Does a Mitzvah lead to another Mitzvah, or to a Sin?

Guest Post from Eddie:

Pirkei Avot (4: 2) . BEN ‘AZZAI SAID: RUN TO [PERFORM] AN EASY PRECEPT, AS [YOU WOULD] IN [THE CASE OF] A DIFFICULT ONE,AND FLEE FROM TRANSGRESSION; FOR [ONE] PRECEPT DRAWS [IN ITS TRAIN ANOTHER] PRECEPT, AND [ONE] TRANSGRESSION DRAWS [IN ITS TRAIN ANOTHER] TRANSGRESSION; FOR THE RECOMPENSE FOR [PERFORMING] A PRECEPT IS A PRECEPT, AND THE RECOMPENSE FOR [COMMITTING] A TRANSGRESSION IS A TRANSGRESSION.

Here we see the famous saying of Avot – that a Mitzvah leads to another Mitzvah. Why then, should anyone  think that a mitzvah can lead to a sin?

NY Times recently quoted researchers that “virtue sometimes begets more virtue and sometimes allows for vice.” Is this just treif psychology, or is it applicable to Torah + Mitzvot?

The researchers point to  2 mechanisms:  consistency, which is where one mitzva leads to further mitzvas, and compensation – where we compensate for mitzvot or good deeds, by doing bad deeds.

A very counter- intuitive Gemara seems to agree with the research.

Sukkah (52a): Abaye explained that the yetzer harah is stronger against sages than anyone else. For example when Abaye heard a certain man say to a woman, “Let us arise and go on our way.” Abaye said that he would follow them in order to keep them from sin and so he followed after them for three pasarangs across a meadow. However they simply parted from each other and he heard them say, “The way is long and the company is pleasant.” Abaye said, “If I were in that situation I could not have withstood temptation.” He went and leaned against a doorpost in deep anguish. An old man came to him and taught him: To the degree that a person is greater than others, to that degree his yetzer (evil inclination) is greater than theirs.

(source kindly supplied by R' Eidensohn, from his book on Child and Domestic Abuse Vol2. And upcoming).

The gemara is very surprising, after all, are we not told that a Tzaddik, or a Gadol is very finely tuned to all sorts of things that regular people cannot imagine – and would be less likely to say an evil word, or steal a toothpick?

My own understanding of the principle  “To the degree that a person is greater than others, to that degree his yetzer (evil inclination) is greater than theirs.”, was to look at it from a psychoanalytical perspective, that the more one takes on stringencies and represses bodily instincts, the more this repression is transformed into something more pernicious.

The modern research says it is a possible compensatory behaviour, which is negative.

Another source says:

Panim Yafos (Bereishis 2:7): Our Sages (Sukka 52a) state that a person’s yetzer grows stronger everyday. Thus corresponding to the strength of the yetzer tov, the yetzer harah grows to match it. The gemora there also says whoever is greater than his fellow man his yetzer his greater than theirs. Note that it doesn’t says that he is simply greater. This is in accord with Megila  (6b) that he is great only relative to others but that he is not actually a great person. In such a case his yetzer harah grows. However if he was truly a great tzadik then his yetzer harah becomes totally good…

But Chazal were not “regular rabbis”,  if we consider their greatness, they were on much higher levels than Rabbis of today who we call Tzaddikim.  So it is not altogether convincing that the Panim Yafos is claiming a Tzaddik become totally good.

Whether there is compensatory behaviour, is a matter of empirical research. The Gemara in Sukkah is still very surprising, and it seems to me there are several approaches to it.

1) Is to “deny” or whitewash it,  and base this in our Emunas Hachamim, that they could not be so base in their yetzer hara.

2) That it is limited, and applies only to a certain type of greatness, and is not a generalisation.  The quotation was actually from an unnamed old man, so how do we know if it is true?

3) My personal view is that this is a very honest and true statement, and is counter to the kind of Tzaddikism we are taught. This is taking the Gemara at face value.  Just like in the TeNach we see that key figures were not perfect, so did Chazal recognize that this is the case with Talmidei Chachamim. The statement is made  by the Gemara, and not by a secular academic.

This also ties in with a recent post  about being Frum vs. being normal.  Also the Chatam Sofer reminds us of the dangers of taking on too many chumras, and how this led to the fall of Adam and Chava, after they added a gezeira to NOT touch the tree.

In conclusion, it seems to me there is an encouragement to fulfil mitzvot as per the Mitzva goreret Mitzva of Avos, with a warning that becoming great, taking on many strictures, has its own dangers as per Sukkah, and also Avot 'd'Rabbi Nathan, who tells us of how Chava added to the Torah by being shomer negiah of the Tree.  These dangers were learned of empirically  by the greatest leaders in Orthodox Judaism.  I suggest that the lesson for today's  period is that overemphasis on matters such as ultra-znius dress, buses, and computers may also have its risks, since nobody is on such a level to be frum on the micro-level of every area of their lives, eg business, politics, bein adam l'chaveiro.  

Growing hasidic population in N.Y. causing conflicts

NY Times   Needing to abide by their tribe’s traditions of modesty, Hasidic women want the city to post a female lifeguard during a women-only swim session at a municipal pool in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and have lobbied a local councilman to take up their cause. 

On another front, Hasidic matzo bakeries, citing ancient Jewish law, have insisted on using water from groundwater wells rather than from reservoirs in preparing the dough used for matzos and have found themselves tangling with health officials worried about the water’s purity. 

And on a public bus service that plies a route between the Hasidic neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Borough Park, Brooklyn, men sit up front and women in the back, hewing to the practice of avoiding casual mingling of the sexes, even after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg condemned the arrangement. 

While these episodes may not have reverberated beyond New York’s Hasidic enclaves, taken together they underscore a religious ascendancy confronting the city’s secular authorities in ways not seen in decades. 

The remarkable rise in the population and the influence of Hasidim and other ultra-Orthodox Jews has provoked repeated conflicts over revered practices, forcing the city into a balancing act between not treading over constitutional lines by appearing to favor a particular religious group and providing an accommodation no more injurious than suspending parking rules for religious holidays.[...]

Pedophile claims he was married to the boy he was convicted of abusing

NY Daily News    That’s chutzpah.

A Jewish pedophile who publicly professed his love to the boy he molested is now trying to beat a federal sex rap by claiming he and the child victim were married.

Andrew Goodman, 28, stunned a Brooklyn state courtroom last summer when he turned to the traumatized teen and said, “I fell in love with you,” before a judge gave him only two years in prison for years-long abuse that started when the kid was just 12.

Then just as Goodman was about to get sprung from jail after time served, the feds in October 2012 charged him for taking the then-15-year-old across state lines to Atlantic City, where he sodomized him and took him to dinner and a Kid Rock concert.

Goodman now faces a life sentence if convicted.

Unbelievably, the defendant, who's representing himself, argued in a motion to dismiss the case that the trip, on Valentine's Day 2010, was for his and the boy’s nuptials.

“The union resulted in a honeymoon, feasting, celebratory concert attendance,” he wrote in papers filed in Brooklyn Federal Court last week. “A valid Jewish Wedding and Marriage occurred.”

The document points out that Jewish matrimony is allowable at age 13 and does not require parental consent. It fails to mention that Jewish Law forbids same-sex relationships and it doesn’t offer proof of the so-called union.

Lakewood: Gender segregation on buses

bhol

האם האוטובוסים היוצאים מהעיר לייקווד שבניו-ג'רזי יהפכו לקווי מהדרין?

בכינוס חירום בהשתתפות רבנים וראשי מוסדות חינוך שיערך הערב בעיר, מתכוונים להוביל מהלך שישדרג, כדבריהם, את הצניעות בקווי האוטובוסים החרדיים של לייקווד, ולכונן בהם מחיצה, כדוגמת המחיצה הקיימת בקווי האוטובוסים הנוסעים למונסי, לניו סקוור ולמונרו.

קדם לכינוס פירסום מודעות תחת הכותרת "ולא יראה בך ערוות דבר ושב מאחוריך". במודעות נאמר: "בדבר הנסיעה בבאסעס שנוסעים אנשים ונשים הנני להודיע דעתנו דעת תורה חייב מדינא שיהא מחיצה להפריד בין אנשים ונשים. אנחנו זקוקים לכח הרבים כדי להביא לאישור הקמת המחיצה". על המודעה חתום הרב אברהם יוסף רוזענבלום, מבכירי תלמידיו של הגאון רבי מלכיאל קוטלר, ראש ישיבת לייקווד.

קו האוטובוס לייקווד אקספרס, הנע בין לייקווד לשכונות פלטבוש ובורו פארק שבברוקלין, מופעל על-ידי 'מונסי טריילס', חברת אוטובוסים פרטית, הפעילה את קווי האוטובוסים למונסי סקווער, לייקווד, ומונרו.

Blood test indentifies high suicide risk

Times of India   A simple blood test can now identify people most prone to committing suicide.

Scientists from Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have found a series of RNA biomarkers in blood that may help identify who is at risk for taking their on life.

Researchers said the biomarkers were found at significantly higher levels in the blood of both bipolar disorder patients with thoughts of suicide as well in a group of people who had committed suicide.

Researchers now believe the results provide a first "proof of principle" for a test that could provide an early warning of somebody being at higher risk for an impulsive suicide act.

"Suicide is a big problem in psychiatry. It's a big problem in the civilian realm, it's a big problem in the military realm and there are no objective markers. There are people who will not reveal they are having suicidal thoughts when you ask them, who then commit it and there's nothing you can do about it. We need better ways to identify, intervene and prevent these tragic cases," said investigator Dr Alexander B Niculescu, director of the Laboratory of Neurophenomics at the Institute of Psychiatric Research at the IU School of Medicine.

Weberman Case: Video of interviews on Huffington Post

הרב אופמן נגד הגאב"ד: "אין קברים בבית שמש"

Update: Rav Chaim Kaniefsky & Rav Karelitz protest attacks on Rav Sternbuch
Update: Rav Oppman defends Rav Sternbuch's view
Update: Rav Schlesinger defends Rav Sternbuch's view
Kikar Shabat

 הרב עמרם אופמן, מו"צ 'העדה החרדית', יוצא במכתב בתמיכה בראב"ד הגר"מ שטרנבוך וקובע כי אין קברים בבית שמש - נגד עמדת הגאב"ד ומוחה על הפגיעה בראב"ד: "מחובתי לכתוב מחאה על מה שמבזים את רבינו שר התורה הראב"ד - הוא פשע בל יכופר". וכיצד התבטא האדמו"ר מדושינסקיא? 

 סערת הבנייה במתחם גולובנציץ': בשעת אמירת דברי התורה בטיש ה"סעודה שלישית" התייחס כ"ק האדמו"ר מדושינסקיא לסערת הבנייה במתחם גולובנציץ' ולמחלוקת בין גאב"ד העדה החרדית הגרי"ט וויס לראב"ד הגר"מ שטרנבוך ואמר כי אין לציבור להתערב במחלוקת בין גדולי עולם ולא להרהר אחריהם.

"המצב המידרדר, כואב לי עד מאוד, וגורם לי לחולי, ועל כן אני זועק מעומק ליבי הרפו מזה", אמר הרבי לחסידים.

גם המנהיג הרוחני של קהל חסידי ירושלים האדמו"ר רבי אברהם שמחה חנון הודיע בסוף השבוע לחסידיו ולמתפללי בית מדרשו קהל חסידי ירושלים בבית שמש, שכל אברך מהכולל של הקהילה שילך להפגנות במתחם גולובנציץ' יורידו לו את זמן ההשתתפות בהפגנה ממלגת הכולל, והדבר לא ייחשב כשעת לימוד.

גם מו"צ 'העדה החרדית' הגאון רבי עמרם אופמן, גינה ביום שישי האחרון את הזלזול החמור בראב"ד העדה החרדית הגר"מ שטרנבוך כשבנוסף הוא קובע כי אין כלל קברים בכל המתחם בבית שמש

Drastic cuts on yeshiva stipends starting this month

JPost   Haredi politicians and media have reacted furiously to deep cuts to stipends received by yeshiva students which are due to take effect this month.

In 2012, full-time married yeshiva students received NIS 900 a month, while single students received 500 shekels a month in government stipends, while in 2013, the stipends were reduced to NIS 720 for married students and NIS 400 for single students.

As of this month, married students will now receive just NIS 279 while single students will get NIS 139, the Association of Yeshivot has said.

Although the cuts were expected, a source in United Torah Judaism said that the reduction was expected to be not more than 50 percent. [...]

Eichler continued, taunting Bayit Yehudi for being part of a government that released “100 murderers with blood on their hands and [acquiesced] to advanced talks for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the ruins of their own homes,” two sensitive topics for the national-religious party and its voters.

“With the breaking of these commitments, the Bayit Yehudi people have become the dirt rags of Lapid and Bibi,” Eichler said.

“They’re using you like a ‘use and discard’ product. Today they’re using you to burn the sanctuaries of Torah and tomorrow your ‘brothers’ will chuck you from your houses in the settlements, as they are accustomed to, but ‘sensitively.’” A spokesman for Bayit Yehudi said in response to Eichler’s comments, “It is better to deal with matters one wishes to resolve with sensitivity and responsibility, and not with hasty statements to the media, and we hope that MK Eichler also understand this.”[...]

Not everyone should be a professor - or gadol!

Wikipedia an English author, speaker, and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education, and arts bodies. He was Director of The Arts in Schools Project (1985–89), Professor of Arts Education at the University of Warwick (1989–2001), and was knighted in 2003 for services to education.A popular speaker at TED conferences, Robinson has given three presentations on the role of creativity in education, viewed via the TED website over 18 million times (2013). Robinson's presentation Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity is the most watched TED talk of all time (2013).

   Why you should listen to him:

Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this."

Video of settler brutally tasered by police causes uproar

YNET   The settler whose arrest led to the unusual decision of the police commissioner to freeze all use of Taser stun guns knows it was not his arrest which led to the decision, but the video that documented it.

"I am glad the chief of police realized the severity of the act," said Boaz Albert, a resident of Yitzhar who violated a restraining order and was violently arrested during the weekend. Earlier Sunday, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino announced his decision to temporarily prohibit the use of Taser stun guns by officers. [...]

"The police officers broke into the house, I instinctively ran to the bedroom, lay on the floor and screamed 'I'm not leaving the house, take me.' Within seconds, a police officer came next to me and said 'come with me'. He expected I would go with him, I told him I'm not going and then he shocked me two or three times in my leg, while my wife is at the door in shock," Albert said."

According to him, in segments not seen in the video, the policemen kept Tasing him after they left the house as well. "There was another act of walking to their car that was parked in a nearby Arab village, after I agreed to cooperate and walk on my own they continued to electroshock me, it is extremely painful, but what hurts more is knowing my kids saw everything."[...]

Rape: Trauma to victim or simply sexual violence, a power struggle, a financial issue - or family shame?

While trying to understand the Torah view of rape and sexual abuse, it is important to be aware that these same questions apply in the secular world. Furthermore the current understanding of rape and sexual abuse as primarily psychological abuse and trauma to the victim - is only about 30 years old. The following are some of  many articles on the topic.

Views which grate on modern sensiblities

Wikipedia about Rape

Statutory Rape - In History Context

===================================

Guardian   In 1862 the US physician Dr Edmund Arnold testified in court that it was "very improbable" that pregnancy could result from rape, because "in truly forcible violations … the uterine organs cannot well be in a condition favourable to impregnation". Before dismissing such comments as a relic of the 19th century, fast forward to last year, when Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association claimed that trauma from a "genuine case of forcible rape" would make it "difficult" for a woman to conceive a child.

That rape has long been contested ground is perfectly illustrated by a new book, Redefining Rape: Sexual Violence in the Era of Suffrage and Segregation. Written by the feminist historian Estelle B Freedman, the book covers key moments in the history of rape, and includes more recent controversies – such as the speech by US Senate candidate Todd Akin last year in which he used the term "legitimate rape" to argue against abortion in cases of rape and incest.

In British law, which provided the basis for many American statutes, the term "rape" originally referred to the nonsexual crime of violent theft (from the Latin raptus or rapere). It was not until the 12th-century Codex of Gratian that a clear distinction was made between abduction and rape, with the latter defined as "forced sexual intercourse".

In the 15th century, the father or husband of a raped woman pressed criminal charges because the legal definition of rape in England had narrowed to apply to the theft of a woman's virtue, either a daughter's virginity or a married woman's honour.[...]

Former "hilltop youth" saves Arab's life at Damascus Gate

Times of Israel   In Jerusalem, a city too often divided among religious and nationalist lines, unusual heartwarming encounters do take place from time to time.

Haim Attias, a resident of the Mitzpe Yericho settlement and volunteer at the “Hatzala” emergency medical organization, and Haitham Azloni, an Arab resident of East Jerusalem, met Thursday for the first time since Attias saved Azloni’s life last week. 

Azloni was somehow electrocuted while sitting next to a stall in the Arab bazaar near the Old City’s Damascus Gate. His heart had stopped beating and “he was dead,” a local Arab man who witnessed the scene recalled. “I couldn’t bear to look. I walked away.” [...]

No one came to help me, none of the brothers, no Arabs. Only one Orthodox Jewish man came to help me,” Azloni’s brother recounted him as saying upon his awakening. “I want to meet the man that saved me.” [...]

Attias, who described himself as a former rebellious “hilltop youth,” said that when it comes to helping others, nationalities and religious affiliation must never stand in the way. [...]

Kashrut supervisor arrested for molesting children

YNet   Border police arrested a 45-year-old kashrut supervisor at the airport earlier this week, on suspicion of child sex offenses committed in the south of the country. The suspect, whose name is under gag order, fled the country in 2001 and has lived in Brooklyn ever since. He was arrested shortly before he boarded a flight to the United States. [...]

The arrest took place after the young man complained that the suspect sexually harassed him 12 years ago. Since then, police received three more complaints from members of the Chabad community, who told of sexual offenses the suspect had allegedly committed against them during their childhoods. Police believe there are others who are afraid to file complaints.


The same victim told of “an instance in which the suspect went to one of the mothers and told her he wanted to bring her son closer to religion, he took him once a week to the mikve, took him to slaughter houses in the nearby towns, and every one of these times, he assaulted him sexually. [...]

Stop and Frisk: Police must ignore that minorities are more likely to be commit crime

NY Times   The long-awaited decision declaring the New York Police Department’s use of stop-and-frisk tactics unconstitutional was mostly expected; even the staunchest defenders of the practice anticipated that Judge Shira A. Scheindlin would find the stops violated the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. 

But it was her other finding — that the police had violated the 14th Amendment by engaging in racial profiling in carrying out those stops — that drew blood. 

The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, said he found the racial profiling characterization “most disturbing and offensive,” as well as “recklessly untrue.” 

There is little precedent for a local police force to go to trial in such a case, or for a judge to issue such a verdict. In the process, Judge Scheindlin coined a term, “indirect racial profiling,” to explain how the department’s reliance on data indicating that black men committed a disproportionate amount of crime led to what she saw as violations of the Constitution.[...]

The “city’s highest officials,” Judge Scheindlin wrote, “have willfully ignored overwhelming proof that the policy of targeting ‘the right people’ is racially discriminatory.”

D.A. Hynes Silent on false claim that his opponent will target Jewish community

NYTimes   Silence does not become Charles J. Hynes. [...]

But when he took an endorsement from Councilman David G. Greenfield last week, Mr. Hynes, who is up for re-election, chose silence where the Hynes of long ago might have spoken up. 

Mr. Greenfield, who represents Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, attacked Kenneth P. Thompson, who is black and the opponent of Mr. Hynes in the Democratic primary. He “should scare you,” the councilman said at a news conference. 

“He said he’s going to target the Jewish community,” Mr. Greenfield said as Mr. Hynes stood next to him, barely blinking. “That’s something that quite frankly is shocking. It’s outrageous, and it’s unacceptable.” 

No doubt that would be outrageous, if it were true. It was not. 

In January, NY1 interviewed Mr. Thompson, and he promised one standard of justice for every community.[...]

Grandfather serving 35 years for abusing granddaughter - Granted New Trial

NY Times     A federal judge this week threw out the conviction of a 66-year-old Long Island man found guilty in 2008 of molesting his granddaughter and two of her friends after defense lawyers investigated a serial number on the back of a photograph that refuted a key portion of the prosecution’s case. 

Judge Arthur D. Spatt of Federal District Court in Central Islip, N.Y., ruled on Monday, after five years of litigation in three different courts, that the convicted man, Thomas F. Green of Selden, had been deprived of a fair trial because of ineffective assistance by his lawyer at the time. In a 44-page order, Judge Spatt wrote that the evidence introduced by prosecutors at Mr. Green’s trial in Suffolk County had been poorly investigated by Mr. Green’s defense lawyer and sent the case back to the state court for a new trial. 

Mr. Green, a construction contractor, was initially accused of molesting his granddaughter when she was 7 years old, along with four of her friends, each of whom was younger than 10 when the abuse was said to have begun. According to the prosecution, the abuse began in 1998 and continued intermittently for the next few years at Mr. Green’s home during sleepovers and outside the home at local eateries like a Carvel ice cream shop. 

The main witness for the prosecution, one of the four friends, identified as B.M., said that she had waited until 2006 to accuse Mr. Green, in part, because she had learned from watching the television show “Law & Order: SVU” that appearing in court was “a big responsibility,” especially for a young girl, according to court records. She said not only that had Mr. Green abused her, but also that she was present when he tried to molest his granddaughter. 

Although Mr. Green’s granddaughter testified that she herself had not been abused — and, in fact, had not known the other girls until at least 2000 — the prosecution introduced evidence corroborating B.M.’s account, including two photographs. One was of the granddaughter and B.M. sitting on Mr. Green’s front porch in Halloween costumes and was said to have been taken in October 1998. The other was of the two at Coney Island, and was still housed in a souvenir frame bearing the date June 1998. 

The friend, in her testimony, said Mr. Green had given her an educational toy she called a Turbo Twister Speller as a gift in 1999.[...]

After his conviction, Mr. Green hired Ronald L. Kuby, the well-known Manhattan defense lawyer who for years has been trying to exonerate another defendant, Jesse Friedman, in another child sexual abuse case on Long Island. Mr. Kuby in turn hired a private detective, Jay Salpeter, who within a few months’ time — and “with very little effort,” as Judge Spatt noted — made a few discoveries that upended the case. 

First, Mr. Salpeter found a serial number on the back of the Coney Island photo and learned from Polaroid, which manufactured the film, that it had been taken in 2000, despite B.M.’s testimony and the date on the souvenir frame. In the Halloween photo, one of the girls was wearing a sweatshirt with a logo reading “Princess University.” Mr. Salpeter determined that the brand had not been trademarked until 2000. 

Moreover, Mr. Salpeter figured out that the educational toy, Turbo Twister Spelling, was not produced until at least a year after B.M. had claimed to have received one from Mr. Green. He finally determined, with a simple phone call to the show’s producers, that “Law & Order: SVU” was not on the air when B.M. claimed to have seen it.[...]

Science Is Not the Enemy vs It doesn't have all the answers

New Republic - Science is not the Enemy - Steven Pinker

The great thinkers of the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment were scientists. Not only did many of them contribute to mathematics, physics, and physiology, but all of them were avid theorists in the sciences of human nature. They were cognitive neuroscientists, who tried to explain thought and emotion in terms of physical mechanisms of the nervous system. They were evolutionary psychologists, who speculated on life in a state of nature and on animal instincts that are “infused into our bosoms.” And they were social psychologists, who wrote of the moral sentiments that draw us together, the selfish passions that inflame us, and the foibles of shortsightedness that frustrate our best-laid plans. [...]

Science doesn't have all the answers  -  Leon Wieseltier

ואללה חדשות בחשיפה דרמטית על מה המאבק של אתרא קדישא בבית שמש, כסף, כבוד, ושליטה

bhol        ;מאחורי המאבק ההלכתי נגד הבנייה על קברי יהודים בעיר עומד מאבק גדול יותר על השליטה בעדה החרדית בין שני הפלגים של    סאטמר, ומאבק שתי עמותות על ה"שוק" של הגנה על קברים

(צפו בהפגנות החרדים בבית שמש, אתמול)
מאבק נגד חילול קברים או מאבקי שליטה פנים חרדיים: ביום השני להפגנות במתחם גולובנציץ' ברמת בית שמש לא נעצר איש, אך המפגינים הגיעו מוכנים כדי להילחם על הפסקת עבודות הבנייה. המפגינים מוחים על חילול קברי יהודים שנמצאים באתר. לדבריהם, מדובר בעבירה חמורה ביותר שעלולה לפגוע בעם ישראל והם ימחו וילחמו בעבודות בשטח עד לביטולן. הנושא עבר לטיפולו של הרב חיים קנייבסקי ועד שיכריע בעניין הופסקה העבודה במקום. עם זאת, מבדיקת וואלה! חדשות עולה כי המאבק לא עוסק בהכרח בשמירה על קברי יהודים, אלא נסוב על כסף ושליטה בעדה החרדית.

נושא השמירה על קברי יהודים נמצא תחת אחריות ה"אתרא קדישה" - ארגון הפועל תחת אחריות העדה החרדית. חברי הארגון ניהלו מאבקים רבים נגד פרויקטים של בניה ואתרים ארכאולוגיים. הארגון נשען על תרומות גדולות מארה"ב לצורך פעילות הפיקוח ומקבל תרומות למאבקים לשמירה על הקברים.

לפני כשנה נכנסה עמותה חדשה לפעול בנושא - "ארץ החיים". העמותה לא שייכת לעדה החרדית והיא פועלת תחת אישורם של הרב חיים קנייבסקי, שאינו מזוהה עם העדה החרדית, והרב משה שטרנבוך, המשמש כראש בית הדין של העדה החרדית. באתר ברמת בית שמש נבנים שני פרויקטים. מלאכת הפיקוח הוטלה על עמותת ארץ החיים, והבונים קיבלו את אישורו של הרב שטרנבוך לצאת לדרך.

Maccabi basketball coach jailed for 8 years for sex abuse

The Age   A [non-Jewish] basketball coach who abused his position of trust to form sexual relationships with two teenage girls, and offend against two others, has been jailed for eight years.

Shannon Charles Francis, 37, will spend a minimum five years and six months in prison for his offending in 1999 and 2000, which involved the sisters of a boy he coached and two others from a girls' team.

The victims were aged between 13 and 16 at the time and were involved with basketball clubs in the Oakleigh area. [...]

He was aged between 22 and 24 when he took advantage of the girls.

Judge Sexton said Francis had breached the trust of a family that considered him a male role model and family friend, when he maintained a sexual relationship with one girl and twice had sex with the girl's younger sister.

Francis also manipulated the trust of two girls from another basketball club, by forming a relationship with one and encouraging another girl to leave her family home with the intention of having sex, the court head.

At one point he told one girl he would commit suicide unless she maintained their relationship, a threat Judge Sexton described as "particularly heinous".

Judge Sexton said Francis had taken advantage of four vulnerable girls, and acknowledged their bravery in coming forward. She assured them they had done nothing wrong.[...]

   DPP v Francis 140813

Sri Lanka faces a growing epidemic of child abuse

Time   Every day, three to five children are raped in the island nation. Police statistics show the total number of child rapes in 2011 as 1,463; the figure jumped to 1,759 cases in 2012, according to a parliamentary report. Police records also give a total of just over 2,000 sexual offenses against children, besides rape, in 2011; child-molestation cases in 2012 soared to over 5,000, according to parliamentary figures. The total number of all crimes against children — which besides sex crimes include crimes of violence, abduction, trafficking and other offenses — increased by a dramatic 64% between 2011 and 2012. 

 Some of the increases can be explained by growing awareness of child rights leading to increased reporting of incidents, but Sri Lanka remains a country where “the family unit is extremely tight-knit and the honor of the individual reflects on the entire family,” says Alia Whitney-Johnson, the founder of an NGO working with survivors of sexual abuse in Sri Lanka, who was interviewed by TIME via e-mail. “It is extremely difficult to report abuse, particularly incest.” [...]

But a more important factor may be the growing number of Sri Lankan women who seek to alleviate poverty at home by taking jobs overseas as domestic helpers. The children they leave behind are often defenseless against abusive fathers and predatory male relatives. (Even so, a comparison with the Philippines — another country where large numbers of women have been obliged to find work overseas — is disconcerting. Based on available official statistics, there are roughly 17 cases of child abuse for every 100,000 people in Sri Lanka; in the Philippines, there are just six cases per 100,000 head of population.) [...]

Rabbi Chaim Druckman continues to support Mutti Elon despite conviction for child molesting

YNET   Less a week after he was found guilty of indecent assault by force on a minor, Rabbi Mordechai Elon is receiving significant support from one of the most prominent religious Zionist rabbis. Ynet has learned that Rabbi Chaim Druckman, one of the leaders of the national-religious public, invited the convicted rabbi to deliver his weekly Torah lesson at his yeshiva of Or Etzion.

In the past few days, Rabbi Druckman has avoided voicing a public opinion in regards to Rabbi Elon or repeating his past statements in favor of the man or against those who accused him of committing sex offenses – likely for fear of creating a public row

Druckman has been criticized in the past for innocently backing Ze'ev Kopolevitch, the former head of Jerusalem's Netiv Meir Yeshiva, who was convicted of indecent acts against his students, thus hurting the victims once again.  [...]

National Archives Unveils Iraqi Jewish Artifacts in Exhibit Opening October 11

National Archives Press Release

On Friday, October 11, 2013, the National Archives will unveil a new exhibition, “Discovery and Recovery: Preserving Iraqi Jewish Heritage.” The exhibit details the dramatic recovery of historic materials relating to the Jewish community in Iraq from a flooded basement in Saddam Hussein’s intelligence headquarters, and the National Archives’ ongoing work in support of U.S. Government efforts to preserve these materials. Located in the Lawrence F. O’Brien Gallery of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, “Discovery and Recovery” is free and open to the public and runs through January 5, 2014. 

In both English and Arabic, the 2,000 square foot exhibit features 24 recovered items and a “behind the scenes” video of the fascinating yet painstaking preservation process. This exhibit marks the first time these items have been on public display.

Satmar attack: "The man called Rab"d - rebellious elder"

BHOL [update with English translation]  The struggle of the Eida Haredis factors against the Av Beis Din Hagaon Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, for his strong stand against the decision of his fellow rabbis - most members of the Beis Din - not to excavate at Golovenzitz construction site in Beit Shemesh, a decision made at the initiative of Gab"d Eida Haredis, Hgri"t Weiss, who is president of the organization Asra Kadisha, crosses borders and this week recorded far-reaching developments. 

One notable scribe in the newspaper Der Yid, the journal of the Satmar Rebbe Mahrz"l, is Rabbi Menashe Philip, Rav of Kehal Mahari T"v and brother of Dayan Association of Rabbis and one of the community leaders, Hagaon Rabbi Zalman Leib Philip.

Last Thursday, Rabbi Philip stood at the podium in the Beis Midrash Haredim in Kiryat Yoel, Monroe, and addressed the most pressing issue in the corridors of kanoim: the Golovenzitz compound in Beit Shemesh, and the controversy around the issue between the Rosh Av Beis Din and Gab"d about the excavations.

After relating the chain of events, Rabbi Philip let down the leash of his mouth, opened with slander against Hagaon Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch and called him "crazy" and 'Zaken Mamre'.

"The man who is known as Rab"d'" Rabbi Philip opened his mouth, "writes a letter permeated with leitzanus. Just unthinkable! The man called Rab"d, is shrouded with suppressed hatred against 'Asra Kadisha', since the period of works in the old cemetery in the holy city of Safed, and he is willing to do anything against this organization, G-d forbid.[...]      

Beit Shemesh: Facts about the graves

Kikar Shabbat

Question about Rambam's view of murder

Guest Post by Eddie

There are some difficult passages in a Rambam I am studying, and I wish to ask if anyone has some knowledge of this material, and what the halacha is (or was).

The Rambam, in Hilchot Rotzeach, Ch4: 1, the Rambam argues that killing a person by mistake, if you intended to kill someone else, is exempt from punishment, as is throwing a stone (or bomb) into a crowd. Rambam Chapter 4              mechon-mamre.org/i/b504n.htm

 Here the Raavad points out this was a minority opinion of R' Shimon, and hence is not halacha. So this point is presumably not like the Rambam.

In Halacha 6 he writes: If ten people strike a person with ten different sticks and he dies, they are all not held liable for execution by the court. This law applies regardless of whether they struck him one after the other or they struck him at the same time .This is not disputed by Raavad, is it therefore halacha?

The problem is that this is not at all logical It means that, in a time when we have a Sanhedrin vested with capital punishment authority, murder becomes a very easy crime to commit - simply hire a gang of killers, and you are "patur".

One answer, or counter argument, might be the case of Pilegesh sh' b Giveah.  (Judges Ch. 19-20) where a gang of thugs attack a woman and kill her.  This leads to a war to wipe out the offenders, which ends up in 25,100 Benjamites being killed.  But Rambam might argue that this was a case of gang rape of a pilegesh, not of outright murder.

A further problematic halacha, 10, says that we can openly kill an apikorus, or even someone who brazenly commits an aveira. This can be done in public without need for Judge or Navi. 

What happens if someone decides to kill a woman who won't move on a bus, etc?

Furthermore, the Torah punishment of execution  only applies to certain sins. Where is the force of this halacha, with regards to sins that are not capital crimes, eg shatnez.   Can I kill someone for sowing kilayim in his farm?   The Chazon Ish has already stated that this particular halacha, or the continuation of it no longer applies , since today there are not wilful apikorsim. As far as I know, no Orthodox person has ever used this halacha to kill a reform, an atheist, a Bible critic etc, certainly not in the last 300 years.   The only exception might be Yigal Amir wrongfully shooting Rabin – but this was not because he was a heretic, but that  Rabin had been called a rodeif – which is another issue altogether.

The points I make are not suggesting any final psak halacha, and not attacking any Gedolim or Rishonim.  What I am trying to understand is the practical implications of these halachot, and whether they were ever (or will ever) be implemented?

Preventing sexual abusers of children from reoffending: systematic review of medical and psychological interventions

BMJ   Introduction: Sexual abuse of children is a global problem, and systematic reviews suggest that 18-20% of women and 7-8% of men in the general population report being abused before the age of 18.1 2 Rates have not differed substantially in recent decades but might vary across regions.2 [...]

The high prevalence and adverse consequences of sexual abuse of children warrant increased investment in development of preventive and therapeutic strategies.14 15 16 Such efforts should directly deal with children, their caregivers, and their environments to prevent potential abuse and effectively manage cases of abuse that have already occurred. Interventions for individuals at risk of sexual abusing children could prevent more children from being abused.

Society’s response to people who sexually abuse children has focused largely on punishment and deterrence through the criminal justice system. Offenders, however, are often directed to mental health professionals for treatment of disorders related to the offence (such as sexual compulsivity and paedophilia). Consequently, the availability of evidence based treatment for this population would be of considerable interest to medical practitioners. [...]

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of current medical and psychological interventions for individuals at risk of sexually abusing children, both in known abusers and those at risk of abusing.

Results After review of 1447 abstracts, we retrieved 167 full text studies, and finally included eight studies with low to moderate risk of bias. We found weak evidence for interventions aimed at reducing reoffending in identified sexual abusers of children. For adults, evidence from five trials was insufficient regarding both benefits and risks with psychological treatment and pharmacotherapy. For adolescents, limited evidence from one trial suggested that multisystemic therapy prevented reoffence (relative risk 0.18, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.73); lack of adequate research prevented conclusions about effects of other treatments. Evidence was also inadequate regarding effectiveness of treatment for children with sexual behavioural problems in the one trial identified. Finally, we found no eligible research on preventive methods for adults and adolescents who had not sexually abused children but were at higher risk of doing so (such as those with paedophilic sexual preference).

Conclusion There are major weaknesses in the scientific evidence, particularly regarding adult men, the main category of sexual abusers of children. Better coordinated and funded high quality studies including several countries are urgently needed. Until conclusive evidence is available, realistic clinical strategies might involve reduction of specific risk factors for sex crimes, such as sexual preoccupation, in abusers at risk of reoffending.

A Kohain and the Daughter of a Jewish Mother by Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Five Towns Jewish Times   In the United States, the spiraling and out-of control assimilation rate in the past few decades has yielded a number of children with Jewish mothers and gentile fathers.  In the past few decades as well, the Baal Teshuvah movement has created an inspiring influx of Jews returning to their Torah roots.  The combination of both of these trends, however, has brought the following halachic question up hundreds, if not thousands, of times:  

May a girl whose father was not Jewish marry or date a Kohain?

One young lady who recently posed this question to this author explained:  “I have dated more modern-orthodox Kohanim who told me that they looked into it and their Rabbis said that it was okay.  But I have also looked into more Yeshivesh Kohanim, and their Rabbi forbade it.  Will the real halacha please stand up?”[...]

CONCLUSIONS

Notwithstanding all the factors discussed above, it was the conclusion of both Rav Elyashiv zt”l and Rav Moshe Feinstein not to rely on the leniencies involved here and not consider such cases as b’dieved. This is the normative view in the Torah world. It is this author’s understanding, however, that there have been some modern orthodox Rabbis who have expressed leniencies in the scenarios described above.

May a Rabbi officiate at such a wedding?  It is this author’s view that it should be avoided unless the issue of taharas mishpacha is at stake.  If the couple will not be observing taharas hamishpacha on account of the Rabbi not participating then he should be involved in such a wedding.  Otherwise he should avoid it.  

May such a Kohain duchen on Yom Tov or in Israel.  It seems that since he may remain married to her if he did marry, he did not lose his status as a Kohain (see Shvus Yaakov Vol. I #93 – indicating likewise).

Revolutionary use by Hassidim of Internet to improve relations with non-Jews - through Kiddush HaShem

The following are excerpts from a Mishpacha (August 7, 2013) article Rights and Wrongs in Montreal. It describes some radical changes in the way chassidic community activists deal with non-Jews as well as government. In particular the recognition of the need for transparency is amazing. Behind doors political deals are out and Kiddush HaShem is in. Of critical importance is the recognition of the unavoidable use of the tools of the Internet - especially to counter Internet anti-Semitism.
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[...] It's not every day that chassidim dance for elderly non-Jewish res­idents of a retirement home, but the state of relations between Jews and non-Jews in Outremont has called for creative measures. Since about 2001, chassidim and community activists have faced off over the configuration of buses, expanding synagogues, and the legality of eiruvim. Tensions have flared, especially during Purim in 2012 when Celine Forget, a provocateur and city council member, showed up among the festivities to plant herself, camera in hand, to record any violation of city bylaws. When chassidim reacted with calls of "Forget, get out," the discord between chassidim and the local pop­ulation made headlines across Canada.

Into this maelstrom have stepped a new crop of Jewish commu­nity activists who have decided on a different approach. Rather than allow tensions to boil over, the chassidic residents of Outremont have engaged in an active campaign of Kiddush Hashem. In addition to the visits to retirement homes, community members have established an online site.joined a political party, and founded a community organization, all with the goals of easing misunderstandings and introducing non-Jewish residents to the chassidic way of life.

"Today, even politicians who were sym­pathetic to us in the past are not willing to stand up for us out of fear of being labeled as rubbing shoulders with the 'Jewish lob­byists:" Belzer chassid Cheskie Weiss explains. "Well, if we won't stand up for ourselves and engage the public and media to expose all the lies and misinformation being hurled against our community, no­body else will,"[...]

Pollak would be one of a number of chas­sidim who, together with Marshy, estab­lished Friends of Hutchison, a grassroots organization named after a street in the neighborhood. Its purpose is to engage chassidim and their non-Jewish neighbors in honest dialogue in order to dispel the lies and misconceptions being promulgated by Forget, Lacerte, and their followers.

Within the year, the number of individ­uals following Friends of Hutchison's site,filled with the smiling faces of chassidic children,jumped from 200 to 650.[..]

Battle in Cyberspace When Weiss and Bobover Boruch Shimon Posner first created an online site in May 2012 called OutremontHassid.com with the intention of directly engaging the public, they had few expectations. Today, they are astounded by its success. "The perception that chassidim are all hated, well - that's been blown away," Weiss says.

Following the 2012 Purim fiasco, Weiss was shocked at the degree of animosity directed at chassidim through the Internet. He decided to fight fire with fire. "We are living in the Internet era," he says. "People like Forget and Lacerte would nev­er have a voice if not for their blogs. Because of the Internet, thousands of people are exposed to their lies and misinformation and the media catches on to this be­cause they're seeking controversy." The Internet, he states, both empowers and victimizes us and we must learn to use it to our advantage.[...]

Still, he is amazed by the positive changes in attitude, especially in the Quebec media and by those voiced on his blog.He was recently moved by a letter posted by a "non-prac­ticing Muslim." She wrote,

"I applaud your genuine words ... I believe that the prob­lem is that many people want to vilify the Hasidim because they don't understand the culture and the customs ... More people support you than you think. ... I got very upset when some neighbor dropped a pamphlet at my door asking me to stop the synagogue expansion [the Bobover shul Shaar on Hutchison Street], but I was more upset that the Hassidic community wasn't doing anything to fight back."[...]

Taking the Next Step Chassidim's approach to dealing with government, Weiss maintains, must also change. He differentiates between the old ways of conducting politics, quietly working is­ sues out behind the scene with politicians, and the new way. "The old way is no longer possible. Because of the Internet, nothing can remain hidden. Today, we understand that nothing can be worked out with politicians if we ourselves cannot explain, sell, and defend our position to the public and and the media. Everything else can be made to appear shady. [...]

12 Steps :The spiritual/scientific basis of addiction recovery

National Geographic   [...] Since the inception of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.)—the progenitor of 12-step programs—science has sometimes been at odds with the notion that laypeople can cure themselves.

Yet the success of the 12-step approach may ultimately be explained through medical science and psychology. Both offer substantive reasons for why it works. [...]

The 12-step approach, said Paul Gallant, an interventionist with 27 years of sobriety, is "so popular with treatment centers because it's proven to work. When a person completes treatment, they have a place to go.

"Self-knowledge is not a sufficient treatment for alcoholism," continued Gallant. "I've worked with people who have had years and years of psychotherapy and intensive analysis, but it's brought them no closer to ongoing abstinence."

However, experiencing what Gallant called a "psychic change," which in the 12-step world is linked to the marvel of a "spiritual awakening," often results in a distinct personality and behavioral transformation that leads to long-term sobriety.

"The not-drinking is really just a part of it," Gallant said. "It's not drinking and changing as a person. That psychic change needs to come from a program of spiritual development, and so far the greatest success has been Alcoholics Anonymous."[...]

Anthony Weiner Meets with the Orthodox Jewish Media

Five Towns Jewish Times  Early Thursday morning, embattled mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, met with representatives of the orthodox Jewish media in the home of Gedaliah Weinberger.

Although Mr. Weinberger was careful to point out that the meeting was not an endorsement, he did go on in detail about a number of times when Mr. Weiner went to bat for the Jewish community.  Reading from an amicus brief prepared by the Becket Fund, Mr. Weinberger demonstrated that there are numerous areas where religious Jews are experiencing discrimination – even in New York City.

Rabbi Pesach Lerner, sitting in the audience, pointed out that of all the representatives and senators in government, it was Anthony Weiner who was first to go to bat for Jonathan Pollard.

Mr. Weiner then spoke and raised a number of new ideas that he has to improve the lot of New Yorkers.  He then opened up the floor to questions from the orthodox Jewish media. [...]

Larry Gordon, publisher of the Five Towns Jewish Times, asked Mr. Weiner, “What would you do when you are mayor and your New York City school chancellor is caught doing the same things that you had done?”

Mr. Weiner answered that he would investigate whether it would in any way effect the chilcren or how he performed at his job and decide based solely on that criterion.

In the entire meeting, Mr. Weiner was well-prepared on the issues, was poised and answered questions directed at him with finesse and assurance. [...]

The sense that everyone in attendance got after the meeting was that Anthony Weiner is clearly not out of the race, and just might win.

Sexual abuse and cover-ups in an insular religious community- the Mennonites of Bolivia

R. Eidensohn,

I am an occasional lurker on your blog (thank you for the public service!) and I thought the following article might be of interest to you or your readers.  It describes a situation of an insular, closed community, afraid that the entire outside world is wicked, and run by religious leaders with lifetime tenure who do not have investigative or police capacity, yet refuse except in the most extreme cases to involve outside police in any allegations of wrongdoing.  And children who are taught little or nothing about their bodies and sex, and a culture that is inherently suspicious of any claims made by children and women.  And a leadership that is willing to let offenders who do get caught back into the community as long as they say they are sorry.  The community in question is an old-order Mennonite one in Bolivia, but the parallels to some Orthodox societies were striking to me, and the negative consequences equally sad.

==========================
Warning! A distressing story to read but the parallels are important

Vice  [...] Then, one night in June 2009, two men were caught trying to enter a neighbor’s home. The two ratted out a few friends and, falling like a house of cards, a group of nine Manitoba men, ages 19 to 43, eventually confessed that they had been raping Colony families since 2005. To incapacitate their victims and any possible witnesses, the men used a spray created by a veterinarian from a neighboring Mennonite community that he had adapted from a chemical used to anesthetize cows. According to their initial confessions (which they later recanted), the rapists admitted to—sometimes in groups, sometimes alone—hiding outside bedroom windows at night, spraying the substance through the screens to drug entire families, and then crawling inside. 

But it wasn’t until their trial, which took place almost two years later, in 2011, that the full scope of their crimes came to light. The transcripts read like a horror movie script: Victims ranged in age from three to 65 (the youngest had a broken hymen, purportedly from finger penetration). The girls and women were married, single, residents, visitors, the mentally infirm. Though it’s never discussed and was not part of the legal case, residents privately told me that men and boys were raped, too. [...]

Then, one night in June 2009, two men were caught trying to enter a neighbor’s home. The two ratted out a few friends and, falling like a house of cards, a group of nine Manitoba men, ages 19 to 43, eventually confessed that they had been raping Colony families since 2005. To incapacitate their victims and any possible witnesses, the men used a spray created by a veterinarian from a neighboring Mennonite community that he had adapted from a chemical used to anesthetize cows. According to their initial confessions (which they later recanted), the rapists admitted to—sometimes in groups, sometimes alone—hiding outside bedroom windows at night, spraying the substance through the screens to drug entire families, and then crawling inside. 

But it wasn’t until their trial, which took place almost two years later, in 2011, that the full scope of their crimes came to light. The transcripts read like a horror movie script: Victims ranged in age from three to 65 (the youngest had a broken hymen, purportedly from finger penetration). The girls and women were married, single, residents, visitors, the mentally infirm. Though it’s never discussed and was not part of the legal case, residents privately told me that men and boys were raped, too. [...]

All the victims I interviewed said the rapes crossed their minds almost daily. In addition to confiding in friends, they have coped by falling back on faith. Helena, for example—though her clutched arms and pained swaying seemed to belie it—told me she’d found peace and insisted, “I have forgiven the men who raped me.”

She wasn’t alone. I heard the same thing from victims, parents, sisters, brothers. Some even said that if the convicted rapists would only admit their crimes—as they did initially—and ask penance from God, the colony would request that the judge dismiss their sentences.

I was perplexed. How could there be unanimous acceptance of such flagrant and premeditated crimes?

It wasn’t until I spoke with Minister Juan Fehr, dressed as all ministers in the community do, entirely in black with high black boots, that I understood. “God chooses His people with tests of fire,” he told me. “In order to go to heaven you must forgive those who have wronged you.” The minister said that he trusts that most of the victims came to forgiveness on their own. But if one woman didn’t want to forgive, he said, she would have been visited by Bishop Neurdorf, Manitoba’s highest authority, and “he would have simply explained to her that if she didn’t forgive, then God wouldn’t forgive her.” [...]

The Old Colony leaders I spoke with denied that their communities have an ongoing sexual abuse problem and insisted that incidents are dealt with internally when they arise. “[Incest] almost never happens here,” Minister Jacob Fehr told me one evening as we chatted on his porch at dusk. He said that in his 19 years as a minister, Manitoba had only one case of incestuous rape (father to daughter). Another minister denied that even this episode had happened.[...]