Conversion crisis - because Modern Orthodox are wimps! I

I have been meaning to post on this issue – of the awesome chasm separating the Chareidi world and that of the Modern Orthodox/Religious Zionist – on one particular issue - compromising the truth to avoid hurt feelings. To use a broad but accurate brush, Chareidim ask the question – what is the halacha? while MO ask – how can we modify the halacha in order to avoid hurt feelings? Or to use the infamous words of Blu Greenberg – the MO hold by the doctrine – “Where there is a halachic will there is a halachic way” - but the Chareidim don’t.

Rabbi Adlerstein described the dichotomy in his recent article on the geirus crisis which I reported on this blog.

“Rabbi Druckman’s supporters have not responded to a single one of Rabbi Sherman’s charges in halachic language. They have thus added fuel to the fire of those who believe that the DL camp is incapable of dealing responsibly with sophisticated Torah thinking. Rabbi Sherman may or may not be right, but he raises important issues. Rav Druckman, to the best of my knowledge, is a fine gentleman, but not one of the halachic luminaries of the DL world. Professional politicians and MK’s – of any religious party – rarely are. The DL world suffers from no shortage of real bnei Torah and a group of authentic poskim who could and should be dealing with Rabbi Sherman’s point in halachic language.”

Characteristic of the non-halachic response of the MO/RZ is that of Rav Lichtenstein:

"How much hatred, grudge and demonization there is in this awful and terrible psak... The Conversion Authority has God-fearing and scholarly judges who have devoted their energy and their lives to the Torah. They cannot be pushed away and thrown into the street. We must be strong on this point: There is no giving into this kind of language and attitude... Where did we ever hear or see that someone who relies on a minority opinion against the commonly held one is considered a willing apikorus? Woe to the ears that hear such a thing and woe to the biased court that has expressed itself in such a way!"

Similarly Rabbi Vinas has responded to criticism by in essence saying – you are hateful not nice people because you keep challenging my sincere efforts to help the Jewish people – and I am not going to talk to you anymore.

This was brought to a head on this blog by one of the intelligent and sensitive representatives of the MO/RZ world who has taken the time – up until now – to present his view and understanding on these issues. However he too has folded his tent and departed while firing these parting shots:

Itamar Ross has left a new comment on your post "Rabbi Vinas' reply - discussed and rejected I":

In response to this post, I too have decided no longer to post here. Rav Eidensohn writes: "As we see in the Talmud, understanding Torah requires making inquiries of our rabbis – even if they sometimes cause discomfort." When necessary and true, and when there is no alternative, of course. But when "inquiries" are made because of preconceived notions of "Daas Torah" (a non-Jewish idea itself) with no regard whatsoever to the harm they cause, that is using the quest for truth as a lame excuse for bashing ideological rivals. Given the current conversion controversy, you are in good company Rabbi Vinas. Take it as a badge of pride. You have been publically reviled along with the greatest dati-leumi Torah scholars in Israel. Many poskim, of whom I have no doubt Rav Eidensohn is fully aware, recognize the concept of "zera yisrael". The concept is accepted halachah le-maaseh today among most Torah scholars and dayanim today (at least outside the Ashkenazic charedi world). Rabbi Eidensohn and his rebbe are free to reject or accept this concept according to their Torah understanding, but not to bash those who do accept it. No Rav Eidensohn, you cannot claim that the burden of proof is on those who do accept it, who may then be reviled and shamed in public as you have done here to Rabbi Vidas. "Daas Torah" is no mandate for doing evil, though many of its proponents see it as exactly such. Along with Rabbi Vinas, my participation at this blog is has now ended.

Totally ignoring the fact that the concept of zera Yisroel does not justify what Rabbi Vinas is doing since not a single posek says it does.

One cannot work through the hard truth when people keep replying to sincere and realistic questions by saying “because you are not nice I won’t speak with you again.”

Realistically the world requires the right hand and the left hand working together. It is time for the MO/RZ to stop being such wimps when they are challenged by halachic questions. To use a Talmudic illustration, the first Mishna in Bava Metzia describes the halacha when two people both claim the same object. Two people found a talis and each one claims it is theirs. The halacha is that it is divided. What if each one claims the talis but one is a nice guy and says – “o.k. you can have half and I’ll have half.” The logic of the MO/RZ is that they are being a nice guy who is sensitive to the feelings of the other – by acknowledging that the talis should be divided. However the halacha is that the one who concedes that half belongs to the other person, ends up getting only a quarter of the talis while the guy who asserts that all it is his – gets three quarters! The halacha is simply that whatever is disputed is divided.

Similarly the MO have tried for years to educate students in moderation. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm has insightfully lamented that the MO have succeeded in creating students who are moderate in their passion instead of passionate about their moderation.

The Chazon Ish writes about this.

Letters (3:61): Just as the unvarnished facts and truth are synonymous so are uncompromising perfectionism and greatness. Perfectionism means to develop something to the ultimate degree. One who advocates moderation and despises perfectionism—his lot is with the frauds or with those lacking understanding. Without perfectionism, there can be no completion and if there is no perfection, there is no beginning. The beginning is with constant questions and replies. The perfecter is the brilliant respondent who orders everything in its rightful place. We regularly hear announcements from well‑known groups that they have nothing to do with uncompromising perfectionists. They nevertheless describe themselves as being the true Jews with appropriate faith to Torah. We simply note, however, that just as there is no such thing amongst lovers of wisdom as love for minimum knowledge and hate for the very wise there is similarly no such thing as loving Torah and mitzvos moderately and hating the uncompromising perfectionists. All the foundations of emuna—the 13 principles and their derivatives—are inherently incompatible with the lightweight wisdom and superficial life that exists in this world. In contrast clear recognition, energetic involvement; high precision in emuna is the hallmark of the perfectionist. Those who proudly testify on themselves that they have not tasted the sweetness of uncompromising perfection are simultaneously testifying that they are missing emuna in the foundation of religion both intellectually and emotionally. Their attachment is only lukewarm. The perfectionists—who despite their genuine wish to have pity on these doctrinaire moderates—do not honor and respect their opponents. The yawning abyss that separates them is naturally only widened as the result of the disputes that occur when they interact with each other. The only true moderation that can exist is that which results naturally to those who love the perfection and strive towards it and educate their children to strive for the peak. In contrast how unfortunate are those “moderates” who cast aspersions on the perfectionists. The obligation of our education is to perfection. The only genuine protection of the educational system is to be contemptuous and to ridicule those who denigrate perfection. However given the burning spirit of youth it is not appropriate to strongly condemn specific individuals amongst the unfortunates. Instead, the youth should be developed to have true love of Torah that requires personal effort and heavenly pleasantness and they should not have obstacles placed on this road. Those schools that are labeled as moderate schools—they are not successful because of the fraud that is inherent in moderation…

Rabbi Vinas' reply - discussed and rejected I

This is a response to Rabbi Vinas' answer to my first question. If there is interest I will reply also to his other answers. Rabbi Vinas's statement is in italics.

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In this post I will attempt to respond one more time to your questions in an attempt to clarify my positions and to educate your readers regarding the return of the anusim to Judaism and the nature of my work with my synagogue community of Lincoln Park Jewish Center in Yonkers and with the Hispanic/Latino Anusim community.

I was unable to answer your posts earlier due to the fact that my mother was niftar the day before LagLaOmer (Baomer for the rest of you) and I was in Shiva and shloshim for her. I'm surprised that my "fan club" (stalkers) who purport to know me personally, did not notify you of this fact and the fact that she was buried by a large number of Rabbanim Hashuvim who lauded her as a true tzadeket. […]

I am truly sorry to hear about your mother’s passing. And I am also sorry that you view questions regarding your public activities as an act of hostility and hate. As we see in the Talmud, understanding Torah requires making inquiries of our rabbis – even if they sometimes cause discomfort.

Berachos (62a): It has been taught: R. Akiba said: Once I went in after R. Joshua to a privy, and I learnt from him three things. I learnt that one does not sit east and west but north and south; I learnt that one evacuates not standing but sitting; and I learnt that it is proper to wipe with the left hand and not with the right. Said Ben Azzai to him: Did you dare to take such liberties with your master? He replied: It was a matter of Torah, and I required to learn. It has been taught: Ben ‘Azzai said: Once I went in after R. Akiba to a privy, and I learnt from him three things. I learnt that one does not evacuate east and west but north and south. I also learnt that one evacuates sitting and not standing. I also learnt it is proper to wipe with the left hand and not with the right. Said R. Judah to him: Did you dare to take such liberties with your master? — He replied: It was a matter of Torah, and I required to learn. R. Kahana once went in and hid under Rab's bed. He heard him chatting [with his wife] and joking and doing what he required. He said to him: One would think that Abba's mouth had never sipped the dish before! He said to him: Kahana, are you here? Go out, because it is rude.1 He replied: It is a matter of Torah, and I require to learn.

Normally, I would not be posting questions and criticisms at such a time – however you yourself have taken the initiative – with great mesiras nefesh – to bring up these issues and therefore I will respond with my respectful disagreement.

Since you say you will not be posting again, I will try to summarize the issues and express how you defend your activities and reject the criticism. I will also say at the outset – that you have in fact not really answered any of my questions – except the issue of how a ger can be a rav of a shul – something which is clearly stated in the Igros Moshe and in the teshuvos of Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita.

[Regarding the criticism of Jersey Girl…] Those who know me and attend my shul would know right away that there are cases of giur that I have treated as exactly that Giur not anusim. Not all Latinos who have converted either through my auspices or others are claiming that they are anusim and I don’t treat all of them as such… Let me clarify to all of you what people who do know me already know. Not all gerim are anusim this includes Latinos or Hispanic Jews. All who seek giur are not treated as anusim. Stop the lies! This is an opportunity to clarify the fact that as I have explained before based on the teshuva of Rav Aharon Soloveitchik and Rav Mordechai Eliahu that anusim require some form of halachic “return” ceremony. Soloveitchik calls it a giur lechumra Rav Moredchai Eliahu calls it a return ceremony. Both require mila, tevila and kabbalat hamitzvot. Geneology, DNA or other pseudo scientific proofs are not sufficient. I have always recommended the process of return or giur for anusim in order to ensure that their Jewish status does not remain questionable and that they are fully living lives of Jewish content and status according to Orthodox halacha. Having giur according to halacha should remove all stigma of doubt regarding their ancestry if you would just leave them alone to live life as they want according to the Torah.

Now I will respond to Daniel Eidensohns questions by the numbers that he placed on them [….] I’m going to respond however because there is a chance that you might be an authentic seeker of truth and honesty.

1) Regarding what I wrote you about safek deoraita lehumra: I was referring to the practice of discouraging a potential convert of non-Jewish origin. What if this person is really Jewish just as he claims? What if it is true that the person has a tradition in his family that remained unbroken just as he said and I discouraged him from returning to Judaism. That would be an avera risk that I am not willing to take. Rather I continue to follow the Takana of Rabbenu Gershom and the work of Rav Aboab de Fonseca and Rav Menashe Ben Israel because I did not see any expiration date on their takanot. And even if you say that their work was situational in that they were working while the problem existed during that generation directly after the inquisition, I posit to you that the problem persists and that this exchange of blogs proves that it is all too real and that controversy exists around it and therefore some form of halachic response must be offered. Since there are earlier poskim such as those I mentioned that responded already to this question when it already arose all we need to do is apply the mechanisms that the poskim already created earlier. […] The important thing is that they [anusim] remained loyal to the Torah and at great personal risk have attempted to return to Jewish practice. Anusim will continue to return to Judaism whenever they want to. We will not subject ourselves to ridiculous questions like why not sooner? The answer is that we returned as soon as we saw that what we were living was Jewish customs – as soon as it became clear to us that we needed to return to our original identity. I don’t know why it takes generations for people to return to Torah, if it was in my ability I would have done it three generations ago but I wasn’t alive then I’m alive now and now is when I have chosen to live as a Jew and to help others do so as well. The return to Judaism is heroic in any generation it proves that “la sangre llama” the blood calls.

Rabbi Vinas asserts that there are two types of non-Jews. Those that are really non-Jews and those that there is a sofek doreissa that they are truly Jews. While he is asserting that the Anusim are a sofek doreissa however he regards the existence of a pattern of family minhag which bears a possible relationship to Judaism as prima facie evidence that these people are actually Jews. Therefore he feels that they should be encouraged to rejoin the Jewish people and go through a pro forma conversion ceremony – not because they need it to be Jews – but to avoid questions and inconvenience. Thus geirus l’chumra is only window dressing because in fact the anusim are already Jews and never stopped being Jews – no matter how many hundreds of years they lived as goyim. Thus he says bluntly regarding the Anusim – and including himself and his family

“Anusim will continue to return to Judaism whenever they want to. We will not subject ourselves to ridiculous questions like why not sooner? The answer is that we returned as soon as we saw that what we were living was Jewish customs – as soon as it became clear to us that we needed to return to our original identity.”

“I am not a Christian. My mother and father were not Christians, the only religion I have ever known was Orthodox Judaism.”

Thus since the purported descendants of anusim are really Jews – including Rabbi Vinas – there is really no need to do geirus. Therefore the question raised about why he sat shiva for his mother despite the clearly stated prohibition of the Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 374:5) is because he believes she was also a Jew – even without conversion. This also answers the questions raised concerning Rabbi Vinas’ own conversion.

The only problem with all of this is that as far as I have ascertained there is not a single posek who is on record agreeing with him! It is Rabbi Vinas – who is not a posek nor does he claim to be a posek – who has decided that the pesakim that were applied to those in the years immediately following forced conversions in Spain and Portugal when there was no doubt at all that these people had Jewish mothers and were themselves Jewish. He asserts on his own that all those who have unique family minhagim which might be Jewish - qualifies them for the same status of truly being Jewish! He states:

“The answer is that we returned as soon as we saw that what we were living was Jewish customs – as soon as it became clear to us that we needed to return to our original identity. I don’t know why it takes generations for people to return to Torah, if it was in my ability I would have done it three generations ago but I wasn’t alive then I’m alive now and now is when I have chosen to live as a Jew and to help others do so as well. The return to Judaism is heroic in any generation it proves that “la sangre llama” the blood calls.”

Thus regarding the first question – the answer is that Rabbi Vinas is relying on his own sevora which apparently no posek accepts. I would love to hear a major posek such as Rav Ovadiah Yosef or Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul state this sevora and then I would have no trouble acknowledging that is is legitimate. The letters that were written by Rav Aaron Soloveitchik and Rav Mordechai Eliyahu – did not state such a position. It also explains why Rabbi Vinas insists he is not proselytizing – he views himself as only doing kiruv!

Let me reiterate that I think that Rabbi Vinas is a wonderful human being who has dedicated his life to helping others with great mesiras nefesh. I am truly sorry about the loss of his mother. The issues I am raising are purely halachic issues - which are critical to being a Torah Jew. These are the type of questions that every observant Jew needs to raise to clarify the halacha. The issue of following halacha even if it hurts - something raised many times already - will be addressed in a separate posting.

Statistics: More American Jews are unmarried and unconnected to organized Judaism

Jerusalem Post reports:

Jun. 17, 2008
Michal Lando, Jerusalem Post corespondent , THE JERUSALEM POST

More US Jews today are "uncoupled" in two senses of the term -unmarried and unconnected to organized Jewry - according to the latest study by researchers Steven Cohen and Ari Kelman, who call this data "disturbing," though not for the reasons one might expect.

In 1990, 33 percent of non-Orthodox Jews aged 25-39 were single. By 2000-01, the number had grown to 50%. In fact "never in Jewish demographic history have we seen so many young adults unmarried, or 'uncoupled,'" the study says. That in itself is not surprising, because Americans as a whole are getting married much later.

The good news is that single Jews are as interested as ever in connecting Jewishly. The bad news is that they shy away from available Jewish institutions in part because synagogues, Jewish community centers and federations "remain geared to the conventional family unit," the study claims.

As many as 67 percent of non-Orthodox singles say they are "proud to be a Jew," slightly surpassing the 66% of in-married (Jews married to Jews) who agree.

Given the high level of Jewish interest and low rate of communal and ritual involvement among young adult, single Jews, this uncoupled population represents the "greatest opportunity and the greatest risk" of Judaism in the United States, the study claims. "Single Jews are akin to 'swing voters'- they can go either way," the two sociologists suggest. "How they 'vote,' how they make Jewish (or non-Jewish) choices, will determine the future of Jews, Judaism and Jewishness in the United States."

Important to note is that single Jews practice religion in lower numbers than in-married Jewish couples: Just 19% of singles belong to synagogues as opposed to 51% of the in-married, and only one-third of singles are "somewhat attached" to synagogues.

A total of 20% of singles visit Jewish community centers, as opposed to 44% of in-married; 15% of singles contribute to UJA/Federation campaigns compared to 32% of in-married; and 8% of singles volunteer with a Jewish organization compared to 28% of in-married.

On the surface, the unmarried appear "fairly distant" from Jewish life, the study suggests. But other markers point to single Jews still being connected.

Of single Jews aged 25-39, 42% claim that half or more of their friends are Jewish, and of those making that claim, 51% said they talk to their friends about "Jewish matters." They read Jewish-oriented books in higher numbers than the in-married, are more eager to learn more Jewishly, and more regularly read Jewish blogs.

When it comes to Israel, 79% agreed that "Caring about Israel is a very important part of my being a Jew," compared to 83% of the in-married. And 67% of singles said they feel "proud" of Israel, compared to 62% of in-married. [...]

DNA and the Jewishness of Ethiopians and purported Conversos

The following is an excerpt of an interview (published in the June 2008 Reform Judaism magazine) with Jon Entine concerning the latest DNA findings and conjecture about their meaning for the origin of the Jews. Please note that this is not halachic data - especially when the DNA shows patrilinear descent - which has no standing in being a Jew.

He says that so far, genetic detective work among Jews reveals:

• The majority of Jewish males shares a Middle East ancestry that dates back 4,000 years.
• Only about 50% of Jewish females are genetically linked to the Middle East; the others appear to be descended from gentiles.
• Some 30% of the Ashkenazi gene pool has genetic markers from a variety of local, non-Jewish populations among which Jews lived.
• Most Jewish men claiming to be kohanim (of priestly descent) carry markers that originated about 3,000 years ago.
• The African Lemba tribe carries Jewish markers, including a 53% frequency of kohanim markers among the tribe's priests, supporting the tribe's claim of Israelite descent.
• Markers among Asia's Indian Jews suggest that they descended from biblical Israelites.
• Despite their tradition of Solomonic descent, Ethiopian Jews carry no Jewish marker.
• Many Southwestern conversos and Hispanos descend from Sephardim on the male side.
• One in four Ashkenazi Jews carries genetic risk for diseases like Tay-Sachs, Familial Dysautonomia, and Cystic Fibrosis.
• Some forms of breast cancer are found only in Jews and their descendents.

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What does the genetic evidence show about the Jewish origins of Ethiopian Jewry?

The Black Jews of Ethiopia, who were airlifted to Israel in the mid 1980s as part of a massive Jewish rescue of what many believed was a mythical Lost Tribe, have steadfastly claimed a biblical royal pedigree tied to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. At the urging of many Orthodox Jews, Israel’s chief rabbis embraced this account and granted them official status as descendants of the lost tribe of Dan. But more recent DNA evidence is not so generous: Ethiopian Jews do not have the Jewish genetic markers seen in all other Jewish groups, which tells us that they don’t have genetic roots in ancient Israel. This finding is in line with historical evidence suggesting that in the 5th or 6th century C.E. a fairly sizable number of Ethiopians, including some of the royalty, converted to Judaism. Still, they have remained faithful to Judaism for 1,500 years—longer than the history of Ashkenazic Jewry.

For the groups that have received DNA confirmation of their Jewish ancestry, the news must be empowering.

Oh yes, having genetic witness to their ancestral Israelite roots has provided these communities with cultural cohesiveness, a sense of real pride—no one can take it away from them now—and a new level of respect from other Jews.

What does DNA evidence reveal about the conversos in the Southwest United States?

For years a host of anecdotal reports have appeared about people in the American Southwest and northern Mexico who practice Jewish rituals such as lighting candles on Friday evenings and covering the mirrors after a family member has died. Occasionally some claimed they were descendants of Jews, but few people took them very seriously. Cultural anthropologists tended to believe they had adopted the rituals from Jewish traders. Thanks to genetic research, however, we can now confirm that many of these individuals and pocket communities do, in fact, have Jewish roots. In my book I tell the story of William Sanchez from Albuquerque, New Mexico, who had always wondered about the Jewish-like rituals in his family. After he saw a story on genetic genealogy on PBS he sent in a DNA sample for testing. When the lab reached him on the phone and said, “Mr. Sanchez, we found some interesting results from your DNA; you may be descended from or closely related to priests,” Sanchez replied, “That makes perfect sense, because I am a priest.” There was stunned silence on the phone because William Sanchez was, in fact, a Catholic priest. He and many of his family members have since pieced together their family history and discovered that they—as well as many Hispanos in Sanchez’s congregation and in communities throughout the Southwest—are the descendants on their male side of Sephardic Jews who converted to Catholicism and then settled in the New World, where they took on Native American wives. Over time the descendants’ Jewish practices atrophied and they became Christian in belief. Nowadays, to celebrate their Jewish heri­tage alongside their Catholic beliefs, Sanchez and many of his parishioners wear a Star of David with a cross in the middle. Interestingly, too, a few of his family members have been touched so deeply by this revelation, they have converted to Judaism.

Rabbi Vinas replies to criticism II

Rabbivinas has left a new comment on your post "Rabbi Vinas - the unanswered questions???":

In this post I will attempt to respond one more time to your questions in an attempt to clarify my positions and to educate your readers regarding the return of the anusim to Judaism and the nature of my work with my synagogue community of Lincoln Park Jewish Center in Yonkers and with the Hispanic/Latino Anusim community.

I was unable to answer your posts earlier due to the fact that my mother was niftar the day before LagLaOmer (Baomer for the rest of you) and I was in Shiva and shloshim for her. I'm surprised that my "fan club" (stalkers) who purport to know me personally, did not notify you of this fact and the fact that she was buried by a large number of Rabbanim Hashuvim who lauded her as a true tzadeket. My parents worked very, very hard sacrificing so that I could learn Torah and live and promote a Jewish life. They raised me to believe in the Torah and the poskim regardless of how bitter or ignorant the comments of others against gerim were. My mother (obm) always taught me that the ways of the Torah are “darchei noam” ways of pleasantness and truth. Assuming that you also believe this I will attempt to respond one more time assuming (based on the idea of being dan lekat zechut) that perhaps some of you might be seeking the truth just as I have all of my life. Also I learned that “Talmidei Chachamim marbim shalom baolam.” Since Torah scholars increase Peace in the world - it must be that your true intent is to spread peace and truth not hateful conjecture and lashon hara or motzee shem rah - I will assume once again this is the case and will answer.

Before I respond however to your questions - I will address the distasteful, insulting and down right ignorant comments of the person who posts under the name "Jerseygirl." Specifically - it was already clarified to you on here that I do not have and never claimed to have smicha from RIETS. I find your comments regarding gerim and their ability to lead others closer to the Torah filled with prejudice and distrust that has no basis in the Torah and is in fact prohibited by the Torah in no uncertain terms. You will not oppress the ger, you will not remind him of his past and One law you will have both for the native born and also for the ger. Creating a scenario where gerim are distrusted and suggesting that the ger would lead other Jews towards some form of christianity and suggesting that this has happened at my synagogue is a ridiculous notion and is a clear violation of the Torah you should be ashamed of yourself! Perhaps Shmaya and Avtalyon Unkelos and Akiva etc should also be suspected just as you suggest that other gerim ought to be. If I were you I would hang my head in shame and attempt to do teshuva. But this is virtually impossible for people who think and convince themselves that they are the only ones right or the only ones who know the truth. What sign do you see of anything with a christian influence at my shul? Nothing! How do you dare to say such disgusting things about other Jews and especially about gerim who you are doubly commanded to love! Its unbelievable that you think this is acceptable and I'm surprised that other readers of this blog haven't "cried foul" to such a travesty. I love my shul and its members are made up of people seeking the right life, seeking to come close to the Torah and attempting to live Torah observant lives don’t speak lashon harah about a community of people!

The "gentleman" who names himself “Bright Eyes” obviously does not know me personally as he claims he does. Those who know me and attend my shul would know right away that there are cases of giur that I have treated as exactly that Giur not anusim. Not all Latinos who have converted either through my auspices or others are claiming that they are anusim and I don’t treat all of them as such. The question that keeps coming up in my mind is what your motivation for saying these kinds of lies would be. Let me clarify to all of you what people who do know me already know. Not all gerim are anusim this includes Latinos or Hispanic Jews. All who seek giur are not treated as anusim. Stop the lies!

This is an opportunity to clarify the fact that as I have explained before based on the teshuva of Rav Aharon Soloveitchik and Rav Mordechai Eliahu that anusim require some form of halachic “return” ceremony. Soloveitchik calls it a giur lechumra Rav Moredchai Eliahu calls it a return ceremony. Both require mila, tevila and kabbalat hamitzvot. Geneology, DNA or other pseudo scientific proofs are not sufficient. I have always recommended the process of return or giur for anusim in order to ensure that their Jewish status does not remain questionable and that they are fully living lives of Jewish content and status according to Orthodox halacha. Having giur according to halacha should remove all stigma of doubt regarding their ancestry if you would just leave them alone to live life as they want according to the Torah.

Now I will respond to Daniel Eidensohns questions by the numbers that he placed on them. But as I respond I invite my readers to ask themselves why a Rav of an Orthodox congregation should have to respond at all to this level of insult and innuendo. And a further question would be why answer to this blog – who died and made you the poskim? Maybe I am required to answer because I’m a ger according to your estimation and therefore suspect. Well there goes the idea of one way of life for both gerim and born Jews. I’m going to respond however because there is a chance that you might be an authentic seeker of truth and honesty.

1. Regarding what I wrote you about safek deoraita lehumra: I was referring to the practice of discouraging a potential convert of non-Jewish origin. What if this person is really Jewish just as he claims? What if it is true that the person has a tradition in his family that remained unbroken just as he said and I discouraged him from returning to Judaism. That would be an avera risk that I am not willing to take. Rather I continue to follow the Takana of Rabbenu Gershom and the work of Rav Aboab de Fonseca and Rav Menashe Ben Israel because I did not see any expiration date on their takanot. And even if you say that their work was situational in that they were working while the problem existed during that generation directly after the inquisition, I posit to you that the problem persists and that this exchange of blogs proves that it is all too real and that controversy exists around it and therefore some form of halachic response must be offered. Since there are earlier poskim such as those I mentioned that responded already to this question when it already arose all we need to do is apply the mechanisms that the poskim already created earlier. A point of clarification regarding the history that you quote regarding proving genealogy during the 16 century: This was the case for people who simply wanted to be recognized as born Jews through matrilineal descent without giur as in the case of Rav Menashe Ben Israel whose family had converted to Catholicism and later escaped Portugal and went to Holland. Others who had Jewish descent either patrilinealy or could not prove it under went giur to reestablish themselves as part of the “nacion” in Holland. If you study the history of the family of Rav Menashe Ben Israel the entire statements of “Jerseygirl” making it seem that there was something wrong with the people who stayed in Spain and Portugal because they did not exercise the option to leave is actually a criticism of Rav Menashe’s family who does not deserve this criticism. Hindsight is always 20/20 especially when tempered by 500 years. The important thing is that they remained loyal to the Torah and at great personal risk have attempted to return to Jewish practice. Anusim will continue to return to Judaism whenever they want to. We will not subject ourselves to ridiculous questions like why not sooner? The answer is that we returned as soon as we saw that what we were living was Jewish customs – as soon as it became clear to us that we needed to return to our original identity. I don’t know why it takes generations for people to return to Torah, if it was in my ability I would have done it three generations ago but I wasn’t alive then I’m alive now and now is when I have chosen to live as a Jew and to help others do so as well. The return to Judaism is heroic in any generation it proves that “la sangre llama” the blood calls.
2. The second question is really an excellent trap laid very carefully. If I answer that I would respond to the goyim (who I was talking to) that they should cease to worship according to their religion and that they should follow only the true God of Israel and the Torah which is the only truth and only true path to Hashem (which is what I believe in) – you will answer that I am a proselytizer. If I respond just as I did according to the Tosafot (because I was placed during the interview into a position that I was afraid would reflect badly on us by insulting the majority of the readers of that interview who are Catholic or Goyim) then I am accused of being somehow soft on Christianity or worse yet being a christian and promoting christian practice or belief among Jews. Excellently laid trap. Except for one problem – you and your readers see through it. I responded using the Tosafot regarding the idea of the shituf because I wanted to not make the Jewish people and our beliefs odious to others. Some of you who use these blogs appear never to take that into consideration by the way. Some who read this material use it against our people, unfortunately making it appear that this type of name calling and innuendo is part of our holy tradition when it is not! Your commenter “steg” was the only person fair enough to see what I was saying, thank you. I am not a Christian. My mother and father were not Christians, the only religion I have ever known was Orthodox Judaism. I went to yeshivot all my life. I reject chrisitanity, the saints, the man god, the trinity, the supposed messiahship of any man who has ever lived, I do not believe that mashaiach has come or came or will return. I do not believe in the New testament or any other religious books or beliefs other than Judaism and the holy writings of our sages. I believe in Torah shebiktav and Torah she baal peh. It is insulting and degrading to place a ger into the position where he has to make these statements in a public form because a small group of Jews have dedicated hours of their time to try to bait him and make him look like something he is not. I hope that Hashem will heed the words of tachanun “shuv mecharon apecha…” because if a ger were to cry out to Hashem about this type of avera on your part and he responded accordingly it would not be good for our people or for you. This is not intended as a threat but as mussar – do teshuva - Hashem does not appreciate mistreatment of the ger. All Jews are required to reprimand each other and encourage teshuva and additionally since I have had the blessing of learning Torah I tell you on that authority that this is unacceptable.
3. The Institute for Jewish and Communal Research is a prestigious academic institution. It includes experts in many areas including demographics and studies of large populations. I am interested in studying the number of people in the world that claim Anusim ancestry. The Institute is one of the few academic research institutes that would undertake this study. Additionally they are studying other populations including Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, African American Jews and other situations that may or may not be halachic. There are many who attend these meetings that are born Jews and Halachically Jewish bechol hadeot. Since they trust me and have a relationship with me of respect and collegiality, I was able to make recommendations to them that facilitated the observance of kashrut, Shabbat etc. I advocate the study of the anusim. I advocate knowing the practices of these populations, the history and everything I need to know to see if they are authentic so that I can assist them in their return to Judaism. This institute is the only program in the world that will help me do a serious respectable study of these populations it is an absolute necessity for me in my work ( for which I have never apologized). Attending academic meetings and participating in research of Jewish populations does not require any permission of gedolim beyond review with my personal Rabbeim and I have done so. I have stated my interest clearly at all meetings of the institute and I applaud their work in studying populations that until now have not been studied. Dr. Gary Tobin and his wife Diane are scholars, they may not be Orthodox but they are frum enough to respect and love gerim and the Jewish People and they see their work as dedicated to helping the Jewish people grow and prosper. It may not be the same opinion as yours but we must admit that there are dedicated to the study of the Jewish people and that their academic work is unparalleled and unequalled.
4. Regarding being the Rav of a shul. According to Rav J.B. Soloveitchik a ger may be given smicha based upon the Tosafot in Kiddushin 71a that quotes a position of Rav Avraham Hager – he notes that obviously he had been given the title of Rav even though he was a ger.
You are correct it does not require a major posek to rule that I can serve as the Rav of my shul. A clear answer to this question is presented in Teshuvot VeHanhagot (Vol. III:305) where the Gaon R. Moshe Sternbuch discusses whether a ger may be appointed as a rabbi or as dean of a yeshiva, a Rosh Yeshiva. At issue, as you noted, is that when the Torah directs us (Deuteronomy 17:15) to set upon ourselves a king from "amidst our brethren," meaning that the one chosen must be born a Jew, the Gemara (Kiddushin 76b) explains that this direction extends to all appointments of authority.

R. Sternbuch notes an inconsistency. Rambam, in his opening discussion to his Mishneh Torah, lists the mesora, the chain of those who ensured continuance of the oral traditions of the Torah from Moses at Mt. Sinai. Rambam includes in that chain Shemaya and Abtalyon who are referred to as gerei tzedek, righteous proselytes. The two sat at the head of the Beit Din, which seems odd since those who assume that position must be eligible to rule on capital offenses as well. As gerim they would be ineligible to do so, thus they actually were ineligible to assume leadership of the Sanhedrin. Yet we find in the Gemara (Chagiga 16a-b) that they were indeed in that chain: one was Nasi (prince, president) and the other was Av Beit Din (head judge).

Therefore R. Sternbuch explains that the rule that would exclude a ger from the Sanhedrin applies where there is a choice of candidates for the job. However, if we find that the ger is truly great in Torah unlike any other candidate, and all recognize this, he would be eligible to assume the role, provided he has mastered the oral tradition as well as the written one. R. Sternbuch cites Rivah's commentary on Parashat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 17:55), where we learn that when there is no better candidate for a position, a ger is certainly eligible to assume it, and thus he would also be eligible to rule on capital cases. Consequently, that ger
would be eligible to head the Beit Din or Sanhedrin. This is what happened with Shemaya and Abtalyon.

Regarding the original question posed to him about a ger serving as Rosh Mesivta (head of post-high school Torah study), R. Sternbuch seems to feel that this would be permitted, since the prohibition applies to the trappings or political aspects of the office. Also, as Rosh Mesivta ( or Rav of a shul) one is not considered to be holding an office that one may bequeath to one's children. Rather, such a person is chosen for his great Torah scholarship and fear of G-d. This position is unlike a king's position and other political appointments that include great displays of honor in society and are (at times) subsequently bequeathed to the children.

Even those halachic authorities who disagree with the ruling that a ger may serve as head or dean of a yeshiva would agree that a ger would be qualified as a Rosh Mesivta or Maggid Shiur (lecturer), should the choice of candidates include a ger who is a better choice than the others.


And by the way a ger may also serve as a dayan in cases of giur. This is clear from Rava in Yevamot 102a. He says that the pasuk you cite proves that a ger may serve other gerim since he is their brother. Rava says that if he has a Jewish Mother he may serve in cases where dinei mamonot are also involved. Rashi says that Rava must have been excluding gerim only in cases of dinei nefashot he cites Sanhedrin 32 a as proof of this. There the mishnah says that “all” are qualifies to serve as dayan in dinei mamonot the gemara Sanhedrin 36 b uses the word “all” to include gerim. Tosafot brings up a contradiction however, Yevamot 45b Rava allowed Rav Mari bar Rachel the son of a male convert to be appointed to a position of leadership only because his mother was a born Jewish, Tosafot resolves the conflict by saying that the gemara must be allowing gerim to be dayanim over other gerim in dinei mamonot as well. Tosafot disagrees with Rashi that gerim cannot be dayanim in dinei mamonot for born Jews but all agree according to him that he may serve other gerim. Nimukei Yosef holds the same way that a ger may only serve as a dayan in cases involving other gerim but he arrives at this conclusion based on the halachot of dayanut in halitza. Where the dayan must have both parents being born Jewish. The Tur in Yoreh Deah (269) holds that a ger may serve as a dayan if all concerned accept him as a dayan.

The work of being a shul Rabbi is hard work if you undertake to build the type of community that I am building. The shul was not Orthodox it was conservative. The members agreed to change to Orthodox as a condition of hiring me. No other Rav was able to achieve what I achieved until I got here. This certainly qualifies me for my position. I am not an “am haaretz” I know how to teach Torah and to persuade other Jews to observe the Torah. This qualifies me for my position. The community has accepted me as their teacher and leader and as their posek. Since this would even qualify me as a dayan it certainly qualifies me as a Rav of a shul.

Additionally my personal situation is not a clear cut case of giur. It is a situation of lashuv darchei avotav according to Rav Mordechai Eliahu. There is no valid reason to exclude me. Additionally I might clarify to you that I was in no way looking to become a shul Rabbi. I went to that shul (that I now love tremendously) to fix their sifrei Torah and they approached me. I accepted the position because I saw that I was suited to create progress here and that’s exactly what I have done. I agree with you Daniel if a better candidate were to emerge I would be happy to live my life out easily as a college professor which I could do without all this controversy and I’d give him the job. I’m not sure the community would accept that however, they don’t want to lose me and have expressed this to me in no uncertain terms. I will never ever cease my holy work with the anusim however. This is because I gave my word to my grandfather that I would do it and now I am even stronger due to the passing of my beloved mother who was from the anusim nad sought that all of us should come home. My background is no secret to the members of my shul or to anyone else. I told you I am not ashamed I am proud of my ancestors. My work with the anusim has been discussed throughout my time as Rabbi of the synagogue it is no secret. The fact that I am active in giur is no secret either and the fact that I am accepting of Jewish diversity racial and ethnic and that I welcome and affirm it is no secret either. No undercover work needs to be done here, nothing on our side is under cover if you want to visit with us let us know and we will host you for shabbos.

I will no longer respond to any of these blogs about me. They have created too much emotional pain for me. It hurts me to know that there is a group of individuals out there that would actively seek to put a Rav who has dedicated his life to Torah and the Jewish community into the bitter position of focusing negative attention on him because they consider him a ger that he must assert himself and clarify his beliefs. As I told you earlier its wrong to do this to gerim, to other people, to other Jews etc. It worries me that people reading this might think that your behavior is part of our holy Torah beliefs but it isn’t. Your path of doubt, distrust and innuendo is the one that is far from the path of Torah not ours. The path of Torah is Darchei Noam. Stop before you create a hillul Hashem. I hope that non-Jews and other Jews don't think this is "normal" Jewish behavior. The rest of us respect each other, respect other Jews observant or non, respect gentiles it is only an extreme fringe that behaves this way please don't judge the rest of us Orthodox Jews based upon these pages.

Abravanel has a wonderful comment on Sefer Devarim Perek Chapter 30 : "Hashem will return the Jews who are exiled and he will have mercy on them and He will return and gather you from among the nations." Abravanel explain that this double language is to state that the first group of returns will be the Jews who were openly Jewish. Since they suffered among the gentiles they will be brought back with mercy. The second time it says "return" he explains it is speaking about people who were forced away from Judaism against their will, he uses the term "anasam." This second group will also be gathered from among the nations and brought back - just as Hashem is keeping his promise to us right now. Some of us see it some don't.
Shalom lekulam

Hillel college organization vilifies those who hold Torah view of sexual orientation

What Would Hillel Say?

14 Sivan 5768, 17 June 08 02:17

by Rabbi Avi Shafran Arutz Sheva

Director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.

[...]

Absurd Reality

“Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life” maintains a presence at more than 500 campuses throughout the United States and Canada and aims to “inspire every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life.”

If that final phrase read “contemporary mores,” a recent Hillel publication entitled “LGBTQ Resource Guide” might make sense. It is intended, after all, in its own words, to make “all Jewish students, of all sexual orientations and gender identities” feel comfortable with their choice of lifestyle. But the term “Jewish life” is simply not sufficiently expansive to include behavior that has been unarguably condemned by Jewish sources throughout the ages.

The publication itself is in equal parts self-righteous and silly. Among its offering of “Selected Jewish Texts Useful for Creating Queer Jewish Ritual” are fun-house mirror versions of Biblical laws and narratives, all imaginatively engineered to erase disapproval of certain behaviors and to imply that great Jewish personages lived in, or emerged from, various closets. Wearing its ignorance brightly on its sleeve, the “Resource Guide” risibly mangles its references. It mistransliterates words (like “v’nigeid” for “v’nigein”) and invents others from whole cloth (“to’arish”). At one point, it identifies Chira, Judah’s father-in-law, as his wife.

Dirty Propaganda

The clumsy attempts at Biblical revisionism are bad enough. Even more disturbing is the propagandists’ next step: demonizing those who dare to uphold authentically Jewish values.

To that end, they refer to “religious conservatives” – presumably those who take Leviticus 18:22 and centuries of oral Jewish tradition seriously – as “purveyors of hate”; and offer up new liturgy, like a refurbished “Al Hanissim” (“On The Miracles”) prayer. The original Al Hanissim is recited on the Jewish holidays of Purim and Chanukah – the latter, as it happens, commemorates the refusal of Jews to capitulate to the mores of the dominant culture. The “LGBTQ Resource Guide” version of the prayer celebrates instead the “dignity and justice” due “lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people.” And it goes on to deride those who “hate us in the name of [G-d]” and “rose up to victimize us, pathologize us, brutalize us, and erase us.”

The prayer-parody then thanks the Creator for having “fought alongside us, vindicated us,” and “[given] us the courage to stand together… the strength… to be who we are and to love whom we love…”

No Apologies

Jews committed to Jewish tradition (the original, not the “new-and-improved” version) do not hate those who violate the Torah out of carnal desire. And they certainly don’t “pathologize” or brutalize them. On the contrary, countless men and women challenged by predispositions to behavior condemned by the Torah have approached Orthodox rabbis and been treated with great concern and assisted in facing up to their special challenges. But no, we do not kowtow to the Zeitgeist, nor are we intimidated by its proponents. We do not apologize for our embrace of Judaism’s eternal truths.

That a major Jewish organization – one pledged, no less, to “inspire” Jewish students “to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life” – has chosen to vilify us, and to glorify what the Torah considers sinful, should deeply disturb all Jews who care about Judaism – and should make us think. [...]

Today, though, it seems that Hillel has changed. By sponsoring and distributing a document that actively celebrates what the Torah considers iniquitous and that demonizes those who stand up for Jewish truths, it has blatantly betrayed its trust.

All Jews who seek to discern G-d’s will from His Torah, not try to impose their own upon it, should let Hillel’s leaders know that the organization has gone too far, that it has insulted the memory and the admonition of the Talmudic sage it claims to revere, the great rabbi whose name it claims as its own.

Rabbis protest against offensive Gay Parade III

Rabbis against Pride Parade: God is testing us

Jerusalem's Open House announces city's Pride Parade to be held next week, but says 'this year's parade will be modest event held to help decrease tension, violence of previous years'. Meanwhile rabbis holding protest rally say, 'Righteous men killed in Holocaust because they didn't protest'

Ronen Medzini YNET

The Open House in Jerusalem announced on Monday that the city's Pride Parade would take place on Thursday of next week, with the theme of "free love". This year marks the parade's seventh anniversary in Jerusalem, and it has become well-known for sparking annual controversy among the ultra-Orthodox communities in the city.

The parade will begin in Jerusalem's Independence Park at 4 pm on June 26, and end in Liberty Bell Park with a ceremony presenting the gay community's call for equal rights, with the hope of promoting love and tolerance in the country's capital.

"This year we expect the parade to be accepted peacefully by Jerusalem," CEO of the city's Open House Jonathan Ger told Ynet. "We are working very hard with this aspiration in mind. It will be a meaningful and modest event in the center of Jerusalem, held in a way that will help to decrease the tension and violence surrounding the parade in the past few years."

Ger elaborated on the parade's significance: "I grew up in this city believing I was the only homosexual here, and the other members of the community also grew up in this manner.

"The parade is intended first and foremost to tell youths that we are not alone. We constitute ten percent of the city's population, and we are marching in order to strengthen each other and to be proud of who we are. As long as I am unable to walk hand in hand with my boyfriend through the streets without hearing abusive calls, this parade is necessary."

The religious community has already launched its protest against the parade. Two weeks ago religious and ultra-Orthodox Knesset Members met in order to form a unified front against the event planned. "The Pride Parade in Jerusalem is insufferable," the MKs determined.

The participants, including National Union (NRP)'s MKs Uri Ariel, Arieh Eldad, and Zvi Hendel, and United Torah Judaism's MKs Meir Porush and Moshe Gafni decided on a number of parliamentary, public, and legal steps set to sabotage the event. They also considered appealing to the High Court of Justice and holding numerous protest rallies running parallel to the parade.

One such protest rally took place on Monday, in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Beit Israel. Rabbi David Batzri called on the participants in the rally to "be zealous towards the lord, and to hate those that fail and the evil that they create. Zeal is atonement for all of Israel."

Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, who has headed the fight against the Jerusalem parade during previous years and succeeded in sweeping much of the ultra-Orthodox community into the protests, also spoke at the rally in Beit Israel. This year, however, he had to make do with only the few dozen demonstrators present.

"I asked my rabbi: How were so many righteous men murdered during the Holocaust – because they did not protest," Sternbuch called down from the balcony on which he stood. "Whoever does not protest is confessing with silence."

He explained the reason for the parade to his followers: "The lord is testing us in this world and wants to see if we protest. If we don't, there will be disasters. We are alone and they are many, but we are more in quality. They are evil criminals that have no place with the God of Israel."

A Jewish therapist or a therapist who is Jewish

What follows is a letter that I wrote together with my chavrusa of many years Dr. Baruch Shulem. I am posting it because it is relevant to the issue of mental health professionals and the role of religon and religious values in so call value-free therapies.

=============================================

We read with interest your special edition of IJP on religion and psychotherapy. We have been involved with these issues for some time and would like to share our observations with you. Dr. Buchbinder's article is an excellent summary of many issues and we would like to explicate an issue that was touched upon in his and other articles but was not clearly addressed. We are concerned with the relationship between the values of the therapist and the values of the model of therapy he uses. As you are aware, the issue of judgmental precepts of models has been a major concern of the professional literature in recent years. There is a growing acknowledgement that all models of therapy are highly judgmental and are inextricably entwined with personal, political and well as philosophical principles. Therefore the choice of any model is first and foremost a value-laden decision on the personal level. This was denied for years under the rubric of "non-judgmental attitudes". We are proposing that once a therapist selects a model, his subsequent therapeutic activities are determined primarily if not exclusively by this model irrespective of the therapists personal or religious values. As Dr. Buchbinder clearly showed that the model is at times influenced by particular concepts at certain points in therapy -- but it is in fact the model which sets the boundaries of therapeutic behavior. Otherwise why choose a therapeutic model at all? It follows then that a religious therapist might actually be using a therapy which is incompatible in part or in totality with his professed religious values. This issue was alluded to by the observations mentioned in your review articles, that Dr. Buchbinder would follow his religious values when there is a conflict with his therapy while Dr. Spero would allow the psychodynamic values to predominate.

This awareness that we can no longer claim that our professional activities are scientifically determined and therefore are value-free is relatively recent. It is obvious that many of us, however, are still influenced by this fallacy. In short, therapies must be first examined by all of us to whether they are compatible with our values and the values of our clients. In is unfortunately necessary to note, however that we are often not aware of our values. This problem is compounded for the therapist whose values are ostensibly determined by the religion he belongs to.

This lack of fit between personal and religious values and those of therapy has been a great concern to us. In our years as religious therapists we have found a significant difference between a religious therapist and a therapist who is (also) religious [1]. The therapist who is religious will be trained professionally but has learned to keep his religion out of his work. He will of course not openly violate Jewish law in this practice (e.g. encourage a client to marry out of the faith) but his therapy is not guided by religious values and goals. His basic view of man is based on his professional model and not those he learned in his religious studies. He may often find Jewish quotes which can be made to be compatible with his professional model. These he will readily use when needed as dictated by his professional model. The relation between religious beliefs and therapeutic behavior is basically pragmatic. The professional criteria determine when and if to utilize religious material. His understanding of his client, the language he uses (particularly with colleagues) and most important of all the goals of therapy are predetermined by secular theory.

In strong contrast, a religious therapist subjugates all aspects of his life and actions to Torah laws and values. Just as he would investigate the kashrus of the food he eats, and the potential conflicts involved in reading modern literature he will critically inspect the model of therapy to determine if it is consistent with Torah principals. In my own case (B.S.) I had to re-examine my professional model of working after I became an observant Jew. I had been originally trained in classic long-term individual psycho-dynamic therapy. After a serious evaluation, I found that it presents serious conflicts with traditional religious values.

The model I now use, developed by Michael White, is as far as I can see (and from the opinions of Rabbis I have consulted) seems to be much more fully compatible with Torah Values. A short but telling example is in order. Torah law prohibits talking negatively about others. The therapist who is religious will seek a blanket exemption from this injunction in order to delve into history, explore negative feelings, etc. because the model requires this type of behavior. The religious therapist would question the validity of the therapeutic need for such a (forbidden) activity on both empirical and religious grounds. This would lead the religious therapist to choose a model that attempts to avoid this type of forbidden activity. Both the therapist who is religious and the non religious therapist at this point are probably asking themselves whether this approach of religion first means that therapeutic effectiveness must be sacrificed in the name of religiously? This can be answered by the extensive research that indicates that most professional models (including White's) are equivalent in effectiveness. That being the case, a therapist should therefore focus on the match between his values and those of the therapeutic model he uses - as well as the values of the client.

In summary, it is important to look beyond the overt religiosity of the therapist when studying the interaction between therapist and client. We propose that it is no less vital to focus on the relationship between the therapist and his model of therapy in understanding value conflicts in therapy. We believe that the therapeutic model will predominate in shaping the ongoing therapeutic interaction for both the non-religious and the therapist who is religious. This is in contrast to the religious therapist who will choose a model of therapy which will support his values and the religious behaviors that emanate from them. Our religious/professional experience has shown us that by choosing a model carefully there need not be conflict between model / therapist / religion. Then all we have to do is worry about our clients...

Baruch Shulem Ph.D. Daniel Eidensohn Ph.D.

Conversion Crisis Scorecard of Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein

Rabbi Adlerstein has a summary of the state of the conversion crisis on Crosscurrents
[...]

Strip away all the detail, and the conflict boils down to two hostile assessments of what the other side stands for. Haredim believe that the dati-leumi (DL) camp is prepared to subvert “real” Torah to the dictates of non-religious and anti-religious forces in the government. They charge that when Torah matters are left in the hands of members of the DL orbit, issues of State ultimately trump issues of halacha. Gerus is just the latest in a series. The DL camp, on the other hand, believes that haredim have turned a deaf ear to concerns of Israeli society as a whole, content to contribute their mitzvos and learning, but nothing in areas of the enormous political, military and social issue that face Israel. At the same time, haredim have moved to assert greater control over a Rabbinate that their own people do not use, while attempting to impose their piskei halachah (e.g. the attempt to ban all Shemitah produce that relies on the heter mechirah) on a public that needs all the flexibility that halachah can legitimately deliver.

In duking it out in the current imbroglio, both sides have simply reinforced the stereotypes held by the other. In alienating the other, both sides deserve near-perfect scores.

Rabbi Druckman’s supporters have not responded to a single one of Rabbi Sherman’s charges in halachic language. They have thus added fuel to the fire of those who believe that the DL camp is incapable of dealing responsibly with sophisticated Torah thinking. Rabbi Sherman may or may not be right, but he raises important issues. Rav Druckman, to the best of my knowledge, is a fine gentleman, but not one of the halachic luminaries of the DL world. Professional politicians and MK’s – of any religious party – rarely are. The DL world suffers from no shortage of real bnei Torah and a group of authentic poskim who could and should be dealing with Rabbi Sherman’s point in halachic language.
[...]
On the haredi side, the silence has been equally disturbing and revealing. There have been no soothing voices allaying the fears of thousands of converts now in limbo. No one has insisted to the general public or to the DL community that the needs of the rest of the country concern haredim as well, but halachic principle rests atop a list of priorities. No one has answered all the pain and indignation expressed by good people within the DL world. Silence is the worst form of contempt.
[...]
The only glimmer of hope comes from the realization that both sides, further apart from each other than ever before, are animated by exactly the same concern! Both sides feel that the other is compromising Torah and creating chilul Hashem. Haredim feel that nothing can ever trump halacha, and that DL playing fast and loose with halachah compromises the integrity of Torah. The DL world argues that the inability of haredim to come up with a modus vivendi for so many issues plaguing the State implies that our Torah is antiquated and not a Toras Chaim that can shine Divine illumination upon the issues over which we agonize. Each side sees the sanctity of the Torah violated and desecrated, and abreacts in pain.

Gay Pride Parade II - Understanding why gays want to deliberately offend us: In their own words

In order to understand the parade, it is necessary to understand that it is political and moral activism. There is an agenda to "educate" us that their lifestyle is equal if not superior to our lifestyle and values. They are not merely asking to be tolerated but that their vision of "anything and everything goes" become accepted by society at large. Thus offending traditional values in Jerusalem is part of a deliberate program to have religious values rejected and replaced with their vision of morality. In other words they view our morality as a provocation which has to be challenged. What follows is an article by one of their leaders explaining their perspective.

Jerusalem: An open house?

THE JERUSALEM POST - March 26, 2005

Hagai El-Ad - The writer is the executive director of Jerusalem’s Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and Trans center, the Jerusalem Open House.

Five months from now, thousands of people from all over the world are expected to gather in Jerusalem, united by a vision of community instead of conflict, a celebration of diversity instead of the blind repetition of dogma.

Together with Jerusalemites, both Arabs and Jews, they plan to make a global statement for love, tolerance, and pride. A city often absorbed in bitter disputes will get a chance to be seen in the context of an optimistic future. Boosting tourism, providing an alternative to total immersion in this summer’s disengagement plan, and enjoying some unique cultural, religious, and personal experiences are also part of the deal.

Five years after Rome WorldPride 2000, the global title is scheduled to come to Jerusalem this August. Organized for the fourth consecutive year by the Jerusalem Open House, the city’s annual gay pride festival promises to be transformed into an event truly befitting what Jerusalem should be: a world city.

Jerusalem is a powerful symbol for people the world over. But is it a symbol of religious fanaticism or "a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isaiah 56:7)? Is it a city where different ethnic and national communities are becoming more and more segregated, or a place where diverse people can come together? In essence, the conversation with regard to Jerusalem WorldPride is simply providing us with an early opportunity to discuss an even broader issue, relevant to all those who love Jerusalem: what should Jerusalem be?

For those behind the recent "Homosexuals to desecrate Jerusalem" campaign, Jerusalem is holy as long as certain sets of people are excluded, or at least made invisible. For them, Jerusalem’s sanctity lies with the not-so-delicate act of categorizing people and deciding who should be left out. Pride is simply a provocation and protecting Jerusalem from it should not be considered an additional step down the exclusionary ladder, but rather a further refinement of the city’s "holiness."

There is nothing provocative about the celebration of humanistic, democratic values in Jerusalem. On the other hand, it is provocative to proclaim that a city is somehow holier by shunning people. Even more so, it is shameful to be attempting to do so in the name of two of the world’s great monotheistic religions.

What brings an American Evangelical leader, a Sephardi haredi Knesset member, and a New York rabbi together? No, this is not the beginning of a joke. Rather, it is the manifestation of how powerful a coalition fear and prejudice can be. A coalition of fundamentalist Christians and Jews has joined hands in an attempt to yet further monopolize their interpretation of the meaning of Jerusalem.

At first glance, the crude Evangelical intervention can be written off as an effort to export their hateful domestic United States politics, a misguided attempt at the globalization of bigotry. Such merchandise will likely find little sympathy amongst Israelis, who are intuitively suspicious of a Shas-new Christian Coalition. However, in the unholy Israeli marriage between religion and politics, there is always room for surprise.

Finally, it is important to note the growing likelihood of WorldPride partially coinciding with the implementation of Israel’s disengagement plan. As Israelis and Palestinians move towards more peaceful times, one would assume that an international event such as WorldPride in Jerusalem would be thought of as an opportunity for reconciliation. Instead, the disengagement is being used as the excuse-du-jour for why WorldPride should not take place. It seems that the usual excuses have worn off, hence the urgent need for a new pretext.

Regardless of excuses, WorldPride in Jerusalem will not only provide us with an alternative to overdosing on disengagement mania. It will serve as a reminder of the many post-disengagement issues we must face, on the path towards building a more democratic, civic society.

Jerusalem’s gay and lesbian community is a unique example of people coming together beyond ethnic, religious, or national boundaries. At the Jerusalem Open House, this is the daily reality for Israelis and Palestinians; Christians, Muslims and Jews; gay and straight. This August, for 10 days, this will be the opportunity presented to the city at large.

Wouldn’t you want to be living in a Jerusalem where this is every day’s reality for all?

Vicki Polin responds to my criticism of insensitive condescension

Vicki Polin has left a new comment on your post "The insensitive condescension of the secular towar...":

Daniel,

It saddens me that you would write such a strong letter of condemnation to my statements posted on your blog. I wanted to make sure that you are aware that I have been living within the eruv of various orthodox communities for just under 10 years. Though I am no longer looking to become observant, I am very familiar with many of the cultural issues pertaining to sex crimes. When I've had questions I have always sought out one of my halachic advisors.

I'm sorry that your experience with the secular world has been to be looked down at. I have never thought of the Torah observant community as being "Primitive" or "unenlightened." I have used the terms "insulated " and "unaware," yet never "primitive" or unenlightened." I have often asked myself, how can someone have information or reach a level of awareness if they have not been education on various issues?

It was until around 1999 - 2001, that sexual abuse began to be discussed in orthodox circles. It wasn't until the case of rabbi Baruch Lanner www.theawarenesscenter.org/lanner_baruch hit the news media, did the religious world start paying attention.

2001 was the yearThe Awareness Center was founded I was living in Jerusalem at the time, and realized how little was known in how to deal with cases appropriately in the religious world. When I saw appropriate I am meaning reporting crimes to law enforcement, verses chasing the offender out of town -- or shaming and blaming the victim (or their family members) into silence.

I became aware of the severity of the problem when I started doing outreach with a friend with religious teens who made their way down to Ben Yehuda. Just about every teen I met disclosed stories to me of molestation. Some of the kids were incest survivors others were being abused by neighbors, teachers, rabbis, etc. When I tried to get them help -- there was really nothing out there set up to address the issues. Most of the teens I spoke with came from communities such as Neve Yaakov and Har Nof.

Most of those who work in the field of sexual violence have at least a masters degree. This means 4 years of college, plus two years of graduate school. After they receive their masters degrees they are required to received at least 1000 hours of supervision prior to becoming licensed. Law enforcement officials who work sex crimes also have to undergo vigorous training in this highly specialized field.

Though our rabbis are experts in halacha, they are not experts in criminal matters, especially sex crimes committed against our children. When The Awareness Center first got started, I could not find one rabbi who could explain the difference between sexual assault and sexual harassment. Whenever the topic came up of child molestation in which the perpetrator and the victim were male, they automatically called the sex crime -- "homosexual behavior." Unfortunately, in most insulated communities using the wrong terms to describe a sex crime still occurs. By using incorrect termonology often shames and blames the victim and little is done to stop the assailant, which ends up with the offender creating move victims.

Those who are gay do not commit sex crimes anymore then those are heterosexual. When a male sex offender molests a child who is male -- this is NOT "homosexual behavior". The same is true in cases in which a yeshiva bochur is manipulated or forced into having sexual relations with a rav, or anyone else. These are SEX CRIMES!

I'm sorry you are confusing facts and the attempt to prevent anyone else from being a victim of a sex crimes as being condescending, offensive or insensitive towards your religious values. The bottom line is that our ravs don't have the information, education or training to be making determinations if a sex crime had occurred. Just as I would not go to a rav to determine if I needed open heart surgery, I would not go to a rav to determine if a sex crime had occurred.

My suggestion is that our rabbis send a few students to graduate school, let them volunteer at rape crisis centers, let them study law enforcement and then maybe I and many others would feel differently about them making a determination if a child or adult was molested or raped.

Vicki Polin, MA, NCC, LCPC, ATR-BC

Founder, Executive Director -The Awareness Center, Inc.
(the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault)
P.O. Box 65273, Baltimore, MD 21209
www.theawarenesscenter.org
443-857-5560

Gay Pride Parade I - Understanding why gays want to deliberately offend us

This is the first of a series of article concerning the gay parade scheduled for next week (June 26) in Jerusaelm. It is an event which most residents of Jerusalem find highly offensive. This article will present excerpts from Wikipedia regarding the origins and reasons for these world wide events. The purpose is to try and understand why homosexuals feel it so important to act against the universally perceived holiness of Jerusalem as well as offend not only the majority of the residents but also countless millions world wide who view Jerusalem as a sacred place which is desecrated by such activities.
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Gay pride parades are annual parades celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (collectively known as "LGBT") identities. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Most gay pride parades take place around June to commemorate the Stonewall riots, a pivotal moment in the gay rights movement.

1970, the one-year anniversary of the riots, the Gay Liberation Front organized a march, coordinated by Connor Weir, from Greenwich Village to Central Park in New York City in commemoration of the Stonewall riots. ^[2] On the same weekend gay activist groups on the West Coast of the United States held a march in Los Angeles and a march and 'Gay-in' in San Francisco.^[3]

The first marches were both serious and fun, and served to inspire the widening activist movement; they were repeated in the following years, and more and more annual marches started up in other cities throughout the world.

A portion of the LGBT and heterosexual populations regard pride parades as vulgar flaunting of sexual orientation, especially those of a more festive character. Critics charge them with an undue emphasis on sex and bizarre behaviour, which they see as detrimental to the cause of LGBT rights. The argument is sometimes taken further, arguing that they expose the "gay community" to ridicule.

Those who take socially conservative political positions are sometimes opposed to such events because they view them to be indecent and contrary to public morality. This belief is partly based on certain things sometimes found in the parades, such as public nudity, S & M paraphernalia, and other highly sexualized features.

Jerusalem

On 30 June 2005, Israel's fourth annual parade took place in Jerusalem. It had originally been prohibited by a municipal ban which was cancelled by the court. Many of the religious leaders of Jerusalem's Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities had arrived to a rare consensus asking the municipal government to cancel the permit of the paraders. During the parade, a young Haredi Jewish man attacked three people with a kitchen knife.

Another parade, this time billed as an international event (see WorldPride), was scheduled to take place in the summer of 2005, but was postponed to 2006 due to the stress on police forces during in the summer of Israel's unilateral disengagement plan. In 2006, it was again postponed due to the Israel-Hezbollah war. It was scheduled to take place in Jerusalem on 10 November 2006, and caused a wave of protests by Haredi Jews around central Israel.^[5] The Israel National Police had filed a petition to cancel the parade due to foreseen strong opposition. Later, an agreement was reached to convert the parade into an assembly inside the Hebrew University stadium in Jerusalem. 21 June 2007, the Jerusalem Open House organization succeeded in staging a parade in central Jerusalem after police allocated thousands of personnel to secure the general area. The rally planned afterwards was cancelled due to an unrelated national fire department strike which prevented proper permits from being issued.

Calling the police for child molesting - if the offender is no longer dangerous?

One of the major objections to Rav Sternbuch’s psak regarding the police is that in some cases he would not require calling the police. There is a basic difference between the halacha and the secular law in this matter. The halacha is based on the existence of likelihood of present or future danger to the child. Therefore if there is no element of danger – the fact that a crime was committed does not always justify calling the police. In contrast the secular approach is that if there was a crime there has to be punishment. It is important to note, however, that there is no uniformity in the secular law. In America, at least, there is no legal requirement for the average citizen to call the police. American law does not require informing on others for various crimes such as tax fraud or suspected child molesting. There is a major exception for professionals. Doctors, nurse, teachers and therapists are required by law to report suspected child abuse. Thus the issue of following the law of the land versus halacha is an issue only for those that the law requires to contact the police. This is a serious issue which requires consulting with one’s own rav. My understanding is that concerning the halacha the issue is harm. If someone will likely harm a child he must be stopped even if it means being put in jail. However if there is no longer a danger to the child, the question becomes that of the likely danger to a child molester in the prison system. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach paskened that surgical castration is permitted so that the molester will not be a danger. Castration (either physical or chemical) is sometimes offered as the condition for a sex offender to be released from jail. Journal of American Academy of Psychiatry Law.

The insensitive condescension of the secular towards the Orthodox community

One of the consequences of my posting Rav Sternbuch’s psak regarding calling the police for child molesters is the manifestation of the significant gap between those who observe halacha and those who accept secular ideas and values as the objective standard of reality. I had noted that one of the reasons for consulting with a rav is the fact that the police and mental health workers are not always sensitive to religious values and not always sensitive to the welfare of the child. There is often a condescending attitude towards the “primitive” or “unenlightened” Orthodox which is the result of cultural bias – not scientific facts.

An example of the concern that religious Jews have about the secular system is clearly manifest in the following letter I received. I am using Vicki Polin’s letter as an example because there is no question that she is sincere and dedicated in helping people. But it is also clear she has no clue about halacha and religious sensibilities. She read my first posting, and assumed that Rav Sternbuch – who she admits she never heard of before – must be ignorant. And she was so sure – without checking the facts – that she writes a strong letter of condemnation to be posted on my blog. She drew the erroneous conclusion that his concern is shielding the molester from the police – when in fact the opposite is true. She concludes with “Most professionals want to do what they can to help and understand the cultural differences. I'm sure that Rabbi Sternbuch knows this and I'm afraid to say I think that he is trying to sell a bag of goods, with his fear tactics of saying the police will not work with or understand the cultural differences.”

A rather condescending comment which those in the religious community find offensive and as justification for their concerns with the insensitivities towards religious values.

Here are four examples of many from my personal experience.

1) I once consulted with a secular psychologist regarding a yeshiva bachur who had problems of low self-esteem. The psychologist responded that the problem was the result of the fact that the 17 year old bachur did not have a girl friend for sexual relations. When I objected that this was unacceptable, he replied that this was the only possible treatment for the problem!

2) I know a frum family which was falsely accused of child abuse. The police department was called in and they arrived in force - insisting on being allowed into the house without warrant – or the parents would be taken to jail. They then demanded that all the children be separated from their parents and interrogated. It was only due to the fact that one of the neighbors was a lawyer that the crude pressure tactics were called off and the lawyer said this is not unusual. Even if the accusations were true, there was no justification for the gross insensitivity displayed. Even if we grant that these mental health professions really want to help – it doesn’t ensure that they act appropriately.

3) One of the social workers who was interrogating the children asked a ten year old girl how many children there were in the family. When she was told that there were nine children, this frum girl was asked how many men her mother had lived with.

4) I once was dealing with a yeshiva bachur who was placed in a mental hospital after attempting suicide. I was asked to give background information to the social worker at the hospital. When I asked her not to lock the door of her office because it was against Jewish law, she asked me with a smirk, whether I was afraid she would attack me.

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Vicki Polin, MA, NCC, LCPC wrote regarding - Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch's Guidelines for Calling the Police

It saddens me a great deal to read this posting. With all the information and education that is available to our rabbonim it appears that they are still refusing to learn from their past mistakes. I'll admit that I have never heard of Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch until I received an e-mail with the link to this blog.

My hope by providing the following information will help to prevent one more child from being harmed and that those who are already victims of sex crimes, the will be able to receive the proper help.

It's obvious that Rabbi Sternbuch is lacking basic knowledge about sex offenders and the needs of those who have been sexually violated as children. The most important message that needs to get out is that each of us should consider ourselves mandated reporters. This basically means if you SUSPECT a child is in danger you have to call your local hotline, rape crisis center or police. You don't go to a rabbi to get permission or have them make the call. The key word here is "SUSPECT." We need to leave all the investigating and fact finding/gathering to law enforcement and not our rabbonim.

Most children don't come out and say "I'm being raped at home, school, camp and or in shul." If we suspect a child is being harmed or at risk of harm it's vitally important that we don't ask the child leading questions. It's best to have a highly trained mental health professional and or child protection worker who works with law enforcement to talk to the child to get information.

How many times do I have to remind everyone that our rabbis DO NOT have specialized training in collecting forensic evidence nor do they have the education, training or skills to do a victim sensitive interview. Going to a rav "with concerns" just doesn't work. It's much better for the individual who suspects a child is at risk of harm to call their local child abuse hotlines directly.

The concern Rabbi Sternbuch has regarding child protection workers, rape victim advocates and the police not being "sensitive to the needs and nature of the charedi community" is not true in most cases. Most professionals want to do what they can to help and understand the cultural differences. I'm sure that Rabbi Sternbuch knows this and I'm afraid to say I think that he is trying to sell a bag of goods, with his fear tactics of saying the police will not work with or understand the cultural differences.