Compassion Should Not Compromise Truth

I am absolutely convinced that Susan Heisler’s heart is in the right place. I do not know her at all (unless the name is an alias - and I do). Her words in comment to my last post seem to be coming directly and painfully from her heart. She truly feels the suffering of a fellow Jew and castigates those of us who express criticism of Shalom Rubashkin at this time.

She then goes on to bring a quote from an unidentified publication about the level of righteousness displayed by Mr. Rubashkin during his incarceration. For example because he did not want to move Daled Amos without wearing a pair of Tzitzis - prison guards had to put him in a wheelchair to move him around.

Ms. Heisler’s words are a very telling illumination of what is wrong with many of us in the Torah world. And that is what is so maddening about some of the defenders of Shalom Rubashkin. They are blinded to the truth.

Once again so that there is no misunderstanding - let me be clear. I do not think Shalom Rubashkin should be given any lengthy sentence for his crime. If it were up to me, I’d say he has been punished enough over these past two years… losing his business, his income and his reputation. He has to live with the knowledge that he has embarrassed his family and virtually all of Klal Yisroel – and that this entire event has been one big Chilul HaShem. And he has already spent some time in prison.

But to describe his attention under duress to the minutia of Halachos Bein Adam L’Makom as an example of his pure righteousness is exactly why we have problems like this. I only wish he had paid as much attention to minutia of the religious requirement to observe the law of the land - Dina D’Malchusa Dina.

Why wasn’t he as Machmir on that as he is on Hilchos Tzitzis? And then there is the matter of Chilul HaShem. He was willing to take the chance on not being caught?! Perhaps he thought that Dina D’Malchusa didn’t apply. But what about the potential for Chilul HaShem by forcing employees to create false invoices in order to inflate the value of receivables - which are then used for collateral to secure a bank loan.

And then there is the magnitude of the crime. We aren’t talking about a home improvement loan. We are talking 26 million dollars! He knew what he did was criminal. But he was Mekil on that. What is he Machmir on? Tzitzis. And we are expected to see him as a Tzadik for that?!

Ms. Heisler with the best of intentions is blinded to Dina D'Malchusa and only sees the Tzidkis of adherence to the minutia of wearing Tzitzis to the point of passive resistance. She has a good heart. Taken in isolation - this level of devotion to a Mitzvah may be something to admire. But she is wrong to characterize the situation in only this way. Would she be saying the same thing if he had defrauded a G’mach (a free loan society) to the tune of 26 million dollars – or even 5 dollars - even if he does refuse to walk Daled Amos without his Tzitzis?

This is exactly one of the troubling attitudes that pervades our society. Some – perhaps many – of us have a double standard. We see only the Tzdikis of observing the minutia of Halachos Bein Adam L’Makom or when defrauding one of our own. But banks? And fraud on a scale of this magnitude?! Is that not to be recognized as a violation of Halacha just because it wasn’t one of ours? And then there is the scale of the crime. To paraphrase former Congressman ‘Tip’ O’Neil, 26 million dollars ain’t beanbag!

It’s time we recognized this very important fact about ourselves. We cannot afford to only see the good and ignore the bad when it results in harm to Klal Yisorel. Ultimately the bad behavior of one prominent individual reflects on the whole community. And then - when many members of our community go around crying foul – especially in the form of heavily implied anti-Semtism - it can come back to bite us.

I received an e-mail from a very nice lady that I happen to know. She sees only the good in everyone. She took issue with me that I didn’t see this man for the Tzadik that he is and was disappointed that I could be so critical of a Jew in so much trouble - similar to the comment that generated this post.

She said that if I had attended the Tehilim gathering here in Chicago, I would have heard the Rabbanim Chashuvim who addressed it say that Shalom Rubashkin had incredible Ahavas Yisroel – love of the Jewish people -and unwavering Emunah. And about how we are currently in an "Eis Tzara" – troubling times. That it is all in God’s hands and only He controls the world.

I am sure that the description fits and that we are indeed in troubling times. But please let us not make things worse. Compassion does not mean we have to compromise the truth. By all means we should have compassion and do whatever we legally and respectfully can to get a merciful outcome – including collective prayer. But in no way should we turn the truth on its head in the process and bring even more shame upon ourselves.

Rubashkin, Anti-Semitism, and Pidyon Shevuyim

It looks like the sentencing phase of the Rubashkin trial will be delayed for several weeks. I have no clue what that means for him. I suppose the judge, Linda Reade, does not want to be accused of rushing to judgment. So she is taking time to consider all the testimony during the penalty phase and determine what will be seen as a reasoned and just punishment.

I have heard that she is a tough judge with a penchant for meting out maximum sentences. It is also true that in the post Enron judicial climate, white collar crimes like this have been treated a lot more severely than they used to be. This does not bode well for Shalom Rubashkin.

At this point, I really feel sorry for the guy. Yes, he was a scoundrel. He was found guilty of bank fraud – and was probably guilty of a lot more. No reasonable individual would dispute that. And no reasonable critic took a harsher view about Mr. Rubashkin than I did when all of this broke. Nor was I particularly thrilled with the reaction of his supporters. In fact I was almost more upset by some of them than I was with Rubashkin himself.

But at this point, there is no longer any point to my anger and disappointment. My feelings are only sorrow for what he has endured, is still going through and may yet endure through a possible life sentence in prison. My heart goes out to his family, his wife, and his ten children - one of whom suffers from autism.

There has been much media coverage of him both pro and con - and a sympathetic side to the man has emerged. He was not purely evil. He was from all accounts a decent husband, a good father and a gracious host to all in need. And from all accounts he was a generous philanthropist too. Unfortunately for him – his other side was not so sympathetic. I’m not going to go into all that now. It is all on the record – published many times over.

I am absolutely in favor of doing everything we can to try and get a fair sentence for him as long as – and this is paramount - it is done in the right way. What ‘a fair sentence’ is may be a matter of debate among us. But even his harshest critics would agree that the sentencing recommendations by the prosecution are grossly out of line with even remotely being fair.

But there are some very troubling things about the way this is being pursued by some of his supporters. One of those is the idea that this should be seen as a case of Pidyon Shevuyim.

Pidyon Shevuyim is a Halacha requiring the Jewish community to do whatever it can redeem Jewish captives from captivity. Historically that meant buying freedom for captives by paying ransom demands - or bribing corrupt officials to let them out. Throughout Jewish history Jews were often held captive by anti Semitic governments. Charges were often trumped up and Jews put in jails for no reason. Often under threat of execution!

I am not going to go into what technically is or isn’t Pidyon Shevuyim. That is a matter of Halachic dispute. But to publicly call this Pidyon Shevuyim is both wrong and counterproductive – in many ways. It can harm any chance of mercy. It strongly suggests that Jews think that we live under a government that is as anti Semitic as those of the past I described above - that a Jew is being held captive for no other reason than his being is a Jew. That description of the American government is completely wrong.

The government is not holding a Jew captive for ransom. They have not trumped up charges. Mr. Rubashkin was found guilty of a white collar crime and is awaiting punishment under the legal guidelines that apply to all - Jew or non Jew. There is absolutely no evidence of anti Semitism. And yet I keep hearing that this is nothing but anti Semitism!

The question is, why? Why are there such strong opinions in that regard? Why do so many people feel this way?

Well if you look at the pictures of a bearded Jew in handcuffs and see the harshness being applied, seemingly more than in other similar cases or worse - it is an understandable conclusion. But it is not the right one. I doubt that anti Semitism had any real part in it.

In my view this treatment would have been the same for anyone who committed a bank fraud to the tune of 27 million dollars. The reason is not anti-Semitism. It is just prosecutorial zealotry in a post Enron climate. The government wants to throw the book at all white collar criminals now whether Jew or non Jew.

There may be an element of scape-goating here. The government may in fact want to make an example out of him to anyone who wants to try something like this in the future. If a non violent religious Jew who is basically a good person in his private life gets a long term prison sentence, then the average person will think twice about scamming the government.

Is that anti Semitism? I don’t think so. It’s just a realistic way of looking at things now. If Mr. Rubashkin would have been a Presbyterian minister, a politician, or a celebrity - the outcome would very likely be the same. The higher the profile, the more likely it is that a stiff sentence will be handed down.

Calling this Pidyon Shevuyim makes us look bad. It makes us look like we think the government is an anti Semitic one holding a Jew hostage with a threat of execution hanging over his head. That is the furthest thing from the truth. Calling Mr. Rubashkin a captive does not increase the chance he will receive a merciful sentence from the court.

What it does do however is incite many from the masses to shout epithets against US government institutions like the justice system - calling its practitioners anti Semites publicly. That was the first comment in one of the major secular papers I saw yesterday that had an article about this. Does anyone think the Judge doesn’t read the paper – or won’t be told about it?

It may be too late but I would urge every organization and every plea that is either published or even just verbalized to excise the term Pidyon Shevuyim from their lexicon. It can do nothing but harm at this point. And Mr. Rubashkin doesn’t need any more of that right now.

Terrorist Jews

I don’t know any better way to describe what’s going on in Ramat Bet Shemesh than to describe it as terrorism. Much like the terrorism of fundamentalist Islamists. Of course the Jewish ones are not blowing themselves up in suicide missions. But the violent approach to achieving religious goals is of the same kind if not the same intensity. At least not yet. This should not be over-looked. What seems to me to be apparent is that terrorism seems to work. Whether it is in Islamic or Jewish.

The latest terrorism on the part of fundamentalist Jews happened in the ‘Meah Shearim’ section of Ramat Bet Shemesh. I call it Meah Shearim because many of the residents there are transplants from that section of Jerusalem. It was reported in some of the Israeli media. I read about it in Rabbi Natan Slifkin’s blog, Rationalist Judaism:

Last week, one of the worst incidents so far took place. Today I spoke with a neighbor of mine who is the mother of one of the victims. Her teenage daughter was walking with about ten boys back from a Yom Ha-Atzmaut celebration, late at night. They were not being especially noisy or rowdy. One had an Israeli flag wrapped around him. Another engaged in a small act of vandalism, spraying a Magen David on the wall (which is decorated with various posters declaring Zionism to be idolatry, and pictures equating the Magen David with the swastika).

A group of adult men, estimated at around SEVENTY in number, descended upon the group of teenagers, armed with various implements. According to the local "Chadash" newspaper, which blamed the teenagers for the incident, the men first warned the kids to leave. According to my friend's daughter, the "warning" consisted of the mob rushing at them while yelling and brandishing weapons.

The mob knocked the teenagers to the ground and proceeded to beat them, including my neighbor's daughter. She suffered multiple bruises all over her body, and an especially large injury to her head, which is still causing her headaches and loss of sleep a week later. At one point she saw that one of her friends was being strangled, and she managed to bite the hand of the strangler, causing him to let go. Her friend thanks her for saving his life. Several of the kids had to go to the hospital, one requiring stitches in his head.

The comparison between these thugs of Ramat Bet Shemesh and Islamic fundamentalists is apt. These are not rational people. They base their violent acts on ‘scripture’. In the case of Islamic fundemetalists it is the Quran. In the case of the Jewish fundementalists it is the Torah.

Of course any fair minded person of almost any Hashkafa would say that the Jewish fundamentalists who beat up those teenagers do not in any way represent Torah. That is of course very true. But don’t tell that to those fundamentalists. They think they were simply doing the will of God. They stood up against the evils of Zionism and its practitioners who celebrate it on Yom Ha’atzmaut. Zionists are evil. There can be no such thing as religious Zionists. Any positive view of any form of Zionism cannot by definition be considered religious. It’s kind of like Rabbi Aharon Feldman’s view of it.

The only difference between their view of Zionism and Rabbi Feldman’s is in what to do about it. For Rabbi Feldman it is an academic exercise in how to view it. He of course would never countenance any violence and is probably just as opposed to it and abhorred by it as I am. These people however believe that the ‘Torah True’ thing to do is to physically destroy every vestige of it –and beat the hell out of anyone who tries to do the contrary.

They are true believers. They are not your typical hoodlums out to bash a few heads just for fun. They choose their victims very carefully – based on their religious principles. Much like Islamic fundementlists do. So evil are they in their ‘Frumkeit’ I fear that one day they will end up killing somebody, in the name of God! …shouting the Jewish equivalent of Allah Hu Akbar!

If this sounds harsh I mean it to be. These people are evil at the core, no matter how carefull they are in other Mitzvos. They behave like savages and ought to be treated that way. I have repeatedly called for tough action against them by all relevant parties, including their own rabbinic authorities, the police, and Israeli justice system.

But nothing seems to be happening. And with all due respect to those who ask, ‘What are those rabbinc leaders supposed to do? …the answer is – plenty!

For one thing they can change their own rhetoric. They can stop calling the police or any other government authorites Nazis. They can stop seeing every single thing the state does as anti Torah. They can learn to treat fellow Jews with whom they disagree with dignity instead of venom.

Words are not innocuous. The venom that this community spews against anyone with an opposing Hahshkafa about the State of Israel is clear. Although their rabbinic leaders may not be urging their people to pick up their weapons and attack anyone, their rhetoric certainly incites some of them to do it. It won’t be long before someone gets murdered.

Condmenations after the fact by those same leaders ring hollow, when one considers how angry their rhetoric about Zionism in any form is. It that kind of rhetoric that motivates these savages to beat up a small group of religious Jews who happened to believe in celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut.

The rest of the Rabbinic leadership of all stripes ought to ostracize the entire community if their rabbinic leaders do no change their rhetoric.

These people are savages no different than any uncivilized human being brought up in deepest part of Africa cut off from the civilized world. They act the same way.

These savages are coddled by their community. No one is going to report any of them to the police. The police for their part tend to avoid tangling with them. And so these ‘righteous’ savages go around unpunished which emboldens them to do even more the next time.

There is something wrong with a society that cannot protect its citizens. Who is to blame? I’ve already said who the obvious ones are - their leaders and their Hashkafos.

But some of the responsibility has to fall on those of us who are otherwise quite normal. Who would never do anything like these thugs do - condemning them as strongly as I do. I am talking about those who express similar anger at the government and see Zionism in the same evil way these people do.

I can’t help but believe that there is at least some sympathy for their views if not for their methods by otherwise good and decent people. While there is outrage - I nevertheless often hear statements like ‘Well, who can blame them for hating the Zionsists? Or the police? Or the government?’ (…all birds of a feather to them!)They may be hoodlums but their hearts (about Zionism et al) is in the right place.

Just to be clear I use the term Zionism the way these people do - as a euphemism for anything to do with the State of Israel. This is not a socio-political discussion about whether Zionism is dead or not.

Sadly I don’t think anything is going to change. These people have the upper hand now. They go around doing whatever they want with impunity.

I agree with the Rabbi Slifkin’s post. If things don’t change there will be a murder in Ramat Bet Shemesh by these savages. It is only a matter of time. The only question for Dati residents of Ramat Bet Shemesh who celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut is, “Who from among them will – God forbid - be the first murder victim?”

Rubashkin, Truth, and Mercy

Who is it going to be? Who is going to rise to the challenge and lead the Jewish people? Who will be great enough in Torah and respected by the majority of the Torah world to stand up with the courage to break away from the crowd and tell it like it is… and like it should be?

I do not see anyone at all right now that can fit that description. We have no one at all on that level.

The few elderly Gedolim in Israel may have the knowledge and respect, but their age prevents them from being independent enough to investigate on their own circumstances upon which they are asked to comment. They must rely on others for information and then react to that.

The people they rely on are far from trustworthy. They are people who think they know what’s right and manipulate these elderly Gedolim by skewing the information so as to achieve the desired response. I need not mention examples. They are numerous.

The rabbinic leaders who are younger and are accepted as Gedolim by the right wing may in fact be the ‘best we have’. But they do not fit the description either. Not if they are afraid of being called a fake Gadol if they challenge their zealots.

Non Charedi rabbinic leaders like Rav Hershel Shachter, and Rav Aharon Lichtenstien simply do not have a following outside of their own constituency. They have the knowledge and the midos. But they are not respected enough (if at all) by Charedim to be in any way considered Gedolim in the sense of Klal leadership.

There is an expression called Dor Yasom. That means we are a generations of orphans - that we have no Gedolim upon whom we can rely. There is however a concept that challenges the possibility of that ever occurring.

Every generation has leaders - some generations have better ones than others.

The story of one such leader, Yiftach, is in Tanach (Shoftim 11: 1-40). He was a leader of his generation. He went to war asking for God’s help and promised that if he was victorious he would sacrifice the first living thing he saw upon his return. He was victorious. Upon his return the first living thing he saw was his daughter. So he sacrificed her.

And yet he is still considered the leader of his generation – the same as the Navi Shmuel was the leader of his generation. In other words the greatest people of any generation no matter how weak, are still considered the leaders.

So technically I suppose we are not a Dor Yasom. But it sure feels like it.

I am not saying that the current rabbinic leaders in the Charedi world are the same as Yiftach. But neither are they on the level of Shmuel. In fact I do not see anyone at all even close to a level of the last person who had such universal recognition, Rav Moshe Feinstein, who died in the 1980s. Or any of his contemporaries.

Please understand, I am not trying to minimize their level of Torah knowledge, their sincerity, their level of commitment to Klal Yisroel, or their hard work in that vein. But I just don’t believe theirs is the kind of leadership that the times now require.

This brings me to a very upsetting sign on the door of a Shul I saw as I entered it this morning.

It was an announcement urging people to attend a Kinos Tehhilim which will include speeches by rabbinic leaders on behalf of Shalom Rubashkin, who is awaiting sentencing on a conviction of bank fraud. The prosecutors have asked for a life sentence for his crimes.

I am not going to dwell on this except to say that his crimes, those he was convicted of and those he was accused of - even if only some of them are true - have caused a tremendous Chilul HaShem and have brought shame upon the Jewish world- especially on the religious Jewish world. But at the same time the proposed life sentence does not fit the crime. Life in prison should be reserved for murderers or the like.

I am therefore not opposed to saying Tehilim on Rubashkin’s behalf. It’s a lot better than asking people with no clue about how to do it in an honorable way to sign petitions to the court, write the governor, or make phone calls to government officials on his behalf. Those people will make any Chilul HaShem caused by Rubashkin to be multiplied many times over. And it may even hurt his cause more than it will help.

Saying Tehilim in a shul won’t do that. Those who are inclined to attend, I am not here to discourage them.

But it does bother me that so much attention is being paid to those among us who are criminals.

Whether it is Sholom Rubashkin, or Martin Grossman who was convicted of murder, or the Spinka Rebbe who was convicted of laundering charity money, it seems that the preoccupation these days is with Jewish criminals. The pressing issues of the day seem to always get short shrift. I do not for instance recall a Kinus Tehilim on sex abuse and the ‘off the derech’ community that it has so mightily contributed to.

Instead of trying to get at the root of the problems that cause such behavior and re-educate the masses about what causes people like Rubashkin and the Spinka Rebbe to act this way, they are now forced to spend time trying to better their circumstances.

What makes matters worse is that the miscreants they fight for are often painted with glowing appellations! They are made out to be Tzadikim who at worst made a mistake and at best did nothing wrong and are being persecuted for being Jews!

I hope that doesn’t happen tonight. It is one thing to have mercy on a fellow Jew, even one guilty of the crimes Rubashkin is convicted of. But let him not in the process be built up to be something he isn’t. Let us not say that he is being persecuted for being a Jew. Let us not cry ‘anti-Semitism’ here.

Mr. Rubashkin is a criminal who was convicted in a court of law. The prosecutors were over-zealous but I doubt that the reason was because he was a Jew. They are simply doing the job any good prosecutor does. They want another ‘w’ in their ‘win’ column. And the more prominent the individual is - the more zealous they are in pursuing it. This has little if anything to do with any anti-Semitism, in my view.

Unfortunately there are far too many people characterizing it that way. And they further complicate matters by labeling the entire proceedings from the first raid in Postville to the current sentencing recommendations founded in anti Semitism. Calling the charges trumped up, unprovable, etc.

My hope is that tonight, some truth will be told. That Rubashkin is not painted as some sort of great humanitarian who was persecuted for being Jewish. My hope is that when they say Tehilim it is only with a mindset that although he is guilty of this crime and possibly guilty of others, that nonetheless we need to ask God to bestow mercy upon him and prevent a miscarriage of justice by the imposition of something even close to a life sentence.

I do respect those who are considered by many to be rabbinic leaders in our day. But they are falling short of true leadership in my view. When a personality of impeccable integrity and the Torah knowledge to match stands up to fear of public reaction and starts telling it like it is I may change my mind. Until then…

Update (1:48 PM CDT): There is new support for leniency in this case. Please see my other blog for details.

The Religious Standards of Orthodox Schools

What should the parameters be for accepting a child into a religious school? What if a parent pulls a child out of an Orthodox day school - sends that child to a Conservative day school to finish elementary school and then applies to an Orthodox high school? Should the school accept the child? I have been told by an acquaintance that this happened to a parent he met. The parent was told that there were other reasons for denying entry but she denies that there were any that would otherwise be an impediment. She ended up sending her child to a public school.

There are several issues here. Is public school a better alternative than sending a child to a religious elementary school where heretical ideas are accepted? On the one hand I would think such a school is forbidden. On the other hand, I would think that in the lower grades where there is no discussion about those ideas and only the basics are taught, it might be better than a public school where there is hardly a trace of Judaism with the possible exception of Chanukah as a co- holiday with Christmas.

One thing is certain. If a child attends a Solomon Schechter elementary school and then an Orthodox high school, there is a far greater chance of successfully integrating into the religious community – since the basics will have been learned. On the other hand it is possible that the seeds of a heretical idea may have somehow been planted into a child’s mind and that can warp essential Jewish belief in the future – and possibly expose others to those thoughts.

There is a tangential issue that is more complex. To what extent should a religious school be required to accept a ‘problem’ child? What defines a ‘problem’ in this context? What are the consequences to that child if rejected? And what are the consequences to the school if accepted? Will a problem child spoil other children via that influence? Is the responsibility greater to the individual child who may be lost to Judaism if he is rejected? Or is the responsibly to the ‘good students’ who may be ruined by the ‘bad apple’?

What should the standards of a religious school be for acceptance or expulsion of any student?

Rav Ahron Soloveichik was of the opinion that one may not turn away any child who seeks a Jewish education. He did not believe in expulsion. It was rare if it happened at all under his watch. He felt that it was the responsibility of the school to deal with each child and try and solve the problem –whatever it may be.

Non acceptance or expulsion of a child was considered a shirking of responsibility by Rav Ahron and a contributing factor to a child going off the Derech. Other schools felt that accepting a problem child does more harm to the good children than it does good for the problem child.

There is another related issue about acceptance on the right. Schools seem to be tripping all over themselves to see who has higher religious standards. The arguments about rejecting a child causing them to go off the Derech are countered with the argument ‘there are other fine schools that will accept the child.’

The trouble with this is that in the competition among schools to achieve a reputation as the best, they are continually raising the standards against one another. Standards that in my view are counterproductive. And do not in any way serve to enhance a child’s spiritual level or knowledge. And yet in this era of tremendous competitiveness there are fewer schools that will accept a ‘lower’ standard. Not only that, once a child is rejected, his reputation precedes him – making it harder for him to be accepted into a school that might normally have taken him.

Telshe Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Avraham Chaim Levine once pointed out at an Agudah convention that there were huge Tamidei Chachamim in the audience who attended the day school in his home town of Detroit that would not have been accepted to any of the top day schools in New York today because of their background or home life. Many of those Talmidei Chachamim come from non religious homes.

Today not only does one have to be religious, one is forbidden to have any modern technology that will connect you to the outside world. TV, the interent, movies, secular music, and even secular news papers are forbidden.

I would personally never send my child to a school like that. But there is competition by many parents on the right to get their children into schools like that. That leaves parents who for example dare to bring a New York Times into their homes few options. It also has the effect of creating even more insularity for those children. Not only are they not exposed to any of the culture, they are not even exposed to others who are exposed to it – even slightly!

I miss the diversity of my era. Those students Rav Levine spoke of are probably people I know. I went to school in the Detroit of the time he was referring to. I can testify to what he said. It was a time of tremendous Achdus. We were all in the same educational boat. People from Charedi homes, Chasidic homes, Lubavitch homes, Modern orthodox homes, irreligious homes, American homes, European immigrant homes, holocaust survivor homes… it was all there. And we were all friends -one big homogeneous tent of inclusion.

There was no such thing as not accepting a child. Expulsion was rare. One had to be incorrigible to be expelled from a day school. In fact I do not remember a single child being expelled in my time. The leaders of that day school were all about recruiting as many Jewish children as possible. They were the pioneers of Jewish education as we know it today – role models of how to do it right. Unfortunately as Rav Levine indicates - no one has learned from them.

The Frum world in America has had an exponential population explosion over the past few decades. That has enabled various groups to create schools with specific Hashkafos exclusive of children with other Hashkafos or backgrounds. Most of the above metioned groups whose children attended the same school now have their own schools.

The more the population grows the greater the exclusivity. And the easier it is to reject students – passing them off to one of ‘the other fine schools’. The ‘move to the right’ has exacerbated the problem even further. The result is that the exclusivity that schools strive for is one of the most divisive forces in Orthodox Judaism.

It is one thing to strive for academic excellence – whether it is in Limudei Kodesh or Limudei Chol - as long as there are tracks for all levels of ability available. That is a laudable goal. Religious standards are legitimate too – up to a point. But when schools start eliminating large swaths of religious Jews for superficial reasons… that becomes unacceptable and even harmful to the fabric of Orthodox Judaism.

An Early Feminist

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t really a feminist. But if one reads his memoirs one will see that Rav Baruch HaLevi Epstein was clearly ahead of his time.

Rav Epstein is one of the giants of his generation. He was truly a Gadol. Of course so was his father, the author of the Aruch HaShulchan Rav Yechiel Michel Epstein. Greatness apparently ran in his family.

His written works express a genius that few others of his time had. All this was accomplished despite his entry into the working class. He was by profession a banker for a large portion of his life. But he never lost his passion for learning Torah. His level of Bekiyus - the vast knowledge of the Talmud is demonstrated in his work Torah Temimah where he cites all quotes of the Pesukim in the Gemarah and Midrashim.

His uncle was the famed Rosh HaYeshiva of Volozhin Rav Naphtali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, The Netziv. He wrote a memoir entitled The Makor Baruch wherein he describes some very fond memories of that time he spent in Volozhin. A portion of that book was faithfully translated into English by Rav Moshe Dombey in a book called My Uncle the Netziv.

This is one of the few publications in the 'ArtScroll History Series' that was not hagiography. That caused that book to be ‘banned in Lakewood’. It was originally distributed in a fund raising project for one of the day schools there and was immediately recalled when they became apprised of its contents. Too much truth. They could not handle it. Certain of that truth was contrary to their Hashkafos.

I won't comment on the ban other than to paraphrase what Rav Ahron Soloveichik told me personally about it. He angrily said that those who banned this book don't come to the toenails of Rav Baruch.

One of those truths that they didn't like might be the following. In a chapter entitled, The Wisdom of Women he speaks of the Netziv’s first wife Rebbetzin Rayna Batya, the granddaughter of R’ Chaim Volozhiner. He depicts her as a brilliant scholar of Jewish learning and he developed a very close relationship with her. She helped develop Rav Baruch’s own learning habits.

He relates a story where when he debated her once and quoted a Yerushalmi without mentioning that it was from the Ran’s commentary on Mesches Shabbos. She called him on it, saying that he lacked intellectual honesty for not mentioning that he saw it in the Ran.

The Rebbitzin was much more interested in Torah scholarship than she was in domesticity. She was fond of citing examples from history of scholarly women. Just to mention two of the more famous ones: Rav Meir’s wife, Beruria who brought down a Chidush in Mesehes Keilm and was thanked for it by Chazal… and Rav Nachman’s wife, Yalta who disagreed with her father Rav Chanina Ben Tradiyon and the sages sided with her.

In discussing with her the matter of Chazal’s discouragement of fathers teaching of Torah to their daughters - she gave R’ Baruch a tremendous insight, from a rare Sefer dating back to the 14th century entitled Mayaan Ganim. Therein it explains that Chazal meant to discourage teaching Torah to a girl too young and therefore too immature to handle it properly. And that to the contrary, women who are mature enough and highly motivated should actually be encouraged by the Gedolei HaDor to learn Torah!

There are many other fascinating insights on this subject to be found in this chapter as there are insights about other subjects throughout the book. I recommend it.

What I found fascinating is Rav Baruch’s own attitude supported his aunt’s. He lists examples of women who in the past contributed to our understanding and proper practice of Torah. Here are some of them:

* The Yerushalmi in Chagiga says that the daughter of Elisha ben Avuyah refuted the atrguments of R’ Yehudah HaNasi and forced him to admit his mistake.

* Rudel, the daughter of Mahari Isserlin was know to study Toraah with as much diligence as men.

* One of the Rishonim, R. Eliezer of Mainz praises his wife usinf the words from Mishlei -Piah Pascha B’Chachma – she is fluent in all the Halachos of Issur V’Heter and on Shabbos she sits and expounds…

* The Tashbatz (3 -78) cites an answer to question on Tosephos in the name of a certain Rebbetzin.

* A certain Rosh HaYeshiva in Baghdad, Rav Shmuel HaLevi had an only daughter who was fuent in Chumash and Gemarah and gave Shiurim to men behind a window where they could not see her.

* The Marshal cites a similar example about his grandmother who directed a Yeshiva for many years giving Shiurim to advanced students from behind a Mechitza.

* In his own generation there was a woman renowned for her wisdom, the sister of Rav Eliyahu Dovid Rabinowitz Teomim of Jerusalem who solved a problem with respect to the permisibility of fasting on Bahab (a series of days -(Monday, Thursday, and the following Monday -when one can fast following a Yom Tov as a form of Teshuva for possible infractions of Halacha on those days due to excessive frivolity) when it occurs on Pesach Sheni.

I would be remiss if I did not add a woman of high caliber scholarship from my own time Nahama Leibovitz. One of my closest friends who is a prominent Rav in a position of leadership in the Yeshiva world was one of her closest Talmidim.

What was that about Nashim Daatan Kalos?

A Sticky Situation

JTA reports that the Rabbinical Council of America is about to have a three day conference where they will discuss the role of women in Orthodox leadership.

This is truly a hot button issue - one which is fraught with tremendous controversy. It hit the fan when Rabbi Avi Weiss ordained the first female Rabbi (Rabba) – Sara Hurwitz (pictured) – followed by opening up a seminary for just that purpose. After tremendous criticism from both the Charedi Agudath Israel and the Centrist RCA he backed away from ordaining women. Although his seminary is up and running, it is going to find another title for its graduates. It is my understanding that Rabba Hurwitz is going to be allowed to retain her title of Rabba.

Be that as it may - it raises a very important question. What role will this new breed of woman play? What will be the role of a female who is educated along the same lines as a male rabbi? Is it appropriate for a woman to have any new role that is not completely traditional? Does ‘Kevudah Bas Melech Penima’ (the honor of the King’s daughter is ‘inside’) require her never to take any public leadership position whatsoever?

This question will not go away just because some people wish it. The fact is that even though the Charedi world discourages women from pursuing the kind of intensive Torah study that is demanded of its men, there are still many women who are motivated enough to do it. What is one to do with such women? Are we to simply ignore them? Should we just figuratively pat them on the back and say nice job! What’s for supper?

I realize women have clearly defined roles in Judaism and over the centuries that role was not altered much. In the past women had no formal Torah education at all. The Torah world only began thinking about that in the early 20th century. But that has all changed now. Women in even the most right wing seminaries study limited Torah subjects very deeply and intensively. Rav Soloveitchik saw that the time was right for yet another change and innovated classes for motivated young women in Gemarah. He in fact gave the first Gemarah Shiur at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women.

That has led to institutions like Drisha where women study Gemarah at a much higher level than ever before. Some of those women want to use that knowledge to contribute and better their world. In Israel that has led to Yoatzot who have studied family purity laws well enough to advise other women on Halachic practices.

Rabbi Weiss took the next logical step and declared that women may now be participants in the rabbinate to the fullest extent that Halacha allows. But as I said he was rebuffed. The question remains what does a woman do with all that training? Should she have any role at all? If so what should that role be - how far may she go?

In order to answer that question I turn to the past. Even though women had no official role in the rabbinate, they did participate unofficially as Rebbetzins. Being married to a Rav meant that they were often consulted by other women for advice about marital or female issues. The feeling of the community was that since a Rebbetzin was married to a Rav over time she has attained - through osmosis if in no other way -some practical knowledge that can help. Difficult Halachic issues that arose were referred to her husband.

Fast forward to today. The same scenario might exist. Only instead of a Rebbetzin with no formal training we have a trained Yoetzet doing it.

We should recognize these highly trained women. I believe that any human being trained to be an expert in any field should be recognized. That is only fair. This does not mean that a woman should be given the title rabbi. But that recognition should in some way be on par with recognition given to men.

The creation of Yoatzot rocked some traditional boats but I don’t think it rocked them to the point of leaving Yoatzot outside the pale of Orthodoxy. The next question is, how far does a woman progress from this point as a leader? What additional leadership roles can she fulfill in a Shul – if any?

Can she be a pastoral counselor? I don’t see any reason why not. If for example a woman has learned the same Halachic material as a man and has a PhD in psychology or a masters in social work, why not take on such a role?! Her title? Can it simply be pastoral counselor of congregation X? I see no objection to that even in Charedi circles. But is that enough?

Presiding at lifecycle events is a more tricky question. I’m not sure if – for example - Orthodoxy is ready for a female Mesader Kedushin – although I don’t think there is any Halachic impediment from doing so. But it would be a radical departure from tradition and the same objections would arise as did over the title rabbi.

Certainly a woman should not in any way function as a Shul Rav. I’m sorry, it is ridiculous for a woman who cannot enter the synagogue during a prayer service to function at that level.

What about in other areas where women are already in the same role as men - such as teachers? A man who has become a teacher is normally called a rabbi. A woman is called a Morah - which is Hebrew for teacher. Is it fair that a woman receive a lesser title for qualifying and doing the same thing as a man?

What about as a principal of a high school? What about as a chaplain in a hospital, or the army, or the prison system? Can a woman fill those roles Halachicly without breaking tradition? In my view she can. What possible objection can anyone have? If she has ‘graduated’ from a seminary having studied the same material as a man what should she be called that would be in concert with her achievement and her position - that will not offend tradition?

These are not simple questions and for me - there are no simple answers. Calling a woman a rabbi will get one ostracized from Orthodoxy. That has been made clear by both the right (the Agudah) and the Center (the RCA). And yet fairness demands that we honor them for their achievements with an appropriate title.

This is what the RCA has to grapple with. They have members on both the right and left that will be pulling in opposite directions. The RCA does not want to get into a Hashkafic dispute with the Agudah either. So they are currently between a rock and a hard place. It is going to be difficult for them to come out of this satisfying everyone. Possibly they will satisfy no one.

Perhaps things ought to be left as they are - ambiguous. Hard stances on one side will only alienate people from the other side. Let them decide each individual case that comes up on its own merit. The last thing we need right now in Klal Yisroel is more divisiveness.

The Chilul HaShem of Doing a Mitzvah Illegally

One of my pet peeves is the way Shaimos is treated today. It has now resulted in yet another Chilul HaShem.

Shaimos is the Hebrew word for names and specifically refers to the names of God. The Torah prohibits us from erasing or in any way destroying the names of God written in Hebrew. The Gemarah in Shavuos (35a-b) discusses which specific names are considered the names of God such as Yud Keh Vav Keh, Elokah, and a few others that are very familiar to Orthodox Jews.

There are some references to God that are not considered Shaimos such as HaKadosh Baruch Hu. These are not technically forbidden from erasure.

There is voluminous discussion and disagreement among Poskim about what else constitutes Shaimos. But one thing is certain - anything that contains one of the specific names of God must not be erased or destroyed. The Halacha dictates that it must be buried. This is what is meant by Shaimos today. It is material with God’s name printed or written on it ready for proper disposal via burial.

Because the details of this Halacha are not that familiar to most of us - it has become customary to treat all religious literature as Shaimos which increases the volume. That is an erroneous approach. One should ask a competent Posek about whether something they own constitutes Shaimos. But by far the biggest contributing factor that has caused a virtual explosion of Shaimos is the ease of copying and printing today. For example it is not unusual to find multiple copies of the weekly Torah portion - the Parshas HaShavuah printed on a few sheets of paper, stapled together, and distributed to a Shul for a Bar Mitzvah. It is used only that one time and then put into Shaimos to be disposed of properly. Which means burying it.

The incidence of such practices keeps increasing as the religious population grows. Copying passages from the Torah which contain the names of God has become so widespread that it poses a real problem. The volume of Shaimos today is enormous! I think this practice is wrong and ought to be stopped - precisely because of the problems this massive new volume creates.

In the not so distant past, Shuls had Shaimos boxes. Those boxes would fill up at a modest pace and once a year usually before Pesach they would dispose of it by burying it indiscreetly somewhere. I am now seeing signs telling members not to bring Shaimos to the Shul anymore because they simply cannot handle the volume. People are being told to store it at home until there is a community wide drive to collect it and bury it.

Where do we bury so much Shaimos? Is it legal to bury it anywhere? The answer is no. Hopefully community organizations like Agudah and the CRC – two of the organizations that do it here in Chicago – have permits from the appropriate authorities to bury it where they do. Unfortunately this is not the case in Lakewood.

Here is a quote from an editorial about it in the Asbury Park Press - the local newspaper of the city of Lakewood:

Thousands of trash bags filled with religious artifacts that were illegally dumped in a 100-by-150-foot hole in a wooded area in Lakewood caused a justifiable stink among residents last week.

Why is it so difficult for the religious establishment of Lakewood the city which houses the premier Charedi Yeshiva in the United States to follow the law? Why must they skirt it? Why create yet another Chilul HaShem in the Torah world? It cannot be the will of God to skirt the law of the land even – and perhaps especially - when they are performing a Mitzvah. Do these Rabbanim and Roshei Yeshiva hold that it is permitted to skirt the law that way?

I cannot answer for them. But this event seems indicative of the overall problem this community has with certain laws. Apparently they do not look at the letter of the law on what they consider minor issues. They therefore didn’t bother to find out what the law is - thinking that the government doesn’t really care.

It’s kind of the same thinking - on a smaller scale - that other Charedim had when they committed financial crimes. They saw those crimes as beneficial to themselves - or their causes - and harmless to anyone else. They too thought that the government didn’t really care. Certainly not enough to pursue and prosecute. Lakewood religious leaders who are responsible for Shaimos projects may have noticed other people using a landfill for all kinds of private disposal and thought what harm can a ‘few’ bags of paper do to the environment? Nobody will care.

But they are wrong. When is that community going to learn that they should never operate under assumptions that nobody will care so they can do what they want?! …that they will never be prosecuted for breaking the law because they don’t think it is a big deal?! Obviously as one can see form the picture above– it is a big deal. The neighbors don’t like it. And I don’t blame them a bit.

I await a public response from Lakewood community leaders for this new Chilul HaShem (...as if we needed one added to our ‘Chilul HaShem resume’). Perhaps they can explain what happened and why it should not be seen that way. I doubt it but… we’ll see.

Updated: 3:40 PM - CDT - My apologies to anyone offended by the original post which was in error.

Why Do They Hate Us?

In an absolutely unconscionable tirade against Charedim - an Israeli radio talk show host by the name of Gabi Gazit said some pretty nasty things about them. He basically said that if it were up to him he would expel them all from the country – to Brooklyn.

Obviously this is not a Frum Jew talking. It is a secular Jew - a Chiloni who is practically advocating Nazi-like mass population transfer – as a solution to the “Jewish (Charedi) Problem”.

As reprehensible as that tirade is against us – and I include myself among Charedim on this issue even though I am not Charedi – most of his criticisms are legitimate. They are not made up. They have been made not only by me but even by Charedi writers too. More about that later.

The problem with his attitude is that he has absolutely no clue as to the value of Torah. He does not understand that learning Torah is essential to our very existence. And that living a life of Torah and Mitzvos is a requirement by God Himself for His people.

The fact happens to be that most Charedim are who they are for the most idealistic of reasons. They firmly believe that their lifestyle of commitment and sacrifice in service to God is exactly what God wants of them. And for the most part they do so joyously – difficult though it may be.

Yes there are plenty of abuses of the system but that to whatever extent it exists it does not define them. Their devout beliefs and meticulous observance of the Mitzvos combined with a life dedicated to learning Torah is what defines them. And that is something we should all appreciate and even envy.

Mr. Gazit is probably prototypical of the fed up Chiloni Jew. That they do not understand any of this is probably not their fault. They are raised in irreligious homes that do not place a high value - if any value at all - on observance or on learning Torah. Their entire contact with religious people may have been only negative. They view Charedim through the lens of the media’s focus on bad behavior. They do not see the Gemilas Chesed. They do not see the Hachnosas Orchim. They do not see the modest and refined character of the vast majority of Charedi Jews. They see only the Chilulei HaShem that some are guilty of which is constantly in the media.

It is no surprise that he is so upset. If one reads his list of problems one can see that they are very much the same things I and others have criticized. Let us take a look at them as reported on YWN – leaving out the some of the disgusting hyperbolic adjectives and distortions:

(Charedim) do not serve in the army but their very existence in the beis medrash, yeshivas and kollels is based on the IDF protecting the nation. The chareidim hate the state. They have Heavenly fear for their Creator, and they haven’t a clue regarding His position vis-à-vis the State of Israel… they belittle the state at every given opportunity.

These chareidim however benefit from the advancements resulting from the state, the roads that were built, electricity, water, sewage and sanitation services. Their education is financed by the state. They are represented in Knesset by their partners. They… spread their hate for our country around the world. Their very essence and existence is due to the state which keeps them alive.

“In return, they do not stand at attention on Memorial Day because ‘that is a goyish custom’ they say. They do not respect the fallen ‘because that is a goyish custom’ …they sizzle up the hate against everything that is Israeli and this hate is exhibited by burning the flag on Independence Day.

How can anyone blame him for making these kinds of statements? They are all true! Every time a religious looking Jew makes a public Chilul HaShem in any of the ways he described it fuels his rage. It doesn’t matter that most Charedim don’t behave that way. That is never reported in the media because it’s a ‘dog bites man’ story. Only the aberrant ‘man bites dog’ story is going to be reported. ‘If it bleeds it leads’ is a guiding principle of most television news programming. That principle is just as important to the print and electronic media.

And what does the Frum world generally do about people like him? They retaliate in kind condemning them as Charedi bashers who hate God, His Torah, and religious Jews! They then will repeat this tirade at every opportunity - to show exactly how anti Torah the secular establishment is. What is the result of that? More hatred in return.

I would suggest that an opposite tactic be taken. It may be too late for this particular fellow. Although I am inclined to believe it is never too late for any Jew to do Teshuva. But it is not too late for us to change our own attitude about Chilonim in general.

Haters are bred – not born. They learn to hate. Some of it is learned from parents. Some of it is from their teachers. Some of it from their peers. Some of it is from what they observe in media reports that generated this fellow’s tirade. And some of it is from us! …our very public attitudes about – them!

It may be an uphill battle but it is one worthy fighting. We need to clobber them with kindness instead of animosity. We need to return expressions of understanding and love – for their expressions of hate. We need to show them another side to ourselves. A kind and gentle side that appreciates rather than vilifies what the State of Israel has done for its citizens – both secular and religious.

We need to show Hakaras HaTov for all that they do, including the protection provided by the IDF, the financial benefits given to the Charedi educational system, as well as to their poor. And to show a sense of appreciation for the general level of civilized society that has provided a very comfortable western style standard of living for anyone choosing to live there. Instead of burning a flag or trying to defend it - we should be agreeing with their criticisms of it. They are legitimate!

If we continue to hate and bash these people, a lot more Gabi Gazits are going to be created. Wouldn’t it be better if we tried to be Mekarev them instead? Shouldn’t we be killing them with kindness instead? What benefit is there to vilainizing them – furthering them away from Torah?

Can anyone imagine if we had done this with Mr. Gazit - how different his broadcast might have been? He may have had some of the same criticisms, but he would have given them lovingly instead of hatefully. And legitimate criticism given lovingly is something we should all be open too.

Completely Evil People

The following was reported in YWN. Here it is in its entirety:

A violent protest took place earlier in Bnei Brak, in front of Ponavez Yeshiva and the area of Chazon Ish and Yismach Moshe Streets as the nation marks Independence Day. According to reports, most of the participants are not areas residents, but from Yerushalayim.

An Israeli flag was set ablaze in front of police in front of the yeshiva, as a large flag waves on the pole above the yeshiva building as is the custom annually on Independence Day (reported earlier today by YWN Israel). At least one police car was damaged as a result of the protestors throwing rocks. At this time, it appears the main protest has dispersed but there are occasional reports of rock-throwing and minor disturbances.

I have no clue who these people were. The story says they were probably from Jerusalem. I assume they are Meah Shearimniks. But let us even assume that they are Ahmadinijad hugging Neturei Kartaniks whom everyone condemns. Why are they tolerated? What possible justification is there for them to do these things?

I get so angry when I see these kinds of things. This follows yesterday's flag burning at Kikkar Shabbat in Jerusalem. Yesterday was Yom HaZikaron - Israel's Memorial Day where it honors its heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect the very ground these animals burn Israeli flags upon!

Flag burning may be legal. It may even be a form of free speech. But so is shunning these people as pariahs. They ought to be vocally condemned for what they do by their own leaders even if they agree with them in spirit. And certainly the Roshei Yeshiva at Ponevezh should. These people are nothing more than evil incarnate- Reshaim Gemurim!

Then there is the stone throwing and damaging public property. That IS illegal! In my view it would be a Mitzvah Min HaMuvchar to find these people have them arrested and testify against them in court. The Chilul HaShem screams! They ought to be stopped by all legal means at our disposal.

But that just isn't going to happen. At least it hasn't until now. But whose fault is that? Why isn't there strong action taken by rabbinic leaders to stop this unbelievable Chilul HaShem?!

Disclaimer: Please note that the photo above is there for illustrative purpsoses only. It is not an actual photo of the events described in the post.

How Jews are Seen – America versus the World

An article in the New York Times about Israel’s gloomy mood on this – the day Israel is celebrating its independence. It tells of a very unsurprising statistic. A BBC poll shows that Israel’s approval rating among people around the world is one of the lowest. Right there with Iran and Korea.

It is sad that after the experience of Holocaust that the nations of the world still so hate the Jewish people via its perceived surrogate - Israel. One can point to their explanations for that – mostly having to do with the perception that Israel mistreats Palestinians.

I’m am not going to go into the fact that the Palestinian’s sad lot is almost entirely their own fault – or better said – that of their leaders both past and present. Any fair minded individual would see that. I am not going to go into it because I do not believe for a moment that this is the real reason for the world’s hatred of us.

I truly believe it is in their blood. Esav Sonei L’Yaakov. Descendants of Esav (Non Jews) hate Yaakov (descendants of Jacob). European History is replete with genocidal examples of that. As Menachem Begin once said about the Poles, it is in their mother milk! I would include Europeans. That is what fueled the Holocaust in my view.

Yes there are exceptions. Many of them. The BBC poll said that 19% of the world had a favorable view of Israel. That is a lot of people. But 81% of them hate us. Israel is the current ‘stand-in’ for Jews. That makes it politically correct since they can say it is all about Israel and not Jews. I’m not saying criticism of Israel is always based on anti-Semitism. Clearly it isn’t. But I do believe that in most cases around the world it clearly is.

The documentary ‘Shoah’ by Claude Lantzman examined this phenomenon in Poland. It concluded that the hatred is as strong and deep as ever- ingrained by centuries of prejudice handed down generation to generation. It exists many decades after the Holocaust. Lest anyone think this documentary had a religious bias - it was produced by a secular Jew who probably never heard of the term ‘Esav Sonei L’Yaakov’.

To me this explains the attitude of Europeans. And it ought not to be lost on Israelis. My advice to them is to ignore this poll and look at Israel’s true friends the American people. Though Israel’s approval rating has declined recently thanks in no small part to the current administration, the support is still pretty strong. Especially to the very large segment of Christians who identify as Evangelicals. Support there is nearly 100%. If I understand correctly Evangelicals comprise about 20 -25% of the population.

As difficult as the relationship between the United States and Israel is now, it is still far and away many times stronger than Israel’s relations with any other country. Though cooled somewhat now - it is a friendship with tangible benefits. The President - through his Secretary of State re-iterated this strong level of support today in a Yom Ha’atzmaut message to Israel.

I have always said this about the American people and it is worth repeating again today. They are truly exceptions to the rule of Esav Sonei L’Yaakov. They have shown that over and over again in so many different ways. I’ve written about this in the past and provided many examples of it. I’m not going to repeat them here.

This has always been the case ever since the founding fathers established its philosophy in its own Declaration of Independence - formalizing religious tolerance in the constitution’s Bill of Rights.

Yes there was prejudice against Jews in the past – all the way up until the Holocaust. Mostly having to do with social biases. But ever since the Holocaust has entered American consciousness – mostly through the influence of Hollywood - acceptance has become nearly universal.

So much so that it has caused an unprecedented problem with conversions to Judaism. Conversions are at an all time high. Class based discrimination has melted away and all but disappeared. In the past members of high society who on rare occasion converted to Judaism (Halachicly or otherwise) were shunned and even disinherited. Now they have become an accepted part of that world. High society rarely bats an eyelash when one of their own converts. Once ostracized a convert to Judaism is now accepted into it quite willingly. Ivanka Trump comes to mind as an example of that. Even daughters of Presidents are marrying Jews with the full approval of their parents. Ask the Clintons.

While this is and should be a matter of great concern for us as intermarriage which is forbidden by the Torah - is at an all time high, it does demonstrate one thing. Jews are for the most part accepted by American society as equals in all walks of life. That’s saying a lot with all the recent bad news about religious Jews committing financial crimes. Nowhere else in the world is that true. To the extent that it exists at all - hatred of Jews in this country is mostly reserved for kooks and fringe groups.

God bless the American people. As for Europe - it can sink into the ground for all I care.

A Living Hell

A have just read a truly heart rending letter from a 23 year old Charedi woman about her Shiddach situation. It is posted on Matzav.com. Here are some excerpts::

I write these words with a broken heart. I am sure they are echoed by thousands of girls out there, and each one of us is living through our own nisayon. The parsha of shidduchim has been a nightmare for me. I have all but given up...

My parents don’t have money and we don’t have yichus. We don’t have “pull” and we don’t have connections. So with all my maalos, I am told that I am just like thousands of other girls. And so the phone does not ring.

My mother pursues shidduchim, only to get flat-out nos. I have been out with a handful of boys in four years of being in shidduchim. Think that’s nuts? Ask around. It’s not. That’s the lot that we’ve been given. We, girls, try so hard, doing everything we are supposed to in life, only to have to sit around, never knowing if our shidduch will ever come….

I have never felt deprived and I love my parents for everything they’ve given me, even with their financial difficulties. But I had never imagined that shidduchim would be the living gehennom that it has been.

I don’t know what to say anymore…

Hakadosh Boruch Hu, I am your daughter. I know you are listening. I know you hear my cries! I know you feel my pillow soaked with the tears of frustration!

How sad I am for a system gone so terribly wrong as has the Shiddach system of the Yeshiva world. It is the worst of all possible systems in my view. Worse than that of either the Modern Orthodox or that of Chasidim.

I’m not saying that either of those two dating systems is ideal. But one will never see a letter like this one from either community. Shiduchim have been declared a crisis and considered a top priority among Charedi rabbinic leaders. While many may quibble how far up on the list of priorites the Shiddach problem is, no one can seriously question that it exists. And the problem seems to be getting worse.

I understand the motivations behind this sytem. They are noble. The goal is to minimize the dating experience and create a streamlined approach to getting marreid that avoids long term relationships. The idea being that long term relationships can cause many problems. Such as increased temptation for forbidden sexual activity which is a natural progression in male female relationships.

Though two religious people will strive to avoid any physical contact and most often succeed – that does not guarantee it. They will certainly be tempted. The longer they are together without being married, the more the temptations increase. This is minimized by the Yeshiva system. But the manner in which it is implemented has gone terribly awry. And this letter spells it out for us. In fact I think it only scratches the surface.

Here is the way it works. The Shiddach system is really a sort of combination of the Chasidic and Modern Orthodox models.

Chasidim who get married very young – often in their teens – do not really date at all. The parents date. This means that sets of parents of potential couples each of whom know their children pretty well - find out from each other about the child of the other. If they see compatibility -the young man and woman see each other one or two times in the home of one of the two sets of parents - and decide. If they agree- the match is made and a wedding follows shortly thereafter in most cases.

Modern Orthodox Jews tend to meet by themselves or through friends. They do have an advantage over secular couples in that they are both observant and both tend to come from Modern Orthodox backgrounds. There is compatibility at least at that basic level. But most often there is little research done before an actual date. Time then becomes the enemy. Even assuming that sexual desires can be controlled - often couples like this can date for long periods of time in order to find out information about each other that could have been found out before the first date – had any research been done. That can be very frustrating experience to both young men and young women. In the meantime temptations tend to increase over time making them difficult not to act upon.

The Shiddach system is supposed to be the best of both worlds. The Shadchan finds out basic compatibility features before the first date. Once that is found they date to see if they will actually like each other and if there is any physical attraction. That process usually takes about 8 dates or so. If all goes well the young man will pop the question and everyone lives happily ever after.

The problem with what sounds like an ideal compromise is that it has become grossly abused. Once you start asking questions it opens up a whole pandora’s box of irrelevant and often very offensive or even intrusive questions by parents and Shadchanim. The answers to which will often impede the date. I need not go int details. Im’ sure most people have heard about the ‘color of the tablecloth on Shabbos’ type questions. Or the dress size questions.

But as this poor young woman writes - that isn’t all. The Yeshiva system that is so starved for cash its brightest students will seek only young women whose parents are rich enough to support the couple in a Kollel Lifestyle. No money? – No shidddach! These young men have been indoctrinated to actually look for money first and Midos last.

The irony of course is that those who followed this path in the past 20 years ago cannot find Shiduchim now for their own daughters! As Avreichim they have no money.

Rabbinic leaders have been focusing on age difference issues. I think they have a point. Age should never be a factor. In either direction. There is absolutely nothing wrong if the husband is younger than his wife. Although I’m not sure they have convinced their own Yeshiva students of it.

But that is just one factor. I think the letter writer makes a very important point here. It has thus far gone unaddressed by the rabbinic establishment. They need to change Shiddach paradigm. They ought to encourage expanding opportunities for young people and not leave it to a Shiddach system gone awry.

I think the best model is that of the right wing Orthodox. A young man and young women have many ways in which they can meet - including the Yeshiva-Shadchan system. They have not however eliminated other ways of meeting. And in most cases there is some minimal research ablout a potential date. In my view they have the best of all possible worlds. My advice to this young woman – were she to seek it – would be to expand her horizons in just that way.

Thanking God for Yom Ha’atzmaut

Today is the the 5th of Iyar. This is the anniversary of Israeli Independence. And it ought to be celebrated with great joy in Klal Yisroel.

In Israel this year that celebration was moved to the 6th of Iyar (tomorrow) in order to avoid any possibility of Chilul Shabbos on Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s memorial day. Memorial day precedes it and technically began on Motzoi Shabbos (Sunday). So both days were moved forward.

I bring it up because of the issue of saying Hallel. Rav Ahron Soloveichik held that no matter when the actual celebration takes place Hallel is to be said on the 5th of Iyar. This was the Minhag he established when he was Rosh HaYeshiva of the Hebrew Theological College, where it is still celebrated on that day. And later in Yeshivas Brisk.

I do not follow my Rebbe’s Minhag in this because I do not believe that Hallel is warranted. I agree with those that say we cannot establish public Minhagim like this in our day. Rav Ahron concedes to the extent that no Bracha should be made. But he feels that it is appropriate to recite the Pesukim from Tehilim which comprise Hallel. We have recaptured Eretz Yisroel for the first time since we lost it 2000 years ago upon the destruction of the 2nd Temple. There were clearly many Nisisim Nistarim – hidden miracles that enabled Israels’ small army and even smaller arsenal to overcome mighty armies and great odds. He felt that this is a highly significant event for which Hallel should be recited.

Although I do not say Hallel on this day, neither do I say Tachanun. It is indeed significant that we have the land of Israel back in Jewish hands. And that ought to be recognized in some way by all Jews – religious or otherwise. I have taken a cue from the following.

There is an anecdote about the famed Ponevezhe Rosh HaYeshiva, Rav, Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman (pictured above). He was once asked if he said Hallel on Yom Ha’Atzmaut. He answered in his typically humorous but truthful way by saying that he followed founding Prime Minister David Ben Gurion’s Minhag – he did not say Hallel and he did not say Tachanun. The point being that he too saw the significance of this day.

Rav Kahaneman was not the only Gadol who had thought it appropriate to in some way recognize the significance of having Eretz Yisreol return to Jewish hands. Rav Ovadia Yosef not only agrees but actually Paskins that one should recite Hallel without a Bracha after Teffilah (Yabia Omer - OC 6:41) - even while expressing his profound disappointment with the low spiritual level of the state. Rav Yosef also notes (6:42) that Rav Yitzchak Herzog recited Hallel on that day.

Then there is the well known story about Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz. During a Seudas Hoda’ah after a near miss by a rocket attack of his Yeshiva, Yeshivas Mir, he expressed thanks to the Israeli Defense Forces.

There were of course Gedolim who were opposed to giving any recognition to the state on any day, least of all Yom Ha’atzmaut. There are two a stories that illustrate just how far that opposition went.

One story is that when Rav Kahaneman was alive - Ponevezh did not say Tachanun on Yom Ha’Tazmaut. Except for Rav Shach who succeeded Rav Kahaneman as Rosh Hayeshiva of Ponezezh. He was Poresh from his Rosh HaYeshiva and the entire Beis HaMedrash - sat down and said Tachanun.

There is also a story about the Chazon Ish. He once said Tachanun at a Bris which took place on Yom Ha’atzmaut so that people would not think he skipped it because it was Yom Ha’atzmaut.

I am not here to criticize the Chazon Ish or Rav Shach. Nor do I criticize anyone who does not say Hallel and does say Tachanun on this day. I am only here to criticize those who think that they do not owe any Hakoras HaTov to the State of Israel and instead curse it at every opportunity. They ought to think again - and see the literal explosion of Torah since the establishment of the State.

The idealism that led so many religious Jews to immigrate and live a Torah lifestyle in Israel would not have been enough to have what exists today - without Yom Ha’atzmaut. The State of Israel has made it comfortable for any of us to live there.

Had the founders not won the war for independence – I do not believe there would be anything near what exists today – if it existed at all. One must in some way express Hakoras HaTov to both God and the State for making it all possible. And there is no better day for doing that than Yom Ha’atzmaut.

Shahar

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? An article in the Jerusalem Post indicated that there might just be.

There is no doubt by anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear that when it comes to the future financial viability of the Charedi world in Israel, their system is bankrupt. The recent Taub Center report is nothing more than a reinforcement of facts already well known to all except for some of the hardcore Charedi apologists who will forever remain in denial.

The solution to the problem is – or should be – just as obvious. Let me use three little words to describe it: education, education, education! It is the lack of it that is at the core. There are other issues but if Charedim were educated in various job skills and worldly matters so as to be able to integrate more easily into the workforce, a major hurdle would be eliminated. In my view all other problems would eventually become minor at most and hopefully completely disappear.

The reason this hasn’t happened is because of a 20th century phenomenon: the mass acceptance of a philosophy that treats learning Torah full time as the only path one may take - and as a corollary - that secular studies should be avoided in any formal study.

I do not see that attitude changing - at least among the Charedi rabbinic leadership in Israel.

But there are cracks in the wall. Very tiny ones - but cracks nonetheless. One of the leading Charedi Gedolim - Rav Aharon Leib Steinman has supported small scale limited career education for Charedim. I doubt however that he supports it as a policy or paradigm change. But at least he has in the past expressed positive views about training Charedim to able to support their families.

His views are not unchallenged though. Other rabbinic leaders oppose it. If I am not mistaken the reason they do is because they think it may undermine the entire Yeshiva system if too many Yeshivaleit and Avreichim take advantage of it. They apparently believe that public advocacy would almost surely empty the Batei Midrashim – Torah study halls! But as tiny as this crack is - it’s there. And some Charedim have taken advantage of it.

To that end a modern Orthodox Jew by the name of Moshe Lebel has stepped up and done something about it. This is no ordinary individual. From the Jerusalem Post:

Lebel received a graduate degree in applied physics at the Hebrew University, and also studied industrial management at Tel Aviv University. After his discharge, he served as chief engineer at Tadiran’s crystal quartz unit, and then engineered systems for projects at Tadiran Communications. He launched and managed two companies – one making microwave and radar parts and the other computerized examination systems.

BEING A professional examiner of R&D projects in the Chief Scientists’ Office of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and an adviser to the Defense Ministry on local and foreign industrial firms are also on his resume. He also taught at the Jerusalem College of Technology and TAU’s BESA Center for Strategic Studies, but the father of five and grandfather of 11 now works as an independent consultant. He has been especially busy since 1999 supervising electromechanic systems of CityPass’s Jerusalem streetcar network for the government. He even invented a device, now standard, that determines the exact colors of diamonds.

But that is not all. He has also created a program called Shahar:

(Shahar has gotten) haredi yeshiva students who studied Talmud but no English, science or math to join private industry as computer programmers and the IDF as vehicle mechanics while supporting their families. Some have even gone on to graduate as engineers...

For a fuller description of who he is and what he does I encourage everyone to read the article.

Shahar is not a panacea. It is a huge opening with great potential but it will not solve the problem entirely. For one thing it only deals with the select few who are bright enough to skip any formal secular education and learn what’s needed at a very high level.

What level is that? How many of us could skip any secular education and become graduate engineers via a crash course in the English language and a few other skills? It is true that the advanced Torah learning gives them an advantage that uneducated secular Jews do not have. But that does not replace the formal learning that would normally take place throughout one’s educational life.

There are probably a lot of uneducated Charedi Avreichim who cannot learn English ‘overnight’ the way those selected by Shahar. It is only the best and brightest among them who are chosen that can accomplish doing anything like that.

To be clear, I do not advocate recruiting the best and brightest among those Avreichim whose aptitude and motivation makes them most suited to their current task of learning Torah full time and less suited for other pursuits. But there are plenty of Avreichim that are just coasting.

They plateau and put in their time but have no real future other than more of the same. And there is the burden of poverty imposed by their circumstances upon their often very large families. I therefore advocate a carefully designed program to analyze which students would be better off staying in learning and which students would be better off getting jobs.

After all is said and done. Shahar is a good start. I’m happy to read the following:

The Shahar program has been carried out with the approval of haredi rabbis. Most of the yeshiva students are hassidim, but there are former Lithuanian-style yeshiva students as well.

I doubt that the approval is universal. An as I said earlier it will not totally solve the problem. There are many who will not qualify or even be motivated to try. As I’ve said many times. There has to be a paradigm shift. Once that happens, Chareidm can and will be mainstreamed into a productive economy The potential benefits are huge! As Dr. Lebel points out:

“The atmosphere and even norms have changed. These young men come from Jerusalem, Ashdod and other places; less from still-rigid Bnei Brak.”

I am not sure how much of the Charedi world this attitude change encompasses. But when the atmosphere in Bnei Brak changes the paradigm will change.

That will take a more proactive support from the Charedi rabbinic establishment. And I’m not so sure they are happy with the ‘collateral damage’. What damage? This:

“They have turned into Zionists and love the army.”

That might be a bit of an exaggeration but I get his point. My sincere hope is that Dr. Lebel’s observation comes true:

In the coming decade, as the number of ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students grows, many tens of thousands can be prepared for jobs in the military and civilian markets.

How Much Longer Can This Go On?

There is an editorial in Jerusalem Post about the economic situation of Charedi population in Israel. It is based on a study by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies. And it is a devastating ‘bombshell’ about the future of the Israeli economy.

This report is a statistical one. Not a Charedi bashing one. It cites statistics from the past and present and projects into the future. And that future is not pretty. Not only for the Charedi community but for the entire country.

Most objective people in the world see Israel as a highly productive country that is on the cutting edge of hi-tech research and development. In proportional terms (they) have far outstripped the rest of the world!

But as the editorial notes there is an underside to this story. Most of the accomplishments are from the educational and demographic circumstances of at least two decades back.

But the demographics have changed as has the educational situation. Productivity has gone down. It is not too hard to see why.

The percentage of people who do not get any education except in Torah studies has rapidly increased over the last two decades. And they therefore contribute very little in an to Israel’s economic stability.

The Charedi world has made certain of that by banning any formal education for males among their ranks. As a result people with great potential – are not doing so. Instead they become lifers!

By that I mean the are relegated to a life of poverty and dependence on government largess and charity in order to subsist. They tend to stay in Kollelim well into their thirties and forties during which they get no decent job training. And they have developed entitlement personalities making it difficult to fully integrate into the workforce. Many expect a scenario at work similar to what they were used to in the Kollel. Like leaving at noon on Erev Shabbos or Yom Tov. May employers are discouraged from hiring former Avreichim.

In far too many cases - when they finally do go to work, they do not have the skills to get the good higher paying jobs. So they become lifetime burdens on the state – working menial jobs and getting government subsidies. As this demographic increases - the productivity level decreases. Fewer people will be answering the challenges of the technology age. And Israel will cease being a leader in that field. There are exception that do end up getting training and good jobs. But they are exceptions and if one believes the statistics only 35% of all Charedim work at all! This is not a bash of Charedim. It is just a fact.

Here are some raw statistics from the Jerusalem Post article.

ABOUT ONE-THIRD of Israeli households nominally subsist under the poverty line, while almost 20 percent of men between the ages of 35-54 don’t work. The malaise, though, isn’t equally endemic in all social sectors. Its gravest concentrations are among Arabs and haredim. Unemployment figures for Arab men had soared from 15% in 1979 to 27% in 2008. Among haredi men it spiraled from 21% 30 years ago to a whopping 65%.

Imagine that! 65% of Charedi men are unemployed! If things continue as they are it's only going to get worse. And the percentage of Charedim in the total population is constantly increasing. An economy cannot survive with these kinds of statistics.

Lest I be accused of being anti Kollel (as I’m sure I will be) I am not. Leaving the importance of Mada aside - I support long term full time learning for the best and brightest of those who are motivated to do so. I have said this many times and I say it again here. These potential Yechidei Segula deserve to be fully supported by the Klal. I also support unfettered learning for nearly all religious Jews post marriage for two or three years.

But as I have also said many times, I do not support ignoring the future by being unprepared. At some point – probably early in their Yeshiva lives – these young Yeshvaleit should be preparing for the future and learning a profession or a trade …or any financially productive skills. This does not mean they have to stop learning during the years of preparation. It only means that - some - of their time should be devoted to it.

And I am diametrically opposed to the total lack of any formal secular education of all Charedi males – as I am to every single Charedi male staying in Kollel for as long as possible. Currently they are encouraged to do so by ‘the system’.

They ought to be discouraged – if they are motivated only for reasons of societal pressure. That pressure ought to be reversed in the opposite direction by the very system that created it. That same system ought to also do a 180 on preparations for Paranssa.

It ought to be encouraging them to follow their natural aptitudes and abilities and learn how to become productive in those fields. Whether it is in the arts, the sciences, or the trades. This in my view is the only sensible way out. Encouragement to learn full time should only be given to those whose natural aptitudes are geared to learning Torah.

It should be noted very clearly here that former Charedi religious objections to army service no longer exist due to Nachal Charedi. Lack of required army service is therefore no longer a legitimate excuse for not getting a job. Charedim can now serve in harmony with their Hashkafos.

I have said it so many times before. This situation cannot stand. It is unsustainable as is. Until now it only impacted on themselves. It seems as though now it will impact everyone.