Friday, September 9, 2011
First Haredi conference on "Torah archaeology" held in Jerusalem
Haaretz
In the heart of ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem two weeks ago, an unwritten taboo was shattered in broad daylight: The first Haredi conference on "Torah archaeology" - having been boldly advertised in the Haredi daily Hamodia, and approved by several leading rabbis - drew a packed audience.
The opening speaker, Chabad Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch, brought several ancient coins to the conference, held in the Beit Bracha hall near Jerusalem's Mea She'arim neighborhood. Deutsch, who flew in from Brooklyn for the event, runs a museum that displays artifacts he acquired on the private market from the time of the Mishna. Also among the artifacts, he displayed an intact scale that he said had been recovered several weeks earlier from a sunken ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Going to jail for silence: Is withholding knowledge of a crime mesira
Two years ago, Rabbi Moshe Zigelman went to prison rather than testify against fellow Jews in a federal tax-evasion case and receive a lesser punishment.
Now, federal prosecutors are threatening him with a return to jail unless the 64-year-old devout Hasid agrees to testify before a grand jury regarding the federal government's ongoing probe of tax evasion in his Orthodox Jewish sect. On Wednesday, they will ask a judge to order him to testify or be found in contempt.
His attorney says Zigelman, a teacher of scripture and son of Holocaust survivors, will again refuse, citing his religious principles.
Zigelman's unyielding religious stance has led to attorneys wrangling in a federal courtroom over the rare intersection of the modern U.S. legal system and the ancient Jewish doctrine of mesira, a prohibition for Jews against informing on other Jews to secular authorities.
Prosecutors have said the rabbi's position is unsupported by Talmudic law, according to court papers filed by Zigelman's attorneys. Defense attorneys contend that he is again being asked to make the obvious choice between heaven and earthly jail cells, and that no prison time will be able to get Zigelman to go against his religion and face ever-lasting punishment.
Manny's Book Store in Meah Shearim terrorized by Sikrikim
JPost
A bookstore in the capital’s ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood is struggling against a wave of attacks by a haredi group called Sikrikim (“Sicarii”) that other business-owners have called the “mafia of Mea Sha’arim.”
Since the bookstore, known as Or Hachaim/Manny’s, opened in March 2010, men have smashed its windows several times, glued its locks shut, thrown tar and fish oil, and dumped bags of human excrement inside.
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger was harassed and had stones thrown at him while leaving the store last year.
The bookstore, located on Mea She’arim Street, is popular with Anglo residents and tourists and carries many English- language holy books and Judaica items in addition to Hebrew books. The harassment stems from the bookstore’s refusal to accept demands made by the neighborhood extremist group, which would require all businesses to observe specific “modesty standards.”
At Or Hachaim, the Sikrikim’s demands include putting up a sign asking customers to dress modestly, removing all English-language books, signs and advertisements, and closing its website, which is in English, all so as not to attract tourists, who are not dressed modestly, said Marlene Samuels, one of the three managers of the bookstore, along with her husband, Manny, and Meir Dombey. Manny Samuels previously ran Manny’s Bookstore, which was well-known in the Anglo community.
“These people are very extreme; they terrorize lots of people here, and they are a very insular group,” Marlene Samuels said. She added that despite filing four complaints with the police and providing surveillance footage that clearly identified four of the men who have been vandalizing their shop, the police has not gotten involved.
“In the last few weeks, the police said they just don’t want to get involved in this neighborhood,” she said.
A bookstore in the capital’s ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood is struggling against a wave of attacks by a haredi group called Sikrikim (“Sicarii”) that other business-owners have called the “mafia of Mea Sha’arim.”
Since the bookstore, known as Or Hachaim/Manny’s, opened in March 2010, men have smashed its windows several times, glued its locks shut, thrown tar and fish oil, and dumped bags of human excrement inside.
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger was harassed and had stones thrown at him while leaving the store last year.
The bookstore, located on Mea She’arim Street, is popular with Anglo residents and tourists and carries many English- language holy books and Judaica items in addition to Hebrew books. The harassment stems from the bookstore’s refusal to accept demands made by the neighborhood extremist group, which would require all businesses to observe specific “modesty standards.”
At Or Hachaim, the Sikrikim’s demands include putting up a sign asking customers to dress modestly, removing all English-language books, signs and advertisements, and closing its website, which is in English, all so as not to attract tourists, who are not dressed modestly, said Marlene Samuels, one of the three managers of the bookstore, along with her husband, Manny, and Meir Dombey. Manny Samuels previously ran Manny’s Bookstore, which was well-known in the Anglo community.
“These people are very extreme; they terrorize lots of people here, and they are a very insular group,” Marlene Samuels said. She added that despite filing four complaints with the police and providing surveillance footage that clearly identified four of the men who have been vandalizing their shop, the police has not gotten involved.
“In the last few weeks, the police said they just don’t want to get involved in this neighborhood,” she said.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Can Chareidim control their extremists? Throwing blows in Beit Shemesh
The escalation began yesterday with a conflict involving the girls school Orot Lebanot. Orot Lebanot is a religious Zionist school, meaning it is Orthodox but not ultra-Orthodox.
Yesterday, Ultra-Orthodox extremists blocked the path of the Orot Lebanot schoolgirls while they were on their way home. They surrounded the girls and shouted insults at them. Some residents and parents accompanying their children responded, and a fight broke out. It took nearly 45 minutes for the police to restore order, which they did without detaining or arresting any of the troublemakers.
R' Yair Hoffman Reviews new 9th volume of the Igros Moshe
Vos iz Neias by Rabbi Yair Hoffman This is relevant to my previous post on the 9th Volume
It still must be understood that this volume was put together posthumously, and some of the material does, in fact, reflect that (see, for example, the later comment on responsa OC #5). Some of the material does not include the Lomdus that has characterized his responsa in the past. Yet the previous volumes also did include a substantial amount of what can be termed “apodictic” responsa that just discussed Rav Feinstein’s opinions without the Lomdus. Some people have questioned whether some of the material should actually have been included. Information told to this author by some insiders also revealed that there was material that was not included too. Nonetheless, it is a very important work that contributes significantly to Rav Feinstein’s halachic oeuvre.
The Orech Chaim section contains 50 responsa. In the first he recommends that all shuls follow the timing of the Mogain Avrohom for the recitation of Krias Shma. This is interesting as it seems to be in contrast with his earlier position in Volume I #24 to Rabbi Shalom HaLevi Kugelman. How do we understand or resolve this apparent contradiction? One may view it as a realization by Rav Moshe Feinstein that the pendulum has swung too much in the wrong direction after the publication of Volume I of the Igros Moshe (and not necessarily because of that). Especially, if one views the purported intent of the publication of the Igros Moshe in the first place. Not everyone is in agreement that Rav Moshe meant his Igros Moshe to play the role of say, the Mishna Brurah in halacha. Some would have it that the authorial intent of his halachic magnum opus was to be a running dialogue, a discourse with Torah scholars immersed in a sugyah. If this is the case, then the contradiction is readily resolved utilizing the “pendulum has swung too far” model.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Community leaders in Australia accused of protecting a child molester
SENIOR members of a Melbourne Jewish community have been accused of protecting an alleged child sex offender who worked at one of the order's schools.
David Cyprys, 43, a security guard at Yeshivah College in East St Kilda, was today arrested and charged with 29 counts of indecent assault and gross indecency relating to former students.
Why Muslims are still mad at America
On the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many Americans are wondering whether the risk of a terrorist attack against America has been reduced. The picture is mixed. With the death of Osama bin Laden, al Qaeda is weaker. With revolutions in several Arab countries, frustrations with unpopular autocratic governments — a recruiting theme for terrorist groups - have been mitigated. But one important contributing factor has not improved - widespread anger at America in the Muslim world. While views have improved in Indonesia, throughout the Middle East and South Asia, hostility toward the United States persists unabated.
This does not mean that most Muslims support terrorist attacks on America. On the contrary, overwhelming majorities reject terrorism, including the 9/11 attacks, as morally wrong. Al Qaeda is quite unpopular.
However, anger at America does contribute to an environment in which it is easier for anti-American terrorist groups to recruit jihadists, to generate funding and to generally operate with little government interference - witness how bin Laden operated in Pakistan and the widespread anger there when the Pakistani military failed to prevent the United States from taking him out.
Trying to understand Muslims’ feelings toward America has been the focus of a five-year study I recently completed that included conducting focus groups and surveys throughout the Muslim world. I sat for many hours trying to understand as Muslims explained to me why they are so mad at America.
Muslims have much they do not like about how America treats them. But there is one thing that is the most fundamental: their perception that America seeks to undermine Islam - a perception held by overwhelming majorities.
One Sperm Donor, 150 Offspring
Cynthia Daily and her partner used a sperm donor to conceive a baby seven years ago, and they hoped that one day their son would get to know some of his half siblings — an extended family of sorts for modern times.
So Ms. Daily searched a Web-based registry for other children fathered by the same donor and helped to create an online group to track them. Over the years, she watched the number of children in her son’s group grow.
And grow.
Today there are 150 children, all conceived with sperm from one donor, in this group of half siblings, and more are on the way. “It’s wild when we see them all together — they all look alike,” said Ms. Daily, 48, a social worker in the Washington area who sometimes vacations with other families in her son’s group. [...]
Monday, September 5, 2011
13 reasons why rabbis can't solve the sexual abuse problem without the police
Guest Post from Henoch
A friend of mine who is a Rabbi casually told me that a Doctor had called him to warn him that a pedophile was moving into his city. The sexual predator had worn out his welcome where he lives and the Rabbonim of his town had demanded that he move. When I asked him what he is doing about it, he responded that he had no idea what to do about it. The pedophile was unlikely to daven in his shul, so most of his congregants wouldn’t care. With great effort and a strong campaign, at best he could accomplish that the person would perhaps choose a different city. He wasn’t even sure how this would be accomplished and at best would only cause the man to relocate elsewhere. This Rabbi is a great leader and a person with much integrity, yet he doesn’t see it as a cause that needs to take up his full attention for the next few weeks. It would also cause much fighting, alarm, and strife for all involved. For the following reasons this small story illustrates why Rabbonim may find it hard to solve this problem.
1) Rabbonim don’t have the resources and methodology by which this type of information is gathered. Patterns of behavior which characterize abuse can easily be identified by professionals, but can easily be missed by others. They would find it hard to convene a Bais Din to hear from all related parties and examine all evidence. The testimony of women, children, psychologists, or DNA would be suspect.
2) A story told by a victim or his family will very rarely trump the assumption of innocence for a neighbor, friend, or even a stranger.
3) Assuming that the story is believed, there is not necessarily a mandate on a particular Rabbi to solve the problem.
4) The Rabbi’s livelihood is dependent on the opinion of others. He will not necessarily jeopardize this, for a controversial cause.
5) The Rabbi may think that he can control the problem by speaking to the perpetrator or by watching him closely. He may also believe that the criminal has done teshuva. A Rabbi lives by the idea that people can and do grow. The fact that statistics show that this is very unlikely will not prevent him from hoping that this particular man repented.
6) Centuries of Jewish thought and teachings may lead him to the conclusion that Mesira (turning over criminals to the secular sytem of Justice) is rarely an option.
7) Although prison is an option even under the rubric of Halacha, the parameters of that option and its’ use in a secular system of law is too controversial to consider.
8) The possibility of Chillul Hashem and the potential destruction of the pedophile’s family often seems to trump the idea of justice to the victim or safety for the community.
9) The idea that a child who was a victim of sexual abuse suffers ongoing psychological trauma after the event, is a relatively new discovery, and one which is not referenced in classical Halachic sources.
10) Moving the perpetrator to another city or job is the best outcome that a shul or city can hope for, but is a zero net gain for Klal Yisroel as a whole.
11) Great improvements have been brought to the Jewish world in the area of avoiding Lashon Hara. Whisper campaigns, rumors, and accusations run contrary to those improvements. Rabbonim are reluctant to create an atmosphere where relating negative stories about others would be favorably received.
12) Yeshivas and other Torah institutions are created with great sacrifice and heroism. Rabbonim, who are the guardians of such institutions, cannot impartially judge the weight of an accusation, while adequately guarding the survival of these institutions. This is a classic case of a conflict of interest. Rabbonim understand that when a community leader is accused of crimes such as these, the continued existence of Yeshivos affiliated with that individual are put in jeopardy. This may be a price that is too high to pay.
13) When police and secular courts are used, the outcome is usually accepted, whether the accused is found guilty or not guilty. When cases of this nature are handled by Rabbonim, the perception of the public is often that a crime was covered up, and that the Rabbonim were the cause.
Due to the above points, there are reasonable questions of how Rabbinic authorities can play a positive role in sexual abuse cases. While cases where Rabbis publicly advocate on behalf of sexual abuse victims are rare or perhaps even non-existent, there may be Rabbis who privately provide advice and advocacy which may be quite beneficial to a victim’s family. It may be important to investigate a Rabbi’s position as to whether he advocates for the involvement of police and the secular court system prior to seeking advice or advocacy. A Rabbi who believes that police and secular courts should never be involved may be more likely to fall into the 13 traps outlined above. A Rabbi who believes that police and secular courts should be involved in certain cases may be able to play a more positive role in this difficult process, and may be more independent and less likely to fall prey to the above mentioned problems. However, many Rabbis project this image publicly, but will hardly ever advise going to authorities. This position of pretending to advocate for a victim yet actually covering up incidents has led to much pain and suffering in our communities over the past few decades. Rabbis who advise going straight to police and authorities when victims of sexual abuse approach them probably recognize their own limitations and understand that there is no other way to solve this problem.
Man arrested for sexually assaulting kids in synagogue
A 65-year-old man was arrested Sunday on suspicion of committing indecent acts on children whom he taught Torah to.
The investigation was launched last week, after a father of three filed a complaint with the Rehovot police. The inquiry found that the suspect promised to give the three children, aged 8-10, money if they answered Jewish law questions correctly. When they followed him into the synagogue, he allegedly committed indecent acts on them.
The kids' father said the suspect, who prays at his synagogue, offered his kids to teach them the Torah. [...]
Post regarding annulment of geirus was removed at request of Writer
The recent post about annulment of geirus has been removed at the request of the writer. Baruch Hashem the issue has been fully resolved after discussion with a number of rabbis who explained to him that a valid conversion can not be annulled and that the cases in Israel that were annulled involved questionable conversions. The writer fully accepted that reality and will continue living as a fully committed and observant Jew. The issue of marriage has also been completely resolved according to the halacha. He should be zocheh to find his zivug soon. On the other hand, he mentioned that he was very upset that his sincere and innocent request for information should elicit so many harsh and negative comments about him and his motivation. [no critical comments will be accepted for this present post nor any regarding the original letter].
I hope to post a comment about the harsh and uncalled for attacks against Elliot Pasik that appeared amongst the comments to the deleted post. The assumption that anyone who has a critical comment or observation is anti-orthodox is unfortunately a reality. It brings to mind the Maharal's statement that only a weak religion is afraid of questions. It is doubly problematic when Elliot Pasik has spent much time and effort to improve the life and safety of the Orthodox community.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Weprin Clarifies His Position on Marriage
5 Towns Jewish Times
In the upcoming election for Anthony Weiner’s seat in the 9th Congressional District, Jewish voters are faced with a dilemma. Both candidates are excellent choices both for Israel and for the New York City Jewish community, in general. Mr. David Weprin has been particularly helpful in the past to orthodox institutions. However, there is some alarm that is spreading throughout the community in terms of his past support of specific legislation that undermines Torah values.
Two staff members of the Five Town Jewish Times spoke out these issues with Mr. Weprin directly on Sunday morning. The editorial staff members, which included Mr. Larry Gordon, determined that Mr. Weprin viewed his statements as merely in the realm of supporting a civil rights issue. He stated his belief that, in his view, “the status of state marriage is not viewed as a halachic marriage and is, therefore, not substantively different than a civil union.”
He further stated that “Chas veShalom - he would never do anything that would undermine the Torah’s values or halacha. This legislation is strictly a civil rights issue – nothing more, and nothing less.” [....]
In the upcoming election for Anthony Weiner’s seat in the 9th Congressional District, Jewish voters are faced with a dilemma. Both candidates are excellent choices both for Israel and for the New York City Jewish community, in general. Mr. David Weprin has been particularly helpful in the past to orthodox institutions. However, there is some alarm that is spreading throughout the community in terms of his past support of specific legislation that undermines Torah values.
Two staff members of the Five Town Jewish Times spoke out these issues with Mr. Weprin directly on Sunday morning. The editorial staff members, which included Mr. Larry Gordon, determined that Mr. Weprin viewed his statements as merely in the realm of supporting a civil rights issue. He stated his belief that, in his view, “the status of state marriage is not viewed as a halachic marriage and is, therefore, not substantively different than a civil union.”
He further stated that “Chas veShalom - he would never do anything that would undermine the Torah’s values or halacha. This legislation is strictly a civil rights issue – nothing more, and nothing less.” [....]
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