Rabbis Sound an Alarm Over Eating Disorders

NYTimes

n the large and growing Orthodox Jewish communities around New York and elsewhere, rabbinic leaders are sounding an alarm about an unexpected problem: a wave of anorexia and other eating disorders among teenage girls.

While no one knows whether such disorders are more prevalent among Orthodox Jews than in society at large, they may be more baffling to outsiders. Orthodox women are famously expected to dress modestly, yet matchmakers feel no qualms in asking about a prospective bride’s dress size — and her mother’s — and the preferred answer is 0 to 4, extra small.

Rabbis say the problem is especially hard to treat because of the shame that has long surrounded mental illness among Orthodox Jews.

“There is an amazing stigma attached to eating disorders — this is the real problem,” said Rabbi Saul Zucker, educational director for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, or O.U., the organization that issues the all-important kashrut stamp for food. “But hiding it is not going to make it go away. If we don’t confront it, it’s going to get worse.”  [...]

Rabbi indicted for sexual assault

YNET

An indictment was filed Tuesday by the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office against a well-known rabbi accused of sodomizing and performing an indecent act on his friend's wife who was seeking his professional counseling.

According to the indictment, the defendant, a counselor for young couples and a rabbi at a girls seminary, was approached early last month by a haredi couple - his student and good friend and his wife - for counseling on family matters. [...]

Call Police: Don't call your rabbi when faced with immediate possible life threatening situations

the Shul Bomber was recently captured by the FBI. The person who discovered him and was aware that he was the bombing suspect - first called his rabbi to see whether it was permitted. This is sheer idiocy. When there is even a suspected life threatening situation you must call the police immediately!


ABC News

"Today, I happened to be on the Jewish website 'Vos Iz Neias,'" the rabbi added. "I saw the facial features, although he shaved off part of his beard. First thing I did was call my local rabbi to see if I could report him. He said, 'If he is a danger to society, you have to report him.' I called the FBI in Santa Monica. They asked me to call the Cleveland Heights police. They came to synagogue, and he was sitting right in the back."

Non-chareidi rabbis also invalidate conversions

JPost

The dispute over the degree of leniency that Jewish law affords the conversion process is not one of halachic stringency, but one of nationalistic ideology, a prominent national religious educator said Monday.

“The State Conversion Authority has also annulled conversions,” said Rabbi Neria Gutel, speaking at a conference on religious educational attitudes toward Israeli non-Jews at the Rehovot campus of Orot Teachers’ College, which he heads. “The question of whether to annul a conversion is not one that divides national religious and haredi rabbis.”

Gutel focused his address on the estimated 320,000 Israelis who made aliya under the Law of Return, but are not Jewish according to Halacha. National religious rabbis and lawmakers are seeking ways to help these people – who speak Hebrew, serve in the IDF and consider themselves Israeli in every way – to undergo conversion according to Jewish law. [...]

Errors of rabbinic authority are potentially harmful

from my sefer Daas Torah - translation copyrighted

Derashos HaRan (#11): … Since we believe that all which the Torah prohibits is inherently harmful and creates a harmful impact on our souls – even though we don’t know the reason. According to this accepted view, even if all the sages mistakenly believed that something that was impure was actually pure – this agreement doesn’t change anything and it still remains harmful to us and its actual harmful nature continues despite the mistaken understanding of the sages that it is pure. It is equivalent to the agreement of doctors that a medicine has no effect when it is in fact a strong drug. There is no question that there is absolutely no significant change in the nature of the medicine that results from the mistaken agreement of the doctors. In the same way if the Torah prohibits something because it is harmful, the agreement of sages that it is permitted doesn’t change its intrinsic nature – except by some miracle. … [Thus we see that when the Sanhedrin errs and causes people to violate that which the Torah prohibited – they are causing harm.] However it is inconceivable that a person should be harmed by following the ruling of the Sanhedrin even if he eats something which is prohibited because they said it is permitted. The answer is that the soul greatly benefits when a person listens to the Sages since it is the action most beloved by G d… This benefit removes the harm which would naturally result to the soul because of the eating something prohibited. Something similar happens physically when a person eats something which is harmful. If he eats it with the understanding that this food is good for him – his thoughts act on the food and remove the harmful effects – unless the harm is  very strong. It is the same thing when a person follows the commands of the Sanhedrin and perceives something that is objectively prohibited as being permitted. When he follows their directives, that obedience itself will remove all harm that he would normally be subject to because of the natural consequences of eating something which is harmful. That is why the Torah commanded to follow the directives of the Sanhedrin and not deviate either right or left [whether they are correct or not].

Is reality all in the mind or is it objective?

One of the issues I am working on now is the Jewish view about attitude  towards reality. One view is that there is such a thing as  objective reality and that one must know about this reality. One must understand the facts, one needs a clear evaluation of one's talents and a critical review of whether they are beling applied in a way to bring about change. There is a need for feedback and consultation with others as to how effective one is interacting with the world. One needs to learn new skills or make changes in behavior or attitude. This is the view of the Ramban

On the other hand others claim that reality ultimately doesn't matter but all that matters is your feeling or beliefs as to whether they are positive or negative i.e., It all depends on what is going on in your mind.. If you have bitachon you will be happy and wealthy and if you don't you will be an unhappy failure. If you believe everything is wonderful and G-d will provide whatever you need than there is really no need to get a job or see a Rav or therapist about improving your communication skills or stopping harmful behavior. You just need to focus on the quality of your thoughts. Positive thoughts attract blessing and negative thoughts create the reverse. This has a direct counterpart in the non-Jewish world i.e., The Secret. This is the view of Chovas HaLevavos

The following is an example of the "all in your mind" school.

From "Its all in Your Mind" by Sara Yosef page 26 She is Rav Ovadia Yosef's daughter in law - married to Rav Avrahm Yosef.

"If a family is not doing well financially, the wife ought to consider whether in her mind she questions he husband's abilities as a provider. Does she think of him unsuccessful, or unable to earn a living? Does she feel that he allows others to take advantage of him, or that he is unwilling to work hard? Without realizing it, she projects her thoughts to her surroundings. Ultimately, these thoughts and beliefs become realtiy. The moment she changes her negative attitudes toward her husband, and instead strives to think positive thoughts about him such as, "He's earning a nice living; he's really quite talented" - that family will begin to see Hashem's blessing in their labors. The family's economic situation will change for the better. Our belief is the key to producing change in our day to day living."

Self help & America's desire for transformation

Time

I am a few hundred yards from the spot where three people died in October 2009. They were on a "spiritual warrior retreat" led by James Arthur Ray, a man with improbably white teeth who claimed he had been initiated into 12 shamanic orders. He had been a guest on Oprah and was featured in the best-selling DVD The Secret, and the nearly $10,000 weeklong course was his platinum self-help offering. On the last day of the retreat — the final chance to "play full on" — he harangued his pupils into staying in an overcrowded, overheated sweat lodge even after some of them had passed out and one had fallen into the glowing rocks in the center. The 55 participants, already weakened from a 36-hour "vision quest" with neither food nor water, suffered terribly in the sweat lodge, but the vast majority stayed. "You're not going to die," Ray told them. "You might think you are, but you're not going to die." He was only partly right. In the end, 18 were hospitalized, and three died from heatstroke or organ failure. Ray's manslaughter trial is due to begin March 1.

The Americanization of Mussar: Abraham Twerski's Twelve Steps

Judaism

Standing at the crossroads of religion and psychotherapy, mussar and Twelve Step recovery, the Jewish and the mass market, Abraham Twerski is a rare case study of intellectual and cultural interchange between Judaism and American society. Twerski's work has not yet been examined as a historical and cultural phenomenon. [2] Therefore, I want to introduce Abraham Twerski as a suitable and even tantalizing subject for scholars and, in so doing, to propose that this Hasidic psychiatrist signifies a major, twentieth-century American shift in the venerable tradition of mussar, Jewish ethical teachings. My essay explores two questions: What changes in the Jewish view of human nature are embodied in his writing? Which elements of American thought and culture does he adapt and incorporate into the mussar tradition? Working in the heart of what one historian has dubbed an "Alcoholic Republic," Twerski adopted the concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous, through which he gained new insight into both the human condition and Jewish tradition. [3]

Palestinians attack school bus with anti-tank rocket

Will rabbis allow brainy Shabbat driving?

JPOST

As the interface between brain and machine moves from science fiction to reality, rabbis will be debating whether a vehicle one merely sits in and drives solely with brain activity can be used on Shabbat.

This intriguing thought was discussed on Thursday by Rabbi Dr. Dror Fixler, an electrooptics engineer at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, who was one of the speakers at Thursday’s 18th Torah and Science Conference of the Jerusalem College of Technology, Yeshiva University in Israel and BIU.

The all-day conference, which attracted around 200 men and women, was hosted by JCT president Prof. Noah Dana-Picard, a leading theoretical mathematician who heads the colleges for religious young men and, separately, young women, who study engineering and related subjects.

Fixler showed a recently released clip of a “proof of concept” vehicle that has a person inside who merely thinks of how to maneuver it. The vehicle drives itself safely, turning corners, slowing down and giving more gas. While this is “not something one should do at home,” the Autonomos company successfully tested the proof-of-concept car a few months ago, said the BIU engineer. [....]

All societies have right to survive - even by capital punishment

From Daas Torah - translation copyrighted

Chasam Sofer (O. H. #208): It seems to me that the rulers of any society have the right to execute and punish because of the verse “You have the responsibility for blood” (Devarim 19:10) as is interpreted in Mo’ed Koton (5a). It is logical that even if the Torah hadn’t been given they would have this right. And this was true also prior to the giving of the Torah since there were laws and civilized conduct and every king preserved society through laws (See Rema #10). When the Torah was given there was a reestablished of the laws of society and certain changes were made such as a thief had to pay double and a non dangerous ox paid half damages and the nature of the responsibility of watchmen. This of course doesn’t mean that harmful behavior which wasn’t mentioned in the Torah was permitted - such as damage which is not physically manifest because the ways of Torah are pleasant. Nevertheless they are not included in the laws of the Torah and the king and Sanhedrin are given the discretion according to place and time how to deal with these issues. So surely they have the right to remove the many harmful agents such as murderers who don’t have witnesses. The ways of the Torah are pleasant and all its paths are peace.

Police commander confesses to sexual harrassment - won't be charged

YNET

Police Commander Uri Bar-Lev will not stand trial for sexually harassing Dr. Orly Ines, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced on Thursday.

The attorney general stated that although enough evidence has been gathered to base an indictment, it was decided to close the case after Bar-Lev apologized to Ines and announced that he will retire from the police. [...]

The Case for Having More Kids

NYTimes

Bryan Caplan, an economist at George Mason, is the author of “Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids,” which will be released this week. Mr. Caplan doesn’t believe everyone should have a lot of children. But he does say many parents and future parents should consider having more children than they are currently planning.

The economists at Marginal Revolution — colleagues of Mr. Caplan’s — have debated some of the book’s arguments in recent posts. Mr. Caplan also wrote a related article for The Wall Street Journal last year and commented on the “Tiger Mother” book for EconLog.[...]

Website for improving communication during mourning

YNET

ShivaListings.com has created a website aimed at helping friends and family during the Jewish mourning process. The free service is geared to the Jewish community as well as those who may need help in understanding the Jewish mourning practices.

 ShivaListings.com provides users with a variety of helpful features such as important details regarding the date, times and location of the funeral, cemetery services and shiva (the Jewish period of mourning after the funeral) as well as an information page (which displays information about common Jewish funeral customs). [...]