Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Hear ex-Trump lawyer's stunning defense
TOWARD A SOCIOLOGY OF PSAK
https://traditiononline.org/towards-a-sociology-of-psak/
Despite the tendency, particularly within the right-wing Orthodox communities, for an almost reflex-action rejection of the role of social forces in psak, the more carefully one considers the issue the more it is apparent that poskim are not simply computers and that, indeed, there are many social forces which enter into psak, both in terms of specific rulings made for individual cases and in terms of who is recognized at any given time as a reputable pasek. Nor is this an issue over which there is anyimplicit dispute between learned "right-wingers" and "modernists." A few examples from history should suffice to indicate the role of social forces and conditions in psak.
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Can A Woman Initiate Jewish Divorce Proceedings?
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/can-a-woman-initiate-jewish-divorce-proceedings/
But, it should be stressed that if the coercion used by the beit din,
or the secular courts at the behest of the beit din, is not effective
to force the husband to participate in the get process, the beit din
itself can do nothing. Only the man can do the acts required for a valid
Jewish divorce; the Jewish court has no more power to declare a man
divorced against his will than it does to declare a man married against
his will.
Divorce: The Halakhic Perspective
https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/divorce-halakhic-perspective
Only a man can give a get, and that get must be given of his free will. A get which is given under duress or coercion (known as a get me’useh, a “forced divorce”) is void. The rabbis derive this rule from the same verse in Deuteronomy quoted above for the principle that a man could divorce his wife unilaterally. Since the husband has the unilateral power to divorce his wife, the rabbis maintain that the act of divorce can occur only if it complies with the husband’s discretion and free will.
The fact that rabbis derive the rule prohibiting the “forced divorce” from the Bible, and not from secular principles of contract, underscores the impact of this rule and distinguishes it from civil rules regarding coercion, force and duress. Because the rule against the forced divorce is attributed to the Bible and to God, the question of whether a husband has agreed to give his wife a get of his own free will is subject to strict scrutiny by rabbis.
Monday, March 22, 2021
Intro to Shulchan Aruch
הקדמות לשולחן ערוך הקדמת השו"ע
אודה ה' מאוד בפי ובתוך רבים אהללנו ומשירי אהודנו. במה אקדם ה' אכף לאלקי מרום אשר ממעון קדשו מן השמים הופיע ברוב רחמיו וחסדיו והשפיע מטובו על שפל אנשים כמוני לחבר ספר הנותן אמרי שפר, החיבור הגדול שחברתי על הארבעה טורים אשר קראתיו "בית יוסף". אשר כללתי בו כל הדינים הנמצאים בכל הפוסקים חדשים גם ישנים, עם מקומות מושבותם בחצריהם ובטירותם בתלמוד בבלי ובתלמוד ירושלמי בתוספתא בספרא בספרי ובמכילתא, ודברי המפרשים והפוסקים ובעלי התשובות חדשים גם ישנים, ונתבאר שם כל דין ודין באר היטיב דבר דבור על אופניו, וארמון על משפטו ישב תלוי עליו כל שלטי הגבורים אנשי השם אשר מעולם.
ראיתי אני בלבי כי טוב ללקוט שושני ספירי אמריו בדרך קצרה בלשון צח וכולל יפה ונעים, למען תהיה תורת ה' תמימה שגורה בפי כל איש ישראל, כי כאשר ישאלו לת"ח דבר הלכה לא יגמגם בה אלא יאמר לחכמה אחותי את, כשם שברור לו שאחותו אסורה לו, כך יהיה ברור לו כל דין שישאל עליו הלכה למעשה בהיותו שגור בפיו ספר זה הבנוי לתלפיות תל שהכל פונים בו, לחלקו לחלקים שלשים ללמוד בו בכל יום חלק, ונמצא שבכל חדש הוא חוזר תלמודו ויאמר עליו אשרי מי שבא לכאן ותלמודו בידו.
זאת ועוד, התלמידים הקטנים יהגו בו תמיד וישננו לשונו על פה ותהיה גירסא דינקותא מסודרת בפיהם מקטנותם הלכה למעשה, וגם כי יזקינו לא יסורו ממנו, והמשכילים יזהירו כזוהר הרקיע בהניח להם מעצבם ויגיע כפים ישעשעו נפשם בהגותם בספר זה אשר כולו מחמדים הלכה פסוקה באין אומר ואין דברים.
וקראתי שם ספר זה "שלחן ערוך", כי בו ימצא ההוגה כל מיני מטעמים ערוכים בכל ושמורים סדורים וברורים. ומובטח אני בחסד עליון כי ע"י ספר זה תמלא הארץ דעה את ה' הקטנים עם הגדולים תלמיד עם מבין חכם חרשים ונבון לחש. ובכן אפרוש כפי אל ה' יעזרני על דבר כבוד שמו להיות ממצדיקי הרבים, ויזכני החל וגמור להיות מסודר כהלכתו מתוקן ומקובל וטוב ויפה. והנני מתחיל לעשות כאשר יעדתי וה' יהיה בעזרי.
Get refusers - Severe halachic questions to using a hysteric mob
There have been a number of recent mass demonstrations meant to force a husband to give his wife a get.
One in particular claims it was instigated by Rabbi Chaim Shabes- but no letter or evidence is produced to support this claim.
It is also claimed the husband is required to give a Get when the wife demands one or when a summons to appear in beis din is ignored- both of these claims are clearly false.
Perhaps more problematic is that forcing a get through lynch mob can only produce a get me'usa which is inherently invalid and if the wife subsequently marries - future children are mamzerim. As well as the horrible reality that the woman who remarries is committing adultery
While the people involved, clearly view themselves as righteous but the problem is that they are clearly ignorant of elementary halacha either willfully or because of poor education. Basically they are rebelling against halacha, since they can't get what they want by using the system even if they call themselves rabbis or Divorce experts
I am not claiming that a woman should be chained to a bad marriage. But the solution being used is simply stupid and counterproductive. Dropping an atom bomb because you are upset and feel the other side is morally wrong just doesn't always work.
Rabbis or beis din can not issue a judgment after listening to only one side. Unfortunately in recent years such illegitimate behavior has become more common
Israel-UAE relations & the Abraham Accords are not at risk under Biden
In a Washington Post op-ed, commentator Hugh Hewitt states his concern that President Biden will continue his streak of policy reversals in the Middle East, specifically regarding the peace deals that Trump brokered in his final year in office. But in fact, Biden has consistently supported the Abraham Accords, even during the heat of the presidential campaign. Ian Bremmer and Eurasia Group analysts Jeffrey Wright and Sofia Meranto take out the Red Pen to point out that Hewitt may be overreacting to Biden's recent freeze on a fighter jet deal to the UAE.
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Biden’s Fall Ranks Among The Top Air Force One Gaffes — But It’s Not Number One
Though yesterday’s incident ended with a routine salute, Joe Biden’s triple-trip while scaling the red-carpeted steps to Air Force One was nevertheless roundly scorned, especially by conservative media. Biden was taking a round-trip flight to Atlanta to meet with Asian-American community leaders in the wake of the massage parlor massacre.
Last summer, Vice President Mike Pence had a moment remarkably
similar to President Biden’s upward slip. The former veep was filmed
running, then tripping, up the staircase of Air Force Two. Pence had
almost reached the top of the stairs when he suddenly lunged forward,
using his hands to break his fall. He quickly picked himself up, bounded
up the remaining steps, straightened his jacket and tie, and offered a
wave and a thumbs up before entering the plane.
Rav Kook on women voting
Rav Kook (Page 58 in Judge Elon’s Status of Women): The psychological reason for having women vote and for publicly calling voting by the name of “the right of women” is a consequence of the lowly state of women in the general population in these countries. If the condition of their families were truly tranquil and decent as we find in most of our families – then we would not have the women themselves, nor the academics or ethical authorities or idealists be trying to achieve what they call the “rights of voting for women.” It is something which in fact is likely to ruin the quality of family life. And this destruction of family life must of necessity lead to great destruction in the quality of communities as well as society in general. It is only because of the despair and psychological bitterness that results from the coarse conduct of men that secular family life has been ruined. Thus the secular society decided to try to improve the situation by means of giving more power to the community and to try with this to elevate the broken ruins of the family unit. But they have shown no concern for the negative side-effects and consequences from such a change since they already have so much breakdown in the family unit for other reasons. However, we in contrast have not descended to their lowly existence and we don’t wish to see our sisters in this degraded state. The home for us is even now a bastion of holiness. G‑d forbid that we should degrade the brilliant light that exists in the life of our sisters and to create the possibility of embittering their lives by means of exposing them to the conflicting views and bitter disputes that are connected with the elections and the political issues concerning the nature of the country.
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Basherte means happiness in getting soul-mate?
Vayikra Rabbah (8:1) A Roman lady asked R. Jose b. Halafta: ‘In how many days did the Holy One, blessed be He, create His world?’ He answered: ‘In six days, as it is written, For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, etc.’ (Ex. 31, 17). She asked further: ‘And what has He been doing since that time?’ He answered: ‘He is joining couples proclaiming: "A's wife to be is allotted to A; A's daughter is allotted to B; (So-and-so's wealth is for So-and-so).’’’1 Said she: ‘This is a thing which I, too, am able to do. See how many male slaves and how many female slaves I have; I can make them consort together all at the same time.’ Said he: ‘If in your eyes it is an easy task, it is in His eyes as hard a task as the dividing of the Red Sea.’ He then went away and left her. What did she do? She sent for a thousand male slaves and a thousand female slaves, placed them in rows, and said to them: ‘Male A shall take to wife female B; C shall take D and so on.’ She let them consort together one night. In the morning they came to her; one had a head wounded, another had an eye taken out, another an elbow crushed, another a leg broken; one said: ‘I do not want this one as my husband,’ another said: ‘I do not want this one as my wife.’ Immediately she sent for R. Jose b. Halafta and said to him: ‘Rabbi, your Torah is true, fine and excellent; all you have said was well said.’Said he to her: ‘Have I not told you that if in your eyes it is an easy task, it is in His eyes a task as hard as the dividing of the Red Sea, as it is said, He maketh the solitary to dwell in a house, He bringeth out the prisoners into prosperity-ba-kosharoth (Ps. 68:7)?1 What does "ba-kosharoth" mean?-"Weeping (beki) and singing (shiroth)." He who is pleased with his match utters song, while he who is not pleased weeps. And what does God do when bringing about matches? He pairs them together despite themselves, without their good will.’
What is sarrah?
I have have posted a discussion where Rav Moshe is asked whether a woman can be a masgiach.
The main problem is that the Rambam says women can not have Sarrah i.e. authority over others to tell them do do things they don't want to do.
Just came across a Rashi(Sanhedrin 16a where he states that a nasi and Cohen Gadol have Sarrah
He seems to be that they have status. Thus any status- even without authority should be problematic e.g.wife
רש"י מסכת סנהדרין דף טז עמוד א
דבריו של גדול - דינו של בעל שררה, כגון נשיא וכהן גדול.
Friday, March 19, 2021
Orthodox groups criticize 2 rabbis annulling marriages
https://www.jweekly.com/1998/11/27/orthodox-groups-criticize-2-rabbis-annulling-marriages/
Rackman and Morgenstern, in interviews, said they annul marriages according to halachah, Jewish law, following formulas employed by great Orthodox rabbis of the past, including Rabbis Isaac Elchanan, Moshe Feinstein and Eliyahu Klotzkin.
The Rackman-Morgenstern solution relies in part on the theory that abusive husbands suffer from mental illness, a position that the fervently religious Agudath Israel of America disputes.
One of those is Rabbi Mordecai Tendler, a respected religious leader in the Orthodox enclave of Monsey, N.Y.
He told JTA that he has annulled hundreds of marriages over the last 30 years.
He applies the criteria mapped out by his grandfather, the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, who "freed" women whose husbands refused to grant them a Jewish divorce if the wedding itself was not Orthodox or if there had been some technical flaw in the ceremony.
He said he annuls a marriage under these circumstances only a couple of times a year and after months of research.
Rackman and Morgenstern, unlike others, will dissolve the union if a problem like abusiveness, which was not well established before the wedding, becomes apparent after the marriage.
"We can be much more liberal in our interpretation of conditions that would warrant annulment because of our deeper understanding of the problems of mental health than Rabbi Feinstein could have possessed," Rackman said.