History - Inquisition & Dr. Nunez

Jewish History No One Knows (But Should Know)
From articles written for the Yated Neeman (USA)

by Avraham Broide
(Jerusalem based translator and journalist.
phone: 02-5856133; email: broide2@netvision.net.il)

What happens when you cannot flee your jailors? Take them along with you!

Dr. Nunez was in a crisis. Would he ever escape the eagle eye of his guards?

Dr. Samuel Nunez of Lisbon, Portugal, was born to a Marrano family that was still passing along the torch of Judaism two centuries after Spain expelled all its practicing Jews in 1492. Nunez lived a double life. Publicly, he was a distinguished doctor serving high dignitaries of the Catholic Church; privately, he and his family were committing religious crimes that could earn them death at the stake.

All went well until the spring of 5486/1726 when Inquisition spies caught him, his wife Rebecca, and his three children red-handed in the middle of a Passover Seder. For most Marranos, the crime of "seeking the L-rd according to their prohibited faith" would have signified torture and death. Fortunately, Dr. Nunez was the private physician and close friend of the Grand Inquisitor who was suffering from an enlarged prostrate gland and reluctant to lose the good doctor's services.

An agreement was struck. The doctor was spared on condition that two Inquisition officials reside at his home day and night, keeping a sharp eye on his activities. Now, severed from his spiritual roots, the doctor felt that life in Portugal was unbearable and plotted a brilliant escape.

Years later, a descendant of one of the Marranos who fled with the doctor recorded how he fooled his jailors:

"The doctor had a large and elegant mansion on the banks of the Tagus and being a man of large fortune he was in the habit of entertaining the principal families of Lisbon. On a pleasant summer day, he invited a party to dinner, and among the guests was a captain of an English brigantine anchored at some distance in the river. While the company were amusing themselves on the lawn, the captain invited the family and part of the company to accompany him on board the brigantine and partake of a lunch prepared for the occasion.

"All the family, together with the spies of the Inquisition and a portion of the guests repaired on board the vessel, and while they were below in the cabin enjoying the hospitality of the captain, the anchor was weighed, the sails unfurled, and the weather being fair, the brigantine shot out of the Tagus, was soon at sea, and carried the whole party to England.

"It had been previously arranged between the doctor and the captain, who had agreed for a thousand moidores in gold to convey the family to England, and who were in the painful necessity of adopting this plan of escape to avoid detection. The ladies had secreted all their diamonds and jewels, which were quilted in their dresses, and the doctor having previously changed all his securities into gold, it was distributed among the gentlemen of the family and carried around them in leathern belts. His house, plate, furniture, servants, equipage, and even the dinner cooked for the occasion were all left, and were subsequently seized by the Inquisition and confiscated to the state."

Soon after his arrival in England, the doctor heard that a group of about forty Jews was sailing overseas to the newly founded English colony of Georgia and sailed off with them to become the second Jewish doctor in North America.

Mr. Benjamin Sheftall, one of the Jewish passengers, described the group’s arrival in his journal:

"The names of the Jews who arrived in Savannah, Georgia on the 11^th day of July, 1733. Doctor Nunis, Mrs. Nunis his mother, Daniel Nunis, Moses Nunez, Sipra Nunez, Shem Noah their servant …. These Jews were the first of our nation who came to this country [Georgia]. They brought with them a Safer Torah with two cloaks, and a circumcision box, which were given to them by Mr. Lindo, a merchant in London, for the use of the congregation they intended to establish."

Yet, even in the relative freedom of America, it took the doctor's family years to shake off the last vestiges of their Catholicism.

"For years after their arrival in this country," a contemporary record reports, "the female members of the family were unable to repeat their [Jewish] prayers without the assistance of the Catholic rosary, by reason of the habit acquired in Portugal for the purpose of lending the appearance of Catholic form should they be surprised at their devotions."

Dr. Nunez left many descendants, the best known his great-grandson Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, the first Jew ever appointed Commodore in the US Navy. True to his great-grandfather’s Jewish principles, Levy was instrumental in abolishing the navy’s vicious punishment of flogging men before the mast.

Bailout money not being used for loans

NYTimes reports:

SO goes the old saw about bankers: they loan you an umbrella when the sun is shining, only to ask for it back when it rains.

But with our economy and markets in a world of hurt, the nation’s banks were supposed to stow their self-interest and help start lending again.

When the Troubled Asset Relief Program of the Treasury Department handed over $125 billion in taxpayer money to nine banks a month ago, they were supposed to lend to small businesses, home buyers and other worthy borrowers to keep the economy’s gears in motion.

At the time, the Federal Reserve Board and three bank regulatory agencies said: “The agencies expect all banking organizations to fulfill their fundamental role in the economy as intermediaries of credit to businesses, consumers, and other creditworthy borrowers.”

Alas, that admonition wasn’t accompanied by any real requirements to lend. When the Treasury gave taxpayer billions to the banks, it attached no strings. So is it any surprise that lending is tight?

Reports from institutional and individual borrowers across the country indicate this. Nervous lenders are demanding that even healthy loans be paid back. Banks and other financial institutions, meanwhile, are reducing exposures to borrowers and doing whatever they can to discourage the assumption of further debt.

Borrowers I have heard from don’t want to get into trouble with their lenders by speaking publicly about their experiences. As a result, they will remain nameless. But their stories are all the same.

The problem is, unless the government puts serious pressure on the nation’s banks to start lending, the value of assets used as collateral will fall as individuals and institutions everywhere are forced to sell. [...]

Lashon HaRah vs saving others

Riva(Vayikra 19:16): One should not stand idly by concerning the blood of your fellow man. Rashi explains that it means you should not stand idly by and see the death of another person - if you could save him.

Another explanation connects Rashi’s understanding with the first part of this verse, “Don’t spread gossip amongst your people.” Even though you are commanded not to be involved in lashon harah – don’t stand idly by concerning the blood of your brother. In other words if a person told you that he was planning on killing someone – don’t stand idly by but go and inform the intended victim so he can save himself…

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ריב"א (ויקרא יט:טז): ולא תעמוד על דם רעך. פרש"י לראות במיתתו ואתה יכול להצילו. י"מ לא תלך רכיל בעמך אע"פ שהזהרתיך על לשון הרע לא תעמוד על דם ריעך שאם אמר לך אדם אחר שיהרגנו אל תעמוד עד שתודיע לו

Neo-Nazis Russian immigrants sentenced

Haaretz reports:

The Tel Aviv District Court on Sunday sentenced eight neo-Nazi gang members exposed last year in Petah Tikva from one to seven years in prison.

The court stated that the phenomenon revealed during the investigation of the case is extremely severe, shocking and horrifying - particularly in light of the fact that the suspects were all youths and immigrants from the Commonwealth of Independent states.

According to the original indictment, filed last September, the eight defendants - mostly immigrants from the former Soviet Union between the ages of 17 and 20 - perpetrated violent hate crimes against Asians, religious Jews, drug addicts and homosexuals.

The indictments included charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, assault, racial incitement and the distribution of racist materials.

The police investigation into the cell began over a year ago, following two incidents of vandalism against Petah Tikva synagogues. Police detectives found neo-Nazi materials on the computers of two suspects.

The video clips found on the computers showed the suspects, along with other people dressed in typical skinhead, neo-Nazi clothes, in the process of assaulting their victims.

These videos led detectives working on the case to suspect that the gang had attacked dozens of people in the Tel Aviv area, mostly foreign workers and drug addicts. In one video, they are seen approaching a foreign worker as he is talking on a public telephone, punching him in the face and breaking a bottle over his head. Violently loud music accompanies each clip, and between segments, the suspects spliced swastikas and other Nazi symbols.

According to the material on their computers, the suspects also planned to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum and memorial.

Conversion - Bronfman's views/Garnel Ironheart

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This is a profound analysis of the posting regarding Edgar Bronfman views of conversion.

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His Lordship, Garnel Ironheart guest post:

And this is a story from the fictional JNet.

Wilbur Bronfman, little known half-brother of Edgar Bronfman, today demanded that any person who wants to be a doctor should be allowed into the medical school of his choice and guaranteed an automatic MD.

The strict approach to medical school admissions advocated by universities around the world (with the exception of the Carribean) infuriates Wilbur Bronfman, the man who for nearly three decades led the World Jewish Gefilte Fish Association. Anyone who declares himself a doctor should be accepted to the medical community, he says. Or else the medicine would cease to exist.

With Bronfman at its helm, the WJGFA has fought anti-naturopathy, and extracted funds belonging to legitimate doctors from Swiss banks to help with that. Last year Bronfman was forced to hand over the leadership of the powerful organization to billionaire Pesky Finklestein.

But Bronfman, 99.5, is not ready to retire yet and has found a new platform for his philanthropic energies – Dumbo - the Institute for Easy Medical Training, of which he is now the international chairman.

In a recent interview, Bronfman elaborated on his belief that medicine should be more open and agree to embrace those who wish to become part of it without placing too many obstacles in their way. "I want to change the medical way of thinking," he stated, and pointed out that almost 50% of medical students come from a mixed-marriage family in which one of the parents is not a doctor!

The medical school deans wouldn't agree with you. According to the common sense, only someone who's qualified to attend medical school and completed the requisite training is a doctor.

Bronfman is outraged by this notion. Medicine used to be an open profession, he said, and the medical schools have only sealed the book lately.
 
'You don't have to know a damn thing about the human body to be a doctor!'

Bronfman's son Shvantzy, explained that Dumbo's objective is to introduce people to medicine through education. "We’ll accept anyone who walks in and says he's a doctor… we'll study anatomy and neuroscience with him… teach him how to take out an inflamed appendix."

Bronfman noted that many non-doctors in the United States who are married to doctors develop an interest in medicine themselves, an interest which Dumbo seeks to encourage. [...]

At-risk girls ignored?

JPost reports:

[...] Gershonowitz's and Sander's stories are not the first of their kind. Unfortunately, neither are they the last, as the truth about the growing number of troubled religious girls using drugs and alcohol or suffering from abuse is becoming harder to ignore.

These are the girls who, in some way, do not fit in with the mainstream seminaries that thousands of others attend every year. Even more startling is the fact that these teenagers are actually in Israel "trying to get themselves together," as Rabbi Oded Sher says, but have almost nowhere to go.

"These are girls in crisis, usually from dysfunctional or broken homes, and they are asking for help. They are ready to make changes in their lives and they need guidance," explains Elimelech Lepon, a teacher at one girls' school.

The majority of the girls at these seminaries have always been from the US, but this year in particular there has been an upsurge in the number of American teenagers in Israel. Two renowned schools in New York for at-risk youth closed down over the summer, leaving Israel as one of the only options for these teens.

After Sandler was expelled from the school in Memphis, Tennessee that her mother had sent her to, she entered Monsey Academy for girls in New York (then one of the only institutions for girls at risk in the US). There, she met Oded and Shiri Sher, who later went on to open a school for girls in Israel, Derech Hashem Academy.

"These people devote their entire lives to helping girls at risk, and dedicate their time and energy to doing everything in their power to help us," she said.

As of 2008, there are only three places in Israel (Tzofiah Machon Rivka in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Derech Hashem in Tiberias and Tikva in Jerusalem) that answer the call to help these girls - within a religious framework. But these institutions struggle with dwindling funds, even as the number of at-risk cases escalates.

Contrast this to the dozens of yeshivot that address the problem of at-risk boys - each of which is a recognized institution in its own right, or is affiliated with a reputable program, and therefore has no shortage of funding - seemingly ready to accept every boy who comes off the streets looking for help.

The schools that take care of girls emphasize the mental, emotional and physical well-being and quality of life that the girls can achieve. "The structure is religious, we teach them according to a Torah perspective, but we encourage them to choose their own way of life; whatever will make them happy and healthy," says Shiri Sher from Derech Hashem, which will not reopen in 2009 due to a lack of funds.

Tzofiah, the largest of the three institutions for at-risk girls, was founded in 2000 and is headed by Rabbi Raviv Shaked and his wife, Basy. The school offers religious girls an alternative way to fend for themselves by giving them an "opportunity to re-explore Judaism" while receiving top-quality therapy, obtaining a high school diploma and a certified vocation.

The main challenge these schools face is money. "It costs thousands of dollars a year to run a place like ours," explains Shaked, who says a $30,000 per-girl, per year budget would be ideal in order to give the girls the greatest possible benefit. This figure is due to the fact that unlike other schools and seminaries, Tzofiah not only offers, but requires intensive therapy for each student. Besides the compulsory individual and group therapy, these schools also schedule a multitude of lessons, field trips and activities to keep the pupils supervised while ensuring that they feel free, as well as entertained.

In contrast, the estimated cost for a boy's year at yeshiva comes to about $17,000, mainly because programs for girls are more home-based than those for boys, and these particular teenage girls require a tremendous amount of supervision which also needs to be "fun," leading to increased expenses.

But donors are more hesitant to lend a hand when they hear that their money is going toward a school that deals with "wayward frum girls who shouldn't even be in this position anyway," Lepon says.

The feeling that "we are not getting the best bang for our buck" is prevalent, according to Rabbi Boruch Smith. As former education director of both Tzofiah and Tikva, and current co-principal of Michlelet Esther for girls, Smith continues by describing the increasingly obvious reality that the religious community still finds it "irregular for girls to stray so far from Judaism and family."

When it comes to at-risk male teens, the solutions seem to be much more clear-cut, giving the sense that "we can help with this problem - we follow steps a, b and c, and problem solved," says Sher. With troubled teenage girls, there seem to be a lot more intricacies involved, resulting in only a few people willing to fight this battle; a few singular individuals willing to step into this mire and start pulling the girls out, one by one.[...]

Conversion - Bronfman demands accepting all

YNet reports: [see Garnel Ironheart's in depth analysis]

The strict approach to conversions advocated by the rabbinic institutions in Israel and abroad infuriates Jewish billionaire Edgar Bronfman, the man who for nearly three decades led the World Jewish Congress. Anyone who declares himself Jewish should be accepted to the Jewish people, he says. Or else the Jewish people would cease to exist.

With Bronfman at its helm, the WJC has fought anti-Semitism, helped open the gates of the Soviet Union for aliyah and extracted funds belonging to Holocaust survivors from Swiss banks. Last year Bronfman was forced to hand over the leadership of the powerful organization to billionaire Ron Lauder.

But Bronfman, 78, is not ready to retire yet and has found a new platform for his philanthropic energies – Hillel, The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, of which he is now the international chairman.

In an interview to Yedioth Ahronoth held in Jerusalem this week, Bronfman elaborated on his belief that Judaism should be more open and agree to embrace those who wish to become part of it without placing too many obstacles in their way. "I want to change the Jewish way of thinking," he stated, and pointed out that almost 50% of Jewish students come from a mixed-marriage family in which one of the parents is non-Jewish.

The Orthodox rabbinate wouldn't agree with you. According to the Halacha, only someone whose mother is Jewish, or who converted according to the Halacha is Jewish.

Bronfman is outraged by this notion. Judaism used to be an open religion, he said, and the rabbis have only sealed the book lately.

'You don't have to believe in God to be Jewish'

Bronfman's son Adam, Hillel's vice-chair, explained that Hillel's objective is to introduce people to Judaism through education. "We’ll accept anyone who walks in and says he's Jewish… we'll study Tikkun Olam with him… teach him how to celebrate the Jewish holidays."

Bronfman senior noted that many non-Jews in the United States who are married to Jews develop an interest in Judaism themselves, an interest which Hillel seeks to encourage.[...]

Chareidi Politics - Gerrer Chasidim

The following is an article that appeared in the Israeli newspaper Maariv concerning Gerer Chasidim and the recent election. I was told that it is an accurate description and that rabbonim recommended that it should be distributed.

כניסת השבת: עם הגערערס לא מתעסקים

מאיר פרוש היה יכול לקחת את הבחירות לעיריית ירושלים, אלמלא היה לו סכסוך הרסני עם המעצמה של חסידות גור. עם אויבים כאלה, מי צריך חילונים

אבישי בן חיים | 14/11/2008

"הטאליבן יגיע לירושלים!", זעק הכיתוב מתחת לתמונת החרדים במועדה שהופצה ברחבי ירושלים. "עוד ועוד שכונות מתחרדות!!!", נכתב שם (סינמי הקריאה במקור), "פרוש מבטיח להם". הייתה שם גם תמונת חרדים שורפים דגלי ישראל, עם הכיתוב "דגלי המדינה ישרפו ביום העצמאות מתחת לבית שלך". ותמונות מבעיתות חילונים נוספות עם כיתובים כמו: "חרדים קיצונים ישרפו לך את הפחים ברחובות", "איומי ועדות הצניעות גם בשכונה שלך!!!"
ש

ניר ברקת הפליא לנצח בירושלים בלי לשלוף את נשק השנאה המפתה, בלי לנצל את פוטנציאל ההסתה שיכול היה להבטיח לו יציאת אלפי מצביעים חילונים אל הקלפיות. ובכל זאת נולדה המודעה הזאת. איך? לא ברור. אבל דווקא חרדים ממתנגדי פרוש נראו מפיצים אותה. על פי העברית במודעה, "נשים ילכו עטופי רעלות‭,"‬ למשל, מותר להעריך שידם של חרדים הייתה גם בעיצובה.

זה לא נגמר בזה. מתנגדי פרוש מקרב החרדים שלחו במיוחד מכוניות עם רמקולים שיסתובבו בשכונות חילוניות ויקראו במבטא יידישאי לצאת להצביע, כדי להבהיל את החילונים אל הקלפיות. ואם כבר יידיש, ימים ספורים לפני הבחירות נחשפה ההקלטה של מאיר פרוש מכריז בכנס סגור בפני חסידי בעלז, ביידיש: "אנחנו מתרבים בקצב מהיר, בעוד עשר שנים לא יהיה שום ראש עיר חילוני, אולי רק באיזה כפר נידח‭."‬ ההקלטה והתרגום, מיותר לציין, הגיעו לאוזניים החילוניות בעזרתם האדיבה של מתנגדי פרוש החרדים. כך זה עבד. עיריית ירושלים הוענקה לניר ברקת על מגש של כסף בסיוע מתנגדי פרוש החרדים.

אין כבודו מחול

התבוסה בירושלים פירקה את הציבור החרדי לחתיכות. מבחינתם, הקרב מול החילונים פינה מקום לקרב קשה הרבה יותר - מלחמה פנים חרדית. אחרי חמש שנות שליטה בבירת ישראל הם לא רק איבדו את ראשות העירייה, אלא גם הפסידו מכוחם במועצה: יהדות התורה האשכנזית ירדה מתשעה מנדטים לשמונה, ש"ס מחמישה לארבעה, ותיאורטית אפשר להקים במועצת העירייה קואליציה חילונית־דתית - בלי חרדים.

בשנים האחרונות הפך מאיר פרוש למוקד כוח אדיר בציבור החרדי. אל מול הליטאים והחסידויות הגדולות, ובראשן החזקה מכולן, חסידות גור, הוא גיבש תחת סיעתו "שלומי אמונים‭,"‬ קואליציה ענקית של החסידויות הקטנות. הוא נישא על גלי התמיכה מהצלחה להצלחה, הביס את הליטאים ואת הרב אלישיב בבחירות בביתר עלית ועשה תרגילים שנתפסו כפגיעה בכבוד האדמו"ר מגור. אלה ואלה טענו כי מדובר במערכה על דמותו של הציבור החרדי, "האם הרבנים גדולי התורה מנהלים את הציבור החרדי, או עסקנים‭."‬ קבוצה מנאמני הרב אלישיב המשיכה לנהל נגדו מערכה עד הרגע האחרון, למרות קריאתו של הרב אלישיב שהחליט למחול על כבודו והוציא הנחיה להצביע עבורו.

נינו של הרב אלישיב, שמוליק אלישיב, הקים את מטה "כבוד התורה‭,"‬ שפרסם את תמונת הרב אלישיב עם הכותרת "אין כבודו מחול‭,"‬ ברוח המימרה: "רב שמחל על כבודו אין כבודו מחול‭."‬ עיתון מיוחד הופק במטרה לקרוא לחרדים לשים פתק לבן בקלפי, וכיכבה בו הכותרת: "פרוש פוגע בגדולי ישראל‭."‬

בין היתר נכתב שם: "ביום ג' הקרוב ננקום את עלבונה של תורה‭...‬ נצביע בפתק לבן של מחאה שתבקע מסוף העולם עד סופו‭...‬ גדולי ישראל כאסקופה הנדרסת, נעלבים ואינם עולבים. אנו, תלמידיהם, את כבודם לוחמים‭."‬

במטה פרוש טענו לאחר הבחירות כי כ-‭2,000‬ ליטאים, בניגוד לפסיקת הרב אלישיב, לא הצביעו לו. אבל ההסתבכות האמיתית של פרוש הייתה עם ה"גערערס" - חסידי גור. בראשית שנות השמונים הם הכו את אביו, הרב מנחם פרוש, לאחר שלטענתם פגע בכבודו של האדמו"ר דאז, אביו של האדמו"ר הנוכחי. הפעם הם שוב התגייסו למערכה על כבודו של רבם והבהירו כי למיתוס הנאמנות הטוטאלית של חסידי גור לאדמו"ר יש על מה להסתמך. "אצלנו מספרים על חסיד גור בפולין‭,"‬ הסביר אחד מהם השבוע מה זה בשביל גערערס הגערער-רב'ה (הרב של גור, א"ב‭,(‬ "שאמר 'אני מפחד מהקב"ה שלא יספר מה עשיתי לרב'ה‭."‬

הצבא של גור התגייס למערכה לחיסול סיכוייו של פרוש להיבחר לראשות העיר. לפני חודש אף אחד לא האמין שהגערערס ילכו עד הסוף, וההנחה הייתה שהנזק יסתכם בכ-‭3,500‬ פתקים לבנים שחסידי גור הירושלמים ישלשלו לקלפיות ואולי גם באובדן צבא גור המיומן כל כך בהפקת מערכות בחירות. העסק התחמם ככל שמועד הבחירות קרב והמערכה כבר לא הייתה על ירושלים, אלא על כבודו של האדמו"ר מגור. יומיים לפני הבחירות נלחשה הפקודה מפה לאוזן: מכפילים את הנזק לפרוש - מצביעים לחילוני.

לשבש, להטריד, להרוס

הגערערס לא הסתפקו בזה. ביום הבחירות התגייס צבא החסידים. מי שידועים כמנוע מאחורי הצלחות החרדים בבחירות התגייסו לעבוד נגד המועמד החרדי. הם ניצלו את הידע הפנימי על דרכי פעילות החרדים בימי הבחירות במטרה למוטט את המערך של אנשי פרוש. יעד ראשון היה קריסת מערך הטלפונים. מצוידים במספרי הטלפון של הפעילים המרכזיים של פרוש ושל המטות השונים הם לא חדלו להתקשר ולתפוס את הקווים. לעתים בשאלות סתמיות ולעתים בקללות נמרצות. אחד ממקורבי פרוש ספר בסלולרי שלו 92 שיחות שלא נענו בין השעות שלוש בלילה לשמונה בבוקר. אחר קיבל טלפון אחר טלפון עם שאלות באשר למכונית הטויוטה שאין לו ושהוא כביכול רוצה למכור. אנשי פרוש נאלצו להחליף את כל מספרי הטלפונים.

גם מערך ההסעות של פרוש סבל מהטרדות, כולל הודעות פיקטיביות על ביטולן ואיחורן של ההסעות וקריאות פיקטיביות לשלוח רכבים לבוחרים שלא היו ולא נבראו. רשימות בוחרים שבהן מפורט מי עדיין לא הצביע נעלמו באורח פלא, רכבים חסמו את היציאה מהמטות, פשקווילים נגד פרוש חלקם עם ההכרזה "אשריך ר' מאיר שניצחת את גדולי ישראל" הופצו בשכונות החרדיות והתנופפו תחת גלגלי האופנועים של שליחי הפיצות, שהוזמנו לשווא למטות פרוש ברחבי ירושלים.

"מילא זה שהם הצביעו לברקת, שזה דבר חסר תקדים בתולדות הציבור החרדי‭,"‬ אמר בכיר במטה פרוש, ועל אף שהנתונים היבשים מעידים שגם בלי המחלוקות החרדיות היה ברקת מנצח הוא התעקש: "הם גם דפקו לנו את כל יום הבחירות ובסופו של דבר חיסלו את הסיכויים של פרוש לנצח‭."‬

לרסק את המשטר הישן

"רחמנא ליצמן, לאן הגענו‭,"‬ אמר השבוע פעיל חרדי. אבנים נזרקו על רכבו של נציגו הבכיר של האדמו"ר מגור הרב יעקב ליצמן כשהגיע ביום הבחירות לעיר החרדית אלעד. נאמני פרוש בעיר שבה שרוליק פרוש, בנו של מאיר ונציג הדור הבא בשושלת העסקנים של המשפחה התמודד על תפקיד סגן ראש העיר הסתערו עליו. גם הרב יצחק גולדקנופף, מבכירי החסידות וממובילי מאבקי השבת של החרדים, זכה להסתערות המונים בשאגות בוז כשהגיע לבניין העירייה בכיכר ספרא. הם הוסיפו קריאות לעגניות "שאבעס" והצהרות שיותר לא יצטרפו למאבקים שמובילה החסידות, שפתאום תמכה במועמד מחלל שבת.

גור היא הגורם המוביל במאבקי החרדים הגדולים, נגד אל על, נגד שפע שוק ונגד הסלולריים הלא כשרים, כמו גם מאבקי ההחמרה בצניעות והוועד לטוהר המחנה. רבים הצהירו בימים האחרונים כי בפעם הבאה שגור תנסה להוביל מאבק, אנשיה ואדמו"רה ימצאו עצמם לבד. החסידות, שלא נבהלה והלכה עד הסוף נגד שאר הציבור החרדי, ניצחה את פרוש ובדרך חשפה את כמויות האיבה שיש בציבור החרדי נגד גור, נגד האדמו"ר ונגד נציגו הבכיר, הרב יעקב ליצמן. השנאה לגור איחדה לרגע חרדים חדשים, שמתים לרסק את המשטר הישן עם בני תורה, וחרדים ישנים מפעם מהסוג של פרוש עצמו, שאומרים שאי אפשר יותר עם ההגמוניה של החסידות החזקה. "אני אחתן את הבת שלי עם חילוני ולא עם בת של גערער‭,"‬ שאג חסיד סלונים על חסיד גור אחרי הבחירות. ופעיל חרדי בולט הוסיף: "הייתי היום בהר המנוחות, היה גשם שוטף, ראיתי חרדי שרוצה לתפוס טרמפ, כשראיתי שזה חסיד גור, אמרתי לו 'אותך אני לא לוקח‭."'‬

תהליכי עומק מתחוללים בציבור החרדי ומחלחלים פנימה. זה לא רק הערכים הדמוקרטיים שפתאום קוסמים לחרדים גם בתוכם פנימה. תהליכים שהובילו, למשל, להקמת רשימה מפתיעה בשם "טוב‭,"‬ של ליטאים שלא מתייצבים למרותם של רבני "דגל התורה" ולא מוכנים יותר שיסווגו אותם ואת ילדיהם כסוג ב' משום שאינם אברכים אשר תורתם אומנותם, אלא יוצאים לעבוד. אך סמלי הוא שהיום מציינים שבע שנים לפטירת המנהיג הליטאי הרב שך, שעיצב את הציבור החרדי תחת שני מושגי היסוד "דעת תורה" ו"גדול הדור‭."‬ מושגים שהפכו למגדירי חרדיות, ומכוחם שלטו הרבנים בציבור שחונך לציות עיוור לדעת גדולי התורה גם בעניינים שאינם הלכתיים מובהקים.

יש בציבור החרדי כבר מי שמתחילים לעכל שיכול להיות שזה נגמר, שבערכי הציבור החרדי של היום אין יותר גדול דור אחד שדעתו היא "דעת תורה‭."‬ מספיק להקשיב לביקורת הפנים חרדית הקטלנית על גדולי הרבנים ועל המתנהל בחצרותיהם כדי להבין את גודל המהפכה. לאחרונה קמו מערערים רבים על ה"דעת תורה" של מנהיג הציבור הליטאי הרב יוסף שלום אלישיב, עכשיו מתרחשת מערכה אדירה לריסוק מעמדו של בכיר האדמו"רים החסידיים - האדמו"ר מגור. "שמתי סיר עדשים ענק על האש‭,"‬ התקשר ערב הבחירות אידיאולוג חרדי חריף והסביר את פשר תפריט האבלות, "אתה מוזמן לסעודת אבלים מחר. נראה לי שפרוש מפסיד וגם אם הוא ינצח, הציבור החרדי צריך להתאבל על מה שקורה לנו‭."‬

יציאת השבת

עד איפה מוכנים חסידים ללכת בשביל האדמו"ר שלהם? רחוק מאוד. מעשייה חרדית מהשבוע מספרת על שיחה עם חסיד שהצהיר שהוא מוכן לעשות הכל בשביל האדמו"ר שלו, כולל הצבעה לברקת. "אני מוכן לשבת בכלא בשביל האדמו"ר‭,"‬ הצהיר. "אני גם מוכן להצביע למועמד מחלל שבת בשביל האדמו"ר‭."‬ "אבל איך זה ייתכן‭"?‬ שאלו אותו, "להצביע למחלל שאבעס? אתה לא מפחד מעונש משמים? אתה לא חושש מגיהינום‭."?‬ והוא השיב: "בשביל האדמו"ר אני מוכן לשבת גם בגיהינום‭." ‬

Blog appearance - vote

You might have notice that the appearance of the blog has changed several times recently. After the original template was corrupted I changed to a simple white blog. I was told that this was a big improvement in readability but that it didn't look professional. I just changed to a 3rd template. Which template is better. The simple white one which has no borders or this one?

Chareidi Politics - Internal conflicts

JPost reports:

The Ashkenazi haredi political establishment is undergoing a major shakeup. Normally a bastion of stability and unity, haredi politics has abruptly been engulfed in a period of uncertainty and fluctuation.

Internecine violence is the most obvious sign that the once cohesive haredi political leadership is in turmoil.

Last Shabbat, haredi men shoved and threw kugel at MK Ya'acov Litzman, the most powerful politician in Agudat Yisrael, when he showed up at a family celebration in a hall belonging to the Slonim hassidic sect.

Meanwhile, Israel "Srulik" Porush, son of MK Meir Porush, who heads the Shlomei Emunim faction in Agudat Yisrael, was knocked to the ground and beaten this week.

Perhaps in haredi enclaves, moderate violence - such as fisticuffs and food-throwing - is more common than in secular circles. After all, friends and enemies live in close physical proximity. There are plenty of opportunities to strike out at one's foe. Also, strong religious convictions and loyalties breed righteous indignation that can spark violence. Finally, in haredi circles there appears to be little fear that pushing, shoving and fistfights will deteriorate into shootings or stabbings.

Nevertheless, the recent violence is uncommon. And it reflects a major rift between two major groups making up Agudat Yisrael.

On one side is Shlomei Emunei Yisrael, headed by Porush, which is made up of a patchwork of small-to-medium-size hassidic sects usually named after the East European towns where they were founded. Some of the sects represented by Porush include Arloi, Slonim, Karlin-Stolin, Seret-Viznitz, Sadigora, Belz and Boston, one of the few hassidic groups named after an American city.

Pitted against Porush's Shlomei Emunei is the Gerer hassidic sect, the country's largest. Until the recent confrontation, Gur, under the aggressive leadership of Rabbi Ya'acov Aryeh Alter, effectively controlled Agudat Yisrael. Now Shlomei Emunei and Gur are waging a power struggle.

The groups clashed in the Jerusalem mayoral race. In a brazen move that undermined haredi unity, Alter refrained from supporting Porush, the only haredi candidate, in the election.

There are contradicting accounts on whether or not Alter ordered his hassidim to vote for Barkat. From an analysis of election booths located in areas heavily populated by Gerer hassidim, it appears that many did. There are also eyewitness accounts of Gerrer hassidim openly campaigning against Porush, shouting slogans such as: "Save Jerusalem from the Taliban."

"They broke all the rules in the book," said a Porush aide this week. "Things will never be the same again. This is World War III."

NUMEROUS POLITICAL scenarios are in the offing. One possibility is that Porush will attempt to create his own independent list. Agudat Yisrael is controlled by Gur, claim Shlomei Emunei sources. Other voices, other rebbes, are not being heard enough, they say.

Porush has already taken steps to set up a daily newspaper that would compete with the Gur-controlled Hamodia. During the Jerusalem mayoral elections, Hamodia ignored Porush's campaign. His name barely appeared in the paper.

Immediately after the elections, Porush's followers launched an anti-Hamodia campaign, calling on readers to cancel subscriptions and sign up to receive the new newspaper. Yanki Berger, a Porush supporter who is organizing the newspaper initiative, said this week that he has already signed up over 4,000 potential subscribers.[...]

National Intelligence Council Predictions - USA in 2025

Fox News reports: National Intelligence Council predictions and concerns in near future

The next two decades will see a world living with the daily threat of nuclear war, environmental catastrophe and the decline of America as the dominant global power, according to a frighteningly bleak assessment by the U.S. intelligence community.

"The world of the near future will be subject to an increased likelihood of conflict over resources, including food and water, and will be haunted by the persistence of rogue states and terrorist groups with greater access to nuclear weapons," said the report by the National Intelligence Council.

The analysts said that the report had been prepared in time for Barack Obama's entry into the Oval office on January 20, where he will be faced with some of the greatest challenges of any newly-elected president.

"The likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used will increase with expanded access to technology and a widening range of options for limited strikes," the 121-page assessment said.

Click here to read the report in full

The analysts draw attention to an already escalating nuclear arms race in the Middle East and anticipate that a growing number of rogue states will be prepared to share their destructive technology with terror groups.

"Over the next 15-20 years reactions to the decisions Iran makes about its nuclear program could cause a number of regional states to intensify these efforts and consider actively pursuing nuclear weapons," the report Global Trends 2025 said. "This will add a new and more dangerous dimension to what is likely to be increasing competition for influence within the region," it said.

The spread of nuclear capabilities will raise questions about the ability of weak states to safeguard them, it added. "If the number of nuclear-capable states increases, so will the number of countries potentially willing to provide nuclear assistance to other countries or to terrorists."

The report, a year in the making, said that global warming will aggravate the scarcity of water, food and energy resources. Citing a British study, it said that climate change could force up to 200 million people to migrate to more temperate zones. "Widening gaps in birth rates and wealth-to-poverty ratios, and the impact of climate change, could further exacerbate tensions," it said.

The report says the warming earth will extend Russia and Canada's growing season and ease their access to northern oil fields, strengthening their economies. But Russia's potential emergence as a world power may be clouded by lagging investment in its energy sector, persistent crime and government corruption, the report says.

"The international system will be almost unrecognizable by 2025, owing to the rise of emerging powers, a globalizing economy, a transfer of wealth from West to East, and the growing influence of non-state actors. Although the United States is likely to remain the single most powerful actor, the United States' relative strength -- even in the military realm -- will decline and US leverage will become more strained."

Global power will be multipolar with the rise of India and China, and the Korean peninsula will be unified in some form. Turning to the current financial situation, the analysts say that the financial crisis on Wall Street is the beginning of a global economic rebalancing.

The U.S. dollar's role as the major world currency will weaken to the point where it becomes a "first among equals." [...]

R' Tropper - Kiruv vs Geirus/ RaP's analysis

Guest Post by Recipients and Publicity: See previous posting on Rabbi Tropper

Kiruv process versus Geirus process: Source of Rabbi Tropper's dissonance.

Plony Almony 18 [makes some excellent and valid points that deserve more attention because they point to a huge dichotomy that lies beneath two huge and inter-related subjects: KIRUV and GEIRUS.

Kiruv and Geirus are as different as chalk and cheese. Making a yid become frum is not the same thing as being megayer a goy. Many (even kiruv rabbis) make a huge error in logic and metzius ("reality" and "fact") by thinking that there is a similarity between kiruv and geirus and they assume the same methods and tools of kiruv should and can be used for geirus. Only up to a point.

But what to do when confronted with interfaith couples where the Jewish one needs kiruv and the non-Jew needs conversion? This is not an easy quandary for all concerned but at rock bottom, regardless of what the interfaith couples are told or imagine, the gentile is NOT a "tinok shenishba" and has NO neshama while the Jew has a 100% holy neshama, which the converting gentile presumably desires. While male Jew can count for a minyan as would the greatest gadol on Earth, as would a 100% Halachically Jewish mother (even if she was anti-religious) give birth to a 100% Jew, on the other hand a goy MUST be excluded from a minyan. These are facts life and Jewish Law.

I have touched on some pertinent deeper issues in the posts that Dr. Eidensohn/da'as torah had kindly posted at http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/07/kiruv-end-of-kiruv-as-we-know-it.html

That:

"...the real wars are among the Orthodox themselves, manifested more than anywhere else in each faction's attititude to geirus/conversion and its sister-ship kiruv/outreach, because as we see in today's world of the 21st century, there is turmoil in both how to mekarev (to do outreach) and how to megayer (to do conversions) and they are inter-related in many ways and on may levels, most of all in the real world of real lives as we see from all the problems and issues facing Orthodox outreach rabbis and outreach workers..."

And at http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/07/kiruv-ii-paradigm-change-for-outreach.html

"...Rabbi Tropper is a venturer because with his EJF program to welcome in by doing outreach the non-Jewish spouses of interfaith couples under "strict" Beth Din auspices (actually fueling the flames of the process, as it were) he is doing a classical juggling act, that on the one hand he is trying to preempt and ward off attacks from the Haredi world he admires and respects and needs but at the the same time he is caving in to the interfaith flood at the gate and in this he is no different to ALL other Kiruv workers out there today trying to cope with the flood tide of interfaith students (meaning students from mixed marriages or intermarrieds themseleves, or those with non-Halachic conversions), and instead of calling a spade a spade and seeing the writing on the wall, that THE AGE OF KIRUV AS WE KNOW IT IS OVER and maybe even walking away from it, he tries to to finesse it (Dr. Tom Kaplan has lots of money and what else is there to do for a living if not helping millionares find solutions to their intermarried problems?), and that is why he was slapped by the BADATS who then sent out letters of warning to all those Recipients and asking for Publicity that Rabbi Tropper's agenda and methods were not part of the solution but were more part of the problem...."

While the two fields of KIRUV and GEIRUS over-lap and are inter-connected in our times, yet they are two separate and often contradicatory entities. What scholars call DISSONANT:

While KIRUV is all about "drawing closer" (literally "lekarev" or "to be mekarev") in contradistinction, GEIRUS is about "qualifying for Jewish citizenship" (lagur = to become a "dweller/sojourner/to live among" = "to become a 'national' of the Jewish people according to its laws, as defined by the Torah and the Halachah.)

GEIRUS requires a modicum or even a lot of RICHUK (pushing away/rejection), the opposite of "kiruv" and potential converts MUST first be STRONGLY encouraged NOT to become geirim. As an historical example, Rav Yitzchok Hutner used to like to tell over the famous story from Rav A.Y. Kook about "der ger fun Paris" about a Parisian gentile who sought to become a ger but whom Rav Kook succeeeded in convincing to become Ben Noach instead and who when he ever came to meet Rav Kook on a Shabbat would come with a lit cigar to prove that he had not converted and had preferred to remain a goy. Rav Kook and Rav Hutner took great pride in the fact that a gentile was persuaded NOT to convert! Too bad not too many modern rabbis think and act like this in the world's egalitarian melting pot poly-glot culture.

That is why dispassionate legalistic cool sceptical suspicious and scholarly dayanim on a reliable Bais Din are the ideal choice for deciding matters of conversion, and certainly NOT charismatic rabbis with magnetic hypnotic charming personalities and winning ways who have toiled all their lives in Kiruv.

The dayanim on a Bais Din convened to hear and decide upon cases on conversion do not (or should not) care about hurting a prospective convert's "feelings" by rejecting the application/s to convert. This modus operandi is very UNLIKE kiruv workers who are trained to recruit, lure, beguile, make happy with lots of smiles and free hospitality and "courting", and (for lack of a better word) "missionize" leshem shomayim (hopefully!) secular and non-Orthodox Jews to become frum.

Kiruv workers have a whole range of methods relating to "how to win friends and influence people" ranging from soft-sell to hard-sell, from those who practice a gentle moderate gradualist approach to those who believe in conjuring up ex-nihilo "overnight wonders" that are obligated in immediate compliance to a rebbe/rav/yeshiva.

Rabbi Tropper is from those kiruv workers (his main stock in trade) who works using the hard-sell method and he is very good at what he does in kiruv and is famous for his heady, strong-willed, blusterry speeches meant to bowl over his listeners, and yes he can be very intimidating and insulting to his listeners who may not share his moods. (Guess what: This is actually good kiruv believe it or not, because it is prone to induce a mind-shift as a form of "shock therapy" in his listeners opening them up to new Torah ideas they had never heard before), although he can also take it slow and gentle when he works with very diverse audiences who he knows will not go for his shock tactics. And yes, he generally holds that those who become his disci[les must adhere to quick adherence to his utterances and rules.

Rabbi Tropper's kiruv methods as such are not an issue in this dialogue, nor do I think that his role in getting Rabbi Slifkin's books off the frum radar screen has anything to do with the current set of "Kiruv vs Geirus" issues that are riling Rabbi Tropper and confusing those who come face to face with him today because right now the man is a walking dichotomy. A sort of split personality, not fully conscious of the depth of his inner turmoil and extent of the self-contradiction he is spilling wherever he goes nowadays, as his kiruv side battles and tries to reconcile itself with the issues of geirus he has now immersed himself in for better or worse, and he is in over his head this time. While Rabbi tropper is agadol in the kiruv world, he is a zero in the world of dayanim and batei din. And yes, he is a big talmid chochme, but most rosh yeshivas (which he also claims to be of Kol Yaakov Yeshiva) are not involved in shimush lema'aseh and they are not dayanim. You do not go to a rosh yeshiva if you want to get divorced or are looking for a geirus. Rosh yeshivas are generally never poskim except for what goes on inside their yeshivas, and unlike a kiruv worker who can and MUST walk all over the range looking for people to mekarev, a dayan on the other hand, MUST contain himself and restrict himself to a very narrow venue, the Bais Din and its confines where he sits in judgment of cases and of others.

In short, how to reconcile Kiruv ("drawing people close") and Richuk ("distancing" people)? How to reconcile the need to be a sweet Kiruv Worker (who must always be winning JEWISH friends and influencing people to eventually become/morph into being Haredi/Yeshivish) and on the other hand with a conflicting task, the enforcing the rules and dictates of Batei Din in regard to conversions that requires, per force, the distancing and pushing away of people, certianly gentiles and if need be even the Jews attached to those gentiles.

Quite a Faustian predicament that Rabbi Tropper does not seem to have resolved for himself. While the Reform and Conservatives "have sold their soul to the devil" and are accepting gentiles to easily into the Jewish people ch"sh r"l and many in the Modern Orthodox and Religious Zionist movements are teetering on the edge of a slippery slope and look like they have thrown in the towel as they water down the halacha and make appearing before a Bais Din a mere formailty and an exercise in rubber-stamping by the Bais Din that has no standards, there are those poskim, dayanim and batei din alive TODAY like in the BADATZ/Rabbi Shternbuch/Rabbi Sherman/Rav Eliashiv/Rav Nochum Eisenstein & Beit Din Le'Inyanei Giur who INSIST on strict/er Halachic standards and are willing to oppose and fight against the tide of de facto and de jure assimilationism and intermarriage and not join it in any way shape size or form (while seemingly Rabbi Tropper THINKS and alleges he is speaking for them, but his actions at EJF over the years say otherwise).

So what Rabbi Tropper did or not do at the time that led to Rabbi Slifkin's books being banned in the frum world are essentially immaterial. For sometimes to catch a ganef one must act like a ganef, and ultimately the Torah world is better off without giving legitimacy to the pseudo-scientific makeover of midrashim, agadettes and Chazals by neophytes.

Indeed Rebbetzin Bruria Hutner David, principal of BJJ and the holder of a doctorate from Colombia University, see the full thesis at http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~spotter/david-chajes.pdf "THE DUAL ROLE OF RABBI ZVI HIRSCH CHAJES: TRADITIONALIST AND MASKIL." (Columbia University, Ph.D., 1971) shredded no less than the Maharitz Chiyas in her lengthy PhD thesis debunking as "Haskala" his non-traditional and anti-chazal views and interpretetions of agadattes. So if she could do that, what Rabbi Tropper did to Slifkin (minus a PhD) is peanuts, although his mthods were very devious and deceitful, but often that is how people are made frum, with all sorts of "tricks" -- sad to say but very true, and one hopes that the "victims" stay frum or all else all hell can break loose...

So Rabbi Tropper's past involvements with Slifkin and Gidon Busch and the Age of the Earth questions are really not so much the REAL issues as are his PRESENT state of conflict and lack of clarity about whether he wishes to be perceived as the biggest kiruv worker of the times or as the biggest enforcer of Halacha of Geirus in modern times and unfortunately HE CANNOT BE BOTH simultaneously and he cannot have it both ways. He cannot have his cake and eat it this time! And he and Dr. Tom Kaplan are having a hard time realizing this reality! Especially Dr. Kaplan who as a tycoon businessman is not used to seeing his EJF "business plan" go awry and shouted down from the left and right of the Orthodox and Haredi world. It is too much of an ego-deflator and both Rabbi Tropper and Dr. Kaplan take their egos VERY seriously.

Anyhow, there is not "one single way" to do kiruv and Rabbi Tropper has had many successes in this regard that he does not need to apologize to anyone for his kiruv work and successes, and with success there will come some failures which he is allowed to have as well. But his role as the Inquistor in chief of dayanim and batei din in the field of geirus brings out his darker side and now he is being told where to get off, and he even shows himself the door, knowing that it's bed time and curtains for bonzo the self-proclaimed EJF ubber geirus dayan who is lema'aleh mikol hadayanim since we already have one rashkebehag in the form of Rav Eliashiv shlit'a who does not need Rabbi Tropper and Dr. Tom Kaplan and their acorn-aspiring EJF a la Obama style politicking and steam-rollering and saying different things to different audiences and hoping noone either notices or dares to speak up.

The real issue is the dichotomy in Rabbi Tropper's inner psyche that he has not and cannot bridge: How to be a famous and successful kiruv worker and at the same time be an enforcer of strict bais din standards for geirus functioning as some sort of ubber dayan deciding which batei din and dayanim are strict enough, when he himself as a 100% kiruv worker does not in essence think and function in those terms. For heaven's sakes, he is married to a baalas teshuva, and he belongs in the Baal teshuva movement and must learn to leave issues of geirus to the batei din and dayanim to muddle through and sort out and not be so condescending and paternalistic towards them. "Let go, and let G-d"!
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Plony Almony 18: I think the comment about Gideon Busch Z’L is more appropriate to be on your post regarding various keiruv approaches but I can understand why the commenter chose to put it here.

RaP: This tragic chapter should not be dragged into the discussions here because no one knows the true facts of the true state of Busch's mind and personality. Seems he was not an emotionally healthy person and every kiruv organization, indeed every college and high school has its share of horror stories and suicides, and Busch basically frazzled the cops to fire on him. NY cops are sometimes over-cautious and ready to fire and do not take chances and they cannot be blamed so quickly for what happened and neither should Rabbi Tropper be dragged into this tragic matter. It's like asking that Busch's relatives, pediatrician and pyschiatrist also be liable for not taking good enough care of him.

Plony Almony 18: She probably wanted to call attention to Tropper all-or-nothing approach to keiruv, an approach which requires total transformation, cutting off any non-orthodox connections (which includes family), shunning secular studies and arguing that you cannot be a talmid chochom and having a college degree in the some time...

RaP: So again, no need to drag the Busch saga into this. Rabbi Tropper is not unique in this regard because there are many rabbis and some institutions all over the world who do what he does. Rabbi Tropper's success stories in kiruv are far, far greater than the few failures and EVERY kiruv rabbi has many, many people who he did not make frum and went off... It is an occupational hazard.

Plony Almony 18: An approach which in cases of married couples when the couple is not on the same page, the more observant spouse is encouraged to divorce the less observant spouse instead of finding some middle ground and waiting for him or her to catch up.

RaP: This is a very touchy area and again there is no consensus and each case has to be evaluated and judged on its merits. Not just among BTs but among the frum and in the world at large every day rabbis and therapsist bring couples apart and also split them up. That is the reality. And it's no different in kiruv situations which usually involve a whole range of issues that have nothing to do with religion. This is a very complex area of life that requires great expertise and can be easily abused even by the greatest professionals, so don't blame Rabbi Tropper for another occupational hzard of being a susccessful kiruv rabbi who is forced into couples counseling.

Plony Almony 18: Many keiruv organizations (which the noted exception of Chabad) do not realize that for some people adopting stringent lifestyle, dropping out of college, adopting penguin dress would not be beneficial. Making them swallow more than they can chew would end up with disastrous results.

RaP: Why do you exempt Chabad? That shows you do not know what is happening. Chabad is a huge enterprise. The policies and methods they use in Crown Heights are not the same as in Beverly Hills. Chabad in Kefar Chabad and in Tzefas is more extreme in all areas is anything you will see in many other places. So yes, while over-all Chabad is more patient, once they feel they have won over someone they do exactly what people like Rabbi Tropper does, don't fool yourself and do not create false impressions. There is no "one way' to make people frum nor is there "one way" for how BTs should be frum. There never has been nor will there ever be. It is as varied as the human condition. And as the saying goes there will always be a need and a market for: "Different strokes for different folks"!

"Progress" - Dating site successfully sued by gays

Michelle Malkin reports

So, this is “progress?” eHarmony, a Christian-targeted dating website, gets sued by a gay man demanding that the business match him up with a same-sex partner. The New Jersey Attorney General intervenes on behalf of the gay plaintiff and forces eHarmony to change its entire business model. To be clear: The company never refused to do business with anyone. Their great “sin” was not providing a specialized service that litigious gay people demanded they provide. This case is akin to a meat-eater suing a vegetarian restaurant for not offering him a ribeye or a female patient suing a vasectomy doctor for not providing her hysterectomy services. Sadly, eHarmony has settled . I wish they hadn’t, but I understand the decision given the chilling antics of the anti-Prop. 8 mob. The company agreed not only to offer same-sex dating services on a new site, but also to offer six-month subscriptions for free to 10,000 gay users.

Denmark to ban mila?

YNet Reports

At a time where anti-Semitic acts seem to be on the rise in Europe, a bill was proposed in Denmark that will affect mainly Jews – the banning of male child circumcision. Denmark's National Council for Children has recommended the legislation of a law banning circumcision of boys under the age of 15.The passing of this law would make the Jewish mitzvah and tradition of circumcising a child on his eighth day a crime.

The country's Ethics Council supported the proposal and now only the parliament's medical committee can intervene and prevent the proposal from being heard."Circumcision is the irreversible damage to a child's body before he is given the chance to object," the National Council for Children argued.The Council further claimed that the banning of male child circumcision was a matter of equality among the sexes. "Just like female circumcision was banned five years ago, male circumcision should be banned," the Council said.

The new proposal caused a storm among the Jewish and Muslim populations in Denmark, with 95% of the 7,000 Jewish population circumcising their sons. [...]