Rav Reuven Feinstein, shlita - An Open Letter

HaRav Reuven Feinstein, shlita,

Someone recently asked me to find the teshuva (Y.D. III 96.9) that your father wrote to you concerning your 20th birthday for his son's 20th birthday. It is especially relevant in your present situation in which your reputation and loyalty are keeping alive an organization which has become a disgrace and embarrassment to the Jewish people. Those who agree with me, will hopefully send a copy of this letter to you.

Yeshiva and Mesivta of Staten Island
1870 Drumgoole Road, East
Staten Island, NY 10309
U.S.A.

Phone: (718) 356-4323
Fax: (718) 356-5412

Your father described that birthday as the day you would become punishable for sins also by the hand of Heaven. He was responding to your request that he advise you on how you should conduct yourself the rest of your days. He wrote:

The most important thing is the study of Torah and to be engaged in the struggle of understanding it. Rashi notes in Bechokosai that this is needed in order to avoid making mistakes in halacha. Our Sages note that even the inadvertent errors of a talmid chachom are considered deliberate because he should have learned the halacha in order to reach a true understanding and then G-d would provide assistance to grow in Torah and to know everything clearly. This study will then lead to observing the halacha because our Sages say that the observance of mitzvos is greater than the study. Also your goal in life should be that for all your days that your sole activity will be involvement in Torah study. If that is so I am sure that G-d will help you and will send you generous parnosa with bountiful beracha. Because one's livelihood is entirely a gift from  G-d Who sends it by means of what ever endeavors a man choses to do. This is stated at the end of Kiddushin (82b). It says that one does not suffer poverty because he picked a particular trade nor does one become rich because of a particular trade - but everything is determined soley from Heaven according to his merit.  However, chas v'shalom, to accept this in the manner of an oath which is prohibited. Rather it should be strongly implanted in your thoughts and consciousness and you should do it without taking an oath.

Furthermore you need to train yourself in good midos. The main thing however concerns anger - for which it is necessary to go to extremes to avoid. That is because pride and anger are the attributes one needs to avoid most of all. If you wish to strongly deal with these midos by training yourself properly then G-d will help you. However also in this matter, chas v'shalom, to accept it in the manner of an oath as I mentioned before. It is also important to be careful to honor your mother. This is very difficult for most people because of the habits of childhood - therefore it is necessary to be extremely careful about this. That is because even if she forgives you, chas v'shalom, to rely on this. This that you ask whether you should fast various fasts - this is not appropriate for you and for all those who are engaged in Torah study because this can, chas v'shalom, lead to loss of Torah study. Even if it doesn't result in a quantitative loss but it will result in a qualitative loss. Our Sages (Ta'anis 11a) say that a person who engages in fasting is called a sinner. Similarly one should not afflict yourself in any manner but should increase Torah study. My words should always be before you and G-d should help you always.

      
                              With deep respect,

                              Daniel Eidensohn

Rav Reuven Feinstein:Kiruv & mixed couples [transcript]

Imprisoned by mistake for 35 years for a rape

CNN

A day after a Florida man was released from prison after serving 35 years for a sexual assault that he did not commit, law enforcement authorities are turning their attention to finding out who was responsible.

James Bain was set free Thursday after a DNA test showed he did not kidnap and rape a 9-year-old boy in Lake Wales, Florida, in 1974.

DNA found at the crime scene has been sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for further testing. It will be entered into Florida and national databases to see if it matches anyone whose DNA is already in the system. [...]

Reb Reuven - please!

Rav Sternbuch: Hard Times

An open letter to Reb Elya Ber, shlita

The below was just confirmed by a letter from Reb Elya Ber just published on Matzav

I have it on excellent authority that Reb Elya Ber Wachtfogel never accepted any responsibility, oversight, or position of any kind for EJF!

If anything at all - he was duped by a phone call from an individual in Eretz Yisroel (a beneficiary of Tropper/EJF money) that Rav Shteinman and Rav Y.S. Eliashiv had "requested" he assume the position at EJF, But he never accepted!

In the interim it has now been determined that Rav Y.S. Eliashiv had no idea at all about ANY of these goings on - let alone he never asked for R' E.B.W. to accept any position or achrayus for EJF!

The time has come for Reb Elya Ber to speak up and put this to bed!

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Below is the hierarchy of rabbis from the EJF webpage - you will note that HaRav Elya Ber, shita - one of the major gedolim of America and perhaps its leading rosh yeshiva - is not accorded to same title as Rav Reuven Feinstein, Rav Shmuel Stern, and Rav Ehrentreu. Hopefully it is just a mistake but if not it does not bode well for Reb Elya.
==========================
EJF Leadership
Harav Reuven Feinstein, Shlit"a

President of Halachic Committee
Harav Shmuel Eliezer Stern, Shlit"a

Chairman of Halachic Committee, Israel
Harav Chanoch Ehrentreu, Shlit"a

Chairman of Halachic Committee, Europe
International Rabbinical Board
Rav Ela Ber Wachtfogel

Chairman of Rabbinic Committee
Harav Doniel Neustadt

...

R' Farber's eulogy for R' Tropper

JC.com

The founder of a powerful American group that seeks to enforce a tough stance on conversions has abruptly resigned.

Leib Tropper, a strictly Orthodox rabbi who founded the New York-based Eternal Jewish Family, said he was stepping down last weekend to "pursue a variety of other interests".

In the past week, images appeared on several Jewish blogs showing posters on display in Orthodox neighbourhoods of Jerusalem accusing him of indiscretions.[...]

Sex offender extradited to U.S.

YNET

Samuel Arthur Silverman, also known as Abraham Cohen, was extradited Thursday from Israel to the United States. Silverman was convicted in Oregon for sexual abuse of minors in the late 1990s, but before a hearing on his sentence commenced he escaped to Israel.

His extradition was made possible following an amendment to the extradition treaty between Israel and the US.

Silverman, a former social worker and psychologist mainly treating children and teenagers, was charged and convicted of sexually  abusing two minors who were friends of his son during the years
1995-1996. [...]

The Sin of Adam - inaccurate self-assessment

Rav Tzadok (Machshovos Charutz #1):.. The sin of Adam was in thought rather than deed…These are the thoughts that the Serpent gave him when he told him, “You will be like G‑d.” The source of all vain and empty thoughts is that a person errs in self‑assessment. He mistakenly thinks that he is on a higher level than he is actually is or is even capable of reaching. Adam who had reached the pinnacle of perfection as a man, mistakenly started thinking that he was in fact on the level of G‑d. Therefore the Torah warns that while a person should be holy he can never reach G‑d's level of holiness (Vayikra Rabbah 24:9). When he had in fact reached the level of the angels, his evil inclination did not leave him alone and deceived him into thinking that he could be as holy as G‑d. A person can thus achieve the pinnacle of greatness and yet fall to the deepest depths – as we see what happened to Yeshu and Shabtsai Tzvi. Their great asceticism and separation from the material world distorted their perception of their true spiritual level until they thought that they were the source of holiness…" This is the way of the seduction of the Serpent (evil inclination). He begins with something small and progresses. He begins with thoughts and imaginations which seem external and superficial but in fact touch all levels of thought in an essential manner.

Eternal Jewish Family video - looks different now

Eternal Jewish Family Web Brochure

Shannon | MySpace Video

Chofetz Chaim:Why people speak lashon harah

Chofetz Chaim(Introduction): …Why has the prohibition against lashon harah become so widely ignored? I think it is the result of a number of different reasons. The masses ignore it for a different reason than the scholars. The masses simply don’t know that there is a prohibition against speaking lashon harah – even if the facts are correct. The talmidei chachomim – even those who have in fact verified that there is a clear prohibition against lashon harah even if it is true – the yetzer harah is able to mislead them in other ways. 1) The yetzer harah convinces the talmid chachom that the other person is wicked and tells him that it is a mitzva to publicize derogatory information about wicked people. 2) There are times that it says that the other person is a troublemaker and it is permitted to say lashon harah about troublemakers. 3) There are times when it seduces the talmid chachom with the leniency of something said before three people. 4) Or the leniency of saying it in the person’s presence and he convinces himself that he would in fact say it even if the person was in front of him. The yetzer harah succeeds in making the talmid chachom aware of the appropriate text – even though they are inappropriately applied. 5) Sometimes the yetzer harah seduces by simply saying that what he is telling others is not really lashon harah since everyone is saying it - such as saying that someone is not really a scholarly. All of this is explained in Clall 5.

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חפץ חיים (הלכות אסורי לשון הרע – הקדמה): ואחשבה לדעת זאת, מאין נעשה הלאו הזה הפקר כל כך לעיני הרבה בני אדם. והתבוננתי שזה הוא מכמה סבות, להמון מצד אחד ולהלומדים מצד אחר. ההמון אינם יודעים כלל שאסור לשון הרע הוא אפלו על אמת, ולהבעלי תורה אף אותם שנתברר להם ונתאמת להם שאסור לשון הרע אפלו על אמת, יש מהם כמה שיצר הרע מטעה אותם בפנים אחרים. אחד, שתכף מחשיב היצר הרע ברעיוניו את האיש שהוא מספר עליו לחונף, ואומר לו מצוה לפרסם את החנפים והרשעים. ופעמים אומר לו, הלא פלוני הוא בעל מחלקת ומתר לספר לשון הרע עליו. ולפעמים הוא מפתהו בהתרא דאפי תלתא (בפני שלשה), ופעמים בהתרא דאפי מרא (בפני המדבר), שמסכים בעצמו בעת הספור שהיה אומר לו אף בפניו, ומגלה לו היצר הרע את המאמרים השיכים לזה, ועין לקמן בכלל ב' ג' ח'. ופעמים הוא מפתהו באיכות הדבר, לומר שאין זה נכנס בכלל לשון הרע כגון מה שרגילין הרבה אנשים, בעונותינו הרבים, לפרסם על אחד שאינו חכם, ובארנו זה לקמן בכלל ה':

Chareidi websites respond to ban

YNET

In public statements, haredi website managers attempt to avoid confrontation with religious leaders, align themselves with traditional views. Off record they say campaign against them led by hypocritical lobbyists concerned with threat to newspaper

The ultra-Orthodox websites have not given up their fight in the face of the senior rabbis' campaign against them. Following the first harsh condemnation document published by the rabbis, all website managers declared their devotion to the "great ones" on Sunday.

However, despite the desperate attempts to align themselves, the websites have had a particularly rough weekend. One of the managers of the "Behadrei Haredim" website resigned his post immediately after the publication, whereas other reporters and editors are also reconsidering their future in the internet.

UK Court:Jewish school policy illegal

JPOST

Britain's Supreme Court said on Wednesday that a Jewish school discriminated against a child when it denied him admission because it did not recognize his mother as Jewish.

The ruling came in a case of a child identified as "M." His father is Jewish by birth, but his mother converted at a progressive synagogue.

But the conversion ceremony was conducted by a Progressive rather than an Orthodox synagogue which is not recognized by the Office of the Chief Rabbi.

The court said that the policy amounted to race discrimination. [...]

Sincere condolences for Tom Kaplan

There is one major player in this whole scandal who probably suffered the most and is getting the least sympathy and support - that is EFJ backer Tom Kaplan. EFJ was not a power trip or  desire to play moshiach on the part of Tom Kaplan - it was a genuine idealistic attempt to do good. He wants to help preserve and save Judaism for the same noble reason that he wants to preserve nature. He is not an Orthodox Jew and yet he intuitively felt that the cause of Jewish identity is necessary and the energy and spirit he vicariously felt was invigorating and pure.

He has been badly betrayed by Tropper. Eternal Jewish Family was a massive project that he not only invested millions of dollars in it but personally attended the conventions, went to meet gedolim and he took genuine pride in being part of this movement. He also made decisions which showed that he understood the reality of the Jewish people better than his rabbinic adivsors.

What does he have now? Tropper schemed to be his sole connection to the Orthodox world as a teacher, guide and friend. He really has no alternative interface with the Orthodox world. It is likely that he will be bowing out of the picture financially and with his personal involvement. That is really a shame. His instincts were right about the need for preserving Judaism - but the vehicle he chose was deeply flawed.

Hopefully - he will find a way to continue his commitment to the Jewish people as he has in the past and he won't walk away in disgust with the garbage  that has been thrown on him. I just would like to personally thank him for what he tried doing.