Rav Lichtenstein & Culture shock: Calvin & Hobbes

this item appeared in the Jewish Week

Shalom bayis through being unconscious: Adam & Eve

Toldos Yitzchok (Bereishis 2:21): And G‑d caused man to become unconscious [when He made Eve] – This unconscious state [associated with the creation of woman] - hints that man should make himself unconscious when he is in his house and not to be critical and fussy with his wife and household

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תולדות יצחק (בראשית ב:כא): ויפל יי' אלהים תרדמה, רמז שהאדם יעשה עצמו נרדם בביתו, ולא יהיה קפדן עם אשתו ובני ביתו.

Dr. Marc Shapiro:Why frum child abusers are defended

Seforim Blog - footnote 8   There is another theory as to why the sectarian hasidic world in particular has had so many cases of covering up and defending child sex abusers. It is that they simply do not regard these people as so terrible. The evidence for this appears obvious, in that in case of after case we see that they continue to allow sex abusers to teach and refuse to turn them over to the authorities and warn the parent body. Had they caught the rebbe eating at McDonald’s, you can be sure he would have been fired, but not so when it comes to fooling around with kids. The question is why do they have this outlook, and how come they don’t regard child sex abusers as so terrible? Here is a possible answer (which a wise person suggested). Look at where these societies get their information about human nature, the information that they regard as authentic and true. It does not come from modern psychology, but from Torah sources and folk beliefs. If you look only at traditional rabbinic literature, you won’t conclude that child sex abuse is as terrible as modern society views it. Yes, it is a sin and the person who commits it must repent as he must do with all sins, but there is nothing in the traditional literature that speaks to the great trauma suffered by the victim. How do we know about this trauma? Only from modern psychology and the testimony of the victims. Yet this type of evidence does not have much significance in the insular hasidic world (unless it is your own child who has been abused). Certainly modern psychology, which is often attacked by figures in that community, is not given much credence, especially not when they are confronted with an issur of mesirah. This theory makes a lot of sense to me and I am curious to hear what others have to say.

This issue was discussed two years ago here

15,000 chareidi youth getting draft notices

Haaretz   Over the next few weeks, the Israel Defense Forces will send out draft notices to some 15,000 Haredi youths aged 17-19, requiring them to show up for interviews. The IDF does not intend on drafting them immediately, but simply means to have them follow the standard recruitment process required before military service. The regular enlistment process usually takes up to a year. The IDF has taken the step after the High Court of Justice invalidated the "Tal Law" governing the enlistment of the ultra-Orthodox. The change took effect in August. 

At the same time that the army is requiring all Haredi men to enter the regular recruitment process, it is also continuing its preparations to establish a number of new battalions to accept Haredi men as combat soldiers, similar to the existing Netzah Yehuda "Nahal Haredi" battalion.

Senior IDF officers and Defense Ministry officials presented the plan to implement a Haredi draft on Sunday, at a meeting with Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Barak will present the plan this morning to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The plan is an attempt to find a middle ground in the wake of the cancellation of the Tal Law, in the expectation that it will be only temporary and that after the coming elections and the establishment of a new government, there will be a serious attempt to legislate a new law governing Haredi draft deferrals, seeing as how the High Court threw out the old arrangements.

Hebrew U study: 13.75 million Jews in the world

YNet   The global Jewish population reached 13.75 million in the past year, with an increase of 88,000 people, a study by Hebrew University Professor Sergio DellaPergola reveals.

According to the study, one out of every 514 people in the world is Jewish, less than 0.2% of mankind.

About 43% of the world’s Jewish community lives in Israel, making Israel the country with the largest Jewish population.

The Israeli Jewish population stands at 5,978,600, up 1.8%; the Arab population numbers at 1,636,600, up 2.4%; and the rest of the population including Christians and non-Jews reached 318,000 people, up 1.3%. Israel’s Jewish population makes up 75% of the state’s total people.

Rav Sternbuch:Problem of Get Me'usa in America

The following is my hasty unauthorized translation. Don't rely on it alone for practical halacha.

ב' מרחשון תשנ"ט

I was asked regarding a get which Rav X from Monsey gave to his wife. We want to emphasize that we only heard from one side i.e., that husband. However in matters of issur it is sufficient regarding assertions which are related with some sort of justification to arouse serious concerns that the Get is invalid as a Get Me’usa (forced get) and that it was given in error. Furthermore we have received letters from roshei yeshiva and gedolei Torah from America that verify the husband’s assertions. In their view there is a serious probability that the Get is invalid as we mentioned. Consequently there is no concern for the Cherem of Rabbeinu Tam that prohibits questioning a get given by a recognized beis din – since this isn’t simply a vague questioning of the validity of the Get as we explain. Therefore we call on the gedolei poskim in American not to get involved in this matter that they have heard about and assumed was correctly decided. There is the presumption that the Jewish people will not commit the crime of permitting the wife to remarry without a thorough clarification of what we mentioned and a true determination made of the din. In the matter which is before us, the husband does not want to leave his wife an agunah. He in fact is prepared to give a Get according to the law of the Torah. He simply is requesting his rights according to the Torah. They demanded from the husband that he falsely sign that he has no reservations regarding the Get and he are giving it whole heartedly. In addition they utilized the fact that the secular law always believes the wife - even when she is make false claims. Furthermore they utilized the fact that the secular law would imprison him based entirely on her false testimony or at least make a harsh judgment against him. It was only out of fear of these possibilities that he gave the get or validated it so that he would be free of improper criminal charges. You should be aware that this sin of permitting a married women to remarry against the halacha is extremely serious and is worse than what was done by the Generation of the Flood as is explained in Kiddushin (13a). And according what we have heard, America is degenerating to a state where anyone who marries a divorcee will need to clarify first which beis din gave her the Get and whether the husband willingly gave it. There is absolutely no concern to the Cherem [of Rabbeinu Tam] of questioning the validity of a Get – since there is clearly a valid basis to be concerned. This is the ruling of the Nodah BeYehuda (E.H. Madura Kamma 88) and other Achronim. The Nodah BeYehuda concludes there that if the beis din uses nidoi to pressure the husband then the beis din itself is in nidoi. Therefore due to the serious nature of this matter we request from the rabbis of America, who are the guardians of Yiddishkeit there, not to allow such a damaging breach. And this request is also directed to the Orthodox battei din that are known as Chareidim and yet they conduct themselves contrary to halacha due to our many sins. And even by silently acquiescing to this violation of halacha they are perpetuating it – chas v’shalom! For now the above words should be sufficient. Therefore I hope that this letter be productive in improving the situation. It will be my reward that I sanctified the Name of Heaven by not allowing revolt against the marriage laws. Gֿ‑d’s holy Torah will be perpetuated as well as His Will.

R' Pinto's wife attempts suicide after arrest

JPost   Rivka Pinto, the wife of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, one of Israel's most influential rabbis, attempted suicide by taking an overdose of pills at the couple's Ashdod home on Sunday, while police investigators interrogated her husband on suspicion of money laundering and bribing a senior police officer.

Pinto was lightly hurt and taken by Magen David Adom paramedics for treatment to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital, where she was recovering Sunday night.

For additional information YNet   bhol