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This recently appeared on the internet - Hidabroot website

Glatt - Response to Prof Marc Shapiro

Forward reports the rebuttal by Rabbi Menachem Genack of the Orthodox Union:

In an August 18 opinion article, Marc Shapiro takes the Orthodox Union to task for, over the last 30 years, having “adopted a new standard in kashrut, one that defines only glatt kosher as acceptable” (“glatt Kosher Meat Is Not All It Is Cut Out to Be”). The era that Shapiro laments as having passed, however, was unfortunately one frequently rife with fraud.

What he terms “regular kosher” meat — in other words, non-glatt — is unquestionably kosher when reliably supervised and regulated. But there were ongoing problems with both the production and the distribution of kosher meat. Discerning kosher consumers began to demand glatt kosher meat, which was more carefully controlled — not because they wanted glatt per se, but because they wanted to be assured that the meat was indeed kosher. Thus it was consumer demand that made glatt the dominant standard in the marketplace, not some fiat by the O.U.

Since “glatt kosher” is a phrase that is often used but not always understood, let me elucidate it further. As Shapiro notes, the term glatt in America has also become a consumer phrase meaning unquestionably kosher, even beyond the context of meat. glatt is actually the Yiddish word for smooth, and indicates that an animal’s lungs are smooth and have no adhesions.

The Torah forbids consuming treifa meat. A treifa is an animal with one of 18 possible anatomical defects, the most common of which is a puncture in its lung.

Therefore, even a properly kosher slaughtered animal has its lungs inspected to make sure that there is no puncture or adhesion that may result in a puncture, or might be the result of a puncture. Each lung is visually inspected, and is then inflated and placed in water to find any holes, much as you would do to a tire with a leak.

While the discovery of a puncture renders the animal unquestionably a treifa, there is a disagreement regarding the permissibility of adhesions between the “Beit Yosef,” the forerunner to the “Shulchan Aruch,” and the Rama, Rabbi Moses Isserles. The “Beit Yosef” rules that virtually any adhesion is treif, while the Rama ruled leniently, permitting certain adhesions.

The glatt standard of the “Beit Yosef” is generally relevant only to Sephardim, and is sold with the designation “Beit Yosef glatt.” In prewar Europe, this was known as kalbene *glatt*, because young calves have no adhesions.

However, there is another reason for glatt, and the demand for it. The Talmud interprets a verse in Ezekiel as saying that the prophet never ate meat concerning which a decision had been rendered as to its kosher status — even if the determination was that it was indeed kosher.

Non-glatt meat always requires such decisions to be made, because the adhesions that are removed must be carefully evaluated by the bodek, or onsite kosher examiner, as to their status. Meat classified as glatt does not require such evaluations, as any adhesions that might be present are minor, uncomplicated and obviously kosher.

The glatt standard currently in use permits such minor adhesions, or ririn. Despite Shapiro’s assertion to the contrary, this was the standard of glatt for centuries in Europe, and is so codified by the “Beit David” and the “Simla Chadasha,” the two primary works on the laws of shechita, or
kosher slaughter. [...]

Questions II - versus doubts

Citations from Daas Torah See Questions-I-what-vs-why-vs-silence

R’ S. R. Hirsch (Nineteen Letters #18): [the leaders of Orthodoxy] became at first enemies of this philosophical spirit, and later of all specifically intellectual and philosophical pursuits in general. Certain misunderstood utterances [e.g., Bereishis Rabbah 44:1] were taken as weapons with which to repel all higher interpretations of the Talmud . . . The inevitable consequence was, therefore, that since oppression and persecution had robbed Israel of every broad and natural view of world and of life, and Talmud had yielded about all the practical results for life of which it was capable, every mind that felt the desire of independent activity was obliged to forsake the paths of study and research in general open to the human intellect, and to take its recourse to dialectic subtleties and hairsplitting. Only a very few [e.g., R’ Yehuda HaLevi’s Kuzari and Ramban] during this entire period stood with their intellectual efforts entirely within Judaism, and built it up out of its own inner concept [Drachman translation]…. we are left with two generations confronting each other. One of them has inherited an uncomprehended Judaism, as practiced by men from habit, a revered but lifeless mummy which it is afraid to bring back to life. The other, though in part burning with noble enthusiasm for the welfare of the Jews, regards Judaism as bereft of any life and spirit, a relic of an era lone past and buried, and tries to uncover its spirit, but, not finding it, threatens through its well‑meant efforts to sever the last life nerve of Judaism—out of sheer ignorance [Paritzky translation].

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Rambam (Commentary to Sanhedrin 10:1):When a person believes fully and genuinely in all these 13 principles of faith, he is considered part of the Jewish people and it is obligatory to love him, to have mercy on him and to relate to according to all the mitzvos that G‑d has commanded concerning interpersonal relationships of love and brotherhood. Moreover, even if he is a sinner because of lust and lack of self‑control—he will be punished according to his sins—nevertheless he still has Olam HaBah. However, if he questions or doubts any of these principles he is outside the Jewish people and is a denier of the foundation of Judaism. He is labeled a heretic (min, apikorus or cut off at the roots). It is obligatory to hate him and destroy him as its says in Tehilim (139:21) “I hate those who hate G‑d.”

Rav Saadiya Gaon(Emuna v’De’os 5:4): The heretic (kofer) is one who has abandoned the foundation of religion—G‑d. There are three types of abandonment. 1) He worships some other deity such as a statue or image or human being or the sun or the moon… 2) He worships neither another deity nor G‑d. In other words, he worships nothing—not true and not false. … 3) He has doubts about his faith—even though he is thought to be a fully practicing member of the religion. He still prays and supplicates—however his heart is not involved and he doesn’t belief. Such a person a person is a hypocrite in his words and faith. These people are described in Tehilim (78:36–37): “But they flattered Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not right with Him, Neither were they faithful in His covenant.” Such a person profanes the name of Heaven and is on that level.

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Maharal(Divrei Nagidim):The person who doesn’t know how to ask a question is not far from being a wicked person. Even though he has not reached the level of causing others to sin by ridiculing their religion. By the fact that he doesn’t have questions at all concerning the commandments, it appears that he has no relationship at all with them. Therefore, it is quite appropriate to answer him by saying that for the sake of these mitzvos G‑d did miracles for me in my redemption from Egypt. This is to arouse his desire to take part in these mitzvos and to understand that they have such great power that they brought about the redemption… If he listens then it is well. If he doesn’t then you, speak to him exactly as you speak to the wicked person. “For me and not for you. If you had been in Egypt you would not have been redeemed.”

Maharal(Avos 2:14): Similarly R’ Eliezer says that one should study diligently in order to answer the heretic…This is referring to the transient thoughts of heresy that pop into a person’s mind… Thus if one learns diligently to be able to answer the heretic than one will not have even transient thoughts of heresy…

Finance - Time to make Aliya

Jerusalem Post reports:

Ely Cole, a 25-year-old accountant from Columbus, Ohio, says he always dreamed of moving to Israel but worried about leaving his high-paying New York job before he'd established a career for himself.

Now, that job is gone, and Cole is on his way to the Jewish state, joining a wave of returning Israelis and new immigrants fleeing the dismal economic outlook in the US.

"It's a bit of a relief to be laid off instead of quitting - I'm not second-guessing myself," said Cole, who was let go two weeks ago from a New York hedge fund. "Having the push is beneficial."

Cole will join his sister, who made aliya last year, and begin looking for work in either Tel Aviv or Jerusalem once he has completed ulpan.

Cole was among more than a half-million Americans who lost their jobs last month, and economists predict that three million more could be unemployed in the coming year.

The job losses, initially centered in the hard-hit financial industry, are beginning to spread through the economy, touching everyone from lawyers to book publishers to independent business owners whose holiday sales expectations have nearly evaporated.

When pressed what opportunities they hoped to find in Israel, considering that the economic crisis is also affecting Israel and could get worse there, they did not mention specific job plans but expressed optimism that something would work out.[...]

Child abuse -Call police/ Religiousity lessened?

Tzitz Eliezer(19:52)...However in a case of physical abuse where it can not be solidly established that it is actually pikuach nefesh (life threatening) then the case is merely one of determining what is in the best interest of the child. In such a non-life threatening case, it is prohibited to file a complaint with the police when it is highly likely that the child will be taken from his religious home or traditional home and be transferred to a non‑Jewish institution or a non-observant Jewish one or one that is not even traditional. The exception being if his home is no different in religious observance than the institute to which they will likely transfer him. This governing principle is found in the Sifre (Ki Satze) where it states that those who cause others to sin are worse than if they had killed them. That is because the killer [only] takes the victim from this world but not the next. In contrast the one who causes sin causes him to lose both this world and the next.

Sifre (Devarim #252):..R’ Shimon said that the Egyptians drowned the Jews in water while the Edomim attacked them with swords and yet the Torah only prohibits them from marriage to Jews for three generations. In contrast the Ammonites and Moabites because they attempted to cause the Jews to sin, the Torah prohibits them from marriage to Jews forever. This teaches that causing another to sin is much worse than killing them. That is because when a person is killed he only loses this world while someone who is caused to sin loses this world and the next world.

History - Coca Cola & Kashrus

By journalist/translator/illustrator

R' Avraham Broide,

email - broide2@netvision.net.il;

New website http://www.amazingjewishfacts.com/

Amazing Jewish Facts newsletter (10 Kislev 5769/7 Dec. 2008)

For quite a few years, rabbis and kashrus organizations are involved in gargantuan efforts to ensure that Orthodox Jews too can participate in the battle of the bulge. An early instance of this trend was back in 5695/1935 and involved the most ubiquitous drink of all time, except water, Coca Cola.

Coca Cola, invented in May 5646/1886 by the Atlanta ex-Confederate soldier and druggist, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, was named after two of its exotic ingredients, coca leaves and kola nuts. For a few months, Coke struggled without any bubbles until a drugstore attendant thought of adding soda water to the concoction. Then people started realizing that "Things Go Better With Coke" and Coke's liquidity became a tsunami.

60 years passed before Rav Tuvia Geffen of Shearis Yisrael Shul in Atlanta began having qualms about Coke's kashrus. Prior to then, the prevailing attitude was - "Nu! What can be treif in a soft drink?"

Since Coca Cola's headquarters were right in Atlanta, Rav Tuvia had been receiving anxious queries about its kashrus for years. It was time to investigate. Although Coca Cola's recipe was among the best guarded industrial secrets of the USA, company directors realized that soothing the religious public's conscience meant increased revenues. So they agreed to provide Rav Tuvia with a list of ingredients under a strict oath to never reveal anything to a living soul. Thus, the teshuva (responsa) Rav Tuvia wrote, refers to the problematical ingredients by code.

After thorough inquiry and investigation at the factory, it became apparent that Coca Cola contained a liquid product made from meat and fat tallow of non-kosher animals.

Although the chief chemist of Georgia assured Rabbi Geffen that the glycerin constituted only a 1000^th of the beverage, and non-kosher ingredients are usually nullified in a volume only sixty times greater, Rav Geffen proved from the Rashba and other authorities that ingredients deliberately mixed into a product to enhance it are not nullified even in a thousand. A similar problem applied to the grain alcohol, even though their proportion was only a thousandth, since even the tiniest amount of leaven in a mixture is forbidden on Passover.

"Because Coca Cola has already been accepted by the general public in this country and in Canada," Rabbi Geffen wrote, "and because it has become an insurmountable problem to induce the great majority of Jews to refrain from partaking of this drink. I have tried earnestly to find a method of permitting its usage. With the help of God, I have been able to uncover a pragmatic solution according to which there would be no question nor any doubt concerning the ingredients of Coca Cola."

What was his solution? Find out and explore the whole story at: http://www.amazingjewishfacts.com/

EJF - takes over kiruv

scanned from current edition of HaShavuah

Anusim & Male genetic origin

NYTimes reports news which has no halachic ramifications:

The genetic signatures of people in Spain and Portugal provide new and explicit evidence of the mass conversions of Sephardic Jews and Muslims to Catholicism in the 15th and 16th centuries after Christian armies wrested Spain back from Muslim control, a team of geneticists reports.

Twenty percent of the population of the Iberian Peninsula has Sephardic Jewish ancestry and 11 percent have DNA reflecting Moorish ancestors, the geneticists have found. Historians have debated how many Jews converted and how many chose exile. “One wing grossly nderestimates the number of conversions,” said Jane S. Gerber, an expert on Sephardic history at the City University of New York.

The finding bears on two different views of Spanish history, said Jonathan S. Ray, a professor of Jewish studies at Georgetown University. One, proposed by the 20th-century historian Claudio Sánchez-Albornoz, holds that Spanish civilization is Catholic and other influences are foreign; the other sees Spain as having been enriched by drawing from all three of its historical cultures, Catholic, Jewish and Muslim.

The study, based on an analysis of Y chromosomes, was conducted by biologists led by Mark A. Jobling of the University of Leicester in England and Francesc Calafell of the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. They developed a Y chromosome signature for Sephardic men by studying Sephardic Jewish communities in places where Jews migrated after being expelled from Spain in 1492 to 1496. They also characterized the Y chromosomes of the Arab and Berber army that invaded Spain in A.D. 711 from data on people living in Morocco and Western Sahara. [...]

Anusim magazine - in Spanish

The following is from a Spanish magazine that deals with Anusim. This is the Google translation.

"Where was thought that there were only ashes which the wind was charged to disperse them, sparking a fire appear thousandth of the Hebrew people, the descendants of Abraham through the Bnei Anusim arise everywhere expressing his desire to return to remain part the ancestral chain. " J.Magazine

"Anusim" (Hebrew: אנוסים), the plural for "anus" means "forced" in Hebrew. Este es el término legal rabínico aplicado a un Judío que ha sido forzado a abandonar el Judaísmo en contra de su voluntad, y quien hace todo lo que está en su poder para continuar practicando el judaísmo bajo la condición de coerción. This is the legal term applied to a Rabbinic Jew who has been forced to abandon Judaism against their will, and who does everything in its power to continue practicing Judaism under the condition of coercion. El término se deriva de aquel en el Talmud , “aberrá be’ones” [TB Abodá Zará 54a]. The term derives from the one in the Talmud, "Aberra be'ones" [TB Abode Zara 54th].

"Certainly, when it comes to the lineage, all the people of Israel are brothers. We are all children of a father, the rebels (reshaim) and the criminals, heretics (meshumadim) and forced (anusim), and proselytes ( guerim) that are attached to the house of Jacob. These are all Israelis. Even if left DS or denied or violated His Law, the yoke of the law is still on his shoulders and will never be removed from them. " R. She‘adyá ben Maimon ibn Danan (16th c.), Khemdah Genuzah , 15b She'adyá ben Maimon ibn Danan (16th c.), Khemdah Genuzah, 15b

Descendants of Anusim IV /Nancy replies

Nancy replies to comments made a few months ago in Desendants of marranos anusim III

Dear Bloggers/Daas Torah,

I have not checked this site in a very long time and was surprised at the attention my story received and the comments left. They are interesting and thought provoking. I would like to leave a response to a couple of the comments that may clarify just a point or two for whatever it may (or may not be worth), in connection with differences in Catholic ritual and Marrano Jewish identity:

"Marrano" is a Spanish word. (Small point.) Everyone who speaks Spanish knows it. Even in the Sephardi Heritage (Orthodox) Program in Jerusalem we are taught in the seminary that this word was given to the Jews who refused to eat pig. I assume our rabbis and our Sephardi History teachers know the subject, for this is what they teach. Older Spanish people normally know about this. It's a fascinating point made but if it's Arabic, it still wouldn't change a thing.

And, I assume you know Spanish people have two names, father's and mother's, the mother's name is placed at the end. We DO follow the mother's line and pull the records of her mother, her mother's mother...etc. It takes a long time because the records are handwritten and mostly owned by the Church of Spain. It's a huge task and 8 generations is more than most Ashkenazim have available. People normally don't have to go back 20 generations. The Church of Spain kept their eyes on Jewish families. They recorded the names of the families. All branches of my family are recorded upon the census of the Jews from the Church of Spain. Since the list exists I was more concerned about marriage after their arrival in the Americas.

Much information is known from the region the family comes from. For instance, Majorca and the Canary Islands were typically where the Marranos fled while awaiting passage to the New World. It was often a long wait and generations were born there until money was raised for the passage. Ships usually stopped at the Canary Islands on their way out to the Caribbean. It is very, very probable that anyone coming from these particular islands are escaping Catholic persecution. This is historical.

The custom of touching the door is completely different than that of touching wood to symbolize the "cross"....especially since this family did not allow crosses in their homes! A blessing spoken while touching the door post is quite different than simply touching wood. A cross in a Spanish country is readily excepted everywhere ....except in a Jewish home! Had the idea been to "touch the wood of the cross"....why not just have a cross???

Our women wore The Star of David under their garments. (They could have worn a cross.) Our family was very proud of being Jewish even though it was not public.

Spanish countries do not immerse. Spanish countries fall under "The Pope of Rome", not Orthodox, as the blogger mentioned could be a reason for immersion. Protestants immerse. Roman Catholics (for centuries) have used the "insertion method"...they pour the water upon the forehead for baptism. This baptism is done ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, whether Catholic OR Protestant OR Orthodox...any Christian, ONLY ONCE...not monthly! Puerto Rico is strictly Roman Catholic...they do not immerse. Only Jews immerse regularly. Christians do not. Originally baptism for the "forgiveness of sin", as they say, was performed late in life, (after they had all their fun), because it could only be given once in your lifetime.

I neglected to mention that my family spoke a "different type of Spanish" referred to as Ladino. We called it "the old Spanish". It comes from not being exposed to mainstream Spanish. It died out in our village 2 generations back. My father and mother remember it. I think it is fair to say that anyone who speaks Ladino is Jewish.

Also, many rabbis have reviewed the documents and are convinced. I agree with the bloggers and Daas Torah that not everyone is an expert and there are many considerations in Jewish Law. It's a complicated situation. Some of these details don't really matter so much and not all Marrano families have as strong ties with their Jewish identities. We just happen to be ones that do and we were separated from the rest of the population. It is a little rare.

In the end, we all have to go to the mikveh anyways! The Marranos, the Ethiopians...the difference is whether your natural father's name is on the certificate or "Abraham's". There is a difference in the wording of the immersion ritual. (This small difference means a lot to a Jew.
A Jew is really not supposed to be "converted".) My family went to exile...we are not gentiles.

I often wonder if this influx of Marranos from all over the world since the birth of Israel is what the prophets spoke about in many books and in the morning when we recite..."we will be gathered from all the nations where we were dispersed, even if at the end of the heavens, from there He will gather us and bring us....etc". If this is from G-d what are we doing trying to stop them? Will we have to answer for that? If we are mistaken and are actually hindering Jews from coming home, isn't that ... "bad"? I don't think it's all an accident this is happening at this time in history! Perhaps the events the prophets spoke of are rushing in on us?

Thank you printing my story and all the meaningful feedback.
Nancy

EJF - Proselytization Seminar/ Baltimore

EJF continues their program of proselytizing intermarried couples

The Eternal Jewish Family is presenting a seminar to educate intermarried couples who are seriously contemplating or seeking a universally accepted conversion. The theme of the seminar is When a Family Commits to Join the Jewish Family. It will be held at the Marriott Baltimore Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore, Maryland, December 29-30th, 2008.

It is critical that when the commitment to become a full-fledged member of the Jewish people is made, the conversion meets all of the requirements of halacha. Then the union will be recognized by all rabbinic authorities across the globe. Couples, their children and their children'ss children will have the confidence to rely on this Universally Accepted Conversion.

The two-day seminar is similar to the successful seminars for intermarried couples held in Oxnard California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Montreal, Canada. Similar seminars were also held in Israel. Those who wish to attend should be currently seeking a universally accepted conversion, or have sought conversion which has been problematic.

Couples must be referred by the rabbi that they are working with and in most cases the rabbi himself joins the couple at the seminar. The seminar will educate couples on what it means to embark on such a serious and life-changing journey. Couples must be in the early stages of seeking a universally accepted conversion to attend.

The halachic conversion is vital for a family to be fully integrated into the Jewish lifestyle and community. Couples who do not obtain a universally accepted conversion may have problems being accepted into Jewish communities. This includes being unable to register their children in Jewish day schools.

Baltimore Seminar

December 2008

Marriott Baltimore,

Hunt Valley Inn

Seminar Brochure

The latest in our series of seminars for intermarried couples considering a universally accepted conversion will take place at the Marriott Baltimore Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore on December 29-30, 2008. The two-day seminar comes on the heels of the successful seminars for intermarried couples in Oxnard, California, Phoenix Arizona, and Montreal Canada.

The theme of the educational seminar in Baltimore is “When a Family Commits to Join the Jewish Family.” It is designed for intermarried couples who have either decided to explore a universally accepted conversion or are in the very early stages of the process.

Sex offenders - Treatment in Charedi society

Haaretz reports:

לפני כחמש שנים פנה הרב יהודה סילמן, דיין בבית דין בבני ברק, לדורון אגסי, עובד סוציאלי דתי, וביקש ממנו עזרה בטיפול בעבריינות מין. הפנייה נשמעה כזעקת "געוואלד", ואגסי - שבעבודתו כמנהל פנימייה לילדים בסיכון בבני ברק הכיר את התחום מקרוב - הציע לטפל בפוגעים. לנגד עיניו עמד הניסיון המוצלח של שירות המבחן לנוער בטיפול בקבוצות, שהוצע לנערים עברייני מין כחלופה למאסר.

ההצעה נפלה על אוזניים כרויות. העיקרון בשיטה הזאת - שלא מרחיקים את העבריינים אל מחוץ לקהילה, כלומר לכלא, ושלא פותחים להם תיק במשטרה - נראה כפתרון שהמנהיגות החרדית יכולה לחיות אתו בשלום. כך, בגיבוי מלא של רבנים, ייסד אגסי את עמותת "שלום בניך" לילדים בסיכון. מאחורי השם המעורפל-משהו, עמדה לראשונה תוכנית חברתית ברורה לחשוף את ממדי עבריינות המין במגזר החרדי, ולטפל בה.

אלימות על רקע מיני מעוררת שאלות קשות מנשוא בחברה שמתהדרת בעליונות מוסרית. נראה שהיה דרוש איש מקצוע כמו אגסי, המשתייך לזרם החרד"לי ושמכיר היטב את גם את העולם החרדי וגם את העולם החילוני, כדי להוביל פריצת דרך. מראהו הישיבתי - ללא נעלי ההתעמלות והכיפה הסרוגה הגדולה היה יכול להיראות חרדי מהשורה - ורגישותו, עוררו אמון רב. הוא פעל למעשה כמתווך בין הקהילה החרדית לד"ר טליה אתגר, מומחית לטיפול בפוגעים בעמותת "עלם" לנוער בסיכון.

ההרתעה - הליכה לכלא

בשבוע שעבר הסתיים קורס ראשון מסוגו לטיפול קבוצתי בפוגעים שיועד למטפלים חרדים, יוזמת שלום בניך בשיתוף עם עלם. הקשר עם עלם נוצר לאחר חמש שנות מגעים עקרים עם שירות המבחן, ותעייה בסבך הביורוקרטיה של משרד הרווחה. מחצית המימון לקורס הושג לבסוף מתרומה (מחברת צ'ק פוינט); משרד הרווחה התחייב להשלים את המימון.

בקורס שנמשך כחצי שנה השתתפו 13 מטפלים. בקרוב יחלו בשלב המעשי: כל זוג מטפלים יעבוד במשך שנה וחצי עם קבוצה של חמישה נערים. הטיפול מתבסס על עימות התוקף עם אחריותו וחינוך להתנהגות מינית בהתאם לקודים של החברה החרדית. המסגרת הקבוצתית נועדה להעניק תמיכה ולחנך לכבוד הדדי.

המועמדים לטיפול הם נערים חרדים שנמצאים במסלול שירות המבחן לנוער או כאלה שלא חלה עליהם חובת דיווח משום שאינם מתאימים לסיווגים הנכללים כיום בחוק. העבודה אתם מותנית בשיתוף פעולה עם פקידת הסעד ועם רבנים. כל מקרה נבחן תחילה על ידי המרכז לאלימות מינית של עלם, ואחר כך עובר הערכת מסוכנות, שלפיה יחולקו הנערים לקבוצות.

גורם ההרתעה, לדברי אגסי, הוא החלופה: הנערים יודעים שאם לא ישתתפו בטיפול, ייפתח להם תיק במשטרה והם יישלחו לכלא. "עבריינות מין קיימת בכל חברה", אומרת אתגר, "והחברה החרדית לא שונה". לדבריה, אין נתונים על היקף התופעה משום שרק מעט מקרים מדווחים למשטרה. זה אחד הקשיים בהתמודדות עם הבעיה. לדבריה, מומחים מייחסים כיום משמעות רבה לתרבות שממנה בא התוקף, ולכן נפתחות כיום קבוצות נפרדות לרוסים, ערבים וחרדים.
[...].

History - The Don Pacifico Incident

The Talmud (Avoda Zara 11b) reports that every seventy years in Rome, a healthy man symbolizing Eisav was seated on a lame man symbolizing Yaakov, and as the two were paraded through the streets a proclamation was made that Yaakov's deceit of Eisav had not helped him because Eisav was firmly in charge.

Similar anti-Semitic ceremonies persisted through the centuries.

About 150 years ago, something unprecedented happened. The British Empire went to war to defend the rights of one Jew. For tourists with a taste for the bizarre, holiday brochures still advertise an ancient Christian ritual:

"In many parts of Europe, huge bonfires are lighted on hilltops and in churchyards on Easter Eve. They are sometimes called Judas fires, because effigies of Judas Iscariot are frequently burned in them."

Who was Judas Iscariot? He was the Jewish disciple of Christ who supposedly betrayed him to the Romans, although some modern scholars suspect that the Judas tale was deliberately fabricated in order to widen the schism between Judaism and fledgling Christianity.

To many Christians, Judas represented the quintessential Jew.

As St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, the most influential early Christian theologian put it in the 4^th century C.E., "The true image of the Hebrew is Judas Iscariot, who sells the lord for silver. The Jew can never understand the Scriptures and forever will bear the guilt for the death of Jesus."

A recent Roman Catholic scholar wrote that the Judas story "was exploited as anti-Jewish polemic in dramatic literature and art, depicting Judas with grossly exaggerated Semitic features and generalizing his love for money."

All this harmonized with the kind of hate preached by Ambrose of Milan (379-395 C.E.) that laid the foundations of Hitler's Mein Kamf.

"The Jews are the most worthless of all men," he wrote. "They are greedy and rapacious.They are murderers of Christ and for killing god there is expiation possible, no indulgence or pardon. Christian may never cease vengeance,and the Jews must live in servitude forever. It is incumbent upon all Christians to hate the Jews."

As the centuries rolled on, Jews began objecting to their burning in effigy.

A JEW'S HOUSE TORCHED

During Greece's War of Independence against Ottoman Turkey, the Jews were accused of supporting the enemy and the Greek Orthodox rebels massacred thousands of them. Many Jewish communities, including that of Athens were completely destroyed. In 5594/1834, King Otto I of Greece settled in Athens. With him came Max Rothschild, one of the Athens first "new" Jews.

The annual burning effigy burning in Athens revolted Rothschild. He complained about it to the Prime Minister, John Kolettis, and Kolettis agreed to abolish the custom.

When Easter time arrived, the Athenian mob were deeply aggrieved at the deprivation of their ancient sport and hit on an even better way to liven things up.

"Who needs effigies when we've got the real thing?" yelled a swarthy son of the southern sun. "Let's go and teach those Jews a lesson."

Snowballing in size and momentum, a boiling horde surged up to the house Don (David) Pacifico, a wealthy Jewish Portuguese. Pacifico and his family fled for their lives and the hooligans kicked open his front door and swept inside. Pandemonium broke out. Anything moveable was carted away, and everything left was smashed into splinters. As a grand finale, the house was burnt to the ground.

But the mob had made a grave mistake….

The article continues at:
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Mormons targeted for gay marriage ban support

Fox News reports:

In the nearly four weeks since Election Day, gay activists and thousands of their supporters have rallied outside Mormon temples around the country, protesting the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' support for California's Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to make same-sex marriage illegal in the Golden State.

There have been calls to boycott the annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah; some activists have called for a boycott of the entire state of Utah. Protesters have defaced some church buildings, and in Arapaho County, Colo., the Sheriff's Office is investigating a possible hate crime — the torching of the Book of Mormon on a church's doorstep.

Even the state of California itself has announced that it is investigating the church's involvement in Proposition 8, which was approved by a vote of 52 percent to 48 percent and, barring a Supreme Court overturn, will ban gay marriage in the state.

There have been no other reports of backlash against other groups that supported Prop 8, notably African-Americans and other churches and religious denominations that turned out in heavy numbers to push through the ban.