Secular kiruv: You’re Young and Jewish: Discuss

NYTimes

ON a cold Saturday morning in May 2007, Nicola Behrman, a playwright from Los Angeles, stood in a bare conference room at a ski lodge in Park City, Utah. She was surrounded by 60 strangers, tucked shoulder-to-shoulder in a circle — all members of a group called Reboot, which since 2002 has conducted an annual conference for young, affluent Jews to discuss their ethnic and religious identity, in between spa treatments and walks among the ponderosa pines of the Wasatch Mountains.

Each attendee had been asked to pose a question related to being a Jew. Ms. Behrman, who grew up Orthodox in London but hadn't been to a synagogue in years, recounted a story about her beloved grandmother's appointment book, which on May 31, 1965, contained the words, "susan, dentist," a reminder to take her daughter in for a checkup. Why didn't Jews write down life lessons for those left behind after they died? Ms. Behrman was wondering. She picked up a white card from a table nearby, scribbled "susan, dentist ..." in green ink and posted it on a corkboard at the back of the room. The act felt cathartic. [...]

Rubashkin and Pidyon Shuyim - Some Clarity

Five Towns Jewish Times - Rabbi Yair Hoffman

In shul this past week, the recent debate in the pages of the Five Towns Jewish Times between Rabbi Aryeh Zev Ginzberg and Ze’ev Gold became the subject of discussion.  Ze’ev Gold posed the question as to whether the Rubashkin case was really Pidyon Shvuyim or not.  Rabbi Ginzberg had received a ruling from Rav Chaim Kaniefsky Shlita that, indeed, it was full and complete Pidyon Shvuyim.

If so, asked Mr. Gold, why didn’t Rabbi Ginsburg’s shul empty out their Shul building fund?  Rabbi Ginzberg was slightly evasive in his response but did refer Mr. Gold to the ruling of the Aruch haShulchan.  Mr. Gold quoted Rabbonim who ruled that it is not real full-fledged Pidyon Shvuyim.  Rabbi Ginzberg repeated unequivocally that it was complete Pidyon Shvuyim.

What is going on here? [...]

Sarah Palin and the State of Halachic Discourse

Cross Currents R Yitzchok Adlerstein

The Orthodox community has more at stake in the so-called “brain death” controversy than in the etiology of Jared Lee Loughner’s delusions. Rabbi Dov Fischer discussed some of the issues in an earlier piece on Cross-Currents, including the impropriety of an online petition in favor of the “brain death” criteria. Rabbi Fischer correctly bemoaned the fact that a group of rabbis would be setting fires of public criticism of the Torah community, rather than putting them out. (By way of contrast, a friend of mine was asked by a leader of a state legislature about Orthodox attitudes towards organ donation, having read some disturbing material in the popular press. My friend, who has good background in both the halachic and medical aspects of the issue, sat down with the legislator, and explained the traditional point of view, after which the politician “got it,” without rancor or resentment.) I would go further than Rabbi Fischer. Calling a position that is embraced by rov minyan v’rov binyan of serious halachists “morally untenable” is nothing less than morally untenable! [...]

Conversion: Yated metes out cautious criticism at Yosef, Amar

JPost

Haredi-Lithuanian mouthpiece Yated Ne'eman on Sunday expressed “shock, as well as pained and utter protest over the desecration of approving thousands of military 'conversions,'” in its inevitable reaction to the Friday decision of President of the Shas Council of Torah Sages Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who declared the disputed past IDF conversions kosher. Following Yosef's ruling, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar on the same day issued the necessary document to authorize some 4,500 such conversions, which were lacking his signature. [...]

State approves all army conversions with Rav O Yosef's psak

YNET

After Rabbi Ovadia Yosef issues halachic ruling determining that army conversions are kosher, Chie Rabbi Shlomo Amar instructs relevant authorities to officially recognize 4,500 conversions on state's behalf. Lithuanian rabbis livid  [...]

Chicago man admits to running Israeli-American money laundering scam

Haaretz

U.S. authorities uncovered a Chicago-based Israeli-American money laundering network responsible for an alleged tax evasion of over $45 million, the Chicago Tribune reported on Saturday

The Chicago Tribune reported that 64-year-old Marvin Berkowitz entered a guilty plea Friday as part of an agreement weeks before his trial was to begin in federal court in Chicago.

Berkowitz stole the identities of dead people and federal prisoners to file for tax refunds in 28 states. He fled to Jerusalem to avoid charges in a 2003 tax fraud case and was arrested there in August 2009 in an operation codenamed "American Pie." [...]

Rabbis' Training: Mental Illness & Domestic Violence/Project S.A.R.A.H.

Have a Food Allergy? It’s Time to Recheck

NYTimes

Food allergies have generated a great deal of anxiety in recent years, with some schools going so far as to ban popular staples — especially peanut butter — after appeals from worried parents.

Some airlines have quit serving peanut snacks, and more and more restaurants are offering dishes for diners concerned about gluten or dairy allergies.

There is no question that some foods, especially peanuts and shellfish, can provoke severe reactions in a small fraction of the population. But a new analysis of the best available evidence finds that many children and adults who think they have food allergies are mistaken. [...]

Bnei Brak rabbi accused of arranging illicit conversions

JPost

The battle of anonymous mudslinging between Lithuanian haredi elements and champions of Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar in the wake of the latest conversion controversy rose a notch on Wednesday, with pashkevilim (street notices) plastered in Bnei Brak charging a local, senior rabbi of converting a woman “for the intent of marriage, which is prohibited according to the Torah’s law.”

The unnamed rabbi supposedly headed a panel in the framework of the haredi Beit Din Zedek so the convert could marry a relative of his. This, according to the unnamed Amar supporters behind Wednesday’s notices, is proof of the hypocrisy of the Ashkenazi haredi camp, which recently slammed the chief Sephardi rabbi for his rumored intention to approve IDF conversions.[...]

Sarah Palin's Claim: What Is 'Blood Libel'?

Time Magazine

Sarah Palin must have hoped that her Jan. 12 video statement would silence her critics, who, in the wake of the Tuscon shootings, have accused the controversial politician of contributing to the vitriolic rhetoric that plagues U.S. politics. But then Palin decided to describe the attacks leveled against her as a "blood libel." The phrase has a long, grim legacy tied to centuries of European persecution of Jews. Bigoted superstition had it that Jews needed the blood of heathens for various ritual practices. Within hours of the statement's publication and the video's appearance on Facebook, the Anti-Defamation League criticized Palin's message, saying that, while blood libel "has become part of English parlance to refer to someone being falsely accused, we wish that Palin had used another phrase, instead of one so fraught with pain in Jewish history."

On the other hand, a group called jewsforsarah.com declared that "the use of the term blood libel is appropriate." Meanwhile, on biggovernment.com, Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School said the term "has taken on a broad metaphorical meaning" and "There is nothing improper and certainly nothing anti-Semitic in Sarah Palin using the term to characterize what she reasonably believes are false accusations..." [...]

Privacy, Copyright Top Challenges of the Internet

Time Magazine

Another topic that concerned IADAS members was how outdated media copyright laws were and the increasing necessity to see them changed. It used to be perfectly okay to give a mix tape to a couple friends, but putting a playlist online - which is a similar action in a way - could render negative consequences. Same goes for lending books, which has a modern day equivalent of copying and distributing digital books online. Davies believes that many users aren't trying to circumvent laws: They're simply confused on what is right and wrong because legalities are not adapted to current technology. "I think at the core, one of the big issues is that the majority of the laws and understandings about copyright were created in a world where it was difficult to copy. Actually copying something has never been more easy than it is today. You can literally right click on a file and depending on the size it can be downloaded in seconds," he explained. [...]

Child Abuse:Halachic Perspectives in protecting our children - Rabbi Noach Oelbaum

Rabbi Noach Oelbaum video

Part of a major program of speakers

Brain Death - Rav Shabtsai Rappaport reports his discussion with his grandfather Rav Moshe Feinstein

אסיא מז-מח, עמ' 5-13 (1989

What follows is a clear illustration of the unquestioned fact that the view of Rav Moshe Feinstein regarding brain death is inexplicably given to  major dispute - and that his son Rav Dovid Feinstein did not discuss the issue with his father. In fact this article appeared in 1989 when I left America to settle in Jerusalem. Rav Halperin M.D. - the editor of Assia and the author of this article sent me a copy in the hopes of convincing me to allow him to publish the medical citations from my Yad Moshe index in his publication. When I left America brain death was a very hot topic and it was clear that no one had the definitive answer as to what Rav Moshe held on the subject and in fact it seemed no one had asked him for a clear and authoritative psak. The debate revolved around how to read the teshuvos printed in the Igros Moshe. When I read in this artcile that Rabbi Rappaport had in fact reported asking his grandfather - I was simply floored. Because this information that he reports in the article was apparently not known to anyone else. When I mentioned this to Rav Halperin he told me that even if my assertion was true but he said now the issue has been answered so don't be concerned about the past.

בשאלה האם חזר בו הגרמ"פ מהאיסור לבצע השתלות לב נחלקו הכותבים : הרב משה דוד טנדלר, חתנו של הגרמ"פ, כתב11 :

"חמי הרב משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל היה מודע היטב להתקדמות הזאת והתיר ניתוחי השתלות לב בשנים האחרונות. אכן, שכן שלי שהושתלו אצלו לב ושתי ריאות לפני שנתיים בפיטסבורג (קבוצת ד"ר סטרזל) עשה כן לאחר יעוץ עם הרב פיינשטיין ועם, ייבדל לחיים, הרבי מלובביץ שליט"א."

לעומתו כתב הרב דוד שור:12

"וכעת דברתי עם הרב דוד פיינשטיין שליט"א, בן הרב משה פיינשטיין זצ"ל, והוא העיד לי שאביו לא התחרט בכלל לפני מותו ממה שכתב בשו"ת אגרות משה בסימני מיתה והשתלת הלב."

בירור ישיר עם הרב דוד פיינשטיין13 העלה שבניגוד למצוטט בשמו, אין בידו מידע הסותר את עדות הרב טנדלר, אף כי אין בידו מידע המאשר עדות זאת.

לסיכום, אין עדות הסותרת את עדות משפחת טנדלר על השינוי בדעתו של הגרמ"פ להתיר השתלות לב עקב ההתקדמות הרפואית אך קיים ויכוח חריף על הדרך להבנת הכתוב בתשובותיו "איגרות משה".

לאור ויכוח זה פניתי אל הרב שבתאי רפפורט שליט"א (אשר היה בקשר ישיר עם הגרמ"פ זצ"ל בעת הכנת התשובה הנדונה, לדפוס) על מנת לקבל בכתב את התיחסותו לויכוח הנדון. תשובתו היתה חד משמעית:

 

Customized Kids: Parents Abort Twin Boys in Quest for Daughter

Time Magazine

Of course, every parent-in-waiting hopes for a healthy baby, but most — whether they admit it or not — have a preference for one sex over the other. But to what extremes would you go to make it happen?

A couple in Australia — already parents of three sons —have announced they have aborted twin boys in their quest to replace their baby daughter, who died soon after birth. Although sex selection via IVF is illegal in Australia, they petitioned a patient review panel for permission, which was denied. They've now appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is slated to hear their case in March [...]