New Dangers of False Conversions & Enforced Religious Pluralism in Israel

Guest Post by RaP:   Great Tefilos and Rachamei Shomayim are needed !!! The old time "Status Quo" arrangement started in the times of Ben Gurion and the Chazon Ish, is facing an onslaught.

Not just from those who want to enlist the Charedim into the Israeli Army, but an emboldened and brazen push (actually an attempted "putsch" or "silent coup") to overthrow the entire balance of power between religion and state, between the shrinking secular majority and the growing religious minority in Israel as it has existed by common consent and political arrangements since 1948.

HaRav Ovadia Yosef has recently openly stated that Yair Lapid "Hates the Yeshivot" and that "Bayit HaYehudi" is a "Home of Goyim" but it is actually far worse than that! Lapid desires nothing less than a complete overturn and destruction of Torah Judaism as it is known, or as it knows itself, with every new provocative statement or speech he makes. While Bennett naively tags along and thinks he can have his cake and eat it to as Lapid's ally. This is a very dangerous and pivotal moment in the history of Am Yisrael, Klal Yisrael, Bnai Yisrael and Medinas Yisrael. Take just two current reports about the "plans" of Yair Lapid of Yesh Atid and its "alliance" with Naftali Bennett of Bayit Yehudi.

See how Lapid, who has never been a politician and heads a party of political novices, talks as if he knows all there is to know about theology, God, Jewish Law, and Judaism. He may be an effective journalist and TV anchor but he is not known to have studied any religion or anything else at any higher, or lower, or known institution of Jewish or secular learning either in Israel or outside of it, yet he feels he can  make the most radical statements about changing Judaism, Jewish conversions and about what is Judaism and anything else that comes into his head!

As reported in Israel National News: "Lapid: I’ll Push Civil Marriage, Reform Judaism (2/12/2013) Israel National News

...Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, spoke Tuesday at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, held at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem. Lapid declared that his political agenda includes making the Reform and Conservative movements – both popular in the United States – equal to orthodox Judaism in terms of state support. 'I want to do everything in my power to ensure the equality between all movements of Judaism in the state of Israel, Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform,' he declared. 'In conversions, in budgets, in the eyes of the law. No one can claim ownership over the Jewish God.' 'Small, old, petty politics cannot determine something that is eternal as is the Jewish identity, this is just wrong,' he added. Conservative and Reform Judaism differ from traditional Judaism on principles of belief such as the divine origin of the Torah and of the Oral Law. They also differ significantly regarding conversion to Judaism, and Reform and Conservative conversions are generally not recognized as valid by orthodox rabbis, who say converts must agree to full observance of Jewish law (halacha). Lapid also said that he plans to promote civil marriage in Israel. Currently Israel recognizes marriages performed under the auspices of a recognized religion within Israel, and any marriage registered abroad whether religious or not. The 'complete dominance of orthodox rabbis' over marriage “is an insult,' Lapid argued."

Add this to Lapid's alliance with the Bayit Yehudi party, a political successor to the Religious Zionist parties, that should be protecting Orthodox Torah life and values and not attacking them, whose 11 out of 12 members are Religious Zionists, some are rabbis:

As Israel National News reports: "Bennett and Lapid a Package Deal (2/14/2013)Israel national news

...Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid have created a pact between their two parties, agreeing that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will have either both of their parties in his coalition or neither, political sources have told Arutz Sheva. Together, the two have 31 seats. Netanyahu’s chances of putting together a coalition without either party are not considered good. Bennett and Lapid banded together due to a shared interest in preventing Netanyahu from creating a coalition that excluded one of them in favor of hareidi-religious or left-wing parties..."

For all the above reasons and many more, it is fitting that between Chanuka and Purim, when the Jewish People were saved from all sorts of decrees to "change" them, that all Jews who care about the fate of the Jewish People fervently pray for the same miracles of salvation by HKB"H.

PTSD treated with injection of anesthetic (SGB)

Time  [See previous article]  The latest edition of the medical journal Psychiatric Annals features military researchers discussing how a procedure known as stellate ganglion block can effectively treat post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD).

Injecting a local anesthetic agent into the sympathetic nerve tissue at the base of the neck — a so-called stellate ganglion block (or SGB) – acts to numb signals which travel to centers deep in the brainstem and brain, commonly thought to be most responsible for PTSD.

The prospect of using a medical procedure to treat PTSD would be a paradigm shift for psychiatry.

That PTSD can be thought of an injury – something whose symptoms could be alleviated by injecting numbing medicine – would support the assertion that former Vice Army Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli has been advocating for some time that PTSD should be renamed PTSI – with an I for injury.

“It might seem counterintuitive that treating the peripheral nervous system could affect psychiatric conditions presumably mediated in the brain,” writes Dr. Cam Ritchie, my colleague and retired Army psychiatrist, in a press release for the journal heralding the news.

Reaction to Channel 4's expose of Haredi sex abuse

Tests in Mice Misled Researchers on 3 Diseases

NYTimes    For decades, mice have been the species of choice in the study of human diseases. But now, researchers report stunning evidence that the mouse model has been totally misleading for at least three major killers — sepsis, burns and trauma. As a result, years and billions of dollars have been wasted following false leads, they say.

The study does not mean that mice are useless models for all human diseases. But, its authors said, it does raise troubling questions about diseases like the ones in the study that involve the immune system, including cancer and heart disease. [...]

The paper, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, helps explain why every one of nearly 150 drugs tested at huge expense in patients with sepsis has failed. The drug tests all were based on studies in mice. And mice, it turns out, have a disease that looks like sepsis in humans, but is very different from the human disease.

Medical experts not associated with the study said that the findings should change the course of research worldwide for a deadly and frustrating disorder. Sepsis afflicts 750,000 patients a year in the United States, kills a quarter to half of them, and costs the nation $17 billion a year. It is the leading cause of death in intensive-care units. [...]

Some researchers, reading the paper now, say they are as astonished as the researchers were when they saw the data.

“When I read the paper, I was stunned by just how bad the mouse data are,” Dr. Fink said. “It’s really amazing – no correlation at all. These data are so persuasive and so robust that I think funding agencies are going to take note.” Until now, he said, “to get funding, you had to propose experiments using the mouse model.”

How to treat traumatized kids? Research not clear

USA Today   Although most children exposed to traumatic events such as natural disasters or school shootings never suffer post-traumatic stress symptoms, there is insufficient hard evidence on the best interventions to help kids who do suffer from these exposures, a new government-sponsored review concludes.

In the analysis of 6,647 research abstracts on psychological and pharmacological therapies, only a few psychological treatments were shown to help kids 17 and under in the short term, and no medications were shown to have benefit.

Just 21 trials and one study reported in 25 abstracts met the reviewers' standards for quality and strength of evidence, says Adam Zolotor, an associate professor of family medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a co-author of the study, published Monday in Pediatrics. [...]

This study is not about the debriefing programs that counselors and mental-health professionals often conduct soon after a shooting or other critical incident; rather, it addresses "therapies for kids who are having (chronic) traumatic stress," notes Denise Dowd, a pediatric emergency physician and director of research in the Division of Emergency and Urgent Care at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo.

Although the majority of kids exposed to traumatic events rebound with the support of loving and caring family relationships, only a few kids start to have problems and develop signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, says Dowd, author of an accompanying commentary in Pediatrics.

A 2007 longitudinal study of 1,420 children ages 9-16, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that potentially traumatic events are common in children but do not typically result in post-traumatic stress symptoms or disorder.

Google ordered to expose alleged internet defamers of London rabbi

times of Israel   A British judge ordered Google to help identify people who may have defamed a London rabbi accused of inappropriate conduct toward women.

Justice Elizabeth Gloster of Britain’s High Court in London ordered the American Internet company to identify the authors of online comments said to have defamed Rabbi Chaim Halpern, the Jewish Chronicle reported on Friday.

The rabbi denies claims of inappropriate conduct, which are currently being investigated by a special rabbinical court set up at the behest of the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations. Chloe Strong, Halpern’s attorney, said that the comments contained “serious defamatory slurs.”

Google, the judge said, needs to disclose the names of several people who have posted comments about Halpern under pseudonyms.

OHEL needs additional foster parents

Jewish Star   In the first step of a long process to recruit potential parents through OHEL for foster children, OHEL presented the fourth recruitment meeting in two years, noted Derek Saker, Director of Communications for OHEL Children’s Home and Family Services. “We are always looking to increase the pool of foster parents,” he said. “There is a shrinking pool of parents available to take foster children.” Currently, OHEL has 70 foster parents in their jurisdiction but they are having recruitment meetings “because there is a greater need for more foster parents.” He said the need is “especially acute” for adolescents and children with special needs.

“There isn’t a number of how many foster parents are needed,” said Saker. “We can’t predict how many foster children will come into foster care at a given time. We need many foster parents from diverse backgrounds and with various family compositions to find the best match to meet the individual needs of the children.”

Some of the speakers at the meeting discussed their personal experiences as foster parents. Sara and Azriel Ganz have been foster parenting for 14 years. They ultimately adopted a foster child in their care four years ago. “She’s my daughter, just like the others,” said Azriel. Parents and OHEL staff noted that a foster parent has to care for the child’s physical and emotional well being and education, and work toward the goal of returning the child to the biological parents. A foster parent has to be certified, they and the home environment are assessed and they have to go through training. Each placement has to be approved by OHEL and the foster parents and family.

Man charged with raping minors in TA mall

ynet   Vladimir Spoznikov, a 23-year-old resident of Kiryat Malachi, was charged Friday on three counts of raping minors at the Dizengoff Center mall's underground parking lot in Tel Aviv.

Spoznikov is alleged to have furnished and used drugs with teenage girls at the mall, later accusing them of selling him out to the police.

He would then take the victims to the underground parking lot, undress them under the pretense of looking for a wire and rape and perform other indecent acts on them. 

Mussar offers hope and inner peace for women in prison

Tablet Magazine   Brenda Clubine suffered repeated beatings from her husband until one day, threatened in a locked hotel room, she smashed him over the head with a wine bottle and killed him. She served 26 years in prison for second-degree murder. Annette Imboden started drinking bourbon daily at age 12, adding heroin and cocaine to a lifelong addiction, eventually stealing credit cards and forging checks to fund her habit. She served 18 years before being paroled last year.

Clubine met Imboden while they were doing time at the California Institution of Women in Corona, 50 miles east of Los Angeles. There, the two women, both Jews, met another woman who would change their lives: Shayna Lester, a volunteer Jewish prison chaplain, who began visiting, influencing them in ways they never could have imagined.

Lester offered classes on Torah, explored the Ten Commandments from a psycho-spiritual perspective, and counseled them. But the most unorthodox tool she brought to the prison was Mussar, a spiritual practice that focuses on character traits like truthfulness, generosity, patience, and humility in an effort to help people overcome inner obstacles. Based on Jewish practices dating back more than a thousand years, it grew in popularity in 19th-century Lithuania under the leadership of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter’s Mussar movement. Today, though, despite a nascent revival among Jews of all stripes, Mussar is barely known outside the Orthodox yeshiva world.

Yet Mussar has proven to be a powerful tool for a group of female prisoners, allowing them to see where, when, or how they stumble in everyday life, even in prison. That awareness can alter their behavior, helping to bring them peace, or at least greater vigilance about the choices they make. [...]

Most of what Lester had learned about Mussar came from books and talks by Morinis, who has spawned a small, though growing, 21st-century movement with programs and classes and other resources through the nonprofit Mussar Institute, which reaches Jews of all denominations across North America. Mussar tools include introspection, text study (modern and ancient), and journaling on character traits, all devoted not so much to work on yourself for the sake of your self, but for a higher purpose, for the sake of holiness or wholeness, Morinis explained. That’s what distinguishes it from psychology or self-help, since Mussar, sometimes translated from Hebrew as “discipline,” posits that because we are made in the image of God, we are all holy souls.

Code of silence in public school abuse

ABC News
Sexual encounters between 4- and 5-year-old students were allegedly an "everyday thing" at a private California preschool that is closing its doors after coming under attack for a lack of supervision, the mother of a 5-year-old former student said.

Portuguese Synagogue protests false reports that they are connected to Shavei Israel and Michael Freund

I received the following letter today from the Board of Directors of Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue of Oporto Portugal. It strongly protests the false impression that they are connected with Michael Freund and Shavei Israel.[See update Feb 10, below -  which clarifies the original message]

================================================
Dear Rabbi,

Kol Tuv and Shabat Shalom!

Our small Community is honored (http://www.i-newswire.com/the-synagogue-of-the-portuguese/197158) and our Synagogue is the largest Synagogue in Iberia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadoorie_Synagogue).

It is the opinion of Religious Committee of the Jewish Community of Oporto, as well as reputable scholars, that there are no longer any Bnei Anousim in Portugal (just as there are no longer any Samurai Warriors in Japan) and it is misleading to imply that there are. The matter is now one for the history books, local culture and tourism. On the first floor of the Synagogue there is a museum where documents on Bnei Anousim are exhibited.

Please see the letter that two days ago our Community sent to Rabbis Schlomo Amar (Sefardic Chief) and Yona Metzguer (Ashkenazim Chief) in Israel.

Please contact our Rabbi Daniel Litvak.  He will can explain everything to you.

Thank you and Shabat Shalom!

Board of Directors

Jewish Community of Oporto

Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue

(http://comunidade-israelita-porto.org/?page_id=16&lang=en)

===========

Dear Rabbis Schlomo Amar and Yona Metzguer,

Baruch Hashem, please accept a big shalom!

1 -

On Monday, February 4, 2013, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) published the following article:

Portuguese synagogue celebrates 75th anniversary

(JTA) -- Nearly 300 guests attended the 75th anniversary celebration of a Portuguese synagogue.

Last week's event for the Kadoorie-Mekor Haim synagogue in Porto brought Jewish leaders from the U.S., Israel, the United Kingdom and Argentina to the northern Portuguese city. The synagogue services a community of 39 members, according to the Porto-based daily Jornal de Noticias.

Many members of the Porto’s Jewish community have converted to Judaism after having traced their lineages to Anousim, or conversos -- Jews forced to convert or practice Judaism secretly during the Portuguese Inquisition of the 15th century.

The synagogue was built by Artur Barros Basto, an army captain who started an outreach program for the descendants of conversos. Basto paid for his actions with his career and his reputation.

“The fact that the synagogue still stands and serves the local Jewish community is a testament to his vision,” said Michael Freund of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based nonprofit that provides outreach programs to former Jews. Shavei Israel has a permanent emissary in Porto named Daniel Litvak, the community’s rabbi.

According to Freund, Portugal has thousands of descendants of conversos who should be encouraged by Israel and the Jewish world to return to the fold.

“I hope that one day we can fulfill Capt. Barros Bastos' vision and fill the pews of the Porto synagogue with Bnei Anousim," he said. "That, after all, is the legacy and the challenge that he bequeathed to us."

2 -

JTA's article was republished by other media, for example:

http://forward.com/articles/170487/celebrating-th-birthday-of-sephardic-portugal-sh/

http://www.stljewishlight.com/news/world/article_ee467bcc-1ff5-5670-a243-a131e7fb6d52.html

http://www.tachles.ch/mobile.php/news/synagoge-in-porto-feiert-75-geburtstag

3 -

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at 2:22 AM, the Jewish Community of Oporto (Info CIP <info@comunidade-israelita-porto.org>) wrote to the JTA:

Dear Sirs,

Unbelievable!

In relation to the article "Portuguese Synagogue celebrates 75th anniversary” which appeared in your February 4, 2013 online issue, out of respect for your publication and in the interests of veracity, the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community of Oporto and the Synagogue Mekor Haim asks you to publish the following disclaimer, as the article gives the false impression that the Synagogue and the Community are connected to Shavei Israel and Michael Freund, which is untrue:

“It is completely false that Shavei Israel has "a permanent emissary in Porto named Daniel Litvak, the community’s rabbi". Daniel Litvak is indeed the Rabbi of the community but he is not connected with Shavei Israel and much less is he its emissary! Shavei Israel has no part in the activities of the Jewish Community of Oporto and the Community strongly repudiates any such suggestion.

It is also not the case that many members of the Community were converted by Shavei Israel. The few members that were some years ago, did not meet the criteria of "Bnei Anousim". They simply wanted to convert to Judaism.

It is the opinion of Rabbi Litvak, of our religious committee, as well as other scholars, that there are no longer any Bnei Anousim in Portugal and it is misleading to imply that there are. The matter is now one for the history books, local culture and tourism.”

If the our disclaimer is not published, the Jewish Community of Oporto (http://comunidade-israelita-porto.org/?lang=en) will publish a PRESS RELEASE on the subject.

Thank you

Sincerely

Board of Directors

Jewish Community of Porto

Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue

4 -

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at 15:07 PM, Uriel Heilman <uheilman@jta.org> (Managing Editor, JTA) wrote to Jewish Community of Oporto:

This item was changed to reflect your letter.

5 -

The new version of the article is as follows:

Portuguese synagogue celebrates 75th anniversary

(JTA) -- Nearly 300 guests attended the 75th anniversary celebration of a Portuguese synagogue.

Last week's event for the Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue in Porto brought Jewish leaders from the U.S., Israel, the United Kingdom and Argentina to the northern Portuguese city. The synagogue services a community of 39 members, according to the Porto-based daily Jornal de Noticias.

Many members of the Porto’s Jewish community have converted to Judaism after having traced their lineages to Anousim, or conversos -- Jews forced to convert or practice Judaism secretly during the Portuguese Inquisition of the 15th century.

The synagogue was built by Artur Barros Basto, an army captain who started an outreach program for the descendants of conversos. Basto paid for his actions with his career and his reputation.

(http://www.jta.org/news/article/2013/02/04/3118686/hundreds-celebrate-porto-shuls-75th-anniversary)

6 -

On Tuesday, February 5, 2013, at 16:26 PM, the Jewish Community of Oporto (Info CIP <info@comunidade-israelita-porto.org>) wrote to the JTA:

Dear Uriel,

Thank you for your quick response to our request. However, there continues to be mention of many conversions of those who traced their origins back to conversos. This is false. There were a few conversions several years ago indeed but they did not meet any geneological criteria or even attempt to demonstrate it and such conversions had nothing to do with this.

It is important that you advise the other news links and blogs to which you disseminated this article of the change as the false information is still all over the web and this is damaging to the good standing of the Syngaogue and its credibility which we strive to protect.

Please fee free to contact us directly as needed, as we would be pleased to provide you with any information regarding the Synagogue, its history and community whenever you should wish, Furthermore, you and the members of your publication are more than welcome to visit at your convenience.

Sincerely

Board of Directors

Comunidade Israelita do Porto (Jewish Community of Oporto)

Accordingly,

We ask you, great Rabbis to check the role of Shavei Israel in the Jewish world. Our rabbi (Daniel Litvak) can give you more details, as for as currently our Religious Commite thinks that there are no Bnei Anousim in Portugal, just as there are no Samurai Warriors in Japan!

Shalom and Kol Tuv!

Board of Directors

Jewish Community of Oporto

Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue

update February 10, 2013

Dear Rabbi,


Shavua Tov!


In the sequence of our previous e-mail and to a better enlightening of our readers, we would like you to post the following additament:


1. The name "Anoussim" (Heb. אנוסים, sing "forced" Anouss.) was given to the 15th century Jews, forced to convert to Christianity.
2. With the expression “Bnei Anoussim”, we intend to refer to the “Marranos”, that is to say, to those descending from the “Anoussim” and that kept the practice, in secret, of certain precepts of the Jewish religion. There are two requisites: (I) descendants of the Jews forced to convert in the 15th century, (II) who kept practice, in secret, of certain precepts of the Jewish religion.
3. The statement that there are no longer “Bnei Anoussim” in Portugal corresponds to the statement that there are no longer descendants from the Jews forced to convert in the 15th century and that kept the practice, in secret, of certain precepts of the Jewish religion. This is the opinion of our Religious Committee and of our scholars! They would like to see “evidence” that there are “Marranos” in Portugal!
4. The Jewish Community of Porto, at the time of Captain Barros Basto, had, among its members, dozens of “Marranos” (or better said, ex-Marranos, because, when entering the Synagogue, they ceased to practice Judaism in “secret”). These "Marranos" left descendants. We have friendship ties with many of these descendants (all of them children of non-Jewish mothers). But nothing connects them to religion! Nothing connects them to the practice of the precepts of the Jewish religion, let alone to its practice in “secret”! Therefore, the second requisite dies. We cannot consider them as "Marranos". No one can.
5. According to our experience, the other people who appeared in the Synagogue, saying they were "Marranos" or "descendants of Marranos" have no proof of that claim and their "stories" are absolutely inconsistent. They do not present evidence of being descendants of Jews forced to convert in the 15th century (by the way, they do not even present evidence of being descendants of "Jews"), neither do they present evidence that kept the practice, in "secret", of certain precepts of the Jewish religion, nor do they reveal who their relatives are and how such families can be contacted. It is at least strange that no evidence whatsoever is presented!
6. The Jewish Community of Oporto cannot assume that each Portuguese, Spaniard or Brazilian is a “Marrano”. The door of our Synagogue is not open to hundreds of millions of people. It would be damaging to the good standing of the Synagogue and its credibility which we strive to protect.


P.S. Conversions are a completely different issue! In the news placed in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) by the Shavei Israel, one can read: “Many members of the Porto’s Jewish community have converted to Judaism after having traced their lineages to Anousim, or conversos – Jews forced to convert or practice Judaism secretly during the Portuguese Inquisition of the 15th century.”. This news is absolutely false, as we have already stated and we see no inconvenient in repeating it. In fact, there were a few conversions by Shavei Israel several years ago (10% of the members of the current Community), but they did not meet the criteria of "Bnei Anousim" or any genealogical criteria or even an attempt to demonstrate it.


Board of Directors
Jewish Community of Oporto
Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue

Shimon Benisty confesses to assaulting 11 children

times of Israel   A suspected sex offender who has admitted to assaulting at least 11 minors was jailed in the US for similar offences against two girls aged 8 and 10, Channel 10 revealed Thursday.

Police arrested Simon Benisty, a 48-year-old resident of Jerusalem, on Wednesday, after the mother of an 11-year-old girl filed a complaint against him over an alleged sexual assault against her daughter. In the course of the investigation, Benisti confessed to sexual misconduct against 10 other minors. He was remanded for six days on Thursday.

The New York sex offenders registry designates Benisty as a “sexually violent offender.” According to his page in the registry, he was sentenced to 11 months in prison and was subsequently deported to Israel in 2010. Benisty’s photo was published on a New York ultra-Orthodox community blog devoted to warning against sexual predators.

Emanuel Yegutkin gets 55 years for sex abuse

dnainfo   The 33-year-old principal of a Jewish religious school in Brooklyn was sentenced to 55 years in prison for sexually abusing three boys over the course of a decade, the Brooklyn District Attorney announced Thursday.

Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, was convicted in December of sexually abusing three boys between the ages of seven and 15-years-old while a principal at Elite High School, a private school catering to Russian-Jewish immigrants in Bath Beach.

Search for biological markers for PTSD

NY Times   Over the past decade, about half a million veterans have received diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. Thousands have received both. Yet underlying the growing numbers lies a disconcerting question: How many of those diagnoses are definitive? And how many more have been missed? 

No one can say. Though PTSD is hardly new, diagnoses still largely rely on self-reported symptoms. And while severe brain injuries are often clearly diagnosable, finding evidence of mild T.B.I.’s, particularly older ones, can be all but impossible. [...]

Dr. Marmar faces deep skepticism that biological signals can be found for psychiatric disorders like PTSD or depression, which his group is also studying, or even a less severe brain injury.

But while previous quests have failed to produce results that could be replicated, private foundations and the government still seem willing to finance new efforts, amid the growing tally of disabled veterans.