A Deeper Look at the current EJF Website and Troubling Issues it Raises:

Recipients and Publicity wrote:

Here we have an organization that has taken upon itself one of the most responsible jobs, geirus, and one would think that in inviting prospective clients (primarily gentiles married to Jews) its website would go beyond mere platitudes and generalities.

With all the tens of millions of dollars already pumped into EJF and its events, one would think that they would have not only a state of the art website up and running but that it would also offer complete transparency of who are the ones selling the goods.

Sure, the logo on top of each page proclaims that EJF is a "[Star of David that is almost an Israeli army-look-alike with the sword and olive leaves in the center] Eternal Jewish Family: THE LILLIAN JEAN KAPLAN JEWISH PRIDE THROUGH EDUCATION PROJECT" but has absolutely no listing of staff or who will be taking care of applicants once they apply on the blank automated fill-in "application" page at http://www.eternaljewishfamily.org/application.htm

The only rabbis mentioned are on the expanded "about" page at http://www.eternaljewishfamily.org/about.htm Two being deceased (Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l). Three alive, but two, very, very old and living in Israel: Rav Yosef Sholom Eliyashuv (born 1910) and Rav Shmuel Wosner (born 1913), with only a somewhat younger Rav Reuven Feinstein from America named in its history.

So in effect, the two deceased rabbis cannot be cited as "mashgichim" of any sort and the two much older rabbis from Israel cannot be "mashgichim" of what goes on in EJF either. So that leaves Rabbi Reuven Feinstein, who is very close with EJF's sole rabbi, the energized Rabbi Tropper and probably his main rabbinic ally.

So, just going by EJF's own website, there is no real known halachic supervisor (besides the omniscient Rabbi Tropper) to oversee who EJF is taking under its wings and preparing for conversions!

This is alarming because Rabbi Reuven Feinstein has his hands full running his large yeshiva MTJ on Staten Island, in NYC, and he has so many other duties such as attending Agudath Israel of America meetings, being mesader kiddushin at many people's weddings, and attending all sorts of functions. It is hard to imagine that he is personally intervieing each EJF applicant. Indeed, the same applies to Rabbi Tropper. He is a Rosh Yeshiva and he must be at his Yeshiva Kol Yaakov. He gives many guest lectures all over the USA. He has to raise funds (well maybe less now that the Dr. Tom Kaplan is taking this burdern off his shoulders) and it cannot be that he has the time to thoroghly screen each and every potential convert.

Rabbi Tropper may want and wish and think that he is probably at this time *trying* to keep his finger in every applicant's process because the situation is a bit dicy with the BADATZ having come out openly against him and the EJF and all it would take is for one phoney conversion process that EJF helped to blow up in his face and that would in turn blow his whole EJF dream out of the water. No-one said this would be easy.

Anyhow, coming back to the EJF website. Here are some issues to consider (as of February 25th, '08):

*No mention of staff. Even on the "about us" page.

*No mention of who is on the Board of Directors, if indeed there is one.

*No mention of a rabbinical advisory board. In fact not even Rabbi Leib Tropper, the rabbi most behind this effort is mentioned.

*No mention of what type of organization this is. Is it a USA 501 (c) 3 IRS approved not-for-profit charity? Does it take donations from the public? If Madonna the singer who is in with the Kabbalah Center sent EJF or the Lillian Jean Kpalan Foundation a big donation (to help converts, like her maybe, as she took on the Jewish name of "Esther") would anyone know if it was either accepted or, more hopefully, rejected? In fact who donates to EJF and keeps it going? Is it a different kind of private foundation? Is it an ancillary of the "Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation" or what is its legal status *exactly* in the USA so that its records and files can be examined such as all such entities are according to USA, FOI (Freedom Of Information) rules allow.

*A link to "horizons.edu" which in turn links to a dead link for Yeshiva Kol Yaakov (what does that mean, that there is "nothing" at the center of all this, or that the center does not wish to be linked to its misbegotten step-child?) but on the horizons.edu link there is no real information about that organization either, just platitudes about how great Rabbi Tropper is (self-praise is no recommendation, the saying goes) and links to past Kol Yaakov Yeshiva newsletters with more articles by Rabbi Tropper and notes from grateful students, and oh yes, Kol Yaakov will be opening a branch in Yerushalayim soon and, naturally, Rabbi Tropper will be the Rosh Yeshiva (he wears many hats) and he will be making frequent trans-continental hops back and forth. So again, when does he have time to run EJF and screen the many candidates for conversion? (And note again, that the link to the heart of Rabbi Tropper's world, the Kol Yaakov Yeshiva, does not work and says nothing.)

*On the horizons.edu page "ask the rabbi" page, there is just a seforim shrank picture http://www.horizons.edu/askrabbi.htm (typical, does that mean that one will commune with those deceased rabbis inside the seforim to get an answer?) and on the "lectures" page http://www.horizons.edu/lectures.htm there is a photo of Rabbi Tropper but not his name, it says: "Coming Soon" -- hopefully it will not be "the second coming" either!

*The "Batei Din List" is perhaps the most troubling page of all http://www.eternaljewishfamily.org/bateidinlist.htm as looking at the whole page one sees: First the "[Star of David that is almost an Israeli army-look-alike with the sword and olive leaves in the center] Eternal Jewish Family: THE LILLIAN JEAN KAPLAN JEWISH PRIDE THROUGH EDUCATION PROJECT" and then "EJF Approved Batei Din - List of EJF Approved Batei Din" and it states that: "The following batei din are known to EJF to be using universally accepted standards.
We would like to note that EJF does not perform conversions but works with existing batei din that are operating with the standards that have been handed to us by Gedolei Torah"

Fine mumbo-jumbo, and how would a prospective convert who knows very little about Yiddishkeit have any context to make sense of such a statement, like "they do, but they don't"! Very confusing and confused, and no doubt deliberately so. BUT at no point on the website is anyone told WHO exactly did, and does, the ongoing checking of the Batei Din and "approving" their standards. Who in fact is the "Executive Director" in the EJF office that does the work and who helps him get his job done. Is there no staff or is it a mix of EJF/Horizons/Kol Yaakov Yeshiva"/Rabbi Tropper's study&home&cell? Who are his assitants, and hopefully EJF is run by a "he", because a "she" has no ne'emanus in a beis din, sorry it's just a rule of halacha that beis din has to follow.

The list is impressive and as of Feb 25, '08 there are 14 of them one being in Israel and one in Canada. So 12 are in the USA. But who and when and where the "hechsherim" given to these batei din? Does EJF issue a written "seal of approval" that a prospective convert must and should obtain upon request a copy of from these batei din? And indeed, do Batei Din need "hechsherim" from another source especially one like EJF that is NOT a beis din itself, not a Jewishly or Halachically recognized religious body or council of any sort, that does not even state who its rabbis are, besides Rabbi Tropper, and those it deems to approve of its founding, the two late deceased rabbis, two very old ones in Israel and one American Rosh Yeshiva.

This is deception and geneivas da'as of the highest order.

What is this? Leitzonus and an insult to intelligence? An organization has the chutzpah to "evaluate" and "judge" and publicise batei din and does not say which rabbis it has on staff who have done this and who anyone can talk to (besides Rabbi Tropper of course).

Dumbfounding and one wonders why the listed batei din are going along with this, and hopefully it's not because they want donations from Tom Kaplan because that would be shochad...and it is hard to stop thinking when the EJF does not spell out who it uses and who it has on call, not just in Rabbi Tropper's rolodex, but objective outside Rabbonim, and EJF can trumpet is that rivers of money are flowing from the coffers of the "Lillian Jean Kaplan" Foundation to EJF which then sets itself up as the "supreme council" of which batei din are good or not. To repeat, this is chutzpah in motion!

Here is the complete list of batie din on the EJF website:

Name, Rabbi and Telephone number:

*Beis Din of Yerushalayim: Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein 011-972-225-322047

*Beis Din of Monsey: Rabbi Pinchus Rabinowitz 845-425-1315

*Beis Din of Philadelphia: Rabbi Aharon Felder 215-745-2968

*Beis Din Merkaz HaRabbanim: Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik 312-543-3945

*Beis Din of Cleveland: Rabbi Yisroel Grumer 216-321-5002

*Beis Din of New York: Rabbi Yisroel Dov Webster 718-236-9244

*Beis Din of RCC- Los Angeles: Rabbi Avraham Union 213-389-3382 ext 13

*Beis Din of Milwaukee: Rabbi Mendel Senderovic 414-234-8635

*Beis Din of Montreal, Canada: Rabbi Yonoson Binyomin Weiss 514-739-6363

*Beis Din of Miami: Rabbi Mendel Senderovic 414-234-8635 (Rabbi Senderovic is also listed above for Beis Din of Milwaukee. Is he an itinerant dayan?)

*Beis Din of Lakewood: Rabbi Dov Kahan 732-905-59220

*Beis Din of Dallas: Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried 214-987-3282

*Beis Din of Houston: Rabbi Yehoshua Wender 713-729-8870

*Beis Din of Cincinnati: Rabbi Zelig Scharfstein 513-731-4671

A quick look at these batei din will show that some are very new and function under the auspices of Litvishe yeshivishe rabbis mosly from "out-of-town" (i.e. outside of the main centers of Torah life) in communities tied to out-of-town rabbis and kollelim involved or tied in with kiruv rechokim. It even looks like it's a system of "kiruv-related batei din" designed to help the spouses and or partners of people who are getting into Yiddishkeit through kiruv programs to obtain conversions for their non-Jewish spouses/partners.

This is all very worrying, especially since the EJF website has said that in combination with Rabbi Tropper's "Horizons" outreach efforts, EJF will function as a kiruv/conversion effort and it sure looks as if Rabbi Tropper and EJF have lined up a series of Batei Din (except for Rabbi Eisenstein's in Eretz Yisroel -- a more complex effort -- that should not have gotten involved with EJF and will hopefully still break its ties with EJF now that the BADATZ has come out against the EJF) that will work with EJF's and Rabbi Tropper's goals of "kiruv and geirus" now set to march in "lock-step" and being a very radical departure from classical kiruv and from the autinimous of batei din, theta are now sold and depicted as "single-issue" batei din, in effect a "conglomorate geirus factory with local sub-divions" instead of the classical approach of allowing potential geirim to FIND THEIR OWN WAY without outside help from EJF or anyone to deal with each case on its merits and NOT as part of a greater and broader strategic scheme to help non-Jews get converted for their Jewish spouses and partners in kiruv programs. The Halacha has always been to ACTIVELY DISCOURAGE geirim, that is the din, and to allow the DIVINE Hashgocha to take its own route and that if it is bashert for a goy to become a ger tzedek then leave it to H-shen to show the way, so that there is no need for active organizations in this field that are mimicking the Reform policy of welcoming all and sundry non-Jews as a "solution" to assimilation, intermarriage or any other population challenge or self-inflicted human tragedies.

No wonder Rabbi Tropper and the EJF website is not saying who the active rabbinical board (if there even is one) is and who is giving them *their* hechsher now. But one thing we do know now, they do NOT have the hechsher of the BADATZ but to the contrary the BADATZ has pasulled (negated) them and has called upon any rabbis who assiciate with EJF to wihdraw from them.

Hopefully the BADATZ has also sent its letter asking rabbis to withdraw to the 14 honorable batei din and its rabbis listed by EJF on its website list and hopefully too the rabbonim and dayonim on that list will respect the BADATZ as much as, hopefully more than, they respect the secular-funded and mysteriously run EJF with its meaningless endorsements of batei din yet.

To allow a non-Halachic organization, in the sense that it itself says that it does not do coversions and it's just a "project" of the "Lillian Jean Kaplan} Foundation, to not just give mere opinions but to actually "approve" and sit in judgment as a de facto "ubber-beis din" of other batei din, is a perilous and dangerous situation for any Torah-studying, Halacha-observant, beis din-respecting Jew!

Kiruv XIII - Entering the final closing stage of kiruv

Recipients and Publicity wrote:

MODERN KIRUV'S HISTORICAL PARADOX

or

KIRUV a VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS!

or

KIRUV'S TROUBLED AGE FROM THE 1980s TO THE 2000s VERSUS KIRUV'S GOLDEN AGE FROM THE 1950s TO THE 1980s.

or

ENTERING THE FINAL CLOSING STAGE OF KIRUV.

I am not disputing Dr. Eidensohn's craving for sources and I will be glad to read all the sources he can come up with. But the following comments relate to something more serious than searching for sources (somewhat like looking for a flight data recorder "black-box" after a catastrophic plane crash) when analyzing the flight, what went wrong, why the crash took place and how to help any survivors if there are any is very beneficial.

The small comment by Tzurah that: FFB's have an attitude that "...In fact, they were always taught not to proselytize, so kiruv looks like it might be a little assur (esp. if one might end up teaching Torah, even inadvertently, to actual non-Jews). Also, one has to go out into the non-frum world and expose oneself to myriad spiritual dangers. If it might be assur, and it might endanger your neshama, why take the chance? ..."

The problem is in fact far deeper than it seems. One thing to note is the success to which kiruv rechokim has been "mainstreamed" and has won a lot of recognition in the frum world. Much of it lip-service but impressive nevertheless. Even the Reform and Conservative movements have launched "keruv" (with an "e") drives aping the Orthodox and Haredi "kiruv" (with and "i").

But as has been stated and reported in earlier posts on this blog, kindly posted by Dr. Eidensohn for which I give him a big public thank you!, the first age of Kiruv, from about the 1950s to the 1980s is over.

It was a type of golden age with all the excitement of something new coming out of the social dislocation of the 1950s and 1960s and the remorse of the Holocaust on many people's mind.

And in those days the MAJORITY of Jews were not intermarried so most youth and young adults who joined Orthodoxy and some of its earliest outreach programs came from reliably Halachicly Jewish backgrounds with a Jewish mother and Jewish father.

However, symbolically and practically with the Reform movement's official acceptance of patrilineal descent, meaning a Jewish mother was not required to be called a Jew and just having a Jewish father was enough, and with the vast majority of Jews remaining secular and unaffiliated and slipping into mass assimilation, intermarriage and even apostasy to Christianity (hundreds of thousands of them joining the new so-called "Messianic movements"), as proven by the USA National Jewish Population Surveys of 1990 and 2000 the MAJORITY of those born from the 1980s onwards are coming from interfaith unions and many people who think they are Jewish, born as they are from only Jewish fathers or converted by Reform and Conservative, are not Jewish Halachicly, and this then creates our present TROUBLED AGE OF KIRUV from the 1980s to the present times, with so many people in kiruv programs not being Halachicly Jewish and the numbers keep on growing EVEN CREATING A LARGE DEMAND AND MARKET FOR ALL SORTS OF QUESTIONABLE CONVERSION, so that kiruv efforts fuel demands for conversion.

Thus in a span of roughly sixty years, since after the Holocaust, the KIRUV MOVEMENT HAS EXPERIENCED TWO STAGES: A GOLDEN AGE FROM THE 1950s TO THE 1980s AND A TROUBLED AGE FROM THE 1980s TO THE 2000s.

What do I mean by this?

Basically that the Baal Teshuva Movement that started after the Holocaust and took off in the 1950s and 1960s surprised EVERYONE because the religious world was as surprised as the secular world that it was happening at all. Very few took it seriously at first and many thought it was a passing craze, like the hula-hoop or bell-bottoms. And very few would have imagined or dared to say that it was a fulfilment of ancient Jewish prophecies in the Tanach that one day the Jewish people would return to BOTH its land in Zion and to its Torah heritage and then some. But it was all dream like.

In the early days Chabad rabbis rabbis were welcomed guest-speakers in Reform and conservative synagogues to talk about "Hasidism" and "Kabbalah" but when synagogue members took them seriously and the Lubavitchers had the audacity to then set up their own Chabad shuls next door all hell broke loose and they were banned from the Reform and Conservative places. The same thing happened to the Aish HaTorah people when they played their Discovery seminars at Reform and Conservative places to packed houses in the 1980s until they started influencing too many people and then they too were banned.

The point is there was so much SPONTANEOUS success with people becoming frum, with real professional kiruv workers being trained and encouraged to do it, that few realized that this would all change with new circumstances. Incidentally, many who would become leaders of the Baal Teshuva movement were themselves Baalei Teshuva from the Golden Age of Kiruv.

But then things changed and the with more assimilation and intermarriage there were less real Halachic Jews then there had been BUT that did not stop people, all people including gentiles and non-Halachic Jews, from wanting to learn more, and here is where a GREAT PARADOX kicks in, that in the newer TROUBLED AGE OF KIRUV the Halachic questions went deeper than ever before, that KIRUV WENT BIG TIME "CORPORATE", and it was no longer a case of lone ranger Chabad rabbis and a handful of NCSY rabbis doing kiruv, in their place arose KIRUV CONGLOMERATE BEHEMOTHS WITH HUGE FUNDS AND PRACTICED METHODS with all this experience, and organization and funding being poured into kiruv rechokim at a time when the texture and make-up of the rechokim had changed from a majority who came from two Halachic Jewish parents to a majority who came from intermarried homes or were intermarried themselves. (That is why Rabbi Leib Tropper's EJF efforts are so cutting edge, because he is showing that he understands, and is working with, the new "kiruv paradigm" and why he was also shot down by the BADATZ who sent out letters to rabbis who were Recipients and making Publicity that such as Rabbi Tropper and the EJF planned, was not to be done nor encouraged, and THAT KIRUV PROGRAMS MUST NOW DISCOURAGE GENTILES FROM JOINING THEIR PROGRAMS AND CERTAINLY FROM WANTING TO CONVERT TO JUDAISM.

So it is again the tides of society and history that are forcing the hands of some leading rabbis, leading to a literal "mekarev beyemin umerachek besmol" ("bring close with your right hand and reject with your left hand") situation.

And that is why there is presently so much confusion in the field and in general, that while some talk rosily and dreamily about "kiruv" in our times, it is not related to reality and the facts on the ground, since they think or assume conditions are like it was in the Golden Age of Kiruv in its first sate from the 1950s to the 1980s when it is NOT

Or maybe some resort to the false logic that "the more people who are married to gentiles the more kiruv must be done", which is a dangerous game to play, because what will be done with those gentiles if they are brought into Jewish communities, and it is reported that in some Reform temples the majority of board members are not Halachic Jews!

While others are confused why there are these protests by other rabbis who object to "reaching out" to Jews when they are objecting to those who are gentiles according to Halacha from being brought into Judaism for the wrong reasons.

It is a very confusing and unsettling situation that will clarify itself in time, as people choose to go into one direction or another over the next generation or two.

It will probably not take more than another 30 years to accomplish the FINAL STAGE OF KIRUV once the Kiruv workers can get it through their heads that the gates are closing quickly and only those Halachicly Jewish should be mekareved.

That will take another 30 years or so and then the total span of the kiruv era will be over, having lasted no more than about 100 years (one hundred years) stretching from the 1950s into about the middle of the 21st century, that will be marked and recalled as unique era in Jewish and Torah history!

To be continued...

Rabbi Tropper & Prague - what happened?

There was a recent conference of European rabbis in Prague. The focus of the conference was officially on two things - remembrance of the Holocaust and Kiruv. But there was also a discussion of conversion Rabbi Tropper had been invited to speak - however the strong negative reaction to his speech resulted in his leaving in the middle of his drasha. Ostensibly Rabbi Tropper was interested in investing some of EJF's money in European kiruv efforts. Why would anyone be upset about a wealthy benefactor?

Some of what I am saying is conjecture but it is built upon solid facts. The facts are not in dispute - but my interpretation might be. This is also not a tale about the good guys vs. the bad guys. Everyone involved wears a black hat and dark suit.

If you will remember back a few years there was a turning point that will probably be remembered in history books as the Slifkin affair or by others as the Making of a Gadol affair. R' Slifkin raised questions from Science against our Mesorah and presented answers. He dealt with such things as the age of the universe. His approach and explanations were at one time very welcome in the world of kiruv. But then they migrated into the mainstream. Gedolim such as Rav Moshe Sternbuch and Rav Moshe Shapiro were disturbed by the familiarity with which R' Slifkin spoke about our sages and their supposed fallibility in knowledge. Similarly there were many gedolim who were outraged about Rav Nosson Kaminetsky's stories about gedolim which conveyed their human foibles. The awesome barrier which separated us from the gedolim was breached. The enemy was no longer outside but were people honored as insiders. Both of these rabbis were viciously slandered. [Rav Nosson Kaminetsky asked me to clarify that the rabbis who are against R' Slifkin are not necessarily against him. In particular he has a very close relationship with Rav Sternbuch who greatly appreciates his book - while saying that there are clearly changes that need to be made]

One of the most dedicated crusaders against R' Slifkin was Rabbi Tropper. He convinced Rav Dovid Feinstein and others that R' Slifkin's approach was dangerous by describing two of his students who had gone off the derech because of their reading of his books. While the students in fact did not go off the derech because of R' Slifkin - they served their purpose. Rabbi Tropper is a zealot. A man driven by a vision of the way things should be, must be. A man who is driven by a pure and simple understanding of Truth - and his indispensable role in achieving it.

Let's go forward in time to last year's EJF conference in Washington D.C. It was massively publicized with cover photos and large articles describing in detail who was there as well as the speeches. The conference will go down in history for the speech given that said that whoever believes that the world is more than 6000 years old - can not be a dayan for geirus. A rabbi who wore colored shirts was not to participate in a beis din for conversion. Here was a major weapon to be wielded against those who didn't share Rabbi Tropper's vision of Yiddisheit - i.e. the Modern Orthodox as well as many American Chareidim. The point of the conference was geirus and the universal standardization according to the standards of Rabbi Tropper. Rabbi Tropper had and has a lot of money due to his backing by billionaire Tom Kaplan. Many of the participants in fact went primarily to receive a significant amount of money from R' Tropper. Rabbi Tropper drew a line in the sand and said, "If you want to participate in my universal conversion program - you must accept my beliefs in these matters." Ignored or not noticed was Rabbi Tropper's advocacy of proselytization for intermarried couples and their non-Jewish kids. This was strongly denounced by Rav Moshe Sternbuch as well as all the other members of the Bedatz. But I digress.

Last year there was also the surrender of the RCA - the Modern Orthodox American Rabbis to the Chief rabbinate or to Rav Eliashiv's standards of geirus. Something which even many Modern Orthodox rabbis realized was necessary. None the less it represented the serious submission of a significant number of rabbis to a handful of Israeli authorities who don't share the same vision of Yiddishkeit or the world.

It is now November 2008. So now we have Rabbi Tropper - a world famous rabbi with a lot of money. A lot less power as the result of the strong criticism of the Bedatz against his approach - but still a force to be reckoned with.

He is invited to speak in Prague. He comes with the resources, desire and need to invest money in kiruv [?] in Europe. All are waiting anxiously to hear what he wants to do and how. But instead of a reasoned discussion of the issues and the various views and what he would like to do and what he would like to learn from them - he starts lecturing them. He lectures them about their shortcomings and failures.

But most of all he attacks the Modern Orthodox rabbis - those who don't share his vision of Yiddishkeit. He attacks all those who don't accept his standards of geirus. There were many people who were greatly embarrassed by his rudeness and insensitivity. He is perceived as the proverbial bull in a china shop. There are many who are furious. He comes not to work together with the Europeans rabbis but rather to dictate to them. He is lecturing them as the old school master to a bunch of kids who just got caught violating the rules.

He becomes aware of their anger at his comments. He defends himself - but it is too late. He loses it and walks out of the angry assembly in the middle of his presentation in great irritation. There is even a petition circulated to ban his future attendance of the meetings. He came to conquer and command and instead he was rejected.

A parallel event was happening with Chief Rabbi Amar who similarly was deliberately held at arm's length by the European rabbis. They now see their salvation from within - and resent the condescension of outsiders who have no understanding of Europe and what impact Israeli chareidi rules have on this foreign place.

EJF fights to stay alive or 3 Belzers & a Blogger trying to understand Daas Torah

I just found out today that some of my most devoted readers are Belzers - even though the vast majority don't understand English. I received a call today from a person claiming to be a employee of Hidabroot  - the Belzer kiruv organization. He mentioned  that he just discovered my blog Daas Torah - even though his wife had to translate it for him since his English is poor. He was interested in my halachic knowledge concerning geirus and kiruv. He noted that his organization is closely associated with EJF. The conversation was strange - a Belzer is calling me up concerning my halachic views on geirus and kiruv because of my blog?! I asked him if knew about Tropper and he said he had heard of Tropper but  was not directly involved with him but was aware that my Blog is very concerned with him. This was really strange. I asked him do you know the scandal with Tropper and he said that he didn't. When I told him he expressed shock but said that really didn't interest him. He wanted to understand my objections to EJF and the halachic reasons. I said are you aware that the Bedatz strongly condemned EJF and he said no. He said we would never do anything that he knew directly went against the Bedatz. I asked him about the ad that Hidabroot runs every year that asks for all mixed couples who are bothered by their situations or those who know them to get in contact with them. I said the Bedatz is concerned about prosyletization and this ad is the classic example. His response is that there was no such ad. I said why don't you come over to my house and I'll show it to you along with the Bedatz's letter and you can hear Rav Reuven criticizing the position of EJf. He said fine and asked if he  could bring a distinguished talmid chachom along who was an expert on geirus.

Two hours later three Belzer's knocked on my door. Really friendly fellows. I played Rav Reuven' recording. "That is exactly our policy at Hidabroot. We never go after goyim or intermarried couples. They are always referred to us by Rabbis after they have come one their own accord." I said well what about your ads and I displayed it on my computer. It clearly is proselytizing and mentions nothing about rabbis or kiruv organization providing recommendations. Their answer was that this was an old ad that had long ago been changed. I said but this has run for the last two years. "On no that is an old ad - we don't proselytize. In fact there has never been any  seminar  that we are associated with here in Israel that tries to attract goyim or had attendees that have not been associated with a kiruv program for 1 or 2 years.

In short we had a great session where we all agreed that proselytization was wrong and that only when dealing with a tinok shebisha who didn't know intermarriage was bad would they allow  him to participate - after he came willingly. (Of interest they brought a laptop which they asked to connect to my WiFi which I did).

Then out of left field they asked me why a blog named Daas Torah was full of shmutz and Tropper's sexual scandal. I explained that it was important that people know what had happened and that this would motivate people to take it seriously and do something about it.  "But how can you have a blog called Daas Torah" - they said in Hebrew since they didn't know English. We have people who are seriously involved in Torah and they go to your blog to see Daas Torah and they get shmutz.  They said they have received a lot of complaints about my blog from Belzer chasidim. This was really surprising. Non English speakers being corrupted by my blog because they thoroughly read through every posting and all the comments and they discover to their horror that it wasn't Hamodiah. After I tried  explaining several times I said lets go ask Rav Sternbuch - whom they had never met. I called his home and was told he was leaving for the 2 minute walk to shul for mincha. We piled into their car and found Rav Sternbuch climbing the stairs  leading from his apartment to the street. I introduced them and told them to ask their question - which they did. Rav Sternbuch explained that of course there was no need to discuss shmutz in regards to Tropper.They looked at me with smug grins and said we told you so. I tried explained to Rav Sternbuch what and why  I was doing because he had never expressed such concerns before - but he just said , "Why mention disgusting things "and went in for Mincha. They talked for few mintues with Rav Sternbuch's gabbai and they left with a condscending, "Don't forget to take off all that shmutz - it is Daas Torah right after mincha because you follow Daas Torah." I went in to daven confused.

After Mincha, I went to ask Rav Sternbuch for clarification. He said, "I thought they were asking whether they needed to read about the shmutz. I didn't realize they were talking about the articles that you are mefarsem. You can use your own judgment about what you write. Just don't be explicit about the nature of the disgusting activities. But there is no problem to say that Tropper is a menuval or a sheigitz (Megila 25) and in fact it should be publicized that he is a menuval."

So now we have a situation where they will claim that I don't listen to Daas Torah when they go to read my blog and see all the postings about Tropper are still there - which was clearly the actual reason they came to see me. In fact, however, Rav Sternbuch thought he was answering a question about what they should do - not what I should be doing.  He felt it was irrelevant and bitul Torah for these chasidim to be reading about the depravity of Tropper when it was enough they knew  about it. On the other hand he felt that there was a to'eles for me to be mefarsum the  nature of the scandal. The lesson is clear - don't ask a posek an important question when he is rushing to daven mincha - unless you can ask him to clarify it afterwards.

Eternal Jewish Family - Craves attention

Guest Post: Recipients and Publicity's comment to "Eternal Jewish Family - What are they doing these ...":

EJF makes dubious claims about a meeting in Detroit.

The latest Sukkos-edition of the English MODIAH has published an EJF press release in the guise of an article exactly as it has already appeared online on Yeshiva World (September 28, 2008) so this must mean a lot to EJF. But, as usual, a closer scrutiny of the brief article reveals a lot of shaky double speak, deviousness, and misinformation that one wonders if all the rabbis and dayanim contacted by Rabbi Tropper and EJF are not being taken for the ride of their lives, given the numbers of batei din supposedly conscripted by EJF and the supposed scope of it all.

Here is the article as it appears in the MODIAH, a very reputable Torah-true paper, with comments following starting with "RaP":

"HAMODIA.
Community.
8 Tishrei 5769 – October 7, 2008
Page C14.

New EJF-Affiliated Beis Din Established in Detroit

([Photo. Caption reads:] Vaad Harabbanim of Detroit, Eternal Jewish Family agree on geirus standards for beis din. (R-L:) Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, chairman of the Vaad Harrabanim of Detroit; Rabbi Chaim Bergstein, dayan; Rabbi Meilech Silberberg, dayan; Rabbi Ari Kostelitz, dayan; and Rabbi Leib Tropper, chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of EJF (foreground). Also participating was Rabbi Zachariash, former chairman of the Vaad Harabbanim.)

A fully functioning beis din that subscribes to the standards of Gedolei Yisroel on universally accepted conversions will serve Detroit and its environs, representatives of the Vaad Harrabanim of Detroit and the Eternal Jewish Family announced, following a meeting between Rabbi Leib Tropper, chairman of the Rabbinic Board of the EJF, and the Vaad Harrabanim.

The beis din agreed to follow the standards on geirus according to the piskei din of such past and present poskim as Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l; Hagaon Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l; the Minchas Yitzchak; Hagaon Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, shlita, and Hagaon Harav Reuven Feinstein, shlita.

Following his visit to Detroit, Rabbi Tropper said that he was extremely impressed with the caliber of the dayanim and that he had no doubt that ‘it would emerge as one of the model batei din’ around the world. He said he was overwhelmed by ‘the reception and sincerity of the beis din’ in adopting the standards of Gedolei Yisrael on universally accepted conversions.

The Rabbanim and dayanim of the Vaad Harrabanim who participated included Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, Yoshev Rosh of the Vaad Harrabanim; Rabbi Meilech Silberberg; Rabbi Chaim Bergstein, Rabbi Ari Kostelitz, and Rabbi S. Zachariash, former chairman of the Vaad Harrabanim.

The Rabbanim complimented EJF on its accomplishments since its establishment three years ago. They were enthusiastic about becoming part of a growing network of batei din in the U.S., Israel, and Europe that would follow the geirus standards of the leading poskim. The Rabbanim also thanked Mr. Tom Kaplan for his support of this new affiliation between EJF and the beis din.

While EJF does not establish batei din, it works with existing batei din and those in formation that function in accordance with the standards of the foremost Gedolei haTorah. The Detroit beis din, which was established 26 years ago, is the 18th in the worldwide network of batei din that subscribe to the EJF standards. Other batei din are located in Israel and Europe.

In North America, the batei din function in such cities as Baltimore, Monsey, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Montreal, Miami, Lakewood, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, and Vancouver.”
~~~~~

"HAMODIA.
Community.
8 Tishrei 5769 – October 7, 2008
Page C14."

RaP: This article should have been accurately called: ""Established Detroit Beis Din meets with EJF to discuss conversions" as will be explained below. Notice how the various press-releases are being spread around in various Jewish papers and media sources. At times it's the Jewish Press, or online Jewish media, or papers such as the Modiah that do not publish online, so that all the carefull layering and spread of press releases about this and that meeting between Rabbi Tropper and yet another group of rabbis and dayanim seems to unfold like a forest in bloom. But is it?

"New EJF-Affiliated Beis Din Established in Detroit"

RaP: Why does the first line, the headline, have to start with a borderline lie?! The implication for anyone who reads English is that it is EJF that is setting up this beis din in Detroit when a few paragrpahs down the same piece says that EJF does not set up batei din and that this one in Detroit is 26 years old! So what new tricks is Rabbi Tropper coming to teach them, if any? None, because the news item is not for the rabbis in Detroit, it is part of PR campaign that is costing EJF heavy money to get the message across that EJF is the "only show in town" when thinking of conversions, when it is a false claim to project onto the Orthodox Jewish public, simply because right-wing Haredim and Hasidim such as Satmar or Lubavitch don't care about Rabbi Tropper and his antics, and the left wing Modern Orthodox who use the RCA and its rabbonim and dayonim won't care either, see http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/02/rca-announces-establishment-of.html and http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/07/conversion-crisis-r-angel-r-riskin-try.html and http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/05/80-relgious-zionist-orthodox-rabbis.html as examples, so what is all this trumpet blowing worth, except that it makes Rabbi Tropper into a household name worthy of an Obama PR drive.

"([Photo. Caption reads:] Vaad Harabbanim of Detroit, Eternal Jewish Family agree
on geirus standards for beis din. (R-L:) Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, chairman of the Vaad Harrabanim of Detroit; Rabbi Chaim Bergstein, dayan; Rabbi Meilech Silberberg, dayan; Rabbi Ari Kostelitz, dayan; and Rabbi Leib Tropper, chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of EJF (foreground). Also participating was Rabbi Zachariash, former chairman of the Vaad Harabbanim.)"

RaP: The photo shows how choshuv these Detroit rabbonim really are and how they are sitting with serious faces towards the camera and towards Rabbi Tropper. Neither now nor later are any of them actually quoted verbatim. Why not? Are all these dayanim mute? Iws only Rabbi Tropper abale to verbalize what transpires? Ah yes, "the world (of conversions) according to Tropper, the next chapter"! One wonders what the dayanim are thinking about all this and if they know that Rabbi Tropper and EJF are controversial in the Haredi world and MO world? Do they know that the BADATZ sent letters to RECIPIENTS at many other batei din not get involved with EJF and that EJF and Rabbi Tropper received negative PUBLICITY for their hidden agenda that they spent literal MILLIONS of dollars on to convert the non-Jewish spouses of intermarried couples? Or is all this now not discussed?

"A fully functioning beis din that subscribes to the standards of Gedolei Yisroel on universally accepted conversions will serve Detroit and its environs,"

RaP: But wait, what lies are these, the beis din exists in Detroit for 26 years already and no doubt performing some conversions has been one of it tasks, and they are such ehrliche people that why are they being misrepresented as if Rabbi Tropper is organizing them for the first time to be a "reliable and obedient" beis din on conversions?

"representatives of the Vaad Harrabanim of Detroit and the Eternal Jewish Family announced, following a meeting between Rabbi Leib Tropper, chairman of the Rabbinic Board of the EJF, and the Vaad Harrabanim."

RaP: Question: Rabbi Tropper is referred to here as "chairman of the Rabbinic Board of the EJF" but in the photo caption he is referred to as "chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of EJF" so could someone please explain what is the difference between the "Rabbinic Board" and the "Rabbinic Committee" of EJF? Are they different or are they the same thing and the typist drawing up this info-mercial was perhaps careless? If the EJF "Board" and "Committee" are indeed different, what are the differences and why is Rabbi Tropper "chairman" of BOTH the "Board" and the "Committee"? And who appointed him to these positions that he can sit in judgment as a kind of uber-dayan passing judgment on other dayanim and batei din no less that have presumably been performing their holy work long before Rabbi Tropper and his allies ever dreamed up the EJF junket? This is all very troubling.

"The beis din agreed to follow the standards on geirus according to the piskei din of such past and present poskim as"

RaP: How condescending! Would anyone imagine that such an illustrious beis din with such choshuve rabbonim and dayanim would pasken in any way other than the "piskei din of such past and present poskim"? The sheer chutzpa of this statement actually borders on stupidity because it reveals an utter lack of derech eretz and pathetic paternalism. Does Rabbi Tropper and his yingelach of EJF think that dealing with and writing about a prestigious beis din is like setting up another kiruv program on a forlorn fardorbenne campus and that they are dealing with "student organizers" and pontential kiruv candidates? It is obvious that Rabbi Tropper and the person writing this tatty shameful article are wedded to a bad kind of kiruv paradigm (the paternalistic kind that most BTs intuitively resent and reject) and that they have no clue how to work with batei din. No wonder the rabbis always look glum and unhappy to be in the pictures with Rabbi Tropper since he seems to be treating themeno better than a wild rancher rounding up his select steers to be branded as "his"!

"Hagaon Harav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l; Hagaon Harav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l; the Minchas Yitzchak; Hagaon Harav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, shlita, and Hagaon arav Reuven Feinstein, shlita."

RaP: Besides the usual pathetic retrocative meaningless invocation of deceased rabbis zt"l who were never involved with EJF, the article introduces a new twist, that the "Minchas Yitzchak" is now another deceased rabbi who approves of EJF. Well, well, the "Minchas Yitzchak" is none other than HaRav HaGaon Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss zt"l who passed away in 1989!!! He became "the Edah Charedis head in 1979 with the death of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum" of Satmar (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzchok_Yaakov_Weiss ) so now we are being told that perhaps even the Edah Hacharedis and its BADATZ support EJF retroactivly too? What fraud is that? All of which flies in the face of the fact that the BADATZ of today and the heirs and allies of Rav Weiss are the most publicly outspoken group of rabbis denouncing Rabbi Tropper and the EJF, see http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/02/bedatz-letter-regarding-ejf-signed-by.html

"Following his visit to Detroit, Rabbi Tropper said that he was extremely impressed with the caliber of the dayanim"

RaP: This is sheer arrogance and chutzpa. Did he check up on their other activities as well such as hashgochas on foods and restaurants? Who is he to "judge" these dayanim? What formula does he use to arrive at being happy or not with reputable dayanim? What kind of ne-man-show is this? It is beyond a joke, it is a caricature of a grand inquisitor.

"and that he had no doubt that ‘it would emerge as one of the model batei din’ around the world. He said he was overwhelmed by ‘the reception and sincerity of the beis din’ in adopting the standards of Gedolei Yisrael on universally accepted conversions."

RaP: Oh, and until he turned up in Detroit they were not going by what Gedolei Yisroel were saying? Give us all a break please! The chutzpa just never stops, and it is surprising that the dayanim in such photos don't tell him to get lost and to aplogize for writing such childish drivel in fake news releases that he and EJF spread all over the world with the services of professional hired-gun PR companies, including that of Rabbi Tropper's own sister in law, and supported by the Kaplan Millions.

"The Rabbanim and dayanim of the Vaad Harrabanim who participated included
Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, Yoshev Rosh of the Vaad Harrabanim; Rabbi Meilech Silberberg; Rabbi Chaim Bergstein, Rabbi Ari Kostelitz, and Rabbi S. Zachariash, former chairman of the Vaad Harrabanim."

RaP: All well known and honorable rabbonim who do NOT need a haskama from the frenetic globetrotting Reb Leib Tropper. Question: Why was Rabbi Zachariash camera shy? Maybe he knows something the others don't? But his name is dragged into it willy-nilly.

"The Rabbanim complimented EJF on its accomplishments since its establishment three years ago. They were enthusiastic about becoming part of a growing network of batei din in the U.S., Israel, and Europe that would follow the geirus standards of the leading poskim."

RaP: Note how there are no verbatim quotes on the record, just secoind hand descriptions by an unkown writer of this poor PR piece. Such babyish words it's astounding. For heaven's sake, these are major rabbonim and they are being made to sound like puppets and they are endorsing some kind of new fangled product of their master. And by the way, how exactly is Rabbi Tropper and EJF to "lead" this ever growing list of batei din? By Email? IM? Fax? Teleconference? All expenses paid meetings paid by the Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation? How does that reconcile with not taking shochad, or is that a minor technicality?

"The Rabbanim also thanked Mr. Tom Kaplan for his support of this new affiliation between EJF and the beis din."

RaP: What? They thanked who? Why? For what? Is he the "posek" of note here? And do they know he is NOT a "Mr" but a very smart PhD with an agenda, see ttp://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/02/who-is-behind-eternal-jewish-family.html Do they know that Dr. Tom Kaplan is not neutral in the EJF saga, he has sponsored all expenses paid get-aways in fancy hotels ("kiruv" to GOYIM) by "reaching out" to the NON-Jewish spouses in intermarriages to convince to obtain Orthodox conversions? Are all these batei also signing on to THOSE goals, so nicely concealed behind all the talk about following poskim and deceased rabbis zt"l? Are the batei din hooking up with EJF aware that when the BADATZ came out against EJF's mission that EJF cancelled its controversial get aways for mixed marriage couples and PR events for rabbis? see http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/03/eternal-jewish-family-conference-in_27.html

"While EJF does not establish batei din, it works with existing batei din and those in formation that function in accordance with the standards of the foremost Gedolei haTorah. The Detroit beis din, which was established 26 years ago, is the 18th in the worldwide network of batei din that subscribe to the EJF standards. Other batei din are located in Israel and Europe."

RaP: So far this is the first honest statement and it should have been the lead. The heading of the article should correctly have said "Established Detroit Beis Din meets with EJF to discuss conversions" and not like it makes it sound that some great gedila was achieved. Nothing has changed, just that Rabbi Tropper rode into town, and naturally a photographer was ready to snap a pic and a press release was concocted and sent out to a few prize Jewish news outlets about what was in essence a minor meeting, one of thousands between Orthodox rabbis working with conversions on a daily basis and doing the best they can.

"In North America, the batei din function in such cities as Baltimore, Monsey, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Montreal, Miami, Lakewood, Dallas, Toronto, Houston, and Vancouver."

RaP: Ok, so there is Yiddishkeit and there are rabbonim, batei din and dayanim in those cities, but that does not mean that Rabbi Tropper should be allowed to falsely project himself as some kind of "chief rabbi in charge of all Orthodox conversions" when he is clearly not.

Kiruv V - Orthodox and Reform meld - the slippery slope

Recipients and Publicity in his continuing series on the dynamics of contemporary kiruv

KIRUV TODAY: WHERE ORTHODOXY AND REFORM MEET!

Or

THE AGE OF ORTHODOX AND HAREDI KIRUV MEETS REFORM AND CONSERVATIVE KERUV!

Or

1980s to the present: A dangerous turning point in the history of Kiruv Rechokim and the Baal Teshuva Movement and Revolution.

Just in passing reference to Chabad, it would be worthy to note that with the mere existence of Chabad husband & wife shluchim/shluchos teams, lets assume that there are about five thousand of them in the wide world and if each couple brings in just one secular couple a year into their sphere of interest, not a far-fetched idea, then that makes five thousand new couples and ten thousand new "recruits" a year, and if even a quarter are not Halachically Jewish, then that means that all over the world, Chabad is responsible for pulling in 2,500 people into Jewish religious life who require Halachic conversions PER YEAR, and if one multiplies that over ten years that amounts to 25,000 people in that category which brings the entire matter to critical mass, and if one just doubles the figures assuming that Chabad rabbis and rebbetzins can each pull in more than one couple a year, that means that in the last ten years 50,000 people are involved in Chabad and Orthodox life who had not started out life as Halachic Jews, so that one clearly sees that what is happening is that with the success and spread of Orthodox kiruv, as practiced by Chabad or Aish HaTorah or NCSY or any group active in the field, many tens of thousands of non-Halachic Jews are being drawn in, just based on the UJA's groundbreaking and eye popping National Jewish Population Surveys (NJPS) www.ujc.org/njps of 1990 http://www.jewishdatabank.org/NJPS1990.asp and 2000 http://www.jewishdatabank.org/NJPS2000.asp (the 1990 report was so bad that they had to doctor the results of the 2000 report, but that is another subject) and that it is therefore beyond any shadow of a doubt that KIRUV AS WE KNOW IT OF REACHING OUT TO JEWS ONLY IS OVER, the "NEW" KIRUV IS ALL ABOUT REACHING BOTH JEWS AND THE NON-HALACHIC JEWS ATTACHED TO THEM. (That is why Rabbi Leib Tropper and his "kosher" EJF efforts are so cutting edge and relevant and when the BADATZ finally got to smell the coffee and wake up and sent notices out to Recipients and it received Publicity that ehrliche Orthodox rabbis were not to join in the EJF worldwide effort to welcome in non-Jews to Orthodoxy conversions no matter how "appealing" or "right" things mayy seem from a so-called kiruv perspective.)

And this brings us to the main topic of this post, that it can safely be stated, based on both the admissions of those in the field and the statistical and social realities, that the BROAD RANGED AGENDAS of BOTH the huge Orthodox/Haredi/Hasidic kiruv organisations and movements and those of the REFORM movement, with the Conservatives running a close second ARE THE SAME, in that they are:

(a) NOT to be repelled by the thought of having to reach out to non-Halachic Jews and even gentiles thereby rejecting them from mass strict Halachic conversions as required by Halacha itself of course, but on the contrary to

(b) REACH OUT and "MEKAREV" the non-Jewish and gentile spouses or children of non-Halachic Jews and provably gentile mothers, and even easing up on welcoming any gentiles who drop by a for "coffee and kiruv".

So that this is what it adds up to:

What the Reform and their Conservative allies are doing DE JURE (officially), the major kiruv movements are doing DE FACTO (unofficially) and at times even approaching the de jure efforts of Reform and even, believe it, being in the same boat with the same students and sharing the same synagogue spaces, such as when Orthodoxy's Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald's huge NJOP program http://www.njop.org/ runs programs for the last twenty years in almost every Reform, Conservative and even Reconstructionist synagogue and venue, not caring about Orthodox venues or what his Orthodox kiruv co-workers may think about it all!

It must be noted that Reform goes even further, that it has decided to outright proselytise gentiles not personally connected to Jews or Judaism in any way in order, they rationalize, to increase the numbers of Jews. This is like allowing a bunch of alcoholics to run a liquor business in the hope that they will bring in "more sobriety and more business" or like offering free bread and cheese to mice in the hope that they will join the human race in not being pests. All very distorted, yet taken very seriously in Reform and Conservative circles.

The Reform call it "keruv" with an "e" faking dikduk correctness, but the Reform and Conservatives are now as much into "keruv" as the Orthodox and Haredim are into the less correctly spelled "kiruv":

The official Reform movement site http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:R53f-qHU8NYJ:www.urj.org/outreach/+keruv+Reform&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us states openly:

"Union for Reform Judaism / Outreach

Reform Jewish Outreach serves a diverse population: men and women; interfaith and interracial couples; converts, those in the process of conversion and religious seekers; Jews of color; people of all sexual orientations; single adults and blended families; rich and poor; young and old and in-between.

As Reform Jews, we are committed to actively welcoming all and building vibrant, inclusive congregational communities. We seek to perform the mitzvot of ahavat ger (loving the stranger) and keruv (drawing near all who are far). The William & Lottie Daniel Department of Outreach and Membership, together with the URJ-CCAR Commission on Outreach and Membership, has a dual mission:

*to empower and encourage individuals and families, including interfaith families, to make meaningful Jewish choices in the context of membership in a Reform congregation

*to assist Reform congregations in their efforts to become sacred communities that welcome the full diversity of Jews and their families and those seeking to join or come closer to the Jewish people, through effective recruitment, engagement and lifelong retention of members"

And that gets one thinking, hey, if Reform is so positive about this stuff, instead of preaching the old doctrines of "Berlin is Jerusalem" and their notoriously schismatic Pittsburgh Platform (1885) opining that:

"3. We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish people for its mission during its national life in Palestine, and today we accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.

4. We hold that all such Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regulate diet, priestly purity, and dress originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our present mental and spiritual state. They fail to impress the modern Jew with a spirit of priestly holiness; their observance in our days is apt rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation.

5. We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state."

But see, today they talk of "keruv" and are actually envious of Chabad's and other Orthodox groups outreach that they must ape that, because in any case, most kiruv in the first stages does not expect anything different than just hanging out with the rabbis and attending some generalized classes and having a good time at Shabbat dinners "across America" or whatever.

The Conservative's Dr. Gary A. Tobin's "Opening the Gates: How Proactive Conversion Can Revitalize the Jewish Community" (San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1999) and in http://www.jewishresearch.org/PDFs2/ShmaFamilies_4_03.pdf he concludes

"...The American image of Jews as either central or eastern European, largely Ashkenazi descendants from Fiddler on the Roof does not reflect the complexity of the American Jewish family.

Those who are subject to nostalgia often long for some particular time and place, and associate it with some particular mythology of “how life used to be. ”Moreover, the Jewish community as a whole continues to cling to an ideal that may not even be desirable. Maybe bringing non-Jews to be part of the Jewish people, for example, so that we grow and prosper rather than diminish is desirable rather than horrifying. Perhaps we should embrace the growing diversity rather than be afraid.

If the Jewish organizational and institutional structures — our synagogues, community centers, federations, and the vast array of human service and educational institutions — are going to do their job in helping the Jewish community to be vital and strong, they should embrace who we are, rather than lament who they think we used to be or think we should be. For, indeed, we live neither in the 1950s nor in the time of Abraham. We live in the 21st century, and we should deal with the reality of who we are—now."

The Conservatives also have a program called "Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs: Our Mission":

"The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs is an organization of approximately 270 Conservative/Masorti Jewish men's groups consisting of 25,000 individuals across North America and the world. The FJMC involves Jewish men in Jewish life by building and strengthening Men's Clubs in the Conservative/Masorti Movement.

Our objectives are to train and develop leaders to build and strengthen Men's Clubs; to create and implement programs to involve men in Jewish life; and to be an active and influential participant in the Conservative/Masorti Movement."

And one of their biggest aims, is what else, "keruv" http://www.fjmc.org/keruv.html , naturally, with things like "Congregations with Keruv Programs and Consultants":

"What's a Keruv Consultant?

The Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs Keruv Initiative seeks to provide guidance and comfort to those within our congregations who are intermarried, whose children are intermarried, or who have extended family of another faith

Keruv Consultants are experts in the implementation of the FJMC Keruv programs, as defined by the FJMC Publications, HEARING MEN'S VOICES - VOLUMES FOUR & FIVE, Building the Faith & Let's Talk About It.

The issue of intermarriage confronts us as a community and within our own families. Given the fact of the dual faith marriage, how do we reach out to encourage these families to adopt a Jewish lifestyle, indeed to increase their involvement in Jewish life? Where do we begin as a congregation and as individuals to transform ourselves to make this outreach a success? should this be a priority at this time? With the publication of ''HEARING MEN'S VOICES: Building the Faith'' in 2001 there has been an outpouring of interest at program after program led by men's clubs in synagogues throughout North America"

and this is backed up with articles from the Baltimore Jewish Times "Conservatives Grapple With Intermarriage":

"The high stakes were not being glossed over.

"The bad news is, the way things are, there probably won't be a Conservative movement in 50 or 100 years," said Stephen Lachter, noting that the 2000 National Jewish Population Study saw the percentage of Conservative Jews slip below that of Reform ones. "The good news is that those of us in the Conservative movement have the power to change that."

Later, he added, "We are all Jews by choice. We make choices about our Judaism every day. It's not unusual that people move along. They take an introduction to Judaism course. They take a basic Hebrew course and then they convert to Judaism. That happens in our synagogue and I assume it happens elsewhere. You need to provide people with information. But you have to do it in a positive, effective way"."

and the Washington Jewish Week "consider best approaches to reaching out to intermarried families":

"...a new Conservative movement initiative to guide congregations in welcoming intermarried families.

The keruv think tank and training program last week in Baltimore was the second seminar organized by the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs to help rabbis and lay leaders address a range of issues arising from intermarriage. (Keruv means "bring near" in Hebrew and is often used to refer to inreach and outreach.)

The seminar included sessions titled "Broaching Conversion to the Non-Jewish Partner" and "Developing Strategies for the Non-Jewish Spouse," as well as advice in areas such as the proper language Jews should utilize to talk to a non-Jewish son- or daughter-in-law...

But Simon stresses that the keruv project is not sanctioning intermarriage, but merely reacting to the large percentage of Conservative Jews with intermarriages in their own families -- and encouraging those who are intermarried to raise their children in the synagogue.

In addition, non-Jewish spouses who feel welcome are more likely to explore conversion, say Simon and local Jewish leaders who attended last week's conference.

"We need to figure out a way to welcome [the non-Jewish spouses of intermarried couples] into our shuls or lose these people," said Stephen Lachter, past president of the Adas Israel Men's Club and a keruv consultant who attended last week's seminar...

"As a result of having the kind of policy we're talking about, [and] without setting any kind of precondition, these individuals ultimately decided to embrace Judaism," Weinblatt said.

Lachter called the keruv initiative "the most profound and important thing going on in the Conservative movement today."

"What else could be more Jewish than to treat people in a caring way?"."

The important thing to note is that both the Reform and Conservatives have taken over and now embrace and welcome the language AND THE ACTIVITY of "keruv"/"kiruv" OPENLY, OFFICIALLY with unashamed keruv/outreach to those of doubtful Halachic Jewish status as well as to to pure gentiles, so that then it is really no different to the often HIDDEN, UNofficial yet also unabashed mekareving that Orthodox, Haredi and Chabad rabbis and kiruv workers are doing when they too lure and welcome into their midst the same people that that the Reform and Conservatives are now "keruving" out to.

This is a dangerous turning point in the history of Kiruv Rechokim and the Baal Teshuva Movement and Revolution.

In the first stage of the Golden Age of Kiruv from the 1950s to the 1980s when Reform and Conservative were still cock-sure of themselves and did not care if their youth joined "fringe groups" (and even if they did care, there was nothing they could do about it in any case), but from late 1980s and especially from 1990, when the frightening truths about intermarriage and Jews and gentiles welded and melded and wed to each came to the fore in the shape of the 1990 UJA sponsored National Jewish Population Survey in the USA they panicked and began their "keruv" initiatives to all and sundry and it was at that time, combined with the results of Reform's decision to accept patrilineal descent as being enough of a criterion for Jewishness that then meant that one could no longer take for granted the "Jewishness" of anyone who claimed to be Jewish, and with the rise in intermarraige across the board, THE AGE OF KIRUV AS WE KNOW IT WAS OVER, and thus began THE AGE OF ORTHODOX AND HAREDI KIRUV MEETS REFORM AND CONSERVATIVE KERUV that has been ongoing from the late 1980s into the 21st century.

Thus the very real squabbles and battles over conversions, which are valid and which are not, and how far kiruv workers should be involved in the process has become a key issues all over the world. In Israel, the struggle involves rabbinical organs inside and outside of the official state of Israel's legal and legislative structure in both the Halachich and secular legal domains due to the political realities of living in the political state, but the issues are just as critical and burning in North America, the UK, Europe and wherever large groups of Jews are to be found facing the assimilation, intermarriage and conversion issues of the day.

The following analogy may be a little sharp, so please pardon it, but the word "kiruv" or as spelled "keruv" share the same root as the word "kirva" and alas also "kurva" and as much as "kirva" may refer to the elevated spiritual state of "kirvat Elokim" of being close to God, yet in another context and degrading sense there is also the word "kurva" in Hebrew and Yiddish which means "prostitute" since it is also a form of "coming (too) close" but of the wrong type of "closeness" that while it may give momentary pleasure also carries with it risks of disease and degradation and even death. Similarly the Biblical word "zona" can mean healthy "sustenance" and denote positive nutrition such as with breads as "mazon" yet it shares a root, if used against morality of "zona" a woman who "sustains" a man sexually with fleeting carnal pleasures for the wrong reasons and with degrading results that are paid for rather than attained in a moral and legitimate way.

The Reform and Conservative's "keruv" must be seen as the dark side of Orthodoxy's Kiruv in order for the Orthodox and Haredi kiruv rabbi and professional to retain a correct perspective and a clear conscience that they are not swimming in the same cesspools that the Reform and Conservatives created for themselves in the first place.

Thus it's clear that THE challenges for the Orthodox erhliche and Halachicaly uncomprisng kiruv rabbi and professional is to cut through the haze and the maze that now links Reform and Conservative "keruv" with Orthodox and Haredi "kiruv" OUT THERE IN THE FIELD, in the so-called "real world" where "East meets West" and how to split this atom requires the brains of an Einstein, the wisdom of a Solomon, and the prophetic spirit of Eliyahu Hanavi in CORRECTLY bringing the hearts of JEWISH fathers and mothers and JEWISH sons and daughters together but NOT to cause spiritual Chernobel-like meltdowns that will hurt everyone who comes close to the radioactive and toxic mess of the inevitable interplay between bad kiruv and conversion decisions..

To be continued...

Kiruv VII - Aish HaTorah - what makes it tick?

Recipients and Publicity commented on "Kiruv VI - an embarrassingly shoddy attack on Aish...":

AISH HATORAH AND CONTROVERSY ARE NOT NEW TO EACH OTHER!

While Aish HaTorah is arguably the most successful young adult kiruv program in the world (not inclusive of Chabad, or of NCSY with is for teens), starting from a handful of students in the mid-1970s its empire has been built up by its founder, guide and rosh yeshiva, Rav Noach Weinberg, from a dream he had and a handful of students to a worldwide multi-multi-million empire that has recruited billionaires, and the likes of Hollywood directors and moguls like Steven Spielberg and has spawned programs that have promoted the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Bibi Netanyahu and Micheil Gorbachev and many others.

It is well known that in the USA, Rav Elya Svei, the rosh yeshiva of the Philadelphia yeshiva, had often levelled public criticism's of them and that it was part of a rivalry of Hashkofas between the very yeshivish Rav Elya Svei and Rav Noach's brother and Aish's mentor the more eclectic Rav Yaakov Weinberg, late rosh yeshiva of Ner Israel in Baltimore MD.

The Haredi world in America is never sure what to make of Aish HaTorah and how to react to them.

Essentially Aish stays clear of all major yeshivas and their leadership in America.

They have there own internal leadership system with the most successful Aish rabbis (meaning those who have raised the most millions or better yet, tens of millions each for Aish) and they answer to no one but Rav Noach Weinberg and a few carefully chosen close assistants that act like a "ruling council" based mostly in Aish Jerusalem. All Aish rabbis have their own internal conference in Jerusalem at least once a year and they all the skills and tools of the modern technological and business age.

The Aish HaTorah phenomenon ties in with the second phase of the age of kiruv in the world. The first Golden Phase of Kiruv from the early 1950s to the 1980s was an idealistic age with Baalei Teshuva returning for idealistic reasons and few old-time Aish rabbis come from that time, but they are a tiny minority.

Most Aish rabbis were hand-picked and groomed from the 1980s onwards, they are Yuppies - with a "Y" - (short for "young urban professional" or "young upwardly-mobile professional") http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuppie Generations X-ers (a term used to describe generations in many countries around the world born from 1965 to around 1982) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X who are "operators" and businessmen with the attitudes of investment bankers and hedge fund speculators, products of the rise of the age of the "Masters of the Universe" types, as described in the Tom Wolf novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bonfire_of_the_Vanities when Wall Street greed and materialism were the order of the day and the age of the Hippies (with an "H") was finally buried.

Aish HaTorah understands the age of materialism and the shallowness that is the outcome of the comfortable lifestyle and it has adjusted its calling card and signal to that frequency and thereby gets its audience's attention, but at the same time, many of its cadre of activist rabbis also come from this same milieu and while that may make them superb kiruv professionals, but to some looking in from the outside they can come across and are seen for the shallow, power hungry, manipulative and GREEDY lot that they often are.

So that rather than knocking the writer of this article and saying "well there go the secular again" try to stop a minute, take what it says with a grain of salt and not get so self-righteously upset that only looks like a smokescreen for honest debate and analysis, and tune in to the inner core of what is being said and it is not a flattering picture because the truth in this case is not flattering.

Now of course making people frum is a great thing and it is what kiruv is ultimately all about, but it is known among all reliable kiruv circles that Aish HaTorah plays loose with lots and lots of things to achieve its own goals and it is well-known in the kiruv world that Aish will facilitate with shady conversions if they have to, and it cannot be otherwise because they are so connected to the intermarried young generation X-ers and many of them are just not Halachic Jews. Like for Chabad, and for Rabbi Leib Tropper and his EJF, it's tough for Aish because so much BIG money, prestige, power and jobs are at stake!

So it's a tough call for them and for the frum world that is expecting positive fruits from all this kiruv activity and hallabaloo, but to resort to knee-jerk defenses of Aish on this blog is not required because Aish has it's own websites and propaganda machines that are supported by tens of millions of dollars that are meant to go to kiruv and "outreach" so let's see how they react it and not shed crocodile tears for them.

There is much more to be said about Aish and how it has both helped and corrupted the world of kiruv. They want to have their cake and eat it so that sometimes that can lead to indigestion and vomit.

To be continued...