A Segulah for You

There are many serious problems plaguing Jewry these days. Do you have fertility problems? Are your kids going OTD? Have you invested your life savings in a questionable hedge fund? Do you have a kid who has flipped out after their year in Israel? Have you been arrested and can’t make bail? ...and can’t get Chalav Yisroel products while awaiting trial? Do you have a serious life threatening illness? Do you have a hard time finding Kosher cheese curls?

Well I have a Segulah for you. This one really works. It is the Segulah of the Heilge Rebbe Reb Shmelke Choizikmachen of blessed memory. I saw it in obscure Sefer of his that I found under the back porch of the Cairo Geniza during a game of tag with my grandchildren.

Satisfaction is guaranteed.

Here is what you have to do. You make out a cashier’s check to me, Harry Maryles, in the amount of $180.00. No more and no less. Mail it to me. Once deposited my brother in law will put your name on his list and say Tehilim (Psalm 20) every week-day between Ashrei and U’VaL’Tzion at Shachris (except on days when Tachnun is not said - Al Pi Nusach Ari) – For the rest of his life! (Let’see Kupat Ha’ir beat that one. 40 days? Big deal!).

This Segula works for many things. If you’ve been arrested for extortion or fraud, send me your money. If you’ve committed adultery, or murder, or if you worshiped foreign gods send me your money. Results guaranteed. (Although not necessarily the results you want. For that you have to pay extra!)

This Segula has the endorsement of every Gadol in the world. R’ Chaim Kanievsky (pictured above) is quoted as saying, OMG! I can't believe it! This Segulah really works!

Do not hesitate. Time is of the essence. My bookie said he is not going to wait forever. So Please - Do it now! I really mean it.

Signatures upon request.

Going Too Far - and the Right to Criticize

There has been a lot of criticism about Agudah’s recent statement condemning the ordination of women in Orthodoxy.

Here is their statement which is very brief and signed by all the members of their Moetzes:

Rabbi Avi Weiss has conferred “semikha” upon a woman, has made her an Assistant Rabbi at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale where she carries out certain traditional rabbinical functions, and has now given her the title of “Rabbah” (formerly “Maharat”). He has stated that the change in title is designed to “make it clear that Sara Hurwitz is a full member of our rabbinic staff, a rabbi with the additional quality of a distinct woman’s voice.”

These developments represent a radical and dangerous departure from Jewish tradition and the mesoras haTorah, and must be condemned in the strongest terms. Any congregation with a woman in a rabbinical position of any sort cannot be considered Orthodox.

Although I am basically opposed to the ordination of women for reasons I won’t get into here, I take exception to denying membership to Orthodoxy of Shuls who hire them – as long as Halacha is not violated.

I hate to sound like a lefty on this since I am opposed to the idea of radical departures from normative practices. But writing them out of Orthodoxy sounds a bit extreme. True it is a radical break from the Mesorah. But Orthodoxy should not ostracize Jews who follow Halacha just because they institute a non normative practice. Especially if there was precedent in Tanach such was the case with the Shofetes Devorah. It may not be a good idea to do so in our day but how you can call what Devorah did anti Orthodox?

Is hiring a woman to serve as a rabbi in a capacity that follows Halacha worse than becoming a leader of the entire nation? They say this innovation is a dangerous departure. They are probably referring to the slippery slope argument. I can certainly buy that argument. Many people in opposition to radical departures like this have pointed out that when the Conservative Movement started they too followed Halacha. And look what happened to them.

Once you make radical departures from the Mesorah - even if they are technically within the bounds of Halacha - things like this are bound to happen. But I believe their condemnations are premature and they ought to have waited until those Halachic lines are crossed - if they ever are. I don't think they have been yet, nor do I think the Moetzes would say they were.

There are those who condemned the Agudah for a different reason. One that on the surface makes those condemnations seem valid. The criticism goes something like this:

Why is the Agudah more concerned with this than they are with all the much bigger problems in the Frum world? They have been relatively silent about Frum people caught in major Chilulei HaShem – whether in financial matters or sexual scandals. No similar signed public condemnations of any of those people who have committed them. Not one! But Rabbi Weiss gets singled out for special condemnation. Not because of any scandal. But because of his ideology.

Is there a reason for this? Can it be anything more than prejudice against modern Orthodoxy? If one were to look at the criminals involved in those scandals one would find that most of them were perpetrated by Charedim! This makes Agudah’s motives look very self serving and highly suspect to most fair minded people.

Is this really is a fair criticism?

I don’t think it is. It is certainly valid for any Orthodox organization to criticize an ideology with which they are in complete opposition and see as an existential danger to the very institution of Orthodoxy. This is how they see this break from tradition by a fellow Orthodox Rabbi. As such they have a right and perhaps even a duty to express their views publicly. Ideology is no small thing.

Scandals are an entirely separate matter and unrelated to ideology. That they should have spoken out more forcefully on those issues - and have not - is a valid criticism. They should have – as I have pointed out many times. But that does not mean they shouldn’t speak out on other issues.

I defend their right to do so here. I disagree with the extent of their criticism which was to condemn and ostracize. Chances are the phenomenon of female rabbis Orthodoxy will peter out for lack of job opportunity. Or that any sort of serious change in Orthodoxy will morph into a something not Halachic – in which case I would condemn it too. For now they should have let it alone. Nothing is more motivating to a movement than a condemnation from on high.

A Kiddush HaShem

Guest Post by Miriam Pearlmutter

The following was posted by Mrs. Miriam Pearlmutter in the comments section of another post. I thought it ought to be made more prominent. So I am featuring here as a guest post.

I went to visit with Mrs. Park this afternoon. She was very grateful and after she read the letter, she started crying and asking me how she can ever thank these Jewish people who signed the letter because there were no addresses or numbers. She asked me to thank them for her if I ever see them. I thought the readers here would want to know, so I am passing that on.

Mada and Halacha

One of the things that defenders of Poskim who have no knowledge of Mada – meaning worldly knowledge – say is that they don’t need any. In those instances where such knowledge is needed, they will seek experts in the field. I wish that were true. But some Poskim just assume they know the Mada and don’t. They only have a superficial level of knowledge that will lead them to issue an incorrect Psak. They will apply their knowledge of Torah incorrectly.

But it is true that the better Poskim who know their limitations in Mada will indeed seek experts and learn the pertinent Mada before Paskining. That’s what Rav Moshe Feinstein did. For example he asked all of his Shialos about biology to his son in law, Rabbi Moshe Tendler who holds a PhD in the subject.

But not every Posek knows who to ask. Some so called ‘experts’ are incompetent. In some cases Askanim with an agenda will seek ‘experts’ that will provide the Posek with the ‘right answers’.

Rabbi Moshe Mordechai Karp is the major Posek in Kiryat Sefer. That city is an entirely Charedi one – populated mostly by Avreichim who learn in the finest Charedi Yeshivos in Israel – Brisk, Mir, and the like. They will not just appoint anyone as their Posek. They want a learned Charedi Posek with a reputation and a no nonsense approach to Halacha. Rabbi Karp is one of the most trusted Poskim in Israel and is considered one of Rav Elyasihiv’s greatest Talmidim.

It was brought to his attention that salmon and certain other very common and widely consumed fish have worms called anisakis. Worms are not kosher and forbidden to eat. Rabbi Karp has now Assured salmon and other formerly kosher fish.

Not to be outdone, it appears that some kashrus organizations in Lakewood and Monsey (where else!) have said they will follow suit. If the trend continues we will all pretty soon be saying “Remember when lox (smoked salmon) was kosher?”

Of course the fact that the Gemarah has discussed this issue and determined that these harmless hair thin 2 centimter long parasites are permitted - is being completely ignored by Rabbi Karp. From an article by Michael Orbach in the Jewish Star:

The Gemorah states that the “tolayim” (bug) are generated inside the fish “minei gavli,” which literally means generated in the flesh. Rashi and later commentators explain the Talmudic term to mean that a stage of the parasite’s growth is within the fish, and therefore it not considered an insect but a part of the fish. This opinion is confirmed in the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh De’ah 84:16).

Rabbi Karp certainly knows this Gemarah and the Halacha. The problem with it is that Rabbi Karp believes in evolution. He claims that the parasites of that era have mutated – evolving into something other than what the Gemarah discusses. It is therefore now Assur. He has also said that he discussed it with Rav Elyashiv and Rav Chaim Kanievsky who now support the ban. I guess Rav Elayshiv has changed his mind about evolution.

Here is the best line in the article. It is a quote from Rabbi Karp. He was asked how it is possible to say that Chazal ate Treif fish. His answer:

“they did not know what we know and that the fish is assur (forbidden) because we know how the bug works.”

The‘bug’ mutated. Has technology now enabled us to know things that Chazal did not?

Hmmmm….. I remember hearing that question before in another context. Is he saying that Chazal were wrong in matters of science because they did not have our technology? Very Slifkinesque if you ask me.

The OU and the CRC are not buying any of this. Rabbi Chaim Goldberg, rabbinical coordinator of the OU put it well when he said:

“It’s nothing to carp about,” - the OU follows the p’sak halacha (ruling) of Rabbi Yisroel Belsky, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Voda’as, who holds that, based on the Gemorah, “the question arose approximately 2,000 years ago and was answered at that time.”

Answered? Please! What did Chazal know? (…according to Rabbi Karp)

So what’s the scoop here? Who is right? Should we all be worried that Rabbi Karp is right? Do we follow the Daas HaMachmir? After all there are some real heavyweights Paskining here.

The answer is clearly no. Rabbi Karp is not sufficiently knowledgeable on the Mada of this issue and it is he that should be completely ignored – not the Gemarah. Just as the OU and the CRC are doing. Here is what an expert said about this parasite:

According to Dr. Ted Myers, Alaska’s chief fish pathologist, the science behind the proposed ban is fishy. There is no new parasite, he explained.“Anisakis has been around since before man. It’s one of nature’s greatest achievements as a parasite. It’s pretty effective,” he said.

The worm matures from larvae into the third juvenile stage of its development in the visceral cavity of a fish. The worm only reaches its full development in its definitive host, a warm blooded marine mammal, a narrative that largely confirms the Talmud’s take. Myers also said any large-scale changes in the animal are unlikely.

I wish it could end here. But Rabbi Belsky is flying to Israel to get clarification on the issue. Last time something like that happened is when Rav Aharon Feldman - Rosh HaYeshiva of Ner Israel - flew to Israel to discuss the Slifkin ban with Rav Elyashiv. At the time Rabbi Feldman was a supporter of the Slifkin approach to dealing with matters of Torah and science. We all know what happened next.

The Gadol HaDor had spoken and Rabbi Feldman did ‘a 180’ – claiming that Rabbi Slifkin’s approach was now invalid. This was once valid belief was now tantamount to heresy because Daas Torah has spoken in the person of the Gadol Hador. How did Rav Elayshiv know what was in Rabbi Slifkin’s book – written in English - a language he does not read or understand? Rav Elyashiv lacked an essential piece of Mada. He had to rely on secondary and probably highly agendized sources who supplied him with their versions of what Rabbi Slifkin’s book was about.

Lox and bagel lovers who are of a mind to observe this ban will surely miss this delicacy. Though I too am a lox lover - if I were disposed to observe the ban - which I am not - I'm sure I could handle it. That is not the real issue here. The issue is erroneous Psak based on faulty information. And that further Talibanizes Judaism.

Updated: 4:46 PM CST

Identifying Gedolim

One often hears talk about ‘The Gedolim’. Gedolim is the plural form of the word Gadol, which means big or great. As a noun it refers to a great person. But what does it mean to be a Gadol BaYisroel – a great person among the Jewish people – great enough to be considered one of the Gedolei HaDor – one of the leaders of our generation? There has been little discussion about the qualifications for that position.

What makes someone a Gadol? That seems to be one of the most difficult questions to answer. I’ve written in the past about what I think the qualifications should be for that. They include but are not limited to encyclopedic knowledge of Shas, Rishonim, and Halacha and at least a working knowledge of Mada. They must also have a high level of Yiras Shamayim, a refined character, and highly developed degree of personal ethics.

Additionally they should have leadership capabilities, a certain type of wisdom that usually comes with age, and the willingness to unselfishly serve Klal Yisroel with great humility. Perhaps the most important characteristic of all is acceptance by their peers and their people - Klal Yisorel.

Occasionally one can become a Gadol without some of these traits - or at least greater strength in one area over another. But in the vast majority of cases all of the above traits are found in Gedolim at some level - perhaps excelling in one or two of them.

There is another category of being a Gadol BaTorah. His area of expertise is mostly Torah knowledge. But these giants in Torah are not necessarily leaders.

When looking at the leaders of the past, one can see these traits in spades. Just to name a few obvious names who have lived during my lifetime (in no particular order), Rav Moshe Feinstein (pictured), Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Rav Ahron Soloveichik, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, Rav Avroham Pam, Rav Yitzchak Hutner, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, and Rav Menachem Mendel Schneersohn. There are many more but I believe these are representative of them. (For purposes of simplicity I have limited my selections to Americans.)

Unfortunately some among us would eliminate a few of those names based on their Hashkafos. That is sad but it is beyond the scope of this essay to discuss why that is the case.

The question arises - who today qualifies as a Gadol? Do they have the qualifications listed above? All of them? Some of them? Any of them? What are their qualifications exactly? Who recognizes them as such? Everyone? Most of us? Some of us?

I ask this in all sincerety with absolutely no rancor or intent to disparage or slight anyone. There are many fine Talmidei Chachamim in the world today. But are they Gedolim? If so, who are they and why? Who recognizes them as such and why?

It seems to me that today the qualifications for being a Gadol are somewhat more amorphous than they were in the past. How are they defined today? Justice Potter Stewart’s famous phrase comes to mind. To paraphrase: “I know one when I see one”. But what exactly does that mean? Is it membership in a ‘club of Gedolim’ that makes someone a Gadol today? Do people ascribe merit to people by association? In other words does an organization’s conferring the status of Gadol upon someone make others see him as a Gadol without knowing anything about them?

Agudath Israel has an entity called The Council of Torah Sages – better known as The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. They are a self perpetuating group that from time to time invites various people to join. Joining the Moetzes automatically confers upon them the title of Gadol.

Such a person may in fact be a Gadol. However, selections by an institution that wants to cater to many constituencies will - no matter how sincere – make political choices choosing someone because of his affiliation - lowering the standard of Gadlus to allow his entry into the ‘club’.

Often politics works in an opposite direction eliminating great people. Some are never considered for membership. For example the most prominent name missing in Agudah is that of Rav Hershel Shachter because of his association with Yeshiva University. I’m not sure he would accept if offered. But I am equally sure he would never be invited.

Agudah more than any other organization in the Jewish world are concerned with who the Gedolim are. Their very existence is predicated on obedience to the Gedolim. Their Gedolim are those whom serve on their Moetzes.

The current Moetzes is chaired by my former 12th grade Rebbe in Skokie Yeshiva (HTC), Rabbi Yaakov Perlow. Additional members include:

Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld
Rabbi Yitzchok Feigelstock
Rabbi Dovid Feinstein
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky
Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler
Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Levine
Chacham Yosef Harari Raful
Rabbi Aaron Schechter

These gentlemen are all huge Talmidei Chachamim. Some are Poskim. Some are Roshei Yeshiva of major Yeshivos. Some are Chasidic Rebbes. I believe one of them is a Sephardi Rav or Rosh yeshiva. Their common features are that they were chosen by Agudah Moetzes members and they are all more or less Charedi. I ask in all sincerity without any attempt to slight any of them - what makes them each the greatest men of our generation?

I want to again emphasize that I ask this without any rancor or agenda. I respect them all as big Talmidei Chachamim who are willing to serve Klal Yisroel. I also believe – as I’m sure the members of the Moetzes themselves do – that the previous generation of Gedolim were on a much higher level.

I recognize that every generation by default has their own Gedolim. The Gemarah in Rosh HaShanah (25b) tells us that Yiftach, the ninth Shofet of Israel and a flawed leader of his generation was nevertheless its leader serving in the same capacity as a Shofet that Shmuel HaNavi did in his own generation. So by default we have Gedolim today. But… who are they?

A Charedi Chilul HaShem

I truly hate to belabor the point. But there is no greater evidence demonstrating a malaise that afflicts much of the Charedi world than some of the comments on a recent post on Matzav.com. As an Orthodox Jew I am literally appalled by them.

Peggy Park was brutally murdered in cold blood by Martin Grossman. Grossman was executed for his crime last week after some agonizing debate over whether he should have been. Whatever one’s position was about that, there should be no debate about the pain Peggy’s mother, Margret, has suffered. Anyone with even an ounce of compassion should understand this.

But there are some people who actually thought it was appropriate to harass Mrs. Park into asking for clemency for her daughter’s murderer. And that harassment was Lifnim MeShuras HaDin! They really went town with this ‘Mitzvah’ - stooping so low as to call her a Nazi! The Chilul HaShem of that is so enormous it makes me shudder! I’m not even sure it can ever be fixed.

Mrs. Miriam Pearlmutter is a neighbor of Mrs. Parks. She probably feels the way I do and is trying to do something about it. She understands the level of pain Mrs. Park must feel and the gross Chilul HaShem that has been caused by the people who harassed them.

She composed a letter that will be sent to Mrs. Parks which is posted on Matzav.com and asks people to sign. It is a well written apology for the truly sick individuals who harassed the Park family. While it doesn’t come anywhere near correcting the wrong done to her, hopefully it will help express the idea that most Orthodox Jews condemn those who harassed her, understand her pain, and truly feel sympathy for what she has gone and is still going through. I urge people to add their names to it before it is sent. Mrs. Pearlmutter’s e-mail is:

mpearlmutter1999@yahoo.com

I wish I could say that this letter expresses the feelings of all of Orthodox Jewry. But I can’t. There are too many comments at Matzav that tell an entirely different story. I don’t think most Charedim feel that way. But I do believe a very large segment does and the few voices at Matzav represent only a small percentage of the true numbers.

Here are two comments that say it all:

L’ma’ashe she caused retzichah, we do not have to apologize, even mitzad menshlachkait.

and

the man did tishuva! all he wanted was to live in jale for the rest of his life….and even so this rishanta insisted on his death and went to watch it! many gidolim agreed he should live even though he killed somone….anyways i think

This type of thinking is not just an aberration of a few mindless fools. I think it represents a far greater number of Charedi or Chasdic Jews than anyone is willing to admit. It comes as a result of an indoctrination about Kedushas Am Yisroel versus the Tumas HaGoyim. This is the wrong path to have been followed. And yet there has never been a greater emphasis on it than there has been post Holocaust.

I believe it is done precisely because we in America live in such a wonderful country. We live in unprecedented times of freedom and benevolence toward us. Fear of assimilation under such conditions is greater than ever. Thus Charedi rabbinic leaders harangue their flock so as not to fall prey to it. To help assure against assimilation Goyim are vilified.

For Chasidim the hatred of the Goy is in their blood - seared into their collective memories by centuries of anti Semitic pogroms against their ancestors. They have transferred this attitude to the United States intact. It is reinforced by their leadership and combined with an insular lifestyle that helps preserve it.

Is it any surprise that so many of them come out of the box swinging like this?! Certainly they comprise more than a few mindless fools. There are probably a great deal more than just a few - as those anonymous Matzav commenters indicate.

The reaction to Grossman’s execution serves as a valuable illustration of this type of thinking. In some circles he was actually called martyr. If I understand correctly his funeral was held in Monsey and a Hespid (eulogy) was given by a Chasidic Rebbe who said he died Al Kiddush HaShem- sanctifying the name of the Lord!

Some have even added the letters H’YD after his name. These letters are a Hebrew acronym for ‘May God avenge his blood’! This is usually reserved for those who were killed because they were Jews, like R’ Elchanan Wasserman who was killed during the Holocaust by the Nazis.

This is how they see the Grossman execution: He murdered someone? Not important. He was a Jew killed by an anti-Semitic government! That is all they see!

Make no mistake. This is a Charedi phenomenon. They own it! No Jew of any other stripe thinks that way. Not one! Even most Charedim don’t. But of those that do, all are Charedim or Chasidim. They are some of the same ones who called up Mrs. Park and harassed her.

I would be surprised if Charedi rabbinic leaders did not condemn the kind of commentary going on at Maztav. But that is not enough. It is about time that Charedi rabbinic leaders like those in Agudah face up to it. They have created a monster by constantly haranguing their flock about the evil Goy and his evil ways. What do they expect would happen when they asked people to do what they could to spare Grossman’s life?

In my view it is imperative that we sign Mrs. Pearlmutter’s letter. The names must be piled up. Let Mrs. Park know that the Jewish people are nothing like those Charedi Jews who called her a Nazi.

I would go a step further and ask Agudah, the OU and every other organization who lobbied for clemency for Grossman to - at the very least - sign that letter too. I only wish that they had been the ones who authored it!

Nu?

Guest Post by Rabbi Yossi Ginzberg

So after all the apologists responded to my "Daas Torah" article with such wordy denials of reality, I have to ask, after this week of non-stop Frum scandalous news, where are they?

*Where's the response to the insane mechitza-around-your-head on a plane?
*Where's the response to the Tzaddik's funeral accorded Grossman?
*Where's the response to the Balkany blackmail tumult?
*Where's the response to Rav Eliashiv's alleged braces/ mikvah issue?
*Where's the response to an Aguna finally being freed, after 48 YEARS?!?
*Where's the response to the frum developer that was convicted of taking $18 million from other Frum Jews?
*Where's the response to the "kabbalist" that is under indictment for scamming desperate people of large amounts?

And all this IN ONE WEEK!!

As someone who daily interacts with Baalei Teshuva and Gerim-in-process, these issues come up often and need to be addressed. How can I explain these?

Why are all the apologists hiding now?

Drunk as a Skunk

Purim is coming. There is an actual Halachic requirement for every adult male over the age of 13 to get drunk on that day. It is mentioned in Shulchan Aruch (695:2) based on a Gemarah in Megilla (7b). How drunk? The level of intoxication is to the point where it affects your rational mind. It is called “Ad D’Lo Yadah”. This means to the point where one does not know the difference between 'cursed is Haman' and 'blessed is Mordechai'.

I could never understand this Halacha. In essence it takes the position that one is required to be in a dangerously altered state of consciousness. It takes away any inhibition one might have to behave themselves and lets loose their unconscious thoughts and uninhibited boorish behavior which can easily lead to a Chilul HaShem. I have heard the hurtful words coming out of the mouth of a drunk and seen truly disgusting behavior they would not ordinarily do. Primitive emotions and thoughts come out which are unbecoming of a religious Jew.

As if that were not bad enough - there is a much bigger downside to this. Drunk people can both kill and be killed. Driving while intoxicated has clearly shown that to be the case. But drunk driving is not the only way to end one’s life tragically. If one consumes enough alcohol in a short period of time one can get alcohol poisoning. That can cause death much like a drug overdose can.

I am not here to argue with the Shulchan Aruch. But I do question its application in our day. Many rabbis who understand the issue today have ruled that one can fulfill the requirement of Ad D’Lo Yada by taking a short nap on Purim. I believe that some Roshei yeshiva have even had the courage to forbid their students from drinking on Purim. Too many tragedies have happened in the past. I think they are right. The stakes are too high.

Better late than never but the ‘genie is out of the bottle’. Kids are drinking. It is the drug of choice among many in the Frum community. It doesn’t matter which segment of Orhtodoxy one is from. Like any drug - addiction becomes a major problem. Addictive personalities will become addicted to alcohol and abuse it

It would not surprise me if Purim is a major contributor to the increase of this problem among us. Of course that is the only cause. There are many sources of Alcohol that all can lead to its abuse. Kiddush in Shul offers alcohol and young people imbibe with impunity – often even with approval from parents. I’ve seen fathers take pride in their young son’s ability to ‘take a drink’. They might even bond over sharing a L’Chaim with a son. In other words young people see almost a complete aura of approval. They see the Shulchan Aruch advocate it on Purim, certain Rebbeim endorsing it then and parents even taking pride in it! It is almost as though Halacha and social norms are all on the side of the free use of Alcohol. The result of all this can be tragic.

Nowhere is this demonstrated better than in an article on Foxnews. This incident was not on Purim. Here is an excerpt:

A local rabbi charged with unlawfully dealing with a child after police say an underage UAlbany student drank and was taken to the hospital after a party hosted at the rabbi's home.Rabbi Mendel Rubin is the director of Shabbos House, and faces a misdemeanor charge after police say he hosted a party at the center and a student who attended was taken to the hospital. Police say this happened back on February 5th…

According to the police report, Rabbi Mendel Rubin was hosting a party at the house where alcohol was provided. Police say the sick person, an underage student, had consumed alcohol at the party.He had to be transported to St. Peter's Hospital and according to the report the student blew a .459.Cox says, "at that BAC you are highly impaired it’s even life threatening."

Frankly I’m glad to see this rabbi arrested. He denies serving the underage young man any alcohol and claims he simply took some on his own. But that is not good enough. He served alcohol in his home and clearly did not discourage anyone from drinking. At the very least he made no provisions to prevent a minor from doing so. Aside from the danger he posed he has contributed to a Chilul HaShem!

It’s time our community reverse this trend. Alcohol ought to be banned at any Purim gathering of any kind. At this point it is a matter of Pikuach Nefesh. I would even go so far as to suggest that police monitor any school or home that has advertised a Purim party. If any minor is caught being served alcohol - the host be arrested and charged.

Rabbi Menachem Porush, OBM

Rabbi Menachem Porush has passed away at age 94. First my condolences to the family. I did not know Rabbi Porush nor had I ever met him. I do however recall a visit he paid to Telshe Yeshiva when I was a student there in the early sixties. But I can’t really say I remember anymore than that about his visit.

I first became aware of who he was by reading his articles in the Jewish Press. I became an immediate fan. I read his columns religiously every week back in the 70s and 80s along with those of Rabbi Meir Kahane. They were my two ‘favortie columnists’ and never missed reading them. Even though I didn’t always agree with them, I most often did. I always respected their sincere expression of their views.

Rabbi Porush - a 7th generation Israeli of Lithuanian descent - was a member of the Knesset representing the Agduat Israel Party, which was the sole Charedi party in Israel for many years. He was the quintessential Agudath Israel Party man serving it faithfully for his entire political career.

He believed in the principles of Agudah which promoted the idea of following the Gedolim in all matters. As such he forcefully argued their positions on any issue that ever arose in Israel ­- both in the Knesset and in his weekly column. He often spoke his mind on issues that did not necessarily represent their views although I do not recall him ever disagreeing with them outright.

I do however recall that one of his biggest disappointments was when the Agudat Israel Party split in two creating a second Charedi party called Degel Hatorah which represented Lithuanian Charedim while the remaining Agudat Israel Party represented Chasidim (of mostly Ger). You could see his pain about that loss of Charedi unity in many of his articles.

He retired from politics when the Agudat Israel Gedolim urged him to do so in order to make room for newer blood. But he never stopped being an advocate for their causes until the day he died continuing to write his column for the Jewish Press every week. He will be sorely missed. To the bereaved: Hamakom Yenachem Eschem B’Soch Shaarei Tzion V’Yerushalayim

A Story of Survival

I am currently recommending a paperback book called Entombed by Bernard Mayer. It is a gripping true story about survival during the Holocaust. What makes this particular book special to me is that it is that much of it involves my own father, Shimon, and his amazing brother Aaron. It is available at Amazon.com and can be purchased by clicking at the Amazon icon on the left margin.

Unfortunately it is in very limited supply - and most of those available are used. On the plus side - it is very cheap. Truly a great value. If you like inspiring stories from the Holocaust, you will love this book. As always any item you buy at Amazon.com accessed through this blog generates a small percentage of the price paid to my account there.

The ‘Spinka’ Syndrome

Say it ain’t so, Milton. (He actually did say it ain't so denying any wrong doing.)

Rabbi Yehoshua Balkany (…his old friends still call him Milton) was a childhood friend of mine. We both went to Yeshivath Beth Yehuda in Detroit and were both in the same class. We knew each other well then all the way through 8th grade. After going on to separate high schools we lost touch but I have followed this man’s amazing career.

He is in fact one of Beth Yehuda’s greatest accomplishments having come from a non religious background as many of their students did back then. He went on to become a student at Torah VoDaath and soon after became the principal of Beis Yaakov of Boro Park. He has been their Menahel for decades. Along the way he met his wife to be on an airplane (very cool, Milton!).

Ironically she is a member of the wealthyRubashkin family and sister to Shalom Rubashkin who is awaiting sentencing for his own financial crimes.

Milton is the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet. He is a guy who can charm your socks off. But more than that, he is a dedicated servant of the Jewish people who is tremendously skilled at interpersonal relationships. Using these skills he managed to achieve almost unprecedented access into the highest echelons of political power. Much of that access was via the use of those same skills to raise huge sums of money for political candidates.

I was proud to know this man – whose achievements on behalf of his people were legendary.

I wish I could end it here with a testimonial to his achievement and a “Kein Yirbu”. But I can’t. It pains me terribly to say this but if media reports about his crime is true – and I believe they are - Milton Balkany is victim of what I am now calling the ‘Spinka Syndrome’ . So named because of the Spinka Rebbe who was responsible for one of the biggest Chilulei HaShem in recent memory.

The Spinka Syndrome is a disorder that some Frum People have. These are people who have somehow incorporated into their Hashkafa the idea that if it is for a Yeshiva or another worthy cause - and not for personal gain - one can cheat the government, non Jews, or non religious Jews, if ‘no one gets hurt’ and they don’t get caught.

Here is what Milton did based on video evidence collected by federal agents. From the New York Daily News:

Rabbi Milton Balkany 63, was charged with extortion, blackmail and making false statements as part of an elaborate scheme to shake down the hedge fund, prosecutors charged.

They say Balkany told the hedge fund the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI were trying to get a jailbird he knew to give up information about illegal insider trades made by the financial firm.

There were no insider trades.

Balkany made up the story to trick fund managers into giving millions to the Bais Yaakov School in Borough Park, where he is the dean, and another school, Torah Vodaath, prosecutors said.

How ironic that the intended recipient of Milton’s ill gotten gains is the Yeshiva whose leaders were some of the most honorable men in the history of American Jewish Orthodoxy, Reb Sharga Feivel Mendlowitz, Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, and Rav Avraham Pam. These three individuals were exemplars of the kind of values we should all be aspiring to. They would have been abhorred what Milton has done. It should here be stated with clarity that I am 100% convinced that Torah VoDaath had absolutely no knowledge of any wrongdoing. Had they accepted a gift from their former Talmid, Milton, it would have been on the assumption that the gift was honestly attained.

Milton is a good hearted soul who has the same misguided approach to raising fund for worthy institutions that the Spinka Rebbe did. is goal was only to help out his own school and his Alma Mater Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. He saw an opportunity for quick score and he went for it. He probably figured the money was desperately needed. He devised a scam to defraud another Jew via extortion and blackmail. He figured who would get hurt? The 20 million dollar hedge fund would never miss the money and that there was plenty left over.

This attitude can be detected from this excerpt in the New York Times about conversations he had with his ‘mark’:

(A)nd thus began a fevered round of negotiations — much of it caught on tape — in which the rabbi can be heard protesting that he is “not here to threaten” and is certainly not “a holdup man.” Consider, the complaint quotes him as saying, how much money it would cost the fund if it had to defend itself against charges of insider trading: $20 million? $30 million?

As for the $4 million he himself was requesting, he said, “I don’t consider it a lot of money.”

The Spinka Rebbe was obviously not alone in having this attitude. Those money laundering New Jersey Rabbis were of the same mentality. And so is my friend Milton.

This is exactly why I was so upset when Agudah did not address this issue at their Midwest convention last December. Many of Charedi world’s best and brightest were there.

As I said at the time - they did address the issue of cheating on taxes and other illegal ways of scamming the government. They cited many possible reasons for the prevalence of it among some Frum Jews - pointing to the Chilul HaShem of doing so. They exhorted the audience to never God forbid do it!. All valid.

But by ignoring the very important component of religious leaders who believe that it is OK to do it for religious institutions - they in effect greased the path of the those like Milton Balkany to go ahead with their ‘scams’. Milton and all others like him who are basically good people - and I include the Spikna Rebbe here – have a flaw in their character that needs to be eradicated from our midst!

Apparently Agudah doesn’t think so. They did not mention a word about it at any of their major addresses here in Chicago - or anywhere else as far as I know. They felt it more important not to drag anyone’s name through the mud over this. They saw the Spinka Rebbe as having already admitted his guilt and why pile on? Just tell people it is Assur to steal from anyone, discuss greed and jealousy as possible motives, suggest ways to negate those motives and mention that it is a Chilul HaShem ifthey do it - and that will suffice.

Well it doesn’t suffice. As long as the leadership of the right continue to put the welfare of the individual above the welfare of the community the mentality of stealing from the Goyim (or non Frum Jews) for Tzedaka - as long as one doesn’t get caught - will continue to prevail among some of us. Who knows how many more people will be caught in FBI stings down the road. I’ll bet they have a whole list of Frum Jewish targets in what has become a fertile field for them.

Does Secular Jewry contribute to Jewish Culture?

At the Herzliya Conference, former Shas leader Aryeh Deri took part in a panel on education toward Jewish identity, and two of his points made it into the headlines. He said that until two centuries ago, religion simply was the Jewish culture. Since then, he says, secular Jewry has given us education but no culture, and he basically equated Jewish secular culture with reality TV. As a result, he thinks that the only common denominator for a dialogue on Jewish identity needs to be that God created the world and that the Torah was given to us by God. Everything else for him is barren.

So goes the opening paragraph of a Ha’aretz editorial. The point that writer Carlo Strenger is trying to make is that Aryeh Deri has unfairly characterized secular culture. He says, that it is unfair for Deri to say that secular Jewry has not contributed to Jewish culture. He calls Deri’s approach a Charedi one which fails to recognize the over 200 years of contribution that secular Jewry has given to Jewish culture - citing as examples:

160 Nobel laureates… the rich traditions of Jewish-American literature and music, as well as the enormously vital Israeli cultural scene.

Does he have a point? I don’t think so. What is it that makes anything Jewish? Without Torah and Mitzvos can there even be Judaism - let alone a Jewish culture?

Secular Jews have had many great achievements that the Charedi world should recognize. But they are not particularly Jewish. Which is fine. But let us recognize it for what it is - and what it is not - by examining Strenger’s examples and see whether they are particularly Jewish or even positive.

Is winning the Nobel Prize in physics a culturally Jewish achievement? It is an amazing achievement and even a Kiddush HaShem when it happens. It shows Jews in a very positive light and says a lot about our values as a people. Values that contribute to the betterment of the world – Tikun Olam. But winning a prize in Physics or any other discipline does not contribute to Jewish culture. There is nothing particularly Jewish about physics.

As for secular Jewish contributions to literature - at best I would say that most Jewish writers say nothing about Judaism. I would argue that those who do – in most cases write counter to Jewish values and have thereby devalued Judaism. There have been some pretty sorry novels about Jewish culture. How many books written by secular Jews have made observant Judaism look particularly good? It is rare if it ever happens at all.

I would say the same thing about secular Jewish composers of music and Jewish singers. The secular music they have written spans the entire spectrum of ‘good to bad’ taste. But it has absolutely no Jewish value to it. Is there anyone who think that the most popular song ever written - a song written by a Jew named Irving Berlin called ‘White Christmas’ has added anything to Jewish culture? I don’t. Neither has any other song that a secular Jew has written. None of them have added anything to Jewish culture. Attempts by secular Jews to write Jewish music has been at best an embarrassment! Think - Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights (Of Chanukah). I see no positive contribution to Jewish culture in that song.

The secular Jewish culture in Israel is not one that I am particularly familiar with, But from what I’ve seen it is not particularly flattering to Torah values. The Treif restaurants, and low levels of Tznius one sees on the streets in a secular area like Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv (pictured above) are hardly assets to our culture.

But Strenger’s views are not entirely without merit. He just focused on the wrong thing. Secular Jewry has not contributed anything particularly Jewish to Jewish culture. But they do value secular education. Deri in fact conceded that point: “Secular Jewry has given us education”. As an adherent of Torah U’Mada I strongly agree that it has a high value. But it is not an exclusively Jewish one. And that is something that Charedim in Israel do not appreciate. In fact they are opposed to studying it!

When Strenger speaks about the value of education and the lack of value given to it by Charedim he is right. And there he gets back on message:

If Deri were to bother picking up some secular knowledge, he might learn that modernity has brought about new identities everywhere, and that all cultures needed to deal with secularization. In particular he would notice that the Haredi movement is itself a quintessentially modern movement that is only 200 years old and in no way represents "authentic" Judaism. Its raison d'etre, to this day, is to be a reaction against the power of the Enlightenment - a phenomenon to be found in the other monotheistic religions, too. Before that, from Maimonides and Ibn Ezra to the Gaon of Vilna, the greatest Jewish thinkers were open to knowledge from other sources...

He is right about that.

Aryeh Deri has advocated that Charedim become integrated into Israel's higher education system. As a protégé of Rav Ovadia Yosef I assume that statement has his blessing. I certainly cannot argue with it. (Fat chance of that happening any time soon, though.) Nonetheless perhaps he sees what I see. If the growing Charedi population doesn’t get out of its collective seat and change their paradigm from one of learning Torah full time while rejecting any secular knowledge to one where secular knowledge is also embraced, the entire state’s existence may come to an end - and a lot sooner than anyone expects.

May God Have Mercy on His Soul

When I was a child, I recall watching the ‘courtroom drama’ shows on TV. Whenever a man was sentenced to the death penalty, I would hear the judge end his sentencing with the phrase, ‘May God have mercy on your soul’ - no matter how heinous the crime. I don’t know if judges do that in a real court. I have never attended a trial where a death penalty was issued. But it is nevertheless a worthy phrase.

A murderer is to be punished with the death penalty. That is what the Torah proscribes - even when a murderer regrets what he did and repents. Teshuva does however help in the world to come. So does his death. Death is his ultimate atonement.

Nefesh Tachas Nofesh (Shemos 21:23). A life for a life. If I understand the full implication of this Torah principle correctly - when a murderer has sincerely done Teshuva while still alive, his death then wipes the slate clean. Hence the plea for mercy on his soul is completely appropriate.

Martin Grossman was executed Tuesday night. Those who read this blog regularly know that I was conflicted about his execution. While I thought that his life should be spared and that he serve his sentence in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole, I did so hesitatingly - siding with life when in doubt about where true justice may lie in this case. I spelled out my reasons and will not repeat them here.

My heart however was always with the victim’s family. The murder was heinous and brutal. Anyone who knows the details would have a hard time feeling any mercy toward a murderer like this. As I said in an earlier post the grisly details of the murder would motivate any normal human being to want ‘pull the switch’ themselves.

And yet, it is so much more complex than that. The debate on the rectitude of the death penalty in this case raged with a ferocious certainty on both sides. A certainty which I could not grasp. I saw it as an emotional debate. And emotions, no matter how strong do not meet the standards for justice. This is as grey a case as I can recall. I do not see either side as completely justified. Or perhaps I see them both as justified.

Nowhere is this conundrum better expressed than in two posts. One on YWN and the other on VIN. I should begin with the Agudah statement.

Agudah expressed their deep anguish over Grossman’s execution – pointing out the wide participation from all across the world including the Vatican asking for mercy. This is true and I suppose it shows that belief in a just cause crosses religious lines.

I must admit that I was particularly touched by the description of the execution by the Chabad Rabbi that attended it. Here is an excerpt from YWN:

The officer asked “Mr. Grossman do you have any final words?” to which Martin replied “Yes”.Martin began “ I completely regret everything that I did on that night, both that which I remember and that which I do not”. He then said, “ I would like to say a prayer,” the officer said okay.At that point Martin says “Shema Yisroel adon- elokenu adon- echod” in a loud voice and then said something that I will never forget so long as I live.

“Ahavat Yisroel”.

At that point I began to weep so loud that the guy behind me asked me if I would like to leave. There are no words to describe the way Martin died. Martin committed a terrible crime, one that will haunt a family as long as they live. But with those two words he showed that, “ein dovor bo bifnei harotzon,” nothing stands in the way of a man’s will. Martin died proclaiming his affection for Yisroel his brothers and sisters throughout the world, more for G-d and his Torah as well. Martin died a repentant man...

I wish I could say that this is the end of the story. Unfortunately it is not. Rabbi Yair Hoffman expresses well the sentiments of those of us who were opposed to - or like myself at least expressed hesitation in - asking for a commutation of his death sentence. Even though I personally decided to ask for mercy I completely agree with how poorly it was handled and that the net result was probably a Chilul HaShem. Here is an excerpt from his editorial on VIN:

(H)ow is it that the brightest and the best minds in our orthodox Jewish organizations attempted such a campaign when they (k)new there was zero chance of it coming to fruition? The political damage to Orthodox Judaism was enormous. The harassment to the victim’s family was so significant that they actually asked the Jews to stop calling them and harassing them. Indeed, the family of this woman were called “Nazis” in asking for the death penalty being invoked here. Is this also not an enormous Chillul Hashem? How dare any of us call them Nazis.

One phone caller to Governor Crist actually said, “By us.. the most important thing is a Jewish life.” What?? Is this person insane? Is this the message that we are giving- yes seek justice in every way, but when it comes to one of us – don’t mete out the punishment that the wheels of justice finally came up with – because this guy happens to be one of us.

And don’t the people who run these organizations and campaigns realize that there will also be people in our camp who are not the brightest candles in the box who will make Chilul Hashems constantly and consistently when we ask them to take to the phones, emails, and letter writing?

He is absolutely right. No matter how one feels about the execution, the ‘best and brightest’ among us – dropped the ball! May God have mercy on us all.

Why Do They Do It?

What is it about people of accomplishment that makes so many of them sexual criminals?

We are used to looking at the entertainment industry and seeing all kinds of immoral sexual conduct – Illicit sexual affairs seem to be business as usual there. But I don’t think Hollywood is unique anymore. Politicians seem to have taken the lead in sexual misconduct. The list seems endless and it didn’t start yesterday. JFK’s illicit sexual exploits while President are legendary. Even the most prestigious of founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, fathered a child out of wedlock with one of his salves.

In our day… well just think of these fallen public servants. Gary Hart, Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, John Edwards, and Larry Craig are just a few who immediately come to mind.

Even respected clergy are not immune. Dr. Martin Luther King, Reverend Jesse Jackson are both known to have had affairs. And there are several very prominent evangelical preachers who have been caught doing immoral sexual acts.

It is all too easy to just label them as evil sexual deviants. But these are all men of great achievement. Men who otherwise led decent lives. And yet all have succumbed.

The Jewish people are certainly not immune. Not even religious ones. Two of the more prominent ones are Israel’s former President Moshe Katzav an observant Jew who was accused of rape - and one very respected Israeli Rosh HaYeshiva who had an affair with a married woman many years ago. (He shall remain nameless since I am not sure how well known that sad story is.) And of course there is the recent story about Leib Tropper.

And now there is Rabbi Mordechai (Motti) Elon. He has been accused of sexual misconduct by the organization Takana. From the Jerusalm Post:

The Takana forum posted an announcement Monday warning that Elon was dangerous to the public and demanded he step down from all rabbinical, teaching and community responsibilities.

As would be expected Elon denied it and called the whole thing a "terrible blood libel, a complaint without foundation".

But I seriously doubt his claim considering who comprises the rabbinic committee of Takana: From the Muqata:

R' Yaakov Ariel, R' Aharon Lichtenstein, R' Eitzan Eisman, R' Shlomo ben Eliyahu, R' Baruch Gigi, R' Avi Gisser, R' Tzefanya Drori, Dr. Aviad Cohen, Dr. Yaakov Chaba, R' Elyakim Livanon, R' Benny Lehman, R' David Stav, R' Gabi Kadosh, R' Elyashiv Knohal, R' Zev Karov, R' Shlomo Riskin, Professor Yedidya Stern, R' Yuval Sherlo, R' Yehoshua Shapira.Mrs. Efrat Brom, Rabbanit Yaffa Gisser, Mrs. Debby Gross, Rabbanit Chana Henkin, Eilat Weider Cohen,Dr. Shulamit Lehman, Mrs. Tami Samet, Rabbanit Malka Petrokovsky, Rabbanit Gila Rosen, Attorney Dorit Rosenfeld, Rabbanit Yehudit Shilat, Attorney Riki Shapira.

Rav Aharon Lichtenstein has unfortunately been threatened by one of Elon’s supporters. Again from the Muqata:

In an emotional lecture to his students, often breaking into tears, R' Aharon Lichtenstein announced that he has received death threats by a student of R' Motti Elon in retaliation for his participating in the Takana forum which labeled R' Motti as a "dangerous person."

How sad. I guess violence doesn’t only belong to the people of Meah Shearim. It belongs to all those whose first recourse to the solution of a problem is a fist. Or a death threat. But that is not my issue. Hopefully Rav Lichtenstein is being given police protection and this individual will be caught. In any case this is not my issue here.

My issue here is the following. Yes, what they all did is digusting. No argument here. But these are all men of great achievement, very popular with their constituents. What makes them do this kind of thing? Why spoil what in many instances may have become a great legacy? Why take the chance at destroying one’s family, and ultimately ruining one’s life with this kind of risky behavior?

I have no answers, just questions. Elon’s family are superstars of Israeli politics. Ha’artez called them the Kennedys of The Religious Zionist Camp in a recent article. That gives him charisma and fosters trust in his constituents. That all adds up to opportunity.

Perhaps it is as simple as that. Opportunity. Charismatic people or people with power have ‘fans’ and therefore far more opportunity to have affairs or to be in positions to take advantage of the vulnerable. Perhaps a lot more of us would succumb to temptation given the opportunity. Maybe that is what Chazal meant by Ain Apitropus L’Arayos. No one is immune from temptation.

Updated: 2:39 pm CST

Israel’s Existential Threat

Inside a modern economy renowned for its innovative high-tech sector, they see a growing problem. Critics say the Jewish pupils who attend ultra-Orthodox schools can recite chapter and verse of the Bible, but most can't spell the name of their largest Arab neighbor, Egypt, in English.
About half of Israel's pupils either attend Arab schools that are under-funded, or ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminaries where "secular" subjects such as English, science and mathematics take a back seat to biblical studies, or are completely ignored.

These are the opening lines of an article in Reuters.

As optimistic as I am about the future of American Orthodoxy - one that is becoming an integrated community combining moderate Charedim and Centrist Modern Orthodox Jews - I am equally pessimistic about a future Israeli Orthodoxy. The uniting factors that I see in America are the very ones I see as divisive in Israel. Those factors not only threaten unity - they threaten Charedi world as we know it. But mostly I think they threaten the very existence of the state.

The two worlds of Datim – counter parts to Modern Orthodox Jews in America – and Israeli Charedim are so far apart that the chasm is almost unbridgeable. It is almost as though they were as different from each other as they both are from Conservative and Reform Jewry.

One might not have thought so. After all - the one thing that unites all of Orthodoxy in the entire world is the commitment to observe Mitzvos - quintessentially exemplified by Shmiras Shabbos – sabbath observance.

It seems like a no brainer at first blush. What better uniting factor can there be than that? One might think that unity through Mitzvah observance would supersede all other considerations. But it doesn’t. There are many issues that separate the two camps in Israel. But the one issue that is the greatest barrier between them is the educational gap – followed very closely by army gap. Charedim generally do not serve. Datim generally do.

While army service is a very important and divisive issue, it is not one that directly affects the lifeblood of Israel’s existence – the economy. Without a vibrant economy Israel cannot survive. If the current trend continues Israel’s economy may die – and the State of Israel right along with it. The trend I am talking about is the increasing population of Israeli residents that do not work - and do not seek to work.

The male Charedi in Israel is generally illiterate in anything other than Torah subjects. Secular subjects are virtually absent in their schools. Post high school it is zero. Pre high school it is only basic math – unless you count Dikduk - Hebrew grammar as a secular subject.

Datim get a full secular education and many go on to get degrees and professional training. That results in good jobs in most cases after army service.

Charedim on the other hand are strongly discouraged from working. They see this as Daas Torah from their rabbinic leadership. There is no need for a secular education. Secular education is therefore forbidden in their schools.

This has resulted in a problem that pales in comparison to the unity issue between Datim and Charedim.

The Charedi and Arab populations are the fastest growing segments in Israel. The current prediction is that these two groups will comprise about 50% of the population in just one generation. They are 30% of the population now. And fully 50% of the student body comes from these two groups. Both groups suffer poverty and unemployment. But Charedim are unemployed and uneducated on purpose.

Charedim are poorest demographic in Israel. Many live a barebones existence - subsisting mainly on debt; on parents who help them out in some cases; on the generosity of wealthier American patrons to their charities; and - mostly - on the largess of government subsidies.

There are some Charedi schools in Israel that have a secular studies program. I know of Ma’arava a Chafetz Chaim high school. The article in Reuters mentions another one - the Nahardea school near Tel Aviv. But there are only five such schools - all of which are basically boycotted by mainstream Charedim. Although I am told there are waiting lists of Charedim who want their children to enroll which is a good sign they nonetheless are a drop in the proverbial bucket. Besides - of sixty thousand Avrechim virtually all of whom have many children, 5 schools is a joke.

What kind of future can Israel have with these kinds of statistics? Aside from the crushing poverty this causes so many Frum Jews how will Israeli society continue to function? Who will provide the essential services that any civilized nation needs for its very existence? Who will join the Israeli Defense Forces that protect the country?

Even as Charedi politicians continue to succeed in exchanging ‘votes for welfare payments’ from ruling coalitions - it will eventually lose the tax base that currently sustains it!

And yet Charedi leaders refuse to budge. They insist on maintaining the system as it is. Yeshivos they say, are for learning Torah only. Any attempt by the government to install even a modest secular curriculum in Charedi schools is treated as though it were being done by Russian Czars trying to subvert Torah observance. Government officials attempting it have been vilified as pure Reshaim and sometimes even compared to Nazis!

A reflexive Charedi type response to the concern over an existential threat to the State might be one of derisive laughter. The destruction of the State is a good thing to them. They see a Charedi takeover as Divine salvation.

Expression of concern by those like me about the welfare of our fellow Charedi Jews is met with a retort of ‘The Gedolim know what’s best for us - not you.’ ‘If they don’t want any secular studies there shouldn’t be any.’ Working is at best a B’Dieved. Leaving the Beis HaMedrash is seen as only a last resort.

Those of us who raise these issues are accused of being motivated solely by Charedi hatred. Or Gadol hatred.

Besides - they will say - secular education is over-rated when it comes to Paranssa. They will also point to Israeli Charedim who work and support their families and yet never spent a day studying secular subjects in a classroom. The dearth of jobs is the fault of bad economy, job discrimination against Charedim, or the lack of army service which prejudices secular and Dati employers who have served.

I am sure that much of this is true. But I am equally sure that the overall attitude to learning versus work combined with the lack of any secular studies or preparation for the work force is by far the bigger problem. For those who ‘break down’ and decide to enter the workforce. It is a lonely road.

Some do have the initiative to find some training after they ‘get up’ from learning. But they are often in their forties with a large family to support. And they are at a disadvantage in that they are still undereducated and under prepared. They also compete with a much younger and better educated Dati or secular Jew. Additionally Dati and secular Jews who hit the job market much earlier in life - have much smaller families to support - and accordingly their financial needs are much lower.

Israel cannot survive if half of its population not only does not work but does not seek to work. Not to mention the threat to national security an under populated military force.

I don’t have any answers. I certainly do not wish to limit the potential for Torah learning of any Jew, Charedi or not. In some cases full time learning is appropriate. (Although in my view a true Gadol should be knowledgeable in secular studies too. But that is another subject.) There has to be some way for a Charedi to get a basic education. I wish Israeli leaders would adopt a more American style educational system. Like those 5 Charedi schools. But sadly it’s just not happening.

Tropper – Gone!

I have just been informed by Rabbi Yair Hoffman - who has been involved with this case very closely - that Rabbi Leib Tropper has resigned from his position as Rosh HaYeshva of Yeshivas Kol Yaakov and will no longer be involved with it in any way. And that he will cease to have anything to do with that school.

Just to quickly review the story surrounding this - Rabbi Tropper was a founder and prominent 'rising star' (albeit very controversial from the start) in the area of standardizing conversions to Judaism. He created an organization for this purpose called the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF). He was however recently recorded discussing sexual favors with one of his potential converts - implying a quid pro quo of sexual favors in exchange for her conversion to Judaism.

Tropper is now gone from any organization he ever had anything to do with. This is good news and ought to be applauded. Rabbi Hoffman has indicated to me that one of the prime movers in achieving this result was Rabbi Dovid Ribiat. I bring this up in light of the fact that I and many others were critical of his response to the Tropper issue. Many of us felt that nothing was being done and that that his publihsed responses were nothing more than apologetics.

This – I was assured – was not the case at all. Rabbi Ribiat quietly was in the forefront of this problem and at great peril. He was harassed by Tropper’s supporters with implied threats of bodily harm. But he was not deterred. He is an honorable man and has done the right thing. He has also been modest about it shunning any publicity. I cannot oblige him. People like this need to be publicly thanked for their efforts.

I don’t know Rabbi Ribiat. We have never met. Although I do have a connection to his family having boarded for a short time with an aunt and uncle of his. I was an 8 year old attending Yeshivath Beth Yehudah in Detroit - his home town. My family lived in Toledo – 60 miles away. I came home for weekends. But that’s another story.

Though I do not know him he seems to have been the quiet hero through all of this and I salute him. More on this story can be found in the 5 Towns Jewish News.

Tuesday at 6:00 PM

A final word about the pending Grossman execution. Time is running out and I doubt his life will be spared. The execution is scheduled for 6:00 Pm Eastern time tomorrow night. I have not changed my view. I think his life should be spared for all the reasons I said.

But…

Anyone who reads an account of the grisly murder and does not want to ‘pull the switch’ themselves (or in this case inject the needle) is not human. It turns my stomach. Here is an excerpt from the Associated Press republished at VIN:

Her life ended suddenly on Dec. 13, 1984, after she happened upon two teenagers in the woods with a stolen gun. One of them, Martin Edward Grossman, then 19, brutally beat Park with her flashlight and, prosecutors said, finished her off with a shot to the back of the head from her own gun. He was convicted of first-degree murder.

Interestingly in another VIN news item - Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yona Metzger, has weighed in on this. He sent Florida's Governor Crist a letter which can be viewed at VIN. Therein he argues that Halachic parameters used in adjudicating capital cases - upon which western civilization bases its own laws - be utilized here as well. In the days where a Beis Din decided death penalty cases every opportunity was exhausted up to the very last moment to spare a convicted person’s life. He asked that this be done here as well:

New evidence has surfaced in this case and changes in the law have taken place that merit consideration of clemency. I am convinced that there is sufficient cause to at least delay this execution until all evidence and legal arguments are presented.

My brain tells me he’s right. But my heart is with those who want to see him executed. Sometimes doing the right thing is hard.

Getting Results

Yes friends if you want to know how to get results, just call on your friendly neighborhood knights in shining armor - the Men of a Hundred Gates (Meah Shearim).

Last week the body of a woman who was thought to die from a drug overdose was snatched by Charedi youth from a Jerusalem hospital - for fear an autopsy would be done. The valiant men of Meah Shearim knew immediately what to do. From Ha’aretz

The Haredim had attacked the policemen guarding the corpse, damaged a police car and then left with the body.

As we all know by now this is the best way to get results. Indeed these valiant knights in shining armor got the job done. Mission accomplished.

Of course the enemy ‘storm trooper’ police were not going to take this lying down. In their unbridled insolence - they had the unmitigated gall to arrest a Charedi man who took part in the violence. They even went so far as to get the collaborationist courts of the evil empire (Israel) to order it.

So the young Charedi knights of Meah Shearim pulled out their ‘mighty swords’ and sprang into action again in their inimitable and noble ways. Again from Ha’aretz:

Haredi youths reportedly hurled stones at buses driving along the capital's Shivtei Yisrael and Yekhezkel streets, as well as setting fire to municipal garbage bins.

Ahhhh! Geshmak! I can just imagine their mighty battle cry: “God is great!” These guys may be insular but they are God's army. Civilized behavior? Feh! Goyishe values.

Did someone say something about Chilul HaShem? Nah!

Makes one proud to be a religious Jew.

Separating the Sexes at the Kotel

There is an ongoing discussion on an e-mail list about the partition – the Mechitza -at the Kotel today. This is one of my pet peeves. I see absolutely no reason for it on a daily basis. What many people do not know is that prior to 1948 there was no Mechitza at the Kotel. Archival photos taken in the late 19th and early 20th century confirm that. See photo at left.

It has been argued that because of the huge crowds the Kotel attracts during a Yom Tov, that Tznius issue demand that a Mechitza be erected. Perhaps. When there is a crush of people I can certainly understand why it would be wise to separate the sexes. But most days at the Kotel it is sparsely attended.

The women's side of the Mechitza at the Kotel is much smaller than the men’s side and yet many more women attend than do men on any given day. At least that has been my experience every time I go.

If the Kotel Plaza were opened up, there would be plenty of room for everyone without any Tznius issues. To the best of my knowledge there is absolutely no Halachic or practical need for it on most days.

The only place a Mechitza is required is in a Mikdash Me’at – a Shul during prayer with a Minyan. Only a Shul has a special status of Kedushas Beis HaKenesses and requires men and women to be separated that way. No other venue requires a Mechitza for prayer with a Minyan. The Kotel Plaza does not have the status of a Shul and therefore does not require a Mechitza.

The proof is that it doesn’t have that status is that there has never been one. One need only look at the photographic evidence of it to see that. The Kotel is not a Shul - no matter how many Aronei Kodesh one finds there or how many ad hoc Minyanim take place there. The Kotel Plaza is no different than a wedding hall where men gather to Daven Mincha or Maariv with a Minyan without a Mechitza.

Some have claimed that these places have somehow morphed into little Shuls. I disagree. They were never set up that way at all on the outside. Perhaps the part of the Kotel to the left that has rooms and a roof connected to the Kotel are so designated. Those would require a Mechitza. Of course there is no Mechitza there because women have no access to it. In my view that is unfair and as far as I know - there is no legitimate Halachic reason for barring women from Davening there. They should be able to Daven there with a Minyan and out of the direct heat of the sun.

This whole Mechitza business at the Kotel is nothing more than an attempt to Charedize the Kotel as much as possible. And it has succeeded.

Why I Oppose Capital Punishment for Grossman

In response to the overwhelming sentiment that Mr. Grossman should be executed - I feel I must expand a bit on why I believe it would be an injustice in this case.

I should first state that as a matter of general principle I am opposed to capital punishment except for very special cases - like serial killers or mass murderers. I do not feel there is any moral justification just because the state of Florida has given its own parameters in mandating it. Their parameters are not my parameters.

The death penalty is not evenly applied in this country. The poor are far and away more likely to be executed for a capital crime than the rich.

And although it is not relevant in this case - it has been shown that in far too many cases innocent people have been convicted for capital offences, condemned to death, and executed. New and advanced DNA technology has proven this many times. In fact former Illinois Governor George Ryan was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for halting executions in Illinois for precisely this reason. Many condemned prisoners were saved when new DNA technology proved them innocent!

Secondly, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I cannot in good conscience advocate execution of the death penalty for an individual where Halacha would not allow it. If Mr. Grossman would have planned and gleefully murdered the Gadol HaDor in a slow torture -mutilation type rape/murder - and then showed no remorse - he would not have received Misas Beis Din. That can only be applied with Kosher Eidim and Hasra'ah. This was not the case here. Obviously.

And then there is the fact of his mental state at the time. He was not in fully in control of his mental faculties. He was on drugs at the time. That is no excuse - but to me it is enough of a factor to eliminate full awareness of what he was doing.

Then there is the fact that the crime was not pre-meditated. He did not set out to kill anyone that day. But if I recall correctly Florida statutes allow the death penalty anyway in murder cases where a felony is committed. Or in cases where law enforcement officers are the victims.

Law or no law - for me this is not a moral position to take. It is somewhat arbitrary. Why should the murder of members of only one profession be given the death penalty and not others? I completely understand their motives but I do not consider it morally just to single out for execution only murderers of one type of victim.

And then there is the matter of his remorse and that he has been a model prisoner. Does that not count for anything?

It is for all these reasons that I oppose his execution. I am not asking for his release. That would be an even greater injustice. But I am asking that his sentence be changed from the death penalty to life imprisonment.

That said, I agree with those who said that our own public service agencies should be as concerned for non Jewish prisoners in situations like this as they are for Jewish ones. But that does not mitigate the need to act here.

Finally as I said - my heart goes out to the family members who have suffered the loss of a loved one in such a horrific way at the hands of this man. But executing Grossman will not bring her back. Nor do I think it would make their loss feel any less deep.

A Message from God

There is a tradition in Judaism to look at epidemics and tragedies that befall mankind and try and see a message for us from God in them. This is true whether they directly affect us or not.

In this case it does. There is an outbreak of mumps in Jewish communities in Boro Park, Williamsburg, Crown Heights, and Lakewood.

Although mumps are not a deadly disease and in most cases there is a full recovery, it can in some cases be quite serious. From a NYC Health Department News Release: Complications from mumps can include viral meningitis, hearing loss and reproductive problems for men.

If I understand correctly the children of these neighborhoods were not properly inoculated. There was a scare a few years ago that the combined MMR vaccine (mumps, measles, and rubella) was linked to autism. Against medical advice many parents felt that the benefits of inoculation to these childhood diseases did not outweigh the remotest of connections to autism, a devastating life-long mental disorder. And it seemed to be that cases of autism were on the increase in the Frum world.

That studies have not shown any link whatsoever between MMR and autism - did not change anyone’s mind.

There is also the fact that the quick spread of mumps might be due to these areas being densely populated where contagious and infectious diseases can quickly spread.

One might be tempted to say that these factors are reason for this epidemic. Don’t be tempted to think like that. It is Apikursus. There must be a message here for us. A message from God.

Physical explanations have little to do with God’s will. He wanted to tell us something. This highly infectious disease is rampant for a reason. God wanted to tell us something.

But What? What could His message be?

It cannot be the same message that the disaster in Haiti gave us. That was a pretty big message. And it was recent. Do we need an epidemic of mumps to tell us the same thing?

It must be something else. We need to examine what we are doing wrong. What is God trying to telling us by inflicting a disease upon so many innocent children? And why these particular communities? These are after all the Frummest neighborhoods in America and they have the largest number of very Frum Jews.

It must be that a large number of us are doing something wrong in the eyes of God.

Taking a page from the Charedi handbook, I have come to the conclusion that it can only be one thing. The Jewish people are being punished because of Modern Orthodoxy and our belief in Torah U’Mada.

Yes, tolerating this aberration from our Mesorah is what’s causing mumps. It doesn’t matter that Yeshiva University’s neighborhood of Washington Heights hasn’t been affected by it. Nor does the fact that most of the students there have probably been inoculated have anything to do with it.

Whenever there is a major disaster in the world - even when we are not directly affected - we need to look at ourselves. Introspection is what is called for here. A Cheshbon HaNefesh.

We who profess to believe in Torah U’Mada are at fault for embracing a false ideology. It is our fault that the citizens of Lakewood and Boro Park; Williamsburg and Crown Heights are suffering this epidemic. Besides - we are just not Frum enough. That’s why they are being punished.

I therefore propose that we close down Yeshiva University and that all the YU Roshei Yeshiva do Teshuva. And then they should go to Eretz Yisroel and say Tehilim for 40 days at the Kotel. Besides - what better use of their time can there be than this?!

Let us pray that in the merit of this holy task that God will remove this scourge from our people.

Let Him Live!

A heinous crime was committed by a fellow Jew by the name of Martin Grossman. He murdered a Florida law enforcement official with her own gun while in a drug induced state. My heart goes out to the victim’s family. As I said in the past I cannot imagine what it must be like for them while this man lives awaiting his execution. And yet it would be a miscarriage of justice if he were to be executed. Why? As famed legal scholar Alan Dershowitz was quoted saying on Matzav.com:

“Even those who strongly support capital punishment would limit it to recidivists or people who ‎commit the most heinous of crimes. Martin Grossman fits neither of those categories. He does ‎not belong on death row. His crime, committed when he was a teenager, was unplanned, ‎unpremeditated and impulsive - the product of a serious mental illness, that can now be proved ‎by medical technology that was unavailable at the time of his sentencing.

“He has been in prison ‎for more than a quarter of a century, during which time he has been a model prisoner who has ‎shown great remorse for what he did. All that he is seeking now is a 60-day postponement of his ‎execution, so that his supporters can martial the evidence and present his case for clemency.

“No ‎one should be rushed to execution while doubts remain unresolved. Justice demands that he be ‎given the 60 days to prove that he does not deserve to die at the hands of the state.” ‎

I could not agree more. I have previously stated that in my view the most just sentence in this case would be life imprisonment. I still believe that to be the case.

While I have expressed my dismay that Orthodox public service organizations like Agudah and Young Israel seem to be more pre-occupied with Jewish criminals than other issues of great import to the Jewish community, I nonetheless also said that I agree that justice should be vigorously pursued. And justice here is not the death penalty in my view.

So even though I wish it weren’t needed; even though I wish this was not the issue we were working on; even though I can think of many issues I wish we were working on instead; and even though I can think of many reasons why we shouldn’t be doing this … a man’s life is at stake. A life which in my view should be spared. And that trumps everything else. I therefore ask people to sign this petition. It’s the least we can do. And may God grant comfort and closure to the victim's bereaved family. Thank you.

Who Was The Greatest?

And the winner is… Reb Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz. That’s who I believe had the greatest impact on Orthodox Jewry in the 20th century. Back to that later.

The poll I had on my other blog EvE II closed yesterday and the results indicated otherwise. That very unscientific poll showed Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe with 69 votes to have had the greatest impact, followed very closely by Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe who garnered 65 votes. There were 260 votes cast. Here is the breakdown:

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn 69 votes - 26% (of the total)
Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum 65 votes - 25%
Rabbi Moshe Feinstein 39 votes - 15%
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik 37 votes - 14%
Rabbi Aharon Kotler 25 votes - 9%
Reb Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz 22 votes - 8%
Other 3 votes - 1%

The question must be asked as to why the top two vote getters received more than 50% of all the votes counted. Can it be that this represents the feeling of all Orthodox Jews? I doubt it. I think what probably happened here is that followers of these two great rabbinic figures somehow heard about this poll and had a ‘voting war’. My last poll only generated only 129 respondents – about half as many as this one did.

Now it is possible that these two rabbinic giants would have won anyway. But it is hard to know one way or another. Factoring out the top two winners it seems that Rav Moshe is seen as having had the greatest impact by a very slight and probably statistically insignificant margin over Rav Soloveitchik. I tend to question that result too since I presume that many if not most of my readers tend to be from the broad spectrum of Modern Orthodoxy. The lower vote of Rav Aharon Kotler I think might reflect the fewer numbers of Charedim that read this blog.

So in the end, this poll proves absolutely nothing. Except that my choice was deemed least important of the candidates.

Why Reb Shraga Feivel? Let me start by stating why not the others.

Anyone who reads my blog posts regularly knows that of all these great figures, I was most influenced by the writings of Rav Soloveitchik. None of the others had anywhere near his impact on me. But at the same time I recognize that his impact on Orthodxy did not really go beyond the world of Modern Orthodoxy. I’m not saying that he didn’t impact it at all. Fair minded people of all stripes will admit that he did. Some on the extreme right will say for the worse. But in the Orthodox world he is basically ignored by all but Modern Orthodox Jewry.

Rav Moshe is definitely the Posek Acharon for our times. Few people dare to disagree with his Psak on most issues and rarely do. There are some like the Satmar Rebbe who disagree with R’ Moshe on some key issues but his views are mostly followed by his own constituents. Rav Moshe is by far the most universally recognized Posek of the post war 20th century and beyond. But as much as he impacted Psak, I don’t believe he impacted all of Orthodoxy in any way that was ‘game changing’. Orthodox Jewry would have more or less developed as it did without him. The void in Psak might have been filled by other Poskim. The way we lead our daily lives Halachicly would not be that significantly different.

The Satmar Rebbe truly did impact the 20th century significantly. He basically single handedly transferred Satmar from Europe to the United States and Israel and shepparded it into exponential growth. It is a world unto itself whose members are unique and dedicated Chasidim. I would even venture to say that if not for Satmar, I’m not sure any of the other Chasidic groups would have grown as much – at least in the US. I will agree that in Israel, the Gerer Rebbe is the one who might have that title.

But all of his aceivements are primarily in the world of Chasidus only. The vast majority of Orthodox Jews, while respecting him in both torah knowledge and leadership capacities, are not influenced by him.

The Lubavicher Rebbe too is limited in his influence. His impact is in the world of Kiruv and upon his own Chasidim. Of all the rabbis listed, he is the one who is most venerated by his Chasidim. In some cases obsessively so – to the point of calling him Melech HaMoshiach. His movement grew from a minuscule one into one of the largest and most powerful Jewish movements in the world.

But even with all the secular Jews who have been convinced to become Frum because of the Rebbe's efforts, it is only Lubavitch that sees him as a leader. Even the Baalei Teshuva he brought in were brought in as Lubavitchers. His impact on Orthodox Jews outside of Lubavitch therefore is relatively small.

By contrast Rav Ahron Kotler’s impact is felt by Orthodox Jews all over the world. He recreated the world of post high school Yeshivos and Kollelim in America. Without that accomplishment, Orthdoxy as we know it today would not exist – at least here in America. Even though Israel had its own builders of Orthodoxy like the Poneviszhe Rav, the Chazon Ish, and the Brisker Rav… they focused only on Israel which was a much smaller community then.

That community has indeed grown today and is possibly even bigger than the one Rav Ahron Kotler built in America. But I don’t think Israel would be what it is today without Rav Ahron Kotler. His influence in America has created a mindset in many young men who choose to go to Israeli Yeshivos like Mir and Brisk instead of Lakewood. Many of them stayed on and settled there. I don’t think Israel would have the high numbers of Lomdei Torah today without him.

In my view, Reb Shraga Feivel’s accomplishments are even greater. He created a school system that enabled virtually all of Orthodox Jewry to get an Orthodox Jewish elementary education. These were the feeder schools to places like Lakewood. Without Reb Sharga Feivel I don’t believe Orthodoxy would have anywhere near the numbers we do today. To the extent it would exist at all it would look nothing like it does now.

That said there were day schools established before Reb Sharga Feival. But they were few in number and not that popular. And they were Hashkafa specific – mostly being either Modern Orthodox or Lubavitch. Reb Shraga Feivel had only one goal: to teach Judaism to Jews at the earliest ages. He did not see his mission in Hashkafa specific terms.

Though a school system like this may have emerged anyway since the demand for them rose after the holocaust- he is the one who actually did it. He is truly the one who in my view built the foundation of Orthodoxy that catered to the widest spectrum of Jewry all across America – which had the largest population of Jews at that time. By far.

There are other heroes that had similar accomplishments. One cannot minimize the accomplishments of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Revel who founded Yeshiva College which has since become Yeshiva University. If not for him - I’m not sure there would be a legitimate and vibrant Modern Orthodoxy today.

And then there is Rebbetzin Vichna Kaplan. She was a protégé of Rebbetzin Sara Schenirer and established the Beis Yaakov school system for girl’s education in America that we have today. While other school systems exist some of which actually predate her - to the best of my knowledge this one is by far the largest. She is perhaps the only person that can rival Reb Sharga Feivel’s achievement. I was remiss in not including her.

But although it is close - I still put him ahead of her. His accomplishments were at the entry level of Jewish education for all Jews of both sexes. His first religious day school was the prototype for the majority of all day schools across the country. That day school was in Detroit and is my alma mater Yeshivath Beth Yehuda.