Thursday, February 28, 2008

Eternal Jewish Family Defended

Anonymous from yesterday wrote:

"I find your second question strange. "What is this blog's policy towards Rav Eliashiv" I don't know what you are asking."

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You know exactly what I am asking.

I will copy and paste:

Recipients and Publicity wrote viter, after saying that the MO were out and the Bedatz were out: "And then that leaves Rabbi Reuven Feinstein"

IS RECIPIENTS AND PUBLICITY IMPLYING THAT RAV ELYASHIV IS A KATLA KANYA, NOT EVEN WORTHY OF BEING MENTIONED??!! I POSTED THE ARTICLE WHICH SAID:

"The opening session was held on Sunday at the home of Maran HaRav Eliashiv shlita and attended by a delegation of rabbonim from the conference...HaRav Nochum Eisenstein spoke to the conference detailing the message of Maran HaRav Eliashiv shlita. He said that HaRav Eliashiv went out of his way to express his support for the conference."

AND RAV NOCHUM EISENSTEIN IS STILL RAV ELYASHIV'S MAN ON GERUS ISSUES AND IS STILL HEAVILY INVOLVED IN EJF. WHAT KIND OF A CHUTZPAH IS IT TO IGNORE THE POSEK HADOR??!!

My question is: Why you would repeat "Recipients and publicity"'s comment as a
blog post. As long as it was just his comment in the comments section, my complaints were only against him. But once you present it as a blog post, that puts your prestige behind it. That's why I asked what THIS BLOG'S policy is towards Rav Elyashiv.

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"Thus I have seen no written evidence that Rav Eliashiv has been fully informed of the activities of EJF or has approved them. "

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This is disingenuous! You know quite well that Rav Eisenstein is Rav Elyashiv's right hand man on all inyanei giyur and that Rav Eisenstein is heavily involved with EJF. If you have any sfeikos, why not give him a call?

While you are at it, why not give Rav Dovid Feinstein a call? I know very well his carefully researched opinion of EJF and it is very far from yours.

Listen, if you want to abide by the Bedatz's shitah and argue it's merits, I have no problem. But don't pretend that there are no serious poskim and gedolei Torah who stand by EJF and appreciate what they are doing. And don't post on your blog questionable material from sources like "Recipients and publicity", This lowers the standard that I think you are trying to maintain here.

[And I just recently saw his comment, presented as a blog post, on Thomas Kaplan. That was momish disgusting, full of innuendo, half-truths and at least a couple outright lies. You can certainly aim higher.]

And takkeh, please ask R' Eisenstein what Rav Elyashiv holds and Rav Dovid Feinstein what he holds. True, their answers won't be written on paper, but last time I checked, we still believed in Torah SheBaal Peh


3 comments:

  1. Anonymous wrote:

    "This is disingenuous! You know quite well that Rav Eisenstein is Rav Elyashiv's right hand man on all inyanei giyur and that Rav Eisenstein is heavily involved with EJF. If you have any sfeikos, why not give him a call?

    While you are at it, why not give Rav Dovid Feinstein a call? I know very well his carefully researched opinion of EJF and it is very far from yours."

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    Why don't you save us the effort and tell us Rav Eisenstein's understanding of Rav Eliashiv concerning EJF. It would also be helpful if you tell us Rav Dovid's views since you acknowledge that you are very familiar with them.

    For some unknown reason Rabbi Tropper would not reveal this information to me.

    Why is this material being kept secret? Why can't it be put in writing?

    You might also answer whether Rav Dovid Feinstein fully approves of EJF and its activities.

    ReplyDelete
  2. First of all, I respect you greatly for presenting my comment as a post. Since we clearly disagree regarding the merits of EJF, I see that it is not true that you are giving your haskomah to any comment that you present as a blog post. I was wrong about that and I retract that point.

    However, I will say that this is a mistake that most any reader would make if he sees comments as posts from only one side.

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    "Why don't you save us the effort and tell us Rav Eisenstein's understanding of Rav Eliashiv concerning EJF. It would also be helpful if you tell us Rav Dovid's views since you acknowledge that you are very familiar with them."
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    I can tell you in short. If you want something more detailed, I will have to go back to my sources.

    Rav Elyashiv gave his blessings to EJF from its earliest months. Long before EJF came on the scene, Rav Elyashiv encouraged his people [including Rav Eisenstein and Rav Kreiswirth] to found the Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur to deal with many of the same problems. Rav Elyashiv's shaliach, R' Eisenstein, was happy to take an active role in EJF when it did come along. The support has grown since then. EJF is in continual contact with R' Eisenstein. Also, less importantly, Rav Eisenstein has participated, to my knowledge, in every EJF conference.

    As to Rav Dovid Feinstein, a well-known mashba"k from Eretz Yisroel was in America for medical treatment. He met Rav Dovid Feinstein and asked him about EJF. R' Dovid did not automatically approve it because his brother, Rav Reuven, heads it. Rather, he said that he had received several queries about EJF and had researched it carefully. He said, in Yiddish, that they are machmir on all the chumros and the things they do are lichatchilah shebilichatchilah. He may have added a couple more positive points, but I would have to check back with my sources.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Anonymous from yesterday:

    "I can tell you in short. If you want something more detailed, I will have to go back to my sources."

    Years ago I had a very big shaila regarding my health due to a congenital problem. The Dayyan in our community reviewed my medical records with some local doctors and ruled that I should have a surgery that my doctor was recommending.

    My husband and his Rav were not comfortable with this because the risks were considerable. Because it was an elective procedure, I had time to explore all options.

    Rav Mordechai Eliyahu shlita, then Chief Sephardic Rabbi was asked the shaila on my behalf by our Rav. After two months of research and consultation with several specialists in Israel by the Rav's students, we received an answer IN WRITING on the RAV's LETTERHEAD that I should not have the surgery but instead explore a different treatment.

    Baruch Hashem, there is a very happy ending in that not only I, but my sister and one of my brothers has had a tremendous improvement in health as a result.

    But aside from a nice story with a happy ending, my point is that it has been my experience that when a Rav holds an opinion, it is put in WRITING on LETTERHEAD and publicized to all those concerned (ie Rav Sternbuch and Bedatz).

    So, please do share with us the written hashkamas of each of the Rabbeim who support EJF and their mission. Secondhand rumors are not halachic advice.

    ReplyDelete

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