Rav Sternbuch - Living with Sinai

Rescue of Yemenite Jews

Haaretz reports

A small group of Yemenite Jews arrived in Israel on Thursday in a covert operation carried out by the Jewish Agency.

The Agency's Spokesman Michael Jankelowitz refused to say how the 10 people were rescued, citing security concerns, but said they had been threatened by al-Qaida.

The Ben Yisrael family was extricated from the city of Raida, after suffering from anti-Semitic attacks and repeated death threats.

A few weeks ago, a grenade was thrown into the courtyard of the family's home in Raida, possibly by al Qaida-affiliated extremists.

Said Ben Yisrael, who heads the Raida Jewish community, and his family are due to take up Israeli citizenship upon their arrival. They will be taken to Beit Shemesh, accompanied by a Jewish Agency team.

There are approximately 280 Jews left today In Yemen, 230 of whom live in Raida in the Omran province, and another 50 Jews live in the capital city of Sana'a.[...]

Child abuse - Difficult to prove accusations

JPost reports:

Parents waited anxiously Wednesday for Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to respond to an appeal that he reopen an investigation against a Jerusalem-area pre-school teacher who allegedly abused their children.

The parents issued their appeal in the form of a letter they delivered to Mazuz's office at the Justice Ministry on Tuesday following a decision by prosecutors not to indict the teacher.

Some staged a protest in front of the ministry, bringing battered dolls to emphasize that "children are not rag dolls and cannot be serially abused."

The case began in June 2007 when parents discovered what they described as serious cases of abuse against their children, who had been enrolled at a pre-school in Givat Ze'ev, just outside Jerusalem. After questioning the children as to the source of various scratches and bruises, the youngsters blamed their pre-school teacher.

A number of the parents filed complaints with the police, municipal government and Education Ministry. One said her daughter had been "thrown across the room and then locked in the bathroom."

With a police investigation under way, the Education Ministry transferred the teacher to a pre-school in Jerusalem's Kiryat Menahem neighborhood. The ministry explained that it was standard procedure to transfer an employee following a complaint so as not to interfere with the investigation.

Within a few months, parents at the Kiryat Menahem pre-school also discovered signs of child abuse. The parents of a three-year-old girl who found multiple contusions on her body were concerned enough to take her to the hospital. According to the National Council for the Child, the girl said it had been the pre-school teacher under investigation who caused the injuries.

The organization argued Tuesday that evidence pointed to the fact that the teacher was a serial child abuser and constituted a danger to small children.[...]

Vatican lifts excommunication of anti-Semitic society

Haaretz reports:

In lifting the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson who has been accused of Holocaust denial last month, the Catholic Church also readmitted a priestly society that openly propagates virulent anti-Semitism, according to a probe by a Belgian Jewish newspaper.

The Roman Catholic Church excommunicated The Society of St. Pius X in 1988 along with Williamson and three other member priests, declaring their consecrations were "unlawful" and "schismatic."

In January of this year the Vatican lifted the excommunication. On the same day, a Swedish television station aired an interview with Williamson in which he denied the existence of gas chambers during the Holocaust.

In a research performed after the readmittance, a team of journalists from Joods Actueel, an Antwerp-based Jewish news publication, found what they describe as "a slew of anti-Semitic content" on the society's Web sites in five languages.

The probe whose results were made public on Thursday, found that the society's official U.S. Web site described Jews as "the enemy of man, whose secret weapon is the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy," adding that "heads of Jewry have for centuries conspired methodically and out of an undying hatred against the Catholic name."

The South African site said that "Jews have come closer and closer to fulfilling their substitute-Messianic drive towards world dominion." The Irish site asks whether "the Jews are guilty of Deicide," answering: "We must say yes."

The site from Germany, a country with strict limitations on anti-Semitic speech, clarifies that "contemporary Jews are for sure guilty of the murder of God, as long as they don't recognize Christ as God."

The Belgian site accuses Jews of "still believing they are the chosen people" while "awaiting world domination." The Austrian site warns that the Jewish organization B'nai Brith is "found everywhere" and "commands the entire world." [...]

EJF family - fishing for non-Jewish souls

Local-Reviews.com   has the following article. It is interesting that term "eternal Jewish family" is used as bait. The links lead you to another page and then finally to EJF's home page.

Judaism is one of the oldest and most ancient religions in the world, and it can be said that many people can trace their roots back to the original Jews; the children of Israel. But for whatever reason, many of those who have Jewish ancestry are no longer Jewish today, yet are curious about the religion of their heritage. Furthermore, more and more are converting to Judaism, whether because of family ties, spouses, or simply of their own accord, to create their own eternal Jewish family.

If a person wishes to convert to Judaism, there are a few steps they need to take. Most often, an individual’s intent to convert will be reviewed by a rabbi before any ceremony can take place. Once the rabbi believes a convert to be worthy and ready for conversion, they will face a three person religious court to be tested on their knowledge and intent of the religion.

Once the religious court has verified the convert, he or she will then undergo a process of immersion called a mikveh, which is a symbolic cleansing before entering into the faith. Conversion is an important step to an eternal Jewish family. Those who undertake do not do so lightly, and are warned of their responsibilities to the faith and their families after conversion.

Rabbi Bomzer's ban signatories - retract

Rabbi Eidensohn, [This is in reference to this post ]

Although I have studied at yeshiva, I do not consider myself anything close to a chocham; I do, however, feel that I am a rather good judge of character and a more than good analyst of arguments. I have also had personal experiences with conversions and rabbis who perform them. It is for this reason that I am writing to add my support to those who claim that Rabbi Chaim Zev Bomzer has been libeled and slandered in the controversy over the legitimacy of his geirus.

I have been reluctant to write on the matter of R' Tropper and R’ Eisenstein’s charges against Rabbi Bomzer, because I try my best to avoid spreading lashon hora. I admit that because of my own relative lack of talmudic education, I tend to err on the side of caution whenever I am confronted with a situation where my words may be viewed as inappropriate. But this situation demands that all information which can reveal the truth be provided to as many eyes as possible. Having been referred to the blog and having read the many statements supporting and condemning both factions, I have come to the realization that certain obvious questions are being glossed over in the indignation both sides are claiming as a result of this disagreement.

The first issue that has gone undiscussed is the matter of bringing this argument to a din torah for resolution. It is my understanding that R’ Eisenstein has declined to attend a beis din in the US on the grounds that his mentors tell him he need not leave Israel to resolve this matter. Rabbi Bomzer, on the other hand, feels that only in the US can this matter be properly and fairly adjudicated because of numerous adim and other potential expert witnesses who will not or cannot afford to make the trip to Israel. What would it take to have R' Eisenstein come to the US? Would it simply be a matter of the flight? By this letter, I offer to pay R' Eisenstein’s fare if he will agree to come to the US for the beis din.

The other issue is the legitimacy of the letter ostensibly signed by the respected and revered chochomim condemning Rabbi Bomzer and warning against acceptance of his geirus. I have learned that more than one of the signatories has since retracted his support for the contents of that letter. Some have gone so far as to claim that the letter they signed did not contain the same language as the letter which has been circulated, while others have stated that at the very least they do not remember the letter to have stated such things when they signed it, and that they now state unequivocally that they do not support what the letter claims. I am attaching to this email a copy of a statement signed by two of those signatories which I hope you will see fit to place on your blog.

It is not my intention to become involved in any "back and forth" with your other commentators. I have been a contributor to newsgroups and online debates for more than 25 years, and know too well how easily some people allow themselves to behave online in ways they would not dare were they talking to their opponents face to face. So it is my intention bli neder to make this my only statement on the subject in the hope that, by refraining from participation in any inflammatory dialogue, R' Eisenstein will take me up on my offer to assist his participation in the only forum that can settle this matter once and for all.

All the best,

Ben Israel

Why do we need to earn Olam HaBa?

The following interesting question was posed.

Shalom u'vracha! Here's my latest question: Why can't the Creator simply remove the possibility to experience any discomfort/embarrassment that would occur upon being given the "free gift" in the end (olam haba)? In fact, it's not even that much of a free gift at all in the end if the Creator simply removes the potential for evil that causes pain/suffering (because then He wouldn't have to remove much of the possibility to experience any embarrassment in the end). So why is there evil to the extent that there is?

Interestingly, someone I know pointed out that Daas Tevunos explains free will and the associated evil in terms of nahama d'kesufa - but in Derech Hashem Ch. 2 he explains both...WITHOUT ANY REFERENCE WHATSOEVER TO nahama d'kesufa. What do you make of that?