Ramban (Shemos 20:3) The verse here thus states that excepting the Eternal only, we are not to have others as gods, neither from all the angels above nor from all the host of heaven who are called elohim. This is something like that which is said, he that sacrificeth ‘la’elohim’ (unto the gods) save unto the Eternal only, shall be utterly destroyed.. It is thus a prohibition against believing in any of these beings, accepting them as gods, or saying to them, “thou art my god. This is also the opinion of Onkelos, who translated: “[thou shalt have no] other gods excepting Me....” Thus the purport of the verse here is: “Do not make other gods unto yourselves, for I am present with you always and see you in private and in public.”
Sunday, September 11, 2022
Orthodox Leaders Warn NY Times Against Publishing ‘False and Defamatory’ Article About Yeshivas
According to a summary of the article emailed by the Times reporters to the yeshivas and obtained by Hamodia, the article will allege that “students in these schools are deprived of [secular] education unlike students anywhere else in New York,” that students are these yeshivas perform poorly on standardized tests, the schools receive “enormous sums of public money,” and that “many religion teachers use severe corporal punishment.”
The Plot Against Jewish Education
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/plot-against-hasidic-education-new-york-times
All of which should lead us to what ought to be the crux of this and any other conversation about education—which is what, precisely, is its ultimate goal. Education is a means to an end; what, then, do we want our well-educated children to be?
Ukrainian forces enter key city of Izium in a sign Kyiv's new offensive is working
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/10/europe/ukraine-kharkiv-advances-intl-hnk/index.html
When Ukrainian forces entered the city of Izium Saturday, it was more than a major military victory. It was a sign the war in Ukraine might be entering a new phase, one in which Russian troops are scrambling to hold onto the territory they captured over the past six months.
Russian forces were forced to flee the strategic eastern city just five days after Ukrainian forces began a new offensive eastward through the Kharkiv region.
"Russians escaped and left weapons and ammo behind. City center is free," a spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement Saturday afternoon.
Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Mocked as Ukrainians Force Russia to Retreat
https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-host-tucker-carlson-mocked-ukrainians-force-russia-retreat-1741805
News that the Ukrainian military had forced Russian combatants to retreat from major strategic holds near Kharkiv on Saturday led to widespread celebration online. Some, including activists and politicians, also took the opportunity to lambast Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his past support of the Russian invasion effort.
Saturday, September 10, 2022
Tamar Epstein: is a godol the same as two kosher witnesses?
One of the critical unanswered questions is who is the halachic authority behind the heter? Rabbi Greenblatt has acknowledged that he was the mesader kiddushin but he says he relied on a heter to remarry without a get from GEDOLIM - that he refuses to name because of the chilul haShem.
I propose that the heter is from Rabbi Greenblatt himself - though I assume he found some rabbis who agreed to his ruling.
Support for this conjecture is the rather strange fact that Tamar and her new husband went to Memphis for the wedding - but neither of them is from Memphis and they haven't lived there. Now why would two busy people from New York and Philadelphia go to Memphis for a wedding - it can't be because it was convenient for their friends and family - most of whom don't live there.
While it could be argued that at the age of 90, Rabbi Greenblatt would be seriously inconvenienced to go to New York - it doesn't explain why he was mesader kiddushin. After all, Rav Shmuel as well as Rav Sholom know how to perform a marriage - so why didn't they? In fact there is no lack of rabbis who could have done it and have more connection to the family.
The simply and obvious answer is that Rabbi Greenblatt was mesader kiddushin because he was the one who gave the heter to remarry. However that doesn't explain why he had to personally marry them - couldn't he simply give the heter and let some other rabbis be mesader kiddushin?
The logic of the conjecture is that the heter of Rabbi Greenblatt rests strongly on his authority as a posek - not on his servora. Obviously he is relying on his understanding of the rulings of Rav Moshe Feinstein - but that is subject dispute. Any rabbi can claim that he is based on Rav Moshe - such as Rabbi Rackman did - but it simply wasn't accepted. Rabbi Greenblatt needed some basis of authority above the claim that this was Reb Moshe's psak.
The critical fact - that as he himself has noted - that while he is not a world class posek he is clearly moreh d'asra. Furthermore in his part of the country he is viewed as the highest posek. So just as the Sanhedrin had no authority when it left its chambers - Rabbi Greenblatt views his authority to posken on this issue dependent on being in Memphis.
In sum, I conjecture that the foundation of the heter to marry is from Rabbi Greenblat. The authority comes from his status as posek not only of Memphis but of the South. As such he doesn't feel a need to justify himself since most frum Jews in that part of the country have accepted him as the highest authority - without the need for explanation. Thus the Shach (Y.D. 242) that requires explanation when giving a seemingly strange psak -is taken care of. That is only when the psak will be questioned. Rabbi Greenblatt is not questioned in the South
Tamar Epstein needed to go to Memphis to be included in his halachic community - which she did. He needed to be Mesader Kiddushin to clearly establish that this was his psak and thus protect her - at least in the South - from criticism.
At the same time he was telling the truth that he was relying on other gedolim. He relied entirely on the Kaminetsky's to tell him that Aharon Friedman had some serious blemish that was unknown before the marriage, clearly manifested itself after marriage, was something that most women could not accept and that she left him as soon as she was informed of this "fact". He was also relying on the gadol - Rav Moshe Feinstein - for the concept of Mekach Ta'os. Finally I assume there were at least two other major poskim who agreed to his psak. Taken together, he did in fact rely on other gedolim which he refused to name. BUT HE IS THE SOURCE OF THE HETER!
An interesting question arises from this conjecture, according to Rabbi Greenblatt - is Tamar's marriage only valid as long as she remains in Memphis? This is similar to Rav Goren's ruling that certain gerim were only Jews as long as they were living in Israel.
However even if the above analysis is correct, there still remains one insurmountable barrier to the validity of the heter. The heter is only valid if and only if Aharon Friedman has very serious mental health issues that existed prior to the marriage and that Tamar Epstein was unaware of. It is only valid if this mental health disorder manifested itself after the wedding to such a degree that most women could not live with it. This is obviously what the Kaminetsky's had to have told Rabbi Greenblatt - since he never spoke with Aharon Friedman. But the claim of serious mental health issues is simply not true - IT IS A LIE - as I can testify from speaking with Aharon Friedman personally and the complete absence of any mention of such in Tamar Epstein's diary listing his faults.
Rabbi Greenblatt clearly was naive and irresponsible in not investigating Aharon Friedman's mental state. As a minimum he should have spoken with him and he should have insisted on an independent expert to evaluate him - but he didn't. Thus even if Rabbi Greenblatt has the authority to give a heter - since it is based on false information - it is invalid and Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman.
However even if the above analysis is correct, there still remains one insurmountable barrier to the validity of the heter. The heter is only valid if and only if Aharon Friedman has very serious mental health issues that existed prior to the marriage and that Tamar Epstein was unaware of. It is only valid if this mental health disorder manifested itself after the wedding to such a degree that most women could not live with it. This is obviously what the Kaminetsky's had to have told Rabbi Greenblatt - since he never spoke with Aharon Friedman. But the claim of serious mental health issues is simply not true - IT IS A LIE - as I can testify from speaking with Aharon Friedman personally and the complete absence of any mention of such in Tamar Epstein's diary listing his faults.
Rabbi Greenblatt clearly was naive and irresponsible in not investigating Aharon Friedman's mental state. As a minimum he should have spoken with him and he should have insisted on an independent expert to evaluate him - but he didn't. Thus even if Rabbi Greenblatt has the authority to give a heter - since it is based on false information - it is invalid and Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman.
I welcome evidence that either confirms or refutes the above conjecture - but it does explain Rabbi Greenblatt's reasoning as to why Tamar could marry without a GET.
Trump, DOJ tangle over 'special master' to review seized Mar-a-Lago documents
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/09/trump-special-master-doj-mar-a-lago-documents-00056015
Prosecutors have said if she does not act by Thursday on their request to essentially carve out the potentially classified documents from the special master review, they plan to take their request to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit. The Justice Department has also asked Cannon to lift the portion of her Monday order that temporarily bars investigators from reviewing documents that contain potential national-security secrets.
Mamzer
Deuteronomy 23:3 לֹא־יָבֹ֥א מַמְזֵ֖ר בִּקְהַ֣ל יְהֹוָ֑ה גַּ֚ם דּ֣וֹר עֲשִׂירִ֔י לֹא־יָ֥בֹא ל֖וֹ בִּקְהַ֥ל יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}
No one misbegotten shall be admitted into the congregation of יהוה; no descendant of such, even in the tenth generation, shall be admitted into the congregation of יהוה.
Kiddushin 71a:2
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי כֶּסֶף מְטַהֵר מַמְזֵרִים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיֵּשֶׁב מְצָרֵף וּמְטַהֵר כֶּסֶף מַאי מַגִּישֵׁי מִנְחָה בִּצְדָקָה אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק צְדָקָה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמִּשְׁפָּחָה שֶׁנִּטְמְעָה נִטְמְעָה
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Money purifies mamzerim. Money causes rich mamzerim to become assimilated with Jews of unflawed lineage, since other families marry them despite their flawed lineage. In the future, God will not single them out as mamzerim, as it is stated: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,” which teaches that money, i.e., silver, purifies them.
Chizkuni, Deuteronomy 23:3:1-2
לא יבא ממזר הואיל ונשרש בעבירה כמו כרת יפסל הוא וזרעו. ממזר שנולד ממי שהוא זר אצל אמו.
'לא יבא ממזר בקהל ה, “a bastard must not marry a Jewish woman;” seeing that he is a product of a union punishable by extinction of its seed, what point is there in such a male impregnating a Jewish woman with his seed? The definition of a mamzer from the root זר, alien, is someone whose mother was out of bounds to the male who had impregnated her.
Mishneh Torah, Forbidden Intercourse 15:7-13
מַמְזֵר מֻתָּר לִשָּׂא גִּיֹּרֶת. וְכֵן הַמַּמְזֶרֶת מֻתֶּרֶת לְגֵר. וְהַבָּנִים מִשְּׁנֵיהֶם מַמְזֵרִים שֶׁהַוָּלָד הוֹלֵךְ אַחַר הַפָּגוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כג ג) "בִּקְהַל ה'" וּקְהַל גֵּרִים אֵינוֹ קָרוּי (דברים כג ג) "קְהַל ה'": גִּיֹּרֶת שֶׁנִּשֵּׂאת לְגֵר וְהוֹלִידוּ בֵּן אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוֹרָתוֹ וְלֵדָתוֹ בִּקְדֻשָּׁה הֲרֵי זֶה מֻתָּר בְּמַמְזֶרֶת. וְכֵן בֶּן בֶּן בְּנוֹ עַד שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּקַּע שֵׁם גֵּרוּתוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ וְלֹא יִוָּדַע שֶׁהוּא גֵּר וְאַחַר כָּךְ יֵאָסֵר בְּמַמְזֶרֶת. וְאֶחָד הַגֵּרִים וְאֶחָד הָעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִין דִּין אֶחָד לְכֻלָּן: …
7. A mamzer may marry a female convert and a female mamzer may marry a male convert, the offspring of both relationships are mamzerim. For the status of the offspring follows that of the blemished one. [The license for such a marriage is derived from] the verse: "[A mamzer shall not enter] God's congregation." (Deut. 23:3) The congregation of converts is not considered as "God's congregation." (ibid) 8. When a female convert marries a male convert and gives birth to a son, he is permitted to marry a female mamzer even though he was both conceived and born in holiness…
Chagigah 9a:5
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן מְנַסְּיָיא אוֹמֵר: אֵיזֶהוּ מְעֻוּוֹת שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהִתָּקֵן? זֶה הַבָּא עַל הָעֶרְוָה וְהוֹלִיד מִמֶּנָּה מַמְזֵר. אִם תֹּאמַר בְּגוֹנֵב וְגוֹזֵל — יָכוֹל הוּא לְהַחְזִירוֹ, וִיתַקֵּן.
Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Who is the crooked that cannot be made straight? This verse is referring to one who engaged in intercourse with a woman forbidden to him and fathered a mamzer with her. This individual is unable to rectify his sin, because the status of the illegitimate child is permanent. And if you say that it is referring to one who steals or robs, although he is crooked he can return what he stole and in this manner his sin will be rectified.
MESORAS RAV MOSHE
https://mishpacha.com/mesoras-rav-moshe-rav-michel-shurkin-shares-an-insiders-view/
Another factor at work in every psak from Rav Moshe was his insistence on knowing all of the facts before ruling on a matter. He would quote from the Gra, who derived from two teachings of Chazal that it’s not enough for a rav to know the halachos in Shulchan Aruch clearly; he must also know the pertinent facts.
GOP Congressman Gives 1/6 Rioter Flag Flown Over Capitol, Calls Her 'Hero'
The congressman's decision to honor Gold following her release received criticism on social media. Responding to a photo of Gohmert presenting the American flag to Gold, Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and a member of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot tweeted on Saturday: "This is sick."
LOSERS TAKE ALL
https://mishpacha.com/losers-take-all/
As January 6 approached, processions of horn-blaring pickup trucks began riding by his home, bearing MAGA flags and digital signs accusing him of vile crimes. Inside his home, his daughter Kacey was bedridden, terminally ill with liver failure. “She would get emotional and say, ‘What are they doing out there?’” he remembers. She died three weeks later.
So, I thank Rusty Bowers, a Mormon, for exemplifying a quintessentially Jewish idea — that it can be a high honor to be a loser, because there are noble things that are well worth losing over, indeed, even dying for.
US Supreme Court allows Yeshiva University to bar LGBTQ student club
The US Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling requiring Yeshiva University in New York City to recognize a campus LGBTQ pride group.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted an emergency request on Friday filed last week by the modern Orthodox university that cited its rights under the First Amendment, which protects the free exercise of religion. The university argued that such recognition would be contrary to its beliefs.
The decision puts on hold a ruling issued by a New York state judge in June that the school must recognize the group. It comes amid a lengthy legal battle between the university and an LGBTQ Pride Alliance Club hinging on whether the university is a religious or secular institution.
Friday, September 9, 2022
Israel Will Cover ‘Voice Surgery’ for Transgender People
https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/israel-will-cover-voice-surgery-for-transgender-people/
Biology can be a nuisance for transgender people. For instance, it is an inconvenient truth that biological males and females sound different, have different tones of voice.
Modern medicine can help with that, but it’s expensive. The State of Israel thinks its taxpayers should cover the cost.
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