Jerusalem rabbi arrested for sexual offenses against minors

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-754542

According to reports, the suspect is in his 50s and is a rabbi. His remand was extended while the investigations continue.

The rabbi has allegedly committed sexual offenses against minors in several different cases over a period of years.

POLITICS House Republicans are furious about Hunter Biden special counsel

 https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/11/house-republicans-furious-about-hunter-biden-special-counsel.html

 After more than two years of demanding that the Justice Department appoint a special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden, Republicans in Congress finally got their wish on Friday. And they were furious.

The new twist in Hunter Biden’s case is a huge political headache for his father

 https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/11/politics/hunter-biden-investigation-joe-biden/index.html

Given that Republicans have been calling for a special counsel for months, they might have been expected to celebrate Friday’s bombshell announcement.

But top GOP lawmakers immediately launched a flurry of attacks on Weiss, despite the fact that he was first appointed under Trump, claiming that far from insulating the case from political influence, his appointment as a special counsel was an attempt at a cover up. The GOP has turned against Weiss because he has not substantiated their evidence-free claims that Joe Biden conspired with his son to enrich their family while he was vice president and they also claim that the plea deal originally offered to Hunter Biden was a “sweetheart” agreement.

Republicans Wanted a Special Counsel Investigation of Hunter Biden. Now Many Oppose It.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/12/us/politics/republicans-hunter-biden-special-counsel.html

Although some G.O.P. lawmakers see the appointment of David C. Weiss as a vindication of their strategy, others criticize the now-scuttled plea deal he struck with Mr. Biden.

Republican fantasy Hunter Biden's crimes - Mishpacha Magazine expose!

 https://mishpacha.com/the-hunter-scorecard/

Hunter Biden has proven the most fecund source of scandals of anyone in recent memory. Or at least, he should be — if not for all the major American institutions that have been caught trying to cover his tracks. The Department of Justice (DOJ), the FBI and CIA, the US intelligence community, the mainstream media — all of these formerly trusted entities have seen their image tarnished in the eyes of the public with the revelations of Hunter’s wrongdoing.

5th Circuit deals blow to federal gun statute used in Hunter Biden case

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/fifth-circuit-deals-blow-federal-gun-statute-used-hunter-biden-case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Wednesday voided a federal law that prevents unlawful drug users from possessing firearms.

The statute, 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3), bars anyone who is an "unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance," including marijuana, from possessing a gun. Violators can face up to 10 years in prison. However, a three-judge panel, citing the Supreme Court's landmark gun rights decision last year, unanimously found the statute unconstitutional as applied to defendant Patrick Daniels. 

The Musar Practices of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

 https://shiurim.yutorah.net/2017/1053/879959.pdf

Heshbon ha-nefesh, an “accounting of the soul,” is another classic musar practice. In its general form, the practice consists of setting aside a portion of one’s day to critically consider one’s way of living. The idea of such an accounting has ancient Jewish roots. In Avot (2:1), the mishnah already cautions us to “reckon (hevei meh.ashev) the loss incurred through doing a mitzvah against its benefit, and the benefit of a transgression (averah) against its loss.” A similar admonition appears in Berakhot (5a): “Said Rava or perhaps Rav H. isda: If a person sees suffering coming upon him, he should examine his deeds.” R. Moshe Hayyim Luzzato (Ramh.al), writing in the early eighteenth century, places great emphasis on the needto make such an accounting daily.26 Shortly thereafter, R. Mendel Lefin, the religious maskil from Podolia,wrote a work titled Heshbon ha-Nefesh outlining a program for such an accounting. 27 R. Lefin’s curriculum consisted of a weekly rotation of thirteen character traits, with each practiced in total for four weeks per year. These were of necessity to vary according to the needs of the individual.28 Interestingly, R. Lefin apparently based his system on an identical program of character development advanced by Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) in his autobiography.29

Rav Yisroel Salanter: Relationship of Musar Movement & Haskala - Rabbi Hillel Goldberg

I have discussed a number of times the Seridei Aish's assertion that the Musar Movement was a frum haskala.  The clearest exposition of this idea, however, is found in the following analysis excerpted from the writings of Rabbi Dr. Hillel Goldberg. There is much more and it is worth while reading his conjectures on the matter. As he acknowledges there is very little documentary evidence or oral traditions describing what Rav Salanter was doing in Europe and what his actual plans were to revitalize European Jewry.

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Rabbi Hillel Goldberg (Between Berlin and Slobodka - Rav Yisroel Salanter chapter III):

It is critical to distinguish between Rabbi Israel’s opposition to Haskala (“Enlightenment”) as it was constituted in Jewish circles in Vilna and Kovno and his attitude toward it in principle. The modernization of East European Jewery went through a pronounced assimilatory phase in the 1840s and 1850s, according to which Jewish lanagues and customs were not to be complemented but replaced by Russian language, religion or culture. Lithuanian Haskalah seemed particularly dangerous to Rabbi Israel since its emphasis on secular study, not in tandem with but in opposition to Talmud study, could be especially compelling in a cultural environment readily inclined to use of the mind. The Musar Movement, with its emphasis on knowing and transforming the psyche, was an attempt to ground the Lithuanian inclination to intellection solidly in the will, such that the respective allure of secular and religious study would be unevenly matched. On the one side would be the cultural and economic advantages of secular study. On the other side would be the integrated religious personality. His commitment to talmudic study and custom would encompass but also reach below his intellect into what Rabbi Israel conceived to be the more powerful, determinative unconscious, or will, able to resist an allure that, whatever its intrinsic merits, entailed the abandonment of Jewish study, custom, and community.

Rabbi Israel’s estimate of the intrinsic merits of Haskalah was clouded by his fierce opposition to it in Vilna and Kovno, yet a positive estimate contributed to his early successes there. In a traditional society breaking down, the endeavor to preserve it has a better chance of success if some of the corrosive forces acting on it can be accepted as consonant, on a profound level, with the tradition that, on the manifest level, they attack. It was the differentiated vision of this kind that Rabbi Israel’s seemingly blind opposition to Haskalah was masked, for Rabbi Israel sought to raise to the consciousness of traditional Lithuanian Jewry certain tendencies of Haskalah that bathed in light forgotten segments of tradition, while staunchly attacking Haskalah generally on account of its assimilatory impulse. Haskalah’s humanistic stress on individual development and its pungent critique of ethical laxity in the community – these were precisely the segments of tradition that Rabbi Israel’s own Musar studies had irradiated and that he worked to propagate. And yet, Haskalah, notwithstanding its merits, could not be countenanced.

It was the explosion of this unstable tension that took Rabbi Israel’s fourth oscillation – between working with masses and working with an elite – to extremity: leaving Eastern Europe altogether. The positive evaluation of Haskalah, even if only partial, could not forever be hidden if it was precisely the Musar teachings of Rabbi Israel that dovetailed with the positive aspects of Haskalah. And yet, Haskalah could not be praised – and yet, it was increasingly victorious in the struggle for Lithuanina Jewry, so its positive elements could not wisely be hidden.A vicious circel – especially since any praise of Haskalah would destroy Rabbi Israel’s credibility in the Orthodox rabbincal community. Impasse.

A way out was to turn to a culture in which individual elements of Haskalah could be praised against a background on which the essential failure of Haskalah could be presumed. Rabbi Israel explained his unexpected decision to remain in Western Europe (to which he had traveled temporarily in 1857 for medical treatment) with a parable.

When horses panic on a mountaintop and begin to gallop downhill, they cannot be restrained. Whoever tries to halt them will endanger his life; the horses will surely trample him. Once the horses have reached level ground, however, it is possible to bridle them, to bring them under control. So it is with rejuvenation of Judaism. In Russia, the large Jewish communities gallop on a downward spiritual slope; it is impossible to bring them to order. But the German communities have been on level ground for some time; it is possible to halt them, to restore them.

Rav Shwadron: Yeshivos are hashchasa!- the problem of institutional learning

A number of years ago, Rav Shwadron visited Monsey. My brother came to him with a problem. A video store had just opened in Monsey and it obviously was a serious threat to the spirituality of the community. When my brother told him the problem he didn't seem to be upset. My brother thought perhaps he didn't understand what a video store was - so he explained it to him. "Video stores are hashchasa - they cause spiritual destruction." Rav Shwadron replied, "Video stores are hashchasa? - yeshivos are hashchasa!"

Obviously Rav Shwadron who was a product and supporter of yeshivos didn't mean that a yeshiva is no different than a video store. However he obviously was bothered by a negative aspect of yeshivos. In this he was not alone.

Rav Hutner  seemed to have a similar concern. In a drasha in the back of the Pachad Yitzchok for Shavuos is the presentation he gave at a conference on education. To paraphrase:

 We Jews are very proud of our educational institutions. We take pride that when the European were primitive barbarians we were a cultured and educated people. However we should realize that the institutional education of yeshivos was only plan B. It was instituted by Chazal at a time when plan A wasn't working. Plan A was that fathers and the home were to provide the Jewish education. When the home environment became corrupt by secular culture and values - the children were taken from the home and educated in an isolated environment. However that doesn't change the fact that the yeshiva is plan B - and that ideally the home should do the education.

I was also told that Rav Hutner said - in Sedom there was bed that guests were invited to use. However if the guest was too short he was stretched to fit the bed and if he was too long is feet were chopped off. We have a similar process called yeshiva education - but if the child doesn't fit we don't chop off the feet - we chop off the head.

A conversation with Rav Sternbuch about the recent reports about Chareidi extremists

I met with Rav Moshe Sternbuch yesterday afternoon. In the course of discussion I asked about the newspaper reports about chareidi violence and why it wasn't being condemned. He dismissed the issue as being the result of the newspapers looking for a story. He noted that the actual number of victims has been very small - including 1 case of a girl being spat upon - and that the perpetrators were a small number of fringe elements that do not have the approval or encouragement of the chareidi community. He did not see a need for a public comment for something which is obviously wrong and for which there is no justification for blaming the community. His gabbai also mentioned that the police have arrested a number of chareidim without solid evidence in attempt to "get" the chareidim.

I was also requested to ask him about the case of frum people who go skiing and let others use their passes - something which constitutes theft. Is it permitted to daven in a minyan with them. Rav Sternbuch said that if the people don't view it as theft then they still can be counted for a minyan. He mentioned a Rabbi Akiva Eiger who said that people who shave with a razor - yet think it is permitted - can be counted in a minayn.

Rav Kook supports Argentine rabbis' measures against insincere conversions

Rav Kook(Daas Cohen Y.D. #154): [Written to the rabbis of Argentina] Even though the halacha is that those who convert for ulterior motives are valid gerim (Yevamos 24b) and this includes a man who converts for the sake of a woman and a woman who converts for the sake of a man, it appears from Tosfos (Chullin 3b) and Yevamos (24b) that this is only if the conversion involves a full commitment to keeping the mitzvos. But if the conversion is not complete –meaning without full observance of the mitzvos and also the motivation was not proper – then they are worse then regular lion‑converts that are mentioned there in a braissa. There is one opinion that these lion‑converts are genuine gerim but they are like the Kusim because according to the view that they are lion‑converts they are considered according to the halacha as total non‑Jews because there are two problems. 1) the conversion was not for the sake of Heaven 2) they don’t fully observe the mitzvos because as a minimum they worship idols through shituf as is learned from the verse “and yet they still worship their gods.” The language of Tosfos in Chullin is that they didn’t convert completely and thus it was not only idolatry that they violated. Thus in any case where the mitzvos are not observed properly and the motivation wasn’t proper – then there is no conversion at all. We see this in the language of the Rambam and Shulchan Aruch (Y.D. 248) that a person who converts for ulterior motivation, we are concerned about him until his righteousness is established. In other words if we see that he is not conducting himself properly according to the halacha and he had ulterior motivation for conversion – this is not considered complete conversion. In fact by accepting a ger who is not going to be observant, we transgress the prohibition of placing a stumbling block before the blind in any case. For if we say that the conversion is not valid even bedieved and yet we accepted them – then that causes problems for society because they are treating non‑Jews as Jews. How many snares and destructions results from that – especially concerning kiddushin, gittin and yibum. The Jewish husband will mistakenly view their son as his son and if he has a Jewish wife afterwards and he dies without other children, his wife will be mistakenly allowed to remarry without chalitza even if he has a brother. There are many other harmful cases that can result. On the other hand if they are truly gerim then bedieved they are fully obligated to keep the entire Torah. Then the beis din causes the gerim problems because they are now obligated in punishment because of all the Torah prohibitions they are violating. Prior to conversion they were not obligated and not punished for transgressing the Torah. We see this in Yevamos (47a) that we are to instruct the candidate for conversion the punishment for not keeping the mitzvos. We tell him , “you should know that before you came to convert, if you ate chelev fat there was no punishment of kares. If you transgressed Shabbos you would not be punished with stoning. However once you convert , eating chelev fat is punishable with kares and profaning Shabbos is punished with stoning. Thus we see that we are commanded about lifnei ivair (placing a stumbling block before the blind – even for non‑Jews. This is stated in Avoda Zara (6b): How do you know that you should not offer a limb from a living animal to a non‑Jew? Because the Torah says “do not place a stumbling block before the blind.” And it is a kal v’chomer concerning our case because he causes him to be have a great obligation as a Jew and he will be punished for his transgressions of the Torah. Therefore it is wonderful what you and the other holy rabbis [of Argentina] have done in making and strengthening the boundaries in Argentina where there is a great breakdown in the walls and there is a great number of gerim who are not sincere – and you have decided not to accept gerim at all. Whoever genuinely wants to attach themselves to the holy Jewish people should come to Israel where they will carefully be evaluated by the Jewish courts. Only those who are genuinely committed to converting for the sake of Heaven and will be fully observant - will be accepted…

The Ugly Chareidim & their Frightened Leaders

It is time to point out the obvious - the chareidim collectively are being viewed as vile, disgusting creatures. There are those who claim that it is because of the biased and hateful media while others say the odious behavior is obviously done by a bunch of extreme nuts in Israel. But after reading the embarrassing defense of chareidi idiots by so called moderate voices and after hearing the deafening silence of the leadership - (a press release of the Aguda & RCA is not sufficient) - there is a deeper problem which can't be blamed on others.

There has been a collective amnesia in the Chareidi world that we live in Golus. There is a further problem of Chareidi insisting on their so-called "rights" even when it severely offends everyone else. They have collectively forgotten that their main purpose is to create kiddush hashem and minimize chilul hashem. I have heard that since the Beit Shemesh activity and the fight for gender separation on public buses - there has been a significant drop in attendence at Arachim kiruv conferences. There has apparently been a drop of enrollment in schools by secular Jews who were attracted to the positive elements of religion.

The arrogance and distain that exists in religious circles literally scares not only the secular Jews but it also frightens the so called normal observant Jews. There is simply no leadership to stand up to religious coercion within the Charedei ranks. One gadol said, "Everyone knows that these activities are from the extremists so the majority are not being blamed. Everybody knows that these elements won't respond to criticism. So what is the benefit of protesting?"

The answer is simply - it is to reassure the rest of the world that the worst fears of the secular Jew about us are not true.  This fear is a tremendous chilul  hashem. It is not enough to call for the 99% of charedi to protest.

IT IS TIME FOR EVERY SINGLE LEADER TO SPEAK UP DIRECTLY. But sadly they are afraid.


Update: On my way to Boro Park for Shabbos, I was stopped in the Atlantic Avenue subway station by a goy who said he was from Trinidad. He said, "Do you know what is going on in Israel? Did you see the report from CNN? I know that you Jews treat women in a dignified fashion - but why are they forcing women to sit in the back of the bus? "

Is assisted martyrdom - desirable or is it murder?

Maharam M’Rothenberg(2:59): Question: During the massacre of the Jews in Koplinsh a man’s wife and 4 sons begged him to kill them to save them from falling into the hands of the mob. He did so and then also tried to kill himself but was prevented by others. He wants to know whether he needs to atone for killing his family? Answer: I don’t have a clear legal answer to this question. On the one hand, the gemora clearly indicates that it is permitted to take one’s own life to sanctify G‑d’s name… but to kill others it is not clear what the halachic basis is to permit such a thing… Nevertheless, it is obvious that it is permitted since we have heard about many great sages who martyred their sons and daughters [to save them from the Crusaders]. … Whoever would require atonement in these cases is slandering our pious ancestors. Since his motivation was love of his Creator and those he killed were his beloved family and they begged him to do it, …there is no basis to require atonement.

Daas Zekenim of Baalei Tosfos(Bereishis 9:4): And surely your blood of your lives will I require… - This is a prohibition against committing suicide. Bereishis Rabbah asks, “You might mistakenly think that this prohibition applies to cases such as Chananiya, Mishael and Azariah – therefore it says “ach” (and surely). That means that you might think that even in this case where people are dying to glorify G‑d’s name that one is not allowed to bring about one’s death - even if he is afraid he cannot withstand the pressure to violate the Torah. Therefore the Torah says ‘ach’ to teach that in times of pressure to violate the Torah - that it is permitted to commit suicide. Similarly concerning Shaul who committed suicide to avoid being tortured – an exception is made to allow suicide in such cases where a person doesn’t think he can withstand the torture. This analysis is used to justify killing children during times of religious persecution to make sure they are not converted...

Daas Zekenim of Baalei Tosfos (Bereishis 9:4): And surely your blood of your lives will I require However there are other authorities who prohibit suicide and killing. They say you might mistakenly think that martyrdom is only permitted in the case of Chananel Mishael and Azariah because they were already sentenced to death – therefore the verse says ‘ach’ that one can refuse compliance with demands to violate halacha and thus bring about death - even if not already sentenced to death. But in any event one can never commit suicide. One can only bring about one’s death at the hands of others for not complying with demands to violate halacha. You might mistakenly think that an exception is made in a case such as Shaul who committed suicide to avoid severe torture. Therefore the Torah says ‘ach’ to say that there is absolute no situation where suicide is permitted and in fact the Sages disapproved Shaul’s suicide. There was an incident where a rabbi killed many children during the Crusades because he was afraid that they would be forced to convert. There was another rabbi with him who was extremely angry at him for doing so and called him a murderer but the first rabbi ignored him. The second rabbi told him, that if his view not to kill the children were correct then the first rabbi would die a horrible death. And thus it was. The first rabbi was captured by the Crusaders and they flayed his skin and placed sand between his skin and his flesh. In addition the decree to convert was nullified and if the first rabbi hadn’t killed the children they would not have been pressured to convert.

Maharal:Jews are less likely to change from moral chastisement than goyim

Maharal(Netzach Yisroel 14) I have already explained with clear proofs that the soul is the dominate factor in the nature of the Jew. For example, being stiff necked is one of the bad qualities that Jews have. Practically speaking that means that Jews refuse to accept chastisement and will not listen to corrective advise. This is in fact because they are not essential materialistic. Only something which is materialistic is readily altered. Consequently Jews are very resistant to change and will not accept the advice of others. Furthermore the (Beitza 25b) states that they are the most aggressive and pushy people. That is because they have the power associated with being the defining figure that is separate and distinct from the readily altered material. In contrast the non‑Jews readily change their ways and readily accept correction. The Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 11:5) therefore explains that Yonah did not want to go on a mission to Nineveh because he knew that this people would readily repent after hearing his chastisement. This would reflect badly on the Jews who stubbornly resisted repenting…

Shemos Rabbah(42:9): What is meant by saying that the Jews are a stiff‑necked people (Shemos 32:9)? R. Judah b. Poloyah said: They deserve to be beheaded. R. Jakim said: There are three who are inherently arrogant and overly self‑confident. The dog amongst animals, the rooster amongst birds, and the Jews amongst the nations. R. Yitzchok b. Redifa said in the name of R. Ammi: You think that this is said disparagingly, but it is really a praise. It means that a Jew will more readily be hanged then give up Judaism. R. Abin said: To this very day Israelites in the Diaspora are called the stiff‑necked people. R. Nahmani said: To prove to you that they are stiff‑necked, you should note that when G‑d was about to give them the Torah it says, On the morning of the third day, there were thunder and lightning and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and the sound of a very loud shofar (Shemos 14:16). G‑d said: ‘I will show them all My miracles, and I only hope that it will be of some purpose.’