Radvaz - objected to images used in shul

It has been asserted that the Radvaz (3:472) is the source of the Chabad practice of praying toward a photo of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. However this teshuva says nothing about prayer but only that there is tremendous importance of learning Torah in the presence of one's teacher. It is about Torah study not prayer and it is not about images but rather the living teacher. Thus the Radvaz is cited to show that learning from tape recordings is not ideal since the presence of a human teacher is missing. In addition the following teshuva of the Radvaz about making images - not only in shul - but also in general shows the viewed it as very problematic. It is highly unlikely that the Radvaz would have approved of praying towards an image of anything. The following is only an excerpt of the teshuva. In addition as a kabbalist he probably would not have approved of making an image of a person in the first place.

שו"ת רדב"ז חלק ד סימן קז

/תחת סימן ק"ז מופיעות שתי תשובות, אחרי פסקה שלישית מתחילה התשובה השניה/ (אלף קעח) שאלה מעשה היה בקנדיא בראובן שסד בית הכנסת וליבן אותו ותקן אותו יפה יפר /יפה/ ורצה לכתוב על גובה ההיכל שמו ושם אבותיו ולהתעטף ולהתהדה בטלית שאולה ולא זו בלבד אלא שגבה לבו עד להשחית ורצה להשים למעלה מן ההיכל סימן דגל משפחתו הנקרא ארמ"א בלעז והוא צורת אריה וכתר בראשו. ולא זו בלבד אלא שרצה לעשותו גולם ממש בולט ולקח לו אבן שיש וצוה את האומנין לעשות לו פסל דמות אריה מוזהב וכתר מלכות בראשו ויצר אותו בחרט וגו' והיה מסדר ליתנו בצמרת ההיכל ובגובהו כנגד המשתחוים. גם כתב על אבן שיש פלוני בן פלוני הגאון. והקהל יצ"ו כשמעם את הדבר הרע הזה התאבלו והשתדלו בכל כחם ואונם למנוע את ראובן מהמעש הרע הזה. ובהיות ראובן זה בעל זרוע קרוב למלכות לא אבה שמוע להם עד שהוצרכו לפזר מעות הרבה על זה ומנעו אותו בכח השררה יר"ה. ושאלו ממנו אם דבר זה מותר או אסור:

תשובה יפה עשו הקהל יצ"ו שמנעו ובטלו שמץ עבודה זרה מבהכ"נ ועליהם תבא ברכת טוב ושכרם כפול מן השמים בזה ובבא ואלו הוינא התם מסרנא נפשאי עלה. יהא חלקי עמהם ועם החכמים יצ"ו אשר החזיקו את ידם על ככה. וקרוב אני לומר שראובן חייב בכל ההוצאות שעשו הקהל לבטל ענין מכוער כזה. ומפני שלא נשאלתי על זה לא אכתוב בו דבר שלא אהיה נדרש ללא שאלו. ועל הרועים המחזיקים ביד ראובן חרה אפי שאפילו לפי דעת מי שסובר דמותר לעשות שאר צורות לנוי מכל מקום יש לחוש כמה חששות כאשר אני עתיד לבאר בעזרת האל. חדא שעיקר הדין בעשיית שאר צורות תלוי במחלוקת. דגרסינן בפרק כל הצלמים מנקיט רב ששת חומרי מתנייתא ותני כל המזלות מותרים חוץ ממזל חמה ולבנה וכל הפרצופין מותרין חוץ מפרצוף אדם וכל הצורות מותרות חוץ מצורת דרקון. ואקשינן עלה בגמרא אמר מר וכולי ואסקינן קושיין רישא וסיפא במוצא ואמצעיתא בעושה. אמר אביי אין רישא וסיפא במוצא ואמצעיתא בעושה. רבא אמר כולה במוצא ומציעתא רבי יהודה היא דתניא רבי יהודה מוסיף אף דמות מניקה וסר אפס עד כאן בגמרא. נמצא לפי תירוצו של אביי ברייתא אמצעיתא דכל הפרצופין מותרין חוץ מפרצוף אדם איירי בעושה ואם כן מותר לעשות כל הפרצופין חוץ מפרצוף אדם וכן כל הצורות חוץ מצורת דרקון. ובצורת דרקון איכא פלוגתא איכא מאן דאמר דכיון דאיירי סיפא במוצא דוקא במוצא אסור אבל לעשות צורת דרקון מותר. ואיכא מאן דאמר דלעשותו נמי אסור דחוץ מצורת דרקון דקתני אפילו במוצא וכל שכן בעושה. ומכל מקום מתירוצו של אביי למדנו דצורת אריה לבד וכן כל שאר הצורות מותר לעשותם חוץ מפרצוף אדם. וכן כתבה הרמב"ם ז"ל פרק שלישי מהלכות ע"ז וזה לשונו צורת הבהמות ושאר נפש חיה חוץ מן האדם וכולי מותר לצור אותם אפילו היתה הצורה בולטת עד כאן. וכן נראה סברת הריא"ף זכרונו לברכה שכתב הברייתא כצורתה משמע דבכל גוונא מותר בין מוצא בין עושה בין שוקע בין בולט. וכן היא סברת הרשב"א ז"ל ורוב פוסקים נמשכו אחריהם. אבל ראיתי להרמב"ן ז"ל שכתב שכל הצורות הבולטות אסור לעשותם מפני החשד וז"ל והא דתניא טבעת שחותמה בולט וכולי לאו בדמות שמשי מרום אלא בשאר כל הצורות היא דכיון דבולטות נינהו איכא למיחש לחשדא שמא צורה נעבדת היא כיון שהוא מניחה ואעפ"י שאחרים עשו לו אסור להניחה וכן הוא אסור לעשות כל צורה בולטת שמא יאמרו לעובדה הוא עושה. והא דשרינן לעיל בעושה צורות ופרצופות כולן בשוקעין איירי אבל בבולט חיישינן לחשדא אא"כ עושה אותה לרבים שלא במקום חשדא. ומיהו מסתברא לי שלא אמרו אלא בטבעת וכיוצא בה שהן מכובדים אבל על המבוזים מותר לצור שאר צורות בין בולט בין שוקע עכ"ל. וא"ת איך התיר הרב זכרונו לברכה לעשות צורת אריה כאשר העיד עליו הרשב"א זכרונו לברכה בתשובה. לא קשיא דאיכא למימר לרפואה שאני. וכן נראה שאפי' הרשב"א לא התיר אלא לרפואה כדמשמע לשון תשובתו ואע"ג שהרב זכרונו לברכה סובר דלהלכה מותר דילמא למעשה לא התיר אלא לרפואה ובני דורו חלוקים עליו אפי' לרפואה. וגם הוא זכרונו לברכה לא החליט הדבר להיתר ועיין בתשובתו סימן תי"ג. אי נמי יש לתרץ שהצורה שעשה הרמב"ן זכרונו לברכה לא היתה בולטת אלא שוקעת. אי נמי שלא היה אלא צורת חצי הגוף כדרך שמציירים בטבעות או על הלוח אבל גוף שלם כנדון דידן לא התיר אלא אדרבא אוסר בהדיא.

Kashrus - Agriprocessors threatened with loss of certification

New York Times reports:

The leading Jewish authority in charge of certifying kosher food has threatened to withdraw its certification from the products of Agriprocessors Inc., the nation’s largest kosher meatpacker, after criminal charges for more than 9,000 child labor violations were brought against the company and its owners in Iowa this week.

Rabbi Menachem Genack, who is in charge of kosher supervision for the Orthodox Union, the major kosher certifying organization in the United States, said he had set a deadline of “several weeks” for Agriprocessors to name a new chief executive, or the group would suspend supervision of kosher production at its plants.

“Because of the new charges in the state of Iowa, we believe it is in the best interest of the kosher consuming public to have new management with a new C.E.O., that will give people a new sense of confidence that all laws and regulations are being completely complied with,” Rabbi Genack said in an interview on Wednesday.

Losing the kosher certification of the Orthodox Union would be a potentially crippling blow to Agriprocessors, whose meat and poultry — sold as Aaron’s Best and Rubashkin’s, among other brands — are staples in Jewish households nationwide that observe kosher practices. The company is by far the largest producer of kosher meat, with annual kosher sales estimated at $80 million. Although other groups provide certification, they are less widely known, and the loss of the familiar circled-U seal on the company’s products could drive away many customers.

Agriprocessors has been struggling to maintain its production since 389 illegal immigrant workers were detained at its plant in Postville, Iowa, in a raid on May 12. On Tuesday, Iowa’s attorney general brought 9,311 criminal misdemeanor charges that accused the company of employing 32 workers under the legal age of 18 in Postville. Many of the youths worked night shifts in dangerous jobs that exposed them to hazardous chemicals, according to the charges.

Aaron Rubashkin, the Agriprocessors owner, who is a Hasidic Jew, and his son Sholom, the former chief executive of the Postville operation, were named as defendants in the criminal cases.

The Orthodox Union’s ultimatum was first reported on Tuesday by JTA, the Jewish news agency. The agency also reported that a second kosher certifier working in the Postville plant said that he would not withdraw.

Rabbi Menachem Weissmandl, the other certifier, said he would remove his seal of approval only if the company failed to follow strict procedures for slaughter and packing mandated by Jewish dietary ritual laws, JTA reported.

Rabbi Genack said he had told the Rubashkins after the raid that he expected them to seek new leadership for the company. Shortly after, Aaron Rubashkin announced that he had fired Sholom Rubashkin as chief executive, and was seeking to replace him, but no new executive has been named.

Agriprocessors has already met another condition laid down by the Orthodox Union, Rabbi Genack said, by hiring James Martin, a former United States attorney from Missouri, as a compliance officer to enforce labor and safety standards.

For the top manager, Rabbi Genack said, “We want to see a new face, somebody independent who can give new direction to the company.”[...]

Chabad - L. Rebbe as Moshiach/ R' Chaim Brovender

JPost

Q: Some people suggest in the name of well known Torah giants that the Torah rejects the notion of a deceased leader of the Jewish people being qualified to be the long awaited messiah.

They explain that fostering such a belief encourages some Jewish people to believe that the late Lubavitcher Rebbe could still be the messiah, even after his demise.

They also explain that this is not only a dangerous belief for young people, who are prone to be disappointed and abandon Orthodox practice.

Rather, there is no basis in the words of our sages obm, not in the Talmud, nor in Rabbinic writings that appeared later.

Regarding statements in the Talmud and rabbinic writing like Sdei Chemed, the concept of min hamasim is presented, these people suggest these is not meant to be understood literally.

Which view is valid?

Rabbi Chaim Brovender replied

A: The topic of the messiah appearing in our time in the guise of the previous Lubavitcher rebbe has become a serious matter in our time. Some are vehemently in favor (mostly hasidim) and some are opposed (some hasidim and many others). I take it that you feel you have to have a position and would like me to give some direction.

Although sympathetic to the enterprise of the Rabbe and in spite of the fact that I visited (yechidus) several times, I have never been part of the Habad movement. When this idea began to gain support from within I must admit that it left me cold. After all, the rebbe had many opportunities to announce his messianism which he only alluded to (according to some interpreters). The Rambam says that when the messiah comes we will all know. That seems reasonable to me. There is no doubt that the Jewish people (outside of Habad) do not know. The Rambam states further that we should try to avoid dwelling on the matter of the messiah since it is not really part of the information package that we received in our tradition.

I have thought about it and I have no way to connect to the notion that the rebbe who died some years ago continues to function as the messiah.

In spite of the rebbes obvious greatness, it seems to be another mistake that the Jews have made on this topic.

We continue to pray fo the coming of the messiah in our time.

Anusim - Demand recognition and acceptance

Guest Post: Even Ezer Garcia "Descendants of Marranos (Anusim) II - should they ...":

To Recipients and Publicity,

How you dare to say “How on Earth there could still be Marranos/Anusim/Conversos.” I am not going to waste my time explaining my Jewish lineage to you. But I would like to ask you, how do you explain our Jewish customs after so many years? My family covered the mirrors in the house and discarded water from flower vase when family member passed away, buried nail clippings, my grand father asked to be buried facing Jerusalem, discarded chametz for Pesach, and many other customs. We did all this without books, Rabbis, and formal community. Now, who are you to make halachik decisions? By disguising or omitting your name, I can tell what kind of person you are. My birth name is Even Ezer, and in honor of my ancestors and for the future of my children, I returned to G-d and Judaism, I returned home and we are here to stay with or without your consent.

Rep. Cohen - Obama like Jesus /Palin like Pontius Pilate

Fox News reports:

[Jewish] Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen riled Republicans Wednesday after he compared Barack Obama to Jesus Christ and suggested Sarah Palin is akin to Pontius Pilate.

The Tennessee Democrat, who supports Obama, was on the House floor giving a one-minute speech when he offered the comparisons.

“If you want change, you want the Democratic Party,” Cohen said. “Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our minister prayed about. Pontius Pilate was a governor.”

A similar statement has been circulating in e-mails and on blogs in recent days, before Cohen spoke Wednesday.

But Cohen was referencing shots Palin took at Obama during her address last week at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Palin, a former mayor, poked fun at Obama for crediting his work as a community organizer, saying, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee objected to Cohen’s statements Wednesday in a press release, pointing out that Pilate sentenced Christ to death and asking, “What point was Cohen trying to make?”

See Video here

Chabad - Dr. Berger doesn't get it /Good people vs Theology

The following guest post by RaP reminds of the important point that most of us are influenced by good people rather than by theology. This has always been the most powerful weapon of missionaries [and kiruv] and is encapsulated by the Gra when he said to a student, "Beware of the Maskilim because they have a good heart." R' Yisroel Salanter realized that all the bans against the Maskilim were ineffective because they were good people who genuinely cared about others. He decided to create a frum Haskala i.e., the Mussar Movement as a counterbalance [Seridei Aish's essay on R' Yisroel Salanter].
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Guest Post: Recipients and Publicity's comment to "Chabad - Prof. David Berger's clarification of Vil...":

Dr Berger just doesn't get it. The Shluchot are a refutation to the anti-Chabad sceptics.

Reading this essay is such an interesting counter balance or counter-approach to the Dr. Berger world view of Chabad and how he perceives the subject as he strives to ring alarm bells about it. Published in the latest "The New York Jewish Week," Monday, September 08, 2008 written by noted columnist Jonathan Mark.

The article has its own problems (dragging Feminist Rebbetzin Blu Greenberg into the discussion and it ignores the fact that Governor Sarah Palin is an avowed evangelical Christian with interests very different to the shluchot he compares her to), but it does convey the supra-rational human appeal of Chabad via its Shluchot and how powerful and appealing that paradigm is not just for Jews but now for American politics and why it makes the metaphorical shutters come down when the arguments of the "talking heads" and "chattering classes" as exemplified by Dr. Berger's constant academic attacks against Chabad that just look like he's spinning his wheels and going nowhere as Chabad keeps on growing and impacting the world, religiously and secularly.

Importantly, the article shows the very real political implications of the Chabad approach both for Jews and in American politics using the person and persona of the latest Republican nominee for Vice President, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska as a "living metaphor" who has also been praised for her pro-Jewish and pro-Israel stance (but as is known she is a Christian Evangelical that may have its challenges too) see also the VIN article "Chabad Rabbi: Sarah Palin a Great Friend To The Jewish Community" (see below after the Jewish Week article.)
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Here's the Jewish Week article of September 08, 2008

"Sarah Palin's Appeal Is Same As Chabad's

I'm getting a hunch the Republicans just might win for one reason alone, and it makes no sense, just like Chabad makes no sense to the Jewish elite.

That one reason is Sarah Palin. She reminds me of about a thousand different Chabad shluchot (the rebbe's women representatives). She's seems friendly, sexy (forgive me) in an Orthodox way, with that magnetism, optimism, and accessibility that has made Chabad shluchot successful in 5,000 different locales, even though they are almost always considerably more right-wing -- religiously and politically -- than their congregants and financial supporters.

Reform, Conservative and other Orthodox Jews don't get it. How is Chabad is so successful in places where there are no Chasidim? Why do liberal Jews on the Upper West Side want to send their kids to Chabad pre-schools? Why do many hundreds of non-Chasidic, even non-Orthodox students at Harvard and SUNY Binghamton want to spend Friday night meals with these Chabad Sarah Palins rather than the more mainstream, liberal Jews down the road? It makes no sense.

Don't get it, do you?

Who would you rather have a cup of coffee with on a bungalow porch, a cup that can turn into a three-hour conversation, Sarah Palin or Nancy Pelosi?

Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton come across like the Queen of Spades of a nanny state; school marms of a school you don't want to go to. Pelosi, in particular, seems like one of those Sisterhood program chairs from a suburban temple whose calls you don't want to answer.

Sarah Palin seems like one of those Chabad women who don't have enough chairs at her table for all the non-Chabad women who'd take a plane or a subway to attend the next shluchot convention in Crown Heights.

Something's happening and you don't know what it is, do you, Nancy Pelosi?

And another thing: There are plenty of logical, rational reasons to abort America's relationship with Israel, the far left tells us, but Chabad doesn't abort and evangelicals (such as Palin) don't either.

Rabbis who can't stop quoting Heschel or Soloveitchik don't get it.

Americans and Jews don't need another genius. We don't need another Herr Rabbi Doctor. We have enough "scholars," believe it or not.

We don't have enough human beings who'd rather rock a Down Syndrome baby to sleep than abort it; human beings who can relate to a flunking child or the stuffiness of the sophisticates, parents who don't give a damn who's in the top shiur or who made law review.

We have too many of the best and the brightest, the wise and the brilliant, who can't communicate (and who, in the end, maybe aren't really the best or all that brilliant.)

The genius of Chabad is delivering their message in a down-home way, much as Sarah Palin did at the convention. [...]

Chabad women don't conduct studies. They cook a chicken (or, Sarah Palin, a moose) and invite you over on Friday night. And college students, middle-class families, international businessmen want to be there.

At the beginning of these successful relationships between Chabad and their guests, theology and politics having little or nothing to do with it. A lot of Palin's appeal has nothing to do with her theology or politics either.

The other party and denominations are trying to figure it out. Maybe if they could get a grant. Maybe if they could find someone with whom they can dialogue.

Chabad women and Sarah Palin don't dialogue. They talk. And they don't talk down.

They win. Makes no sense, does it?"

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Here is the article from VIN (similar report in a number of Jewish media)

"Chabad Rabbi: Sarah Palin a Great Friend To The Jewish Community

Chabad of Anchorage’s Rabbi Yosef Greenberg: [...]

I was personally impressed by Gov. Palin’s remarks of hope and faith when she gave birth to a child with special needs. We all feel that the Governor is a remarkable, energetic, and good person. [...]

Chabad - Prof. David Berger's clarification of Village Voice article

Regarding a recent article about Chabad in the Village Voice there was a quote from Prof. Berger which seemed to indicate that he had greatly modified his critique of Chabad. The following is his response to my request for clarification of the Village Voice interview.
================================================
Professor Berger wrote:

Dear Rabbi L. and Rabbi Eidensohn,

I have not chas ve-shalom reversed my position regarding Chabad.

You are welcome to post the following clarification:

The relevant section of the Village Voice article reads as follows:

“Though [Berger] staunchly opposes the movement, he says that there are strong theological underpinnings both to the messianism and even to the ‘seemingly crazy assertion’ that the rebbe really didn't die. ‘Judaism says that in every generation, there is a righteous person that connects the world to the divine energy,’ he explains. ‘If there is no leader, the world would actually cease to exist. So the fact that the rebbe has died and that the world continues to exist is a conundrum to them, and it leads them to believe that the rebbe must not have died. But even people who believe he did die find this to be a challenging question.’ They resolve it, he adds, by opining that we're living in strange times, or that the rebbe is still providing the divine connection from his grave.” Ad kan.

I posted the following comment on the paper’s website.

“I am quoted as saying the following: ‘Judaism says that in every generation, there is a righteous person that connects the world to the divine energy. If there is no leader, the world would actually cease to exist.’ I said this about Lubavitch hasidism, not about Judaism as a whole.” Ad kan.

Let me clarify the point and why I think it is important. The instinctive reaction that Lubavitch messianists (and kal va-chomer those who believe the Rebbe is alive) are meshugoyim is one of the reasons why people fail to deal with this clear and present danger to Judaism seriously. Some of the believers are no doubt crazy, but most—even of the latter variety--are not. For them, it is a given that the world can survive only through the mediation of a physical tzaddik, and since the birth of Chabad this tzaddik must be the Lubavitcher Rebbe of the generation. It is simply unthinkable that it could be anyone else. This is all standard Lubavitch theology.

Thus, it is the people who recognize that the Rebbe died who are forced to resort to what they admit are shinuyei dechikei to the point of saying that the world in our generation is sustained and governed from the Rebbe’s gravesite. To illustrate that people who deny sense perception as a result of faith can be entirely normal, I noted the masses of Catholics who believe that the real body of Jesus is present in a piece of bread.

Once we realize that this un-Jewish belief is deeply rooted in a theology that virtually all Lubavitch hasidim affirm—and once we realize that the belief in the Rebbe’s Messiahship and even divinity are also driven by deeply entrenched elements of Lubavitch theology as well as in statements of the Rebbe himself-- we will be less inclined to dismiss these beliefs as the transient products of the fevered imaginations of a handful of wild-eyed lunatics. At that point, maybe we will stop dismissing all this as an amusing curiosity and actually try to do something to prevent the believers from being recognized as Orthodox rabbis and religious functionaries, a recognition that betrays Judaism and desecrates the memory of kedoshim through the ages who died to preserve the theological boundaries between Judaism and Christianity.

Shavei Israel V - Proselytization as kiruv

Guest Post: Recipients and Publicity's comment to "Shavei Israel III - Proselytizing not kiruv/Findin...":
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Bartley Kulp had written criticizing RaP's analysis:

None of this however is remotely connected with Shalvei yisrael's activities. They work with the "Orthodox" Israeli rabbinate. The reason why they omitted mentioning this in the JPost article is that the subject was irrelevant. The hidden Jews of Poland are not Anusim nor are they a lost tribe. Heck nobody at this point is even discussing immigration for these people. This is an issue of kiruv. What makes Polish Jewry unique as a community is that most of them until recently have been living in fear and suppressing their Jewish identity or they do not relate to it. Many of them are just finding out now that they are Jewish because it was not told to them by their parents. Nonetheless they can probably document their authenticity as well as any Jew from the US who is not Frum.

You also use the term "so called anusim". This is a reflection of ignorance. The anusim have been known about and documented for decades now. In fact there is a rather large concentration of them in the south western United States among the Mexican Ethnics there.

Ethiopian Jewry are also very well documented with rabbanim paskening that they are Jewish or that they are almost sure that they are Jewish. For the life of me I have no idea what is trying to accomplish with his postings.

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Analysing the words of the Shavei Israel article in the Jewish Press.

Bartley: It was an article in the Brooklyn based Jewish Press , not the Israeli Jerusalem Post (same initials tho, so that is confusing).

Anyhow, the Jewish Press article about "hidden Jews" in Poland described and hence revealed some very disturbing aspects and activities of Shavei Israel. Reading plain English, just look at the terminology and what it said:

"Twenty-two young Poles who recently discovered their Jewish roots"

What "roots" are they talking about? Mother or grandmother was Jewish? Father or grandfather? All of the above? Some of the above? None of the above? Which? After all according to Shavei Israel's website they prepare people for conversions so is that what they have done, or will do, or are doing to this batch of newly-minted "hidden Polish Jews" as well as to others? How far and how wide will this effort be? Will it impact the demographics of Israel if unchecked? It may, given that Michael Freund served Benjamin Netanyahu, is thus linked to the Israeli Zionist governmental establishment and is highly skilled with an MBA from Columbia and a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and huge resources behind him, and lots of good-will from wannabe and soon to be Jews.

"a number of the participants have decided to remain in Israel and continue their studies"

What studies? For conversion? Not for conversion? Since Shavei Israel's website mentions classes for supposed Anusim to convert what were the classes for the "hidden Poles" about? So are these newly discovered former "hidden Poles" like any Anusim who must convert regardless of their claims of "Jewish" lineage? Or are the "hidden Poles" real Halachick Jews? Or are they just gentiles curious about Judaism?

This is not a game. The Shavei Israel website makes it clear how serious they take themselves and the need for Halachic conversions, but from the JP press release/article about "hidden Polish Jews" there is no indication and convergence with the geirut activities taking place at Shavei Israel world headquarters.

"ensure that the younger generation of Polish Jews"

By what standard can we believe that they are truly Halachically "Jews"? especially if we read the rest of what is written in the same piece.

"Currently, there are approximately 4,000 Jews registered as living in Poland"

What does it mean they are "registered"? Who are they "registered" with and who relies on it and what standards are being used here to define being a Jew? Do self-declarations by any Pole (the so-called "Jews by choice") who wants to claim being a Jew count? Is any proof required to be "registered" as Jew in Poland? If so what kind of proof from Jewish sources? Would the Israeli Chief Rabbinate accept these 4,000 Polish Jews as actually being Halachicaly acceptable Jews? And it gets worse...

"experts suggest there may be tens of thousands of other Jews in Poland who to this day are either hiding their identities or are simply unaware of their family heritage."

Wow! If they are hiding does Shavei Israel need to go searching for them? And what does "family heritage" mean? How much family connection must their be to qualify here for having a "family heritage" of being Jewish? What is the official definition of "heritage" from Shavei Israel's point of view? If they did not think this through, then either they were guilty of being simplistic or they are guilty of trying to pull the wool over discerning readers' eyes.

"some Polish Jews chose to sever all connection with Judaism and to hide it from their children and grandchildren, who are now beginning to discover the truth."

Ok, but it does not explain the exact relationships between and lineage of the children and grandchildren. Today's Polish youth are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people who lived (and died) in World War II and the Holocaust. Who is Shavei Israel's main target audience? Is this going to be like what happened in the former USSR where anyone with a connection to a Jewish person was able to be brought to Israel resulting in over 300,000 Russian gentiles coming over to Israel with the help of the Israeli authorities? And now that that that well has run dry are the avowedly Zionistic leaders of Shavei israel going to ignite the same thing in Poland, as well as all over Europe or anywhere in the world, so that the tidal wave of non-Halachic Jews who are gentiles who came from the former Soviet Union will be dwarfed by an even larger Tsunami flood of similar non-Jewish gentiles who will utterly destroy what is left of the Jewish character of Israel with their quasi half baked ideas and notions of Torah true Judaism, if at all?

Eizehu chacham, haro'eh et hanolad, and are the leaders of Shavei Israel doing this and wise enough to realize the serious and flawed implications of their well-intentioned efforts to encourage "hidden Jews" -- itself a highly misleading and ambiguous term -- to come over to Israel where they could well become the new majority (after all their are many people who that many nations are the descendants of the Ten Lost tribes!) and if they were to double or triple or more the numbers of the 300,000+ non_Jewish Russians in Israel? What has happened to "once bitten, twice shy" among Jews, or is it like the old saying goes, "a nation that does not remember its history is destined (doomed) to repeat it"!?

"In other cases involving Jewish children adopted by Catholic families or institutions during the Holocaust, the adoptees or their descendants have begun to uncover their Jewish roots."

Again the talk of "Jewish roots" but this time in the context of people who are actively Catholic so that this means they need to go into the Catholic Church's domains and Christian communities. Is this to promote a new wave of "Anusim"? It may then have the corollary that maybe Shavei Israel will launch programs to "bring back" Messianic Jews, Hebrew Christians and Jews for Jesus who would be no less than deserving than the Jews openly and willingly lost within the bowels and jaws of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland and elsewhere. By the way, if you know your Catholic history in regards to baptised Jews the Catholic hierarchy does not allow them to return to Judaism and they fight it with all their might. So Shavei Israel might even ignite a religious holy war over this. Anything is possible in these crazy time.

So if all this is very weird and not in keeping with what Shavei Israel claims on its high falutin website with its bows to the religious establishment while it pursues quite a different dangerous missionary and proselytising agenda for its own self-created goals, making their efforts very questionable for those concerned about Orthodox Judaism being watered down in all sorts of weird ways.

To sum up for now, this is very far from any form of real Kiruv. While the Shavei Israel rabbis and staff may be going through the motions of kiruv and using its parlance and modus operandi, what they are doing is more in sync with Reform Judaism's "keruv" to gentiles and gentile spouses of its members in order to help raise the number of "Jews" and bring them back to an illusory home.

At some time or another this entire effort is going to get the same shaft that Rabbi Drukman got from the Israeli Supreme Rabbinical Courts (and he at least was doing ONLY conversions only via Batei Din, with none of this hokey outreach to "hidden Jews"), and the ultimatum, warning and Publicity that was given to the Recipients of a warning letter from the BADATS to many rabbis not to support and get involved with the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) efforts to reach out to the gentile spouses of Jews, also being a twisted application and practice of the original Kiruv credo and work.

Oh how the times they are a changin'...

Shavei Israel IV - Targets non-Jews for conversion

Shavei Israel's proselytizes those who are not halachic Jews but are non-Jews of either patrilinear descent or are interested in Judaism (not in conversion) or have a vague sense of belonging to the Jewish people. The halachic sources they rely on (Rav Kalisher & Rav Uzeil) are far from the overwhelmingly accepted mainstream positions. The following is taken from their website FAQ:

In some cases, their Jewish origin can be proven though the existence of documents or objects that were handed through the generations in the family. Another way to research their roots is through finding the source of the family name. The problem is that these are not final proofs for a number of reasons: Firstly, because of the fact that any family name was the name of a Jew does not prove that it was only a Jewish name. In addition to this, even if it was a Jewish family name, without a genealogy that can cover several generations, one cannot say with certainty anything about a family’s Jewish heritage. But there is a third method: In many cases, the traditions that were passed down through the generations have produced in a person clear and incontestable belonging. Sometimes, this very feeling of belonging becomes the strongest drive for returning to the Jewish people.

What is the Halachah’s attitude on this subject?

Our modern arbiters of Halachah, such as Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, Rabbi Benzion Uzziel, expressed their opinion on this important topic for our generation. The Halachic response is clear and simple: A person’s religion is according to his mother. If the mother is not Jewish, the son is not Jewish. Nobody argues on this point. Anyway, what is to be our attitude to such an offspring? Is he like the other nations? Does he have a unique status? Is it a Mitzvah to bring him closer to Judaism or to distance him?

Rabbi Kalischer wrote important reasons on this topic: A child whose father is Jewish but his mother is not, we must open the door before him in order for him to return and to bring him into the covenant of Avraham our forefather at the proper time. When he grows up he can act in accordance with his father’s will and to immerse in a ritual bath. If he is not circumcised, we shall distance him with both hands from the Jewish people and not observe the verse: Do not distance to the lost ones. It is the father’s responsibility because he is of the “holy seed”, so if it is possible to save this root from the impurity that it is, to free it from its prison and return him to holiness, this is a worthy thing to do.”

In some of his Halachic responsa, Rabbi Uzziel innovated the concept of “holy seed” to apply to the son of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother. In his opinion, it is a mitzvah to bring him into the fold of the Jewish people for his father’s sake and for the sake of the entire Jewish people. According to his words, it is a mitzvah to accept his request to convert in order not “to distance the lost ones.”

What can I do in order to return to Judaism?

In general, the return process includes several preparatory steps. On the one hand there is an intellectual preparation that includes, in the main, studying. In order to become part of the Jewish people, it is very important to reclaim the lost memory, to know its history, customs and thought. Furthermore, it is very important that this knowledge break through the barrier of theory, become a way of life, that the traditions and customs become part of everyone’s daily life. These two aspects can be completed by self-learning, through reading and studying or with the assistance of a teacher, instructor or rabbi. On the other hand, there is an additional requirement of integrating into communal life. Judaism was always characterized by its social life. Therefore, there is the highest importance for meeting within a Jewish context. In this aspect, the best decision is to approach the closest local community.

In summation, coming closer to the Jewish people has a tripartite dimension: Knowledge, emotion and Jewish experience. These three fundamentals are the secret of returning to the Jewish people.

Sexual Identity - Transgender Professor at YU

Recipients and Publicity forwarded from New York Post:

Yeshiva University torn by transgender challenge.

A Yeshiva University professor left two years ago as a man - and returned last week as a woman.

Literature Professor Joy Ladin, formerly known as Jay Ladin, 47, showed up for her first day of school sporting pink lipstick, a tight purple shirt and a flirty black skirt. She cheerfully strutted through the doors of the Midtown campus' main building, where she oversees the writing center.

Many at the Jewish university are horrified by the presence of the transgender professor. Some fear the news could cut alumni donations.

Ladin and the school won't comment on the situation, but some rabbis are shocked that she's still a member of the faculty.

"He's not a woman. He's a male with enlarged breasts," said Rabbi Moshe Tendler, a senior dean at Yeshiva's rabbinical school and a professor of biology and medical ethics. "He's a person who represents a kind of amorality which runs counter to everything Yeshiva University stands for. There is just no leeway in Jewish law for a transsexual.

"There is no niche where he can hide out as a female without being in massive violation of Torah law, Torah ethics and Torah morality."

Even if not in spirit, Ladin remains part male.

Although she's taking progesterone and estrogen to grow breasts and feminize her appearance, she retains the most prominent part of her manhood, according to the prologue of her unfinished memoir, "Inside Out: Confessions of a Woman Caught in the Act of Becoming." [...]

Ladin's wife filed for divorce and custody of their three kids and moved out of their Amherst, Mass., house, according to friends.

Although some rabbis are outraged by Ladin's return, many students are celebrating. [...]

Shayndi Raice Sigall, 26, of the Upper East Side, took Ladin's class in 2004 and said her return would offer students a unique learning experience.

"There are transgender people all over the world, and this is a wonderful opportunity for the school to show students firsthand how you can respect and learn from someone who might be different from you," Sigall said.

The transgender community is also thrilled with the surprising decision. [...]

Shavei Israel III - Proselytizing not kiruv/Finding Jews that don't exist

Guest Post: Recipients and Publicity's comment to "Shavei Israel II - Exploiting Law of Return Loopho...":

For once I agree with Jersey Girl's attitude here. [See JPost article she forwarded]

But Bartley, while I admit that my post was somewhat far-reaching, it does make a very good point, that in spite of Shavei Israel's posturing and to be blunt, MANIPULATION of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's requirements for conversions, if you just take a hard cold look at what Shavei Israel is up to, and the JP article was a good example, they are searching high and low for ANY people with the remotest connections to the Jewish people, and they will work with people that halacha is clear are pure gentiles, meshumadim and outright Christians who do not have have a Jewish mother, for a few generations, and may even have been Catholics for a long time and in fact don't even want to "come back" to the Jewish people and Zion so that to get involved in "kiruv-like" activities to haul these people in that is a very controversial, and probably Halachically forbidden, activity.

Your contention that Shavei Israel is no different than a kiruv operation is wrong because they are working with the goal to reach people who THEY know will often times be gentiles and will require conversions, which is not and should not be the classical definition of "kiruv" which means reaching out to non-observant Jews and trying to mekarev them.

If you had read what I have written in some earlier posts about Kiruv that Dr. Eidensohn kindly published, you will see that what Shavei Israel is doing is like the current Reform Judaism effort of "Keruv" to non-Jews and to non-Jewish partners of Jews in the hope of bringing into the Jewish people and not even trying to convert them. This is the Achilles heel of the EJF/R. Leib Tropper/Tom Kaplan effort in spite of its counter-claims, and that is that in effect Shavei Israel, the Reform movement and even EJF are promoting a kind of evangelical Judaism that seeks to proselytize people into becoming Jews when they are neither asking for it nor need it.

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