Shut HaRid: Truth is more important than authority

Shut HaRid(#62): "Whatever does not make sense to me – then even if Yehoshua ben Nun said I would not agree [Chullin 124a]. And I don’t stop myself from expressing what appears correct to me according to my limited intellect. Thus I do what it says in Tehilim (119:46), I speak regarding Your words even against kings and I am not ashamed…. Because even when it appears to me that I have successfully refuted the words of the early authorities – G‑d forbid for me to be so arrogant to say that it is because of my superior wisdom (Koheles 2:9). Rather the reason that I can argue with the early authorities is because of the rationale provided by philosophers. I heard that a group of philosophers asked the greatest amongst them, “We acknowledge that the early scholars were wiser and more intelligent than us. But at the same time we acknowledge that we argue with their ideas and refute them in many issues and in fact our criticisms of them are correct. How could that be?” He replied to them, “Who can see farther – a midget or a giant? It is obviously a giant because his eyes are much higher than a midget. However if a midget stands on the shoulder of a giant – who can see farther? Obviously it is the midget because his eyes are now higher than the eyes of the giant. So it is with us. We are midgets riding on the shoulders of giants because we know that it is their wisdom that elevates us. Therefore our wisdom is based on their wisdom.” Thus what we say is not because we are greater than them. We can comment regarding the early scholars in a situation where we see that they disagree with each other – one permitting and the other prohibiting. So which authority should we rely on? … We cannot simply say that one is greater and therefore the words of the others are refuted. Rather we must analyze all their words because they are the words of the living G‑d. We need to debate and investigate their words to see which way the law seems to be going. That in fact is what the sages of the Mishna and Talmud did. We see the later Talmudic scholars did not refrain from disagreeing with the early scholars and to decide amongst what the early sages disagreed with each other as well as to contradict their words. We find that the Amoraim would refute a Mishna and say that it was not the halacha. The fact is the wisdom transcends the individual sage and there is no sage who is free from error. Only G‑d is free of error.

Hurricane 2011 - Close call in Lawrence NY

Paving the Way for Condoning Child Rape

Fox News by Dr. Keith Ablow

There were those who scoffed at my contention that Abercrombie and Fitch, the edgy retailer, was paving the way for mainstream pedophilia when it began marketing breast enhancing bikinis to girls as young as eight. 

There were those who railed against my contention that the French edition of Vogue was kindling pedophilia and embracing it with its racy depictions of 10-year-old Thylane Lena-Rose Loubry-Blondeau in heavy makeup, a plunging neckline and stiletto heels. 

There were others who suggested that I had a problem with breastfeeding, in general, when I took issue with The Breast Milk Baby, which encourages little girls to wear a vest that has flowers in place of larger nipples and nurse the doll.

But, now, there should be no doubt that our culture is poised to begin embracing pedophilia as a lifestyle choice, just like homosexuality. A group of psychiatrists and other mental health professionals called B4U-Act, which has representatives from Harvard and Johns Hopkins, gathered recently in Baltimore to organize their push to change the negative perception of pedophiles and encourage them to get help in a nonjudgmental environment. [....]

Delaware pediatrician jailed for life for abusing patients

AP

A Delaware pediatrician who decorated his office with Disney characters and miniature amusement park rides, is convicted of abusing scores of young patients over more than a decade will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Earl Bradley, 58, showed no emotion as a judge sentenced him Friday to 14 life sentences for 14 counts of first-degree rape

Bradley was also sentenced to 165 years for multiple counts of assault and continuous sexual exploitation of a child. Bradley was arrested in Dec. 2009 after a 2-year-old girl complained to her mother after an office visit that the doctor had hurt her.

Recently published manuscript - falsely attributed to Malbim - written by maskil

BHOL

בשנת תשס"ט התבשר עולם התורה על הדפסת עותק ראשוני של פירוש המלבי"ם לספר קהלת שעד אז לא היה בנמצא. 'עוז והדר', שהדפיסו את הפירוש, טענו כי מדובר בכתב-יד שמעולם לא נדפס.

אלא שכבר עם הדפסת הספר טענו תלמידי חכמים רבים כי לא יתכן שהמלבי"ם כתב את הפירוש המכיל דברי כפירה רבים ואשר בתוכו אף מצוטט משה מנדלסון - אבי ההשכלה.

אחד מאותם תלמידי חכמים - אברך ב'מיר' - נזעק לספריה הלאומית שם נעזר ברב דוד קמינצקי (נכדו של הגר"י קמינצקי זצ"ל) והרב משה אייזיק בלוי - מעורכי המוסף התורני 'קולמוס', כאשר אף הם לא פיללו לתוצאה שכזו.

לאחר מחקר מעמיק נתגלה כי הפירוש שייך לאחד מראשי המשכילים בשם יונה ברד"ח - מידידיו של משה מנדלסון. יתר על כן - ברד"ח כבר הדפיס את הפירוש המדובר בשנת תר"י בלבוב.

Pinny Taub abuse survivor - criticizes rabbis for betrayal

Agudas Israel is a modern innovation needed to combat individualism

 from my sefer Daas Torah - translation copyrighted

Pardes Yosef(Bereishis 49:1): Many times I have talked about and publicly addressed the issue of joining Agudas Israel. Many people have asked, “If such an organization is so necessary why wasn’t it created in previous generations?” After all the foundation of our tradition is not to consider ourselves as wiser than previous generations - as we say that if the earlier generation were compared to angels…[then we are like donkeys…] Furthermore they assert that all innovation is prohibited by the Torah and that we should follow in the path of our ancestors who had no such  organization and nevertheless they were G‑d fearing people and succeeded in educating their children in the path of Torah? I have a good answer to these objections. In previous generation the masses listened to the great rabbis who were scholars and the righteous men of their generation. However now we live in a time that exalts individuality and rejects obedience to the leaders of the generation. While it is true that this is not universal, but they are only exceptions to the rule. There are in fact places that retain an organized community apparatus and I don’t disagree that these places have great people who are able to influence the community. We thus have a mixed picture of both proper community organizations with leadership and lack of community organizations and a lack of leadership. However in all cases it is dependent on the consent of the masses. In particular since World War I, the power began to be taken from the leadership of these various community organizations. Therefore now even the pious need an organization, even though there was no need for it in previous generations

Alleged major pedophile ring in Jerusalem

MAARIV

מגיעה לשלב האישומים. כתבי אישום חמורים הוגשו היום (ה') כנגד שניים מן החשודים בפרשה, בני העדה החרדית. השניים נאשמים בביצוע מעשי אונס ומעשי סדום ביותר מ-50 ילדים ברחבי השכונות החרדיות. במשטרה ציינו כי החקירה נמשכת וכי 

צפויים כתבי אישום נוספים בפרשה המסועפת.  

על פי כתב האישום שהוגש נגד השניים לבית משפט המחוזי בירושלים, הם נהגו לפתות ילדים בממתקים, שיכנעו אותם לצפות עמם בסרטים פורנוגרפיים. לאחר מכן, נטען, ביצעו בהם מעשי סדום חמורים, התעללו בהם והכו אותם.

במשטרה חושדים כי השניים נהגו לבצע את המעשים בצוותא, תוך שהם מבצעים אורגיות קבוצתיות, כאשר אספו מספיק ילדים להשתתף עימם במעשים. 

בכתב האישום שהוגש נגד אחד מהשניים, תושב מאה שערים בן ה-44, נטען כי הוא פיתה ילד בן 13 ואת חבריו לבוא עימו לביתו במשך תקופה של שנה. השניים גרים בסמיכות באותה השכונה. באותם הביקורים, אף הורה הנאשם לו ולחבריו לחלל שבת ולהדליק אורות בבית. במהלך הביקורים, נטען בכתב האישום, הוא הציג לילד סרטים פורנוגרפיים, הפשיט אותו מבגדיו והכה אותו במקל פעמים רבות. 

Australian Jewish News apologizes for attack on Rabbi Feldman

 Collive

In a stunning about-face, the Australian Jewish News publicly apologised today regarding a recent controversial story that called for Rabbi Yosef Feldman's resignation from a senior rabbinic position.

On 29 July 2011, the AJN ran a front page story about Rabbi Yosef Feldman entitled "Top Rabbi Must Quit." In a related Article and Editorial, reference was made to a leaked internal email discussion amongst Rabbis in which Rabbi Yosef Feldman put forward certain views in relation to the reporting of child abuse allegations to the Authorities.

The AJN interpreted those views in a negative light, berating Rabbi Feldman for suggesting them and calling for his resignation as President of the Rabbinical Council of NSW.

In today's edition, the AJN admits that since the publication of their first article many Rabbis "have since contacted us to confirm they regarded the comments as Halachic conjecture in the context of an academic debate" and in a statement from the Executive of the Rabbinical Council of NSW.

"Warning Regarding Ganei Geula Pedophile" - Is False Report!

Dear Reb Daniel,

 

As a parent of children, who lives near Ganei Geula, and frequently davens there, I was extremely concerned when I read your posting regarding a possible pedophile who may be lurking in the neighborhood.

 

As a frum Yid, I was also concerned by the apparently idiotic response allegedly attributed to the new rav, Rabbi Berger, which serves as fresh cannon fodder for all the "rabbi bashers" out there in cyberspace.

 

Being the sensible person I am, I approached Rabbi Berger this morning, asking him if he was aware of the story going around. He said that he actually had not been aware of the story until an aquaintance of his from Benei Brak faxed him a copy of the original article, a copy of which he pulled from his pocket to show me. He was also preplexed as to how such a story appeared in print and who was behind it, as there was not even a crumb of truth to it!

 

I gently asked him, if he meant that there actually had been an incident,  but his response was different then reported, or did he mean to say that the entire story is fabricated?

 

He emphatically answered, that as far he's concerned, the entire story is FABRICATED!

 

He is not aware of any specific allegations of any possible pedophile lurking in the neighborhood. He was NEVER approached by any reporter, and he surely never said what was FALSELY attributed to him. In addition, as the rav of the neighborhood, he is also not aware of any other rabbis in the neighborhood who have taken the position he allegedly quoted from them!

 

To use his words: כל הסיפור מצוץ מהאצבע

 

Rabbi Berger told me that he's still trying to find out who's behind this false story, and is seriously contemplating legal action against the original publishers of the story.

 

I humbly learnt an important lesson today. Don't believe everything you read! Do your due diligence before spreading some juicy lashon hara about someone else!

 

I would appreciate if you could post this e-mail as a seperate posting. While I'm a very busy person, I've taken the time and effort to write this to you, as I feel that a great Chilul Hashem has been perpetrated by the publication of this story, and it would be an appropriate attempt at Tikkun to publish this rebuttal.

 

I would appreciate of you you withhold my name from public. Should the need arise in the future to make my name public, we can revisit the subject again.

 

kol tuv,

xxx xxxx

---

 

PS I posted the following comment to the NRG-Maariv site. They have of yet to publish it:

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/273/328.html

 

 

דיברתי הבוקר עם הר' ברגר כדי לברר אמיתת הכתבה. הוא ענה לי בבטיחות, שכל הסיפור מצוץ מהאצבע, ולא היה ולא נברא. הוא אף פעם לא ראויין עך ידי שום כתב, וגם רבני השכונה שכביכול מצוטטים על ידו, לא ידועים לו כאלו.

 

הר' ברגר הוסיף, שאינו יודע מי עומד מאחורי הכתבה השקרית, אבל הוא שוקל ברצינות להגיש תביעה משפטית נגד הגורמים בדבר.

 

ראו הזהרתם!

 

ולכל אלו המאמינים לכל סיפור עסיסי על החרדים, תנסו פעם לברר אמיתות הסיפור לפני שאתם מפרסמים את זה הלאה!

show details 7:36 AM (1 hour ago)

Update: The NRG-Maariv site has published my comment

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/54/ART2/273/328.html

Rabbi Fabricated Tales of Saving Holocaust Torahs, Prosecutors Say

NYTimes

He described himself as a risk-taking rabbi who had been “beaten up, thrown in jail and gone $175,000 into debt” on “expeditions” to Eastern Europe. He said his mission was to rescue and restore Torahs that had been “wrenched from their communities during the Holocaust” and place them with congregations that would look after them. 

“I guess you could call me the Jewish Indiana Jones,” he wrote in 2004.

But on Wednesday, the rabbi, Menachem Youlus, was arrested in Manhattan on fraud charges. Court papers said he had never gone to the far-flung places he talked about and had made up the stories he told about discovering Torahs at the sites of the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps — or in Iraq in 2007. 

Instead, prosecutors accused him of selling fake Torahs and pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars through Save a Torah, the nonprofit organization he co-founded in 2004. A postal inspector who investigated Rabbi Youlus’s dealings also challenged his tale of financial troubles, saying in court papers that the rabbi had never been deeply in debt.

Terrorist campaign against stores in Mea Shearim/Geula by Sikrikim

bhol

המלחמה של נוער השוליים בשכונת מאה שערים המכנה את עצמה – 'הסיקריקםי' כנגד חנויות באזור שכונת גאולה ומאה שערים – נמשכת במלא העוצמה.

לאחר ששברו את חלונות חנות הספרים 'אור החיים' וגרמו לנזק כספי רב לבעל החנות, ממשיכים הסיקריקים במלחמה כשהם מרחיבים את הפעילות לחנויות נוספות שלא מוצאות חן בעיניהם.

הבוקר (ג') ספגה חנות הגלידות הממוקמת בטבורו של רחוב מלכי ישראל בשכונת גאולה מתקפה חריפה. מספר סיקריקים הניחו רוטב דגים מקולקל וטיטולים מלאים בצואה בסמוך לחנות ואף ערכו הפגנה במקום.

Bracha Goetz & Project Y.E.S. & Artscroll publish child safety book

Mazel Tov!

Received the following notice from the author Bracha Goetz regarding her important new book 

 ===================================

Groundbreaking New Children’s Book Released: LET'S STAY SAFE!

Let’s Stay Safe, published by Mesorah Publications, is the newest breakthrough from Project YES, a division of Agudath Israel of America Community Services.  According to Artscroll, “It may well be the most important picture book that a parent will share with his or her young child.” We all want to keep our children safe, secure, confident, and happy. With this book’s delightful pictures and child-friendly rhyming text, Let’s Stay Safe helps us give our children essential life lessons in safe and unsafe behavior:

• Personal safety • Staying away from strangers • Crossing the street safely • Bicycle safety • Fire safety • Safety in the home

 In language that can educate and empower, this groundbreaking book gives children the tools to stay safe and secure in our increasingly difficult world.

A Personal Message from the Author:

Over four years ago, our youngest daughter, Shira Goetz, gave me the encouragement needed to write a book designed for frum children about personal safety.  I “knocked on the door” of every frum publishing house I could think of with my safety manuscript, but no company was willing to publish it back then.

 It would still be just a file on my computer, if not for Rabbi Yakov Horowitz.  Over two years ago, I sent my manuscript to Rabbi Horowitz, the Director of Project YES, and he devoted himself to getting the safety book published.  Along the way, the personal safety book evolved into a more comprehensive safety book that includes personal safety as another normative safety measure. That’s what makes it a major breakthrough for the frum world – abuse prevention being acknowledged as an essential topic to be included for parents and children to learn in order to guard their safety, right alongside fire safety.

I believe that without Rabbi Horowitz’s tremendous efforts - and my daughter’s heartfelt prayers through these years - we would not be able to witness the miracle of this book being published now by Mesorah Publications, with the endorsement of Torah U’Mesorah as well, thank G-d.  Although  I really only became aware of the underground world of abuse in our midst just four years ago, B’H, there has been great progress during this time in beginning the process of weeding it from our beautiful garden.  It should only continue - and prevention education is key.

From this whole endeavor, I learned that we don’t have to be great scholars or have lots of money or prestige to make our communities better places.  We can be baalei teshuva, gerim or FFB’s, and if we see what needs fixing, we don’t have to be afraid, we can work on repairing things.  I also learned during these four years, over and over again, that we really can never accomplish anything on our own.  We need Hashem to smile upon every single effort we try to make.  And we need support from other individuals committed to striving for improvement.

I wrote this book to help keep our little ones safe.  In the merit of reading this book to young children, may all of our precious ones be blessed to remain pure and in good health, with shining neshamas.

Here’s a link to the book: http://www.artscroll.com/.

Warning concerning pedophile in Jerusalem - unreported because of chillul HaShem

BCHOL

תושבי גני גאולה בירושלים חוששים שפדופיל מסתובב בשכונה, אבל נמנעים מתלונה במשטרה "מחשש לחילול השם"

משה הלר|21/8/2011 14:47    

תושבי מתחם גני גאולה ברחוב ירמיהו בירושלים בפאניקה: כמה ילדים סיפרו בשבועות האחרונים להוריהם על אדם בעל חזות חרדית ששהה בשעות הצהריים המוקדמות באזור בית הכנסת השכונתי, וניסה לפתות את הילדים להצטרף אליו. בשכונה אומרים כי החשוד נראה בעיקר באזור המקווה הצמוד לבית הכנסת