Judge rules against rabbi's widow in Torahs case

LATimes April 9, 2009

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has thrown out a religious court's decision to award four disputed Torahs to an Orthodox rabbi's widow who claimed that the scrolls had been stolen by her late husband's assistant.

The religious court, known in Hebrew as a beis din, ruled in January that the four Torahs belonged to Rita Pauker of North Hollywood. The scrolls had been in the care of her late husband's assistant, Rabbi Samuel Ohana, for more than a decade.

Pauker argued that a handwritten agreement between her late husband, Norman, and Ohana proved that the scrolls were lent to Ohana for only two years. Ohana maintained that Rabbi Pauker gave the Torahs to Ohana's Sherman Oaks congregation in 1998 after Pauker's own synagogue closed.

After the religious court ruled, Ohana refused to turn over the Torahs to Pauker. Instead, he appealed to a higher court in Israel. Pauker, meanwhile, took the case to the civil court system in Los Angeles, seeking to enforce the local religious court's ruling.

On Monday, Superior Court Judge Zaven V. Sinanian ruled in Ohana's favor based on what he believed may have been a conflict for one of the three religious judges, Rabbi Nachum Sauer.[...]

The severe sin of going to a non-Jewish court II

Shulchan Aruch(C.M. 26:1): It is prohibited to have a non‑Jewish court make judgments in a dispute between Jews. This is so even if they make judgments based on Jewish law and even if the litigants agree to accept their judgment. Who ever used the non‑Jewish court is a rasha (wicked person). It is as if he has denigrated the Torah of Moshe. Rema: The Jewish court has the right to excommunicate and ostracize those who utilize the authority of non‑Jews. Similarly there can be various punishments enacted against someone who goes to a non‑Jewish court – until they retract….

Shulchan Aruch(C.M. 26:2): If the non‑Jews are the controlling power and the litigant is powerful in his own right and therefore the person can not recover what is his by the authority of the Jewish court – he should first summon his opponent to the Jewish court. If his opponent refuses to go – he should obtain permission from the Jewish court and then use the non‑Jewish court to recover what is his from his opponent. Rema: The Jewish court has the right to go to the non‑Jewish court and to testify that one person owes the other money. All this is only if one of the litigants refuses to obey the Jewish court. Otherwise it is prohibited for a Jewish court to give authorization for Jews to have their dispute presented to a non‑Jewish court

The severe sin of going to a non-Jewish court I

Rabbeinu Bachye (Shemos 21:1): Even though the sin of murder is serious, but the sins of stealing and profaning G‑d’s name (chilul Hashem) are even more severe than it. That is because a murderer is forgiven when he repents as we saw concerning Caine. However repentance doesn’t erase the sin of stealing because it is first necessary to return what was stolen. If it isn’t returned then the thief is never forgiven. Similarly with chilul HaShem – repentance doesn’t help because it is a more serious crime then kerisus or capital punishment. Our Sages (Yoma 86a) say that if a person does a sin punishable by kerisus or capital punishment and he repents that the combination of repentance and Yom Kippur initiates while suffering completes the process of atonement of the sin…However a person who has committed chilul Hashem, then repentance and Yom Kippur as well as suffering do nothing. His sin is only atoned through his death. Thus these two sins of theft and chilul Hashem are more serious than murder and both are included in the sin of going to a non‑Jewish court to adjudicate disputes. Chilul HaShem is included because it is unquestionably a profanation of G‑d’s name by giving honor to idolaters and glory to non‑Jews by using their services…. Theft is involved since by ignoring Torah laws and winning a judgment in a non-Jewish court it is complete theft. However the winner of the dispute doesn’t view himself as a thief and therefore he doesn’t return what he won. Consequently he is never forgiven.

Marranos: Split Identity and Modernity

Forward - Review of "The Other Within" by Yimiyahu Yovel

[...] Most Marranos initially took on Christianity as a superficial skin, but they could not keep up the pretense, year in, year out, of going to church and confession, venerating saints, without internalizing some of its beliefs. Similarly, they may have intended to stay loyal to Judaism, but it was impossible to practice a religion only partially, and in secret, without losing most of its essence.

The result, he says, was that most Marranos practiced a hybrid religion. "Judaizers" consciously tried to preserve elements of Judaism, often passed down through the women of the house who became quasi-rabbis, or gleaned, ironically, from lists of Jewish beliefs published by the Inquisition for informers. But while they may have lit Sabbath candles in secret, only pretended to eat the ubiquitous Iberian pork or mentally annulled their actions in church, theological confusion abounded. For example, Judaizers believed that Judaism was the true path "to salvation." The intent may have been Jewish, but the framing theology — salvation — was Catholic. Similarly, the Marranos had a patron saint: Queen Esther, herself a hidden Jew.

At the other end of the spectrum, Marranos who accepted their new Christian faith were still influenced by their Jewish background. The Inquisition records show Marranos who preferred to baptize their children on a Saturday, because of their “affection” for the day, and New Christian monks who, because they had a clinging distrust of the polytheistic or idolatrous beliefs these practices implied, rejected the Trinity and disdained the sacrament, without intending to return to Judaism. [...]

Brain injury and identity

NYTimes

Adam Lepak looked over at his mother and said, "You're fake."

It was a Tuesday in July, late, and Cindy Lepak could see that her 19-year-old son was exhausted. Long days like this one, with hours of physical therapy and memory drills — I had a motorcycle accident, I hit my head and have trouble remembering new things, I had a motorcycle accident — often left him making these accusations.

"What do you mean 'fake,' Adam?" she said.

He hung his head. "You're not my real mom," he said. His voice changed. "I feel sorry for you, Cindy Lepak. You live in this world. You don't live in the real world."

Doctors have known for nearly 100 years that a small number of psychiatric patients become profoundly suspicious of their closest relationships, often cutting themselves off from those who love them and care for them. They may insist that their spouse is an impostor; that their grown children are body doubles; that a caregiver, a close friend, even their entire family is fake, a duplicate version.

Such delusions are often symptoms of schizophrenia. But in the last decade or so, researchers have documented similar delusions in hundreds of people who are not schizophrenic but have neurological problems including dementia, brain surgery and traumatic blows to the head.

A small group of brain scientists is now investigating misidentification syndromes, as the delusions are called, for clues to one of the most confounding problems in brain science: identity. How and where does the brain maintain the "self"? [...]

3rd group of Ethiopians request aliyah

YNET

While the story of the Falash Mura is known to most Israelis, the public is generally unaware of the difficulties another Ethiopian community that claims to have Jewish ancestry – the Tigray, is facing in immigrating to Israel

The Ethiopian community in Israel has recently launched a campaign to bring to Israel some 2,000 Tigray who have relatives in Israel.

The main difference between the Falash Mura and the Tigray lies in their geographical origin. The Falash Mura are Jews who converted to Christianity in the mid 19th century as a result of social and economic pressure. Most of them live in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. The Tigray live in northern Ethiopia in a region that borders Eritrea and Sudan, and their Jewish roots are unclear. [...]

Web attack against Twitter - aimed at one blogger

BBC

A "massively co-ordinated" attack on websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter was directed at one individual, it has been confirmed.

Facebook told BBC News that the strike was aimed at a pro-Georgian blogger known as Cyxymu.

The attack caused a blackout of Twitter for around two hours, while Facebook said its service had been "degraded".

Google said it had defended its sites and was now working with the other companies to investigate the attack.

"[The] attack appears to be directed at an individual who has a presence on a number of sites, rather than the sites themselves," a Facebook spokesman told BBC News.

"Specifically, the person is an activist blogger and a botnet was directed to request his pages at such a rate that it impacted service for other users."

Botnets are networks of computers under the control of hackers.

The machines were used to mount a so-called denial-of-service (DOS) attack on Thursday. [...]

Settlers sue State over Hebron evacuation

Haaretz

Hebron's Jewish settlement filed a lawsuit against the State of Israel on Friday over damages caused during the evacuation of disputed structures in the city's wholesale market.

In the suit, the settlers rely on a 2006 agreement reached with the IDF regional command, stating that Jewish residents of the disputed structures would vacate them, while leaving any stationary property.

That agreement was subsequently annulled, leading to the 2007 evacuation, in which police removed doorposts and knocked down plaster walls in order to prevent the settlers from returning to the structures. [...]The suit came as the most recent episode in a series of attempts to reclaim the structures, which were built on Jewish-owned land that was inhabited by Jews until 1929, when Arabs massacred many members of the local community and the survivors fled. [...]

Gay supporters attacked for putting posters up in Mea Shearim

JPost

A group of youngsters putting up posters in Jerusalem condemning the deadly shooting spree in a Tel Aviv gay community center last week was attacked overnight Thursday by haredim in Mea She'arim. After a short chase down the alleyways of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, the group and an Army Radio reporter who was with them managed to get away.

The head of the group that was putting up posters all around the capital said they had aimed to raise awareness for the attack in every section of Israeli society.

"The moment it comes to murder, this ceases to be just a haredi society, but part of an entire society that needs to understand that lines have been crossed," he told Army Radio. "Murder is something that needs to be shouted about." [...]

Secular vs. Religious Israel - documentary

Be aware that there are a few non tzinius pictures

Obama's healthcare critiqued

Muslims protest soccer club song

Arutz Sheva

Muslims are on the rampage against an old German soccer club song that includes the lyrics, "Mohammed was a prophet who knew nothing of football." The German soccer club 'Schalke 04' responded that Mohammed lived long before soccer was invented and that it sees no problem with the song.

The "White and Blue, How I Love You" song was written in 1924 and has been the official hymn of the club for decades, but the rising Muslim population in Europe has made it a more powerful force against anything that they consider offensive. They have staged dozens of protests, sometimes violent, concerning alleged offenses to the religion. Several people were killed two years ago in riots over a cartoon that depicted Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. [...]

Abuse:House arrest continues for mother accused of starving child

YNET

Court rules 'starving mother' to remain under house arrest

Jerusalem District Court rules that mother accused of starving her toddler son will remain under house arrest. Prosecution believes mother must be held in official detainment facility until end of legal proceedings, consider appealing to Supreme Court. Haredi community threatens to riot if mother returned to jail

The mother suspected of starving her three-year-old son will remain under house arrest until further notice. The Jerusalem District Court ruled Friday to keep the woman's remand conditions as is. The ultra-Orthodox community threatened to renew riots should the mother be returned to a detainment facility.[...]

EJF story of conversion of intermarried couple

Five Towns Jewish Times - Rochel Weinstein Director of Communications for Eternal Jewish Family International.

Sitting in a church as a young girl, Linda felt distant to the environment and rituals. The other congregants had come to express faith in their religion; she was there to please her grandmother. Young Linda grew up without much spiritual satisfaction, yet deep within was an inherent belief in the existence of G-d. Linda never imagined that one day it would manifest itself within every corner of her life.

It all started with her Jewish fiancé, David. Based on similar interests in classical music, a mutual friend introduced them and the professional orchestra players formed an immediate bond. Religious barriers were non-existent: Linda considered herself on a spiritual quest that had nothing to do with her religion of origin; David's intrinsic disinterest in Judaism meant that they would date for months before Linda would casually discover that he was Jewish. While this detail shocked Linda, it simultaneously planted within her the desire to learn all she could about the mysterious religion of her future husband.

A visit to the library was the first step. But the only information available lacked the meaningful spiritual dimension she desperately sought. Intrigued by the family dynamics of Jewish intermarriage, Linda was startled to discover that many children raised with two religions eventually keep neither, since the choice of a religion is often equated with the choice of a parent. Based on her research, there was no question that she would want to raise their children with one consistent religion—Judaism. Now all she had to do was convince not only her future husband but also her Lutheran family that this was, indeed, the right thing to do.[...]