tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post5573480902339819743..comments2024-03-28T21:30:33.665+02:00Comments on Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: A Deeper Look at the current EJF Website and Troubling Issues it Raises:Daas Torahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07252904288544083215noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-40127357319137186462008-04-02T17:47:00.000+03:002008-04-02T17:47:00.000+03:00As someone who studied for seven years for geirus,...As someone who studied for seven years for geirus, beginning at the age of 14, I am very involved with the controversies surrounding the issue. It should be noted that none of the batei din on this list are, to my knowledge, officially associated with EJF. Instead, the organization simply lists them as acceptable batei din organizations and run by those with deep knowledge of the issues and upstanding members who have studied under and/or gained the trust of rabbonim such as Harav Eliyashiv shlit"a, Harav Amar shlit"a, Harav Feinstein shlit"a, and Rav Eisenstein shlit"a. I was mentored and tutored under one of the batei din listed on the EJF list and never heard anything about EJF from them. Also, my geirus was done by a beis din listed on the list, who also never made any mention of the EJF organization. Please remember that whenever you cast doubts of batei din being able to carry out geirus as a whole, you cast doubts on people like me, who studied for years, adjusted to, adapted with, and completely became part of the Torah world and have complete committment to halacha without any "motivation" by a spouse or partner. I am not saying that geirus shouldn't be more closely watched, and that there shouldn't be more assurance that gerim are truly Torah-practicing people; in fact, it would make it better for people like me. However, I do feel that blanket statements, be they about baeti din or organizations, should not be made, as they cause people to look with unneeded suspicion towards true geirim, which only reminds us over and over that we weren't born Jews, something that is expressly forbidden time and time again by the Torah.Baruch Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15996475412403160519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-86009170766105648082008-02-25T19:50:00.000+02:002008-02-25T19:50:00.000+02:00You are 100% correct.I am seeing that the Orthodox...You are 100% correct.<BR/><BR/>I am seeing that the Orthodox Rabbis in my city, those who run the shuls and the schools continue to ignore the halacha and the Bedatz letter and "outreach" to intermarried men promising to "convert" their Gentile wives and children. <BR/><BR/>Every shul is full of Jewish men, their Gentile wives and children "converted" outside halacha. These men and their Gentile sons are given aliyas in every shul, the children attend in the best yeshivas is Brooklyn, Monsey and Jerusalem and these families are honored at journal dinners. <BR/><BR/>The Gentile children are recommended for shidduchim by Rabbis who know better and when asked about the mother's family the answer is always "her parents died in the Holocaust" (amazing for a woman under 50!!)<BR/><BR/>This is BIG business in America. The intermarried and their families support the Rabbis, the schools and the shuls in every city, Brooklyn, Deal, Miami, Monsey, LA and Baltimore as well as the more "out-of-town" places.<BR/><BR/>Everyone thinks it does not happen in their community until someone they know has a child who unknowingly marries a Gentile who attended the finest yeshivas/Bais Yaakovs and who came highly recommended by all the Rabbis and Roshei Yeshiva. It doesn't occur to most families to do a background check after several Rabbis vouch for the yichus of the family and the middos of the child. <BR/><BR/>I visited a shul last year where a wealthy intermarried man was upset because each week, Kohen and Levi aliyas went to the only Kohen, a middle class man and not a big donor. So at the big donor's insistence, the Rabbi wrote a letter to the Kohen (who is a Shomer Shabbos) and told him not to come anymore because the shul needed the money and it was upsetting the other members. <BR/><BR/>This is the state of Orthodox Judaism in America. Halacha is for sold to the highest bidder and nothing will change until the people protest and Rabbis who do not follow halacha are ostracized by Bedatz or some other central Halachic body. <BR/><BR/>Most people are afraid to question their Rabbis even after a tragedy has happened in their own family (like my cousin in Boro Park who married a goy who was educated in a famous Litvishe yeshiva and recommended by dozens of Rabbis).<BR/><BR/>I am not trying to belittle or negate the halachic problems with EJF that you bring up, but it is dangerous to think that Rav Tropper and EJF are the problem with American Orthodoxy. They are only a symptom and even as far as symptoms go, they are the "tip of the iceberg".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com