Emes Ve-Emunah

Headquarters of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate (VIN)

Conversion to Judaism is a touchy subject. Whenever the subject comes up it almost always guarantees a heated debate. And for good reason. Both sides believe very strongly in the justice of their cause. And both sides can cite Halacha to back them up.

The current controversy in Israel is over the acceptance of converts outside of Israel. The Chief Rabbinate has recently declared that it will no longer automatically recognize all rabbis in the Diaspora attesting the legitimacy of a convert. From VIN:

The Chief Rabbinate does not consider non-Orthodox Judaism to be valid, so it does not accept the authority of Conservative and Reform rabbis. And in recent years, it has had a series of public disputes with Orthodox rabbis whose authority it rejects.

This week, hoping to clarify exactly which Orthodox rabbis meet its standards, the Chief Rabbinate published a list of draft criteria for religious courts in the Diaspora. If a religious court meets the criteria, the Jewish conversions it conducts will be recognized by the Chief Rabbinate. If not, the Chief Rabbinate will not consider its converts Jewish.

The same goes for Jewish ritual divorces: The Chief Rabbinate will accept them only if they are performed by a qualified religious court...

The document’s language is in the past tense, which means it could apply retroactively — rejecting the status of Jewish converts who formerly were accepted in Israel. In other words, a convert accepted by the Chief Rabbinate this year could be rejected next year.

The criteria demand that the courts be permanent and operate year-round. Their rabbis must demonstrate fealty to Orthodox Jewish law and be endorsed by a major Orthodox organization.

This has obviously upset a lot of people. Especially those that feel the Chief Rabbinate’s conversions standards are much stricter than they have to be. An Orthodox rabbinate ejecting Reform and Conservative conversions should not surprise anyone. But it also means that conversions by Orthodox rabbis who have challenged the status quo with controversial innovations widely rejected by Mainstream Orthodoxy - will also be rejected. This includes rabbis ordained by YCT or their founder, Rabbi Avi Weiss. Even if a conversion was done long before Rabbi Weiss went rogue.

Critics like Rabbi Seth Farber of Itim (a group that works to challenge and navigate the Chief Rabbinate’s bureaucracy) have strongly objected to this kind of thing calling it a power grab by the Chief Rabbinate. Although it might look like that to the casual observer, I am not so quick to agree with him.

The fact is that there was a tremendous amount of abuse in the past. Many people were ‘converted’ by some even Orthodox rabbis that were never really sincere in their promises to be observant. Whether full observance is even necessary is a debate that has been settled in recent years despite the protestations of those who believe we may rely on a lenient Psak (Halachic ruling ) of the past. That Psak is not accepted today by any recognized Orthodox Posek or institution.

I understand Rabbi Farber’s objection and even sympathize with him. He is a compassionate individual that cares about the Jewish people and has tried to do something about what he sees as an intolerable situation. I can only imagine the grief an individual who believes he has converted being told that they are not Jewish and must undergo a new conversion.

But that doesn’t change the Halachic requirements for conversions, which is what the Chief Rabbinate’s guidelines are designed to enforce.

That said, I do have to take issue with their implied retroactive rejection. If someone sincere was converted by a rabbi before he went off the reservation, I don’t think they should be rejected. And if it is it should be applied evenly to all such rabbis on both the right and the left. Including Rabbi Leib Tropper, founder of the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) project, which advocated more rigorous conversion standards. If anyone went off the reservation he did.

His position of power in the field enabled him to egregiously sexually abuse at least one of his female converts. Much the same way Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein’s positions of power did. Only neither Weinstein nor Cosby were highly respected Orthodox rabbis. If Rabbi Weiss’s conversions are to be retroactively annulled, all the more so should Rabbi Tropper’s conversions be retroactively annulled. Which is grossly unfair to the sincere converts of both rabbis.

In my view anyone converted by a rabbi while he was still accepted, should be considered completely valid. It is all about Ahavas HaGer. The Torah tells us we must love our fellow converts and consider them equals. Telling sincere converts that they are no longer accepted because their converting rabbi is no longer accepted is simply not right.

Classroom (Matzav)

Back in the late 50s, when I was an elementary school student at Yeshivath Beis Yehuda in Detroit my classmates consisted of an eclectic mix of religiosity. They were from homes with a wide range of religious observance - from very Charedi to the non observant.

That school was one of the first Yeshivos (if not THE first) that R’ Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz’s fledgling Torah U’Mesorah had taken under its wing. 3 of his top students – pioneers of Torah Chinuch - were sent there to lead the school, Rabbis Joseph Elias, Avarahm Abba Friedman, and Sholom Goldstein.

Back in those days it was a struggle to get people to attend a Ysehiva. Parents were concerned about their children being prepared for the modern world by getting a proper education. Yeshivos were not seen as a realistic option. Especially if they were not observant.

Those 3 pioneers literally pulled Jewish kids off the streets promising their parents free tuition; guaranteeing them that their children’s educational needs would be met. Since that was the only religious day school in Detroit, even the most Charedi parents in the city sent their children there too.

Not long before that time there were no Yeshivos at all in Detroit. Public school was the only option. I recall a few years ago when Rav Avrohom Chaim Levine (Agudah Moetzes member and Rosh HaYeshiva of Telshe) telling attendees at an Agudah convention that he had attended public school all the way through 7^th grade. His father (who was Charedi) was one of the leading Orthodox Rabbonim in Detroit for many years.

A few years ago at a Torah U’Mesorah convention, the same Rav Levine attended a debate about the need for religious standards in a school. The argument was that a school had the right to set it’s own religious standards. If a child came from a home where those standards were noy met, the school had a right to refuse them admission. Rav Levine stood up and objected strongly to such strictures, pointing out that many of the Mechanchim that were in that room had attended Yeshivath Beth Yehuda. If they had had those standards then, they would not be there today – and would probably not be observant at all!

A few years before his death, Rav Aharon Leib Steinman was recorded admonishing a principal with that attitude yelling, Gavah, Gavah, Gavah at him! That principal had asked if he could deny a Sephardi girl into his school because her home did not meet their religious standards. Rav Steinman saw right through that and called a spade a spade. He saw a haughtiness based on a false sense of superiority and called it out! He realized the harm to innocent young girls and their families this policy would have. And wanted no part of it.

The religious elitism permeates the Torah world today is as strong as ever. It has turned into high value for schools. One that many schools compete over – to show how Frum they are.

For me, this kind of religious elitism is one of the biggest the biggest problem facing Orthodox Judaism. The more elitism there is, the less unity. Elitism turns into divisiveness. ‘Nisht Fun Unzera’ – not one of ours is how it is sometimes expressed). In essence cutting themselves off from the rest of the observant world. The more to the right one is, the more this attitude is the case. Every other Jew - even if they are observant is seen as ‘Krum’ (veering off the ideal Torah path).

I wish we could go back to my days in Beth Yehuda where elitism did not exist at all. There was no such thing as one student being ‘frummer’ than a fellow student. We were all one. Friends who interacted with one another... spending time in each others homes; being involved together in extra curricular activities. Everyone was treated equally by their Rebbe. We were a cohesive group - unified by common principles of observance.

Today, that idea is non existent. Schools now define themselves by comparing how religiously elite they are. The more elitist they are, the more desirable they are to parents. And the more children get rejected.

A story in Matzav is a case in point. A Charedi school in Israel has complained that Ministry of Education is trying to forcibly involve itself in school’s Hashkafa:

It is reported that the Education Ministry has established an appeals committee for girls who have not been accepted to schools for next year, dealing with girls nationwide. The head of the Chareidi branch of the ministry is also the head of this committee.

However, the previous director left the position two months ago, and the ministry has appointed a replacement, Gila Nagar. It is explained that while she is “truly a wonderful person, she hasn’t the slightest clue or familiarity when it comes to Chareidi lifestyle”.

The committee has met in recent days and addressed cases of girls who are without schools for the coming year.

Long story short, that committee re-examined the Hashkafic tests given by the schools and marked ‘correct’ an answer marked wrong by the school thus forcing them to accept students that were rejected:

(R)egarding the question of the meaning for “someone who takes advice from the Chachamim,” the expected answer to this in a Chareidi school is to accept an ‘Eitza (advice) from Gedolei Yisrael’. The student in question answered that this is ‘following advice from parents’ – and it was rejected. However, the ministry decided the response of “advice from parents” was correct, amended the student’s grade and informed the institution in a letter that the girl meets the threshold conditions and must be accepted.

I understand that a school has a right to insist on its own standards - no matter what they are. No one is forced to send their children there. The irony is that the more elite the school is, the more desirable it becomes for the parents.

I can’t imagine considering a child taking advice from an observant parent to be a wrong answer. Even if one believes that an ‘Eitza from Gedolei Yisrael’ trumps what parents tell you.

What about the fact that schools are overcrowded and need to have limits to their numbers. That is a serious problem that needs to be addressed but is beyond the scope of this post.

What I will however say is that it should not be religious elitism that solves that problem. Because that creates more problems than it solves.

Frumkeit is just a way of showing off. It divides rather than unites.That is what the great Baal Mussar (Jewish ethicist) Rav Shlomo Wolbe spoke out against, and Rav Steinman meant by yelling Gavah, Gavah, Gavah. And it should be a lesson for all those who educate our young. Including the school in question here. Too bad it isn’t.

I am not a fan of beauty contests. I don’t watch them when they are broadcast. I had always thought they were demeaning to women for a variety of reasons. Most of which have to do with presenting them as objects of physical beauty. The bathing suit competition in recent years has become more revealing than ever. Making the contestants even more objectified than in the past. But this week something strange happened that not only reversed that trend, it has stopped it on its tracks.

The grand-daddy of them all, the Miss America Pageant will no longer feature the swimsuit competition.

If there was anything more symbolic for these kinds of contests than women wearing swimsuits, I can’t imagine what that would be. Beauty contests have always been seen that way. All that other stuff was just filler for TV. People that watch beauty pageants don’t really care how talented a contestant is, where she goes to school, what her ideals are or what her plans for the future are. Those contests are really all about looks – despite all the PR about being much more than that. It really isn’t.

But - no more. Not only that, but women of all sizes and shapes will be considered for the competition as well. They will be judged more on accomplishment and character. (Not sure how that will play with viewers – but that is beside the point.)

I believe this is one of the positive offshoots of the #Metoo movement which has exposed the massive degree of sexual misconduct going on in our world. I guess officials realize that western civilization’s obsession with the female body might just be part of the problem.

The argument about male self control being the real problem... and that women who dress in sexually provocative ways have the right to do that without being harassed or assaulted is legitimate. But that does not make the male libido any less functional. Men react to what they see. That most of us can control our impulses and behave under such conditions does not mean that it disappears. Nor does it mean that all of us have the same degree of morality, ethics, and self control.

When mental health professionals dealing with sexual abuse say that sex abuse is about power, not sex- they are only half right in my view. True, powerful men that are ethically challenged can create opportunity and use it to their advantage. But I don’t think it can be denied that their sex drives are involved. Constantly being exposed to that kind of cultural conditioning makes it more likely for them to act on those impulses.

Which is what President Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky. And what Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein; Shlomo Carlebach and Meir Pogrow did to dozens of women. In their cases I think a lot of it can be traced to the hyper-sexualized culture in which we live. All of those men were exposed to this culture. Their libidos were working in overdrive conditioned by it and they used their positions of power to act on it.

This is not to say that there aren’t cases where culture may not have generated sex crimes. Unfortunately there are plenty of examples of that too. There are a lot of people that are not as exposed to the culture - and are even isolated from it - that are just as guilty of sex crimes. Their sex crimes are no less egregious based on a hyper-sexual appetite whereby their positions of power enabled them to act on it. Nechemya Weberman and Eliezer Berland come to mind. It is just that it wasn't the culture that generated the hyper-sexual appetites in their cases.

But I don’t think you can discount the role of an overly sexualized society in the majority of cases.

Which I think is what is at least partially behind this extraordinary move by Miss America Pageant officials.

Which brings me to another issue. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City Council member says he will sponsor gender-segregated beach days for his Jewish and Muslim constituents this summer — a plan opposed by the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Councilman Chaim Deutsch announced the first-ever "Southern Brooklyn Beach Day," hosting separate dates for men and women.

"I have a lot of Orthodox Jewish and Muslim constituents in my district who have never been able to go to the beach before," the Democrat told the New York Post . "They've never been able to smell the beach, to walk in the sand. Everyone should be able to enjoy the beach.

Deutsch said he is raising private funds to cover the cost of taking over the beach for two days at Kingsborough Community College, which sits next to popular Manhattan Beach.
The beach would normally be closed on both Fridays since the college doesn't have summer classes that day.

Under his plan, June 29 would be set aside for men and boys from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and July 27 would be reserved for women and girls during those hours.

In my wildest dreams, I could not imagine why this would be a problem for anyone. But it is for the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union):

"What chutzpah," said New York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director Donna Lieberman, employing the widely appropriated Yiddish-based term for audacity. "People don't have the right to impose gender discrimination on a city beach simply because it's mandated by their religion."

"It is one thing for the city to provide reasonable accommodation for religious practice and quite another to limit the public access of everybody else," said Lieberman.

I - might - see her argument if religious people were the only ones benefiting from it. But in light of the societal shift away from objectifying women I do not believe that religious people will be the only ones taking advantage of this accommodation.

Ms. Lieberman calls Councilman Deutch’s plan the height of Chutzpah. I believe the reverse is true. It is the height of Chutzpah for her to deny citizens the opportunity to use a facility in ways that makes them more more comfortable. A plan that calls for renting a beach that is normally closed on those days.

If that isn’t religious discrimination, I don’t know what is. Besides, I’m sure that there are plenty of people – both men and women that do not feel comfortable going to a beach where so many women are almost totally undressed. Nothing to do with religion for those people. I’ll bet there are a lot of women that will appreciate this opportunity.

One would think that the Miss America Pageant’s seismic shift away over exposure of the female skin is reflective of a change in the direction of America’s obsession with that even for those that are not religious. Furthermore, enabling people that are otherwise denied an opportunity at the beach to actually enjoy it on days where it is otherwise closed –rented from the city with private funds should not violate anyone’s civil rights. It would be a win/win for all. All - that is but the ACLU.

Street scene in Bnei Brak

‘Nebech, You have to understand. This fellow has 13 children to support!’

One may recall this comment made by a Chasidic Rebbe in Bnei Brak about one of his Chasidim. I mentioned it recently in a related post. That Chasid was caught selling drugs. His Chasidic Rebbe made this comment over a quarter of a century ago. He could have easily made it today. That attitude does not seem to have changed

I bring it up now in light of an amazing article by Shlomi Gil in Mishpacha Magazine (only partially available online without a subscription). Had it been written by me, I would clearly have been accused of Charedi bashing. I don’t think anyone can accuse Mishpacha of that.

Mishapcha deserves a lot of credit for directing its readers attention to a problem plaguing their world. At least as it exists in Israel - in places like Bnei Brak. Bnei Brak is probably the epicenter of mainstream Charedi Judaism in Israel – albeit its most right wing expression.

The problem they deal with is the thinking among their people that resorting to certain type of criminal activity as a means of support is not such a big deal. While I’m sure the vast majority of Charedim in Bnei Brak are honest God fearing Jews that would not steal a penny from anyone - a not insignificant number of them would do so under circumstances outside of their community. Their high level of religiosity does not carry over to the outside world.

This allows for the above-mentioned attitude. One that is exacerbated by their level of need. Their relatively low incomes and large families creates a situation that most others don’t have. Which entices them towards breaking these kinds of laws - as long as it doesn't affect their own community.

This begs an obvious question. Why doesn’t their more religious outlook; their more religious way of life give them better numbers? Why do the stats about this kind of criminal activity pretty much mimic those of the rest of the world? Shouldn’t their religious teachings reduce their numbers?

There is clearly a great emphasis on ritual behavior. I doubt that there is an observant community anywhere in the world more meticulous than they are. It is obvious in everything they do and in the lifestyle they lead.

And yet when it comes to breaking the law outside of those rituals and outside of their community, there is an attitude of tolerance and permissiveness that causes some of them to try and get away with it when they think they can. I believe that’s the reason that the above-mentioned Chasidic Rebbe made that comment about his drug dealing Chasid - instead of condemning it with every fiber in his body. To him, it may have been wrong, but not the biggest deal in the world. Besides, one must be Dan L’Kaf Zechus judging favorably their fellow Jew - having sympathy for someone who was only trying to support his large family.

The Mishpacha article strongly implies that Charedim have little if any guilt about smuggling contraband purchased overseas into Israel. Gad Serusi, a customs official was interviewed for the story. Speaking of cigarettes as a smuggled item, he said that they are common items smuggled into Israel by Charedim from overseas. There they are sold there for a quarter of what they are in Israel. They are smuggled in in Tefilin bags, Tails bags and Shtreimel boxes.

Serusi also said that there is a stigma that Charedim smuggle more than others, but he said in truth they are no better or worse than any other sector of the population. He added that there is however a trend for young Charedi men to bring large amounts of cigarettes from abroad – some of them even showing off what they have smuggled in.

While smuggling cigarettes is not the same as smuggling in several Kilos of narcotics, it is not that much of a leap from smuggling cigarettes to smuggling cocaine. Once you’re smuggling, why not do it for maximum dollars which drug dealers (some of whom are embedded in the Charedi world) are willing to pay their drug ‘mules’?! Some Charedim are enticed by the quick and easy money - thinking they will never get caught. With nary a thought about the terrible consequences to society they contribute to, or what might happen to them if they get caught!

The idea that it is illegal doesn’t seem to matter. That it is unethical doesn’t even to occur to them.

Gil interviewed one such individual identified only by his fist name - David:

I met David, who was released from one of Europe’s largest prisons three years ago and has managed to put his life into some semblance of order since then, through a mutual friend last week. Our meeting came on the heels of a spate of arrests that have hit the Israeli news recently regarding young people from chareidi families being used by sophisticated handlers to smuggle drugs and other contraband through airport customs. While the most high-profile of these was the grandson of a frum MK, several others have come forward and described their own harrowing experiences — naive or foolish as these would-be couriers may have been.

A ‘spate of arrests’. Who would have even suspected the use of such a term about Charedi smugglers.

I see this primarily as a failure of Charedi Chiunch. The emphasis on ritual behavior seems to be at the expense of ethical behavior. Either that, or they believe that smuggling contraband past customs officials is not unethical.

I have to believe it is the former. The ethics are there. But they are not being sufficiently emphasized. In the very same issue of Mishpacha there are several stories about Charedim whose ethical and moral behavior the rest of us can only marvel at. This excerpt from Jonathan Rosenblum’s column is one such story. Which is the antithesis of the malaise otherwise plaguing the Charedi world:

Rav Mendel Kaplan once stopped his car and offered a ride to a large, non-Jewish woman whom he saw struggling against the elements on a snowy and windy winter day in Chicago. When she came out of the diner to which he’d brought her, Reb Mendel was waiting for her to take her home.

If this was the way all of us would behave, articles lamenting a spate of arrests mentioned in Mishpacha would not be possible. The question is, why don’t we see the behavior of these special individuals and try to emulate them? Why do some of us not even come close? Why are the most religious Jews among us no better than the rest of the world when it comes to this kind of crime?

It is high time for Charedi Mechanchim to adjust what they emphasize. And to stop the vilification of all those outside of their world. And instead to instill into their students the values of a R’ Mendel Kaplan before they even begin to open a Gemarah.

YU Mashpia R' Moshe Weinberger - proponent of Neo-Chasidus (Jewish Action)

I must admit that I don’t really know much about Neo- Chasidus. Although it has recently become a public topic of discussion and controversy, I haven't really paid that much attention to it. But an article about it by Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer in the Times of Israel got me to thinking about Hashkafos in general. What indeed is the best path for the Jewish people to live their lives in the way God intends us to?

My understanding about Neo-Chasidus is embodied in the title of an article about it in a past issue Jewish Action: Rekindling the Flame: Neo-Chassidus Brings the Inner Light of Torah to Modern Orthodoxy.

If I understand it correctly it is - in short - a phenomenon that embraces much of the Hashkafic teachings of Chasidus without any of the overt Chasidic trappings. Neo-Chasidus does not for example include the typical look or mode of Chasidic dress. No Kapote. No Shtreimal. No long Peyos. No long beards. One can dress and look modern and while embracing their more uplifting method of relating to God.

This includes the inspirational messages taught by Chasidic Rebbes; participating in more joyous modalities such singing and dancing; or enjoying a Tisch. A Tisch is defined as Chasidim sitting at a large table (on Shabbos) filled with food. They sing Zemiros (Shabbos oriented tunes) and participate with their Chasidic Rebbe sitting at the head. He hands out Shirayim (portions of food he began eating) to the assembled and then tells inspirational stories to them.

Neo-Chasidus seems to have caught on with some of the Modern Orthodox younger element. Especially it seems with some of those that have been educated in Yeshiva University (YU) type schools. YU is based on the Lithuanian (Litvak) Yeshiva model, which focuses on Torah study as the prime area of concentration. Mitzvah observance (and sometimes Mussar - Jewish ethics) is taught matter of factly and dryly.

The charge against this method by adherents of Chasidus is that it is sterile and uninspiring. Students have difficulty relating to their faith that way. In fact one of my closest friends is a hardcore Litvak who has led him to jokingly remark in a self deprecating way that it is against their Hashkafos to ever smile or laugh. They are supposed to be serious, dour, and depressed.

That is clearly not the way most Litvaks live. But with the exception of family Simchas - that is apparently how many see themselves. There is no joy in Mudville.

Modern Orthodox Jews do not live that way either. There is plenty of ‘joy’ in their lives. However with the same exceptions of family Simchas - it is often outside the context of Judaism. Which leaves a vacuum of sorts in their spirituality that might need rekindling. I suppose that this works for some people. But what works for some, may not work for others.

So which Hashkafa is the best fit for all - or even most of us? Those who thought I was going to say my own Centrist Hashkafa may be surprised to see that this is not my answer. Although I do believe it represents the best way of doing God’s will, it is clearly not the way most observant Jews feel - as evidenced by the vast number of disparate groups within Orthodoxy.

What I would like to see is the elimination of these groups. No more labels. Just one Judaism where belief in God and following His word is all that matters. How we each approach that should be left up to one’s own background, teachings, intelligence, and life experiences. There ought not be Chasidim or Litvaks, Centrists and Charedim. No Left. No Right. No Religious Zionists. No Satmar. Just a Jewish people dedicated to serving God in the best way we can each understand His will.

If someone likes to sing and dance as a way of being inspired, that’s great. If someone is inspired by full time deep Torah study, that is just as great. If someone is inspired by uplifting others, that’s great too. If one believes that studying Mada is a value, that should not disqualify him to those that believe it isn’t.

We can each seek different ways of finding meaning in our observance without resorting to partisanship of any kind. That doesn't mean we can’t believe in our own personal way of doing things. But it does mean accepting how others do it too, without making any judgments about which way is better. What works for me doesn’t have to work for you. And vice versa.

The bottom line is that we judge each other’s approach to observance favorably. The important thing is to believe in God and His Torah; follow His word as directed by it - and interpreted by the sages and the great rabbis of each generation throughout history; and to not depart from long held tradition without the wisdom of those rabbis. As long as your Hashkafa does not impede the Hashkafa of a neighbor in any way, or cause a Chilul HaShem then we should embrace our individual diversity without the need to divide ourselves into groups.

We are after all each individuals with our own strengths and capabilities - but at the same time one people – chosen by God to do His will. And as long as these parameters are met we can unite as a people. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all see each other that way – and do away with factionalism?

Chasidic community advocate, Issac Abraham (screenshot)

Naftuli Moster is a Moser. He is an ‘up to no good’ expatriate Chasid that is no longer religious who has a vendetta against his former community. One that has motivated him to destroy it by cleverly disguising his motive as trying to help them.

This is pretty much the narrative of defenders of education provided to children of Satmar, Skvere and like minded Chasidic enclaves. Even by those outside of those enclaves. They might agree that these communities need to upgrade their educational system. But they still accuse Moster of nefarious motives. Moster’s claim that he is only trying to help is disputed as a tactic used to ultimately destroy them entirely. Why else, they say, did he go to the secular authorities and ‘snitch’ on them?! They say his rejection of his Chasidic heritage and abandonment of Mitzvah observance (which he is accused of by people who say they know him) proves his nefarious intent.

I do not buy any of that. I don’t know Moster personally. But every comment I have ever heard him make about this subject has had only one focus: trying to get his former community to offer a secular curriculum along with their religious curriculum. Much the same way most mainstream yeshivas do.

He has explicitly stated that he does not want to see the religious curriculum eliminated. He said this recently in the first installment (video below) of a 3 part series by Fox News about the Chasidic world. Those who might accuse him of lying have yet to show any proof of that.

Why did he go to the authorities? Why didn’t he work internally instead? The answer should be obvious even to the casual observer. After 70 or so years of their existence, they have done nothing to change their paradigm. They instead keep doubling down on it.

That being the case, there is hardly a chance that things would be fixed internally because of anything internal Moster could have done. Realistically the only option left for him is to insist that the State’s educational requirements are enforced instead of ignored.

Chasidic leaders have been fighting him mightily - finding a sympathetic State legislator in Simcha Feldman to help them out. Which he did. He so watered down educational requirements that they are practically irrelevant. By allowing their schools to say they incorporate secular studies into their religious curriculum - they avoid any realistic assessment what of what is and isn’t taught that way. The state therefore has no choice but to trust Satmar officials that say they are keeping their word.

Which is why I have no issues with what Naftuli Moster is doing. I have not seen a shred of evidence that his real goal is to destroy Satmar or Skvere type Chasidus. Based on everything I have seen or heard about him I truly believe that all he wants to do is provide children from his former community the education he missed out on when he was there. Which had put him and almost every other Satmar Chasid educated that way at a great disadvantage.

Why do others who see that pressing need still accuse Moster of a nefarious motive? I think they just buy into the narrative of his former community about his motives and lack of religiosity – since they ‘know’ him and the rest of us don’t. But as noted none of that has been proven. I think they just take their word for it.

Which brings me to the aforementioned Fox News report. Needless to say, it did not make Satmar type enclaves look good. On the other hand there was also a lot of misinformation and half truths which need to be publicly challenged.

Whar Moster said is true. Until 9^th grade there is only basic arithmetic and English. (I’m not sure how well the latter is taught since most Satmar Chasidim sound like they were born in Poland and immigrated recently.) But no one disputes that there is no secular education at all past 8^th grade, despite a very long school day –six days a week. The amount of time spent in a Satmar type school easily dwarfs the amount of time spent by students in any public school.

It is therefore true – as Fox News asserts - that their lack of a proper English speaking ability and few marketable skills - they are forced as married adults with typically large families to rely on public assistance:

Indeed, the U.S. town with the highest rate of people on food stamps is the all-Hasidic New York village of New Square, north of New York City, where 77 percent of residents rely on the program to eat, according to a new report.

That there are a so many Chasidm that end up with great wealth is the exception that proves the rule. How they do that while the vast majority of others do not is beyond the scope of this post.

What is not true is the way Fox News phrased it. Implying that all Yeshiva students end up this way. They kept talking about ‘Yeshivos’ as though all of them are guilty of this. That is clearly not the case with the vast majority of mainstream Yeshivos, including Charedi ones. They also flashed a images of a Beis Yaakov school while discussing the problem. The Beis Yaakov system is not part of Satmar. It is the mainstream educational system for most Charedi girls. They offer a full secular studies curriculum.

However Satmar has its own girls education system which DOES include a secular studies curriculum. Which – if it were offered to boys, would solve the problem. Moster would have no need to urge state educational authorities to enforce their rules.

Most telling is the way Chasidic community advocate, Isaac Abraham, defended their education. His almost racist implication about interaction with Hispanic students speaks volumes about the innate prejudices extant there. And his sweeping condemnation of all secular education being responsible for the Harvey Weinsteins of the world - whereas the Chasidic education never even uttering the word sex on anything remotely connected to it – is ‘proof’ to him that a secular curriculum produces evil people whole the Chasidic educational system does not.

He is either lying or completely ignorant about the Nechemya Webermans of the world. Or the Avreimal Modnrowitzes. Or the numerous other religiously educated Jews – many of them in leadership positions that makes Harvey Weinstein look tame by comparison.

He then talks about the percentage of criminals that come out of the public school system. But forgets to mention that there are enough religious Jews in prison to fill a large Yeshiva - if not more!

I do however grant (obviously) that the Torah values taught in Yeshivas promote a much higher standard of ethics and morality. And that as a whole the observant Jewish community does by and large live by a different and higher moral code than much of general society. But that has absolutely nothing to do with teaching a child how to function in the 21^st century as a productive adult who can support his family without resorting to public assistance.

They simply do not do that. They in fact do the opposite by pursing a strategy of insularity from the outside world which their educational system facilitates. They urge their adherents to have nothing to do with the outside world except when it comes to being fed by it.

There are some outside that Moster – or anyone else trying to get the government to interfere in how a school educates its children violates the free exercise clause of the First amendment. I part company with them on this because it is absolutely not the case that insisting on a basic secular curriculum is in any way violates those rights. The state not only has the right, but the obligation to see that its citizens are not deprived of the tools to needed to support themselves via a standard secular education. They have every right - and even a duty to try and eliminate or reduce the taxpayer burden of funding able bodied citizens that - given the tools would aid them in supporting themselves. Using government financial assistance as a standard part of a community’s income is not what the welfare system is about.

So even though I have reservation in how Fox News reported this segment on Chasidim, its overall message is true. Naftuli Moster is right in trying to change things there. It’s just too bad that the politics of clout probably won’t allow him to succeed.

Scene from The Band's Visit (Playbill)

10 Tony awards.

Tony is the name of the award given for achievements in theater production on Broadway. It’s comparable to the Oscar for movie production. The play that won those 10 awards including best musical, best actor and best actress was The Band’s Visit.

For a variety of reasons (mostly because of: the ridiculously high ticket prices – making it a rich person’s entertainment medium; the fact that I do not live in New York City; and a tone to so many of its productions that are anathema to my values ) …I don’t normally pay much attention to Broadway.

But last Sunday night the play that won all those awards was about a subject near and dear to my heart. Peace between Israelis and Arabs. First my disclaimer: I did not see this play. But I have seen and read enough about it to know its premise. Which is a fairly simple one. It is the idea that there is a humanity between peoples far more uniting than their differences are dividing. People of different cultures, values, and ethnicity, can in fact find common ground in their humanity that surpasses and overrides all their politics.

The story is about an Egyptian police band that got lost and somehow ended up in a sleepy Israeli town in the Negev desert. There is no hotel or transporation. They settle in to a small restaurant owned by an Israeli woman who offered them lodging. Throughout the course of their stay they overcome their barriers, and find companionship with each other through an undercurrent of shared melancholy.

The implied message is that if we all just shed our politics, we could get along famously – in the brotherhood of man. Who wouldn’t want something like that? It doesn’t matter whether you are politically right wing or left wing. True peace is the ultimate goal for everyone.

There have in fact been numerous programs that have tried to make the same point this play does. Integrating the two worlds in microcosm. Well intentioned people that ‘threw’ together young Jews and Arabs who have been indoctrinated to be suspicious of - and mistrust each other. By working together for a common goal unrelated to their politics their mistrust and suspicions melt away. It happens every time it’s tried. The idea being, if it works in microcosm, why can’t it work in macrocosm?

As things stand now, it can’t. As long as Islamic fundamentalism rules, there can be no realistic rapport developed between the two peoples.

There is little likelihood that the kind of good will that exists in these small groups can overcome over 100 years of hatred against the Jews that Arabs have been indoctrinated with through their faith. Especially when they are the ones calling the real shots among their people . As does Hamas in Gaza. Is there any sane person that believes that the leader of Hamas would ever find common ground with any Jew – whose very presence in the holy land represents an impediment to fulfillment of one of their religious imperatives?!

Scenarios like the one in the play amount to nothing more than wishful thinking at this point. Wishful thinking cannot be the basis for policy. That is a prescription for disaster.

The Band’s Visit was likely an excellent play with good intentions. But I would not be surprised if that wishful thinking by voters factored into their huge number of awards Sunday night.

What about all that talk about the American Left (of which Broadway is a hard core member of) abandoning Israel? It would seem that they haven’t. At least not the kind of Israel depicted in this play

What they seek is not the kind of Israel I seek, however. Which is the kind of Israel God intended piece of real estate to be. The kind that hosts a people that adheres to the Laws of God via His Torah. They seek a Jewish state based on secular humanism that has nothing to do with Judaism. The kind that most of Israel’s founders envisioned.

What they reject is the very thing that defines us as a Jewish people. The more they see of that in Israel, the less they want to have anything to do with it. This is what they are abandoning. They only embrace what was depicted in the play: A totally secularized Jewish sate with humanistic values and little connection to the Judaism of our ancsetors. An Israel without Judaism.

But there can be no Israel without Judaism and no Judaism without the Torah. It’s as simple as that.

That doesn’t mean we can’t find common ground with Palestinians. Islam has much in common with Judaism. But as long as Islamic Fundamentalists rule the day in that region, all we can do is hope it will someday change. Until then Israel can do nothing more than be vigilant in thwarting their continued attempts to destroy the Jewish state by any and all means. At this point in time messages like the one in The Band’s Visit are just fairly tales.

Israeli Education and Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett (WJD)

There has been a lot of angst of late about American Jewish disaffection with Israel. Which should be a concern for anyone that cares about the welfare of the Jewish state. No less that Israel’s Minster of Diaspora Affairs, Naftali Bennett, who addressed a conference of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) expressed that very concern. He said it keeps him up at night and worries him more than does the Iran.

The question is why is this the case? Why are American Jews abandoning Israel’s cause? There was a time where most American Jews defined their very Judaism by their support for Israel. Other than that there was little else they did that distinguished them as Jews. They were basically indistinguishable from their non Jewish American neighbors. Social justice is what concerned the more idealistic Jews among them. As was the soft antisemitism of the time that had quotas for Jews in ivy league universities and barred Jews from from certain country clubs.

But all American Jews who were mostly non observant loved Israel and supported her with massive donations They viewed with pride Israel’s idealism as expressed by secular Zionism with socialist type communes (called Kibbutzim) working to make the desert bloom. In those days it was about building up the country.

That kind of idealism has all but disappeared in Israel right along with most Kibbutzim. Today’s Israel is more like America where the profit motive fuels economy. l Amercian mindset. They saw a country whose pioneers were idealistic, where Jews that lived in and worked on collective farms (Kibbutzinm) were all working for the same cause of bettering the society in which they lived. The profit motives seemed at most to be secondary if it existed at all. That is what socialism is all about. And they were doing this while under the threat of constant attack from hostile neighbors. It was a time where the labor government ruled and believed their reign would last forever.

That changed after the six day war, especially when the Israeli electorate turned rightward – and voted labor out of office replacing him with Menachem Begin. From that moment on the country started moving away from a socialism and more towards capitalism. Kibbutzim stated dying out as a result.

That is one reason support has waned. But in my view – by far not the most important one.

There are at least 2 other factors that better help explain this new disaffection. One is the huge influences anti Israel Leftist professors in universities . Some of it so extreme that it refuses to see as anything other than oppressor state that should be boycotted and protested. Unfortunately there are a lot of young Jewish students – ignorant of their own heritage that easily buy into that narrative. They boycotting Israel see it as a socially just cause.

A big factor is what Bennett alluded to. American Jews have almost completely lost their Jewish identity as and have no reason to support a Jewish State. They also see injustice in the fact that Heterodox rabbis hve been barred from any official influence in Israel because of out sized influenced of the religious parties in the Knesset. That good people like those rabbis are denied any power in Jewish democracy is a huge turnoff to many American Jews. And those rabbis make sure their voices are heard on this matter – which of course exacerbates their apathy.

90% of Jews in America that are not Orthodox have raised their children with hardly any real identifiable Jewish content at all. Urging their children to have a sense of social justice is hardly a value unique to Judaism. Why should any of those children care if they are Jews? This is probably why the intermarriage among the 90% that are not Orthodox is over 70%!

Naftali Bennett’s concerns are therefore very real and based on the existing reality of a Judaism in America that has little if any resemblance to actual Judaism.

I actually had an online conversation about this with a dear friend who identifies as liberal. He believes that Israel’s move to the political and religious right is what causes this problem. He worries that the above mentioned American Jewish apathy will substantially reduce its generosity and irreparably hurt Israel. He believes that Israel, needs that financial support and can’t afford to lose it.

He further believes that the policies of Israel’s current government alienates world support too. And that Israel cannot survive as a nation – isolated form the rest of the world.He also laments the bipartisan support Israel had until the current Israeli government alienated the Democratic party. He does not believe it benefits Israel to lose or substantially reduce bi-partisan support.

I agree that ideally it would be best to be have bi-partisan support in congress and have the support of all the nations of the world. I also agree that Israel will has and will continue to lose some American Jewish support. But I do not agree that it will hurt Israel to maintain its current policies. It is not a one way street with Israel The US needs Israel too. Which is why financial aid, military and intelligence cooperation increased substantially under a President who couldn’t stand Israel’s leader.

Trade with Israel benefits the nations of the world too. It is not a one way street. I believe that Israel has more Nobel Prize winners per capita than any other country - and has contributed mightily to the welfare of the entire world through its accomplishments in a variety of fields.

What about the money they will lose from Jewish American donors? My hope is that Israel will at some point no longer need their donations. A point that they have already reached. Their economy is strongest its ever been. Sure, Israel does not want to lose any support. Everything helps. But if they lose some of it, I do not believe it will destroy them; will not even hurt them that much in the short term; and in the long run they will be better off.

I therefore believe that Israel’s current religious ‘move to the right’ is a good thing. (Even though I would tweak it a bit for reasons beyond the scope of this post). Because at the end of the day, Israel was given to the Jewish people so they could serve God through Torah and Mitzvos. Without that, there is no reason to have a Jewish state at all.

Typical Charedi Chuppa (YWN)

Well… it appears one of my ideas regarding the so-called Shidduch crisis has actually found some currency among the right wing. I for one am very happy to hear of it.

Although it is being done in a somewhat more methodical way, it is nevertheless a huge step in the right direction. I just believe that if they eliminate the ‘middle man’ there would be an an additional means of achieving the same goal. Which is for young Charedi singles to meet for Shidduch purposes. More about that later.

This idea is the subject of an article by Rabbi Yair Hoffman in YWN where the following idea was executed at a wedding at the Rye Town Hilton:

Single friends of both the Chosson and Kallah and their parents were contacted and asked to submit their resumes. The parents then placed the chosson’s friends and the kallah’s friends in a side room at the weddings, on separate sides. They then packed the room with circulating shadchanim and instructed them as to what to do. They had received the resumes in advance. It was all done in a very tznius manner.

The prospective shidduch got to meet each other – then and there. The Rye Town Hilton has numerous lobbies, walkways, and other venues to make for a perfect venue for the couple to meet and talk. The shadchanim worked hard – real hard. They worked both sides of the Mechitzah.

Finally! …a common sense, natural, and obvious resource (at least in my view) is being taken advantage of. I can’t remember how many times I have mentioned weddings as an option. The idea of young men and women of marriageable age being completely separated at such an event in light of the number of singles having difficulty getting married is incomprehensible to me. And yet that is the status quo in Charedi circles.

I suppose that in the past - the idea of meeting that way seemed to lack Tznius (modesty). Additionally it lacked the ‘requisite’ research that goes into the Shidduch process where Shadchanim (professional matchmakers) find out as much as they possibly can about their clients (i.e. parents’) children – factoring every demand into who they will or won’t recommend as a potential mate for their child. No matter how ridiculous some of those demands may be.

While that may be a more efficient means of finding compatibility - it often ends up in unnecessary rejections by parents of potential mates for their children. Often the compatibility that might actually have with each other is a lost opportunity because of some of the more frankly stupid demands. Like what kind of table cloths a family uses on Shabbos. Especially when parents have unreasonable expectations for their child’s eventual spouse.

I am not here to discourage using Shadchanim. They have a legitimate place in finding suitable marriage partners for young people. And most of the time they do work out well. But I have often wondered how many Shidduch prospects were lost because of excessive over-the-top demands by a parent about the families the prospective date comes from - or because of the unreasonable expectations about who they are setting up with their child.

So, yes… meeting in this new (for Charedim) manner is a huge step in the right direction where the ‘research’ found in the submitted resumes will not necessarily carry as much weight considering that the opportunity at hand not be wasted. It should at the very least eliminate the kind of artificial demands about the kind of tablecloths a family uses on Shabbos.

This does differ somewhat from my idea about simply sitting singles together at the same table at the wedding dinner. The same type of resumes that were used at that Rye Town Hilton wedding can be used to seat compatible young men and women at a wedding feast. But even this modified method of doing it puts to bed the idea that it is not sufficiently Tznanua (modest) to meet that way. It is just a way to increase the odds of a successful courtship. Rabbi Hoffman addressed the Tznius issue with the following:

At the outset, some of the Rabbonim were very concerned. Will this turn the wedding into a disastrous breach of tznius? The Kallah’s father assured the concerned Rabbonim that the Shadchanim, who were Bnei Torah, would make sure that things went well. Most of the Rabbonim who heard of it were for it. One or two, however, still had some hesitations.

How successful was it? Rabbi Hoffman addressed that too:

And they (the Shadchanim) were successful beyond anyone’s imagination. Numerous couples met. Some spoke for 30 minutes. Some spoke for an hour. A number of shidduchim were made that night. Some dated this past Thursday evening. Others are dating on Sunday.

Will this help improve the odds if it becomes the ‘new norm’ (as rabbi Hoffman puts it)? I think the answer is obvious. Of course it will!

Yaakov Shapiro

I remember my reaction to Frumteens when I happened upon it a few years ago. Frumteens was a website that catered to troubled teens seeking answers to difficult questions about Judaism. I recall being put off by the over-the-top authoritarian way he answered those questions. I was outraged at the bashing and delegitimizing of Hashkafos that were different from hard core right wing view of the moderator.

I couldn’t believe that someone had the nerve to set himself up as the expert on all matters Jewish without the slightest bit of humility. I thought - what terrible way of reaching out to young people. How dare he speak that way about other legitimate Hashkafos?!

The moderator did not identify himself. I remember thinking that he must have known he would get negative feedback and simply wanted to avoid that – and focus on the ‘Kiruv’ work he was doing. He must have truly believed in what he was doing, I thought. We now know who that moderator was. His name is Yaakov Shapiro.

Frumteens no longer exists. But Shapiro did not go away. He found a new niche: Supporting the anti Israel views of Satmar. They found out about his position on this and both factions of Satmar (Zalman and Aharon) hired him as a spokesmen for their views. From a website called Hasidic News:

In recent years Satmars got wind of his peculiar anti-zionism and picked him as the ideal public relations spokesperson for the Satmar shittoh (opinion). Satmar adherents founded True Torah Jews for the purpose of disseminating PR material that is antithetical to Zionism. The movement has a website, professionally produced videos, Facebook page, Youtube channel, etc.

An important objective for Satmar was to differentiate itself from the Palestinian-allied Neturei Karta: True Torah Jews makes it clear that Zionism does not represent Judaism, but it does not hold hands with Israel’s enemies as the more radical Neturei Karta does. Unlike Satmar adherents, R. Shapiro is eloquent, well-spoken, well-groomed and able to persuasively and succinctly explain the shittoh to the uninitiated in fluent English.

Zalmanite moguls contribute financially to True Torah Jews –but so do the Aaronite masses. In the Aaronite anti-Zionist convention this past Sunday, R. Shapiro can be seen in a professionally-produced video reporting from the scene.

I have seen some of his stuff and suffice it to say, it made my stomach crawl.

It has now been revealed that Shapiro has been accused of being a sexual predator. New accusers are coming forward. He joins a list of other ‘distinguished rabbis’ who have done the same thing. I have to agree with Rabbi Natan Slifkin, who made the following observation on his blog:

I believe a disproportionately high number of predators in roles that put them in contact with vulnerable females - counselors, to'anim, etc. - because they recognize that these lines of work are likely to provide many opportunities.

This aligns with the view of experts in the field of sex abuse that say the same thing about pedophiles. They tend to be charismatic and find jobs around children – as teachers, camp councilors, and outreach. They place themselves into an environment rich with the targets of their abnormal desires - targets vulnerable to their predation. They befriend; pay lots of attention to them; and develop deep and trusting relationships. This is called ‘grooming’. The sexual abuse that follows is a result of that trust. Rabbi Slifkin notes that Shapiro used that technique for his victims - young teenage girls:

Shapiro would drive around in a red Camaro, picking up teenage girls for counseling sessions…

I suppose I should feel a sense of being vindicated about my original negative impressions of him. He disgusted me long before he was discovered to be a sexual predator. But that is not what I am feeling now.

He still disgusts me. But now I am just plain angry that he has been able to carry out all of these nefarious acts with impunity. The damage this man has done incalculable. He has poisoned the minds of young people with his hateful rhetoric about Hashkafos other than his own; he has preached hatred of Israel to countless numbers of people... And now we are finding out he is a sexual predator with – who knows how many victims under his belt.

HUC honorary PhD recipient, Chabon and his sponsor Tamara Eskenazi (JTA)

Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Michael Chabon, has made quite the splash in the Jewish media.

I hadn’t paid much attention to him since he is outside of my Orthodox Jewish orbit. I usually don’t lend much credibility to statements about Judaism from an avowed atheist. His views are unlikely to have any impact on me or my beliefs. I was sure I would disagree with him but that hardly mattered.

Although I do on occasion pay attention to what some non Orthodox Jews say, it is usually either because they have made comments in concert with Orthodoxy (eg. Jack Wertheimer and Daniel Gordis), or because those comments did somehow impact us and required a response (as in challenging the religious status qou in Israel). Otherwise I tend to ignore them. I believed that a Jewish atheist giving an address at the commencement exercise of a Reform seminary (HUC) was completely irrelevant to authentic Judaism as Orthodoxy defines it.

Michael Chabon’s views certainly qualify as having no relevance to the Torah; my beliefs and way of life; or to anyone who believes in the truths of the Torah. So he fell easily into my usual practice of ignoring them. That was the case until I happened to read an editorial by Chicago Jewish News publisher, Joseph Aaron. (It was about having compassion for Roseanne Barr ...which I actually agree with him about – but is beside the point of this post). He mentioned Chabon in passing. Here is what he said that precipitated my discussing it:

Michael Chabon …delivered a diatribe against Jewish inmarriage. Chabon, author of several acclaimed novels, spoke about how he once wanted his children to marry Jews, but now opposes the idea of Jews marrying Jews. He also spoke of his own atheism and dislike of obligatory Jewish rituals, and asserted that the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt was fabricated.

As for Jewish inmarriage, he called it a ‘ghetto of two’ and said, “It draws a circle around the married couple, inscribing them and any children who come along in the figurative wall of tradition, custom, shared history and a common inheritance of chromosomes and culture.” He added that “Any religion that relies on compulsory endogamy to survive has, in my view, ceased to make the case for its continued validity in the everyday lives of human beings.”

One may be surprised to find that if you do not believe in God - or even just don’t believe in Judaism as defined by the is defined by Torah - I actually agree with him! Why indeed perpetuate a people based on common chromosomes or culture? Marrying your won kind under these conditions is racist - is it not? If I were an atheist. I would be cheering him on… that inmarriage is counter to the Universalist principles of the equality of mankind.

When HUC was challenged about allowing this kind of abhorrent rhetoric – even giving him an honorary doctorate - they responded that they invite political debate at a Jewish university! But I must ask them why they continue to promote a Judaism for at most cultural reasons based on a racist ideology?

Is the Jewish view of marrying in all that dissimilar from the Nazi version of Arayan race? Where they wanted to keep the race pure free of being contaminated chromosomally or culturally?! Of what value is Jewish culture? Is it so much greater than that of other cultures that it must be saved and carried forward genetically? And for what purpose? The purity of the Jewish race?! For if the Torah doesn’t matter what possible justification can there be for perpetuating a form of racism?

Chabon correctly challenges Reform Judaism’s raison d'être. They do not require belief in the Torah – nor do they even require belief in God. More than any other denomination they define Judaism culturally –seeing tradition as a means of Jewish identify. By ‘doing jewish’ we can perpetuate ourselves into the future. They now realize with without any tradition at all; by just assuming the ethics without any of its unique practices - they will end up without any Judaism at all. Whoops! There gores the entire movement! They therefore now urge (but do not require) observing as much of Jewish tradition as they can as a means of perpetuating their Judaism.

I actually believe this is a positive step for them. But without believing in the Divine nature of the requirements of Halacha and Jewish traditions, why bother? Who needs Judaism? Why give in to what is an obvious racist mentality? Once you realize that, then the State of Israel ends up being a racist society as well!

While one may justifiably point to the fact that the creation of Israel gave survivors of the Holocaust a place to go, surely that is no longer the case. Besides even if you don’t believe in Judaism you can still create a humanitarian state that would do the same thing. One that will always give safe haven to the persecuted. Why limit it to only Jews? Isn’t THAT racist too?

If you do not believe in the Torah and the uniqueness of the Jewish people as chosen by God to follow His word - what justifiction is there for a State to be Jewish? Is it so that we can perpetuate the joy of Gefilte Fish?! Well… guess what. You can still enjoy Gefilte Fish even if you are an atheist!

The ONLY reason to oppose intermarriage is if you believe in God and His Torah. Which tells us that we – His chosen people -are a ‘kingdom of priests and a holy nation’. And that the value in maintaining and perpetuating our people into the future is a matter of God’s will.

One might say that such beliefs are racist. To a certain extent they are. We believe that we are a better people because our beliefs and practices are based on a Godly mandate for His people. This might be called ‘positve racism’ as opposed to ‘negative racism’.

First because it isn’t entirely based on genetics. Those not born Jewish may convert based on the desire to serve God at the higher level of being a Jew. Through conversion they become part of our ‘race’ equal in stature to those born Jewish.

Furthermore we do not persecute non Jews. We are required to see them all for what they are: created in the Image of God - each having the ability to serve God through the laws mandated for non Jews (The Noahide laws). We are required to treat all of mankind with the dignity and respect all of God’s human creations deserve.

That being said, I admit to still being appalled that a Jew has become such an antisemite! He might have a point – allowing his perspective. But for a Jew to so reject his heritage to the point of hoping it disappears from the face of the earth (even though he might deny that - it is impossible not to draw that conclusion) just makes me sick!

Holocaust era assistant Secretary of State, Breckenridge Long

I’ve more or less avoided dealing with the issue of illegal immigration. Not because it isn’t important. It clearly is. I have avoided it because it has been almost impossible for me to formulate exactly what is the right path to take.

Especially since it is my people who paid very dearly for being denied immigration to the US just before and during the Holocaust because of legal immigration quotas. Although it turns out that actual quotas were never filled because Assistant Secretary of State, Breckenridge Long, an antisemite was in charge of issuing immigration visas.

He slowed immigration to the United States for the hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing persecution and murder by Nazi Germany. I am therefore very sympathetic to people trying to get into this country that are persecuted by their government.

Reluctant as I am, I have given it some thought, and have decided to wade. Although my views are not set in stone and subject to change,

First let me state the obvious. The punitive measures currently being used by our government against people crossing the US border illegally are inhumane! Children are being separated from their parents who are detained in virtual cages. To listen to the cry of a child begging to stay with a parent as he or she is being hauled away and imprisoned is beyond heartbreaking! I can’t imagine a greater psychological trauma to a young child than that.

The US may be acting fully within its legal rights, but it is not acting morally or with any sense of compassion. So as an observant Jew - I join religious leaders of all faiths, including every Jewish denomination - from Reform to Orthodox who have themselves joined in common cause and condemned this practice. I was also pleased to see the Agudah express these sentiments in a public statement (available at Cross-Currents).

That said I fully understand the need to limit immigration. Every nation has a right to protect its own interests. So unless there is persecution involved where asylum comes into play, an open border would mean flooding the country with people desperately poor seeking jobs for menial pay just to feed their families. While we must have compassion for these people, we can’t allow unlimited immigration. It would flood the market; hurt the American worker and alter our way of life by lowering our standard of living. (I should note that it is a real tribute to the United States that illegal immigrants do so much better here than in their countries of origin even doing menial work for menial pay.)

As it stands now there are about 50,000 illegal immigrants per month sneaking into this country. Some are actually trying to escape persecution. Most are just seeking a better life for their families. And some are just plain criminals that ought to be punished to the fullest extent of the law and then deported (Unless they have committed a capital offence for which they are sentenced to execution or life imprisonment.)

All law abiding people seeking a better life are welcome here. We are a nation of immigrants. But only if it is done legally. Those who don’t must pay a price for breaking the law. Unless they are being persecuted in their country of origin - they should be deported immediately upon being caught. Those who claim persecution should be given a hearing. If their claims are found to be legitimate they should be granted asylum. One thing that should not happen is separating children from their parents. That is just plain cruel.

It distresses me that this issue has become so political. President Trump is not wrong to worry about the criminal element crossing our borders. Many of those criminals are violent. It is sometimes difficult to know which immigrant is a violent criminal and which one isn’t. They don’t exactly carry signs that say ‘violent criminal’ when they cross the border. Securing the border is not an evil Nazi-like plan. It isn’t even a Breckenridge Long type plan. There should be no prejudice involved.

The most troubling aspect of the illegal immigration issue (aside from the current one of separating children from their parents) is what to do about the so-called ‘Dreamers’. These are illegal immigrants whose parents sneaked into this country bringing them as young children. They had no choice in the matter. Meanwhile they were raised as Americans and know no other way of life. Deporting them may technically be legal - but at the same time grossly unfair and in my view - immoral!

‘Dreamers’ should be given immediate legal status and a path to citizenship. Their parents should be given legal status too. But I would not reward them with a path to citizenship, because they broke the law getting into this country. However, in cases where persecution was involved, I would cut those parents some slack and give them a path to citizenship too. Even though they did not go through proper channels by asking for political asylum at the time. Compassion dictates this course of action, in my view.

Protecting our borders from the criminal element is a legitimate concern. As is preventing hundreds of thousands (perhaps even millions!) of immigrant per year sneaking in to simply better their lives and those of their families. Bettering one’s life by immigrating into this country is what America is all about. But it must be done legally. For those that don’t, there must be consequences.

And yet, even as I say this I am mindful of how my own people were treated when they tried to immigrate to America before and during the Holocaust because of Nazi persecution. If only more of them would have sneaked in illegally, Jewish lives would have been saved. However, the key word there is persecution. Which the State Department ignored because of an antisemitic assistant Secretary of State. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Chasidim - Do they not care what the world thinks of them -of Jews?

He nailed it! Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein’s post on Cross-Currents expresses my views almost to a T on an issue that has been troubling me for a long time. Which is how the Chasidic world view themselves in contrast to the outside world - and that they present themselves to the world in a manner that seems to not care how they are perceived. Thereby constantly embarrassing the rest of Orthodox Jewry; often causing a Chilul HaShem in the process.

Rabbi Adlerstein was reacting to a 3 part series about Chasidim by Elizabeth Llorente on Fox News. His ‘verdict’ was that the Fox presentation showed the most overtly religious Jews among us behaving deplorably. Not because of any reporter bias. That, he said was pretty much unbiased.

I touched upon this after seeing the first of that three part series last week… and had a similar reaction. Only Rabbi Adlerstein said it so much better than I did – in a clearer and more detailed way. Rather than paraphrasing, I am going to do something I rarely do: excerpt heavily from that post… and let Rabbi Adlerstein speak for himself (I urge readers to read his article in its entirety at Cross-Currents):

Elizabeth Llorente had the luxury of telling it like she saw it… As an outsider looking in, she was not unfair. Some in our community will yell – as they always do – “anti-Semitism” whenever crimes and misdemeanors are discovered – oblivious to the fact that everyone today is fair game. The screamers have convinced themselves that the core goodness of our community is so obvious and manifest, that only a hater would fail to see it. How we wish that were true…!

(Llorente got some things wrong…. and some quotes may have been taken out of context or edited unfairly with possible bias). Be that as it may, what viewers and readers saw and read contained some disturbing sequences, regardless of how they got there. This series was not just another article in one of myriad journals. Fox News is big. It is where a plurality of this country is most comfortable getting their news. The images it creates will linger.

The airing of extremely harmful ideas about part of the Orthodox community in the most public of forums leaves the rest of us with unenviable choices: either defend the indefensible, or declare that they are not us. One strikes at our sense of truth; the other at our connection to other observant Jews, with whom we disagree about many issues, but with whom we share the most important things in life – our commitment to Torah and mitzvos.

At least three destructive notions emerged:

1. The best defense that the Hasidim came up with against the charge that they are gaming the system of government entitlements is that it is entirely legal. This is true. It is a deeply flawed system, and many groups take advantage of it, all staying within the limits of the law. There is nothing illegal in doing a better job than most groups in filling out the documents, so that yours get approved.

But there is also nothing illegal in those others learning to hate you – in feeling that they have become patsies whom you are conspiring to divest of as much of their money as you can. Are they expected to simply accept that it is their tax dollars that are keeping your system afloat, and feeding its growth, generation after generation? Have we Jews forgotten that we are more vulnerable than all of those other groups who are doing the same, but are not going to pay the same price?

What do we think happens when the following is projected on the screen in bold, large font letters, are allowed to linger?

The average yeshiva graduate: •speaks little or no English, •has few or no marketable skills, •earns a household income well below the average Brooklynite’s, •marries young and has many children, and •is forced to rely upon public assistance to support his large family.

50-70% of Hasidic Jews are on public assistance…

What is everyone else thinking? Have we forgotten to be mindful of what others think? Are we shallow enough to believe that what is legal is necessarily ethical – or wise marketing for ourselves?

2. Hasidim were portrayed as dismissive and contemptuous of everyone else. They acknowledged their isolationism as justified by the threat of the alternative: a world of drugs, crime, and no values. Now, some of us would debate whether or not the problems they point to – arguably present in parts of the non-hasidic world – are the only colors on the palette that should be used to paint a picture of what is outside.

Can anyone, however, think that it is a good idea to tell millions of people, “You are worthless failures at conducting yourselves like human beings. Only we have it right. That’s part of the reason you shouldn’t object to supporting us. Pretty obvious, sucker, no?”

Viewers saw absolutely no minimal regard or respect for people outside the community. Here is how the on-screen spokeman dismissed opponents of the expansion of eruvin to new areas: “If these little towns want to putz around with racism, no problem. We have and we shall overcome them. … They’ll be running for cover, because the lawsuits will be coming…These are none other than racist low-life bastards.”

3. The contempt that the spokesman showed for others included casual racism – the very racism he attributed to others. He reported on an attempt to mix Jewish kids with non-Jewish kids at an event in the same school district. He pointed with pride to the fact that none of his kids had ever heard a particular four letter word beginning with the sixth letter of the alphabet. On the other hand, the “Latino” kid kept liberally describing things he didn’t like with a different four letter word, prompting the spokesman to pull his team after a half hour, declaring that the game was over. Our side was not going to run the risk of being contaminated by the other.

But any point he scored in showing the innocence of the Jewish kids was offset by attaching a label-of-origin to the offending party, displaying animus for an entire group.

Rabbi Adlerstein contrasts this with an introspective article by Shlomi Gil in Mishpacha Magazine. One which I too had dealt with not long ago. Mishpacha took a hard look at a serious problem and did not sugar coat it, or make excuses. They dealt with the unvarnished truth openly and honestly. I pretty much agree with Rabbi Adlerstein’s assessment here too. Which can be detected in my own piece on it.

Fox presented a pretty damning picture of a world in ascendancy. It is no secret that the population of the Chasidic world increases exponentially (there’s that word again) every generation – increasing its numbers more than any other segment of Jewry. It is not unreasonable to assume that with the decline of the non Orthodox population numbers Orthodox Jews will at some point be the defining component of Jewry in this country. Chasidim like the ones in the Fox series will be the largest segment.

I shudder to think of that. What was portrayed in this series might just be the way all observant Jewry will eventually be seen. And turn the perception of Jews in America from being the most admired people in the country to the most hated. Sadly, I do not see anything to indicate otherwise.

'Giant gathering! Messiah in the square' says the poster

I thought the issue was dead and buried… just like their leader, R’ Menachem Mendel Schneerson – the 7^th and last Lubavitcher Rebbe who died nearly 25 years ago. But that, it seems, is far from the case. Certainly in Israel but even in America. There are still plenty of Lubavitchers that believe the Rebbe will have a 2^ndcoming as Moshiach (the Messiah) – arising from the dead ‘to lead us out of this bitter Galus’ …as they put it. Or that he is still alive lying in wait - hidden until he reappears as Moshiach.

I can already hear my friends from Lubavitch (and I have many) complaining about this – as they do every time I deal with it. Which is rare these days. They will say, that what I see is a small insignificant minority of Luabvitchers who eyes are glazed over. And that they should be ignored.

I have indeed pretty much ignored them for a long time. Most of my more recent posts about Lubavitch were in the form of richly deserved praise for a variety of their accomplishments. I have ignored the Meshichist issue in part because I had personally witnessed a purge years ago of the Meshcihist element from Bnei Ruven, the mainstream Lubavitch Shul here in Chicago.

They were virtually ‘kicked out’ of the Shul and banned from Davening there. The Meshichists started their own Shul called ‘Bais Moshiach’ and are pretty much ignored by mainstream Lubavitch here. True - they are a very small group. But they exist and have existed for many years. They are not going away. I believe they still have their own ‘underground’ Meshichist girls high school.

But Bnei Ruven has of late seen some card carrying Meshichists reappear. They are easily identified by the ‘Yechi’ Kipa they wear proclaiming in Hebrew ‘Long live our master, our teacher, and our Rebbe, the King Messiah forever and ever’! - printed around the Kipa’s border. No one is kicking them out.

The Yechi refrain was created just before the Rebbe died. He had been strongly emphasizing his belief that Moshiach’s arrival was imminent. Most of his Chasidim believed that the Rebbe would soon reveal himself as Moshiach – waiting for a sign from heaven to do so. Although he denied it he never discouraged them from saying it. Even in his presence. Small wonder they believed he was. They probably explained his denial on his great humility.

That was a foolish enough notion to have when he was still alive since he was clearly not seen that way outside of Lubavitch. When he died - that should have ended it. But some of the truly faithful reinterpreted various sources to show that he could still be Moshiach arising from the dead. Some believed that he hadn’t even died. That he was still alive somewhere much the same way that Eliyahu HaNavi is. Waiting for the right moment to show up and proclaim the mantel of Messiah.

Some Lubavitchers went off the rails dancing and singing upon hearing of his death. They believed that this was just another step in the process of his ultimate Messiahship.

The more rational majority of Chabad understood that he died. However, few if any saw this as an end to belief that he could arise in a 2^nd coming. Some thought he definitely would. Some thought he might. Some even thought it unlikely. But to the best of my knowledge – none of them rejected at least the possibility of his return as Moshiach even while admitting it was highly unlikely. I believe that is the majority view. But, not it appears for the Meshichists in 770 and in Israel. Which is a source of great pain to the mainstream. They are practically at war with these Meshichists as noted by their expulsion from Bnei Ruven. The mainstream understand that these beliefs make outreach difficult if not impossible.

‘770’ is their headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. It is called 770 because of the address: 770 Eastern Parkway. 770 is the geographic epicenter of Chabad/Lubavitch. It is dominated by the Meshichist element. No one denies this. It has been the case since the Rebbe’s death almost 25 years ago.

In Israel the problem is even greater. I don’t know the proportion of Meshichist versus non Meshichists, but there is no doubt about who is the most publicly active in promoting their views. It is clearly the Meshichsists. When in Israel you can’t help but notice pictures, posters, signs, and even billboards with a picture of the Rebbe in a messianic ‘Yechi’ context.They are all over Israel.

Which brings me to a post on Rafi’s Life in Israel blog. It had to do with the issue of discriminatory practices against religious Jews by the municipality of Tel Aviv. I agree with Rafi’s implication that there was prejudice in that case - probably for the reasons he stated.

But the 800 pound gorilla in that post is a poster advertising an event organized by Chabad in Israel: The yearly celebration of the 6^th Lubavitcher Rebbe's release from prison. It is impossible not to see the Messianic component of that poster. It overwhelms the actual event they were advertising. It was about welcoming Moshiach’s arrival. Moshiach of course being their Rebbe. It was accompanied by the standard ‘Yechi’ proclamation and a large picture of the Rebbe.

This is no small gathering. It was to be gala event in Tel Aviv’s ‘Rabin square’ featuring many performers.

I guess to Rafi and others living in Israel this is so common that it isn’t even worth mentioning.

I continue to challenge my good friends in Lubavitch about their claim that their Meshichists are just a few off the wall ‘crazies’ long ago dismissed by their mainstream. That may be how they see them personally. But events like this contradict their claim that they are insignificant and that nobody pays any attention to them.

As does the obvious fact that after nearly 25 years, mainstream Lubavitch has yet to expel the Meshichists from 770. The excuse that they don’t like to use violence and have otherwise tried to do that has lost credibility with me. Their Shiluchim (emissaries sent out to all corners of the globe for purposes of outreach) still meet at that location every year. If they are so opposed, then 25 years is more than enough time for them to have done something about it. That they have tolerated it for so long shows that perhaps they are not as upset about it as they claim.

I want to be clear. I am not here to bash or embarrass Chabad. My entire purpose is for their leadership to take a hard look at what is really going; to realize how others really see them; and to finally do whatever it takes to fix this.

Hussein Dawabshe and his surviving grandson (mondoweiss)

I once believed there cannot possibly be any Jews in the world that are unworthy of being called human. I have however been disabused of that notion many times. Jews like that do exist in far greater number than I could have ever imagined. Reading about some of the terrible things they have done has made me sick to my stomach more times that I care to mention. I have once again been made sick to my stomach. From Tablet Magazine:

Earlier today, an Israeli court held a hearing in the case of two Jewish suspects accused of firebombing the home of a Palestinian family in 2015, killing 18-month-old Ali Saad Dawabsha and his parents, Riham and Saad. According to a report in The Times of Israel, as the victims’ relatives walked into the courthouse, a gaggle of about two dozen Jewish protestors started taunting them, chanting “Where’s Ali? There’s no more Ali. Ali was burned. Ali’s on the grill.”

There are no words to describe the level of contempt I have for these people. As Tablet notes, it doesn’t matter whether suspects in this case are guilty of doing that or not. Nor does it matter that their confessions may have been made by virtue of being tortured by the Shin Bet - Israel’s version of the FBI. Those are completely separate issues regardless of how one feels about them. What these ‘animals’ did had nothing to do with their guilt or innocence. In fact calling them animals is insulting to animals!

What they showed was a celebration of cruelty and inhumanity rivaling those that celebrated the cruelty and inhumanity of the Nazi Germany in the 1930s. That anyone calling themselves human, let alone a Jew, could celebrate the burning alive of an innocent 18 month old baby and his parents – while severely burning his older brother who survived - is a new low.

I have no sympathy for the extreme right wing religious Zionist settler types. They have disgusted me for some time now. It is people from their ranks that have been terrorizing innocent Palestinians – and even their own government when they objected to a policy they didn’t like - in what they call ‘price tag’ attacks.

These people might think their attitudes and actions are justified because vile acts like this have been done to Jews in far greater number by Arab terrorists. But that is no justification at all. It is pure unadulterated murder of innocent people in a cruel and irrational act of revenge. You don’t kill their innocent people in retaliation for their killing our innocent people.

That is not justice. Celebrating it is vile – especially at the expense of the bereaved who like the victims of that fire have done nothing wrong. Had it been vigilante justice where taking the law into your own hands is at least done to those who have harmed you or a loved one it might have been understandable – wrong though it would be. But they were celebrating the kind of pure evil reminiscent of 1930s Nazi Germany.

What happened at that courthouse deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms by anyone calling themselves a human being. There is no justifying it in any way. There can be no ‘understanding what they’ve gone through’. There can be no ‘they have been brought to desperation by what has been done to them’. There can only be disgust!.

As far as I am concerned, people like this ought to be completely ostracized – virtually exiled from the Jewish world in its entirety. They should be treated with contempt wherever they go - made unwelcome and asked to leave when they enter any facility where actual human beings are present. They want to act like animals? Fine. Let them go out in the forests and live with them. Because they are unfit to live with actual human beings.

Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Goldzweig, (Matzav)

Every year before Pesach there is a public Shiur in Chicago dealing with questions about what is and isn’t Kosher for Pesach. One of my most memorable moments occurred with a woman whose husband was on heart medication. She asked whether her husband could take those meds on Pesach. The response was, ‘Well, that depends.’ ‘Do you want him to die?’

Such was the humor of a great man by the name of Chaim Tzvi Goldzwieg who passed away yesterday. Rabbi Goldzweig was one of a kind. He was the ‘go to’ guy for any question about Kashrus.

He was Mr. OU. The chief Mashgiach for that Kashrus organization for many decades. His knowledge of the Kashrus industry was unmatched.

He logged millions of miles traveling to all corners of the earth to check on food plants that were used by companies with an OU Hechsher. His knowledge was encyclopedic. As was his memory of what each ingredient consisted of. Or how it was processed. Or the code on the container of a product that would tell him exactly where it came from.

In Chicago, his home for most of his life – the name ‘Goldzweig’ is legend. Anyone who wanted a trustworthy Hechsher had to have his name on the certification. That was a guarantee that no matter what slice of Judaism one came from, the Kashrus was trusted. His name is still on the sign at Tel Aviv Bakery saying under the supervision of Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Goldzweig. Long after he left town.

He made himself available to anyone who needed him. Many years ago, the Chicago Rabbinical Council (CRC) had a somewhat shaky reputation for its own Kashrus supervision. Some people trusted it, and some didn’t. When Rabbi Ben Shandalov took over those responsibilities for the CRC, he did not waste a minute. He asked Rabbi Goldzweig to become involved. Once the community became aware of his involvement, the CRC became trusted by everyone. Today, CRC supervision is among the most trusted Hechsherim in America. His legacy being continued by their current Kashrus administrator Rabbi Sholom Fishbane.

His greatness as the unchallenged expert in Kashus was matched by his honesty and integrity. He did not know the meaning of the word compromise when it came to Kashrus. He knew what he was doing and everyone knew it. No one dared pull the wool over his eyes. They knew he could not be fooled.

Superceding all of that was his great humility. And his accessibility to all – even private individuals asking a personal Kashrus question. You would call him… and he’s answer you - no matter who you were. I don’t know too many people that were busier than Rabbi Goldzweig in his prime - during his long tenure at the OU.

Adding to his personablity was his sense of humor. That was legendary too, as noted in the above mentioned anecdote.

He treated everyone as an equal. You never felt uncomfortable around him. He never saw himself as the great man he was. He’d talk to you as though you were just one of his friends. And despite his illustrious Chasidic heritage, he never thought if himself that way. He just called himself the Mashgiach for the OU - even though he was their top Mashgiach for many decades.

When it came to Kashrus - he WAS the OU. He defined what Hashgacha should be. He also knew a fraud when he saw it, often telling people here in Chicago that when they are in New York they should be careful about which restaurants to trust. Many had private Hashgachos that were untrustworthy. He told people never to rely on it no matter how ‘Frum’ the the Rav HaMachshir sounded or looked. And to trust only nationally recognized Hechsherim.

My contact with Rabbi Goldzweig was minimal. But he treated me like an old friend any time I had an interaction with him. He never looked down at anyone no matter what their Hashkafa. The Bal Koreh in his Shtiebel was Ira Slotnik, a Modern Orthodox close friend of mine who was meticulous in his Krias HaTorah. When Ira relocated to New York Rabbi Goldzweig never forgot about him. When his children got married, Rabbi Goldzweig made sure to be there despite his extremely busy schedule traveling all over the world. He had tremendous sense of Hakoras HaTov and would never have missed them.

Despite his Chasidic ‘look’ and illustrious Chasidic heritage (being the younger son of Rabbi Moshe Goldzweig of Tzefas, Israel) he was as down to earth as anyone could imagine. I will never forget the time I went to Great America with my family and found him there together with his children. He came up to me and said, ‘You know, the popcorn is Kosher here.’ I told him that I had heard that he has said that, but then he said ‘Yes, but I just checked it again and saw that the ingredients used are Kosher.

I will also never forget the picture he had hanging on a wall in his house. You could see it as you were going downstairs to his Shteebel (which I occasionally davened at). It was Rabbi Goldzweig and his family dressed in gear of the old west. It was one of those ‘fun’ pictures you could take at amusement parks like Great America. He thought it worthy of hanging up on his wall for anyone to see.

A few years ago, Rabbi Goldzweig moved out of Chicago to a warmer climate for health reasons. He was sorely missed by those of us that knew him. But now his physical presence on earth is no more. This morning when I heard of his passing, I was deeply saddened. Although I can’t know this for sure, my gut feeling is there is no one like him today. Very few people who are as great as this man was are as humble, accessible, and normal as he was. He treated everyone as a friend, no matter how distant they were from him personally, no matter what their Hashkafa. No matter what kind of Kipa they wore. No matter what station they had in the community. No one exuded these traits more than he did.

Even as I reminisce about my personal experiences with him, I know that I haven’t even scratched the surface of who this man was. But I wanted to pay him a personal tribute and express my sorrow at his passing. Which I’m sure is echoed by all who were ever touched by him. I miss him now more than ever. Baruch Dayan HaEmes.

Image for illustration purposes only (Ynet)

One of the ideals of the Charedi Hashkafa is ‘being Choshesh for the Daas HaMachmir’ (stringent view). In essence this explains their identity as Charedim as being Chareid L’Dvar HaShem. People that adhere to this Hashkafa. They ‘tremble’ at the word of God seeking to live their lives in ways that will best fulfill His will. They want to get it right!

This is of course something we should all strive to do. Charedim have the distinct characteristic of making sure that as much as possible - the most stringent interpretation of Halacha should be followed when there is disagreement between Poskim.

Centrists obviously agree with following the will of God. But will often rely on the Daas HaMekil (lenient view). Meaning that when a legitimate Posek permits something that another Posek forbids, they will often rely on it. The best example I can think of at the moment is Chalav Yisroel.

To briefly explain this Halacha, there is a rabbinic decree that Jews only buy milk produced by an observant Jew. The reason stated in the Gemarah is that we are afraid that milk from a non Kosher animal might be added to cow’s milk without informing the consumer.

In perhaps one of the most famous Teshuvos (responsa) ever written by R’ Moshe Feinstein he permitted buying milk for dairy companies in America because of the FDA’s strict supervision that prohibits dairy companies from mixing cow’s milk with milk from any other source. R’ Moshe held that this is tantamount to Jewish supervision and permitted buying milk from non Jewish dairy companies. Other Poskim disagreed with R’ Moshe and still forbade it.

Most Centrists rely on R’Moshe’s heter (permit). Most of the Charedi world does not and buys only Chalav Yisroel - milk that is produced by observant Jews (or under a Jew’s supervison while the cow is being milked). This is a bit of a oversimplification but pretty much describes one of the main differences between Charedim and other observant Jews.

I am not here to disparage those who choose to be Machmir on Chalav Yisroel. They want to be sure that they observe this Halacha even according to those that are Machmir – since they might be right. There is certainly nothing wrong with that. No matter what Halacha we are talking about. Unless it inconveniences others. When that happens your Chumra can end up as a Chilul HaShem.

It is one thing to insist on not violating clear Halacha that no one disputes. Then we must stand up for our principles and fight for them if necessary. Fighting for a Chumra is not such a circumstance.

I mention this in light of a continual Chilul HaShem on the part of some of the more extreme segments of the Charedi world – usually done by the more extreme Chasidic sects. One that just happened recently again on an El Al flight. Described by both Arutz Sheva and Ynet:

The planned takeoff time: Six in the evening. Everyone boards, sits down, waits. Then the commotion starts. Four Haredim who boarded the flight refuse to sit next to women…

(O)ne of the Haredi men, "particularly zealot and ascetic, boarded the plane with his eyes shut tight, led by the hand by his friend, and remained that way throughout the entire flight."

The Haredim were unwilling to speak with—or look at—the female flight attendants. All of the men on the flight crew, apart from the captain, were now focused solely on this, instead of preparing for takeoff and serving the passengers…
And then a prolonged diplomatic process began of moving female passengers from their seats to clear a row of seats for the four Haredim.

"After a lot of twists and turns, shouting and maneuvering, two women (one American around 70 years old and the other a young Israeli woman) agreed—because of time constraints among other things—to switch seats, and the crisis was resolved."

At the end of the ordeal, "the flight crew, which ran up and down the aisles for over an hour, appeared exhausted even before takeoff, though I assume they're used to such scenes."

He also noted that "for there to be no doubt: The women were not upgraded to better seats, only moved to different seats in economy. Not that it's relevant to the principle of the matter, of course."

According to the passenger, other religious Jews aboard the plane "expressed surprise and disgust at the Haredim's behavior."

The scene caused by the Haredi passengers delayed the flight by an hour and 15 minutes.

I understand the concern of a religious Jew not wanting to sit next to a woman on a long flight. The fear is that there will be inadvertent physical contact. As well as the fear that sitting next to a woman might cause ‘impure thoughts’. Especially men from a community that goes out of its way to separate the sexes in the extreme. I don’t seen anything wrong with their having those kinds of fears. For them, it is a real issue. Besides, it’s always a good idea to avoid situations that tempt people to sin if possible. But not at the expense of others.

If they want to avoid any contact with women in their own communities, that’s fine with me – as long as they don’t force their views on anyone else. But when outside of their community – all bets are off. By insisting on their standards at the expense of everyone else, they have caused the observant world great harm, Which is why I am in complete sympathy with the religious Jews on board that were disgusted by this. Because I am too.

People like this who close their eyes when passing a woman in the street should not be flying commercial airlines – unless they agree to be civilized. Which these four Charedi men and all those others who in did this in the past - are not!

It is OK for them to ask f they can switch to a seat that is not not to a woman. If such a seat exists and is available to them, God bells them. Give it to them.

But to do what these four ‘gentleman’ did is inexcusable’ in the extreme and created a huge Chilul HaShem. It is not good enough for the rest of us to say that these people do not represent us. That may be true. But that may be a distinction most non Jews or non observant Jews is lost upon. What it says is that the more observant one is, the more he is likely to behave like this. This chases people away from observant Judaism. Who in their right mind wants to part of a religion whose most observant segment behaves this way?

Observant Jews who do this kind of thing must be ignorant of the Poskim that permit sitting next to a woman – which include the abovementioned R’ Moshe Feinstein. Perhaps they believe that sitting next to woman is comparable to violating Shabbos or eating Treif! They may not even realized that sitting next to a woman on a flight is not forbidden according to the strict letter of the law.

Either that or they don’t care about anyone but themselves – let the entire rest of the world be damned. Including other observant Jews.

The first explanation means that there is a major flaw in their Hashkafa which refuses to distinguish between Chumra and Halacha. The second explanation is one that is the outcome of people that are over focused on being Choshesh for the Daas HaMachimr. Because in this case insisting on that is by far the greater evil.

I only wish rabbinic leaders would storngly condemn such behavior and make that clear to the leaders of those communities that it will not be tolerated by mainstream Charedim. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that they have produced monsters by virtue of their Chinuch in this regard.

Unfortunately, this will probably never happen. But it still needs to be said.

Roseanne Barr (Jerusalem Post)

I have to admit that I never liked Jewish comedienne Roseanne Barr. I did not particularly enjoy her humor. So when I heard that her old TV series that first aired some 30 years ago was being resurrected - I could not have cared less and thought it would be canceled after the first episode.

But I was wrong. Her show was a hit - the number one comedy on TV! I got a kick out of the fact that her character on the show was pro Trump (as is Roseanne in real life). I wondered why that was the case since Trump is so hated by the mainstream media and virtually everyone in the entertainment industry? Perhaps the public is not as easily influenced by them as I thought.

Just to be clear (again) I have not changed my mind about Trump as a human being. I still think his behavior and his rhetoric (especially when he tweets) is a disaster for our country. But I also believe that – with the exception of his terrible tariff policy - he has done a lot to support and advance my values. For example his pro business tax policies resulting in a booming economy and the lowest unemployment figures in decades; his choice for the Supreme Court; his much improved relationship with Israel; moving the US embassy to Jerusalem where it belongs; choosing an observant Jew and the most pro Israel US ambassador to Israel in history; choosing the most pro Israel UN ambassador in US history - and much more. But I digress.

The point is that Rosanne’s TV character was an antidote to the constant bashing of the President by his political opponents, late night comics, and the left leaning mainstream media. They used his bad character as a façade to oppose his policies as though any policy he implements must be terrible because he implemented it.

I am so tired of all the Trump bashing. He is the President now. He is in charge. Judge what he has done NOT who he is. While there is discussion by his opponents on the merit of his policies, it is almost always in the context of who proposed it - immediately coloring those policies as terrible before they are even discussed.

This is the problem with the kind of hate Trump has generated in his political opponents. There is a level of incivility by people I do not ever recall seeing before.

As was the case with White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her family who were refused service in a restaurant because she worked for a President whose polices they didn’t agree with.

Or the case where Congresswoman Maxine Waters tirade doubled down on that kind of behavior – unrepentantly urging her constituents to do the same thing to any official of the executive branch of government they encounter.

I find both cases to be sickening. I prefer the Michelle Obama approach in dealing with political opponents: ‘When they go low, we go high’.

Which brings me back to Rosanne. She tweeted a horribly racist comment about Valerie Jarrett – a liberal black politician from Chicago who was part of the Obama administration. It was so bad that I will not repeat it here. Her number one comedy show was immediately canceled by ABC. They said that they have a zero tolerance policy about racism. Which is the correct approach.

Meanwhile Rosanne is seen as a pariah… the poster child of the kind of racism this country has long ago rejected.

Normally I would agree with that description because of what she said. But a lot has happened since then which has made me change my mind about her. There is a little thing called doing Teshuva. And I believe that Rosanne has done exactly that. From the Jerusalem Post:

In an emotional and tearful recorded interview largely focused on Jewish and Torah values, Roseanne Barr expressed deep remorse and regret for tweeting against former Obama administration adviser Valerie Jarrett...

“I’m a lot of things, a loud mouth and all that stuff. But I’m not stupid for God’s sake. I never would have wittingly call any black person and say they are a monkey...

Barr told Boteach that she recognized her mistake and was not looking to make any excuses for what she did. “I don’t excuse it. I horribly regret it,” she said. “I lost everything, and I regretted it before I lost everything. And I said to God, ‘I am willing to accept whatever consequences this brings because I know I’ve done wrong. I’m going to accept what the consequences are, and I do, and I have. But they don’t ever stop. They don’t accept my apology, or explanation. And I’ve made myself a hate magnet. And as a Jew, it’s just horrible. It’s horrible.”

“I ask people if you look at my tweet don’t defend me. I’ve done something egregious and I don’t want to be defended. I don’t want to get anymore racism going from what I did, I don’t want that. I don’t want to be defended,” she said later.

Drawing on Maimonides’s three stages of teshuva – Hebrew for repentance - Barr said that her apology was not just about repentance but also included deep remorse.

“The point is to feel remorse in your heart because that’s what unplugs your heart. You have to feel remorse, not just repentance. That’s just a step towards feeling remorse. And when you feel remorse you have to follow it with recompense,” she said. “You have to take an action in the world, whether it’s through money or other things, to correct your sin. After your heart is unfrozen and after it stops being broken from the pain you caused others, you stop being a robot and you gotta' come back to God. So it’s remorse, and I definitely feel remorse.”

In the interview, Barr revealed that she had tried to obtain Jarrett’s phone number to personally call her and apologize. She also said that before ABC hired her she told them that she would not stop defending Israel, despite the controversy her positions might cause.

I recall reading about Rosanne’s turn towards a more meaningful Jewish life and her belief in the values of the Torah. I was surprised - but happy to see that. She may very well be on a road to full observance someday. Be that as it may, I cannot find it in my heart to vilify her any more. She made a horrible mistake for which she apologized publicly and tried to apologize privately. She has asked people not to defend her and hasn’t even asked to get her show back. A show that would have been worth millions of dollars to her.

I believe she deserves a second chance. She should no longer be shunned and considered a pariah. She is doing Teshuva to the best of her ability. Everyone deserves a second chance. Comedienne Samatha Bee’s horrible profanity about Ivanka Trump has not prevented her from getting a second chance after she publicly apologized. Rosanne deserves no less. I agree with Chicago Jewish News editor Joseph Aaron – a dyed in the wool anti Trump liberal observant Jew who said the same thing in his editorial a couple of weeks ago

Yes, even Roseanne deserves compassion and to be forgiven. Especially by Jews, though my guess is Jews will be the last to forgive since they have to prove how pure they are, wear their condemnation of her as a badge of honor proving how not racist they are, which they have decided is more important than showing that as Jews we forgive each other, yes, expect a person to do tshuva, but when they do, yes we do forgive just as we want G-d to forgive us when we transgress.

Why I feel so bad for Roseanne is not only that she so quickly paid such a horrible price for typing a few horrible words in the middle of the night on a phone, but because there are a lot of Jews out there saying what to me are far uglier words and suffering no consequences and seeing no reason at all to apologize, indeed feel noble about their attitude.

I don’t often agree with Joe Aaron. But this time I do. And all I can add is, ‘Well said’!

Rabbi Avi Shafran

I happen to be an admirer of both and usually agree with the views of both. Today I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing with them. I am talking about Rabbis Avi Shafran and Natan Slifkin.

Rabbi Shafran was interviewed by Tablet Magazine about using the term Ultra Orthodox to define ‘really religious Jews’.

Rabbi Shafran said that he finds the term offensive. I can understand why he feels that way and he does have a point. The word ‘ultra’ is defined by Merriam-Webster as going beyond others or beyond due limit : extreme. Who would be satisfied being defined as extreme?

Asked how he feels about the term Charedim– he said he didn’t like that either:

The Hebrew word is lifted from Isaiah, chapter 66: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word.” The haredim, then, are those who tremble. In Israel, the word is mainly used by secular Jews to describe their more observant neighbors. It’s not always meant kindly, although the community itself seems to have adopted it… it implies that non-haredim are less observant, which isn’t necessarily true.

I obviously agree that you don’t have to be Charedi to be as meticulously observant as they are. But as Rabbi Slifkin notes:

(T)his is precisely why charedim chose it and like it as a definition - because they believe themselves to be more "trembling at the word of God" than others.

Rabbi Natan Slifkin

So while it is true that Charedim do like that term, and use it frequently when referring to themselves – I believe that is more the case in Israel that it is here. I do find it having a pejorative tone when used by those outside of their community. (Let me hasten to add that although I do use that word when referring to them I do not use it in a negative sense. I use it descriptively and without any malice – having no better term to describe them.)

The real ‘bone of contention’ is the following comment made by Rabbi Shafran when asked what term he thinks best describes ‘really religious Jews’:

“Personally,” said Shafran, “I prefer ‘Orthodox.’ Let prefixes be used by others: centrist, modern, ultra-modern. We’re the original, in no need of a prefix.”

Here I agree with Rabbi Slifkin. Up to a point. Rav Shamson Raphael Hirsch quite accurately describesthe origin of that term and its intent by those in the Reform movement that coined it:

It was not the "Orthodox" Jews who introduced the word "Orthodoxy" into Jewish discussion. It was the modern "progressive" Jews who first applied this name to "old", "backward" Jews as a derogatory term. This name was at first resented by "old" Jews. And rightly so.

I never personally thought of the term Orthodox in any pejorative way. But that was the intent of those who coined the term. Why do I still prefer using that term? That’s because words evolve into meanings that were not in any way intended as their original meaning. Such as the word ‘gay’. If you were gay in the 40s, you were just a joyous happy person. If you are gay today, you are a homosexual. Orthodoxy is no longer used in a pejorative way today. It is used descriptively to define observant Jews.

Which brings me Back to Rabbi Shafran. I disagree that the word Orthodox should be limited to that segment of Orthodoxy otherwise known as Ultra Orthodox or Charedim. It is a much broader category encompassing all observant groups from Left to Right. (Although I would leave out the extremes at both ends for reasons beyond the scope of this post.)

I am not Charedi. But I am clearly Orthodox. That I more narrowly define myself as a Centrist does not make me any less Orthodox. ‘Centrist’ is more of an adjective to the noun ‘Orthodoxy’. Which describes a Hashkafa – not a level of religious observance.

I reject his claim that what people call ‘Charedi’ or ‘ultra’ are the original Orthodox. Rav Hirsch dispels that notion very forcefully. Before the late 18th century that term did not exist as a religious denomination. Some of the points Rabbi Slifkin makes in rejecting Rabbi Shafran’s claim are valid too.

That said, I think I understand what Rabbi Shafran is trying to say. (At least I hope he is). Orthodoxy should be the term that describes observant Jews throughout the ages. These are Jews that conformed to the norms of their traditional society. Jews that - as a group - did not depart in radical ways from their forefathers except in times of existential crisis called Hora’as Shah.

In this sense he is right. But that should include all of Orthodoxy no matter the prefix as long as they are observant and have not veered to the extremes of either the right or the left. I believe Rabbi Shafran meant as much when he said: (The term ultra) implies that non-haredim are less observant, which isn’t necessarily true.

So what should the most religious Jews among us be called if not ultra Orthodox or Charedi? Good question. But then again, it isn’t necessarily true that Charedim are the only ones that should be considered the most religious Jews among us.

One final thought about all of this. I am disappointed at Rabbi Slifkin’s approach to Rabbi Shafran. As much as I defended him when his books were banned by Rav Elyashiv – who was at the time considered the Gadol HaDor by that very community – I cannot do so here.

His jabs at Rabbi Shafran are misguided. He cites an article long ago retracted and deleted by him (acknowledging that the point he was trying to make was badly executed) as an example of some of the remarkably silly things (Rabbi Shafran has said) in the past.

That is a cheap shot unworthy of Rabbi Slfkin who I otherwise greatly admire. (I do however cut him a bit of slack because of how certain members of the Agudah Moetzes – whom Rabbi Shafran speaks for - has treated him after his books were banned. Still doesn’t make it right though.)

What Rabbi Shafran said here is not silly. Nor is it completely wrong if understood in the context in which I believe he meant it.

I know there is a lot of animosity against Rabbi Shafran by certain people. As a spokesman for the Agudah he is an easy target for them. A lot of people (most – but not all by people left of center) are very upset by some of their positions or decisions taken by them. I have had my own questions about some of those decisions.

But no one should ever use insulting and disparaging language just because they disagree with them or their spokesman. Even if that disagreement is strident! (Unless there is a Chilul HaShem involved in which case the following Talmudic principle is followed: ‘B’Makom Chilul HaShem, Ain Cholkin Kavod L’Rav – when God’s name is desecrated, do not honor to a rabbi if he is responsible for it).

I disagree with Rabbi Shafran on occasion too, as I did in part with him here. But I still respect and admire him. At the very least, he should be treated with no less dignity than any other human being created in the image of God. Unfortunately, I all too often see the opposite happening right here. And I protest it!

Part of the negative fallout with the ascendancy of the Charedi world is the well known phenomenon of sliding to the right. (Which I prefer calling the great Chumra chase.) One might ask, ’What’s wrong with being more religious?’ Nothing wrong with it. Whether as individuals or as a group. People have the right to incorporate every Chumra they choose in an effort to serve God in the best possible way. Unless it impacts people beyond their world.

With the Charedi world growing by leaps and bounds the Chumra chase filters into other Orthodox communities. Many of which use the Charedi model as the standard one should aspire to. Even if there is no Halachic requirement to do so. Which is why so few mainstream weddings and banquets have men and women seated together. I understand why they do it. They see it as a Hiddur – a better form of modesty between men and women to not have them sit at a table together. But it is certainly not a Halachic requirement. Especially at banquets.

This mentality is why organizations like the Eida HaCharedis Hechsher (Kosher certification) is seen as the most reliable Hechsher in Israel. They are probably the most widely accepted Hechsher. One sought by many food producers and restaurants. Even though there are other trustworthy Hechshers, this one is by far the most trusted.

I was told why by one Charedi individual in Israel: They do not compromise. If you do not meet their standards, they do not give you their Hechsher. Whther they are worthy of that reputation is another question. But that is how thy are seen and every food purveyor wants one. Since it increases their business by enabling every consumer in the Frum world and beyond to buy their products and services.

Which of course gives them a lot of power. That kind that has enabled the Eida to do set whatever standards they choose regardless of whether those standards are Halachic or not! They are also the most expensive certifiction to get. If I understand correctly their fees are the highest in the industry. If you don’t want to use them, they don’t care. They don’t need your business and it’s your loss!

So far all of this is perfectly legal and ethical. Their growth and power is an outgrowth of the basic economic principle of supply and demand.

What makes this problematic is the demand side of the equation. The slide to the right is what keeps them in power - increasing it as the Charedi community grows. Even though new Kosher certification agencies in Israel have increased that has not helped matters. The more Hechsehrim there are, the more confusing the Hechsher equation becomes. The more then - one might seek the tried and true Eida Hechsher so there can be no doubt about the prodcut or service you are buying.

That kind of power enables the Eida not only to set high Kashrus standards, it enables them to set racist standards and even Hashkafic standards. Which they have recently done with the Kosher wine industry.

There is a special Halacha in Kashrus that applies only to wine. Briefly it is based on the biblical prohibition against drinking or using Yayin Nesach – wine used in idolatrous practice. There is a rabbinic extension of this law that applies to Stam Yeinam – wine of idolators even if not used in idolatrous practice, even if they are not idol worshipers themselves. Even if they only touch it. This prohibition applies even to Jews that do not observe Shabbos. (There is secondary reason mentioned in the Gemarah of preventing intermarriage which drinking wine with non Jews might lead to.)

The Eida has decided that to receive their Hechsher - no Ethiopian Jews may work anywhere near the wine being produced. This has been called racist by Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi, Yaakov Yosef.

And now even I am now considered to be unfit to touch wine. Why? Because I wear a Kipa Seruga (knitted Kipa). In order to get an Eida Hechsher, the Eida now requires that Kipa Seruga type Jews (who are mostly associated with Religious Zionism) must be removed from all areas where wine is processed in order to be qualified to receive their Hechsher.

This of course has absolutely nothing to do with observing Shabbos. It has to do with politics, plain and simple. With this new condition they have essentially declared that if a bottle of wine is touched by me or anyone who wearing a Kipa Seruga it must be poured out and not used in any way.

The unmitigated gall of Pasuling so many religious Jews because of this nonsense is breathtaking in its scope. Remember how trusted they are by the growing Charedi world. Which as noted above impacts the entirety of Orthodoxy. Does this mean that the Charedi world now sees anyone wearing a Kipa Seruga to be Pasul L’Eidus - are they going to retroactively void Gittin (religious divorces) where a Kipa wearing Jew was a witness?

This is sick! And in my view a major Chilul HaShem that should be called out, not only by the Sephardi Chief Rabbi, but by every single rabbinic leader worthy of that title anywhere in the world. They should not continue to be seen as the most reliable Hechsher by anyone. Not to mention the fact that the Eida looks the other way when some of their own people cause one Chilul HaShem after another. Like when some of their constituents harass Charedi soldiers.

This is the price of Frumkeit gone wild. Sure, they are very Machmir on certain things. They are very careful to avoid being influenced by outside culture. They urge isolation from the rest of the world toward that goal. Their interpretation of modesty is far more stringent than the rest of Orthodoxy. To the point of erasing women from the public sphere as much as possible.

And yet, Frumkeit seems to be prevailing regardless of the cost. Other observant Jews be damned!

It would be great if Israelis could boycott their Hechsher, but they might as well boycott food, that is how pervasive their Hechsher is.

I don’t see things getting any better. As long as Frumkeit is king and they are seen as the Frummest among us, things can only get worse.

The Conversion Controversy Continues

Religious Elitism in Education

Miss America, Beaches, and Modesty

The Flawed Charedi Perspective about the 'Other'

The Best Hashkafa

A Look at the Insular Chasidic World

The Band’s Visit

Jewish, American, and International Support for Israel

Using Weddings as a Shidduch Resource

Another Orthodox Sexual Predator

Michael Chabon's Nihilism

A Nation of Immigrants – and Yet…

A Masterful Analysis of a Troubling Issue

Messianism – Alive and Well in Chabad

Calling Them Animals is Insulting! (…to animals)

Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Goldzweig - One of Kind

When Chumra Leads to a Chilul HaShem

Roseanne, Trump, Racism, and Teshuva

Orthodoxy Defined?

The Race to Frumkeit - and Me