Banning a rabbi for rumors of sexual misconduct

Mo’ed Koton(17a): There was a certain distinguished rabbi about whom there were bad rumors (about sexual misconduct - Tosfos). Rav Yehuda asked how is one to respond? If it is to ban him, this cannot be done since the Rabbis need him as a good teacher. However not to put ban him is also not possible since it would profane the name of Heaven…. So Rav Yehuda banned him. Eventually Rav Yehuda became seriously ill. The Rabbis came to visit him and that man came along with them. When Rav Yehuda saw him he laughed. The man said, Is it not sufficient that banned me  but he also laughs at me? Rav Yehuda replied that he was not laughing at him but that he was in fact dying and it made him happy that even though the other person was a great and important man he didn’t refrain from treating correctly…. His colleagues did not remove the ban and he went away crying. A wasp came and stung him on his private member and died. He was not admitted in the burial ground of the pious but he was admitted in the burial ground of the judges. That is because he followed the ruling of R’ Il’ai that if a person sees that his lust is overcoming him he should go to a place where he is not recognized and wear dark clothing and cover himself with a dark covering and then do what his heart desired rather than profane the name of heaven openly.

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 מועד קטן (יז.): ההוא צורבא מרבנן דהוו סנו שומעניה. אמר רב יהודה: היכי ליעביד? לשמתיה - צריכי ליה רבנן, לא לשמתיה - קא מיתחיל שמא דשמיא. .... שמתיה רב יהודה. לסוף איחלש רב יהודה, אתו רבנן לשיולי ביה, ואתא איהו נמי בהדייהו. כד חזייה רב יהודה חייך אמר ליה: לא מסתייך דשמתיה לההוא גברא אלא אחוכי נמי חייך בי? אמר ליה: לאו בדידך מחייכנא אלא דכי אזלינא לההוא עלמא בדיחא דעתאי דאפילו לגברא כוותך לא חניפי ליה. נח נפשיה דרב יהודה, ... לא שרא ליה. נפק כי קא בכי ואזיל, אתא זיבורא וטרקיה אאמתיה, ושכיב. עיילוהו למערתא דחסידי - ולא קיבלוהו, עיילוהו למערתא דדייני - וקיבלוהו. מאי טעמא? - דעבד כרבי אילעאי. דתניא, רבי אילעאי אומר: אם רואה אדם שיצרו מתגבר עליו - ילך למקום שאין מכירין אותו, וילבש שחורים ויתעטף שחורים, ויעשה מה שלבו חפץ, ואל יחלל שם שמים בפרהסיא.

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שולחן ערוך יורה דעה שלד:מב

חכם, זקן בחכמה, או אב בית דין שסרח, אין מנדין אותו בפרהסיא לעולם, אלא אם כן עשה כירבעם בן נבט וחביריו. אבל כשחטא שאר חטאות, מלקין אותו בצינעא. וכן כל ת"ח שנתחייב נידוי, אסור לב"ד לקפוץ ולנדותו במהרה, אלא בורחים ונשמטים ממנו. וחסידי החכמים היו משתבחים שלא נמנו מעולם לנדות תלמיד חכם, ואף ע"פ שנמנים להלקותו אם נתחייב מלקות או מכת מרדות. ואי סני שומעניה  כגון שמתעסק בספרי אפיקורוסין ושותה במיני זמר, או שחביריו מתביישין ממנו ושם שמים מתחלל על ידו, משמתינן ליה.

Rav Sternbuch IVF birth 5:317

Abuse: Beware of even the friendly pediatrician

Foxnews

A Delaware pediatrician is accused of molesting at least 16 patients, including some who appear to be no more than 6 months old, and police said the doctor used video cameras to record some of the brutal attacks in exam rooms. Dr. Earl B. Bradley, 56, was being held on $2.9 million bond Tuesday, said Sgt. Walter Newton, a Delaware State Police spokesman. Police believe there could be more victims. Bradley, of Lewes, faces 29 charges, including rape. He was charged last week with sexually abusing nine girls.[...]

R' Reuven Feinstein's haskoma & the Tropper tapes

It is interesting to note that approximately the same time the Tropper tapes were being recorded that Tropper had Rav Reuven Feinstein write a haskoma for his activities in EJF

Cheshvan 1, 5770
October 19, 2009

My Honorable Friends, Rabbis of the Eternal Jewish Family Organization,

I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate and clarify my previous stated opinion that all of the activity of this organization strictly adheres to the Torah's laws as transmitted by both the leading halacha deciders of our time (may they live and be well) as well as those of blessed memory.

The Eternal Jewish Family has my full support, as at the helm of the organization is a halacha committee made up of Torah scholars endowed with a strong fear of heaven who are admirable in both thought and action.

The directors of EJF are of the elite few of our generation who follow the directives of today's Torah leaders. They are willing to listen to their constructive criticism, and even adjust the organization's activities or strategies when instructed.

The mixed seminars for couples that EJF runs follow the strict guidelines and Torah decisions of the previous generation's Torah luminaries, as well as today's leading Rabbinic authorities, our master HaGaon Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv shlit"a and HaGaon Rabbi Shmuel Vosner shlit"a and our master HaGaon Rabbi Yosef.

May you be blessed to continue sanctifying the great Name of Hashem and strengthening the Glory of Heaven until the final redemption.

Signed in blessing and true friendship,
Reuven Feinstein

Defamatory speech on the internet

ABA Journal  [hat tip Jersey Girl]

Masked by the Web's anonymity, internet users feel free to flame celebrities, blast politicians, or blow the whistle on employers for corporate misdeeds.

Burned by the postings, many plaintiffs resort to defamation suits. But in addition to the usual litigation issues, plaintiffs often find another one: plenty of defendants with the same name, John Doe.

"If we don't know who they are, we don't know where they are and we don't necessarily know what court to file in," says Gary Nissenbaum of Union, N.J., managing principal of Nissenbaum Law Group, which practices Internet law in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. "Part of the reason this defamatory speech is so ubiquitous is because people assume they can never be found."[...]

Tropper scandal hits Israeli papers

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Maariv, YNET, and Hebrewnews carried the story yesterday. Not providing links because they just rehash the disgusting details.

RCA issues statement on Tropper scandal

Rabbinical Council of America (RCA)

Dec 22, 2009 -- We are deeply appalled, saddened and pained by reports that have reached us concerning alleged inappropriate behavior on the part of the chairman of the rabbinic committee of the Eternal Jewish Family, Rabbi Leib Tropper. We need to wait for more complete information before we can react fully.

Nonetheless, at this time, we would make the following points clear:


1. What we have heard, if true, violates the fundamental elements of all that Judaism holds sacred.

2. We urge anyone who might have been victimized to seek appropriate counseling and we, at the Rabbinical Council of America, remain ready to refer anyone who needs such assistance to the appropriate professionals.

3. Anyone who may have any questions of Jewish Law regarding conversions should feel free to contact our Geirut administrator, Rabbi Michoel Zylberman, at 212-807-9000 ext. 3.

Rav Sternbuch warns against the Schalit deal

In my post-Belz visit talk yesterday with Rav Sternbuch he raised another issue - the Schalit deal. He is simply astounded that Israel is thinking about trading 1000 terrorist to redeem one Jew.

He stated two clear reasons that the deal is not acceptable 1) Our Sages say that one should not pay an unreasonable price to redeem captives because it only encourages more kidnappings. 2) The terrorists involved in the deal are all active criminals and this will result in harm to many Jews.

Chazal say "only death atones for chillul HaShem"

Yoma (86a) [Soncino translation] Matthia b. Heresh asked R. Eleazar b. Azariah in Rome: have you heard about the four kinds of sins, concerning which R. Ishmael has lectured? He answered: They are three, and with each is repentance connected — If one transgressed a positive commandment , and repented , then he is forgiven, before he has moved from his place; as it is said: Return, O backsliding chiidren. If he has transgressed a prohibition and repented,then repentance suspends [the punishment] and the Day of Atonement procures atonement, as it is said : For on this day shall atonement be made for you ... from all your sins. If he has committed [a sin to be punished with] extirpation or death through the Beth din, and repented, then repentance and the Day of Atonement suspend [the punishment thereon], and suffering finishes the atonement, as it is said: Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes. But if he has been guilty of the profanation of the Name, then penitence has no power to suspend punishment, nor the Day of Atonement to procure atonement, nor suffering to finish it, but all of them together suspend the punishment and only death finishes it , as it is said : And the Lord of hosts revealed Himself in my ears; surely this iniquity shall not be expiated by you till ye die.

What constitutes profanation of the Name? — Rab said: If, e.g., I take meat for the butcher and do not pay him at once. Abaye said: That we have learnt [to regard as profanation] only in a place wherein one does not go out to collect payment, but in a place where one does not go out to collect , there is no harm in it [not paying at once]. Rabina said: And Matha Mehasiais a place where one goes out collecting payments due. Whenever Abaye bought meat from two partners, he paid money to each of them, afterwards bringing then, together and squaring accounts with both. R. Johanan said: In my case [it is a profanation if] I walk four cubits without [uttering words of] Torah or [wearing] tefillin.

Abusing parents: Mrs Astor & her son

NYTimes

Look not at the feeble man sitting in court, his right hand trembling, his pinstriped pants tucked into the tops of his rubber galoshes. Rather, his lawyers implored on Monday, see the boy he was, the son of a violent drunk and, later, of stepfathers who shipped him away. See the war hero, the international attaché, the late-in-life Broadway producer who probably saw something familiar as he brought the tale of a howling, ruined family to the stage.[...]

The tragedy of the Spinka Rebbe

Bhol

R' Reuven Feinstein: Tropper's resignation doesn't invalidate EJF conversions

Eternal Jewish Family

Statement by Rav Reuven Feinstein, President of Halachic Committee on EJF December 20, 2009

I hope that Rav Leib Tropper's decision to resign his position at EJF will serve him and his family well. At the same time, I have also agreed to take on a more active role in overseeing all of the halachic nuances of EJF in assuring that all universally accepted conversions are in compliance with the highest standards of halacha. I wish to reassure the community that EJF will continue to be guided by the highest halachic standards under the leadership of the Gedolei Yisroel. It should be noted that EJF has never been, and will never be, involved in the actual geyrus (conversion) of candidates. That function is left solely to the discretion of Botei Din. Our sole mission is to support those botei din in their work. The resignation of Rabbi Tropper in no way casts any cloud over the validity of any conversion performed by a Bais Din affiliated with or supported by EJF. Our role, as per the halachic rulings of Gedolei Haposkim, is to be mekarev the Jewish spouse in an intermarriage while referring the non-Jewish spouse to an independent Bais Din that will offer the geyrus candidate a universally accepted conversion in a case where both agree to a family life of Torah and mitzvos.

Rav Sternbuch reiterates his condemnation of the EJF & Tropper

Rav Sternbuch, shlita asked me to republish the letter of the Bedatz from two years ago which condemned the EJF and said that no one should have any association with it. He said that the chillul haShem created now is terrible. He said that the present scandal validates the concerns they expressed two years ago - that someone who does what he feels like can come to the worst aveiros. He said he is working on a more comprehensive letter discussing the situation which will be released in the near future.

EJF - appoints new director - R Chaim Blum

Eternal Jewish Family

12/20/2009
EJF announced that Rabbi Chaim Blum, EJF's liaison to the network of Botei Din in the Torah community, has agreed to serve as interim director of EJF.

Statement by the Eternal Jewish Family
December 20, 2009

EJF announced that Rabbi Chaim Blum, EJF's liaison to the network of Botei Din in the Torah community, has agreed to serve as interim director of EJF.

The organization operates offices in the US, Europe and Israel with international headquarters in Monsey NY. In accepting the position, Rabbi Blum said: "The recent announcement by Rav Tropper that he is resigning his post at EJF is accepted with sadness and regret. The announcement by some of the world's leading Torah authorities that they will take an increased role in the Eternal Jewish Family is testimony of the organization's strength and commitment to its core mission. The many people who benefit from EJF's activities should know that the organization remains fully committed to its important mission, one which has helped thousands of people in their pursuit of a Jewish life."

EJF International is headed by distinguished halachic authorities around the world, including Rav Reuven Feinstein, Chairman of the Halachic Committee (US), Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (Europe) and Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern (Av Bais Din of Rabbi Wosner's Bais Din - Israel).