Kesubos (112b) R. Zera said: R. Jeremiah b. Abba stated, ‘In the generation in which the son of David7 will come there will be prosecution8 against scholars’. When I repeated this statement in the presence of Samuel, he exclaimed, [There will be] test after test,9 for it is said in Scripture, And if there be yet a tenth in it, it shall again be eaten up.10
כתובות (קיב:)
אמר רבי זירא אמר רבי ירמיה בר אבא דור שבן דוד בא קטיגוריא בתלמידי חכמים כי אמריתה קמיה דשמואל אמר צירוף אחר צירוף שנאמר ועוד בה עשיריה ושבה והיתה לבער
Now that's what I call a butchery of pshat in the Gemara. Rashi and the Marsha say pshat, stick with them. Corrupt talmedei chachomim are not the people referred to in the Gemara.
ReplyDeleteFrom the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot (ORA)
ReplyDeleteIt has come to our attention that Yechiel Friedman, who has been refusing to issue his wife a get for over 19 years, will be spending Pesach at the "Pesach for Less" program in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Beth Din of America has issued a seruv and a psak of harchakos deRabbeinu Tam (communal sanctions) against Yechiel. We call upon all attendees of the Pesach for Less program to follow the instructions of the psak and refrain from engaging in conversation with Yechiel, counting him towards a minyan, giving him any kibbudim, or assisting him in any way. We ask anyone who may be in contact with Yechiel to urge him to do the right thing and grant his wife a get, especially on this yom tov when we celebrate our freedom.
For more information, please visit http://www.getora.org/yechiel-friedman
Please SHARE and spread the word before Pesach!!
The Beth Din of America has issued a seruv and a psak of harchakos deRabbeinu Tam (communal sanctions) against ...
ReplyDeleteYes, they issued a siruv and a psak of harchakos deRabbeinu Tam (communal sanctions) against a non-existent person as well! Have you no shame?
Please remove this (original) comment. We are not a forum for publicizing ORA activities.
ReplyDelete“However it clearly also can be understood to mean that Moshiach will come when the masses criticize gedolim who corrupt the halachic process and go against the Torah and as a result undermine emunas chachomim by their actions”
ReplyDeleteSoncino Talmud explains in Sanhedrin 7b:
“Resh Lakish said: He who appoints an incompetent judge over the Community is as though he had planted an Asherah [A sacred tree or pole associated with the ancient Semitic cults.] in Israel, for it is written: “You shall appoint magistrates and officials” (Deuteronomy 16:18) and soon after it is said “You shall not set up a sacred post—any kind of pole” (Ib. 21). R. Ashi said: And if such an appointment be made in a place where scholars are to be found, it is as though the Asherah were planted beside the Altar, for the verse concludes with the words: “beside the altar of the Lord your God” (Ib.).[The scholars are compared to the Altar, because they impress upon sinners that they should mend their ways.]
Schottenstein explains:
“Scripture places the commandment to appoint judges next to the prohibition against establishing an אשרה. The Gemara derives from this juxtaposition that appointing an unqualified judge is analogous to planting an אשרה. Since the word tree is often used as a metaphor for a scholar (see דברים כ' י"טת תענית ז'א'), the verse can be interpreted לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ by appointing any judge (Rashi). The analogy to idol worshipping is based on the comparison between judges and the Divine (as in the use of the word אלהים, God, for judges…The appointment of an unworthy judge is thus treated as a rejection of God and is tantamount to idol worship…”
Kethoboth 112b
ReplyDelete“R. Zera said: R. Jeremiah b. Abba stated, In the generation in which the son of David [The Messiah.]will come there will be prosecution [קטיגוריא] against scholars. When I repeated this statement in the presence of Samuel, he exclaimed, [There will be] test after test, [Trials and calamities will follow each other in close succession. One reduction after the other (Jast.). MS.M. adds, “From the end of the earth We hear singing: Glory to the righteous! And I said: I waste away! I waste away! Woe is me! The faithless have acted faithlessly; The faithless have broken faith! (Isa. 24:16)…] for it is said in Scripture, “But while a tenth part yet remains in it, it shall repent. It shall be ravaged like the terebinth and the oak, of which stumps are left even when they are felled: its stump shall be a holy seed” (Isa. 6:13).
The Malbim explains on Isa. 6:13. One 10th will remain, this the Tribe of Judah…parable to trees with many leaves…in the fall the leaves wilt and the stump remains… “stumps are left even when they are felled: its stump shall be a holy seed”
Yes as in Isaiah “Glory to the righteous!” and woe to “The faithless have acted faithlessly; The faithless have broken faith!”
As well as ORA who facilitated and celebrated TE's phoney heter.
ReplyDeleteGood to see the case being considered on its merits... ;-)
ReplyDeletejust received information that your notice is based on false information - so I have removed it. You are welcome to provide proof as to the validity of ORA's claims and refutation of the information I have received.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to me that Bechhofer still has the Chutzpah to post "resolutions" of ORA, as if they're a legitimate organization.
ReplyDeleteAnd after his embarrassing support of the bogus Kaminetzky hetter and the ORA campaign against Aron Friedman.
I guess some people have no shame.
I also can't believe that Torah Umesorah still keeps Gedaliah Schwartz on its "Abuse Beis Din" after all of his distortions of Halacha and his support of ORA.
He is as corrupt an individual as exists in the Bais Din scene, and that takes in a lot of territory.
I, in the spirit of Bechhofer, urge everyone to follow the Seruv issued against Gedaliah Schwartz and to avoid speaking with him, avoid giving him Kibbudim, and above all avoid listening to any Psak he has ever issued.
He is also the "Posek" of the CRC- Chicago rabbinical council.
As such, I would question the reliability of their Kashrus while he is in charge.
“It is interesting to note that criticizing talmidei chachoim is one of the signs of the time of Moshiach.”
ReplyDeleteKiddushin 42b:
“והא דתנןBut what of that which we learned in a Mishnah [Baba Kama 59b If one sends fire in the hands of a deaf-mute, an insane person, or a minor, and the bearer of the fire the sets ablaze the property of another person, פטור מדיני אדם – [The one who sent him] is exempt from liability under the laws of man, וחייב בדיני שמים – But he is liable for damages under the laws of Heaven [I.e., morally, though not legally.].. שילח ביד פיקח -- If, however, one sent fire in the hands of a person who is mentally competent, פיקח חייב – then it is the competent person who is liable for the damages [legally]… Yet why so? Let us rather say that he [who sent fire in the hands of a competent person] is liable, for the one given the fire acted as his agent a man's agent is as himself [So that the sender is liable.]? There it is different, for the agent was commissioned to commit a transgression (i.e. to damage the property of another) and there can be no agency to commit an act of transgression. דאמרינן דברי הרב ודברי תלמיד דברי מי שומעים
For we say to the agent: If you must choose between the words of the Master [i.e. God, Who commands you not to sin] and the words of the disciple [the send, who commissions you to sin]--- whose words should you obey? Obviously the master’s words! Thus, the agent should have obeyed God’s words and not executed his commission.”
Rashi explains “I.e. a person commissioned to commit a transgression is not considered to be acting as an agent of the principal. If the agent indeed carries out the transgression, he is responsible for the misdeed, not the principal who appointed him.”
Judge Freda wrote in an Opinion Memorandum 4/12/2016 that Mendel Epstein was the principal [the criminal mastermind in the kidnapping schemes], and Stimler the agent.
“argument Stimler raises is the fact that his criminal conduct was aberrational, particularly since Stimler has no prior criminal history. On this point, Stimler stands on a different footing than Epstein. While Epstein was arguably the criminal mastermind in the kidnapping schemes, Stimler’s role as a scribe was surely limited. Thus, on this factor, I find that Stimler’s conduct in this regard was indeed aberrational, and that Stimler would lead an exemplary life on bail pending the resolution of his appeal.”
Surely, no תלמיד חכם, today, supports Mendel Epstein, ORA, and other radical feminists’ heinous methods to force a get.
We need a frum ORA.
ReplyDeleteHow about providing details? I will be happy to post them elsewhere.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18774#.Vx2pU_2IqT8
ReplyDeletePaula Stern writes: “Anat Hoffman and Batya Kallus, virulently anti-Israel, left wing activists are in many ways the heart and the head, and their actions echo of betrayal and treason as they support our enemies, seek to divide Jerusalem. If these are the women speaking for this organization, it is nearly impossible to consider that anything they orchestrate is anything more than a great publicity stunt utterly and completely devoid of spirituality. These are not women who believe in tradition, in Judaism, in God, in Israel – at least not my tradition, my Judaism, my God, or my Israel. They want to make Israel seem to downgrade women, when actually, it is one of the most egalitarian societies in the world.”
The radical feminists in the USA are virulently anti-Israel, left wing activists. Now that God granted us Israel with Jerusalem its capital, we must all support Israel. Fitch just upgraded Israel’s credit rating. God is doing miracles for us, while our enemies killing each other, see http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/18778
Pacer 4/21/2016:
ReplyDelete“Statement of the Case. Defendant-appellant Epstein is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi living in Lakewood, N.J., and active in certain religious enclaves in both New Jersey and Brooklyn, New York. His practice as a rabbi has focused on the rights of women whose husbands have taken unfair advantage of Orthodox tradition to deny their wives a religious divorce (known in Hebrew as a “get”).”
These husbands have taken advantage of the strict Torah law that only a man give the get to the woman: “She fails to please him because he finds something obnoxious about her, and he writes her a bill of divorcement, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house” (Deuteronomy 24:1).
Further:
“The charges arose out of an elaborate sting operation orchestrated by the FBI, in which an undercover agent posed as an abandoned wife desperate to obtain a bill of divorce so that she could religiously divorce, remarry and bear children one day. DDE293[Tr.(2/19), at 127]; DDE294[Tr. (2/23)]:60. She sought out R. Epstein, the appellant, who was known to assist such women in obtaining religious divorces.”
According to Jewish law, the Torah commands only the man to have children.
Further in Pacer:
“The agent made sure to introduce into her story details that would provide a religious basis for R. Epstein agreeing to convene a special beis din to hear her case and issue an order compelling her husband to give the get:”
Yes, the beis din must be fair especially to Hear out your fellow men, and decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite or a stranger. You shall not be partial…
The Bible states Deuteronomy 1:11-17:
“May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousand fold, and bless you as He promised you.— How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering! Pick from each of your tribes men who are wise, discerning, and experienced, and I will appoint them as your heads.” You answered me and said, “What you propose to do is good.” So I took your tribal leaders, wise and experienced men, and appointed them heads over you: chiefs of thousands, chiefs of hundreds, chiefs of fifties, and chiefs of tens, and officials for your tribes. I charged your magistrates at that time as follows, “Hear out your fellow men, and decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite or a stranger. You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low and high alike. Fear no man, for judgment is God’s. And any matter that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me and I will hear it.” Thus I instructed you, at that time, about the various things that you should do.”
The Bible further states Deuteronomy 16:18-22
“You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice. You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not set up a sacred post—any kind of pole beside the altar of the Lord your God that you may make—or erect a stone pillar; for such the Lord your God detests.”
Thanks, Rabbi Eidensohn for deleting my last submission. I didn’t know then of the Pacer 4/25/2016 package (177 pages !!!)
ReplyDeletePacer 4/25/2016:
“Judge Wolfson found “there is no doubt that Rabbi Epstein was the top of this organization that was being involved in these kidnappings and forced gets. And that is made clear through the conversations and the recordings through his own mouth.” Id. at 11. Judge Wolfson found that Epstein “knew exactly what he was entering into here” with these violent kidnappings. Id. at 110. Epstein spoke on recorded conversations about the use of force and wearing his “rabbinical hat,” versus wearing his “criminal hat.” Id. at 112, 113-14. Importantly, Judge Wolfson disagreed with Epstein that this was not a “typical kidnapping.” Id. at 113. “No,” she said, “[t]his was, and frankly was reminiscent to me of other cases I have seen of criminal organizations, whether it be drug or otherwise.” Id. Epstein was, she said, “[t]heguy at the top,” who was “certainly not getting his hands dirty on the scene,” but who instead was busy establishing his alibi and plausible deniability from a safe distance while orchestrating the scheme. Id.”
Its already 72 hours since he called you with details, and you haven't posted a retraction. (Unless you claim 'malbin chaver' is not a 'davar haAvud', which the BDA has no problem with 'bizui haMoed' in the past in this case.)
ReplyDeleteWe'll take this as an admission the BDA (and its sister organization ORA) are both admittedly wrong.
After he called me I removed my post on him from FB. Since my comment here was already removed, there was nothing for me to remove here.
ReplyDeleteWhat information did you learn prompting you to remove the post?
ReplyDeleteThis so called Organization is of organized crime and they should all be locked up. They are a SHANDE for Yiddishkeit and a chilul haShem. BD Chotzuf with zaken mamre selling bits and pieces of the Torah. Our torah is not for sale. Shame on you all. B"H we have chalutzim to chase them away. They are chametz baPesach vesha'ar kol yemos hashanah, vetzaruch biur.
ReplyDeleteHe thanks you. (I don't do FB, and it didn't show up on google, so didn't know about that.)
ReplyDeleteThe ex husband insists on his privacy.
ReplyDeleteSuffice it to say that there was an agreement that A: the BDA have no jurisdiction in this case B: the BDA be bound by secrecy and C: the ex wife has a get over 14 years ago, via a rav of her choosing.
The BDA (and ORA) violated that agreement.
RYGB agreed?
ReplyDeleteThis is the husband who was harassed at a YU minyan about a year ago?
Mr. Bechhofer wrote: "After he called me I removed my post on him from FB."
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting how ORA's cheerleader rabbis like Mr. Bechhofer will rush to assume that an accused husband is guilty until proven innocent, and rely on ORA's false information to publicly accuse the man, without first checking with the accused husband and his rabbis? Only after the true facts come out, then maybe the ORA rabbis will retract their claims, only to avoid being proven to be liars.
Mr. Bechhofer, how often have you ever contacted an accused husband or his rabbinic advisers before rushing to assume that allegations against the husband are true?