Tamar Epstein's Heter: R Shalom Kaminetsky's letter asking for the heter and Rav Nota Greenblatt's teshuva giving the heter

 update: added transcript of Rav Greenblatt's psak

I received the letters of R Shalom Kaminetsky and Rav Greenblatt with permission to publish them. They are not the sharpest copies but ocr doesn't work.  There apparently are a number of different versions. Will publish the variations as I receive them.

I just received a set of letters from a different source today with full unconditional permission to publish them -  so I will be publishing them without the disclaimer required from the first person. The first person also said he could not send the letters from Rav Greenblatt while the second person could.

 It is clear from these letters that R Shalom Kaminetsky was shopping for a heter of mekach ta'os as requested by Tamar Epstein. It is also clear that Rav Greenblatt accepted without question what he was told were the facts of the case and he agreed to give a heter of mekach ta'os. There were no conditions - despite what Rav Greenblatt wrote last week in the letter I published (It is the last letter in this posting).

This letter of R Shalom Kaminetsky also makes an anonymous claim that Aharon was not only mentally ill but had threatened a girl that he had been engaged to before Tamar. Anyone who knows Aharon will realize the claim is a lie. He is not violent nor has he been violent. In all the years this divorce has been in beis din and courts and the public media - there has never been a claim that he is violent. They should have added that he steals candy from babies and throws old ladies down the steps for entertainment. The level that the Kaminetsky's and Tamar's allies stooped is really sickening.

Letters  of Rav Shalom Kaminetsky claiming Aharon is incurablely severely mentally ill and asking for a heter of mekach ta'os

Letters of Rav Nota Greenblatt accepting as fact what Rav Shalom Kaminetsky said and giving a heter for Tamar to remarry without a Get

Transcript of Rav Greenblatt's letter above

  

כ"ו תמוז תשע"ג

לכבוד הרב הגאון מגדולי מרביצי תורה מוהר"ר שלום קמנצקי שליט"א

ע"ד העגונה מרת תמר אסתר שתחי' שיושבת כן כה' שנים אחר שהרופאים החליטו שאין תרופה למחלת רוח של בעלה ומיד התחילה לעזבו ולעבור לבית אמה והבעל מסרב לתת לה גט עד עתה וכבוד אבי כת"ר הגאון שליט"א רוצה לדעת חות דעתי אם אפשר להתירה לינשא בלא גט משום דבודאי לא היתה מרוצה להתקדש לו אילו ידעה מזה.

הננני מסכים מצטרף להצטרף לעוד רבנים בעלי הוראה שיתירה. הרי רוב בעלי הוראה שבדורות האחרונים, שנשאו את אחריות ההוראה על שכמם, נזקקו לסברא של מקח טעות בכגון זה, וכמו שכת' כת"ר מכמה ספרי שו"ת כי קידושין כמו בכל קנינים בעינן דעת מקנה. האחד מגאוני ההוראה והוא מרן הגרי"א הנקין זצ"ל לא נזקק לביטול קידושין בשום מקרה וז"ל בספרו (פירושי איבר"א ס"א אות מ"ז) שהכל נכנסין לספק ונו' אפילו היה מבורר המום והצד השני לא ידע ממנו, וכתב עוד (וכן בעוד מקומות) צא ובדוק בש"ס רמב"ם וטוש"ע ולא תמצא בשום מקום למעשה ביטול קדושין משום מומין אפילו להצטרף לספק אחר יעו"ש, והנה חוץ מזה שלא מצינו אין ראי' שאין הדין כן, נ"ל שיש טעם לזה והוא דבזמנם כמעט לא היתה מציאות שכזו דהיינו למצוא מום אחר הנשואין שלא היה נראה מקודם שיוכל לבטל את הקידושין (אשר לאין לו גבורת אנשים ... הרבה פעמים מתרפא אחר זמן ואופן שלא שייך להתרפאות לא שכיח' ושלא כבזמננו וענינינו מחלות רוח שהרופאים מרפאים לכמה ויודעים למיני מחלות שאין להן תרופה כזו של הבעל - הנידון. חרי לא שייך שתדור עם נחש שמצער לה הרבה ובודאי לא חיתה נישאת לכזה.

והנה בחיי הגר"מ זצ"ל אירע כאן בעירי שאחד נשא אשה ושנה שנתים אח"כ חלתה האשה במחלת לב אנושה והבעל ברח ממנה, שהרופאים אמרו שהמחלה הזו היתה לה כבר כמה שנים אעפ"י שהיתה נראית בריאה ולא תוכל לחיות רק בניתוח מסוכן מאד מאד. בעזה"ש אחר הניתוח הוטב לה וחיתה כמה שנים. ומרן זצ"ל אמר לי שיש לדון משום מקח טעות דאין אדם שיתחתן למסוכנת שכזו, (אבל היו לו עוד צירופי היתר) ומקרה זה כגון בדידן לא שייך שיקרה בימים הקדמונים.

ה' יהיה בעזרה, שלא תשב בדד ושיהיה לח נחת רוח מבתה שתחי'.

והנני בזה דו"ש וכ"ת

נטע צבי גרינבלט

 

Letter from Rav Nota Greenblatt claiming the heter was only  theoretical and conditional
See post with translation and discussion of this letter

Response to R. Shmuel Kamenetzky on the Methodology of Resolving Cases of Iggun Shalom C. Spira 13 Adar II, 5779 (third edition, revised)

Response to R. Shmuel Kamen... by on Scribd

Protesters march in London for release of teenage boy in Dubai jail

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/04/protesters-march-london-release-marcus-fakana-teenage-boy-dubai-jail

Protesters have marched through central London calling for the release of a teenager in prison in Dubai for having sex with a 17-year-old British girl.

Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham in north London, was jailed last month after being convicted of having sex with the girl, who has now turned 18, when they were on holiday in September.

The age of consent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is 18. The girl’s mother reported him to the authorities in the UAE.

Campaigners marched through Westminster on Saturday, holding a banner that read “Bring Marcus home” as they walked from Parliament Square to Downing Street.

Time to Face and Solve the Issue of the Mamzer

 https://www.brandeis.edu/hbi/blog/2014/0523-time.html

A mamzer is forbidden to marry someone considered part of the community of Israel. He or she is permitted to marry only another mamzer or a convert, and the offspring are forever considered mamzerim according to Jewish law, even after 10 generations. While the sages gave theoretical priority to a mamzer who was learned in Torah over a high priest who was an ignoramus, the conventional attitude to mamzers is closer to what was expressed by a rabbi who asked me: "Would you let your child play with a mamzer child? Would you let your child sit in school next to a mamzer child?"

Tamar burns the bridge

Johnson tells Republicans Trump wants one big policy bill as party charts course on agenda

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/04/politics/mike-johnson-donald-trump-gop-agenda/index.html

House Speaker Mike Johnson informed Republicans at a closed-door meeting Saturday that Donald Trump favored moving his agenda as one sweeping package, according to sources in attendance — a key announcement fraught with risk but one that sets the stage for advancing the president-elect’s ambitious plans.

Into the Wrong Hands

 https://mishpacha.com/into-the-wrong-hands/

Why is Ari Rosenfeld, the noncommissioned officer and cyber expert who bypassed military protocol in order to get a document outlining Hamas’s backroom plans directly onto the desk of the prime minister, still languishing in prison? His father, Rabbi Shmuel Rosenfeld, a veteran immigrant from New York and recognized expert in the world of safrus and Sta”m, is asking the same question

The indictment alleges that Rosenfeld gave a top-secret document to Feldstein, believing it to be imperative for the prime minister to receive directly and realizing that it would likely get stonewalled if sent through the official chain of command.

Feldstein did not immediately pass on the document, though. At the beginning of September, he attempted to leak its contents to Israeli media, in order to counter mass protests that broke out after six bodies of executed hostages were retrieved from Gaza, to alleviate criticism against Netanyahu and to reduce the public pressure from the left to railroad a very bad deal for Israel following the murders.

But the military censor prohibited its publication, assumedly because it might have derailed a certain political agenda. Yet Netanyahu himself didn’t seem to have a problem with the leak — he even referred to the Bild story in a September 8 cabinet meeting, saying it revealed that Hamas planned “to tear us apart from within” but that “the great majority of Israel’s citizens are not falling into this Hamas trap.”

State attorneys oppose review of decision to keep NCO in leaked docs case in confinement

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-835373

The State Attorney’s Office opposed in a filing to the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday a request by Ari Rosenfeld, the IDF Intelligence reserve NCO who was indicted for leaking top secret documents, to review a High Court of Justice decision to keep him in prison until the end of legal proceedings.

In the ruling, Stein permitted the release to house arrest of the other defendant in the case, Eliezer Feldstein, but remanded Rosenfeld’s custody due to him being considered a threat to divulge further secret information. Rosenfeld’s identity was only permitted for publication on December 23.

Ari Rosenfeld named as NCO involved in PMO documents leak case

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-834587

Ari (Aharon) Rosenfeld was named as the NCO involved in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) leaked document affair, court documents released on Monday showed.

An indictment filed last month alleges that Rosenfeld in April sent a picture via the Telegram messaging app of a top-secret document to Eliezer Feldstein – who was an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the main suspect in the leak scandal – believing it to be imperative for the prime minister to receive directly.

Feldstein did not immediately pass on the document. At the beginning of September, he attempted to leak its contents to Israeli media, to counter mass protests that broke out after six bodies of recently executed hostages were retrieved from Gaza. The military censor prohibited its publication.

A Squeaker for the House Speaker

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/mike-johnson-wins-house-speaker-election-donald-trump-119th-congress-9672bfb6?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s

Mr. Johnson won on the first ballot, 218-215, though only after turning two of three initial no votes to yes. The Speaker’s allies said he made no backroom deals to change the minds of the two Members, who also received phone calls from President-elect Trump.

Judge orders Trump sentenced on Jan. 10, signals no punishment for conviction

 https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5066344-trump-hush-money-sentence-jan-10/

A New York judge has ordered President-elect Trump’s criminal sentencing for Jan. 10, rejecting his demand that his hush money case be dismissed to accommodate his presidency following his election victory. 

Judge Juan Merchan signaled he is inclined to impose no punishment for Trump’s 34-count felony conviction, given concerns about his immunity from criminal prosecution upon taking the oath of office. 

Merchan said an unconditional discharge “appears to be the most viable solution” and he would allow Trump to appear virtually. 

Every Second Yeshiva Bochur in Israel Smokes

https://collive.com/survey-every-second-yeshiva-bochur-in-israel-smokes/ 

Dr. Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the Public Health Division at the Ministry of Health, warned of the electronic cigarette epidemic, noting that a teenager who has tried an electronic cigarette is four times more likely to become addicted to regular cigarettes.

.She presented extensive survey data, revealing that one in five adults in Israel smokes, with nearly 40% smoking in the Arab sector. Among youth, 8.1% smoke at least once a week and 4.8% smoke at least once a day.

The situation is even worse in the haredi communities: 54% of students in small yeshivas, such as Mesivta and Yeshiva Ketana, smoke. Their ages range between 14 and 18.

In the older age group, between 18 and 22, the percentage of regular smokers in yeshivas (Yeshiva Gedola and Zal) is a staggering 56%.

"US Army major source of Terrorists

New Orleans mass killing gets pulled into partisan political battle

 https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5064580-new-orleans-mass-killing-trump-partisan-politics/

Few people believe that it is possible to create a situation where the U.S. is somehow immune from acts of domestic terrorism, under Trump or any other president, however. In the event that some tragedy takes place under his watch, the promise of strength could seem exaggerated.

In the meantime, Democrats are jabbing back at GOP claims over the New Orleans atrocity. Rep. Troy Carter (D-La.) told CNN on Thursday it was “unfortunate that both the president-elect and Speaker Johnson has chosen to make this a partisan issue.”