It is important to keep in mind that Rav Moshe Feinstein clearly states that the negative condition must be preexisting and so severe that no reasonable person would tolerate it - and the spouse must leave immediately upon discovering it. In addition a psak of mekach taus based entirely upon negative reports from the wife - without the husband being directly evaulated by a neutral expert therapist - is clearly invalid and indicative of biased poskim.
Monday, September 6, 2021
Rav Herschel Schacter: A ridiculous heter/ Freeing agunah by mekach taus
It is important to keep in mind that Rav Moshe Feinstein clearly states that the negative condition must be preexisting and so severe that no reasonable person would tolerate it - and the spouse must leave immediately upon discovering it. In addition a psak of mekach taus based entirely upon negative reports from the wife - without the husband being directly evaulated by a neutral expert therapist - is clearly invalid and indicative of biased poskim.
Enoch was judged on Rosh HaShanna
Bereishis Rabbah (25:1). AND ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD, AND HE WAS NOT; FOR GOD TOOK HIM (V, 24). R. Hama b. R. Hoshaya said: AND HE WAS NOT means that he was not inscribed in the roll of the righteous but in the roll of the wicked. R. Aibu said: Enoch was a hypocrite, acting sometimes as a righteous, sometimes as a wicked man. Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said: While he is righteous I will remove him.’ R. Aibu also said: He judged [i.e. condemned] him on New Year, when he judges the whole world. Some sectarians3 asked R. Abbahu: ‘We do not find that Enoch died?’ ‘How so?’ inquired he. ‘"Taking" is employed here, and also in connection with Elijah,’ said they. ‘If you stress the word "taking",’ he answered, ‘then "taking" is employed here, while in Ezekiel it is said, Behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes,’ etc. (Ezek. XXlV, 16). R. Tanhuma observed: He answered them well. A matron asked R. Jose: ' We do not find death stated of Enoch?’ Said he to her: ‘If it said, AND ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD, and no more, I would agree with you. Since, however, it says, AND HE WAS NOT, FOR GOD TOOK HIM, it means that he was no more in the world, [having died,] FOR GOD TOOK HIM.’
e Judaica
Enoch was among the nine righteous men who entered paradise without suffering the pangs of death (DEZ 1, end). "He ascended to heaven on God's command, and was given the name *Metatron the Great Scribe" (Targ. Yer. to Gen. 5:4). During his lifetime Enoch was the guardian of the "secret of intercalation" and of the "miraculous rod" with which Moses later performed the miracles in Egypt (PdRE 7:40). He is the central figure in some late Midrashim, such as Sefer Ḥanokh and Ḥayyei Ḥanokh (which are related to the legends found in the various pseudepigraphic Books of Enoch and other apocryphic works). Enoch lived in a secret place as a hidden righteous man and was called by an angel to leave his retreat to go to teach men to walk in the ways of God. He taught for 243 years, during which peace and prosperity reigned in the world. He made a powerful impression on all he taught, including kings and princes, and they acclaimed him as their king. As a reward for instructing mankind, God resolved to install him as king over the angels in heaven too. He ascended to heaven in a fiery chariot drawn by fiery chargers. When Enoch arrived in heaven the angels exclaimed: "How comes a man born of a woman amid the fire-consuming angels?" To which God replied: "Be not offended, for all mankind denied Me and My dominion and paid homage to the idols; I therefore transferred the Shekhinah ['Divine Presence'] from earth to heaven, and this man Enoch is the elect of men." God arrayed him in a magnificent garment and a luminous crown, opened to him all the gates of wisdom, gave him the name "Metatron," prince and chief of all heavenly hosts, transformed his body into a flame, and engirdled him by storm, whirlwind, and thundering (Sefer ha-Yashar to Genesis, p. 11a–13a). Notwithstanding these legends, third-century Palestinian rabbis deny the miraculous translation of Enoch, and state that he vacillated all his life between righteousness and sinfulness, whereupon God removed him from the world before he relapsed again into sin (Gen. R. 25:1). This derogatory evaluation of Enoch was, at least in part, a reaction against the use made by Christians of the legend of Enoch's ascension to heaven.
Sunday, September 5, 2021
Florida Grapples With COVID-19's Deadliest Phase Yet
Gov. Ron DeSantis has strongly opposed certain mandatory measures to keep the virus in check, saying people should be trusted to make decisions for themselves. He has asserted, too, that the spike in cases is seasonal as Floridians spend more time indoors to escape the heat.
Friday, September 3, 2021
Texas abortion law: The implications of the Supreme Court’s ruling
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58426145
Just because the court declined to pass judgement on the merits of the Texas law doesn't mean the court's ruling won't have an immediate knock-on effect. Texas appears to have found a way around quick judicial review of constitutionally questionable laws.
The state law outsources enforcement of the abortion ban to private citizens, who can file lawsuits against abortion providers and individuals who "aid and abet" the procedure - collecting $10,000 (£7,230) in damages for each case they win. With no government official or entity enforcing the ban, the Supreme Court majority held, there's no one for opponents of the law to sue until those private cases start showing up in court.
The tactic doesn't have to be limited to abortion, either. One can imagine liberal states passing legislation allowing citizen enforcement of handgun bans, global warming regulations or vaccine mandates.
‘It’s Time to Get Out’: Why Jews Are Fleeing South Africa for Israel
In the first eight months of 2021, 350 South African Jews moved to Israel – more than the total number for 2020. At the current pace, Jewish Agency officials estimate that more than 500 will arrive by the year’s end. That would be the largest number in any given year since the fall of the apartheid regime. It would be surpassed only by the aliyah waves that followed the 1967 Six-Day War and the Soweto riots of the mid-1970s.
Thursday, September 2, 2021
Number of ultra-Orthodox With COVID on the Rise, and Most Are Under 18
The number of confirmed COVID cases in Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community has surged over the past few weeks following the reopening of schools and other educational institutions, and are now far exceeding national rates.
According to Health Ministry figures obtained by Haaretz, some 20 percent of all those diagnosed with COVID in Israel on Tuesday are ultra-Orthodox; that figure was just 10 percent three weeks ago, and five percent just one month ago.
More than 1,000 ‘Rabbis for Repro’ work for abortion rights. Their fight just got tougher.
Some Jews, mostly Orthodox, oppose abortion, and have been active in the movement to overturn Roe. But Ruttenberg said that Orthodox Jews are represented in Rabbis for Repro. That subgroup includes Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, a popular writer and motivational speaker, and several Orthodox women who have been ordained and use the titles maharat or rabba.
Orthodox theology does not assign a fetus the status of a person, as do many Christians opposed to abortion, Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agudath Israel of America, a leading Orthodox group, told the Forward in 2019. And abortion is permitted in Orthodoxy to save the life of the mother and sometimes for other medical complications with permission from one’s rabbi.
Tamar Epstein: With the denial of R' Gartner and R' Stern - the Kaminetskys are the only Getless marriage supporters known to exist
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2015 10:00 PM
Bs"d R. ... shlita shalom rav, how are things, long time no speak. It's come to my attention that certain individuals (bloggers et. al) are identifying me as one of the Rabbonim who signed off on the Tamar Epstein heter of kiddushei ta'us. This is totally untrue. Please feel free to disseminate the gist of this email as you deem proper on a need-to-know basis.
All the best and have a 'gutten vinter'
Tzvi Gartner
My brother Rav Dovid Eidensohn sent this todayב״הלכל מאן דבעי למידעהובא לידיעתי, שנתפרסמה בשוק, שאני הייתי מהב״ד שעקרו הקידושין של ״אהרן פרידמן״ להאשה ״תמיר עפשטיין״, ובצירוף הרבנים הרב שלום קמנצקי והרב צבי גרטנר.ומצאתי לעצמי חובה להודיע, שדברים הנ״ל דברי שקר הם.מעולם לא עסקתי בדברים כאלו. ולא היה לי שום שייכות לדבר כמו עקירת קידושין של הזוג הנ״ל. את הרבנים הרב שלום קמנצקי והרב צבי גרטנר אני לא מכיר. ומעולם לא דברתי עמהם, ותו לא מידי.ולאות אמת באתי על החתום ביום ל׳ תשרי א׳דר״ח מרחשון תשע״וגבריאל שטערן
I spoke to Rabbi Gavriel Stern that somebody named as a signer on the permission for Tamir to remarry and he vehemently rejected it. I sent in his remarks in Hebrew to my brother. I know people who are seeking out a name of people who signed for her to remarry. So far, the only thing that makes sense is that Rabbi Greenblatt relied on Rabbi Kaminetsky and his son. And I know Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetsky and also somebody who got a Kesubo from him and it was invalid. He does not know the laws of Gittin, and he once asked me where in the laws of Gittin does it say about writing names. If he doesn't know that, he is surely not a Gadol and he surely has no right to tell Tamir to remarry without a GET.
We know a few other rabbis who have in the past indicated that they would annul a marriage, but none of them are "Gedolim" and Rabbi Greenblatt told me that he did what he did because Gedolim wanted it done. I doubt if any Gedolim signed it, because the big names that I spoke to all were furious about it.
Rabbi Mordechai Willig was so angry that he almost sputtered when he talked about it. Nobody believes that any Gadol who knows Gittin laws signed the paper, and the Kaminetskies I know are not experts in Gittin. I talk about Gittin because I have the warm backing of Reb Moshe Feinstein and Reb Yosef Shalom Elyashev and Reb Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and other Gedolei HaDor. I did my shimush homework for many years, learning under Reb Aharon Kotler and every Gadol I could meet. But today, who knows the laws of Gittin? A lot of them are making it up as they go along, and the result will be many questionable children in the coming generation.
I know that these people are concerned about women who need a GET. But why are they not concerned about babies born mamzerim? After all, some of them will be ladies.
Eternal Jewish Family - Rav Nachum Eisenstein where are you?
In addition to the chief rabbis, major presentations were delivered byTorah luminaries from around the world, including Harav ReuvenFeinstein, (Staten Island), President, EJF Halachic Committee, HaravBaruch Dov Povarsky, (Ponevezh) Harav Yitzchok Scheiner, (Kaminetz)-via video link, Harav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi, (Ateres Yisroel), HaravMoshe Shapiro, (Ulpana) Harav Hillel David (Sharey Torah) , HaravSimcha HaCohen Kook, (Rechovot), Harav Shmuel Lazer Stern, (Beis Din ofHarav Hagaon Shmuel Wosner), Chairman, EJF Halachic Committee inIsrael, Harav Shmuel Dishon, (Yad Yisroel, Karlin-Stolin), Harav AbbaBronspigel, (Touro Rabbinical College), Harav Nochum Eisenstein, (Va'adl'Inyonei Giyur, Yerushalayim), Harav Yakov Velvel Katz ( Rosh Kolel,Yad Chaim Mordechai), Harav Mordechai Dov Fein (Rav, Machzikeh Hadas)Harav Moshe Meiselman (Toras Moshe) Harav Mordechai Neugroschel, ,Harav Pinchus Rabinowitz, (Rosh Beis Din Ezer Mishpat), Harav ShlomoRyback (Rabbinical Council of America), Harav Nota Schiller (OhrSomayach International) Harav Dovid Schochet ( Beis Din of Toronto),Harav Mendel Senderovic, (Rosh Beis Din, Milwaukee), Harav MosheSoloveitchik, (Merkaz Rabbonim, Chicago), Harav Leib Tropper, (YeshivaKol Yaakov/Horizons), Harav Avrohom Union, (Va'ad Rabbinical Council ofCalifornia), Harav Yisroel Webster( Beis Din of New York), Harav DavidYosef, (Yichaveh Daas and son of Harav Hagaon R' Ovadia Yosef as wellas Conference Chairmen Mr. Marvin Jacob, Esq., Mr. Neil Auerbach, Mr.Malcolm Hoenlein and EJF Chairman Thomas S. Kaplan.Next week - a year later [after Rav Sternbuch & the Bedatz issued condemnations of EJF and Rav Eliashiv had their convention in Argentina canceled in February] - Eternal Jewish Family is holding a much more modest event in Philadelphia. The participants are scheduled to be:
The overseas guests will include Dayan Avrohom Sherman, Chief Dayanof Israel’s Supreme Rabbinical Court, Dayan Raphoel Eliyahu Aisherig(Chief Rabbinate, Israel), Dayan Chanoch Ehrentrau, Chairman of theConference of European Rabbis and Dayan Menachem Gelley (UK). Some 40dayanim and Roshei Yeshiva will participate in the conference whichwill air some of the important emerging halachic issues that constantlycome to the fore on universally accepted conversion standards inintermarriage. All but some of the dayanim at the conference are partof a growing network of independent batei din in North America thathave adopted the geirus standards of leading poskim, as is beingpromulgated by EJF International.
The conference will be opened by Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky, RoshYeshiva of the Yeshiva of Philadelphia and a member of the MoetzesGedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisroel. Also addressing the conference willbe Harav Reuven Feinstein, Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta of Staten Island andChairman of the Halachic Committee of EJF, Harav Dovid Olewski, RoshYeshiva of the Gerer Mesivta (Brooklyn) Harav Betzalel TuviaWettenstein (Belzer Dayan of Monsey)and Rabbi Eliyahu Levin (Lakewood).
Why is there no mention of Rav Eisenstein - Rav Eliyiashiv's representative for geirus - who was prominently involved in previous conventions? Would greatly appreciate any information - including whether the failure to mention Rav Eisentein was just a error and that he in fact will be there.