Megila (18a): R’ Eleazar said, “How do we know that the Holy One, blessed be He called Yaakov G‑d? Because it says in Bereishis(33:20), “And the G‑d of Israel called him [Yaakov] G‑d…
Monday, July 9, 2007
Yaakov was called G-d
Monday, July 2, 2007
RaP: Proselytization in Latin America
MISHPACHA Jewish Family
Weekly 2 Tammuz 5769
Pages 38 – 45"
RaP: Mishpacha magazine for hire continues in its path of publishing stories that promote proselytization, such as in the path with highlighting reaching out to the doubtful Subbotniks and the questionable Jews of Poland by Shavei Israel, and many such articles that seem to always land up mentioning the Anusim/Marranos in a good light, when their status is highly doubtful after 500 years of being lost.
Puerto Rico to Pupa: Rabbi Avraham Goldstein’s Journey from Delivery Boy to Ger Tzedek
By Barbara Bensoussan
With his Monsey residence; Chassidic ensemble of shtreimel, beard, and peyos; and juicy Yiddish, it’s hard to believe that Rabbi Avraham Goldstein’s roots lie in Puerto Rico. But that’s precisely where his unusual journey to Judaism began. Goldstein proceeded through a Williamsburg delivery route to an Orthodox conversion, to yeshivos in Baltimore and Brooklyn and the Pupa Chassidus. Now a violin dealer who’s made it his mission to advocate for South American geirim, he approaches all his diverse roles with an unbounded sense of joy in Judaism.
RaP: If this is all there was to his story it would be fine, but he has taken on more roles for himself than merely being a regular Jew.
"…fourteen-year-old Eduardo Torres…wanted nothing more in December of 1981 than to leave Puerto Rico and go to cold, inhospitable New York…some twenty-eight years have passed since then, but today Torres, better known in the community as Rabbi Avraham Goldstein, lives with his wife and children in Monsey, runs his own business and is ceaselessly busy helping geirim, baalei teshuvah, and anyone else who might benefit from his support."
RaP: Nowhere in this article is it made very clear who exactly gave him semicha to be ordained to undertake the rabbinical counseling and pastoral work, even though he spent time in a few yeshivas and some Chasidishe kehilas.
"Goldstein’s efforts to aid converted Jews and baalei teshuvah in South America ultimately culminated in the creation of an organization entitled Toiras Jesed [Chesed], which has the help and haskamah of Rav Chaim Eliezer Brown and Rav Yitzhak Mandel of Monroe"
RaP: What kind of "haskamah" is this? It should at least be in writing and should have been published with the article that is after all promoting this evidently proselytizing missionary cause, to give it proper Halachic legitimacy.
"Toiras Jesed even mounted a brand-new community designed specifically for geirim in the countryside of Puerto Rico
RaP: Throughout this article, the word "geirim" is used VERY loosely and ambiguously and it's very obvious that it often means people who WISH TO BECOME geirim, but who are not yet at the point where they can be Halachically and officially referred to as "geirim". In any case, why would people who have converted 100% need a separate community in far-off Puerto Rico? when almost all dayanim performing legitimate conversions insist that a gentile who has become a ger tzedek must live in a Torah community or be very near to one where geirim can lots of guidance, and not be detached from the world in a far-off Potemkin village of people who are being kept in seclusion it seems until they can become true gerim, but then, why the need to provide such a service at all isn't it according to Halacha to DISCOURAGE geirim and not to help them by building sponsored villages for them?
"In the Beginning. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Rabbi Goldstein’s original name was Torres. “The first Jew to come to America was named Luis de Torres…and Torres was a typical Marrano name.” Many of the early settlers of the New World were practicing Jews or Anusim who came fleeing the Inquisition, and lately it has become something of a fad among Hispanic groups to trace their Jewish origins…"
RaP: Mishpacha magazine for hire has a fatal weakness for somehow or other always bringing around the remotest subjects about dispersed "Jews" to the subject of the Anusim/Marranos. One wonders why that is so and why they are so invested in this very suspicious line of publishing? Hopefully it is not because of some kind of hidden ecumenical agenda that will eventually seek to make most of the Christian world into "Anusim" or whatnot.
"…Finally, almost two years after his arrival in New York, Rabbi Tress and Rabbi Weberman brought the sixteen-year-old young man to the mikveh, where he emerged as Avraham ben Avraham. He later changed his name to Goldstein after the first rabbi who taught him…Rav Yidel Leib Frank, a Breslover Dayan…asked Goldstein to attend his Shemini Atzeres seudah…at the seudah sat the woman who would later become his wife, a young lady from Mexico whose conversion had been overseen by Rav Frank himself. ”My wife is originally from Guadelajara…she was advised to complete her conversion in Israel."
RaP: Seems the whole world wants to become more Jewish except for the millions of born secular Jews who are running the other way as they assimilate, intermarry and apostasize by the millions. It is truly an olam hafuch!
"Reaching Out to Other Newcomers. Rabbi Goldstein’s “family” has expanded yet more as he reaches to other geirim… he formed an organization entitled “Toiras Chesed” (or “Toiras Jesed in Spanish spelling) to help other geirim, particularly those from Spanish-speaking countries. “It’s very hard for geirim in South America",
RaP: This is where the red line is crossed and he leaps into proselytizations as an organization. Note again, that the word "geirim" is used incorrectly here yet again because it's wannabe geirim that are the subject and not people who have undergone a full halachic geirus in front of an established bais din. Also, why is he busy with this? Who asked him to do this? Besides it being a good story-line and a money-magnet this is skating on thin ice whereby any rabbi who is also a ger is NOT allowed Halachically to perform geirus, and here he is obviously pushing to breaking point the boundaries to that..
"he explains, “because many of the Ashkenazim are not so religious, but most of the Sephardic communities hold by an old gezeirah that forbids their congregants to admit geirim"
RaP: No need to knock the Halachically Jewish Ashkenazim they are still 100% Jews and must be approached with total and pure ahavas Yisroel -(even if they be less religious, ga'ava is never nice, especially from a ger) --there is no "mitzva" to love a goy, even if he /she has ambitions to become a ger one day, they can always be encouraged to keep the sheva mitzvos of Bnai Noach which is good enough, they DO NOT require geirus at every twist and turn! -- and the Sefardim (they have their reasons and rabbonim who guided them on this) all in order to make bunch of Hispanic gentiles who are not even Jews to begin with look good. Mishpacha magazine for hire is showing a lack of sechel here for publishing this.
…”It’s hard to find anyone to convert you...”
RaP: And so it should be! This is good Halachically and good for the Jews! Who needs conversion spas and sponsorship of geirim? Is Uncle Tom Kaplan or his nephew of Shavei Israel sponsoring this? Perhaps some Chasidim with cash to burn who want to show that not just Israel can attract and settle geirim (like they recently did with the Yemenites they brought to Monsey)? The article should make clear who is REALLY sponsoring this financially and who is behind paying for the story to be published in Mishpacha magazine for hire yet again on such a theme, is it maybe an Evangelical Christian group? Anything is possible in this day and age.
"Goldstein points out that if there was a large choice of shuls and mikvaos it wouldn’t be a problem"
RaP: Again, as far as geirus, there is NO "problem" because it is good Halachicaly and good for the Jews that these barriers exist. Judaism does not need a flood of Hispanic or any geirim from this.
"but in South America the options are more limited."
RaP: This is GOOD Halachically, and good for the Jews, and NOT "bad" as his statement and Mishpacha make it seem
"In Mexico City, he claims Rabbi Jabra’s shul is the only one that allows geirim to belong. “Rav Pinchas Rabinowitz and Rav Tropper, who do conversions in Monsey, are really trying to stir things up in Mexico to make life easier for geirim,” Goldstein says…"
RaP: Aha, so Tropper and one of his enablers is now part of this story. It figures. Seems Tropper can't resist going down the path of stirring up trouble anywhere and everywhere there is a crack and they let him in. Doesn't Tropper have anything better to do than to facilitate yet another wrong-headed and misguided proselytization effort now in Latin America, when there are millions of born Halachic Jews who are secular closer to home in the USA and Israel who need kiruv.
"Because the options for geirim in South America are so limited,"
RaP: Again, this is good Halachically and good for the Jews, because it has never been the goal or desire of any rov or true manhig in Yisroel to help potentially limitless numbers of goyim become geirim. "Goldstein set about creating his own special community for geirim and baalei teshuvah of all backgrounds in Puerto Rico
RaP: Who asked him to do this? Is it Halachically permissible?
"With the help of other geirim and some sympathizers in New York, he raised funds for his Toiras Jesed organization and bought a small tract of land in Myaguec, Puerto Rico…He has already begun helping establish similar communities in Venezuela and Colombia "
RaP: Who are the mysterious enablers and financiers who are pushing this and obviously using him as the front man, so that they can avoid getting copped for the Halachic avla they are doing by setting up proselytizing communities?
"In other locations in South America, he helps geirim hook up with sympathetic rabbis and community members. “There us such a hunger for Torah,” he maintains, “I went to Colombia for Shabbos Chanukah, invited by 150 people who want to become geirim…"
RaP: Finally, some accuracy. These people are wannabe geirim not the real thing yet. Funny how it's gentiles nowadays who thirst for Torah yet secular Jews couldn't be bothered with it. Olam hafuch.
"In Venezuela, there’s a group of about fifteen families living in the middle of nowhere, who learned about Torah on the Internet and all want to become Jewish. You should see them! They’re all dressed like Jews, and they look like a bunch of Sephardim".”
RaP: Most Hispanics look like "Sefardim", so what? it's no reason to roll out a long-distance red carpet to welcome them as honorary Jews. And yes, the Internet is making a huge impact in the way people learn and live, just take this blog for example...
"Goldstein qualifies that he mostly works with people who have been referred to him by rabbis. “But lots of people approach me, because they see me as a ger who is stable and successful, who has a good track record. The rabbis trust my judgment when I send people to them, and they in turn often send people to me".”
RaP: All this activity, from Goldstein's perspective, is basically for one purpose to promote proselytization which is highly controversial and problematic Halachically and will be bad for the Jews down the line as these nebulous cases are lined up for factory-like conversion in conversion-mills that he is trying to help and grease and kick-start into action.
"Kiruv in Colombia. Reb Avraham sharing his passion for Judaism with local geirim."
RaP: "Kiruv" has NOTHING to do with geirim as such. Kiruv in its strict and classical definition means reaching out to secular and less religious BORN JEWS and bringing them closer to Torah-true Yiddishkeit. On the other hand missionizing and proselytizing to gentiles goes against thousands of years of normative Jewish life, practice and history. "Moving beyond the superficial…
”Judaism is like an air conditioner. You have the mechanical part and the part that brings in fresh air. As I see it, many of us often get too caught up in the mechanics of the system…as a ger…my job is to bring in lots and lots of fresh air.”
RaP: This is one of funniest and yet most revealing comments. Does he honestly think that bringing infinite numbers of Hispanic geirim into Klal Yisroel is like an "air conditioner" bringing in "fresh air" ??? -- has this man never heard of kashim geirim leYisroel kesapachas and all the problems it has and is creating for the world-wide Jewish and Torah communities ??? as they grapple existentially with the onslaughts of all sorts of schemes for gentiles to gain entry into Klal Yisroel, even with the help of ultra-haredi well-meaning rabbis who act more like Christian missionaries, lehavdil than like humble Jews focused on minding their own affairs who should be busy with their own business and not running around the world looking under every rock and in every village if there are any misnamed "lost Jews" or wannabe geirim to bring home like trophies from the hunt.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
EJF - proselytizing intermarried couples/ RaP
RaP: For quite a long time now, the Agudist politically correct American YATED NEEMAN has avoided any mention of EJF and Tropper and has not published any infomercials obviously designed by paid EJF publicists.
"Eternal Jewish Family Addresses Conversion Crisis" "The Jewish Press Friday, June 5, 2009 Page 61
RaP: Only EJF is addressing this crisis? Every last Orthodox rabbi in Israel, Europe and America is grappling with it! The articles reads as a paternalistic and infantilizing event for those who were paid to show up. Who they were and the numbers are not given in the article.
"By Rochel Weinstein
Understanding the crisis in Jewish conversions, Israel's Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar convened an emergency meeting last week to halt what many see as the continued erosion of the nation's policies regarding conversion that are threatening the spiritual existence of the Jewish people."
RaP: What is the purpose of juxtaposing Rav Amar's meetings with this EJF event? It makes no sense that Amar who is an Israeli Zionist rabbi and should and does work with the RCA Zionist rabbis in America should be used a prop for the goings on at a very Agudist non-Zionist gathering.
"On the same day, in Morristown, New Jersey, Eternal Jewish Family began a two-day interactive seminar for educators and professionals from leading kiruv organizations as part of its ongoing effort to address the fallout from improper conversions."
RaP: May as well have quoted a Chabad rabbi at nearby Morristown itself where they have a huge rabbinical college and they will and do realistically be dealing with conversions.
"At the seminar Rabbi Dovid Jacobs, executive director of EJF, clarified that a basic tenet of EJF's work is to ensure that potential sincere converts wishing to build true Torah homes are directed towards proper halachic conversions."
RaP: Of which EJF seeks to have the controlling monopoly with rabbis answering to Tropper.
"Rabbi Leib Tropper, chairman of EJF's rabbinic committee, stressed that, while inyonei geirus can be controversial, Klal Yisroel has an obligation to meet the challenges presented."
RaP: Much of everything in Judaism is controversial. Kashrus, gittin, chinuch, sexual abuse, machlokes abounds etc, but in this case Tropper is deflecting preemptively the well-known criticism that has been leveled at him by the BADATS for example and made him a controversial lightning rod as this Blog has recorded for over two years.
"Rabbi Tropper dispelled the belief that our mainstream yeshiva and Bais Yaakov systems have been spared any fallout from improper conversions."
RaP: Nothing is perfect, this is his typical sensationalism and looking for that moment to play with a captive audience's heads. Tropper's Kol Yaakov yeshiva is also less than perfect as many know.
"Through his "straight talk" session, Rabbi Tropper conveyed the importance in the conversion process of determining if a prospective convert "is willing to not just change what he does, but also change the very essence of who he is."
RaP: To admit that Tropper gave a "straight talk" session" is startling and worrisome. Did anyone challenge his bullying and intimidating ways? Or were they too afraid since they were all paid off to come there by Tropper's banker Tom Kaplan to eat drink and pontificate?
"Harav Reuven Feinstein, shlita, expressed that "All Jews count. Klal Yisroel is obligated to utilize all its resources to be mekarev ba'alei teshuva and ensure the proper lineage of every Jew."
RaP: One does not "mekarev ba'alei teshuva" since if they are ba'alei teshuva they have already been mekareved. Pure condescension. Highly unlikely if any baalei teshuva or geirim could be inspired from all the talk here. This conference is probably one of the best weapons to keep rabbis from being effective in conversions and kiruv with all the condescension, infantalization and paternalism flying around in the grandiose statements from "Mount Olympus" style pep-talks.
"He noted that EJF has filled a need in the world of kiruv which regularly confronts issues regarding the yichus of baalei teshuva.
RaP: How so? EJF worries about conversions and in fact makes the problems of confused yichus even worse by advertising to recruit limitless amounts of gentiles, whether hitched to Jews or not, and make them into super-duper Halachic Jews. This is something Klal Yisroel surely does not need.
"Harav Feinstein and others mentioned the psak that permits one to be mekarev the non-Jew in intermarriage for the sake of simultaneously being mekarev the Jewish spouse."
RaP: Have any of them ever written a formal thorough universally agreed upon and recognized teshuva validating or explaining this so-called "psak"? Seems the phrase "universal standards" does not apply to this cockamamie "psak".
"Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky, shlita mentioned the "vast problem we are dealing with here in America because of intermarriage and conversion."
RaP: Platitudes. This is obvious. The question is why he now comes to EJF events? [...]
"Rabbi Nota Schiller compared geirus to any other field in medicine that requires expertise. "We must protect the Jewish people - we are all bonded with a shared destiny. We have the obligation to know, like a specialized surgeon knows, how to handle these situations."
RaP: He forgets he is not lecturing at Ohr Somyach and is preaching to the convert, as it were. So now all kiruv workers must become like "surgeons"? When will they have time to do actual kiruv after 20 years in rabbinical/surgery/conversion school?
"Rabbi Peretz Eichler presented a captivating video with case histories of intermarried couple who, through the assistance of EJF, went on to build true Torah homes. It demonstrated how EJF has helped raise conversion standards across the globe."
RaP: Soon Spielberg will be invited to explain his marriage to a "converted"shiksa with his great videos.
"The conference also addressed the emotional havoc and fallout of an invalid geirus."
RaP: The greatest havoc in the last year concerning conversions was when Rav Sherman took the plunge and annulled thousands of conversions of Rav Druckman summarily without Druckman being given a chance to put his side of the case. So now this has dragged in the Israeli Supreme Court who want to know what was going on. Next time, Rav Sherman, look before you leap, even
if you are 99.99% right and doing it leshem shomayim.
"We have to do what we can so that there can be an end to the emotional pain
caused by improper conversion,"
RaP: Sure.
"said Rabbi Senderovic, Rosh Kollel and Rosh Bais Din of Milwaukee. He stressed however, that "Of course we must have sympathy for those tragedies - but it must be based in Torah."
RaP: What "sympathy".. who here has true sympathy or empathy? This was a meeting where the knives were out. Tropper was yelling his straight talk and Rav Eisenstein was issuing yet more ultimatums. No sympathy here.
"Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein, yoshev rosh Vaad L'Inyonei Giyur in Jerusalem, referred to the historical controversies involving geirus that have led to a vast decay in
RaP: He's back with Tropper again. It's in the open now that in Brooklyn they have guy going around the shulls and yeshivas trying to paste up the English fraudulent anti-Bomzer letter. It is known that all Rav Eisenstein cares about is creating Armageddon with the RCA and knocking them out of Orthodoxy once and for all. Bomzer is just another chapter in his war on the RCA. It is surprising that they take it all so quietly. It might be too late for them if they stay quiet for much longer.
"Rabbi Yonasan Rosenblum, columnist and noted speaker, said that proper geirus is not a detail; rather, "It's the very definition of who we are." He quoted Rabbi Mendel Weinbach that, "Defining how a person becomes Jewish also defines the very essence of being a Jew," stressing that "If we don't have standards for geirus, it will disappear."
RaP: Platitudes, somewhere between the amiable banter of Nota Schiller and Rav Kaminetsky.
"Rabbi Dovid Schochet, senior member of Toronto's beis din, took on the crucial task of delineating the extent to which batei din can rely on the input of rabbanim who sponsor prospective converts."
RaP: If rabbanim won't sponsor converts then who will? This is a delicate balance because many rabbanim are able talmidei chachamim too.
"Rabbi Mordechai Fishberg, a recognized expert in the field, shared curriculum designed to educate intermarried couple who are committed to halachic proper conversion and described the high standards of learning that must be in place in order for them to build true Torah homes."
RaP: A Ger is not required to know the Shulchan Oruch nor to go to daf yomi. It's the kabbolas ol mitzvas in PRINCIPLE and the commitment to actualize it as required, but full knowledge of every last bit of Torah never was and is not required for a valid conversion. How much was Ruth the Moabite required to know to be accepted as a convert? She is the prototype for converts basically. A valid bais din can go lechumra or lekula in accepting converts, there is leeway, and that is just what Rav Eisenstein and Tropper want to destroy.
"Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb, senior faculty member of Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, underscored the importance for geirim to be trained to understand the importance of consulting gedolei Yisroel regarding every aspect of their lives."
RaP: Where does it say there is such a "requirement"? Another person who thinks he is talking in the Ohr Somayach auditorium. Next he will say that male converts must agree to wear hats and jackets during the week and kappotes on Shabbos and the females should wear their hair in pony tails or shave their heads, not go to college, and not drive cars like the ladies in Bnai Brak or Williamsburg. None of these things are required foir a valid conversion.
"Rabbi Doron Kornbluth, noted lecturer and author of Why Marry Jewish, used statistics and facts to describe the reality of the devastation of intermarriage as "a huge problem that has been ignored."
RaP: All this is known already for decades.
"He appealed to the rabbanim as the only hope for college students to ultimately marry Jewish, explaining that"
RaP:Are these the same rabbanim who are being asked to save the kids but who will be given the boot if they sponsor a convert in front of a bais din? Can't have it both ways. Either the rabbanim are needed and can be trusted and enabled or they cannot.
"we are dealing with a massive population of kids coming through intermarried homes. In another generation, the Jewish population will only consist of Orthodox and intermarried - that's literally where we're headed."
RaP: This too is all very well know for a long time now.
"Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, who lectures around the world regarding kiruv and regularly serves as a tour guide through concentration camps in Europe,"
RaP: As all kiruv workers know lumping kiruv with the Holocaust is not always the best mix. Is this man an entrepeneur or does he want to help deal with conversions? Not quite clear from this last confusing bit.
"pointed out that tempering standards in conversion not only sets up others for emotional havoc,"
RaP: The people he was talking to are NOT the ones creating the havoc so why is he giving a guilt trip speech?
"but also negates the struggles of those in the past who suffered tremendous mesiras nefesh to remain Jewish."
RaP: Again, as any kiruv worker knows appealing to past Jewish suffering is not a good selling point. NCSY, Chabad and Aish HaTorah know that and that is why they succeed terrifically at kiruv, and they have no need for EJF events and stayed away from this one for good reasons.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
R' Tzadok Prophecy was displaced by Chochma
רב צדוק (מחשבות חרוץ - אות יז): ומשנסתלקה הנבואה דנראה לי דהיה זה על ידי התגברות כח החכמה דתורה שבעל פה אחר דהדר קיבלוה בימי אחשורוש מאהבת הנס בתוקף וחשק הלב, דתחילה היה עיקר הכפיה דהר כגיגית על תורה שבעל פה שצריך יגיעה רבה להוציא דברי תורה מחכמת הלב ולעמוד על אמיתות דברי תורה, וכמו שאמרו בתנחומא פרשת נח (ג') יעוין שם בפנים בזה, ואז קיבלו זה ברצון ליגע ולעמול בתורה שבעל פה, ועל ידי זה זכו לנבואת החכמים להשיג הכל ברוח הקודש שבלבם:
ואף על פי שהוא מדריגה יותר קטנה מכל מקום ההשגה יותר גדולה, וברוח הקודש יכולים להשיג הרבה יותר במדריגות יותר גבוהות, כי השגת כל נביא הוא רק כפי מדריגתו, וכל נבואת הנביאים הוא רק בנצח והוד שמשם יניקת הנביאים כנודע, מה שאין כן רוח הקודש הוא המשכה מקודש העליון חכמה עליונה שלמעלה מעלה הרבה מהשגת כל הנביאים אף נבואת משה רבינו ע"ה כנודע, וכידוע בכתבי האריז"ל שגילה הרבה דברים שלמעלה ממדריגת השגת הנביאים, כפי מה שכתב בעצמו בשער הנבואה, ולא שהנביאים לא השיגו זה, רק שמצד הנבואה שהיא ההשפעה הגלויה מן השמים לא השיגו זה, אבל השיגו מצד החכמה ברוח הקודש שהיה בקרבם גם כן דעל ידי זה יכולין להשיג כל הנעלמות, אלא שבדור הנביאים היה עיקר החשק וההשתוקקות של ראשי ישראל וצדיקי הדורות לנבואה שהוא השגה ברורה שהוא מן השמים, מה שאין כן השגת חכמה שהוא נעלמת שאפשר שאינן אלא דמיונות כוזבות של עצמו ולא תורת אמת ברוח הקודש, והם חשקו לדבר ברור וידיעה ברורה, ולכך לא היה אז התפשטות החכמה דתורה שבעל פה כל כך בישראל: