Five Towns Jewish Times - Rochel Weinstein Director of Communications for Eternal Jewish Family International.
Sitting in a church as a young girl, Linda felt distant to the environment and rituals. The other congregants had come to express faith in their religion; she was there to please her grandmother. Young Linda grew up without much spiritual satisfaction, yet deep within was an inherent belief in the existence of G-d. Linda never imagined that one day it would manifest itself within every corner of her life.
It all started with her Jewish fiancé, David. Based on similar interests in classical music, a mutual friend introduced them and the professional orchestra players formed an immediate bond. Religious barriers were non-existent: Linda considered herself on a spiritual quest that had nothing to do with her religion of origin; David's intrinsic disinterest in Judaism meant that they would date for months before Linda would casually discover that he was Jewish. While this detail shocked Linda, it simultaneously planted within her the desire to learn all she could about the mysterious religion of her future husband.
A visit to the library was the first step. But the only information available lacked the meaningful spiritual dimension she desperately sought. Intrigued by the family dynamics of Jewish intermarriage, Linda was startled to discover that many children raised with two religions eventually keep neither, since the choice of a religion is often equated with the choice of a parent. Based on her research, there was no question that she would want to raise their children with one consistent religion—Judaism. Now all she had to do was convince not only her future husband but also her Lutheran family that this was, indeed, the right thing to do.[...]
I find it troubling that the author downplays and makes light over the intermarriage of this Yid and Goy, a crime against Hashem. And there is no justification for kashering this crime, by later "converting" her.
ReplyDeleteAnd to add to my preceding comment. The way for him to later do teshuva (post-intermarriage), is to divorce his goyta, not the schecanery of converting goyish "spouses."
ReplyDeleteAs much as I, as any Jew should be,
ReplyDeleteam against intermarriage, it is a
reality of life. We lose so many
Jews and Jewish children to it that
it is nothing less than a tragedy.
In this case, I think Linda/Leah
was sincere, and a very positive
influence on David. She had to
coax and pray him into taking
an interest in yddishkeit, but
it happened. With out her, it
is likely he and any children
would have been lost to Judaism.
So as much as I hate assimilation,
and as much as I hate intermarriage, I am enough of a
realist that I know it is something we all have to face and
deal with...not simply say "divorce the shiksha" because there is no faster way to turn
a Jew away from Torah than to do that. Given David's early lack
of interest in G-d and Torah,
which do you think he would have
chosen if confronted with: "divorce
your wife or we Jews want nothing
to do with you": his wife or Torah?
I don't think there is any doubt
he would have chosen his wife and
walked away from Judaism for good.
I don't necessarily think EJF is
the answer, but we do need work
with these problems, rather than
just shoving these people away
and into the arms of assimilation,
or chas v'shalom, a different
religion.
Rochel Weinstein used to be an employee of LUBRICUM / LUBICOM now she moved up in the world and become a TroppeRoni employee.
ReplyDeleteWhile working for LUBRICUM she used to call candidates and ask them to call the religion editor of their local paper and try to get the editor writing about them.
In any case very soon will come the day where every Jew will get money from Tropper/Kaplan in order to get him intermarried couples to convert.
In any case the article does not mention Tropper only his servant David Jacobs.
Very misleading for Dt to post only the beggining of the story without the entire story until the end!
ReplyDeleteThe facts are: 1) They did not convert someone in order to marry (as many fake rabbonim do);
2) They did conert someone who is SERIOUS AND SINCERE TO COVNERT;
4) While the fake rabbis like the flatbush Rabbi does NOGTHING OF THE SORT!
5) And the MT (r) can scream from today till tommorow about "Darkey noam"; learn a thing or two about "darkey noam" how they handled with sensitivity this conversion and did not BUDGE AND COMPROMISE HALACHA! EJF to be commended!
3IT took arduous work and toil for this sincere woman to get what she got and deserved!
Chava, Essentially the entirety of your argument could be almost equally applied to a non-practicing Jews who believes in Buddhism (to take one example.) He may love Budda and not be willing to divorce his Budda. Do we then compromise and tell him "okay, you can rejoin klal yisroel together with your 'converted' Budda"? Most certainly not. We tell him, do teshuva and get rid of your budda. Same principal applies to a goyta "wife."
ReplyDeleteThis remains true even if by so telling him it will "turn
a Jew away from Torah" (as you put it.) There is no compromise. We absolutely tell him (again as you put it) "divorce your wife [or your Budda] or we Jews want nothing to do with you."
oni said...
ReplyDeleteVery misleading for Dt to post only the beggining of the story without the entire story until the end!
==============
Roni if you paid attention you would have noticed that don't publish an entire article. This is both because of the issue of copyright and the issue of wasting the time of my readership.
Actually this is probably an approach that is close to mainstream. Here is was the non-Jew who sincerely on her own wanted to convert.
In the reverse situation where the Jew is becoming frum and his non-Jewish wife is an impediment - is much more problematic.
Chava, Essentially the entirety of your argument could be almost equally applied to a non-practicing Jews who believes in Buddhism
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you are a BT but there is keiruv tailored to Buddhist Jews, there is even a famous book 'Letters to a Buddhist Jew' by Akiva tatz which is promoted as tool to mekarev them to Orthodoxy.
There is even a keiruv article about similarity between the Kotzker rebbe and Zen. In any case the Buddha did not leave any written mesora so there are many paths of Buddhism some of them are idolatry some of them are not.
Dt,
ReplyDeleteSO cut a little the beggining of the story (which puts EJF in a negative light) and put a bit about the end of the story which put's EJf in a more positive light (to balance it out)!
TroppeRoni,
ReplyDeleteThe facts are: 1) They did not convert someone in order to marry (as many fake rabbonim do);
I thought that your and Kaplan enterprize is all about converting leshem ishus, So you do not chase intermarried couples anymore ? so this is new, if so what do do you need to pay all those directors ?
At the ceremony, Leah and David accepted upon themselves the awesome responsibility of raising their children as Torah Jews and proud members of Klal Yisroel. They were told to make Judaism enjoyable in their home and to remember that any spiritual investment into their children will be passed on to their descendants.
Are you still continuing with your shtuios to convert Reform and Conservative Jews? who told you to do so ? like the poor talmidim who go to Kol Yaakov and you ask them giyur lechumra and hatafat dam?
mt (r)
ReplyDelete1) chochom, they do not convert someone *before* they got married, in order to get married, only the fake dayan in flatbush does that,
2) I don't what you are hacking about conerting "conservative jews"; obviously we are talknig about converting conservative "converts" which are goyim mamash! Or are you claiming that conservative conversion is valid? that would explain lots about your non halahca thinking!
TroppeRoni,
ReplyDelete1) chochom, they do not convert someone *before* they got married, in order to get married, only the fake dayan in flatbush does that,
For that you should be out in cherem and you said it before in one of your concerts that it is better that couple married and then go to a beis din to convert. Just like your other ridiculous shtus that a Jew who has sex with a shiksa is better than non-observant jew who has sex with a jewish woman because the first punishment is malkus and the second is kares. With those kind of chiddushim you should be a melamed at max not rosh yeshiva.
(2) You again change the subject, we are not talking about Conservative conversions, we are taling of youy "converting" Non Orthodox Jews like you did the family from Kentucky I posted earlier and about the talmidim you8 ask for hatafas hadam.
Answer us please,
Do you do it (hatas dam/"conversion") to all the talmidim ? to all the poor people who come to you ?
My original comments are general comments and not necessarily regarding this case in particular.
ReplyDeletemt(r),
ReplyDelete1) not only the opposite of a chochom but also the one next to him! you are ooff the wall. You have a tropper phobia, in that you blame him for converting an intermarried couple (to save them from bias nochri -which is the main reason that Rt makes these conversions) together with other of his critics; then you turn around and you blame him for not converting the grilfriends that the rabbi in flatbush converts!
2) I have no idea what the heck you are talking about! I'm sure that he never converted conservative jews; he might have converted offspring of conservative gerim or those who whose ancestors did not make a kosher conversion, following the opinion of HaRav Sternbuch that these conversions are meaningless and they have to reconvert!
IN any event, you are a confused person. blaming him for everything under sun saying things he never said, out of context and there is no way to have a rational discussion with you; only to state that Rt:
1) makes only kosher covnersions! and halachik ones unlike the rabbi in flatush,
2) he does this with senstivity ala the story printed in the 5 towns!,
3) He makes it a journey where the covnert discovers that this is really what he wants to do! like real geyrey tzedek, and he does not compromise halacha!
refuah shleymah!
TroopeRoni,
ReplyDeleteNo one mentioned the Flatbush Rabbi only you ! it seems that your obsession with him required new medication. BTW does Rav Bomzer have a Communication Director? Does he plant stories in the media ?
Again, Please tell us do you require hatafas dam from every talmid ? what is the criteria for you to demand "geirus" from BT ?
The same EJF infomercial was reprinted in the latest edition of The Jewish Press in the "woman's section" and is posted in full at The Remarkable Journey From Intermarriage To A Torah-True Home: Living To a Different Tune (Rochel Weinstein. Posted Aug 12 2009. The Jewish Press.)
ReplyDeleteThe Jewish Press has been an open unthinking biased supporter of EJF for a long time, basically since EJF's inception. That is why more EJF infomercials appear in it than in any other of the English-language weeklies combined. Members of its legal and editorial staff also attend and support EJF events and presumably share the same clients and interests asin the world of PR, so it's no wonder they publish this paid PR piece as if it was just a run-of-the-mill "article" of interest to Jewish women, when in fact it's a tale about how EJF's tentacles reach out when no one asked them to, when the correct classical Halachic approach should be to REJECT and DISCOURAGE would-be converts and NOT welcome them with open arms that reveals not just some of EJF's inner workings but its unabashed proselytization agenda as well.