For those feeling down about the United States and its place in the world, meet Drew Lovejoy, a 17-year-old from rural Ohio. His background could not be more American. His father is black and Baptist from Georgia and his mother is white and Jewish from Iowa. But his fame is international after winning the all-Ireland dancing championship in Dublin for a third straight year.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Rav Herschel Schacter criticizes group - Beis Hillel
Rotter forum
בכתבה שתתפרסם השבת ב'עולם קטן' מותח הרב צבי שכטר, ראש ה'ישיבה יוניברסיטי' וממלא מקומו של הרי"ד סולובייצ'יק, ביקורת על רבני 'בית הלל' ועל דרכם ההלכתית המקלה: "כמו באמריקה, הרבנים הצעירים אוהבים לעשות שטיקים". רבני 'בית הלל': "צר לנו על שהטעו את הרב
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בכתבה שתתפרסם השבת (ויקהל פקודי) בעלון 'עולם' קטן' מתאר הכתב ארנון סגל את הפגישה שערך עם הרב צבי שכטר, ראש ה'ישיבה–יוניברסיטי', וממלא מקומו של הרב יוסף דב סולובייצ'יק ז"ל.
בכתבה מתייחס הרב שכטר בן ה-71 לדרך בה תופסים בארץ את משנתו של הרב סולובייצ'יק, כשבתשע עשרה השנים שמאז פטירתו, מתנהל מאבק על מורשתו
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סגל מתאר איך בשעה שנכנס לחדר, היה הרב שכטר שקוע בקריאת הכתבה ב'ישראל היום', בה התראיינו חלק ממקימי פורום 'בית הלל' ובה הם מתארים את חיבתם לסמרטפונים ולסדרה סיינפלד. (הכתבה נכתבה לפני הקמתו בפועל של הארגון).
Suicide of victim forced to marry rapist - to preserve honor
RABAT, Morocco – The case of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself after she was forced to marry her rapist has spurred outrage among Morocco's internet activists and calls for changes to the country's laws.
An online petition, a Facebook page and countless tweets expressed horror over the suicide of Amina Filali, who swallowed rat poison on Saturday to protest her marriage to the man who raped her a year earlier.
Article 475 of the Moroccan penal code allows for the "kidnapper" of a minor to marry his victim to escape prosecution, and it has been used to justify a traditional practice of making a rapist marry his victim to preserve the honor of the woman's family.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Meiri's variant text:Kesubos 17a
The Meiri in Nedarim (20a) states: "There is one exception to the blanket prohibition of looking at married women. It is permitted to look at the face of a bride for the first seven days of marriage in order to endear her to her husband." While in Kesubos (17a) he states, It is a mitzva to cause the chasan and kallah to rejoice in order that they beome more attached to each other... The greatest of scholars used to carry the bride on their shoulders. However this activity is not permitted except to one who has no improper thoughts. For anyone else it is prohibted even to look at the bride’s face in order to make her beloved to her husband. It is only permitted for someone who knows himself very well.
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The problem is that our text of Kesubos 17a states: Rav Yochanon said that it is permitted to stare at the face intently at the face of a bride for the first seven days after marriage in order to make her beloved to her husband. But that is not accepted as halacha.
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Below is part of a manuscript available on line from Hebrew University from the Vatican Library. It states clearly that it is in fact the halacha that it is permitted to look at a kallah's face for the first 7 days of marriage. Which agrees with the Meiri - as well as Rambam in his commentary to the Mishna Sanhedrin 7:4. [use Explorer or Chrome - Firefox seems to have problems view the Hebrew University site.]
The other interesting change is that we have the text ): Rav Acha placed the bride on his shoulder and danced with her. The Rabbis asked him, May we do this also? He replied, If they are perceived by you as a beam [that arouses no sexual thoughts – Rashi] then it is all right and if not you may not.
The text below says it was Rav Ada Bar Ahava who used to dance with the kalla on his shoulder. This is apparently the same Rav Ada bar Ahava who ripped the red cloak off of a woman because it wasn't modest dress!
Yam Shel Shlomo: Prohibition of looking at women
Yam Shel Shlomo(Kesubos 2:3): R’ Yosse [Kesubos 17a] asserts, “It is permitted to stare intently at the face of the bride for the first 7 days in order that she become beloved to her husband” - but that is not the halacha. And even the first day of marriage it is prohibited so he should instead stare at her clothing or jewelry but not at her face at all. In contrast all of this is absolutely prohibited for other married women. It seems that this is only in reference to staring in a manner that it is prohibited to stare at a rainbow which is in a manner of examination and staring – but simply in a manner of glancing it is permitted. Glancing is also permitted in regard to all married women. Even though from the Rosh (2.3) it appears that even glancing at her face is prohibited but that doesn’t make sense because then no one would be able to know whether a particular woman was single or married that they could testify concerning her. It is specifically talmidei chachomim that Bava Basra 168a say normally do not pay attention to a woman’s appearance. This implies that glancing is permitted even for a talmid chachom, while the average person generally pays attention even to recognize a woman. And the gemora there concludes that when a talmid chachom pays attention to the appearance of a woman he is fully aware of what she looks like. Thus this indicates that looking at a woman is not prohibited but it is only the minhag not to. Therefore we can conclude that there is no actual prohibition at looking at women but there is for staring and carefully examining her image. Staring would also be prohibited even to examining her clothing as we see in Avoda Zara (20b). This is also the view of the Ramban, It is prohibited to stare at the beauty of a woman – even at her little finger with the intent to derive pleasure... This seems to be in agreement with what I explained. Nevertheless one who can be cautious and to add restrictions and safeguards and he is pious and it is known that he is not doing it for pride and to show off – he is called a holy man and he is blessed.
Campaign to get Epstein a 'get' heats up
Rabbi Chaim Herzel Kranz confirmed that Friedman had prayed there "for a few days," but he noted there is "a condemnation on him not ostracism. He has the right to come to synagogue. You do not block that."
He urged everyone to think about the couple's young child and work for a solution rather than cementing further polarization.
"It's very tenuous. There is no trust and a lot of anger" on both sides, he said.
"People have feelings. You've got to deal with people's feelings. You try 100 times. It doesn't work. You try 101.
You don't look for who is a winner, who is a loser," Kranz said, adding he is striving to "handle it."
Also hoping to come up with an amicable way for Epstein to obtain a get is Rabbi David Eidensohn of Monsey, N.Y. He, along with Rabbi Kranz, stressed that a coerced get is not valid
"If you force a divorce, the wife remains married. You have to be very careful," Kranz said. And Eidensohn agreed, explaining he called Friedman and advised him not to give a coerced get.
He urged everyone to think about the couple's young child and work for a solution rather than cementing further polarization.
"It's very tenuous. There is no trust and a lot of anger" on both sides, he said.
"People have feelings. You've got to deal with people's feelings. You try 100 times. It doesn't work. You try 101.
You don't look for who is a winner, who is a loser," Kranz said, adding he is striving to "handle it."
Also hoping to come up with an amicable way for Epstein to obtain a get is Rabbi David Eidensohn of Monsey, N.Y. He, along with Rabbi Kranz, stressed that a coerced get is not valid
"If you force a divorce, the wife remains married. You have to be very careful," Kranz said. And Eidensohn agreed, explaining he called Friedman and advised him not to give a coerced get.
Restaurant limits use of waitresses for kashrus certification
A Haredi-owned Jerusalem restaurant will be restricting the working hours of waitresses in order to receive the strict mehadrin kashrut certificate.
The veteran eatery, Heimische Essen, in Rehavia, will cease employing waitresses on Thursday nights, a favorite time for yeshiva boys to patronize the eatery.
Waitresses at the restaurant, which serves Eastern European specialties to a variety of people, are modestly dressed, although some of them are not Orthodox.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Church Puts Legal Pressure on Abuse Victims’ Group
Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.
The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis, and its national director, David Clohessy, was questioned by a battery of lawyers for more than six hours this year. A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Doctor jailed for distributing pedophiliac images
The Haifa Magistrate's Court on Sunday sentenced a pediatrician who distributed pedophiliac images on the Internet to an 18-month jail term.
Both the prosecution and the defense were surprised by the harshness of the sentence handed down by Judge Zaid Falah against Dr. Avraham Barkai, who works for the Meuhedet health maintenance organization. The defense immediately announced that it planned to appeal the ruling.
Secular gender provocation on Israeli bus:The other side
A Bochur in the Mir writes:
Tonight I had the unfortunate but enlightening experience to watch an unwarranted provocation on a bus to Yerushalaim. I was returning from a Chasunah in Bnei Brak on an Egged 402. I got on the bus by the exit of Bnei Brak at around 11:30pm. I was tired from the wedding and was looking forward to a quiet ride home. That was not to be. As soon as the bus turned onto the highway a few young women in the back of the bus started to act up. It started as giggles then it turn to singing then to plain shouting of profanities. The bus driver pulled over, on the highway and requested that they quiet down or he will call the police. He spoke to them again, to no avail. He then tried idling for a few minutes hoping they would quiet down, quiet wasn't forthcoming. As a last resort he called the police. Naturally they weren't fast enough. So he decided to drive the bus to the police station. As soon as they realized where he was going the 4 of them marched to the front of the bus, (poking the men on the way) demanding a refund and to get off the bus. Both are against egged policy and getting off on the highway is rather dangerous. They then started pushing his buttons. I mean the real ones, the lights the doors all while screaming singing and cursing everyone on the bus. Did I forget to mention the bus was moving while they were trying to open the doors. They were waving their hands in front of him, one of them even light up a cigarette. After one fine Chossid offered to pay them to alight they upped the ante to 100shek a person, not the 15 they paid to get on.
Finally after a slow drive to the police station, we arrived. Now they were really scared so out came the accusations. The bus driver touched us inappropriately, the Chareidim called us whores. And a dozen other complete fabrications of their perverted minds. Luckily the bus driver said the truth and the 4 of them were escorted off.
Now why am I telling you this story? The reason is because like many of you I am a skeptic. When I heard of the story of Rabbi Fuchs and the female soldier, I wondered. As I was taught growing up that to every story their are the two sides and the truth. Now after tonights incident I think to myself how it could have ended differently. Someone's life may have been destroyed and people would have been almost completely indifferent. People would have said "yeah it's a shame but there must be more to the story". THERE IS NO MORE TO THE STORY!! Boruch Hashem the police weren't in the mood (and they aren't under the command of Nisso Shacham) and they annoyed the driver too.
I'm sure this story will not make it to Haaretz or any of the other wonderful news sources but at least YOU should read it and know what's really going on.
My dear friends next time you read one of these sensational "harassment" stories, keep mine in mind.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Does effort in observing tznius guarantee parnasa?
Rabbi Eliyahu Falk writes in the supplement to his book on Modesy page 38.
It should be noted that in the merit of mesiras nefesh for Tznius the community at large is blessed with sustenance and parnasa. See Berachos (20a) where the Gemora presents a question: "Why is it that as soon as Rav Yehuda removes a shoe (as he prepares to pray for rain) it starts raining right away, whilst we pray and pray for rain with no response?" To this the Gemara answers: ... The earlier ones were moser nefesh for the sanctification of Hashem's name. For example, Rav Yehuda took the courageous step of ripping off a woman an outrageous cloak she was wearing ( which could have brought him dire trouble from her husband and family) in order to eliminate the scourge of pritzus from amongst the Jewish people. They therefore merited to have their tefillos for sustenance answered. We, however, have not shown mesiras nefesh on behalf of Tznius."
It is spelled out clearly in this statement that rain, one of the most elementary substances needed for the preservation of human life, is guaranteed when people are moser nefesh for Tznius. Accordingly, women who change their inadequate clothes for adequate ones in spite of the enormous bother and expense involved are to be envied for in their merit Klal Yisrael is blessed with ample food and parnassa (provided they pray for it).
I am having great difficulties in understanding how Rabbi Falk derives his conclusion from this gemora. The gemora - which I have cited in full below - says that prayers are not answered for contemporary generations - despite their much greater knowledge of Torah because they don't have the mesiras nefesh of previous generations. The example of mesiras nefesh the gemora gives is that Rav Adda ripped off a garment from a woman that he considered immodest. But the gemora notes that the woman was not Jewish and that because he embarrassed her by uncovering her hair (which was against the modesty of goyim at that time) he was fined 400 zuz. 1) There is no promise of paransa mentioned for wearing modest clothes, 2) The act of mesira nefesh described in the gemora of a man forcibly removing a woman's red garment - is obviously not something that Rav Falk would recommend. 3) Rav Adda was in fact punished for this by being fined 400 zuz. So how was this act commendable? Also this is not the halacha.
שולחן ערוך (יורה דעה הלכות נידוי וחרם סימן שלד:מח
אם נידו לאדם אחד על שעבר עבירה, וגזר השר עונש על מי שיחזיק הנידוי, חייבים ליכנס בספק עונש כדי להחזיק דתנו. אבל אם נידוהו על דברים שבינו לחבירו, כגון שהוליכו לערכאות של עובדי כוכבים, אין אנו חייבים ליכנס בסכנת העונש. הגה: וע"ל סי' רכ"ח גם סעיף מ"ז וגם בסימן רל"ב סעיף י"ב. אף על פי שחייב אדם למחות בעוברי עבירה, וכל מי שאינו מוחה, ובידו למחות, נתפס באותו עון, מכל מקום אין אדם חייב להוציא ממונו על זה. ולכן נהגו להקל מלמחות בעוברי עבירה, שיש לחוש שיהיו עומדין על גופנו ומאודנו (מהרי"ו סימן קנ"ז).
אם נידו לאדם אחד על שעבר עבירה, וגזר השר עונש על מי שיחזיק הנידוי, חייבים ליכנס בספק עונש כדי להחזיק דתנו. אבל אם נידוהו על דברים שבינו לחבירו, כגון שהוליכו לערכאות של עובדי כוכבים, אין אנו חייבים ליכנס בסכנת העונש. הגה: וע"ל סי' רכ"ח גם סעיף מ"ז וגם בסימן רל"ב סעיף י"ב. אף על פי שחייב אדם למחות בעוברי עבירה, וכל מי שאינו מוחה, ובידו למחות, נתפס באותו עון, מכל מקום אין אדם חייב להוציא ממונו על זה. ולכן נהגו להקל מלמחות בעוברי עבירה, שיש לחוש שיהיו עומדין על גופנו ומאודנו (מהרי"ו סימן קנ"ז).
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Berachos(20a): Said R. Papa to Abaye: How is it that for the former generations miracles were performed and for us miracles are not performed? It cannot be because of their [superiority in] study, because in the years of Rab Judah the whole of their studies was confined to Nezikin, and we study all six Orders, and when Rab Judah came in [the tractate] ‘Ukzin [to the law], ‘If a woman presses vegetables in a pot’ (or, according to others, ‘olives pressed with their leaves are clean’), he used to say, I see all the difficulties of Rab and Samuel here and we have thirteen versions of Ukzin. And yet when Rab Judah drew off one shoe, rain used to come, whereas we torment ourselves and cry loudly, and no notice is taken of us!He replied: The former generations used to be ready to sacrifice their lives for the sanctity of [God's] name; we do not sacrifice our lives for the sanctity of [God's] name. There was the case of R. Adda b. Ahaba who saw a heathen woman wearing a red head-dress in the street, and thinking that she was an Israelite woman, he rose and tore it from her. It turned out that she was a heathen woman, and they fined him four hundred zuz. He said to her: What is your name. She replied: Mathun. Mathun, he said to her: that makes four hundred zuz.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Lev Tahor: Haaretz's view of controversial group
Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans is trying to get me to repent and become religious. To this end, for the past four months he has been spending hours with me on the phone from Canada. He believes I have a good Jewish soul that somehow got lost, and insists he can, and must, show it the way back. I disagree with him about the soul, the Jewish thing and the path, but do find many other interesting subjects to discuss with him.
Rabbi Helbrans is a bit disappointed that I haven’t become religious yet, but he’s not giving up. He keeps trying at every opportunity. He maintains that discussion of God should not be relegated to the realm of fate, but rather that it is an absolute and provable truth. Therefore, before he would consent to be interviewed, he insisted that I devote 10 hours to listening to him present his proofs. Helbrans declared that if I came to him with an honest desire to explore the truth, I would no longer be able to deny God and his Torah, as given to the Jewish people at Sinai. [....]
Rabbi Helbrans is a bit disappointed that I haven’t become religious yet, but he’s not giving up. He keeps trying at every opportunity. He maintains that discussion of God should not be relegated to the realm of fate, but rather that it is an absolute and provable truth. Therefore, before he would consent to be interviewed, he insisted that I devote 10 hours to listening to him present his proofs. Helbrans declared that if I came to him with an honest desire to explore the truth, I would no longer be able to deny God and his Torah, as given to the Jewish people at Sinai. [....]
'Anonymous' takes down 40+ pedophiles sites
Anonymous has turned its attentions from corporations to pedophiles with the news that the hacktivist group has taken down multiple child pornography sites, including one of the largest known, with account details of its 1589 users being posted online as evidence.
The incident was just part of something Anonymous is calling “Operation Darknet,” a move by the group to eliminate child pornography on the Tor network. Tor, which was originally developed as a way of protecting government communications by the U.S. Navy, now describes itself as “a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.” But the privacy and anonymity it offers has been abused by child pornographers, something that Anonymous aims to correct with its new campaign.
The incident was just part of something Anonymous is calling “Operation Darknet,” a move by the group to eliminate child pornography on the Tor network. Tor, which was originally developed as a way of protecting government communications by the U.S. Navy, now describes itself as “a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.” But the privacy and anonymity it offers has been abused by child pornographers, something that Anonymous aims to correct with its new campaign.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Benizri's lying to parole board prompts calls for reform of system
The Israel Prison Service plans to test a treatment program for prisoners convicted of political corruption, according to the head of the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, the statutory body that helps set standards for prisoner releases.
The PRA requested that such a program be instituted following the statements made by former Shas minister Shlomo Benizri after his early release from prison last week.
The PRA requested that such a program be instituted following the statements made by former Shas minister Shlomo Benizri after his early release from prison last week.
Benizri had expressed remorse to a parole board for the bribery, breach of trust, conspiracy and obstruction of justice he committed while labor and social affairs minister, and was thus marked for early release after serving only two-and-a-half years of his four-year sentence. Immediately after his release, however, he retracted his statement of regret and proclaimed that he'd been framed and was innocent.
Update: Baby’s Death Renews Debate Over a Circumcision Ritual
Prosecutors are investigating the death of a newborn boy who died in September after contracting herpes through a controversial practice of ritual circumcision, reviving a debate in New York over safety and religious freedom.
The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, confirmed on Wednesday that the investigation was continuing, but declined to comment further.
The cause of death of the 2-week-old boy, who died at Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn on Sept. 28, was Type 1 herpes, caused by “ritual circumcision with oral suction,” according to the medical examiner’s office.[...]
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Rav Kook: Connection of Purim & Amalek to Geirus
Rav Kook then quoted the Talmudic statement in Sanhedrin 99b that Timna wanted to marry into the family of Abraham but was not accepted. In the end, she became the concubine of Esau's eldest son. "Better to be a maidservant to this people," Timna reasoned, "than a princess of another people." As punishment for rejecting Timna, the Jewish people were cursed with the eternal enmity of Timna's son - Amalek.
This of course is the connection to the story of Purim, for Haman, the enemy of the Jews, was a descendant of Amalek. Haman's hatred of the Jews and his decree to destroy them in fact originated in the failure to convert his great-grandmother Timna. But this error was redressed in the time of Mordechai and Esther, when "Many of the peoples of the land became Jews" (Esther 8:17).
Moldova votes to require castration for pedophiles
Foreigners convicted of sexually abusing children in Moldova will be mandatorily castrated, according to new legislation introduced Tuesday.
Parliament approved the law by a majority after lawmakers said the impoverished nation was attracting pedophiles from the West. It will become effective July 1.
The new law states foreign and Moldovan nationals found guilty of pedophilia will be chemically castrated, while courts will rule separately on those found guilty of rape.
The move was immediately criticized by the Council of Europe, the pan-European human rights group, which said chemical castration should involve consent, and offenders should be properly informed about procedure while the law should have been preceded by a public debate. [...]
Parliament approved the law by a majority after lawmakers said the impoverished nation was attracting pedophiles from the West. It will become effective July 1.
The new law states foreign and Moldovan nationals found guilty of pedophilia will be chemically castrated, while courts will rule separately on those found guilty of rape.
The move was immediately criticized by the Council of Europe, the pan-European human rights group, which said chemical castration should involve consent, and offenders should be properly informed about procedure while the law should have been preceded by a public debate. [...]
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
NYTimes looks at Shabbos Elevators
From sundown on Friday until the sun sets on Saturday, many observant Jews refrain from certain activities, including pushing elevator buttons, following a restriction that comes from a prohibition against creating sparks and fires. So in some buildings, elevators are programmed to stop automatically on every floor during the Sabbath. That way, observant Jews can hop right in and, eventually, get where they are going.
These systems, long a fixture in hospitals as well, can be lifesavers for older people and those with disabilities, and they allow the observant to live on floors that are too high to hoof it. But they also slow down elevator traffic. A lot. [...]
More reliably, said Rabbi Weinstock, an associate rabbi at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, many doormen know where the observant people live and will push the appropriate button for them. But it is not acceptable, he said, to walk up to the doormen on a Saturday morning and ask them to do so. (Some rabbis also do not consider Shabbos elevators to be acceptable .)
Monday, March 5, 2012
Latest chumra for Parshas Zachor & Megila
"These are for the benefit of the public - it is proper to clean one's ears prior to hearing Parshos Zachor"
Aide to top Republican refuses to divorce wife
Aharon Friedman seruv
Cross Currents by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Tamar Epstein is an agunah with an impressive list of rabbinic supporters. Her ex, Aharon Friedman, has exhausted all his legal options, both in beis din and in secular court. The divorce has been granted, but Friedman is unhappy with the way he has been treated, and is denying his ex-wife a get, trying to leverage terms more to his liking.
Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky is one of the signatories to a shtar seruv against Friedman. Rav Yisrael Belsky, who at one point was counted in Friedman’s camp, has turned against him. R[av] Hershel Schachter has taken a personal role in applying public shame pressure against Friedman. While it is always possible to empathize with both sides in a dispute, at some point the law must speak. After a person has been given every opportunity to be heard in legal proceedings, any assistance given to the losing party is nothing less than a stab at the process of law itself. We are well past that point in the case of Aharon Friedman.
Cross Currents by Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Tamar Epstein is an agunah with an impressive list of rabbinic supporters. Her ex, Aharon Friedman, has exhausted all his legal options, both in beis din and in secular court. The divorce has been granted, but Friedman is unhappy with the way he has been treated, and is denying his ex-wife a get, trying to leverage terms more to his liking.
Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky is one of the signatories to a shtar seruv against Friedman. Rav Yisrael Belsky, who at one point was counted in Friedman’s camp, has turned against him. R[av] Hershel Schachter has taken a personal role in applying public shame pressure against Friedman. While it is always possible to empathize with both sides in a dispute, at some point the law must speak. After a person has been given every opportunity to be heard in legal proceedings, any assistance given to the losing party is nothing less than a stab at the process of law itself. We are well past that point in the case of Aharon Friedman.
update:
my brother Rabbi Dovid Eidensohn wrote:
I told Mr. Friedman not to give a GET because of coercion and humiliation, as such as GET is invalid, and the wife could not remarry anyway. On my website http://www.getamarriage.com/ I have the sources from the Rashbo, Bais Yosef, Radvaz, Shach and Chazon Ish that it is forbidden to produce a GET by humiliation and that such a GET is invalid. I wanted to talk to the Epstein side but Ora and others on her side refused. They want to win with terror, even if in halacha the new children would be mamzerim.
I discussed coerced Gittin with posek HaDor Rab Yosef Shalom Elyashev shlit"o and he told me that any Beth Din that cuts corners to produce a GET for an "Aguinah" that he takes away from them the status of a Beth Din.
see also Daas torah blog postings
See also the article by Rabbi Tzvi Gartner for a full discussion of a forced get.the article by Rabbi Chaim Malinowitz dealing with the New York Get bill.
the article by Rabbi Gedaliah Dov Schwartz dealing with the New York Get bill
Israeli court recognizes lesbian couple as 2 mothers of child
The Ramat Gan Family Court has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple, recognizing both women as their child's mothers on Sunday, setting a legal precedent.
The couple received permission from the Health Ministry in 2006 to undergo a medical procedure, in which one of the women's egg was extracted, fertilized with donated sperm and implanted in the second woman's womb. But when their son was born, the Health Ministry allowed only the woman who gave birth to register as the boy's mom, requiring her partner to undergo an adoption process....
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The liberal dilemma: Will boycotting hummus bring world peace?
Collectivism, of course, makes a fetish of process. That is probably the most benign way to interpret what has recently been going on at the co-op, the largest in the country, owned and operated by its 16,000 members. For a few years now, a small contingent has been debating whether the organization should join the global movement known as BDS, which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it returns all Arab land occupied in 1967.
Every other week, the co-op’s newspaper is consumed not only by epic, impassioned, sometimes-vitriolic letters about the issue, but also letters about how to talk about the issue, about how to think about the Middle East and about the appropriateness of these kinds of debates in a place that above all exists to purvey the right kind of clementine. There are letters about the kinds of typographical errors made in these letters. At the co-op’s next monthly meeting, on March 27, a vote will be conducted to decide whether a bigger vote, among all co-op members, ought to be conducted, authorizing a boycott of Israeli products.
50 year feud betwen Belz & Satmar finally ends
On February 21, the Supreme Court struck down the so-called Tal Law, under which ultra-Orthodox men studying at yeshivas were granted a draft exemption. Concurrently, an equally auspicious event, from the viewpoint of the Haredi community, was held. This one was a surprise meeting between the two leaders of the ultra-Orthodox courts from Belz and Machnovka.
The meeting was the result of conciliatory efforts between the Belzer Rebbe and the Satmar Rebbe - the latest episode in a soap opera that has riveted hundreds of thousands of Haredim around the world since last January. The protagonists are the Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokach, and his brother-in-law, the head of the Satmar sect, Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum. They lead two of the largest Hasidic courts in the world, they are both 64, and they are both married to daughters of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the head of the Vizhnitz Hasidic dynasty and a wholesale producer of daughters for Hasidic courts (a third daughter is also married to a rebbe ). The two sisters, Sarah Rokach and Sasha Teitelbaum, played a key bridging role.
Baby allegedly dies from metzitza - major discussion & sources
Gothamist
A two-week old infant died last fall in a Brooklyn hospital from herpes contracted from a religious circumcision. According to the Daily News, the unidentified infant died last September at Maimonides Hospital—the cause of death was listed as “disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction.” The case sounds eerily similar to that of Rabbi Yitzchok Fischer, a Rockland County mohel who was found to have given three babies herpes through the ritual. Fisher specialized in the ultra-Orthodox ritual known as metzizah b’ peh, in which a rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth. One of those three babies infected with herpes by Fisher died, and the city Health Department filed a restraining order stopping Fisher from performing the procedure. But the city ultimately caved and handed the matter over onto a Jewish religious court
Metzitzah B’peh Controversy: The View from Israel By By Mordechai Halperin, Translated from the Hebrew by Yocheve - Jewish Action - OU.ORG
Metzitzah B’peh Controversy: Rabbinic Polemics and Applying the Lessons of History By N. Daniel Korobkin - Jewish Action - OU.ORG
http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/765633/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/Ten_Minute_Halacha_-_Metzitzah_B%27Peh#
Metzitzah B’peh Controversy: The View from Israel By By Mordechai Halperin, Translated from the Hebrew by Yocheve - Jewish Action - OU.ORG
Metzitzah B’peh Controversy: Rabbinic Polemics and Applying the Lessons of History By N. Daniel Korobkin - Jewish Action - OU.ORG
http://www.yutorah.org/lectures/lecture.cfm/765633/Rabbi_Aryeh_Lebowitz/Ten_Minute_Halacha_-_Metzitzah_B%27Peh#
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Shlomo Pappenheim silenced after being beaten
kikarhashabat
לפני שבועיים ימים, בליל שבת, נזרק שמואל חיים פפנהיים מבית המדרש של חסידות 'תולדות אהרון' בבית שמש, הבוקר, הוא מפרסם מכתב התנצלות ושב לזרועות החסידות.
הזעם בחסידות 'תולדות אהרון' כלפי פפנהיים הגיע לשיא בשל ראיון שהעניק לאחד מכלי התקשורת הכלליים, בו ייחסו לו התבטאויות שונות, שלטענתו כלל לא נאמרו על-ידו.
בעקבות התקרית האלימה, פעלו רבות בני משפחת פפנהיים בקרב קהילת 'תולדות אהרון', בכדי לאפשר את שובו של שמואל חיים לחיק הקהילה.
Before Games, Religious Questions
The private-schools association, known by the acronym Tapps, was established in the 1970s to coordinate sports among Christian schools. The organization drew national attention this week when it refused to reschedule a state semifinal boys basketball game for an Orthodox Jewish day school, which could not play at the scheduled time because its players observe the Sabbath. [...]
With 500 students, increasing academic prestige and an established soccer team, Iman Academy SW, an Islamic school in Houston, was seeking membership in 2010 to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, a group that organizes competition among more than 200 schools in the state.[....]
Daas Torah 2nd edition - Hebrew Sources available
I just published a separate volume for the Hebrew sources found in the 2nd edition of Daas Torah
It is available now from my Amazon estore or directly from Amazon. It consists of 460 pages of the Hebrew texts which were published in translation in the recently published 2nd edition of Daas Torah. Each of the texts in volume I has a reference number which identifies where to find the Hebrew text in volume II. Font size is a more readable size 10 rather than 8 used in the first edition of Daas Torah.
Click link for description of Daas Torah 2nd edition
Click link for description of Daas Torah 2nd edition
Israeli court issues unprecedented enslavement conviction
The Jerusalem District Court issued an unprecedented ruling this week, convicting a couple for the Shufat neighborhood of the enslavement of their Filipina maid.
Wednesday's ruling was the first time a court in Israel defined such wrongful imprisonment as enslavement.
The court found that Ibrahim and Basma Julani held Mary Ann Paoig in their home for over 18 months and denied her the right to leave the premises or contact anyone by phone.
Jews take issue with posthumous baptisms by Mormons
Although the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints promised in 1995 to stop including Holocaust victims in its ritual, the church admitted last week that Anne Frank had been “baptized” in a Mormon church in the Dominican Republic. On Wednesday, The Boston Globe reported that Daniel Pearl, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002, was baptized last June in Twin Falls, Idaho; Mr. Pearl was Jewish.
Also on Wednesday, the church released a letter reiterating its policy that “without exception, church members must not submit for proxy temple ordinances any names from unauthorized groups, such as celebrities and Jewish Holocaust victims.”
Haredi divorcées form unique support group
A unique support group intended to assist recently divorced Haredi women has begun operating in Jerusalem. The support group is designed to help women deal with the negative stigma that follows a divorce in the Haredi community.
"The community is very helpful when it comes to death, but it's important to understand that separation is a particular form of death," said Gila, a participant in "Em Habanim" (the Center for families without a father).[...]
Friday, March 2, 2012
Reality of increasing divorce rate for Chareidim
Seven years ago I stood in front of a local bakery's counter in Bnei Brak, and requested the following be written on a cake: "Congratulations Miri, on your divorce". The woman behind the counter was shocked.
Until recently, divorce in the ultra-orthodox sector was deemed provocation, a spit in the face of a conservative society. A divorcee was regarded as a local myth, a neighborhood attraction in a community of couples. Today, separated couples are becoming more common, even trivial, and no longer situated at the heart of every scandal or gossip.
As the rates of divorce go up, the stigma of the tragic nature of divorce is crumbling. A growing number of divorce stories help strengthen an alternative narrative. Instead of "they married and lived happily ever after", ultra-orthodox society now accepts the possibility of: "They married, lived, divorced and than lived happily ever after".
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Texas Athletic Ass. forced to accomodate Shabbos observant players
A Texas high school athletics association said Thursday that, under legal pressure, it would change the time of a boys basketball state semifinal game Friday to accommodate an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston whose players observe the Sabbath.
The school, the Robert M. Beren Academy, was expected to forfeit its game against the Covenant School of Dallas, scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday. It appealed to the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, the group that organizes the event, but the association said it was unwilling to change the time of the game, citing its bylaws.
But on Thursday, the association, known as Tapps, said on its Web site that it had “been served a temporary restraining order which requires the Beran Academy be allowed to participate
Teacher Sex Abuse: Why Repeat Offenders Are So Common
Parents don’t want to further traumatize young victims, but handling things "discreetly" merely displaces the problem to another school or community
When Bud Spillane was a school superintendent in New Rochelle, N.Y., he had to deal with removing an elementary school teacher suspected of sex abuse. “It was pretty evident he had done something,” Spillane recalls. The biggest obstacle to removing him from the classroom? “Parents came out of the woodwork…against me,” he says. They loved the teacher, the afterschool time he put in, and the weekend trips he liked to take students on, so they fought to keep him in school. Later in Spillane’s career, while he was leading the Fairfax County Public Schools outside of Washington, he had a teacher’s attorney demand a public hearing in a dismissal action involving multiple instances of alleged sexual misconduct with students. It was a shrewd move; instead of letting the school board handle the action in a private executive session, the lawyer wanted to force children to testify in court. Several parents understandably refused to put their kids through that spectacle. Welcome to the complicated and ugly world of sexual abuse in schools.
The unraveling of Deborah Feldman's fable "Unorthodox"
The problem is that much of her memoir may not be true, according to ardent critics. These include family members, neighbors and even New York State authorities.
In the book, Feldman charges her mother – who was apparently burdened by the pressures of Satmar life – with a “mysterious disappearance” when Feldman was a toddler.
In the book, Feldman charges her mother – who was apparently burdened by the pressures of Satmar life – with a “mysterious disappearance” when Feldman was a toddler.
In fact, it takes about 30 seconds to find Shoshana Berkovic on both Twitter and Facebook. She is a science teacher at New Utrecht High School and does not appear to have ever left Brooklyn. She did divorce her husband, as court records indicate. But that was in 2010, more than a decade after Feldman accuses her mother with leaving her behind. (Shoshana Berkovic / Facebook)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Yeshiva student pleads guilty to molesting 2 fourth-graders
Hillel Selznick, 25 of Flushing, admitted to Queens Supreme Court Justice Richard Buchter that he inappropriately touched a set of eight-year-old girls -- over a year-long period -- during private tutoring lessons inside the victim's homes.
Selznick, who was a student at Rabbinical Seminary of America, pleaded to two counts of course sexual misconduct against a child and will be sentenced on April 17 to six months in jail, 10 years probation, complete a sex offender program and register as sex offender.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Ezras Nashim: Women's ambulance service being formed
The all-male Hatzolah EMT crew snubbed them — so a group of Brooklyn Jewish women are starting their own ladies-only ambulance service.
Special yeshiva helps mentally ill find their way
The Shaf Yativ yeshiva opened five years ago – a yeshiva for religious men with mental health problems. What seems like a regular yeshiva is actually a special care program that uses Torah learning to rehabilitate the mentally ill and help them rejoin normative society. It is named for a Synagogue in ancient Babel, made of stones from the Temple .
"A mental health start up," is how Rabbi Guy Avihod calls his life's work. Rabbi Avihod who is the head of the yeshiva says that "the yeshiva got going completely by accident. At a lesson given by Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu I met Udi Marili who told me that he works at the Health Ministry with the mentally ill, trying to find them employment.
Yoga & Sex Scandals: No Surprise Here
The wholesome image of yoga took a hit in the past few weeks as a rising star of the discipline came tumbling back to earth. After accusations of sexual impropriety with female students, John Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world’s fastest-growing styles, told followers that he was stepping down for an indefinite period of “self-reflection, therapy and personal retreat.”[...]
But this is hardly the first time that yoga’s enlightened facade has been cracked by sexual scandal. Why does yoga produce so many philanderers? And why do the resulting uproars leave so many people shocked and distraught?
One factor is ignorance. Yoga teachers and how-to books seldom mention that the discipline began as a sex cult — an omission that leaves many practitioners open to libidinal surprise.[...]
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Dr. Klafter's critique of Rav Zilberstein's psak against therapy with opposite sex client
The noted frum psychiatrist - Dr. Nachum Klafter - submitted the following essay for posting on this blog regarding the recent psak of Rav Zilberstein [discussed here and here]. He requested that the reader be aware of two things: 1) This is a current draft of an essay that is be prepared for written publication, therefore any corrections or disagreements are welcome. 2) The essay is directed toward psychotherapists, and therefore may tend to over-explain some of the halakhic ideas as many of the readers are not rabbonim, and may under-explain some of the psychological content because the readers are trained psychotherapists. Dr. Klafter can be reached at doctorklafter@cinci.rr.com
===============================================================Murderers taking care of senile fellow prisoners
Secel Montgomery Sr. stabbed a woman in the stomach, chest and throat so fiercely that he lost count of the wounds he inflicted. In the nearly 25 years he has been serving a life sentence, he has gotten into fights, threatened a prison official and been caught with marijuana.
Despite that, he has recently been entrusted with an extraordinary responsibility. He and other convicted killers at the California Men’s Colony help care for prisoners with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia, assisting ailing inmates with the most intimate tasks: showering, shaving, applying deodorant, even changing adult diapers.[...]
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Dr. Bunzel's explanation of Rav Zilberstein's teshuva
Before presenting Dr. Klafter's criticism of this pask, I think it is only fair to present a translation of the original article that I had posted to my blog recently. It not only presents Rav Zilberstein's justification for his psak that therapists should only treat clients of the same gender - but Dr. Bunzel's justification for asking the question and why he thinks the clear heter given for hundreds of years by gedolim - is now to be rejected. The translation is mine. It can't be emphasized too much that this psak is radical and represents a major shift in the separation of the sexes. It is not being presented as one that applies to Bnei Brak or Williamsburg - but a universal psak that every religious Jew is obligated to follow - despite ruling to the contrary by gedolim or one's own personal rav.
================================================
What are the parameters for psychotherapy according to Halacha?
Written by Benjamin J. Rabinowitz | 13:11 | 24 of Shevat 5792
This psak Halacha written by Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, and signed by the great sages of Israel and very important rabbis and judges, shlita, states for the first time, clear and binding boundaries with regard to psychological treatments, and states that is "a duty on the therapeutic manager to look after the separation" between therapist and patient of the opposite sex. Furthermore "If that is not possible it is necessary to consult with the rav of the hospital as to what to do in each particular case."
These things came as answers to questions raised by Dr. Michael Bunzel Director of Psychiatry at the Medical Center "Maayanei Hayeshua" and director of community clinic "Sheba".
Before we bring before the reader the long conversation we had with Dr. Bunzel, we present the question as presented to Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein shlita:
"In the treatment of mental health clinic, there are treatments that require a deep connection with the patient - longer than standard treatments. For example the treatment of anxiety or mild depression does not require entering into marriage issues or sensitive private material, however personal problems and crises of life at times require a deep connection between therapist and patient. In the clinic we need to determine whether it is better to have the therapist and patient be the same gender or are patients to be referred entirely based on professional criteria? The questions that constant occure are: 1. Does the age of the therapist and/or patient make a difference? 2. Is there a difference if the patient prefers someone of the opposite sex? 3. Do I as a manager, I have a duty to maintain this complete separation of sexes despite opposition of therapists who are not members of the yeshiva community? "
Concerning these questions Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein shlita answered at length spelling out the basics from Torah and the Sages, and concluded with the summary as quoted above.
This letter was cosigned by the following gedolim, Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman Shlita, Rabbi Shmuel Halevi Wosner Shlita, Rabbi Nissim Karelitz Shlita, Rabbi Chaim Knievsky , Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach shlita, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein Shlita, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, shlita, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch Shlita, Rabbi Shimon Adani Shlita, Rabbi Israel Levi Belsky Shlita, Rabbi Mordechai Gross Shlita, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shafran, shlita, and Rabbi Yehuda Silman, shlita.
As mentioned, we had a long and fascinating conversation with Dr. Bunzel. In his introductory remarks, he emphasized that although these guidelines are primarily aimed at managers of psychiatric departments, medical doctors and psychologists, but the gedolim have instructed that these teachings be brought to the entire charedi public's attention, in order that they know and act according to these guidelines.
Dr. Bunzel stated, "Because not everyone understands why specifically the issue of psychotherapy caused the gedolim and important rabbis to come to a decisive and unambiguous conclusion, therefore it is very important to not only state the guidelines themselves, but what lies behind them."
At the beginning of the conversation we asked to hear from Dr. Bunzel, what led him to now raise the important question. "Some psychologists assert - and bring references from all kinds of rabbis they found - that there is no problem, and they rely on the halachic principle known that “a worker is involved in doing his job.”
This psak takes the new position that there is something unique about psychotherapy and asserts that it is not comparable to other professions. Because of this unique aspect it requires greater caution and restriction than other professions.
Dr. Bonzel emphasized this point throughout the interview. The essence of deep psychological treatment (as opposed to mild cases of anxiety and mild depression), is the need to create a relationship between patient and analyst, and this eventually leads to dependence.
"One of the most important rabbis said: The main reason that the Chazon Ish was opposed to national service would not that a girl shouldn’t leave the house for somewhere else, but her dependence on those who were are in charge of her. All creation of such dependency puts her into danger. This is exactly what happens in therapy, too. The creation of total dependence of the patient for the therapist and this is exactly the great danger in it. All of psychological treatment is built on and requires a deep and long-term relationship with the patient. The therapist gradually builds this relationship, and the success of treatment is primarily a result of the depth of the relationship between therapist - psychologist, and the patient.”
The psak of the gedolim explicitly states that the director of the clinic has a duty to take to make sure that a woman does not get referred to a male therapist or a man to a woman therapist. You can not automatically refer a client to those who most available or by a professional classification - because there is the problem of building a relationship, and the spirit of the chachomim is not pleased with this happening. This mixing of the genders is only possible when there is no alternative, but even then there is a requirement to first consult with rav as to what to do in each particular case. "
[I deleted details about Dr. Bunzel’s person life and his description of the change in the nature of therapy]
"When I began to work in this profession, I turned with many questions to Rav Yitzchok Silberstein shlita, who has worked in the area of medicine and halacha for decades. But early on he told me that from the time of the incident of the Get of Cleves (250 years ago) this area of psychiatry and halacha has not been developed. There is almost nothing written in the area of halacha dealing with this topic during this time - even though it has important implication for the halacha concerning cheresh, shoteh and koton. In fact even today we have no clear undertanding of the definition of a shoteh.
"Therefore this psak which has now been signed by gedolim, can be legitimately viewed as an event of historic nature as being the first definitive psak since the Get of Cleves in which all the gedolim joined together and offered their views concerning psychitatric treatment. This psak gives support and encouragement to those in the chareidi community who suffer a problem. They can now obtain relief and response from this field which was not possible in the past. However it is necessary that this treatment be done according to the guidelines of halacha so that chas v’shalom there should not be a creation of a severe stumbling block.
"In this field of psychology and psychiatry, there are very serious detailed ethical regulations concerning the relationship between therapist and patient. We - the Chareidi community - are also allowed to have regulations of psak halacha concerning this therapy. This is exactly what this psak halacha [concerning the separation of the sexes in therapy] has begun. In passing I just want to note that there are also rabbis who are not considered part of the Chareidi community who give halachic rulings to people who are not part of the Chareidi community to conduct themselves exactly as expressed in this psak halacha. That is because they are understand well this severe problems that can result it these guidelines are not followed."
***
This ruling of Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein has been agreed to by the following gedolim: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Shimon Adani, Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, Rabbi Mordechai Gross, Rabbi Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rabbi Dov Landau, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Shafran, Rabbi Yehuda Silman, Rabbi Pollack.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Problematic tshuva of gender separation in therapy
I recently posted an article interviewing Dr. Bunzel - a psychiatrist in Bnei Brak - and the teshuva he got from Rav Zilberstein regarding psychotherapy. It has been circulating the internet amongst frum therapist and has caused a significant amount of consternation. I have been debating whether to answer what I consider as a very poorly written teshuva and egregious attitude to gender separation and therapy or to just ignore it as many are. Someone sent me this morning an erudite and cogent response to the issue by Dr Klafter - a frum psychiatrist who contributed a chapter to my book on abuse - which effectively refutes the premises of the article and teshuva. I just sent a request to Dr. Klafter for permission his reply here on this blog. I assume he will give permission and will post it. Otherwise I will post the halachic concerns that he raises on my own.
[update: Dr. Klafter has agreed to my request - click link to access his article ]
Dr. Klafter's critique
[update: Dr. Klafter has agreed to my request - click link to access his article ]
Dr. Klafter's critique
Alan Dershowitz: Friends Seminary & Anti-Semitism
The Friends Seminary of New York, which invited the notorious anti-Semite Gilad Atzmon to one of its classes, and assigned its students to read his hate-filled writings, has now backed out of an agreement to invite me to the school to talk to the students about the evils of anti-Semitism.
The headmaster of the Friends Seminary, a school which is supposed to be committed to honesty and integrity, has broken his solemn promise to me, and to members of its own community, to allow its students to hear both sides of an issue that really has only one side: namely, the illegitimacy of bringing hate-mongers into high school classrooms.
The headmaster of the Friends Seminary, a school which is supposed to be committed to honesty and integrity, has broken his solemn promise to me, and to members of its own community, to allow its students to hear both sides of an issue that really has only one side: namely, the illegitimacy of bringing hate-mongers into high school classrooms.
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