Rav Moshe Sternbuch - Protest against acceptance of invalid converts

My translation of a letter of Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita which appeared in the Yated. This is to protest the horrible decision to permit thousands of non-Jewish soldiers who serve in the Israeli army to be given the full status of Jews. This despite the indisputable fact that these soldiers have never agreed to observe mitzvos. In addition the majority of the conversion instructors are Reform or secular Jew who have taught them views that are total heresy. There is absolutely no justification to permit these conversions. In addition issuing a halachic ruling that these are valid converts is itself a terrible chillul haShem because it gives the false message that with proper pressure it is possible to change our holy eternal Torah We today are in great danger surrounded by enemies and therefore we are in great need of Heavenly mercy. Our Sages (Yevamos 109b) state that accepting gerim is an enterprise fraught with danger. And at a time when Jews do not have the proper relationship between them - the Divine Presence departs from us as is stated in the fourth chapter of Kiddushin. If we remain silent to this great travesty then we are truly endangering our existence in Israel. Therefore we need to be aware that if we stand by silently it is tantamount to not keeping the Torah. On the other hand all those who act and make efforts are included in those who are blessed. Therefore we need to encourage and praise all activities to ameliorate this matter and support those who make efforts to improve the situation. Our spiritual welfare is truly dependent upon how successful we are in dealing with this matter

Is Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, shlita pulling a Tropper?

BHOL
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, shlita has accepted the validity of army converts based upon the ruling of Rav Ovadia Yosef, shlita. But Rav Ovadia Yosef, shlita has clearly poskened that a ger is only kosher if he fully accepts mitzvos. In reality the vast majority of army converts do not and on that fact there is no disagreement! Rav Yosef also writes in his teshuva that even though the Rambam says that a ger that reverts to non observance is still kosher - but that is only if there was a clear period where he was actually observant. But there is no doubt that the majority of these converts were never observant!

Generation net: The youngsters who prefer their virtual lives to the real world

Mail

Children are often happier with their online lives than they are with reality, a survey has revealed.

They say they can be exactly who they want to be – and as soon as something is no longer fun they can simply hit the quit button.

The study also shows that, despite concerns about online safety, one in eight young people is in contact with strangers when on the web and often lies about their appearance, age and background.

Researchers for children’s charity Kidscape assessed the online activities of 2,300 11- to 18-year-olds from across the UK and found that 45 per cent said they were sometimes happier online than in their real lives. [...]

Maharam Schick - scientific facts are not final even for Chazal

from Daas Torah - translation copyrighted

Maharam Schick  (E.H. #7): My opinion is that these matters of planetary motion were not received by our Sages as halacha l’Moshe m’Sinai (Divinely given on Sinai) but rather were said according to their own reasoning. In such matters which are not part of our Tradition and have no root in our Torah but rather are the result of investigation and experience – it is difficult to determine if it is actually true. There are many times when sages decided matters according to their own intellects, but later generations investigated deeper and rejected the findings of the earlier generations. Therefore all matters that are based upon experience are impossible to decide unequivocally but can only be described in terms of whether most people agree with it. That is why in Pesachim (94b), Rebbe says that, “the view of the secular sages appears to be correct.” He did not simply say that they were correct. That is because they only produced logical proofs and thus it is impossible to declare that the matter is finally resolved…. Final resolutions are only relevant concerning the laws of the Torah where we are commanded to do according to that which appears correct – “a judge can only decide based on what he sees” – and G d agrees to the decision of man. This is not so concerning investigations of nature and science.

Hospital Under Fire for Discharging illegal alien Surgical Patient

Fox

A Texas hospital is under fire for allegedly telling a surgical patient she had to leave the hospital immediately because she was an illegal immigrant.

Maria Sanchez, 24, told the Houston Chronicle that she had been at John Sealy Hospital -- part of the University of Texas Medical system -- for six days when a doctor told her on Jan. 12 that she should go to Mexico to have surgery on her growing spinal tumor. The hospital discharged her that day, the paper reported. [...]

Romania may toughen its laws about witches

JPost

Legislation being debated in Romania would require witches to get a permit and make it possible to fine or even imprison one whose prediction turns out to be false.

The draft bill has just started its way through Parliament in Romania, where witchcraft has been part of its culture for centuries.

On Jan. 1, Romania changed its labor laws to officially recognize witchcraft as a profession, angering some witches.

Why Kids Bully: Because They're Popular

Time Magazine

Mean kids, mothers tell their wounded young, behave that way because they have unhappy home lives, or feel inadequate, or don't have enough friends or because they somehow lack empathy. But a new study suggests some mean kids actually behave that way simply because they can.

Contrary to accepted ruffian-scholarship, the more popular a middle- or high-school kid becomes, the more central to the social network of the school, the more aggressive the behavior he or she engages in. At least, that was the case in North Carolina, where students from 19 middle and high schools were studied for 4.5 years by researchers at the University of California-Davis.

Creationism rather than evolution still be taught in public schools

NYTimes

Teaching creationism in public schools has consistently been ruled unconstitutional in federal courts, but according to a national survey of more than 900 public high school biology teachers, it continues to flourish in the nation’s classrooms.

Researchers found that only 28 percent of biology teachers consistently follow the recommendations of the National Research Council to describe straightforwardly the evidence for evolution and explain the ways in which it is a unifying theme in all of biology. At the other extreme, 13 percent explicitly advocate creationism, and spend at least an hour of class time presenting it in a positive light.

That leaves what the authors call “the cautious 60 percent,” who avoid controversy by endorsing neither evolution nor its unscientific alternatives. In various ways, they compromise. [...]

Donators as investors:Donors Demand a Bigger Voice in Catholic Schools

NYTimes

Private philanthropists have changed the face of public education over the last decade, underwriting the rise of charter schools and promoting remedies that rely heavily on student testing and teacher evaluation.

But with much less fanfare, wealthy donors have begun playing a parallel role in the country’s next-largest educational network: Roman Catholic schools.

In New York — as in Boston, Baltimore and Chicago — shrinking enrollment and rising school deficits in recent years have deepened the church’s dependence on its cadres of longtime benefactors. Donors have responded generously, but many who were once content to write checks and attend student pageants are now asking to see school budgets, student reading scores and principals’ job evaluations. [...]

Rabbis condemn growing trend of 'Jewish "Taliban women'

YNet

Newly-religious women walking around covered head-to-toe in black clothes are growing in numbers. Even six-year-old girls are made to hide their faces. Haredi rabbis finally condemn growing trend

Conservative Judaism is dying

JPost

A joint commission of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and Hayom: The Coalition for the Transformation of Conservative Judaism has gone public with a draft strategic plan meant to change Conservative communities and synagogues.

The plan “calls for significant changes in focus and leadership and dramatic improvement in the way United Synagogue partners with its congregations and others across North America,” United Synagogue’s chief executive officer and executive vice president Rabbi Steven Wernick said.

“The strategic plan emphasizes tangible change, organizational transparency, openness, and a new way of doing things.” According to the new plan, USCJ will focus on strengthening synagogues, cultivating new leadership and creating a more unified and integrated educational system from early childhood through college years.