Proving you are a Jew

NYTIMES

One day last fall, a young Israeli woman named Sharon went with her fiancé to the Tel Aviv Rabbinate to register to marry. They are not religious, but there is no civil marriage in Israel. The rabbinate, a government bureaucracy, has a monopoly on tying the knot between Jews. The last thing Sharon expected to be told that morning was that she would have to prove — before a rabbinic court, no less — that she was Jewish. It made as much sense as someone doubting she was Sharon, telling her that the name written in her blue government-issue ID card was irrelevant, asking her to prove that she was she.

Sharon is a small woman in her late 30s with shoulder-length brown hair. For privacy’s sake, she prefers to be identified by only her first name. She grew up on a kibbutz when kids were still raised in communal children’s houses. She has two brothers who served in Israeli combat units. She loved the green and quiet of the kibbutz but was bored, and after her own military service she moved to the big city, which is the standard kibbutz story. Now she is a Tel Aviv professional with a master’s degree, a job with a major H.M.O. and a partner — when this story starts, a fiancé — who is “in computers.”

This stereotypical biography did not help her any more at the rabbinate than the line on her birth certificate listing her nationality as Jewish. Proving you are Jewish to Israel’s state rabbinate can be difficult, it turns out, especially if you came to Israel from the United States — or, as in Sharon’s case, if your mother did.[...]

Conversion confusion in Israel

YNET

Many converts wishing to get married face objections by chief city rabbis, religious councils who refuse to register them, claiming they 'do not observe mitzvot' [...]

R' Leib Tropper & Modern Orthodox/ R' Slifkin

This is not an endorsement of R' Slifkin's views. I am simply posting it as a summary of how this saga is playing out from a non-chareidi point of view. It is not as R' Tropper likes to say that I have a personal vendeta against him or his absurd claim that I have manipulated the Bedatz and Rav Sternbuch to attack him in order to defend R' Slifkin. There is a more fundamental question being addressed here, why is it necessary - in the pursuit of universally accepted conversions - to create major divisions amongst the segments of the Orthodox Jewish socieity?

R' Slifkin

One problem, which unites such disparate forces as the Badatz of Jerusalem and the Roshei Yeshivah of YU against EJF, is the charge that EJF encourages proselytization. This has been discussed at great length by R. Daniel Eidensohn on his blog Daas Torah. [...]

Irwin Katsof's campaign against gossip

Words Can Heal is a national campaign to eliminate verbal violence, curb gossip and promote the healing power of words to enhance relationships at every level. Words Can Heal has captured the imagination and commitment of an unprecedented coalition. Our board includes top governmental leadership, Wall Street’s most influential CEO’s, America’s leading clergy, Hollywood celebrities and community leaders of every stripe.

Life sentences for juveniles

Newsweek

Iraq doesn't do it. North Korea considers it a cruel form of punishment. But in the United States sentencing a juvenile to life in prison without the possibility of parole is legal.

But on November 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up two cases involving juvenile offenders in Florida who claim their life sentences for rape and robbery violate the cruel-and-unusual-punishment clauses of the Constitution.

There are about 2,500 juveniles (ranging in age from 13 to 17) currently sentenced to life in prison in the United States. No other country in the world currently has adolescents serving this sentence, reports the Frank C. Newman International Human Rights Law Clinic. [...]

Rav Sternbuch:Loving kindness of Avrohom

EJF:Seminar to promote intermarried conversion

Ro Ta No

Eternal Jewish Family Holding Seminar for Intermarried Couples Seeking a Universally Accepted Conversion Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 08:26 am

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's 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.

EJF has helped many Jewish couples learn what's required to obtain a universally accepted conversion. The decision is not taken lightly - not only does it involve a serious commitment - but it can take a few years to complete.

Speakers at the seminar sessions are given by some of the world's most sought-after educators and lecturers and includes prominent Orthodox thinkers and lecturers. There will also be people who have gone through the experience of obtaining a universally accepted conversion to Judaism who will share their experiences of how they have sought to live an authentic Jewish life.

Speakers include:

Rabbi Leib Tropper, Rosh Yeshiva Kol Yaakov/Horizons and Chairman of the EJF's Rabbinic Committee

Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel - a leading lecturer for Arachim, an outreach organization that has set the bar for creative and innovative approaches to educating unaffiliated Jews

Rabbi Mayer Schiller, noted thinker and lecturer

Rabbi Doron Kornbluth, author of the best-selling Why Marry Jewish? Surprising Reasons for Jews to Marry Jews

Rabbi Daniel Assor, a former Protestant minister and leader of the Jews for Jesus movement.

The cost for couples approved for participation is only $99 per person ($198 per couple). Scholarships are available and babysitting services can be arranged upon request. Please inquire about an extra room for those that wish to comply with Jewish law that only those who are halachically married should stay in the same room.

To sign up, couples should contact the rabbi who has been working with them on a UAC or sign up online at http://www.eternaljewishfamily.org/site/programs/seminar_application.

Maharal: Public derogatory speech is not lashon harah

Meiri:If not said in a concealed manner - it is not lashon harah

Meiri(Shabbos 33b): Even though lashon harah is the foundation of a number of sins and something which our sages spend much effort in severely attacking – there are two conditions in which lashon harah is permitted 1) This is mentioned in Erchin (15b) that derogatory words which are said in the presence of the one being talked about are not considered lashon harah. The gemora questions this and says that lashon harah said in the presence of the one being criticized is surely impudence and lashon harah? This is explained with a statement of R’ Yose that he never said any words about another person and looked around to make sure the person wasn't there. In other words if the person speaking does not refrain from saying the negative words before the one he is speaking about – there is a leniency and this is not considered lashon harah. For example if the speaker directly complains about the other person or calls him a thief and others such negative statements in his presence – the speaker is not considered speaking lashon harah. That is because he wants the person he is criticizing to hear what he is saying. 2) This is also mentioned in Erchin (16a) that whatever is said in the presence of three people is not considered lashon harah. That is because the speaker is saying the negative things with the full desire that his views reach the person he is speaking about. That is because all matters that are known to three people is not considered concealed or a secret. Therefore the speaker is not considered to be saying lashon harah.

Irwin Katsof forms new alliance

Just received the following statement from someone who identified himself to me but doesn't want his name revealed and he claims to know the true facts.

The facts of the [following] article were all wrong. Irwin has no connection to guma never had a conversation with him and does not even have him contact information. Iriwn is not a billionare and he does not know rabbi tropper. This is a typical example of someone reading the news and then spreading the rumors without actually caring about the facts. That is fine and accepted in todays world but on "daat torah" website???

RaP wrote:

In an important development, it was reported that Irwin Katsof the former top fundraiser and marketer of Aish HaTorah now reputedly a very wealthy man himself (some reports have stated he may be in the billionaire bracket) has now teamed up with Tom Kaplan's estranged nephew and foe of Rabbi Tropper, Guma Aguiar.

Irwin Katsof became a legend in his own lifetime by attracting incredible financial wealth and political recognition for Aish HaTorah and glorifying its now deceased leader Rav Noach Weinberg. He was so successful that he left to run his own business conglomerate The Doheny Group In a recent controversial news report, Katsof brought the Governor of Texas and an elite power elite from Texas to do business with Guma l

"Records obtained by CBS 11 show the governor's airfare and trip costs for he and his wife were paid for by Irwin Katsof, a financier for energy companies around the world. And the man who presented Perry with the Defender of Jerusalem award, Guma Aguiar, owns a company that made billions of dollars in the Texas natural gas industry. Aguiar also created the award given to Perry."

The alliance between Katsof and Guma spells more serious trouble for Rabbi Tropper. Katsof is world-class expert at manipulating politicians, creating events, generating wealth and burnishing images and he is just as committed to unlimited outreach to secular Jews as Guma is, and he has more wealth than Rabbi Tovia Singer.

Avodas HaMelech: Public knowledge & lashon harah