A survivor of Mondrowitz speaks up

Jersey State

As a victim of sexual abuse, and the subsequent failure of his childhood community to follow up on the incident, Mutty Weiss of Highland Park says Jews need to "vote with their dollars" to make sure their institutions are safe.

Community members need to ask schools if they have safety plans and detailed policies for dealing with sexual predators, as well as if they administer background checks and fingerprinting for new employees, Weiss said at the Orthodox Forum of Highland Park/Edison's "Facing Up to Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Community" program Jan. 9 at Congregation Ohr Torah in Edison. For schools that answer "no," Jews must send a message by exploring other options for their children's education, Weiss said.[...]

EJF - More criticism from Rabbi Aba Dunner

5tJewish Times

The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox rabbinic organization in Europe. Its current executive director is Rabbi Aba Dunner. The Five Towns Jewish Times spoke with Rabbi Dunner in an exclusive interview concerning the recent statement by the CER about the Eternal Jewish Family (the EJF).

The Confence of European Rabbis was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie. All the chief rabbis across Europe joined the organization and attended its first conference in Amsterdam. It is now run by a standing committee of 25 members which meets twice a year, and just met in Moscow. [...]

Rav Sternbuch: Special Light of Teshuva & Shovavim

56 Parsha 01-15-10

EJF - the fraud of "universally accepted conversions"

The rationale that EJF justifies its existence is that it is producing "universally accepted conversions." So even if they engage in proselytization, bullying other beis dins as well as other shady practices but they claim that they at least have accomplished this important goal. Therefore even though they are covered with the overpowering stench of the Tropper scandal they insist that they should continue to exist. Rav Reuven Feinstein and other major rabbis clearly hold this view and other rabbis such as Rav Ahron Schecter, the Novominsker Rebbe  -who is in Har Nof this Shabbos - and Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky - who should be visiting Har Nof soon - have remained silent in the face of these claims.

Rabbi Seth Farber has published a list of the conversion courts in the world that are accepted by the Israeli Rabbanut. You should compare this list with the list of EJF certified courts. While the list is not necessarily comprehensive it does raise a question with their claim.

I have been told that the conversion done by one EJF certified beis din is not automatically accepted by another certified EJF beis din. Even Rav Nachum Eisenstein said he doesn't automatically accept the conversion done by an EJF certified beis din.

EJF has never in fact claimed that their converts are automatically accepted by the Israeli  Rabbinate. The simple resolution of this issue is for EJF is to produce a letter from the Israeli Rabbinute that says all EJF certified beis din's converts are automatically accepted. Until they produce such a letter it is fraud to claim their their converts are universally accepted.

Dybuk, Kabblah & Mesorah

Dear Rav Eidensohn,

I stumbled across your blog as I was researching the so-called 'dybbuk' phenomena within the Jewish community. It was my sister who reported this story to me that led me to research the possible Torah sources for whether such phenomena ought to be thought of as anything but psychological illness.

As a college student studying philosophy and chemistry, I am always skeptical when I hear of stories which clash with the claims of modern science, medicine and general logic, so naturally I was doubtful about the supernatural claims being made. Your blog provided me with some relief in seeing that this is not something that Jews categorically believe in.

This episode has led me to the following larger-scale questions, however, which still remain unanswered. These questions have been ones which I have been thinking about a tremendous amount lately, and would appreciate any insight you may have.

(1) I did locate a number of sources in Hasidic/'Kabbalistic' literature which develop the idea of the dybbuk. What are we to make of these sources/claims? Especially when being tied to writings as early as the Ramban, how are we to straddle the line between being men of Torah and reformers when discarding claims being made by earlier rabbis? Does the idea of gilgul purportedly espoused by the Ramban entail the existence of Dybukim? (As an interesting aside, Plato, in the Meno and Pheado, seems to endorse a doctrine of reincarnation of souls on purely rational grounds).

(2) What criteria are we to use to determine when to endorse a given supernatural phenomenon and when to repudiate it? Surely there are certain supernatural events (Har Sinai, Kriyas Yam Suf, etc.) which we take quite literally as having occurred. What justifies our endorsement of these events over events such as dybukkim?

(3) Are the truths revealed by the Torah the same truths that would be arrived at by perfected human reason?

(4) Is the study of secular philosophy advantageous or detrimental in becoming a perfected Jew?

(5) If the claims about dybukkim are false (which I take them to be), then how do we explain how such ideas have crept into our Mesora under the veil of true kabbalah? Why are such ideas endorsed by supposedly important and learned rabbis? And, more importantly, why don't more Rabbis and community leaders who are aware of the spurious nature of such claims publicize the fraud?

Over the years I have formed answers of my own to some of these questions, but I currently find myself in a position where I am in need of further grounded Rabbinic insight to clarify and solidify my stance towards yahadus and my own outlook as a college student and Jew.

Music now has a hechsher

http://blog.yachdus.com/2010/01/new-chareidi-hechsher-for-music.html

בחדרי חרדים | מוסיקה - הכירו: ועדת הרבנים לענייני מוזיקה • חשיפה

Shunning intermarried couples & p.c.

Jewish Press by Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz

I was brought up in the Italian-Jewish neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. I vividly recall the sights, sounds and smells of my youth. The kosher deli with its aroma of pickles in a barrel, the Italian deli with its pungent provolone cheese hanging in the window, the barber shop with its background of Italian opera, the newsstand offering a selection of Yiddish and Italian newspapers, and, of course, the ever present sounds of Yiddish and Italian that permeated the streets. It was a wonderful and colorful world.

And the people? We all got along in an atmosphere of mutual respect. In the morning, older Jewish men carrying tallis and tefillin on their way to shul would greet the Italian widows, dressed in black, caressing their rosary beads and mumbling the "Hail Mary" on their way to first mass. [...]

Guma Aguiar in psychiatric hospital

JPOST

Betar Jerusalem sponsor Guma Aguiar has been forcibly admitted to the Abarbanel Psychiatric Hospital following a court order overnight Wednesday.

EJF - fuels conflict over geirus in Montreal

CJNews

MONTREAL — Mainstream Orthodox congregational rabbis in Montreal allege that the haredi-dominated Vaad Ha'ir is trying to undermine their authority in conducting conversions, dissuading prospective converts to Judaism from going to them and influencing the chief rabbinate of Israel that their conversions are not as halachically sound as those of the Vaad.[...]

EJF - The Con Game (first in a series)

Tablet by Allison Hoffman

December was a very bad month for Rabbi Leib Tropper, a powerful ultra-Orthodox rabbi who has been seeking to determine the standards for conversion in Israel and throughout the world through his little-known yet influential organization, Eternal Jewish Family. First, black-and-white posters appeared on walls in Jerusalem and other Israeli cities threatening public disgrace if the rabbi refused to "cease his filth." While the definition of "filth" was left up to readers' imagination, photos and video were prominently mentioned in the text, which demanded that Tropper suspend his involvement in performing religious conversions.

Rav Dunner responds to EJF attack

5tJewish Times

It is long established pattern of the hired cheer-leaders of the ejf to attempt to blacken the name of anyone who criticizes their activities in any way - the pot of gold that the ejf has found is worth $25 million and counting and who wants to lose out on that? but it is clear who the real ganef is in this sad story - it is anyone who associates themselves with this organization whose sole function is to leech as much money as possible out of Mr. Kaplan. The feeble attempts to publish fact sheets in the jewish media demonstrates what and who they are - no serious or well meaning organization finds it necessary to print fact sheets stating that they are not low-lives, not ganovim, etc etc. this is usually a given in any moisad - and if they have to publish something of this nature it can only be that they are and always have been goineiv daas habri'os on a giant scale. [...]