Modesty Squad targeted by Jerusalem Police II

YNET reports: [See also VIN regarding Bedatz involvement]

Meah Shearim residents agitated following wave of arrests of 'modesty guard' activists. In one of demonstrations held every evening, youngsters flip over police car in capital. 'The chastity squad activists are doing what the police should be doing,' senior community member says

The ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Meah Shearim in Jerusalem was shaken up last week following the arrest of three residents suspected of being active in the haredi community's chastity squad.

The first person arrested three weeks ago was Elhanan Buzaglo, who was indicted of attacking a woman suspected of improper ties with married men in the capital's Maalot Dafna neighborhood. According to the indictment, Buzaglo received $2,000 in return for his involvement in the attack.Following his arrest, two additional suspects were detained last week. One of them is Shmuel Weisfish, who was allegedly involved in the torching of a store selling MP4 players against a ruling of the Ultra-Orthodox community's court of justice.

On Wednesday, the police arrested Binyamin Meirovich, a Jerusalem resident suspected of being one of the chastity squad's leaders, and the person responsible for the organization's operations. The police were expected to ask the court to extend his remand on Friday.

Yichus - Finding records to establish

Sacha Bogomilsky's comment to "EJFamily - Solving intermarriage through conversio...":

"For one thing many documents were destroyed during WW2. "

After the war, survivors of each village compiled Yizkor books listing the names of every Jewish family in their village and also copying the communities archived records. Yizkor books can be used to prove Jewish status since they are compiled by eyewitnesses.

The Mormons have Chevra Kadisha records, mohel books, marriage registers etc etc etc for hundreds of thousands of European Jews.

I got my great grandmothers birth certificate from Lodz Poland, 1884, without much difficulty. While I was there, I went all the way back 4 more generations just for fun.

The Soviet government kept excellent records of who was a Jew because Stalin wanted to wipe out the Jewish influence (ie Trotsky) from Communism. The Soviets recorded the ethnicity of both parents on birth records.
These records are becoming available as the Mormons are copying them to microfiche.

When proving Jewish status, one can document via civil records the mother-child relationship back to a family documented to be Jewish (ie via civil records, burial in a Jewish cemetery, yizkor book, synagogue membership, membership in any Jewish organization) in Europe.

Additionally, European countries regularly did censuses of their Jewish subjects. These records are available from the Mormons Family history libraries.

Thousands of headstones in Eastern Europe have been cataloged for genealogy purposes by members of Jewish gen. Many cemetery records are also search able online.

The Cuban Jewish community archives are stored in Miami and also can be searched online. I have not had any difficulty affirming the Jewish status of any Cuban Jew who was halachically Jewish as the community kept excellent archives.

I have helped Jews whose ancestors were from Cuba, Egypt, Russia, Poland, Greece and many other now defunct Jewish communities document their Jewishness, it is not really difficult, and it is much easier today in our internet world.

Conversion II - Bnei Menashe from India

Anonymous comment to "Conversion - Bnei Menashe from India in limbo":

Anonymous 8/21/08's description of the area where the Bnai Menashe originate does not anywhere match the reality.

The Bene Menashe are Christians living in Manipur and Mizoram between Burma and Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries, ranking third after India and China in the extent of poverty. Most of the country is made up of flood plain, and while the alluvial soil provides good arable land, large areas are at risk because of frequent floods and cyclones, which take lives and destroy crops, livestock and property.

The implementation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 1958 resulted in the designation of Manipur as a "disturbed area" .

There has been constant war in the area since 1958. My relatives(Iraqi Jews) who fled Burma in the 1970s, abandoning their homes, vast lands (coffee plantations), businesses and other assets due to the violence and unstable government.

Ordinary Manipuris are tired of the rebels' influence and disruption of life and economy. They also issue dictates and rulings on moral and social behavior, enforced with the threat of violence. Extortion is also rampant in Manipur. Most professions are forced to pay the rebels regular sums of money that are locally called 'tax'.

Christians (which the Bnai Menashe are) are the victims of ongoing violence from local tribal people and the Hindu majority who have beheaded pastors and burned churches. There has been constant violence against Christians perpetrated by Hindus who do not wish to have their children taken from them and converted to Christianity.

Myanmar, also called Burma is one of Asia's poorest countries. Ravaged by a junta bent on keeping power, political and social unrest have been as much a part of the culture as the people. The area has been predominately unstable since the invasion of Great Britain in the 1800s.

Christian persecution in Burma is growing because it is an ethnic issue. The government of Burma has declared a culture war against Christianity by offering 6,000 kyats to any man who will marry a Christian woman because the children will be of the father's religion. The majority of the people (89%) are Buddhist and Christians are 4%.

The Bnai Menashe claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel. Linguistically, they are Tibeto-Burmans and belong to the Mizo, Kuki and Chin peoples. The group was named Bnei Menashe by Eliyahu Avichail because he believes that the legendary Kuki-Mizo ancestor Manmasiis is one and the same with Menasseh, son of Joseph.

Prior to their conversion to Christianity in the 19th Century, the Chin-Kuki-Mizo were headhunters and animists. They have no written history but their legends refer to a beloved homeland they were driven away from called Sinlung/Chhinlung.

Anthropologists and historians believe that it was located in China's Yunnan province and that the Tibeto-Burman migration from there began about 6000 years ago.

Although Michael Freund claims that the Bnei Menashe claim to have a chant they call Miriam's Prayer, the words of the chant are identical to that of the Sikpui Song .

Freund claims that according to the Bnei Menashe "a century ago, when British missionaries first arrived in India's North-East, they were astonished to find that the local tribesmen worshiped one god, were familiar with many of the stories of the Bible, and were practicing a form of biblical Judaism".

By all empirical historical accounts, the entire tribe were animists at the time of the arrival of the missionaries.

Chabad - Training children to be soliders in G-d's Army

YNET wrote the following excerpt

The rabbi's army

Chabad summer camp includes money collection, love of God; 'the object is to send emissaries all over the world so that every Jew would have the option of receiving physical and spiritual aid,' coordinator says

They stand in a line, fall in a group of threes and are ordered to go to the parade ground, equipped with a discipline manual. Despite the similarities to any army recruitment center, these are not 18-year-old kids who are joining the IDF, these are children, aged 9 to 13 who were accepted to a unique program aimed at training the children as "house managers" for the countless Chabad houses located worldwide. The program is run by the Chabad organization itself.

For this purpose, Kfar Galim, a youth village located near the coastal town of Atlit was chosen. Some 150 children, who are planning to become emissaries of the Rabbi of Lubavitch, still get to go to the pool and field trips, but the bulk of the training is given in an entirely military-like discipline, which includes an intensive program where the children stay at the youth village for more than two weeks without returning home to mom and dad.

Among the activities the children attend are lectures on the various aspects of being a Chabad emissary, from helping the poor to holding Passover Seders for the hundreds of Israeli backpackers overseas who desire a little piece of home.

This course, the first of its kind, was designed and is run by Chabad's youth organization, headed by Rabbi Joseph Isaac Aharonov, and is aimed to instill the essence of emissary work for Chabad, and build up a renewing pool of potential future emissaries.

"This course is designed to continue the Rabbi of Lubavitch's way, to educate the next generation of Chabad leadership and to instill the love of Israel", said Rabbi Aharonov, "These children will be the representatives of Chabad everywhere". The results, he hopes, will be evident in a few years when these children get married, only then, if they wish and are able to meet the criteria required, can they become emissaries for Chabad.

Conversion of intermarried couples - two major prohibitions

There are two separate prohibitions mentioned in Yevamos (24b) regarding the marriage of someone who has been living with a non-Jewish woman prior to conversion. 1) Conversion for the sake of marriage is prohibited l’chatchila – but according to most poskim today if there is a sincere acceptance of mitzvos it is permitted. 2) It is prohibited to allow a marriage to a convert who it is suspected was living with the Jewish man prior to conversion. Is it better or worse that they were living openly as husband and wife prior to conversion?

The issue of why we today ignore clearly stated prohibitions in the gemora is discussed at great length in the literature. It is too complex an issue for simple summary. Below is the gemora and following it is an excerpt from Rabbi Bleich. There is also an excellent discussion in Prof. Finkelstein’s book on geirus.

MISHNAH. IF A MAN IS SUSPECTED OF [INTERCOURSE] WITH A SLAVE WHO WAS LATER EMANCIPATED, OR WITH A HEATHEN WHO SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME A PROSELYTE, LO, HE MUST NOT MARRY HER. IF, HOWEVER, HE DID MARRY HER THEY NEED NOT BE PARTED. IF A MAN IS SUSPECTED OF INTERCOURSE WITH A MARRIED WOMAN WHO, [IN CONSEQUENCE,] WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM HER HUSBAND, HE MUST LET HER GO EVEN THOUGH HE HAD MARRIED HER.

GEMARA. This implies that she may become a proper proselyte. But against this a contradiction is raised. Both a man who became a proselyte for the sake of a woman and a woman who became a proselyte for the sake of a man, and, similarly, a man who became a proselyte for the sake of a royal board, or for the sake of joining Solomon's servants,1are no proper proselytes. These are the words of R. Nehemiah, for R. Nehemiah used to Say: Neither lion-proselytes, nor dream-proselytes nor the proselytes of Mordecai and Esther are proper proselytes unless they become converted at the present time. How can it be said, ‘at the present time’?-Say ‘as at the present time’! -Surely concerning this it was stated that R. Isaac b. Samuel b. Martha said in the name of Rab: The halachah is in accordance with the opinion of him who maintained that they were all proper proselytes. If so, this should have been permitted altogether! - On account of [the reason given by] R. Assi. For R. Assi said, Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lip's etc.

Rabbi Bleich writes in his article Conversion for the Sake of Intermarriage

The vast majority of questionable conversions are performed in order to facilitate marriage with a Jewish spouse and quite often occur after a civil marriage has already taken place. However, such unions present a grave halakhic problem. Even when the conversion itself is entered into with the utmost sincerity and conviction, it is questionable whether a converted Jewess may marry a Jew with whom she consorted while still a gentile The Mishnah (Yevamos 24b) declares that one who is suspected of having cohabited with a gentile woman may not marry the woman in question subsequent to her conversion. The Mishnah adds, however, that if the marriage did take place the couple are not obliged to seek a divorce. Rashi explains that this prohibition was promulgated in order to safeguard the honor and reputation of the husband since marriage under such circumstances is likely to lend credence to rumors of previous immorality. On the basis of the explanation advanced by Rashi, some authorities" conclude that this prohibition does not encompass instances in which the couple have been living together publicly, since in such cases previous immoral conduct is an established verity."… Rabbi Feinstein asserts that even according to Rashba's interpretation, the prohibition against marriage following con­version is not applicable in cases where a civil marriage has already taken place. Since the couple have already established a permanent conjugal relationship, argues Rabbi Feinstein, there can be no grounds for the suspicion that conversion was insincerely sought merely for the sake of marriage. It would seem, however, that the numerous authorities cited in an earlier section, who maintain that the desire to legitimize the rela­tionship and to contract a marriage which is valid in the eyes of Halakhah constitute an ulterior motive disqualifying the candidacy of a prospective proselyte, would also deem marriage subsequent to conversion to be for­bidden, according to Rashba, on these self-same grounds. R. Yosef Sha'ul Nathanson expressly forbids the marriage of a Jew and a prospective con­vert despite the fact that they had been married in a civil ceremony and had sired children." Such marriages are also forbidden by R. Ya'akov Ettlinger t?- and R. Meir Arak.47b…

Whatever the final adjudication of the Halakhah with regard to this complex question may be in any particular case, it can be seen that the permissibility of marriage under such circumstances constitutes a matter requiring careful halakhic deliberation.

Conversion - Bnei Menashe from India in limbo

Haaretz reported:

Officials in the Prime Minister's Office yesterday denied reports that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had decided to allow the remaining 7,000 members of the Bnei Menashe community in India to immigrate to Israel.

Bnei Menashe, a community of some 7,000 from India's northeastern border states, claim descent from Menashe, one of the Ten Lost Tribes.

The officials said Olmert had not made up his mind yet, and that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, who must sign the immigration approval, strongly objects to the move.

Some 600 Bnei Menashe immigrants were brought to Israel in the past decade. About half were converted to Judaism before immigrating and the rest after arriving, due to India's objection to religious conversions on its soil.

Israeli officials fear that approving the immigration of the entire Bnei Menashe community would meet objections from India and would encourage other groups to demand the right to come to Israel. They also fear that such a decision would ire those people acting to bring the Falashmura community from Ethiopia, which Israel has recently decided to stop bringing as a group.

Cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel, who is in charge of the Diaspora, supports bringing the Bnei Menashe community here.

Modesty squad targeted by Jerusalem police

V.I.N reported:

Jerusalem - The campaign to liquidate the “mishmeres hatznius” is broadening. Binyomin Meyerovitch was arrested today under suspicion as one of the heads of the organization. Shmuel Veisfish was arrested at the beginning of the week. Jerusalem police spokesman: “We are weighing whether to extend Meyerovitch’s incarceration.”

“We have resolved to wipe them out,” said an agent in the Detectives Division of the Jerusalem District Police to “B’chadrei Chareidim” in reference to the mishmeres hatznius. The assurance, it seems, has come to fruition.

Today (Wednesday), Chareidi Jerusalem resident Binyomin Meyerovitch was arrested under suspicion of being one of the heads of the organization and responsible for many actions made in the group’s name. Earlier in the week police arrested Shmuel Veisfish, allegedly an organization activist.

The arrest warrant against the two came after the arrest of Elchanan Buzaglo, suspected of acts of violence carried out at the behest of the mishmeres hatznius. Meyerovitch had been staying out of the country in recent weeks, returning to Israel today only to be immediately arrested.

As mentioned, after Buzaglo’s arrest, the news broke on israeli web site B’Chadrei Chareidim that the police opened a dragnet for mishmeres hatznius activists and had issued arrest warrants for a number of suspects.

In her decision to extend the incarceration of Buzaglo, judge Shulamit Dotan wrote: “The crimes being investigated by the police in this episode are apparently organized by not a small number of involved parties,” an expression which points to the extensive evidence gathered in the course of the investigation into the matter.

Chabad - Prophecy based on verified stories?

I have previously posted two stories which a Chabad acquaintance of mine used to demonstrate that the Rebbe was a navi. He personally certified the authenticity of the stories and said he knows the people involved. He told me that every Lubavicher knows such stories and therefore it is obvious to all that the Rebbe is a navi.

Yesterday I received the following email from someone who says that he spoke to the ba'al hamaaseh

The Ba'al Hamaseh was very vague and would not reveal any details. What he told me was that a) the Bobover Rebbe did not ask him, b) the people who did ask him already knew that the girl was in Australia, c) she doesn't live in Israel (she lives in Florida), d) the story according to him happened 14-15 years ago which in itself we know is quite problematic.

Chabad - Rebbe & prophecy/R' Gil Student

Rabbi Gil Student just sent me his article concerning the Lubavticher Rebbe and prophecy which was recently published in Beis Yitzchak - a Y.U. publication. He agreed for me to post the summary of the article. The complete edition of Beis Yitzchak is available for free download

בפסק דין שבו התחלנו דברינו אמרו שהאדמו"ר מליובאוויטש זצ"ל היה נביא ורמז שהוא המשיח. לפיכך חייב כל א' מישראל מדין של אליו תשמעון להאמין שהוא מלך המשיח ולקבלו. והנה נתבאר שאין נבואה בחוץ לארץ וכמאמר הספרי מקרבך ולא בחוץ לארץ ע"כ והאדמו"ר מליובאוויטש זצ"ל אף פעם לא היה בארץ ישראל. ועוד שנביא צריך לתת אות להבא או צריך נביא אחר להעיד עליו ולא מצאנו זה בהאדמו"ר מליובאוויטש זצ"ל. ואף גם זאת צריך כל זה להיות בפני הסנהדרין ואנו אין לנו ב"ד של סמוכים. ועוד שלפי הרמב"ם המצוה של אליו תשמעון שייך אך ורק לנבואה שנאמרה מאת ה' ולא למאמר הנביא מאת עצמו. והיכן ראינו שהאדמו"ר מליובאוויטש זצ"ל אמר נבואה בפירוש ולא דבר מדעת עצמו. וג"כ הלא כבר פסקה הנבואה בתחילת בית השני ואינה חוזרת עד שיבא אליהו. וא"כ מתוך שלדאבונינו עדיין אליהו לא בא א"א להאדמו"ר מליובאוויטש זצ"ל להיות נביא. וכמו שאמר הרשב"א בתשובה ח"א סי' תקמח וז"ל ואף בתלמידי הלל הזקן שהיו קדושי עליון גדולים בחכמה ובחסידות אמרו ראויים שתשרה עליהם שכינה כמשה אלא שאין הדור ראוי לכך. ואפשר דורו של הלל ותלמידיו החסידים לא היה ראוי ודורנו זה ראוי עכ"ל. ואם בדורו של הרשב"א שהם כמלאכים לא כל שכן בדורנו שאנו כבני אדם. אלא לצערינו איו לנו נביא עד שיבא אליהו בבא"ס.

Chabad - Psak that Rebbe is Navi & Moshiach

[translated by Chabbad chasidim]
In his public address of Shabbat Parshas Shoftim, 5751, the Lubavitcher Rebbe asserts that according to Torah law (Maimonides, Yesodei HaTorah, chapter 7), there is a prophet in our generation, and we are required to heed his directives. The Rebbe said:

"It must be publicized to all members of the generation that we have merited that G-d has chosen a person endowed with free choice, who is incomparably higher than the members of this generation, as the judge, counselor and prophet of the generation, to provide instruction and advice pertaining to the service of all Jews.... [His council extends] to the most fundamental prophecy - "Redemption is imminent" and immediately, literally, 'Behold he (Moshiach) comes."'

In light of Maimonides statement in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, 7:1, 9:2, 10:1, we the undersigned consider thet according to Torah law the Rebbe King Moshiach is a prophet. Moreover, in his public addresses the Rebbe clearly alludes to the fact that he is a prophet. Indeed, time and again, before the eyes of the Jewish people and the rest of the world, the Rebbe has accurately predicted the future. The Rebbe foresaw with incredible precision the unfolding and outcome of such events as the Six Day War,the Gulf War, and numerous other events. As such, there is an obligation to heed the Rebbe's every instruction, and to believe his every word.

On Shabbat Parsha Vayeira, 5752, the Rebbe said: "At the present time, all obstacles and hindrances have been nullified. As such, Moshiach (not only exists, but in fact), is also already revealed. All we have to do now is welcome Moshiach Tzidkeinu in actual reality."

On Shabbat Parshas Mishpatim, 5752; the Rebbe said the following: "...The ruling of the rabbanim and halachic authorities that the time of the Redemption has arrived - i.e. "A king will arise from the House of David... it is presumed that he is Moshiach," [- the Rebbe added to the halachic ruling :-] "until the state of "definitely Moshiach." In this public address, as well as numerous others, the Rebbe clearly hints at the fact that he is King Moshiach.

In light of these statements, and in light of the Rebbe's encouragement of the proclamation "Yechi Adoneinu", it is incumbent on every single Jew to heed the Rebbe's words and believe that he is indeed King Moshiach, who will be revealed imminently.

Prophecy -Validation/Rambam

Rambam(Yesodei HaTorah Chapter 10):

This chapter discusses which signs a prophet has to perform before we believe him.

1) Any prophet who arises and says that God sent him does not have to perform a sign of the type that Moses, Elijah or Elishah did, which involved supernatural events. Instead, the sign that he has to perform is to predict the future, and we have to believe him, as it is written, "And if you say in your heart, `How shall we know the word which the Lord has not to spoken?'". Therefore, when a man suitable for prophecy comes in the Name of God, without wanting to add to or take away from, any of the commandments, but wants us to serve God properly, we do not ask him to split the sea, or to resurrect the dead, or to perform some other supernatural event, and then believe him, but we tell him to predict the future because he is a prophet, which he does, and we wait to see if what he says happens or not. Even if was wrong in only a small matter, he is a false prophet, but if all of what he said comes true, then he is believed.

2) A prophet has to be checked many times. If all his words are true then he is a prophet, as it says with respect to Samuel, "And all Israel, from Dan to Be'er-Sheva, knew that Samuel was accredited as a prophet of the Lord".

3) Enchanters and diviners also predict the future, so how do they differ from a prophet? Of what enchanters and diviners say some comes true and some does not, as it is written, "Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from these things shall come upon you" - it says, "from these things", and not, "from all these things", so it is possible that not all of what they said will come true, and that they were mistaken in everything, as it is written, "...that frustrates the omens of imposters, and makes diviners mad". With respect to a [true] prophet, all of what he says comes true, as it is written, "Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord", and it is also written, "The prophet that has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff of the wheat? says the Lord", that is to say that the words of diviners is like some chaff into which some wheat has been mixed, whereas the words of the Lord are completely true, with no falsehoods at all. This is backed up by Scripture, which says that prognosticators and diviners deceive the nations with their words, but a prophet makes known truthful matters, and we do not have to enchant or divine [to verify his words], for it is written, "There must not be found among you anyone that makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire...for these nations...The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from amongst you". From here we see that a prophet makes known only earthly matters, such as famine or plenty, war or peace, and similar things. Prophets even answer the needs of the one, such as when Saul had lost an item and went to a prophet to help him find it. A prophet may say what he wants provided that he does not start another religion, add a mitzvah or take one away.

4) If a prophet predicts something bad, such as that so-and-so will die, or that this year will be one of war or famine, et cetera, and his prediction did not come true, then it is not a disproof of his prophecy and we do not label him as a false prophet, for the reason that God is exceedingly merciful and [often] revokes bad decrees, so it is possible that those on whom evil had been decreed had, like the citizens of Nineveh, repented, or had had their decree suspended, as with Hezekiah. But if, however, the prophet decreed good things and his prediction did not come true, then he is definitely a false prophet, for whenever God makes a good decree, even if it is conditional, He does not revoke it. From here we see that a prophet is tested only with respect to good matters. This is what Jeremiah said in his answer to Hananiah the son of Azur, when Jeremiah was prophecising bad things and Hananiah good things: `If what I say does not come true, it is not a sign that I am a false prophet, but if what you say does not come true, it shows that you are a false prophet', for it is written, "Nevertheless, hear now this word...As for the prophet who prophecies for peace, when the word of that prophet shall come to pass, then shall it be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet".

5) If a prophet says about another prophet that he is [indeed] a prophet, then he is assumed to be a prophet, and the prophet who said it does not have to be cross-examined. Moses vouched for Joshua, and all of Israel believed in him before he performed a sign. Similarly in the following generations: it is forbidden to doubt or debate the prophecy of a prophet who has been found to be right time and time again, or the prophecy of a prophet who has been vouched for by another prophet, and it is [also] forbidden to test him excessively or for ever [for one who tests him is like one who tests God], for it is written, "Do not test the Lord your God as you tested Him in Massah", when we said, "Is the Lord among us, or not?". Once it has become known that he is a prophet, they will believe and know that God is amongst them, and they will nor debate or doubt his words, in accordance with what is written, "...yet they shall know that there has been a prophet amongst them".