bleeding.

Similarly, it is permissible for a child to scratch his father's back, provided that he ensures not to cause bleeding.

If a person faints, Heaven forbid, is it permissible for his child to slap him on the face to wake him up?

Hacham Yishak Yosef (ibid. p. 553) ruled that since slapping does not entail any drawing of blood, a child may slap his father in such a case if nobody else is available to do so. If, however, there are other people available to wake the father, the son should ask them to slap the father rather than do so himself.

Summary: A child may not draw blood from his parent even for medicinal purposes – such as performing surgery, removing a splinter or taking blood for a blood donation or blood test – even if nobody else is available to perform the given procedure. A child may cut his father's hair, shave his face, or scratch his back, provided that he exercises caution to ensure that no bleeding occurs. If one's father fainted, he may slap his face to awaken him if nobody else is available to do so.

[Download as an MP3 file here.]

Here are the reasons why this ruling is foolish, misguided and dangerous:

1. Medieval medicine is not like medicine today. Our medicine is based on science, peer-reviewed studies, and on empirical  results. medieval medicine was largely based on hope and on anecdotal evidence.
2. Bloodletting – a discredited medieval procedure – is not halakhicly equivalent to laser surgery or an emergency appendectomy.
3. Allowing a parent to suffer or die when one could save their life by operating is not an act of piety – it is an act of murder.
4. Halakha always defers to saving life unless one of the three so-called cardinal mitzvot are involved. Not causing a parent to bleed is not one of those three halakhot.
5. The Rif and the Rosh, who both ruled against allowing a child to draw blood of a parent, did so when bloodletting was bloodletting and not modern surgery. They can be excused, so to speak, for being stringent at a time when medicine was an absolute crap shoot. If they lived today, I hope both would side with the Rambam and allow a son to perform emergency surgery and the like on a parent in need. Hacham Yitshak Yosef, who does live today, cannot be excused on those grounds – or any other, for that matter.
6. Note that, of the three opinions quoted, only the Rambam had medical training and knew the science of his day. The Rosh and the Rif did not. (The Rosh can be said, jokingly, to be the first haredi because he largely opposed secular knowledge. The Rif himself was hostile to Spain's "modern Orthodoxy" and worked to instill "haredi" values there.)
7. Doctors, medics and emergency personnel – do not follow Hacham Yitshak Yosef on this matter. He is wrong on several grounds and his dangerous ruling should be ignored.

Is This "Kabbalist" A Fraud? An Abuser?

A comenter writes about this man, a "kabbalist" rabbi:

…He refuses to give his wife a Jewish Get (divorce) becuz he wants the house, even though he already has 2 houses, one in Tel Aviv and the other in Bat Yam. She's aguna for over 7 years. He abused her terribly emotionally and physically. His 4 sons will have nothing to do with him, they are totally seculars. His so-called kabbalah Yeshiva contains less than 5 students... He loves women, many women, especially blonds, seculars, rich, and married... He tricks them into sleeping with him by claiming he can save them. When I first met him, I was married and secular...

At first he is very charming and charasmatic, but when you get to know him a little more, you run away as far as possible…

Can anyone confirm these allegations or disprove them?

Another Baltimore Rabbi Sex Abuser?

UOJ posts the following email from Phil Jacobs of the Baltimore Times:

During the investigation of the late Rabbi Ephraim Shapiro, the name coming up perhaps "second" in the conversations was more often than not that of Rabbi Moshe Eisemann.

I would like to move ahead with the investigation of this Ner Israel rabbi and teacher.
However, the sensitive, triggering nature of this sort of interview process is understandably difficult.
For anyone who would come forward and consent to an interview, I would guarantee anonymity. And as I have with the survivors of Rabbi Shapiro and Shmuel Zev Juravel, I have absolutely shared the articles giving the survivors license to edit prior to publication. That will continue with anyone who comes forward in the Eisemann case.

My concern is the safety of the survivors. Whatever it takes to tell their stories and maintain that safety is given highest priority.

I can be reached at 410-468-2711 or [email protected]

I have a source who was close to Rabbi Eisemann and defended him vociferously several months ago when initial allegations against him surfaced. Today he tells me most of the allegations are true.

Rabbi Eisemann still lives on the Ner Israel campus but does not teach in the school. That does not stop children from visiting his house and does not prevent his access in other ways to children. Yet the leaders of Ner Israel seem to think they have done enough to protect the children under their care and other children, as well.

Baltimore's rabbis did not go to the police. Rabbi Eisemann is still free and able to abuse.

What type of message does this send to Rabbi Eisemann's victims? To others who have suffered abuse at the hands of different rabbis? It says your life matters less than the life of the rabbi abuser. It also says, "Do not call police."

There is a rot in the haredi world. It is pervasive and deep. It destroys children. It destroys souls. And it carries the hechsher of the rabbis who lead us. Kosher poison, courtesy of an Orthodox rabbi near you.

Mars Candy In England Now May Have Animal-Derived Ingredient – Is The Candy Still Kosher?

The Telegraph reports Mars candies and ice cream, including Mars Bars, Snickers, Bounty, Minstrels, Celebrations chocolates, Mars ice cream, Tracker nut bars and Magic Stars made in England may contain animal-derived whey:

Vegetarians who have learned to live without roast beef dinners and bacon sandwiches were yesterday forced to make another major sacrifice: chocolate.

It came after the makers of Britain's most popular chocolate bars, including Mars, Snickers, Maltesers and Milky Ways, admitted that they now contain an ingredient derived from a cow's stomach.…

This month, Masterfoods began using animal rennet to produce the whey needed for its products, rather than a vegetarian alternative. Rennet is extracted from the stomach-lining of slaughtered newborn calves, and is used in traditional cheese production in central Europe. In Britain a microbial alternative made from mould is used.….

Paul Goalby, the corporate affairs manager at Masterfoods, told the Mail on Sunday: "Since changing the sourcing of our ingredients we are no longer able to ensure our chocolate will be animal rennet-free. So we made the principled decision to admit it was not guaranteed to be vegetarian. If the customer is an extremely strict vegetarian, then we are sorry the products are no longer suitable."

Questions:

1. Does the candy remain kosher or does the source of the rennet treife the product?
2. Does it matter if some of the rennet used is microbial?
3. Does the animal-derived rennet create a basar b'halav problem?

Leave your answers in the comments section.

My initial thoughts are as follows:

1. The rennet bears less resemblance to a cow's stomach that leather does to a cow, and leather is pareve.
2. The rennet is so heavily processed that it is dry like dust and hard like wood, and should, therefore, be pareve.
3. It has no (good) taste and is not consumed as food, so it should not change the kashrut status of food.
4. Ze ve ze goram should apply. If some of the rennet used is microbial, the candy should remain kosher, perhaps (note this word: perhaps) even if some batches of candy use microbial rennet and some use animal-derived rennet.
5. Cheese was, until the 20th century, normally made with animal-derived rennet because the technology for making rennet from "grasses," as mentioned in Jewish sources, was not well-known. The vast majority of cheese consumed by Jews – frum Jews – was made with animal-derived rennet, often made in the actual stomach of a slaughtered cow. The normative halakha that crystallized sometime in the 1300s (I'm guessing at the time; this might have happened a bit earlier or a bit later) was to allow cheese made from "non-kosher" rennet only if "some" (i.e., not necessarily the majority, just some amount) of the rennet was derived from a kosher source, animal or microbial. This shows two things: First, there is no basar b'halav issue with animal-derived rennet used to make cheese or whey. Second, the addition of any amount, no matter how small, of kosher derived rennet makes the cheese kosher by a legal fiction – the idea that this small amount of kosher rennet can be said to have made the cheese, or that the larger portion of non-kosher rennet could be said to be lacking the strength to make the cheese by itself, the final strength coming from the kosher rennet.
6. In our case, the rennet makes whey, a tasteless product that – unlike cheese – is not eaten by itself. It simply is not palatable unless mixed with flavorings and/or sweeteners. Its role in candy-making is to add some chewiness and mouth-feel, as well as some protein. It is unnecessary to the process; the candy can be made without it. Whey was until very recently the unwanted byproduct of cheese-making. It was used in animal feed, in protein supplements, and some foods, to be sure, but much of it was simply put in storage and then dumped. A product like this cannot be treife.
7. Therefore, the candy remains kosher.

[Hat Tip: The Beadle.]

UPDATE 5-15-07:

Just as the idea that sanity would dominate the issue of animal-rennet-derived-whey in Mars candies made in Great Britain, haredim at the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's office have stepped in to provide our daily dose of haredi-inspired stupidity. Ynet reports:

…“If they are using rennet, then this is a very, very serious problem,” said Rabbi Haim Lasri of the import department at the Chief Rabbinate.

“We approached rabbis abroad who are dealing with the matter, and it’s possible that kashrut will be granted in the future only if there is a change in the ingredients,” he added.…

This "rabbi" clearly is ignorant of the whey-making process and the candy-making process. He doesn't seem to understand the issue. He's heard the word "rennet" and gone into crisis mode.

For more on why rabbis like Hiam Lasri make the mistakes they do, you can read this and comment there.

[Hat Tip for the Update: KK.]

UPDATE 5-17-07: The apparently haredi Manchester, England Beit Din has ruled Mars candy treife, even though normative halakha follows the approach I outlined, and even though the (MO) London Beit Din ruled the candies kosher. The London Jewish Chronicle will have the story in tomorrow's paper.

[Hat Tip for this Update: London Jewess.]

UPDATE 5-18-07: What is the rationale for ruling Mars candy – including Snickers, Mars Bars and Milky Way – kosher or treife? Remember, the candy's composition changed recently when Masterfoods, the parent company, began using whey derived using animal rennet. London Jewess sends us, via email, the London Jewish Chronicle's report:

… Rabbi Jeremy Conway, director of the London Beth Din’s Kashrut Division, declared the sweets “100 per cent kosher”.

Rabbi Conway said the authority had been “aware for many years that whey can be a by-product of cheese-making and that, even today, animal rennet can be used in cheese manufacture. Since whey derived from this source contains only trace amounts of rennet, it is permitted according to halachah [Jewish law].”

“Regardless of the source of the rennet used in the cheese, however, halacha allows the whey and its derivatives [such as lactose], as the amount of rennet left in the whey is negligible, probably parts per million.”

…Rabbi Hillel Royde, of the Manchester Beth Din… told the JC: “We don’t allow any dairy products without a hechsher [supervising authority licence] and all snacks have to have a hechsher. There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?”

Masterfoods … products on the London Beth Din’s approved list remain permissible….

Let me, Shmarya, put this debate into real terms for you. The haredim that control the Manchester Beis Din do not care what the actual halakha is. Using whey derived from animal rennet is not a "leniency," just as using cheese so derived is not. The halakha is concerned about animal derived rennet because, in the case of cheese (but not in the case of whey) it is a considered a dvar maimid, the thing that causes the end product to exist. Yet, in halakha animal rennet – even so-called non-kosher animal rennet – can be used to make cheese, as long as some – even a minute amount – of the rennet used is from a kosher source, as well. This is called ze ve ze goram. Because cheese is a stand-alone product eaten alone, dvar maimid applies. Whey is not a stand-alone product eaten alone, so dvar maimid does not apply. This is the halakha.

When Rabbi Royde says, "There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?,” what he means is, "I supervise other (more expensive) products that contain only vegetarian-sourced whey. This level of kashrut is better than the halakha requires. Why should you settle for regular kosher candy when you can have 'glatt' kosher candy?

Again, the amount of rennet in the final product is in the parts per million range. It is battel. Further, whey is a tasteless, inedible product that needs to be flavored to be eaten. It is a byproduct of the cheese making process and, until recently with the rise of the Atkins and South Beach diets, was viewed as a waste product. High in protein, low in human usage, whey was often dumped or used in animal feed. It was used in food products, to be sure, but sparingly.

The London Beit Din is following the halakha as it has been for at least 1000 years. The Manchester Beit Din is not. Period. End of story.

[Hat Tip: London Jewess.]

UPDATE 5-20-07: Reacting to immense pressure brought by vegetarians, Masterfoods Great Britain has decided to return to microbial-derived whey. Ha'aretz reports:

…Earlier this month, the British-based company began using rennet in many of its chocolate products including Snickers, Milky Way and Twix. The move infuriated vegetarians and generated a flood of complaints.

Though the London Beth Din had issued a ruling that the products would remain kosher, the announcement is welcome news for many local chocolate lovers. According to reports, the Israeli rabbinate remained wary of the new animal-derived ingredient and was considering revoking its seal of approval if British firm Masterfoods, which produces the chocolates, continued its plans.

"We made a mistake. We apologise," the company said in a statement on its Web site. "The consumer is our boss. Therefore we listen to you and your feedback. Therefore we commit to you today, that we at Mars UK will ensure that a selection of your favorite brands Mars bars, Snickers bars, Galaxy and Maltesers, will be suitable for vegetarians in the near future. To this effect we are starting to change our manufacturing process today."

Of course, Masterfoods did not begin using "rennet" in its candy last month; it began using whey derived from a cheese-making process that used animal rennet, as opposed to what it had used previously and will be using again – whey derived from microbial rennet in the cheese-making process. Other ingredients are also animal derived or animal – milk, the whey itself, cream, butter, etc. From a kosher perspective, the more proper term for the "problematic" whey would be "non-vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian derived."

That being said, from my (primarily) vegetarian perspective, I'm glad the whey is again microbial-derived.

[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

Just as the idea that sanity would dominate the issue of animal-rennet-derived-whey in Mars candies made in Great Britain, haredim at the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's office have stepped in to provide our daily dose of haredi-inspired stupidity. Ynet reports:

…“If they are using rennet, then this is a very, very serious problem,” said Rabbi Haim Lasri of the import department at the Chief Rabbinate.

“We approached rabbis abroad who are dealing with the matter, and it’s possible that kashrut will be granted in the future only if there is a change in the ingredients,” he added.…

This "rabbi" clearly is ignorant of the whey-making process and the candy-making process. He doesn't seem to understand the issue. He's heard the word "rennet" and gone into crisis mode.

For more on why rabbis like Hiam Lasri make the mistakes they do, you can read this and comment there.

[Hat Tip for the Update: KK.]

UPDATE 5-17-07: The apparently haredi Manchester, England Beit Din has ruled Mars candy treife, even though normative halakha follows the approach I outlined, and even though the (MO) London Beit Din ruled the candies kosher. The London Jewish Chronicle will have the story in tomorrow's paper.

[Hat Tip for this Update: London Jewess.]

UPDATE 5-18-07: What is the rationale for ruling Mars candy – including Snickers, Mars Bars and Milky Way – kosher or treife? Remember, the candy's composition changed recently when Masterfoods, the parent company, began using whey derived using animal rennet. London Jewess sends us, via email, the London Jewish Chronicle's report:

… Rabbi Jeremy Conway, director of the London Beth Din’s Kashrut Division, declared the sweets “100 per cent kosher”.

Rabbi Conway said the authority had been “aware for many years that whey can be a by-product of cheese-making and that, even today, animal rennet can be used in cheese manufacture. Since whey derived from this source contains only trace amounts of rennet, it is permitted according to halachah [Jewish law].”

“Regardless of the source of the rennet used in the cheese, however, halacha allows the whey and its derivatives [such as lactose], as the amount of rennet left in the whey is negligible, probably parts per million.”

…Rabbi Hillel Royde, of the Manchester Beth Din… told the JC: “We don’t allow any dairy products without a hechsher [supervising authority licence] and all snacks have to have a hechsher. There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?”

Masterfoods … products on the London Beth Din’s approved list remain permissible….

Let me, Shmarya, put this debate into real terms for you. The haredim that control the Manchester Beis Din do not care what the actual halakha is. Using whey derived from animal rennet is not a "leniency," just as using cheese so derived is not. The halakha is concerned about animal derived rennet because, in the case of cheese (but not in the case of whey) it is a considered a dvar maimid, the thing that causes the end product to exist. Yet, in halakha animal rennet – even so-called non-kosher animal rennet – can be used to make cheese, as long as some – even a minute amount – of the rennet used is from a kosher source, as well. This is called ze ve ze goram. Because cheese is a stand-alone product eaten alone, dvar maimid applies. Whey is not a stand-alone product eaten alone, so dvar maimid does not apply. This is the halakha.

When Rabbi Royde says, "There is so much available with a hechsher, why should we resort to looking for leniencies?,” what he means is, "I supervise other (more expensive) products that contain only vegetarian-sourced whey. This level of kashrut is better than the halakha requires. Why should you settle for regular kosher candy when you can have 'glatt' kosher candy?

Again, the amount of rennet in the final product is in the parts per million range. It is battel. Further, whey is a tasteless, inedible product that needs to be flavored to be eaten. It is a byproduct of the cheese making process and, until recently with the rise of the Atkins and South Beach diets, was viewed as a waste product. High in protein, low in human usage, whey was often dumped or used in animal feed. It was used in food products, to be sure, but sparingly.

The London Beit Din is following the halakha as it has been for at least 1000 years. The Manchester Beit Din is not. Period. End of story.

[Hat Tip: London Jewess.]

UPDATE 5-20-07: Reacting to immense pressure brought by vegetarians, Masterfoods Great Britain has decided to return to microbial-derived whey. Ha'aretz reports:

…Earlier this month, the British-based company began using rennet in many of its chocolate products including Snickers, Milky Way and Twix. The move infuriated vegetarians and generated a flood of complaints.

Though the London Beth Din had issued a ruling that the products would remain kosher, the announcement is welcome news for many local chocolate lovers. According to reports, the Israeli rabbinate remained wary of the new animal-derived ingredient and was considering revoking its seal of approval if British firm Masterfoods, which produces the chocolates, continued its plans.

"We made a mistake. We apologise," the company said in a statement on its Web site. "The consumer is our boss. Therefore we listen to you and your feedback. Therefore we commit to you today, that we at Mars UK will ensure that a selection of your favorite brands Mars bars, Snickers bars, Galaxy and Maltesers, will be suitable for vegetarians in the near future. To this effect we are starting to change our manufacturing process today."

Of course, Masterfoods did not begin using "rennet" in its candy last month; it began using whey derived from a cheese-making process that used animal rennet, as opposed to what it had used previously and will be using again – whey derived from microbial rennet in the cheese-making process. Other ingredients are also animal derived or animal – milk, the whey itself, cream, butter, etc. From a kosher perspective, the more proper term for the "problematic" whey would be "non-vegetarian" or "non-vegetarian derived."

That being said, from my (primarily) vegetarian perspective, I'm glad the whey is again microbial-derived.

[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

The Bias Of Gary Rosenblatt

The Jewish Week has a bizarre and possibly defamatory editorial on the troubles besetting the World Jewish Congress. It is co-authored and co-signed by the Jewish Week's editor and publisher, Gary Rosenblatt, and by Larry Cohler-Esses, the author of last week's hit piece on former WJC Secretary General Israel Singer.

Cohler-Esses has a a very real conflict of interest. That conflict is not mentioned in last week's article or in this signed editorial. Gary Rosenblatt knows about this conflict of interest. That alone should be enough to question Rosenblatt's honesty.

(I must also point out my conflict of interest. For several years, I was on the executive of the North American Jewish Students Network, then the North American arm of the World Union of Jewish Students. Our North American headquarters was in the World Jewish Congress. I spent most of my time out of NYC, but I did spend time in that office. I knew Singer and his staff. One of Singer's children was active for a brief time in Network, and I met her on two or three occasions. I had no friendship with Singer, his daughter or other WJC staffers, but I knew them and worked in close proximity to them.)

The editorial states the following, immediately after asking if the WJC "can, and or should be, saved":

For almost three years, the WJC has been clouded by accusations of financial improprieties, lack of governance and non-transparency. A number of these claims were borne out by a report last year by then-Attorney General of New York State Eliot Spitzer, which found a litany of “failures in the proper administration of charitable assets.”

The editorial then goes on to talk about infighting in the WJC leadership.

What it does not do is clarify or put in context the the Attorney General's eight word partial quote, culled from a thirty-four page report. That report (Download wjc_aod_01312006.pdf ) makes clear that there was no criminal wrongdoing, that money was not stolen, that Singer is not a criminal. The report points out flaws in WJC governance – flaws that Singer took responsibility for, even though Singer was never the WJC's money man.

Similarly, it reports new charges against Singer this way:

[WJC Secretary General Stephen Herbits' newly-issued] report contained some new information regarding alleged financial misdeeds by Singer, and it sought to place the onus on him for any false information provided by the WJC to the attorney general’s investigation, noting that those findings were inaccurate “because Singer concealed, covered up or lied.”…

The editorial then goes on for eight more paragraphs of allegations against Singer before allowing Singer, through a representative, to rebut the charges. The space alloted to that rebuttal? Two very brief quotes:

Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesman for Singer, dismissed the latest charges as “nothing new,” but rather “a rehash of largely resolved issues that were fully investigated by then-Attorney General Spitzer, known for his thoroughness.”

He added that the latest dossier was “filled with untruths and may in fact be defamatory.”

If this is all Singer's people told the Jewish Week, which I doubt, the rebuttal should have been pulled up in the piece to give it equal weight to the allegations. Remember, those allegations are unsupported and come from an enemy of Singer, an enemy with no real record of Jewish communal service and a long, documented record through many venues of combative, rude and thuggish behavior. That record of brutish behavior should itself have been noted in the editorial. It was not, just as it was absent from last week's hit piece.

No matter what you believe about the WJC or Israel Singer, you should be troubled by Gary Rosenblatt's behavior. Rosenblatt appears to be on a personal vendetta against Singer and, more importantly here, against those who support him.

This editorial can be viewed as a shot over the bow of Ronald Lauder and Pierre Besnainou, the head of the European Jewish Congress. Both men are possible successors to Edgar Bronfman. Both may tap Singer for transitional leadership.

Rosenblatt appears out to prevent Singer's resurgence by smearing Singer with a brush wide enough to dirty Lauder and Besnainou.

Rosenblatt admits he ignored credible information showing his friend Rabbi Mark (Mordechai) Gafni abused women and teenaged girls. He made that admission after others outed Gafni and the details of Rosenblatt's coverup were circulating in the JBlogging community. Similarly, Rosenblatt has ignored or glanced over other uncomfortable issues. Understand this: He knew of allegations of serious sexual abuse. He closed his eyes and ears. The abuser went on to abuse other women during this time.

Why does this matter, you may ask? This is not a story about sexual abuse. Further, Rosenblatt did expose serial abuser Rabbi Baruch Lanner.

It matters because it shows that Rosenblatt has skewed coverage to protect his friends. Presumably, he would do the same to hurt his enemies and their friends.

To remove this cloud of suspicion, Rosenblatt needs to explain the omissions noted above. He also needs transparency. Rosenblatt runs what is essentially a nonprofit organization. He should open that organization to the widest possible scrutiny. How much does Rosenblatt make per year, including perks and expenses? Where do the Jewish Week's streams of revenue come from? Does he bite the hand that feeds him or does he paper over funders' misdeeds? Are there conflicts between Rosenblatt's funders and the WJC or Singer?

We deserve answers to these questions.

Israel Singer is a flawed man. He brought in billions of dollars for Holocaust survivors and did much other good. At he same time, he was and may still remain a brash, overly forceful personality hyper-focused on the big picture. In the words of the Forward:

…Singer had been running the organization the way Nahum Goldmann had taught him, the way that Levi Eshkol, Pinhas Sapir and David Ben-Gurion had been managing the Jewish people’s affairs for a century: Get the job done, then write something down.…

These flaws are significant but they do not rise to the level of scoundrel or crook. Rosenblatt blurs the distinction between Singer's failings and crime, just as Rosenblatt blurs the line between reporting and advocacy. And that should trouble us all.

For a clearer understanding of what the WJC is, how it is structured and the context for Israel Singer's actions, read the entire editorial in the this week's Forward.

New Blog

A FailedMessiah.com reader has launched a new blog, Only a Jew:

I am a religious Jew who is deep inside [the haredi Orthodox world] and I watch in horror as our people are torn apart from the inside and I can no longer be a silent observer like my friends and neighbors who resign themselves to the rally cry that "you can't fight city hall"…

I am a member of the Jewish Community and until very recently a very proud one. My father is a graduate of the Mirrer Yeshiva and Columbia University. (bet that doesn't happen too much anymore) He has smicha (Rabbinical Ordination) from the Mirrer and has finished Shas (Talmud) 4 times. He is not Chassidish but would qualify, as would most of my extended family as Charedi. I have loads of relatives living in Lakewood (double digits) and "learning" in Kollel there. For the life of me I don't get it. What I do know is that my dad, the Columbia graduate, who spent zero days in Kollel, can learn my lakewood relatives under the table. I don't get it.…

FailedMessiah a JIB Award Finalist

I was surfing the Web late last night, doing some research for a new website I'm planning. I happened onto the website of the JIBs – the Jewish Israeli Blog Awards and, low and behold FailedMessiah made to the finals in the Best Anti-Establishment Blog category, along with DovBear, Orthomom, Jewschool, Harry Maryles, YUtopia, Muzzlewatch, and MC Rebbe The Rapping Rabbi.

You can vote here. Good luck to DB, orthomom, the crew at Jewschool, Harry, Josh, MC Rebbe and Muzzlewatch.

More Rubashkin Shenanigans

The Rubashkin family's questionable business practices continue. Below you'll find a decision against Agri Processor of Brooklyn, which appears to be a Rubashkin-controlled company. Rubashkin – who not only hires illegal aliens but actively recruits them, as documented by Stephen Bloom in his book on Postville – tried to get around Federal law requiring companies to bargain in good faith with unions. How did Rubashkin do this? He claimed to have checked employees Social Security numbers and found those numbers did not match those in the Social Security data base – in other words, the numbers were false and the employees were, therefore, undocumented workers. Since, Rubashkin's logic went, the workers were illegals, they therefore did not have the same rights as legal workers – hence Rubashkin did not need to bargain with the union.

The NLRB rejected Rubashkin's claims.

This took place last year about this time. This year, as the union (UFCW) is organizing at Postville, Rubashkin showed workers at his Postville plant a letter from Social Security saying employees' numbers did not match any in the system. This can be viewed as threat – unionize, and we'll call the Immigration and Naturalization Service and deport the lot of you.

The workers promptly walked out. Rubashkin closed the gates, trapping the workers inside the facility grounds. Eventually, using an interpreter, Rubashkin assured workers they had nothing to fear. Then he denied the walkout happened when asked by local media.

Understand this well. Rubashkin employs and recruits undocumented workers. He does this knowingly. He uses the workers' legal status against them to pay lower wages and to keep out unions.

Your rabbis have their seal of approval on this behavior. The OU, Crown Heights Bet Din, Rabbi Weismandl's Supreme Kosher, the KAJ, United Mehadrin Kosher, and many others sign on to this abuse. And, needless to say, the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) and the haredim (Agudath Israel, etc.) are silent on the abuse and vocal about supporting Rubashkin and "schechita" from "attack."

I've said it before and I'll say it again – the only thing short of jail time these people understand is money. Cut off their revenue stream in any way way you legally can. It's the only way to bring change to a horribly abusive system.

Download rubashkin_nlrb_may_2006.pdf

He Stole Their Money and Their Homes – and then he went to daven

A haredi developer tells the city he is building a dormitory for teachers from a nearby haredi seminary. At the same time, he files papers with the state to build condominiums at the exact same location.

The city allows several zoning codes to be waived so the "dorm" can be built. The developer builds the building, cuts even more corners, and sells the completed "dorm apartments" as condos to non-haredim.

The non-haredim, mostly non-Jews, move in, then are told by the city that the building is in serious violation. It is unsafe. Their condos cannot be sold or transferred. They may be forced to move out. Their half-million dollar investments have turned to dust. The developer is called by a city official a "very bad man."

Who is this developer. A Satmar hasid, Mendel Brach.

[Hat Tip: UOJ]

WJC Meltdown

The Forward has a brilliant editorial on the situation with the World Jewish Congress. read it, please, and then comment, if you want – but please try to keep your comments civil and, if you make any allegations or assertions, cite sources to back them up. This editorial is so important, I'm reprinting all of it below in order to archive it. Here's a link to the Forward's home page. Please click it and check out their other offerings, as well.

The very public meltdown of the World Jewish Congress is a tragedy of historic proportions, masquerading as low farce. An organization that once embodied the Jewish people’s epic struggle against the greatest of world evils, the WJC has now been reduced to a mockery, an ugly sideshow of nasty personal feuds, name-calling and bookkeeping scandals.

At its center is a Shakespearean drama of family loyalty and personal betrayal, as portrayed by the Three Stooges.

And when it’s over — if it ever ends — everyone will emerge a loser. No one, however, will lose more than the Jewish people, its honor and its legacy.

It seems almost pointless to recall all the reasons that the WJC matters — why it is an essential resource to the worldwide Jewish community. Still, recall them we must. Founded in 1936 by European Zionist leader Nahum Goldmann, the WJC was the first institution to mobilize world opinion against Hitler’s planned genocide. It was the first to document the threat of a Final Solution and to announce the news to an unheeding world.

After the war, the WJC negotiated and won the 1954 agreement by which Germany acknowledged its guilt to the Jewish people and agreed to pay reparations — to the tune of $40 billion.

The WJC was instrumental in the issuance of the Vatican’s 1965 “Nostra Aetate” declaration, ending the 2,000-year Christian canard of deicide. It initiated and led the 40-year dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, leading to a fundamental change in Christian-Jewish relations. It initiated and led the fight for the restitution of stolen World War II-era Jewish property, resulting in billions of dollars in funds restored to despoiled Jewish families and to devastated Jewish communities.

Through all these battles, the WJC spoke not as a lonely voice of conscience, honorable though that might be. Rather, it was the authoritative voice of world Jewry. Goldmann had taken care to ensure that the WJC was not a mere gadfly or moral voice, but the representative voice of the worldwide Jewish community, a confederation of the legally established Jewish representative bodies in dozens of countries around the world.

The weakness in the structure was America. Alone among the world’s major Jewish communities, American Jewry has no legally designated Jewish representative body. It cannot, because the Constitution forbids government recognition of any “establishment of religion.” Instead, dozens of organizations exist to represent the interests and values of the Jewish community as they and their donors see fit. American Jews have no way to speak in a single, authoritative voice. They have dozens of representative voices, but no representative.

In effect, therefore, the World Jewish Congress became the legitimate representative of all the world’s Jewish communities — except for the only one that mattered in the real world.

To paper over the flaw, the congress created a series of fictions purporting to represent American Jewry within the world body. Finally, when Edgar Bronfman was chosen as president in 1981, the central office was moved to New York, creating the appearance — if not the reality — of a world Jewish organization with roots in the United States and legitimacy throughout the world.

In fact, what was created was a permanent tension between the elected Jewish community leaders in dozens of countries, from Argentina to Australia, and a world executive in New York who was answerable to no one.

Not that it mattered, at first. Over the coming decades, Bronfman and his chief lieutenant, the brilliant strategist Israel Singer, won battle after battle on behalf of the world Jewish community. Nobody bothered to wonder how they did it.

How, then, was that legacy transformed into the farce that is today’s World Jewish Congress? To understand that, we must look back to the summer of 2003, during the height of the Palestinian intifada. That summer, Edgar Bronfman wrote a letter to President Bush — co-signed by former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger — urging close scrutiny of Israel’s planned security fence. The letter aroused the ire of an Australian-Israeli businessman, Isi Leibler, a WJC vice president who was a longtime supporter of the Israeli right.

Leibler publicly called for Bronfman’s resignation. Bronfman replied by imperiously dismissing Leibler as WJC vice president. Leibler, questioning Bronfman’s authority to dismiss him, flew to New York to read the WJC bylaws.

In the course of his studies, Leibler discovered a string of accounting and administrative flaws that seemed to indicate poor management. Singer had been running the organization the way Nahum Goldmann had taught him, the way that Levi Eshkol, Pinhas Sapir and David Ben-Gurion had been managing the Jewish people’s affairs for a century: Get the job done, then write something down.

Poor management? By current American standards, yes. Actionable under the relevant state charity laws? Apparently so, as the New York state attorney general’s office found in its 2004 investigation.

In the wake of the Leibler-inspired probes, the WJC has been placed under new management and Israel Singer has been removed from any fiscal or financial role. That should have been the end of it. But the agony goes on.

Investigations continue. Document after document is dribbled out to prove that Singer somehow cheated the Jewish people: stayed in hotels while traveling abroad, rented cars, hosted public meetings, ate meals. The documents released by various self-appointed guardians of Jewish honor are endless, but they all show the same thing: that Israel Singer traveled the world and represented the Jewish people to the best of his ability.

Someday, this farce will be ended. When it is over, many reputations will be ruined, and the Jewish people will be the poorer in its efforts to defend its honor.

Sharpton v. Hitchens: A Debate About God

That's right. On Monday May 7, Christopher Hitchen's, author of a new book supporting atheism, debated Rev. Al Sharpton at the NYC Public Library. The topic: God Is Not Great.

Here's a blow by blow account from the NY Times and, courtesy of the NY Public Library, here is the entire audio file. (It takes a minute or so before you hear anything, so please be patient.)

Realize what you are about to listen to – a debate where most of you will root for Al Sharpton.

[Hat Tip: Luke Ford.]

Rabbi Amar Tries To Appoint Hardline Haredi Rabbis To Conversion Courts

The Jerusalem Post reports the Jewish Agency has asked head of the religious courts and Sefardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to appoint more lenient, albeit still Orthodox, judges to the conversion courts. Rabbi Amar has refused to do so.

Interesting tidbit in the story, though:

…Amar has been trying for many months to get 10 haredi rabbis, including Bnei Brak Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, approved as conversion judges. So far, Rabbi Eliyahu Maimon, the Conversion Authority's administrative head, has managed to block the appointments, claiming they are based on nepotism.…

That is correct. Rabbi Amar, the man who welshed on his conversion 'agreement' with the Rabbinical Council of America, has been trying to appoint a slew of hardline haredi judges to the conversion courts, something that will certainly make the paltry number of yearly conversions go down.

275,000 non-Jews came to Israel under the Law of Return. About 2000 convert each year, a fraction of those who many think would convert, if the process were kinder.But an unnamed source in the Conversion apparatus claims there are no more conversions done each year because there is no demand for more. This flies in the face of government studies and media reports that assert otherwise.

In a bit of double speak worthy of Orwell, Rabbi Amar claims Rabbi Maimon is blocking conversions:

…Amar wrote a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert complaining that Maimon was an obstacle to facilitating conversions.…

The unnamed source in the Conversion apparatus also claims "95%" of the current judges are "modern Orthodox." Of course, there is a hardline element of the National Religious movement that is as hard as haredim when it comes to conversions. That element is also represented on the conversion courts, so saying "95%" are "modern Orthodox" is meaningless with regard to attitudes toward potential converts or halakhic approaches to conversion.

The bottom line seems clear. Rabbi Amar is moving every part of the State's religious apparatus rightward. He is deceitful, thuggish and manipulative. And no one is standing up to him, in part because American Modern Orthodoxy is silent.

The RCA must find the baytzim to stand up to haredi intimidation. More than that, it become proactive, and must begin to do outreach to Jews of all stripes, presenting the classic (but now almost non-existent) MO approach to Judaism. If it does not, we truly will be two peoples – haredim and non-Orthodox. And RCA members will have no one to balme for this except themselves.

[Hat Tip: Michelle.]

Split In Haredi United Torah Judaism Party?

The Jerusalem Post notes what will probably be a split in Untied Torah Judaism, the political party that is home to Ashkenazi haredim both hasidic and Lithuanian. The issue at hand? Should the party join Ehud Olmert's coalition? Labor may very well withdraw from the government, leaving Olmert 2 seats short of the controlling margin he needs to remain in power. UTJ can provide 3 seats, and save Olmert's government.

This is exactly what the non-hasidic part of UTJ, known as the Degel HaTorah faction, wishes to do. They see this as an opportunity to get more money from the government, specifically:

…The Haredi Education Law would anchor in legislation funding for over 100,000 elementary school children and tens of thousands of yeshiva and kollel students. At present, the funding is dependent on the success of annual lobbying efforts. The bill would also prevent the Education Ministry from interfering in haredi schools' curricula.…

But the hasidic Agudath Israel faction, controlled by the Gerrer Rebbe, refuses to join a coalition with Olmert. Why? Could it be that the Gerrer Rebbe is standing up for the settlement movement or for the soldiers who fought the last Lebanon war without the proper equipment and leadership?

Of course not:

…The Gerrer Rebbe, who almost single-handedly decides Agudah's policies, has already declared that his party will not enter the coalition, or support it, without a major concession on child allotments. As finance minister in 2003, Binyamin Netanyahu made deep cuts - hundreds of millions of shekels - in child benefits.…

The Israeli government pays each family for each additional child by increasing the family's welfare benefits. Those specific benefits were reduced in 2003. Agudah – whose families are larger than Degel HaTorah's because hasidim marry earlier and have more children, is holding out for benefits that matter most to its constituency, just as Degel HaTorah is holding out for the benefits that are most important to theirs.

The sad thing is that if haredim got enough secular education to join the workforce in reasonably paying jobs, most of these benefits would be minor to them. But they eschew secular education and expect taxpaying, hardworking non-haredi Israelis to foot the bill.

And, it seems, another weak prime minister trying to save his coalition will pay that bill, perpetuating a broken system that will, sooner rather than later, implode.

The greatest kindness we can do for haredim is to mandate work while at the same time providing training and education to make that work possible. The government would probably do this if haredi rabbinic leadership approved – but they do not approve. And so, the welfare state will continue, ensuring more haredim are born into poverty, view work with disdain, and live on the dole.

It does not need to be this way, but the rabbis make it so. How sad.

Rubashkin Accused Of Shorting Workers Pay – Again

Our friends at Agriprocessors in Postville, Iowa are in the news again for a couple of worker-related stories. In the first, a large group of Rubashkin employees were told their Social Security numbers did not match up with Federal records. The employees promptly staged a walkout that only ended after Rabbi Sholom M. Rubashkin, the CEO, urged employees to return to work. To do this, Rabbi Rubashkin used a Spanish-speaking interpretor.

Rubashkin is notorious for not only employing illegal aliens but for recruiting them, as well. It remains to be seen whether these employees are illegals.

There have been persistent allegations dating back years of Rubashkin shorting workers paychecks, withholding but not paying Social Security tax, and other forms of theft. Which brings us to the second item in today's Rubashkin post. Rubashkin is alleged to have refused to pay employees for preparation time, including time spent on safety:

…Agriprocessors also faces a federal lawsuit filed March 27. In it, 23 former and current employees claim the company has not paid them for preparation time for the last two years. The employees are seeking a class-action lawsuit that could affect up to 1,500 workers.

The employees say Agriprocessors did not pay for the time required to change into safety equipment or to clean and sanitize equipment and knives and to perform many other activities integral to the packing plant's operation. The lawsuit also alleges employees were required to continue working, even after compensation stopped to finish daily production and clean work areas.

"Despite its knowledge that time spent by plaintiffs and class members ... was compensable time under state and federal law, defendant Agriprocessors has refused to fully compensate workers at their Postville, Iowa, facility for any of this time," the lawsuit alleges.

Agriprocessors follows a policy used widely in the meat packing industry known as "gang time" or "line time," and employees are paid only for hours spent on the production line, according to the lawsuit.

The workers getting dressed or preparing for work can take up to 35 minutes each day, the suit says.

Rubashkin said the company is aware of the complaint but found no merit to the claims.…

I suspect the real issue here is the unpaid time spent sanitizing equipment.

Do some other packing plants also short workers this way? Yes they do. Why? Because, under the current administration in Washington, they can get away with it. Lack of Federal enforcement of existing law – especially in this corruption-ridden administration – does not mean Jews should take advantage of employees.

Of course, the idea of doing business in kind fashion – a Torah ideal – is not on the front burner of Orthodox Judaism. It's kosher supervising agencies look the other way as workers are abused. (This is not simply a case of "let him do what he wants to the goyyim." I know of cases involving Jews working as kosher supervisors being shorted by Rubashkin, and the rabbis did not stand up for them, either.)

I think the point is that, somewhere along the line, probably about the time the Hatam Sofer injected a new, foreign rigidity into Judaism, stressing severe interpretations of ritual laws, the laws governing what Jews do to other Jews and to non-Jews began to take a back seat in importance.

We see the fruition of this today, when rabbis like the head of OU Kosher, Rabbi Menachem Genack, can say with a straight face that the many things we always relied on the government for (i.e., labeling laws, etc.) cannot be relied on now, yet at the same time claim that stealing from workers and other forms of worker mistreatment – all forbidden biblically – are better left to the government to enforce. In other words, many rabbinic laws and simple humrot are so important the government cannot be trusted, but biblical laws regarding worker abuse? In an administration with close to zero enforcement? That we can rely on the government to deal with.

Another way to look at this is to follow the money. The OU gets paid for every extra humra it enforces. No one pays to have employee halakha enforced. One can easily make the case that, for the OU and other kosher supervising agencies and rabbis that run them, it all comes down to money in their pockets.

And that is just another of many reasons why Orthodox Judaism is failing.

WSJ Publishes Explosive Article On Chabad in the Former Soviet Union, Details Bribes, Payoffs, and Kremlin Dirty Tricks

In a truly stunning article, Guy Chazan of the Wall Street Journal gives a good overview of Chabad's takeover of the FSU. He notes:

1. Critics charge its success is based on a Faustian bargain with the Kremlin. They say Rabbi Lazar has at times deliberately played down anti-Semitism in Russia and acted as a lobbyist for Mr. Putin around the world. In exchange, Chabad-Lubavitch enjoys unparalleled political influence and has been allowed to gain control of millions of dollars worth of communal property from the Russian state, often trouncing rival claims from other Jewish organizations, critics say.
2. Rabbi Lazar's rise coincided with Mr. Putin's drive to centralize power and crush dissent. After entering the Kremlin in 2000, the new president silenced independent media, jailed critical businessmen, neutered parliament and nationalized energy assets.
   
   But his reach also extended deep into civil society. Organizations loyal to Mr. Putin, such as the Federation of Jewish Communities, known in Russian as FEOR, were protected and promoted, Kremlin critics say. Those he saw as untrustworthy were pushed aside. Sometimes, when a group was independent, the authorities simply created a clone that was more pliant, critics have alleged.
3. Initially, Chabad was a small presence in Russia. It was overshadowed by more-established local groups that had grown in strength by aligning themselves with Jewish oligarchs -- the tycoons who used their connections to build up huge fortunes and wield vast power in 1990s Russia. The biggest was the Russian Jewish Congress, a philanthropic group set up in 1996 by media mogul Vladimir Gusinsky.
4. But Chabad's fortunes improved dramatically with the 2000 election of Mr. Putin, who was determined to curb the power of the oligarchs. Mr. Gusinsky, who had used his media outlets to fiercely attack the government, was at the top of his hit list.
   
   Soon, tax police were raiding Mr. Gusinsky's media company. Over the ensuing months, it was taken over by the state gas monopoly. Then the authorities began targeting his other stronghold, the Jewish Congress, critics say.
   
   "Putin perceived the Congress as a threat," says Tancred Golenpolsky, one of the Congress's founders and publisher of one of Russia's oldest Jewish newspapers. "It was a gang of oligarchs who he couldn't rely on."
   
   A Kremlin spokesman denies it targeted the Congress. As a charitable foundation, it "could not be perceived as a political threat to the state," he says.
   
   The Kremlin didn't challenge Mr. Gusinsky directly at the Congress, which was packed with the magnate's supporters. Mr. Putin instead backed a rival group -- FEOR, which was created in 1999 by Rabbi Lazar and the Uzbek-born Israeli diamond dealer Lev Leviev. This strategy helped the Kremlin deflect accusations that its campaign against the Congress was anti-Semitic.
5. FEOR's founding gathering at Moscow's Olympic Penta hotel was lavishly covered in the state media. The organization claimed to represent dozens of Jewish communities. But from the start, Chabadniks dominated FEOR's governing body, programs and policies.
6. FEOR's main goal was to have its man installed as chief rabbi -- the officially recognized head of the Jewish community in Russia. At the time, the position was held by Adolf Shayevich, who backed Mr. Gusinsky's Jewish Congress.
7. In May 2000, Rabbi Shayevich says, Mr. Leviev offered him $240,000 to step down and hand power over to Rabbi Lazar. He says he retorted that his post was not for sale. Mr. Leviev declined to comment, and Rabbi Lazar says he knows nothing about the alleged offer.
8. Less than two weeks later, FEOR assembled in Moscow and elected Rabbi Lazar as chief rabbi, claiming that the organization represented the entire Russian Jewish community. That same day, Mr. Gusinsky was arrested. After spending four days in jail, he fled Russia, never to return.
9. [M]any wondered how the Italian-born envoy of an ultra-Orthodox sect who spoke broken Russian had come to assume leadership of all of Russia's Jews. By some estimates, less than 5% of Russia's Jewish population is Chabad. Rabbi Lazar had received a Russian passport just a few weeks before his election.
   
   "It was as if 30 Catholic priests from Poland and Ireland elected...(the) Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church," says Mr. Satanovsky, who was president of the Jewish Congress from 2001 till 2004.
10. Rabbi Lazar quickly endeared himself to his new patrons. In media interviews, he stressed that the crackdown on Mr. Gusinsky had nothing to do with anti-Semitism. On numerous trips to Washington, he lobbied members of Congress, made speeches and gave countless media interviews against the Jackson-Vanik amendment. That Cold War law, which curbed U.S. trade with nations restricting emigration, has long rankled the Kremlin.
    
    He also praised Mr. Putin for presiding over a steep decline in anti-Semitism. Speaking in Jerusalem in October 2004, he said Russia was "one of the safest places for Jews in Europe," a statement that provoked outrage among some Jewish leaders back home.

There is much more, and most of it jibes with an earlier Ha'aretz report by Yossi Melman outlining Chabad's unsavory tactics in taking Russia.

Remember the Auschwitz medal he awarded to Putin? Even Chabad supporters should be sickened by Lazar's behavior.Many of you already refuse to support Chabad. If you still give money to Chabad or attend Chabad services or programs, please stop.  If Chabad will not or cannot remove Lazar from his post then Chabad certainly does not deserve your support.

[Hat Tip: Dr. Gershon Mendel.]

Blog Functionality Increased

I've added a new search engine (on the right sidebar) that should make it much easier for you to find what you're looking for on this blog. It is more accurate than the previous model, and it's much more slick, as well.

I've also added a library search engine (also on the right sidebar) that allows you to search for books at libraries near you. (It works great for me here in Minnesota. Will it work as well for readers in NYC? I don't know, you'll have to let me know.)

And, as always, there is an Amazon seach box, too. (Also on? You got it, the right sidebar.)

Happy reading!

Tomb of Herod the Great Discovered

Ha'aretz is reporting that an archaeologist from Hebrew University has found the tomb of Herod the Great. More information forthcoming at a press conference called by HU for tomorrow.