Dr. Nathanson, 84, Dies; Changed Sides on Abortion

NYTimes

Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, a campaigner for abortion rights who, after experiencing a change of heart in the 1970s became a prominent opponent of abortion and the on-screen narrator of the anti-abortion film “The Silent Scream,” died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. ...

In a widely reported 1974 article in The New England Journal of Medicine, “Deeper into Abortion,” Dr. Nathanson described his growing moral and medical qualms about abortion. “I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I had in fact presided over 60,000 deaths.”

His unease was intensified by the images made available by the new technologies of fetoscopy and ultrasound. [...]

Ecuadorean Villagers May Hold Secret to Longevity

NYTimes hat tip to Joseph

People living in remote villages in Ecuador have a mutation that some biologists say may throw light on human longevity and ways to increase it.

The villagers are very small, generally less than three and a half feet tall, and have a rare condition known as Laron syndrome or Laron-type dwarfism. They are probably the descendants of conversos, Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal who were forced to convert to Christianity in the 1490s but were nonetheless persecuted in the Inquisition. They are also almost completely free of two age-related diseases, cancer and diabetes. [...]

Rav Ovadia Yosef backs down on Army conversions

YNET

In order to prevent haredi protests, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef says convert who did not intend on observing mitzvot while undergoing conversion process will not be recognized as a Jew

Shas spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, authorized a number of senior rabbis on Sunday to add clarifications on his behalf to his controversial ruling which legitimized conversions performed in the Israel Defense Forces.

 The addition is said to be accepted by leaders of the Eda Haredit movement, including head of the Lithuanian Orthodox faction Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who are expected to call off the mass protest against Rabbi Yosef planned for Wednesday.

According to the compromise – brokered by former Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri – Rabbi Yosef added a restriction to his ruling, stating that a convert who did not really intend on adopting a religious lifestyle while undergoing the conversion process would not be recognized as a Jew. [...]

Rabbi in SAC Extortion Plot Sentenced to 4 Years

Bloomberg

Milton Balkany, a Brooklyn, New York, rabbi, was ordered to serve four years in prison for trying to extort $4 million from Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote sentenced Balkany today in Manhattan. Balkany, 64, was convicted by a federal jury in November of extortion and blackmail charges after he threatened to disclose insider trading by SAC. There was no evidence at the trial that he had any such evidence.

“Just because you lead a charitable institution doesn’t give you a pass to commit extortion and fraud,” Cote told Balkany in court. “You tried to extort $4 million from a hedge fund.” [...]

Abuse: The Parent Trapped

NYTimes

I WANT to believe I have little in common with Julie Schenecker, who the police say confessed to killing her two “mouthy” teenagers.

Ms. Schenecker, who was indicted on charges of first-degree murder on Thursday, lives in Tampa, and is married to an Army colonel. I live near San Francisco, and am married to a newspaper editor.

Relationship between G-d & man/Man being god over lower realms

Bereishis Rabbah[1](79:8): He set up an altar and he called it G‑d, the G‑d of Israel (Bereishis 33:20). … Yaakov said to G‑d, “You are G‑d in Heaven and I am god in the lower realm. Reish Lakish said that G‑d criticized him saying, “Even the supervisor of a synagogue does not take authority by himself. However you have taken power to yourself by this statement. Tomorrow your daughter will go out and be raped.” That happened as we see in Bereishis (34:1).

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[1]  בראשית רבה (עט:ח): ויצב שם מזבח ויקרא לו אל [בראשית לג:כ] אר"ל ויקרא לו אל אלהי ישראל אמר אתה אלוה בעליונים ואני אלוה בתחתונים ר' הונא בשם ריש לקיש אמר אפילו חזן הכנסת אינו נוטל שררה לעצמו ואתה היית נוטל שררה לעצמך מחר בתך יוצאה ומתענה הה"ד ותצא דינה בת לאה:

Army conversions - attempts to resolving dispute

 
YNET  

הפשרה החרדית: נכיר במתגיירים - אם לא יתחתנו

ניסיונות פשרה ערב הפגנת ההמונים נגד ההכרה בגיור: מן הצד הספרדי - דרישה לבדיקה מדוקדקת של פסיקת הרב עובדיה. מן הצד האשכנזי - דרישה להכרה בגיור "לחומרא". המשמעות: הגרים ייאלצו להתגרש בבתי הדין הרבניים, אך לא יוכלו להינשא

Rav Sternbuch: Giving it All

Rebtzn Ruth Blau:No stranger to controversy

Jerusalem Post


 The son of Ruth Blau, one of the most colorful figures in Natorei Karta, breaks his silence after her death --

For some 40 years, Uriel Ben-David has lived in the shadow of notoriety while carefully guarding his privacy and that of his family, and stubbornly resisting all attempts by the media to interview him. Only after the death of his 80-year-old mother in January did Ben-David agree to lift the veil of silence.

His mother was Ruth Blau who became infamous worldwide in the early 1960s for her role in what become known as the "Yossele Affair." The story of Yossele Schuchmacher revolved around the kidnapping of the young son of Russian immigrants at the behest of his haredi grandfather, Nahman Shtarkes, who feared the boy's Communist-influenced parents would not provide the child with an adequate Jewish environment and education. It was Blau, at the behest of Shtarke's friend Rabbi Maisels, who spirited the six-year-old boy out of the country, dressed up as a little girl and traveling as her daughter on a false passport.

Rav Eliashiv & Rav Yosef unite against girls seminary alleged to be cult

YNET
 
סערה חרדית: בכירי הרבנים נגד "מיני גואל רצון"

שילוב כוחות של הרבנים יוסף שלום אלישיב ועובדיה יוסף נחשב בציבור החרדי לדבר נדיר ביותר, ואתמול (ג') הוא קרה במסגרת מאבק משותף נגד מנהל מדרשה תורנית לבנות בירושלים, שלטענתם "תמהוני" המזכיר להם "כתות מסוכנות".

 במודעות ענק שהופצו ברחבי העיר מאשימים מנהיגי הציבור החרדי את הרב אהרון רמתי ממדרשת "באר מרים" בכך שהוא נוקט שיטות חינוכיות פסולות המנתקות את התלמידות ממשפחותיהן, גר עמן באותו בית ומטיף להן שלא להתחתן – הכל ב"אצטלה מזויפת של קדושה"

Rabbi Elyashiv: Protest IDF conversions

YNet

Leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox faction Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv has called on the public to take part in a mass protest to be staged following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's ruling legitimizing Israel Defense Forces conversions. Sources close to Elyashiv confirmed the report.

Shortly after Shas' spiritual leader ruled that army conversions were valid, those opposed to the decision announced they will hold a mass rally against the ruling. It has since been postponed several times. It is currently scheduled for next Wednesday. [...]

Rav Eliashiv calls for demonstrations against the army conversions הרב אלישיב: לצאת להפגין נגד גיורי צה"ל

YNET
   

הרב אלישיב: לצאת להפגין נגד גיורי צה"ל

"פוסק הדור" של הזרם החרדי-ליטאי חתם על "קול קורא" להשתתף בהפגנה נגד הכשרת הגיורים הצה"ליים בידי הרב עובדיה יוסף. משתתפי העצרת המתוכננת יערכו "קריעה" בבגדם, כפי שנהוג בדיני אבלות

המאבק החרדי נגד גיורי צה"ל מתחדש, וגם עולה מדרגה: "פוסק הדור" הליטאי, הרב יוסף שלום אלישיב, קורא לציבור להשתתף בהפגנת ענק הנערכת בעקבות פסיקת הרב עובדיה יוסף לפיה הגיורים שנערכו בצה"ל - כשרים. בבית הרב אלישיב אישרו את הדברים, שפורסמו לראשונה הערב (יום ג') בקו החדשות הטלפוני (נייעס) "הקול החרדי".