Chasam Sofer - Beracha on the Sun

חתם סופר (אורח חיים א:נו): וראיתי בס' שכה"ג שמקדם לא נהגו כלל בברכה זו כן משמע בתשו' משאת בנימין, אולי הוא מטעם הנ"ל, ומ"מ אחרי דנהיגי בה עלמא עפ"י הגאונים הנ"ל וגם הרי"ף מייתי להא דאביי בפשיטות ורמב"ם ורא"ש וטור וקבעו הרב"י בש"ע ממנו אין לזוז. ובאמת לא ידעתי מ"ט לא נהגו נשים לברך ברכה זו ג"כ ולא שייך הכא הטעם שכ' [מג"א רסי' תכ"ו] בברכת הירח שהנשים גורמים מיעוט הירח וזה לא שייך הכא, ומ"מ מה דנהיג נהיג ומה דלא נהיג הבו דלא לוסיף עלה, ועדיין צ"ע:

Conversion - fight over Israeli standards

Recipients and Publicity comment on your post "Conversion and the new government":

Israel to raise standards of conversion by increasing requirements. Conservative/Masorti leaders object and are joined by ultra-Modern Orthodox Rabbis Seth Farber, Marc Angel and Rabbi Haskel Lookstein (the latter had also opposed his own RCA and went to a national church service in honor of Obama) who worry more about conditions outside of Israel than realities of gentiles coming into the Jewish state. Note that article refers to the "stringent standards" of Chief Rabbinate avoiding use of the euphemism "universally standards" while a Reform rabbi worries that converts are asked "theological questions" (my, what should they be asked instead, how many Jewish actors or politicians they heard of?)

From The New York Jewish Week.com

"Fresh Rift Seen Over New Israeli Conversion Rules


Jerusalem — In a potentially divisive flare-up in the ongoing Who is a Jew struggle, Israel’s Interior Ministry is poised to institute new, stricter guidelines for diaspora converts wishing to immigrate to Israel, The Jewish Week has learned.

According to the new guidelines, spelled out in a two-page draft document in the works since 2005, potential converts from all religious streams seeking to make aliyah must study Judaism a minimum of 350 hours in “a recognized” Jewish community.

They must also spend a total of 18 months in the community where they are converting (at least nine months following the conversion), in order to prove their sincere commitment to Judaism.

Until now, the ministry has never dictated the number of hours a convert must study.

The 18-month requirement is six months longer than the ministry’s long-standing criterion, which the Supreme Court deemed illegal in 2005. [...]

Rav Sternbuch - An Urgent Appeal

American Weekly Hamodia 25th of February

US to give $900 million to Gaza

NYTimes reports

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration intends to provide some $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after the Israeli incursion that ended last month, administration officials said Monday.

In an early sign of how the administration plans to deal with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, an official said that the aid would not go to Hamas but that it would be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.

By seeking to aid Gazans but not Hamas, the administration is following the lead of the Bush administration, which sent money to Gaza through nongovernmental organizations. In December, it said it would give $85 million to the United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. [...]

EJF - Trojan horse proselytizing

http://reviewfirm.com/types-of-judaism/116

Since the 18th century, the Jewish religion has been open to enlightenment that enabled new interpretation of some of the laws and traditions of the Jewish people. With this enlightenment came different movements or denominations of Judaism, and these different sects hold different ideas and values as well as different interpretations of Jewish law.

Orthodox Jews: Orthodox Jews believe that the 613 commandments that are contained in the Torah are binding to all Jews. They strictly observe all of the laws and traditions of the Jewish people and still are members of everyday society. Those Orthodox Jews that do not integrate with society are called Chasidic Jews, and can be identified by their distinct dress and separate living situations.

Conservative Jews: Conservative Jews believe in observing the laws and commandments of the Torah, while still believing the law is adaptable to modern culture while still staying true to the concept of a eternal Jewish family.

Reform Jews: Reform Jews basically believe that the Torah was written by men, rather than God, yet they still embrace many of the traditions and laws contained therein. While they don’t believe the laws are binding, they follow them loosely to maintain tradition.

by Phil

Jewish Guidelines for Modesty

They way we dress, look and carry ourselves are the first things people notice about us. Jewish law dictates care and modesty in every day dress, as your clothes present much about who you are and what you stand for. Here are some basic modesty guidelines for women of the Jewish faith to follow and teach their eternal Jewish family about.

Skirts should fall to 4 inches above the knee, and styles such as skirts that feature slits or wraparound styles should not be worn. The most acceptable type of skirt is an a-line that doesn’t allow any gaping.

Shirts should be conservative and the sleeves should fall to three quarters length and no shorter. You may be permitted to wearing short sleeves, as long as they fall three inches from the shoulder.

Necklines should be modest and not show the collarbone. Again, you may be permitted to wear shirts that expose three inches below the neckline, but other wise should not show any more of the chest.

Clothes should be loose and comfortable, with no tight fitting or sheer fabrics. A faithful Jew should consciously dress modestly no matter where she is; whether it is at synagogue or on vacation, the rules for modesty are the same. She should be an example to her eternal Jewish family by dressing modestly because she wants to.

Conversion and the new government

Recipients and Publicity forwarded

The looming battles over conversions in the new Knesset and new Israeli government as reported in the recent weekend English HAMODIAH:

UTJ Raises Conversion Issue in Coalition Talks

Last years's High Rabbinical Court decision to invalidate thousands of conversions could become a major issue in coalition talks.

Members of United Torah Judaism asked the Likud Sunday to clarify its position on the matter after Yisrael Beiteinu requested recognition of conversions and accelerated activity in the special conversion courts, which are not recognized by Gedolei Yisrael.

UTJ has said its coalition talks with Likud are contingent on the party's rejection of Yisrael Beiteinu's requests. UTJ Chairman Yaakov Litzman met with Likud's Reuven Rivlin Sunday, but they did not appear to have reached an agreement."

Chareidim & Economic crisis

Haaretz reports

B., an ultra-Orthodox resident of Jerusalem in his twenties, was fired a year ago and has since been unable to find work. For years, he combined yeshiva studies with a job editing religious books for publication. He had even seriously considered abandoning the yeshiva to work full-time at the institute that employed him. But then he was fired.

In fact, more than half the institute's employees were fired over a two-month period. "People are buying fewer books," B. explained. "They're cutting back."

Even more importantly, however, most such institutes - of which there are dozens in the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community - depend on donations, as it takes years of sales to cover the initial cost of producing the books. And in the current economic climate, donations are plunging.

B. said the salary was good. But he received no social benefits, and was even forced to sign a contract waiving the severance he is due by law. He has not considered suing; "it's not done." Thus he, his wife and two children are now living off his stipend from the yeshiva plus his wife's earnings from doing office work at home - both of which are meager. He has found some freelance work to supplement his income, but these jobs, too, are disappearing.

Shmuel Kamil, 26, is so far in a better situation. Until October, he was learning full-time in yeshiva. But then he decided he wanted to combine Torah study with work, so he registered at the Haredi College in Jerusalem to obtain a bachelor's degree in computer science. Now, he is studying five afternoons and evenings a week in the college's academic preparatory program, while continuing to study in the yeshiva during the mornings. [...]

Anusim - An insider's protest

What follows is a Ben Anusim's explanation of their position. It is saying judge us by our interpretation of halacha - because yours is wrong. Such an approach is doomed to failure. I am posting it to provide a better understanding of what the problem is.

Nathaniel comment to "Rabbi Manny Vinas objects to criticism and explain...":

This is great, a whole bunch of Kassars, trying to say who is a Jew. At the end the real Jews are the Sephardic Jews, you talk about discrimination in Germany but you are triying to do Shoach to the Jewish soul of Bnei Anousim.

Read this

By all means what is to follow requires further study, and it is an exercise to find truth. This, I hope, will serve to alleviate some anguish that Israel is suffering, which by no means needs to be suffered.

First and foremost, we have spoken about the issues on how the Anusim subject has been treated, both in the Academia and among the common people. 21st century Anusim have been subjected to understand themselves through the mythos of the “marrano”, as “crypto-Judaism” is understood in common parlance. When going to the actual sources – those who actually lived in their own historical periods – one will find the ground levels of how rabbis and Anusim behaved, and how the whole matter was treated. Hardly anyone today has made any efforts to understand the Anusim in their own historical and halakhic contexts. Almost everything as spoken today is disjointed and lacks of tremendous profundity.

At that level, I must agree with Mr. Peretz and Ms. Cohen on the almost annoying misrepresentation that we have experienced; however, it is not the Anusim's fault. The lack of seriousness and proper projection has invaded this matter, and to clear these nuances, one must study, analyze and interpret them in the most favorable way; in no way attack them.
 
If Judaism represents the unbroken tradition of that awesome event at Sinai – the theophany when God Almighty came down to Earth and established an irrevocable contract (berit) with his people – then by virtue of that contract every Israelite cannot ever loose his / her citizenship.

With the issue to “conversion”, one must clear up what it represents. A convert in Hebrew is translated as “ger”, that is a “naturalized citizen” of Israel. In common parlance, he / she is a proselyte. A ger – in halakhic literature – is an alien who adopts the Jewish Constitution (the Torah) in its entirety. A conversion in Hebrew is called a “giur”, and the strict way of conversion is called a “giur l’humra”, which to my knowledge is applied when the person grew up in the non-traditional frames of Judaism, and with a non-Jewish mother in the matrilineal line. Both are given the name of “ben Abraham” or “bat Sarah”, implying that they are adopted within the Abrahamic family, since Abraham is the father of all Hebrews and the first to explicitly recognize the One God. On all this, I stand to be corrected. However, a ger, though he / she is considered a Jew through the process of naturalization, he / she is forbidden to marry a Kohanim (in case of women). In some communities, people hold reservations about marrying a “ger”, though they should not have any. (Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, this is discrimination). I am not sure of other limitations, but at the outset this is the most prominent I can think about.

The only road that is officially being offered to Anusim today is that of the “giur”, or “giur l’humra” at best. Now, can anyone explain to the Anusim how does this procedure at the metaphysical and traditional levels does not violate the Berit at Sinai, and does uphold the sanctity of His name?

Nowhere, absolutely nowhere, we see from the Sages of Israel – much less from God Almighty – declaring an apostate Israelite a “gentile,” or “worse than gentiles.” One must show four sign post:

 [go to comments to "Rabbi Manny Vinas objects to criticism and explain...": for rest of post]

Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein - Regarding her father

I was recently called by a relative of Rav Soloveitchik questioning the preciseness of my recall of Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein's view of her father - Rav Soloveitchik. I acknowledged the quote was from memory. In order to set the record straight I am publishing the link to the original video of the Van Leer Institute discussion of Rav Soloveitchik. It is to the final session - but it is worth while to see the other videos. The link requires Microsoft explorer to be seen properly

17:30-19:00 – Final Session
Chair: Dr. Avinoam Rosenak
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg, Three Doors Rabbi Soloveitchik Opened But Did Not Walk Through: The Future of Modern Orthodoxy
Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein, The Rav from a Distance: Retrospective Reflections (Hebrew)

Chareidim vs. Egged - #2 Bus dispute

YNet reports:

Jerusalem haredi group launches alternative bus line from religious neighborhoods to Western Wall, put pressure on Egged to accept initiative by protesting in streets, throwing stones at bus.

Residents of the haredi neighborhoods in Jerusalem are going to war against Egged, an Israeli bus company. Dozens of people demonstrated Wednesday afternoon in the Ge'ula and Mea Shaarim neighborhoods, blocking through traffic to Egged buses.

The protestors are taking action against the bus company after a complaint was submitted by the Transportation Ministry against the operation of private "kosher" within the public transportation framework without a license. According to police reports, haredim threw stones at an Egged bus traveling through the neighborhood. No injuries were reported, but damage was caused to the bus' windshield. Police forces were summoned to the location to maintain the peace. However, it was reported to Ynet that bus traffic to Mea Shaarim will be terminated until order is restored.[...]

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.[...]