Anusim & Chabad - Latin American Jews

CNN - please read this accompanying text regarding anusim

Animal rights activists posken against Kapparot

YNet

Animal activists from 'Let the Animals Live' collect halachic opinions from Rabbi Ovadia Yosef claiming that harm brought to chickens during Yom Kippur ceremony should be kept to minimum. Group asks chief rabbis to instruct public to convert chicken-swinging custom into alternative of giving charity

The animal rights organization Let the Animals Live petitioned Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to instruct their followers to prevent the suffering of chickens used in the Yom Kippur holiday's Kapparot (atonement) custom and to give money to charity as a replacement for slaughtering the animals.

The letter from the organization to the rabbis read: "Every year we turn to the highest echelons of the religious leadership, but the abuse continues. It is our moral obligation, together with the rabbis, to take action to limit the great suffering of the chickens on the eve of the new year."

Marshmallows & Importance of self-control

New Yorker article

Climbing a mountain - without legs

Chris Waddell

Women's greater freedom & unhappiness

New York Times

In the early '70s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, leaving their mothers' circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold.

But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women?

According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans' mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier.[...]

Rav Sternbuch Preparing for Rosh Hashana

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Rosh HaShanna & a year of blogging

It has been an interesting and productive year and one which bears introspection and review. We have spent much effort on the issue of conversion and abuse. There have been some heated discussions - some of which were very abusive. Hopefully this year we will try harder and be more successful in having discussions within the boundaries of halacha and be more sensitive and accomplish more.

It is also clear that the internet has tremendous power for teaching and bringing about change. Hopefully we will be using it to bring about needed changes and kiddush haShem. For too long issues have been "swept under the rug" and there has been intimdation and bluff used to control others. The Blogs have the potential to be the great equalizer - but they need to be used responsibly. It still amazes me that I am having conversations or influencing people in South America or Asia and that people in Australia or Saudia Arabia are reading and commenting on what I have posted. I have learned much from your comments as well as the postings on this blog. For those who have been offended by my comments - I apologize and ask your mechila. For those who have made abusive comments to me - I forgive you whole heartedly. However for those who are offended by the truth - there is not much I can do.

Wishing all kesiva v'chasima tova

G-d's reason for abuse and rape?

One of the issues that is typically brought up is, "Why did G-d want me to be raped and abused?" The following are some thought regarding two contradictory yet legitimate views within mainstream Orthodox Judaism. This passage wll be included in my book and is copyrighted. No publishing is allowed without my written permission.

Perhaps the most difficult issue for a religious Jew to face is why did it happen? Since we know that nothing happens without G-d’s approval - that must mean that He wanted the abuse to happen .There are in fact in two alternative views which need to be considered. Strangely enough each approach is legitimate within Torah sources but only one is comforting and the other is viewed as distressing. Which is which is dependent on the individual and his/her psychological and spiritual attitude.

The first approach, which is the dominant one today, is the Gd centered view that G-d is responsible for all events and He wanted it to happen. Even if a leaf falls off a tree is was caused by Divine Providence. There are a number of reasons why G-d wanted to suffering to happen. 1) because the need for atonement – either in this lifetime or for a previous existence. The Ramban states that without the concept of reincarnation (gilgul) it is impossible to understand the suffering of the righteous and innocent. Thus most suffering is the result of sin. 2) the need for testing and character refinement through adversity. Thus the suffering is not the result of sin but is the means of getting greater personal growth and reward in the world to come. 3) suffering of love is simply n order to give greater reward in the World to Come. This view is found comforting because everything has meaning and the main test is to accept that the suffering is G-d’s will. The suffering is pre-ordained and thus there is no protection against it. The only way to prevent the suffering is to take the initiative to raise ones spiritual level so that there is no need for the suffering. If the desired consequences can be achieved by one's spiritual intitiative then ther is no need for the suffering. The perpetrator still needs to be punished because if he wasn't wicked he would not have be selected to be the agent of the suffering. The concern that G-d is doing something cruel is answered simply by the statement that G-d is obviously is kind but we don’t understand it and must accept whatever He does as kind. G-d is like a doctor who causes pain by amputating a limb or give chemo- therapy to save the person.

The second approach is the man centered view that while G-d in fact runs the world – but He gives man free-will to do what he wants. Thus a man can hurt or kill another – even though G-d doesn’t want it to happen – because of the granting of free-will. Consequently one can in fact prevent the harm from happening by human efforts. The Rambam explains that Divine Providence is reserved for those truly close to G-d and even a distraction from thinking about G-d makes you vulnerable to harm. The Netziv cites a Zohar as the source of this understanding. Rav Dessler cites Seforno that most Jews are not operating under Divine Providence. This is generally the approach found in the Rishonim and was the dominant approach until Chassidim introduced the first view about 150 years ago. This man centered view is comforting because G-d is not being cruel in any sense of the word. Rather it is man that causes suffering or the impersonal forces of chance or mazel. This approach puts the responsibility on man to act and to stop the suffering. It also means that one needs to focus on how he responds on a human level because not all efforts will be effective in stopping the harm. The first approach is much more fatalistic because ultimately one needs only accept what has happened and that it needed to happen.

How to be an instant tzadik on Rosh HaShanna?

I was told the following understanding of Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur yesterday. It was said by Rav Elya Ber Wacthfogel of South Fallsburg. I apologize for any mistakes and if you see any please let me know so I can make corrections.

There is an ancient question. Why does Rosh HaShanna precede Yom Kippur? We all know that for proper teshuva it is necessary to confess your sins (vidoi), have regret for sinning and we need to atone for those sins. Thus it would follow that if Yom Kippur preceded Rosh HaShanna that we could be properly judged as well as be prepared for the judgment. How can we be judged to be a tzadik on Rosh HaShanna when we have so much spiritual filth that we need to cleanse ourselves? A related question is the well known gemora (Kiddushin 49b) that if a wicked man betroths a woman on the condition that he is a tzadik - that there is a sofek that the marriage was valid. But the same queston occurs there. How could he be a tzadik without cleansing himself of all his sins?

The answer is that being a tzadik is not dependent on being cleansed of sin. It is an attitude that can be acquired in an instant. Becoming a tzadik and doing teshuva are two separate processes. A person who becomes a tzadik still needs to cleanse himself. However the cleaning up of the filth is a separate task and doesn't interfere with being a tzadik. Thus on Rosh HaShanna if we decide to be a tzadik then we are in fact a tzadik but the task of cleansing can be left over to the 10 Days of Repentance and Yom Kippur. The main issue is what we want to be - not how clear of sins we are. Therefore we first have the day of making a decision - which is the Day of Judgment - not the day of cleansing which is Yom Kippur.

Curing blindness with a tooth

Reporting abuser even if victim or others object

The following is a sevora regarding reporting the perpetrator even against the wishes of a victim or others. I have not seen this reasoning anywhere so it is possible that it is wrong. I would appreciate comments and suggestions


While we have a clear rule that we don’t sacrifice the life of one person to save to save other people there is a clear exception in the case of rodef. A rodef is killed in order to prevent him from killing or raping. There seems to be a second exception in regards to the relative importance of the spiritual well‑being of the rodef versus the life of the victim. The rodef’s spiritual well-being results from being prevented from sinning. Sanhedrin(73a) asks what if the woman that is being pursued to be raped - tells her rescuers to leave the rapist alone because she is afraid the rapist will kill her. There is a dispute in the gemora regarding this point. R’ Yehuda says she is to be listened to because she values her life more than her honor. We posken like the Rabbis (Shulchan Aruch C.M. 425:4) who says we don’t listen to her because the Torah is concerned that she shouldn’t be raped. In other words our prime goal is to stop the rodef from sinning – even if it means the victim is harmed.

It would seem that we could generalize from this that even if the victim or her family say that they don’t want the perpetrator reported because they are afraid of the damage to their reputation – the perpetrator should still be reported. That is because the perpetrator is likely to abuse others and therefore still has the status of rodef after the molestation. Consequently even if the reputation or even the life of a victim is lost – the rodef has to be stopped. Thus it seems we have a second exception to the principle of not sacrificing one person for another. The life or reputation of a victim is not as important as stopping someone who will commit rape or murder in the future - on an unknown number of other victims. This case is even stronger because here the victim is saying not to stop the rodef from harming others because she will be embarrassed, while in the gemora she is saying not to stop the rodef from harming her. Thus she has less authority than in the case of the gemora and therefore the perpetrator should be reported.

Abuse: Liability for negligence without knowledge

Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA — After a recent sex abuse settlement involving a Boonville Catholic church, a separate lawsuit has been filed against a United Methodist Church in St. Joseph and its overseeing bodies, including one located in Columbia.

On Sept. 1, 5th Judicial Circuit Court judge Randall R. Jackson overruled a motion to dismiss a civil sex abuse lawsuit against Huffman Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Joseph. It is also against the Pony Express District of the United Methodist Church in St. Joseph and the Columbia's Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, both of which are overseeing Methodist bodies.

The plaintiff is a former Huffman member who filed the suit anonymously.

"This ruling is significant because it is the first time a Missouri court has held that a negligence case could be pursued against a church for sexual abuse," said Ken Chackes, the plaintiff's attorney, who has handled about 100 cases involving alleged sexual abuse involving the clergy. In earlier lawsuits, victims had to prove that the church knew the abuser was going to harm children and failed to take actions to prevent it. [...]

Skulener Rebbe: Need for sex education

Someone sent this to me recently. I have not be able to verify its authenticity. However the views regarding the need for sex education expressed here are similar to what I have heard from Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita. Anyone who can provide more information regarding its authenticity and context should please contact me. Also any other discussions of this topic would be appreciated.

Skulener Rebbe Speaks Out

Abuse: Is castration an effective solution

CNN