onionsoupmix

11:32 am: Don't Worry About That Silly Ten Commandments Thing. Really.

So my last two posts focused on the Rambam and whether Torah morality is eternal. The vast majority of my commenters here clearly thought the rambam's principles applied to his day and time and do not apply to ours and should not be taken out of context. The consensus was that those chapters are essentially...irrelevant to modern society.

Now we have Rav Yitzchak Shapira and Toras HaMelech, a  recently-published sefer in which this Rosh Yeshiva explains that Jews are actually allowed to murder gentiles, even Chassidei Umos HaOlam, even women and children, even if they are not responsible for a threat to the Jewish people. From here.  

YWN, of course, tells us that this is all exaggrerated and silly nonsense, the book is a work of  theoretical halacha and should not be used as permission to take the law into one's own hands. Good to know.

So here are the questions for today.

1. Do you think this guy is just a crazy extremist whom we should just write off? It shouldn't matter that he's a Rosh Yeshiva of a big chabad school? We should just hide our head in the sand and pretend only Islam has problems with crazy extremists? Should we also dismiss Rav Yitzchak Ginsburg, another famous chabad rabbi associated with this whole lunacy, who goes on world-wide speaking tours?

2. Do you think these books & pamphlets are a cause of actual crimes against gentiles? If not, why not? Why should inciteful material somehow have no bearing on behavior? If they are a cause of actual crimes, how are these sefarim different than the Rambam's works? So why should we all learn Daily Rambam and his halachos of rape and murder, but we should not learn Toras Hamelech?

3. Why did Rabbi Shapira choose to give us frum yidden a heter for murder, instead of say, something more practical, like a heter for  cheeseburgers? Maybe he can write a sequel about how yidden can eat treife food on shabbos for the purpose of protecting the Holy Land or something like that. I would buy that book. Heck, I'll help him write it.

Tags: chabad, crazy, criminals, gentiles, rabbis

12:24 am: You thought it couldn't get any worse...

After reading these three  Naarah Besulah chapters, it is very clear that rape was completely a civil matter back in the days of the Rambam and the only thing wrong was that the girl's virginity value was decreased. The punishment, therefore, for rape was a set of fines, payable to the girl's dad, of course, and forced marriage to the victim, if she and her father consent.

The possible fines included one for payment for virginal sex, one for embarrassment, one for damages and one for pain. 

  You can read these chapters yourself (1, 2, 3) , but here are some highlights:

• A rapist was not obligated to pay any fines unless there were witnesses to the act. Even his own admission does not render him liable.
• A rapist was not obligated to pay the virginal sex fine for anal rape.
• A rapist was not obligated to pay the virginal sex fine for any female over 12.5 or under 3.
• Embarrassment damages were not uniform. They were calculated according to the family's status. A poor, girl from a simple family was given less than a girl from "known lineage."
• Damages were given according to the girl's beauty, as assessed by the difference in her virginal and non-virginal value on a slave market.
• A man who rapes a mentally retarded girl or one who is deaf-mute, does not pay any of these fines for embarrasment or damages or virginal sex. All he pays is a fine for pain. If he will swear that she consented ( yes, the mentally retarded 3-to-12 year old), he can skip the pain fee also and is called a seducer and not a rapist, and has NO CONSEQUENCES at all.
• If the girl has a bad reputation or was pimped out by her father, the rapist also incurs no fines.

So. If you're still reading, here are my two questions.

1. If  I am a frum Jew living in 2009 and I know that this is the Jewish attitude towards rape, why on earth would I report a rapist or child molester to secular authorities ? Why would I do that when this is clearly seen as a financial issue, not a criminal one?

2. Why does chabad.org keep translating these rambams and posting them online? Shouldn't somebody give them a kick in the pants? Shouldn't they at least come up with a touchy-feely kabbalah-fluff explanation and post it online too?


I wonder if the women who author articles like this one for chabad.org know about these laws. The incongruence is too much.

Tags: halacha, rabbis, women

11:41 am: Is Halacha for Crazy People?

In a very sad event last week, a young daughter of a shliach in Israel was tragically killed in a school-bus accident. The whole story was horrible.

At the shiva, the little girl's grandmother, the famous Miriam Swerdlov, spoke about taking the good with the bad and mi k'amcha yisrael and so on. She also sang a song with the women at the shiva, one of the tunes that reflected the idea of the Jewish people never forsaking Hashem no matter what evils befall them.

Her speech was recorded. The blog that posted the video on youtube initially deleted the singing segment. Later it posted the full version and warned that it contains KOL ISHA and is intended FOR WOMEN ONLY PLEASE.

Kol Isha is a halacha in which men are not allowed to hear women singing so that they should not get aroused and come to sin.

Okay, now I acknowledge that it is possible that there is a man out there who could be aroused by a 60 year old woman singing a niggun with a bunch of other women at her three-year-old granddaugher's shiva. Anything is possible.

But if halacha is going to cater to that, if halacha is going to take those people into account, why doesn't it consider the man who is turned on by the very sight of any woman in the first place? Why doesn't it take into account the man who might be aroused at the sound of male singing? Surely there are more men aroused by male singing or even conversation, say in shul,  than would be aroused by Miriam Swerdlov humming a tune at a shiva house. No?

I know, I know. Some people are going to start talking about boundaries and slippery slopes and how halacha has to have fixed parameters. Because if we allow men to hear this, then maybe we should let men hear women singing at a farbrengen or at shul. And from there, I guess,  it is a quick and direct path to permitting all female rock bands and wet t-shirt contests and mud wrestling.

Really, though? Is that answer enough for you? Is the slope really that slippery? Halacha doesn't have any mechanisms to permit some forms of kol isha but not others? I doubt that. So what's the deal here? How difficult would it really be for rabbonim to matir women's singing if it is in a religious context?
 

 

Tags: halacha, rabbis, tznius, women

05:23 am: Retiring Mesirah

The prohibition of mesirah is well known among religious Jews. The severity of this issur becomes ever so clear when we read in Shulchan Aruch that a mosser is dino ke’akum with respect to writing a sefer Torah (Yoreh Deah 281:3) and with respect to shechitah ( Remah ibid 2:9). Even if the mosser is otherwise an observant individual, and is meticulous in fulfilling his religious duties, because he demonstrates his rejection of the unity of all of Klal Yisroel (by his act of mesirah), he is treated as an akum (see Rambam, Hilchos Teshuva 3:11 and Nefesh Horav pg. 235).

If, however, one is guilty of a crime, and according to the law of the land deserves a prison sentence, or will be put to death, even though according to Jewish law his punishment would not be as severe, this is not mesirah (see Ritva to Bava Metsia 83b; Dvar Avraham vol. I pg. 8). One would still not be allowed to hand this individual over to the civil authorities because this is the equivalent of returning aveidas akum, which is usually not allowed. In an instance of avoiding a chilul Hashem, just like we would be obligated to return the aveidas akum, so too we would be obligated to hand over this individual (see Rama, Choshen Mishpat 388:12).

From here. 

The Hebrew word is mesira, which means basically you are not allowed to be an informant," said Rabbi Shea Hecht, a well-known figure in Crown Heights.
"In essence, I am not allowed to snitch, period."  From here.


As society changes, halacha has also evolved. Many rules designed for a different era are essentially defunct, through loopholes or the like. For example, it used to be forbidden to drink wine with a gentile or to break bread with him. Now it's basically fine, as long as you drink mevushal wine and eat in a kosher establishment. It used to be forbidden to drink milk supervised by a gentile because we were afraid that milk from treife animals may be added in.  Now, in many countries, there are laws in place to prevent dairy manufacturers from adding anything extra into the product and cholov yisroel is a chumra.

The halacha of mesira also needs to be retired, in the same way as the rules mentioned above.
 
The laws of mesira were designed to prevent tyrannical and anti-semitic governments from harming innocent Jews.They were not designed to allow Jewish criminals to avoid punishment. Regardless of whether chillul hashem is involved or not, Jewish criminals only harm our communities and should be subjected to the justice system, just like anyone else.

Think about it. Do you really think that God wants Jews to be able to get away with crimes that everyone else would receive prison sentences for? Do you really think God expects botei dinim all over the world to handle the appropriate consequences for criminal activities in the frum world? Do you think cherem (excommunication) for a money launderer or a child molestor or a wife beater is enough?

I read these questions on imamother a lot. This and this happened to my child and I don't know what to do. The answer is always to call your local orthodox rabbi before speaking to secular authorities.

In most places, Jews do not live in countries with anti-semitic and tyrannical leadership. Jews have no less of a chance at a fair shake in the justice system than anybody else and there's really NO REASON TO CALL YOUR RAV when faced with a crime possibly committed by a frum person.

Just call the cops.

Mesirah is outdated and harms our community more than it benefits us.

 

Tags: criminals, hashkafa, rabbis

02:40 am: Yom Tov

Simchas Torah was okay. Here are the recaps.

The good part: When two ladies and I sneaked a bottle of Skyy from the community meal and did our own version of hakafos in the main shul, dancing around the bima and singing old camp songs. It was a little glimpse of what things could have been like, had I been born with the right body parts.

The bad part: When the crazy uptight rabbi came to yell at us for being in the (empty) men's section and interferring with his shul experience.

The depressing part: Trying to dance with the ladies in the ladies' section and watching women tell off their teenage daughters for singing niggunim out loud. Because chas ve shalom, the men should hear them and violate kol isha.

Then we all had to sing in a whisper. Not kidding.  



Tags: rabbis, shul, women

11:48 am: Following Authority

If it is Da’at Torah to hurl cinder blocks at human beings, then we want to see a clear halachic ruling on the matter from one of the great rulers, and then we too shall act likewise. In the meantime we will warn against it. - Rabbi Moshe Grylak

 
Okay, so according to FM, an immodestly dressed girl is assaulted with a cinder block. Some rabbis, including Rabbi Moshe Grylak, condemn this atrocity and they receive high praise.  Woo-hoo. Nice. 

Does Rabbi Moshe actually think that there is no halachic ruling on the matter from a great ruler? What is a great ruler, assuming it's not one of those pink plastic things that I buy each September from Walmart? And if we had a clear halachic ruling on the matter from one of these rulers,  would we really act likewise? Or is this just a manner of speaking and any ruler who authorizes this is automatically not  "one of the great" ones?  Anyone remember those rambams that authorize murdering apikorsim and beating women?

What about you personally?  What sort of authority would have to sanction hurling cinder-blocks at young untznius girls in order for you do so?

And what's with the "warning against it" language? Are we "warned against" intermarriage? Are we "warned against" eating pork? Or is it drilled into our heads from the day we are born until the day we die? But hurling cinder blocks at people- that gets a warning. 

Tags: rabbis, tznius, women

02:14 am: No Thanks. Keep Your Titles.

So let me sum things up here. 

Some rabbonim allegedly were using frum terms to hide illegal money-laundering transactions and other frum people held impoverished immigrants at gun point for their kidneys.  Anti-Semites don't need to make up lies about Jews anymore, we're doing a great job of looking terrible all by ourselves. 
 
But the masses of frum followers are still singing the same old songs. Of course, it wasn't the rabbonim's fault. They were victims of the mosser, the evil informant, Solomon Dweck who tricked them. This entire chillul Hashem is Dweck's fault and everyone is very angry with him. He's chayav misa, apparently, and his family is sitting shiva for him. Oh, yeah and the FBI agents who planned this entrapment are also going to burn in hell. The biggest problem, of course, is not the money laundering or organ trafficking. No. The biggest problem is that, nebach, some gemachs and yeshivos will now have a harder time soliciting donations and keeping them safe from the government's nosy spies. 

And in other news,  Rabbi Michael Broyde is calling for greater training for Orthodox female clergy. Of course, he is very quick to point out that this does not mean trained women should be called rabbi for many reasons. For example, we have long-standing traditions that reserve formal authority to males. So women should be called something else, like clergy.

Well, you know what, Rabbi Broyde? It's okay. You can keep your title. I'd rather not be called a rabbi anytime soon. It's not as much of an honor as you'd like to think.

Tags: crazy, criminals, rabbis, women

12:54 am: The Source of the Problem

Okay, from what I understand of this article, the owner of a newspaper is suing a group of rabbis for banning his newspaper  and libeling it as "unsuitable" for Hareidim.  Why was it unsuitable for Hareidim? Well, it displayed photos of females. Blurred photos, to be sure, but they were still female. The owner of the paper was warned, but he persisted in his immoral ways.

Now this is all good and well as it should be. However, the problem still remains. We can't avoid talking about it for much longer. It's a serious issue that we need to face as a community.

There are females all around us. Everywhere.  In stores, in the street, in hospital lobbies. In grocery check -out lines and in the elevators and in my neighbor's home.  Moreover, these females are not blurred, if you've noticed. In fact, they are high-definition females. You can almost touch them, that's how real they look (not that I recommend touching them). Maybe they are 3-D even. 

Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just telling it like it is.

Whose fault is all this? Yep, you know. It's difficult to admit, but you've known the answer all along.  You know in your heart, down deep inside, whose fault this all is. It is the Lord's fault. He has gone and made those women. And He had plenty of reminders and plenty of chances to correct His errors. Despite how patient we have all been, there are still females everywhere around us. In fact, new ones are made every day, I would guess.  Enough is enough, I say.  This must come to an end.

We must ban God. Sure, He's done some good things here and there, random acts of kindness and all that. But we need to stand up and fight for what we believe in, for what the Torah requires of us. We must eradicate the evil from our midst. It will be difficult, but we must ban the insolent Lord who keeps causing females to appear over and over again, despite our repeated requests. There may be some negative consequences to this kol korei, but that's never stopped us before. We know the truth and we are willing to do whatever it takes to get our message across.

No more God, no more prayers, no more offerings, no more fasting, no more Mr. Nice Orthodox Jews. Not until He agrees to repent and eliminate all females from our surroundings. Or at the very least, make them blurry.


Tags: bans, rabbis, tznius, women

09:29 pm: Personal In-Home Mashgiach- the Answer to All Our Problems.

Dear Chareidi Rabbonim,

I wanted to tell you how much I approve of your recent Modest Hotels campaign. Hotels under your authorization, from what I gather, will have to hide their televisions and internet modems. Only married persons will have access to the internet and if someone claims that they are allowed to watch television and his "looks prove this," a rabbi will be consulted for a special dispensation. There are other rules, but I think this is a great start. 

However, this is only a first step. I am sure, Honorable Rabbonim, that you are aware that tragically,  some frum people watch televisions not only in hotels, but also IN THEIR HOMES. Some frum people even have pre-marital or extra-marital internet access, challilah. People, women mostly (of course), even talk loshon horah on the phone, in their homes, their bayis neeman b'yisroel. I won't go on, but you can surely imagine the terrible aveiros people do in the privacy of their own homes.

 These horrible situations are surely responsible for all the tzaros of klal yisroel and more efforts are surely needed to rectify the problem. I suggest that " The Committee for the Character of the Jewish People" send out individual rabbonim and rebbetzins to provide hashgacha on our homes. Here are some services that these personal-care rabbonim could provide for klal yisroel:

* Listening to phone conversations to make sure no loshon hora or nivul peh is being spoken.

* Removing inappropriate magazines which may have pictures of females or articles written from an anti-Torah perspective (even worse) directly from the mailbox so these impurities do not even enter our homes.

*Updating us on the most effective chinuch strategies to use with our precious kinderlach.

* Accompanying the Eishes Chayil of the household on her shopping trips to assure the kashrus of the products she buys AND the conversations she has.

* Accompanying the Baal Habayis to his nightly shiur and mincha/maariv, to ensure that he is not really going to a Biker- Babe Bar instead.

* Alerting the household when a chillul shabbos is about to occur, such as when a child wishes to blow bubbles or play with Legos.

* Monitoring bedroom activities for compliance with the shulchan aruch's directives.

* Cleaning out closets of any clothing which may be too tight, too loose, too colorful or not colorful enough for a bas yisroel and ben torah.

* Assuring that all nightgowns and tichels are worn at all times and cover the targeted areas fully, according to Rabbi Falk's guidance.

*Checking to make sure no secular conversations or, challilah, kefirah is heard. Kefir is okay, but only if it is cholov yisroel.

Anyway, I think that an in-home personal mashgiach would do wonders for our community and would surely bring Moshiach b'meheira b'yomeinu.  Or at least Michael Jackson.

Hattip : Wolfman

Tags: rabbis, tznius

07:38 pm: The Dilemma Continues...

Whom should I believe on the Rabbi Glanz  jail  scandal?  The Zionist-controlled evil and Anti-Semitic goyishe media outlets or The Yeshiva World News?

A difficult choice. Was this chaplain guilty of grossly exploiting his position for the dregs of society? Or was he a hero in the mitzvah of Pidyon Shevuim, stopped only by a heartless and cruel mosser?

Frankly, I didn't really care much about this crazy story until YWN published the ridiculous editorial in the above link. I don't particularly care if all the allegations are accurate of if some people are exaggerating a bit. There's always allegations of special treatment for one group or another and maybe the truth is somewhere in between.
 
What ticks me off is that according to YWN, somehow it is now the wicked informant's fault that the poor frum inmates will not have their special privileges and will have to remain with the rest of the population where " who knows, lo aleinu, awaits these prisoners." The chillul Hashem, oddly, was not caused by the criminal behaviors of the frum Jews and not by the immoral actions of the chassidic chaplain. This horrible situation was actually caused by the informant and "only death can be mechaper the chillul Hashem." 

Really now?



Tags: crazy, criminals, hypocrisy, rabbis

10:40 am: Ask Your LOR About This One

Here's a story posted on a board that I don't quite understand. Maybe you can explain it to me.

A man married a seemingly perfectly normal woman and they have a large for their surroundings family. Along the way they become frum. After the birth of their youngest the woman becomes severely mentally ill. She ceases going to the mikva and allowing her dh to even approach her. He continues to stay married to her because not only was it very questionable if she was fit to accept a get but he loves her and so do the children. In addition they want to not have any problems with shidduchim.

At some point the man goes to the LOR and says that he cannot be without a woman any longer without committing some kind of avera and this is not life. All attempts of family, rav and professionals to talk to the wife are futile. The rav doesn't say yes but he doesn't say no either to the man approaching other women as long as nidda is kept and it is very discreet to not hurt the man's family or the woman. He had several relationships which all ended for the same reason - the woman wanted a man she could marry. He confided to me that if he did not love his he would have killed her. But what bothered him the most is that if any woman he had been with had been found out she would have been a home breaker and a bitch while most would at least tacitly excuse him.

Yeah. So here are my questions.

1. Does halacha really require a man to stay with a psychotic woman? How crazy does she have to be for him not to be able to give a get? Isn't there something where you drop it off with the rav and she picks it up at her convenience? Aren't there medicines these days for crazy people and can't the husband get his wife committed, if she is so nuts? Could this rav have not found some other way out for this family?

2.  Okay, let's say he has no choice but to be married to her. Is adultry really better than masturbation, halachically speaking? Okay, maybe for a man there is no adultry because he can have more than one wife, but morally speaking, wouldn't cheating on your mentally ill spouse be much worse than jerking off?  Does God care about "morally speaking" or does He only care about the strict halacha?

3. They don't want to have problems with shidduchim? WTF? He has a crazy wife whom he can't divorce so he has affairs and he thinks this will be better than divorcing her with regards to his kids' shidduchim? WTF.

4. If he hadn't loved his wife, he would have killed her? Doesn't this just seem like the standard cheating guy routine, with a twist?  My wife's a crazy bitch that I want to kill, but we love her,  she won't give me any and now I have to get myself some on the side. Oh, yeah, my LOR said it's okay. Just so we don't mess up the kids' shidduchim.

Tags: crazy, rabbis

06:49 pm: I can't make this stuff up, people...

Which post is more disturbing?

This one:

...just for the record, a few years ago I was driving and I almost crashed because I was driving with my eyes closed, only because I tried to avoid seeing a couple of young women who were very poorly dressed... The other guys in the car called me a fanatic. I don't consider myself as to being someone with a HUGE Yetzer Horah, but let me tell you - any woman who thinks she can dress down and not take responsibility for the men that get affected by it R"L - is dillusional!

From Here.

Or this one:

The Rabbi said that one of three things will happen with me and B. Either B will fully convert to Judiasm, or we will break up, or B will die within a year. Let me repeat that. A big fancy Rabbi in Israel told my little brother that unless his big sister's fiance converts or breaks up with his sister, his sister's fiance will die within a year.

From here.

Tags: crazy, rabbis, tznius

08:28 am: My New Kiruv Program : First Do No Harm.

I read a lot of Off-the-Derech blogs. A lot. 
Most have at least one thing in common. Someone frum acted like a jerk. More than once and more than twice. This led the blogger to thinking that maybe frum people were full of crap in general. And once they started thinking, they saw that the data could easily be interpreted against orthodoxy, against Judaism, against religion in general.

So here is my advice for all kiruvnicks, chabad or Aish or anyone else, not that you asked for it.

( Read more... )

Tags: hashkafa, kiruv, rabbis

01:06 am: Conservadoxy

With several notable exceptions,  Orthodox Jewish law has been frozen for the past 1600 years.

There is no Sanhedrin and no governing body and no one leader can take it upon himself to authorize important and needed changes. Instead, we all just cling to traditions passed down over the centuries and convice ourselves that this is authentic Judaism, this is Ratzon Hashem, because it is what survived and it is what makes us stand out. And then we teach this to our children who will in turn pass it on to their offspring. Presumably this whole situation is because our leaders today are so humble and modest. Two thousand years ago, Hashem's presence could rest upon 71 rabbis and they could decide the law and interpret the texts. Now, all our leaders are not worthy and God doesn't impart His will to anyone and we are all just stuck with whatever the last 71 rabbis decided was the correct interpretation of the law.

Imagine that American law has been frozen for 1600 years. No?  Um, okay, how about 150 years. Imagine that American law has been frozen since 1858. That means that you are right now living in a country where blacks people are considered property. Where women cannot vote and birth control is illegal. Where females are not allowed entry to universities and child labor laws do not exist. Where you can be fired for not working on Shabbos and where housing can be denied to you because of your religious beliefs or skin color or marital status. You'd like to change some of these rules because they seem unfair. Maybe re-interpret some of the texts. But you can't. Because it's frozen so too bad. You make yourself feel better by saying that you accept "the whole system"- there are parts that you like and parts that you like less and it's a trade-off.  

Is that the will of God? A frozen system? Or does the will of God somehow change as society evolves? Why does Judaism fail to evolve and change while retaining its unique characteristics, whereas other systems, such as American law, seems to be able to do so with relative ease? Would Judaism fall apart completely if women were permitted to be rabbis? Or if  "do not light a fire on the sabbath day" was not interpreted to include electricity? Why?

 

Tags: hashkafa, rabbis, shabbos, women

03:13 pm: Consumer Ratings for Rabbis

There are some readers of this blog who complain that I prattle on about problems but never talk about any solutions. That is because the solutions are often difficult to impossible to implement. Here is an example.

Today I was thinking that there are sites that allow patients to rate physicians on a five point rating system. You can log on and rate your doctor's helpfulness, knowledge, punctuality and overall quality. Then other patients can decide whether to use your physician or not. The same type of sites exist to allow clients to rate lawyers and other professionals.

Say we create a similar type website and allow constituents to anonymously rate their rabbonim based on their speciality in a particular area, sensitivity, knowledge, overall helpfulness, etc. Women could have some understanding of a rabbi's background before they go off asking for birth control heters that will be denied and couples going through difficult marital patches will be able to address their questions to a person who has a reputation for being sensitive in this area. Wealthy philanthropists could allocate their resources more effectively. Imagine that this site actually becomes comprehensive and user-friendly and people use the site to select  whom they will address their questions to, maybe even what the school to send their children to, or which community to move to. Certain rabbis will become more prominent and assume leadership positions and others will fade away. Of course, there would have to be monitoring and offensive or non-constructive remarks would have to be deleted. If you wanted to avoid rabbi-shopping, you could choose one person with the highest average ratings in all areas who fit your general belief system. Insensitive, uncouth rabbinical figures would be encouraged to improve. Life would be so much better. Can't you just smell the roses in full spring bloom once more? 


I don't think it will work. First of all, the "worst offender" rabbis will be against it and will try to close the site or/and harass the individual behind it. Those sheep who blindly follow the herd will decry this all as loshon hora and against kavod rabbonim, no matter how well the site is run. Hosting this type of website would result in social ostracism and  possibly cherem. Nobody would want to do it, considering the kind of backlash they would face.

I know, I know. I should just sit back and wait for the Sanhedrin to get its act together and for the Messiah to rebuild the Temple of Old. That would be a better use of my time.

Tags: rabbis

12:27 pm: Organ donation

Some will say that this story is just payback for chabad's policies on organ donation. Some will say it is Hashem's will and Boruch Dayan Emes and all that.  I think it is just criminal that this happened.  Everyone needs to be an organ donor and stop asking shailos. People are dying because of your stupid shailos.

Until his death Sunday, Chabad activists worked around the clock to secure a lung transplant for Raichik. Last Thursday a religious woman hospitalized after suffering a stroke became a candidate to be Raichik's donor. However, the woman's family insisted on consulting with a leading rabbinic authority in Bnei Brak. By the time the rabbi finished making his own investigations the woman passed away, making the lung transplant impossible to perform.

Hattip : Failed Messiah

Tags: halacha, organ donation, rabbis

10:41 am: Power

I am copying a post from a woman's forum.

Before responding, please keep in mind that we have no knowledge of this case and do not really know whether abuse occured or not. For all we know, the Rabbi could have made the right decision. Also, it is not my intent to embarrass the poster or reveal her identity or that of the family. I don't think anything in the post does that.  However, this post is an excellent example of the power given to rabbonim. Powers that should instead be delegated to police, child protective services and investigators. Regardless of whether abuse took place or not, the first people to call should not be rabbis, they should be child abuse professionals. Then, depending on those findings, you can speak to a rav, although I don't know for what. In any case, we often give too much power to the rabbis and the ones who suffer are the ones with the least power, the women and children. Here's the quote:

Not so long ago I had to deal with THE VERY WORST, MOST UNBELIEVABLE case of child abuse. I had to ask a Rav what to do as the ramifications for the rest of the family & others would be terrible. My Rav is a Tzaddik mamosh, & to my surprise he told me NOT to report it. He explained why, but I still found it hard to follow the Psak. I did, though. You may question why I even went to him. I went for the simple reason that I really didn't know if it was the right thing to do IN THAT PARTICULAR SITUATION. I never imagined the reason for the Psak. We are Frum Yidden. You need to ask a Rav, one you trust implicitly & be very clear how you present the "facts". In this case I was self-obligated to pursue it. Believe me, it was so horrific I didn't sleep that night. But the Psak was the Psak. Without giving any details, it is being handled.



Tags: emunas chachomim, rabbis

10:13 am: Stay Ahead of the Curve

 Part of the orthodox lifestyle is this great game, called "Frummer Than Everyone Else in Shul." 

This is a fun and enjoyable activity. You and your family choose something extra to take on in frumkeit to outdo your neighbors. Then they follow your example and also take on another chumra. The ball's back in your court! The one who dies with the most restrictions, wins! 

I know that some of you readers are a bit stumped as to what to do next. Should I fast an extra hour? Should I pretend moshiach already came and not fast at all? Should I have another child even though I can't afford tuna fish for supper for my kids? Should I insist on only a certain brand of meat that has been supervised by lubavitcher shochtim? Should I buy 212 cholov yisroel instead of plain CY? Should I make my three year old wear tights in the summer heat? How about when she is two? Maybe we should insist on tznius clothes for all the Barbie dolls? Should I get undressed under my bedcovers so the walls of my room don't see my immodesty?

I know, I know what you are thinking. All of this has been done before. What new, creative chumra can I think of that is approved by rabbonim and will earn me jealous looks for my future olam habah? 

Well, lucky reader, I am here to help you stay ahead of the curve! Thank God, shawls are not just for rabbanit Keren anymore. The use of shawls for ladies has been approved by chassidishe rabbonim and in fact, these gedolim are encouraging women to wear coats on top of their tznius outfits when going out in the street so as to embrace them in modesty! Read for yourself below or see the original. 

 

 

Regarding Ultimate Coats, Rabbi Shraga Feivish Hager, Kosover Rebbe in Boro Park, writes that he has been troubled for years that when Jewish daughters go to smachos they are dressed in their finest Shabbos and Yom Tov outfits. Of course, they are going to a mitzvah in making their friend happy, especially kallos at their weddings. Nevertheless they are going through the streets or on the Boro Park/ Williamsburg bus, etc., where there are married men and bochurim. He has long been searching for a solution. Thank Heaven, the Kosover Rebbe writes, that righteous women have come up with an answer. A nice thin overcoat that will guard them well. Though it may be hot in warm weather, it is a good thing, he says. Rabbi Getzel Elyakim Berkowitz, Kiryas Yoel Dayan, in a letter written last year, also praises the new garment for street wear, especially when going to smachos.  

Maybe, chas ve shalom, you think that this rule only applies to followers of these groups. Well, that is why I am writing this for your reading pleasure.  Mark my word- very soon, every frum woman will have a special coat to wear in the summer over her regular clothing, so the shape of her body will not be seen. Overcoats are going to be the next hottest thing in tznius! No pun intended.  Buy one now before your neighbor gets one! And if you are a man, remember: you are king of your castle! You set the standards in your home! You must insist that your wife wear a coat when in the street, regardless of the temperature. Be the first one on your block! Order now! Get your reward later! In Olam Habah!

Tags: rabbis, tznius, women

08:19 pm: Not for the faint-hearted...
 
Do you ever wonder why most people who go off the derech are men or teenagers? Do you ever wonder why more married women with children are not included in those sad statistics? 

Well, now you know.  Many of them are afraid to end up like Gitty.

And what does the frum velt think of this article? They feel sorry for the little girl because she will be so confused.  They insist that her mother is an unstable liar who badmouths her community probably just because she wants attention.  What did you think they would say?  From here.

Tags: crazy, rabbis, women

09:23 pm: Am Hanivchar, again
 
There is a popular argument for the veracity of Judaism and it goes something like this. 

The Jews have survived for so long in galus. A small nation, a tiny fraction of the world's population, statistically speaking, the Jews should have long ago been assimilated or destroyed. And yet, through all the Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms and Holocausts, they still survive and even flourish! All the while, the nations who have persecuted them vanish into the pages of history books. Where is the great Roman Empire? Where are the mighty Greek rulers? All gone, while the Jews survive. Here is another version of the same.

 I am sure you have heard this argument in many forms over many years. It is quite appealing emotionally. The Jews are a small nation who defy all odds and survive. This somehow proves that they are indeed the Chosen Nation and that the Torah is true. Presumably because it is impossible for the Jews to have survived under these conditions if God did not will it to be so and the only reason God could will the survival of the Jews is because they are to be a beacon of light for everyone else.  Some people like to tack on something about how this also means that Orthodoxy is the way to go because the Conservatives and Reform movements will become completely assimilated over the next few decades. 

 So this past Shabbos, I was at a table where someone mentioned the Karaite moshavim in Israel. I looked it up a bit and found that the Karaite sect, the small minority who took the Torah literally and discounted the entire Talmud, managed to survive throughout the diaspora just fine and are now doing well in Israel. They apparently have 11 shuls and 30, 000 members, if this article is accurate.  

So now let us apply the logic of the previous argument to the Karaim. They are even a smaller fraction of the Jews. They were rejected by Orthodox Judaism itself.  They were persecuted right along with the other Jews. And hey,  despite all the negative press and extreme adversity, they survived! This must mean that the Karaite way is the Chosen Derech. Right?

Tags: chosen nation, gemara, gentiles, hashkafa, rabbis