Igros Moshe: Can Yeshiva students take food without permission from the yeshiva kitchen?

It was brought to my attention that there are yeshiva bochrim who steal food from the yeshiva kitchen falsely claiming that this was permitted by a teshuva of Rav Moshe Feinstein. Therefore I am presenting my translation of the teshuva where it is obvious that Reb Moshe allowed no such practice. He did say where it is financially possible that the yeshiva should provide food "even in the middle of the night" but he clearly states it is the job of the administration to decide this and not for the bochrim to take the initiative.

Furthermore my brother-in-law told me that when he was in Lakewood that Rav Schneur Kotler had him install video cameras in the kitchen to catch some very agressive bochrim - who subsequently left Lakewood after they were caught and confronted by Rav Kotler.

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Igros Moshe (Y.D. 4:39): Addressed to R Yitzchok Chevroni – Nasi of Yeshiva Chevron.

It is clear that this question is a general one that is relevant to all yeshiva including mine. After considerable thought I decided many years ago that the administrators of the yeshiva have the responsibility and the authority to distribute the money which is donated to the yeshiva   because it is reasonable to assume that this is the desire of the donors. Thus the money was donated to the yeshiva by the donors with the understanding that it would be administered by the staff of the yeshiva because the donors know that the administrators of the yeshiva are responsible people who will utilize the money in a proper manner.

On the other hand it is necessary that the administrators know that the purpose of the yeshiva is for the students. Thus they need to be aware that the money has been given for the students’ welfare and benefit. It is prohibited for the administrator to conduct the yeshiva in a manner that seems cruel and unmerciful. Thus the administration needs to utilize the money for the good of the students according to the financial capabilities of the yeshiva. For example it should provide sufficient food to all the students and even to provide extra portions to those who want it. The yeshiva should even to arrange for some food in the middle of the night to those who want to eat a snack. Of course there is a distinction between a wealthy yeshiva and a poor yeshiva. Therefore it is possible that the administration might have to place restrictions according to their understanding of the needs of the yeshiva. In this manner the administration needs to balance the resources of the yeshiva with the benefits to the students also concerning things such as the use of electricity and other matters.

Rabbi in SAC Extortion Plot Sentenced to 4 Years

Bloomberg

Milton Balkany, a Brooklyn, New York, rabbi, was ordered to serve four years in prison for trying to extort $4 million from Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors LP.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote sentenced Balkany today in Manhattan. Balkany, 64, was convicted by a federal jury in November of extortion and blackmail charges after he threatened to disclose insider trading by SAC. There was no evidence at the trial that he had any such evidence.

“Just because you lead a charitable institution doesn’t give you a pass to commit extortion and fraud,” Cote told Balkany in court. “You tried to extort $4 million from a hedge fund.” [...]

Abuse: The Parent Trapped

NYTimes

I WANT to believe I have little in common with Julie Schenecker, who the police say confessed to killing her two “mouthy” teenagers.

Ms. Schenecker, who was indicted on charges of first-degree murder on Thursday, lives in Tampa, and is married to an Army colonel. I live near San Francisco, and am married to a newspaper editor.

Relationship between G-d & man/Man being god over lower realms

Bereishis Rabbah[1](79:8): He set up an altar and he called it G‑d, the G‑d of Israel (Bereishis 33:20). … Yaakov said to G‑d, “You are G‑d in Heaven and I am god in the lower realm. Reish Lakish said that G‑d criticized him saying, “Even the supervisor of a synagogue does not take authority by himself. However you have taken power to yourself by this statement. Tomorrow your daughter will go out and be raped.” That happened as we see in Bereishis (34:1).

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[1]  בראשית רבה (עט:ח): ויצב שם מזבח ויקרא לו אל [בראשית לג:כ] אר"ל ויקרא לו אל אלהי ישראל אמר אתה אלוה בעליונים ואני אלוה בתחתונים ר' הונא בשם ריש לקיש אמר אפילו חזן הכנסת אינו נוטל שררה לעצמו ואתה היית נוטל שררה לעצמך מחר בתך יוצאה ומתענה הה"ד ותצא דינה בת לאה:

Army conversions - attempts to resolving dispute

 
YNET  

הפשרה החרדית: נכיר במתגיירים - אם לא יתחתנו

ניסיונות פשרה ערב הפגנת ההמונים נגד ההכרה בגיור: מן הצד הספרדי - דרישה לבדיקה מדוקדקת של פסיקת הרב עובדיה. מן הצד האשכנזי - דרישה להכרה בגיור "לחומרא". המשמעות: הגרים ייאלצו להתגרש בבתי הדין הרבניים, אך לא יוכלו להינשא

Rav Sternbuch: Giving it All

Rebtzn Ruth Blau:No stranger to controversy

Jerusalem Post


 The son of Ruth Blau, one of the most colorful figures in Natorei Karta, breaks his silence after her death --

For some 40 years, Uriel Ben-David has lived in the shadow of notoriety while carefully guarding his privacy and that of his family, and stubbornly resisting all attempts by the media to interview him. Only after the death of his 80-year-old mother in January did Ben-David agree to lift the veil of silence.

His mother was Ruth Blau who became infamous worldwide in the early 1960s for her role in what become known as the "Yossele Affair." The story of Yossele Schuchmacher revolved around the kidnapping of the young son of Russian immigrants at the behest of his haredi grandfather, Nahman Shtarkes, who feared the boy's Communist-influenced parents would not provide the child with an adequate Jewish environment and education. It was Blau, at the behest of Shtarke's friend Rabbi Maisels, who spirited the six-year-old boy out of the country, dressed up as a little girl and traveling as her daughter on a false passport.

Rav Eliashiv & Rav Yosef unite against girls seminary alleged to be cult

YNET
 
סערה חרדית: בכירי הרבנים נגד "מיני גואל רצון"

שילוב כוחות של הרבנים יוסף שלום אלישיב ועובדיה יוסף נחשב בציבור החרדי לדבר נדיר ביותר, ואתמול (ג') הוא קרה במסגרת מאבק משותף נגד מנהל מדרשה תורנית לבנות בירושלים, שלטענתם "תמהוני" המזכיר להם "כתות מסוכנות".

 במודעות ענק שהופצו ברחבי העיר מאשימים מנהיגי הציבור החרדי את הרב אהרון רמתי ממדרשת "באר מרים" בכך שהוא נוקט שיטות חינוכיות פסולות המנתקות את התלמידות ממשפחותיהן, גר עמן באותו בית ומטיף להן שלא להתחתן – הכל ב"אצטלה מזויפת של קדושה"

Rabbi Elyashiv: Protest IDF conversions

YNet

Leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox faction Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv has called on the public to take part in a mass protest to be staged following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's ruling legitimizing Israel Defense Forces conversions. Sources close to Elyashiv confirmed the report.

Shortly after Shas' spiritual leader ruled that army conversions were valid, those opposed to the decision announced they will hold a mass rally against the ruling. It has since been postponed several times. It is currently scheduled for next Wednesday. [...]

Rav Eliashiv calls for demonstrations against the army conversions הרב אלישיב: לצאת להפגין נגד גיורי צה"ל

YNET
   

הרב אלישיב: לצאת להפגין נגד גיורי צה"ל

"פוסק הדור" של הזרם החרדי-ליטאי חתם על "קול קורא" להשתתף בהפגנה נגד הכשרת הגיורים הצה"ליים בידי הרב עובדיה יוסף. משתתפי העצרת המתוכננת יערכו "קריעה" בבגדם, כפי שנהוג בדיני אבלות

המאבק החרדי נגד גיורי צה"ל מתחדש, וגם עולה מדרגה: "פוסק הדור" הליטאי, הרב יוסף שלום אלישיב, קורא לציבור להשתתף בהפגנת ענק הנערכת בעקבות פסיקת הרב עובדיה יוסף לפיה הגיורים שנערכו בצה"ל - כשרים. בבית הרב אלישיב אישרו את הדברים, שפורסמו לראשונה הערב (יום ג') בקו החדשות הטלפוני (נייעס) "הקול החרדי". 

 

Abuse: Reducing chemical straitjackets in nursing homes

NYTimes

The Two Harbors home happened to be where Ecumen, which operates 16 nonprofit Minnesota nursing homes, was preparing an experiment to see if behavioral rather than pharmacological approaches could help wean residents off antipsychotic medications. They called it the Awakenings program.

“What’s people’s biggest fear? Being a ‘zombie’ in a nursing home,” said Laurel Baxter, the Awakenings project manager.

Any visitor can see what she means. Even in quality nursing homes, some residents sit impassively in wheelchairs or nod off in front of televisions, apparently unable to interact with others or to summon much interest in their lives. Nursing home reformers and regulators have long believed that this disengagement results in part from the overuse of psychotropic medication to quell the troublesome behaviors that can accompany dementia — yelling, wandering, aggression, resisting care. For nearly 25 years, federal law has required that psychotropic drugs (which critics call “chemical restraints”) be used only when necessary to ensure the safety of a resident or those around her. [...]

A Fight to Win the Future: Computers vs. Humans

NYTimes

At the dawn of the modern computer era, two Pentagon-financed laboratories bracketed Stanford University. At one laboratory, a small group of scientists and engineers worked to replace the human mind, while at the other, a similar group worked to augment it.

In 1963 the mathematician-turned-computer scientist John McCarthy started the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The researchers believed that it would take only a decade to create a thinking machine.

Also that year the computer scientist Douglas Engelbart formed what would become the Augmentation Research Center to pursue a radically different goal — designing a computing system that would instead “bootstrap” the human intelligence of small groups of scientists and engineers. [...]

Rav Amsalem acknowledges Army converts don't accept mitzva observance - but says they are Jewish anyway

YNET

  

גרים - גם אם לא מקיימים מצוות

הליטאים ממשיכים לתקוף את פסק ההלכה של הרב עובדיה יוסף, שהכשיר את גיורי צה"ל, בטענה שהגרים לא מקבלים על עצמם עול מצוות. הגיע הזמן להרמת מסך: נכון, הם לא מתכוונים להיות דתיים, אבל גיורם תקף - אפילו מלכתחילה

Abuse: Psychotherapist seduction of clients - Yes frum therapists do it also!

It is necessary to be aware of one of the clear and established dangers of psychotherapy. That is the therapeutic relationship makes it relatively easy for a therapist to seduce his/her client. Therapist and client  spend much secluded time together discussing very personal matters and often this involves intense emotion.

Even frum therapists - including rabbis - have seduced their clients. While it is clearly against the law - but this applies primarily to licensed therapists. Seduction by unlicensed therapists apparently is viewed as two consenting adults . While for licensed therapists it is acknowledged that the therapist has a position of authority and  thus sexual relationship with a client is viewed as an abuse of that authority. There is also a halachic problem. A married woman who has sexual relationship with a therapist is committing adultery and her husband needs to divorce her. When a frum married woman is seduced by her therapist - if she files a complaint her husband will most likely believe her and thus must divorce her.  The case if the husband doesn't know or doesn't believe his wife must be handled by a major posek. Because of this halachic problem - as well as the disgrace to the family - seduction often goes unreported in the frum community.

A woman (or man) who has been seduced by their therapist or rabbi needs to speak to a competent Rav who has the ability to organize community resources - including the police - to stop the therapist
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This page of Dr. Ken Pope provides some information. Aside from the terrible sin - there is the likelihood of serious psychological damage.

1. When people are hurting, unhappy, frightened, or confused, they may seek help from a therapist. They may be depressed, perhaps thinking of killing themselves. They may be unhappy in their work or relationships, and not know how to bring about change. They may be suffering trauma from rape, incest, or domestic violence. They may be bingeing and purging, abusing drugs and alcohol, or engaging in other behaviors that can destroy health and sometimes be fatal.
2. The therapeutic relationship is a special one, characterized by exceptional vulnerability and trust. People may talk to their therapists about thoughts, feelings, events, and behaviors that they would never disclose to anyone else. Every state in the United States has recognized the special nature of the therapeutic relationship and the special responsibilities that therapists have in relation to their clients by requiring special training and licensure for therapists, and by recognizing a therapist-patient privilege which safeguards the privacy of what patients talk about to their therapist.
3. A relatively small minority of therapists take advantage of the client's trust and vulnerability and of the power inherent in the therapist's role by sexually exploiting the client. Each state has prohibited this abuse of trust, vulnerability, and power through licensing regulations. Therapist-patient sex is also subject to civil law as a tort (i.e., offenders may be sued for malpractice), and some states have criminalized the offense. The ethics codes of all major mental health professionals prohibit the offense.