Rosh Yeshivas--You Are Killing Our Children & Grandchildren

The UOJ Archives....July 2005

Rosh Yeshivas, Menahalim & Mashgichim.

You sleep well at night because you have parnassah and your children and grandchildren will have jobs waiting for them in your respective (not respectful) institutions, regardless if they are qualified or not.

You guys read this story, and if after you read it you are able to sleep at night, then you are much worse people than I thought.

Recently, I sat next to a respected Lakewood resident at a simcha. He spent a total of fifteen years in the yeshiva/kollel.

Every time he went to you explaining what a difficult time he was having, you encouraged him to stay in kollel, Hashem will provide.

Eleven children later, without any financial means whatsoever and deep in debt, he was forced to look for a job. He would not take any job, after all he was a talmud chochom, and should be a rosh yeshiva.

After two years looking for a SUITABLE job, he begrudgingly took a job in a local talmud torah. Although considered by many as an Iluy, that was the best and only job he was able to get. He came from a baalibatashe family, with no money or yeshiva connections.

I was introduced to his wife who I guestimate was about forty, going on sixty.

We have common friends so I assume he felt comfortable talking to me, and of course I would never divulge his identity.

He asked me if I knew of a job for his son who was twenty years old. He told me that although he wanted his son to stay in yeshiva, he was not cut out for it. I asked a few basic questions, like how much of a secular education did he have. I just wanted to confirm that, at the minimum, he had a high school education.

He related to me that none of his sons had gone past the eighth grade. I asked him what kind of job was his son looking for?

Now the guy I am talking to is a real bright guy, so he knew where I was going.

He asked if his son was able to work in the real estate industry. I told him to get anywhere, he would have to get a real estate license. This is where he came apart.

We walked outside and this grown man with eleven children started bawling. He said his son can hardly read and he was hiring a tutor to TEACH HIS TWENTY YEAR OLD SON TO READ ENGLISH!!!!!!

Do you guys get it??

This is America in the twenty first century, and his twenty year old son can hardly read the language of the land where he lives!

I asked him to be in touch, and we exchanged phone numbers.

We did keep in touch and the story unfolded.

He, the father, was a prodigy in an IVY LEAGUE yeshiva, and was encouraged to continue learning. Hashem would provide, and certainly he would be grabbed up by a gvir (rich guy) for his daughter, and he would live happily ever after.

If he ever decided that he would want to go into chinuch, the yeshivas would line up to grab him as well. Well, no gvir grabbed him, and he wound up marrying a nice girl, BUT NO GELT. His chashuvah rosh yeshiva encouraged him to marry this girl, gave him a brocho,and assured him that Hashem will provide.

Life moves along, the kids keep coming, and this guy is struggling big time. His shalom bayis is seriously affected, and the rosh yeshiva who is consulted and asked to intercede, starts questioning his talmid's bitachon and emunah. This idiot rosh yeshiva, a member of the Moetzes, whose yeshiva mortgage is completely paid off, is questioning his talmid's bitachon, because there is NO MONEY FOR FOOD AND NO SHALOM BAYIS!!!!!!!!

This filthy behaima, mushchas, destroyer of our future generations, puts his own son in a rosh mesifta position, who if had to look for a job without his father, would be shoveling zevel for the local sanitation department.

This is why I am SCREAMING CHAI V'KAYIM.

THEY MADE THESE YESHIVAS PRIVATE BUSINESSES WITH YOUR MONEY! THEY PUT THEIR SUB-PAR KIDS IN, TO BE MECHANECH YOUR KIDS, WHILE CREATING GENERATIONS OF SHNORRERS.

The BIG LIE is, that there are no jobs waiting for anyone in kollel, unless they have very close family in the yeshiva business.

NOT ONLY ARE OUR CHILDREN BEING "TAUGHT" BY MORONS, THEY ARE BEING LED INTO A LIFE OF POVERTY, DISCONTENT AND MISERY!

How does one have bitachon when his life is coming apart based on false notions of what Hashem will or will not do? How do you behaimas take vulnerable kids and savage their minds the way you do? Have you no shame? You turn them into emotional cripples!

This story has been repeated thousands of times in different variations. These rosh yeshivas are perpetuating this fraud because this is what keeps their businesses going. If there were no customers for their fraud, there would be no business.

GUESS WHAT? HASHEM DOES NOT THROW MONEY AT PEOPLE WHO SPEND THEIR TIME IN YOUR INSANE ASYLUMS, YOU HAVE BEEN SHNORRING YOUR WHOLE LIVES AS WELL! YOU KNOW YOU ARE PATHETIC PANHANDLERS, TIN-CUP, MONKEY AND ALL.

NO ONE WHO IS HONEST CAN DISPUTE THIS DOOMSDAY SCENARIO THAT HAS SLAMMED INTO OUR COMMUNITY.

Sure, there are SOME honest rosh yeshivas, BUT THEY ARE IN THE MINORITY OF MINORITIES.

Any rosh yeshiva that encourages a "regular guy" to stay in kollel until he is old and gray should be sent to the frontlines in Iraq with his black camouflage clothing.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS? HOW ILL ARE YOU?

Some suggestions.

All yeshivas should be subject to an audit conducted by a lay persons' vaad, who will hire frum accountants to check the books. Every single mosad gets audited, no exceptions.

All hiring of rebbes should be done by an impartial vaad of rabbonim and rosh yeshivas.

Why Not?

Why can we not get this done? What are they hiding? This IS NOT THEIR MONEY, THIS BELONGS TO THE PUBLIC, AND WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO MONITOR OUR SO CALLED INVESTMENT.

Why not hire the absolute best rebbeim for our kids?

Why should we automatically hire and pay for your kids?

Enough with hiring ZEVEL to teach and mislead our kids. There is a pool of thousands of men to pick from, let us get the absolute best.

Enough with concealing the amounts of PUBLIC MONEY used in excesses for your personal luxuries.

Enough with counseling ALL KIDS TO STAY IN KOLLEL FOR AS LONG AS THEY CAN.

Enough of NOT FORCING OUR KIDS TO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL WITH THE BEST GRADES THEY CAN GET. I AM TALKING TO YOU, ALZHEIMERS ARON FELDMAN, BALTIMORE AL FOR SHORT!

ENOUGH OF NOT FORCING THE MAJORITY OF YESHIVA BOYS TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE EVENTUALITY THAT THEY MUST PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES BY LEARNING A TRADE.

YOU ARE CAUSING TRAGEDIES UPON TRAGEDIES.

Let this be a call for all well meaning TRUE ehrliche Jews to rise up against this cancer that is metasticising throughout our communities.

They are cult leaders who rule by mental intimidation.

To hell with these destroyers of meaningful life for our children.

Rise up and drive out these charlatans and purveyors of fraud from our communities, they are destroying the vestiges of our sanity!

AFTER 60 YEARS OF SEXUALLY ABUSING CHILDREN - HESHY NUSSBAUM PLEADS GUILTY!

Feb. 19 2014 - Guilty plea entered on all charges. Sentencing hearing scheduled. 

March 28 2014 - Sentencing hearing. 3 victims were present. 3 victims read their victim impact statements. Judge couldn't sentence Nussbaum that morning because he needed time to reflect because of the statements. New date scheduled.

April 6 2014  - Nussbaum sentenced to 2 years house arrest and 3 years probation following the sentence. 

I am thankful that unlike US law, the (SOL) in Canada  --- these monsters can be charged at anytime,  and they can be exposed through legal means without legal repercussions to the victims. 

A publication ban is in full force with regards to the identities of the victims forever, due to the fact we were minors at the time. 

 HESHY NUSSBAUM VICTIM - MORE DETAILS WHEN AVAILABLE

"Let’s make one thing clear: I’m not here to negotiate with children's safety. The Rabbis can take a stance and make their opinions publicly known, or they will be forced to change by the advocates."

Benny Forer · Los Angeles, CA 

• Deputy District Attorney at Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

https://www.facebook.com/benny.forer.3?fref=photo

Why do I occasionally take on Rabbis and criticize their actions in the arena of CSA (child sex abuse)?

For those who are familiar with this industry, the answer is obvious. For those that don’t, maybe it isn't so apparent. (I'm excluding those that are familiar, but nevertheless justify Rabbinical action/inaction – a group I'm not addressing, nor do I care for their opinion).

The Orthodox Jewish system that has been set in place for many years is one that requires Rabbinical approval for most things. As one prominent Israeli rabbi preposterously told me:

 “I'm a rabbi and therefore the community’s leader. If they have an issue, they must seek my advice and it’s my job to remain totally informed. If they need an operation, they must seek my advice first. If they want to report a crime, they must seek my advice first.” (This post isn’t to discuss whether this system is right or wrong – its simply stating the fact and the attitude).

As a result, for many years and certainly throughout my lifetime, it was expected that any victim of abuse had to be vetted by a rabbi before going to the police. These rabbis almost never had any expertise in this area alone, and therefore, overwhelmingly chose the wrong action. This also resulted in countless cover-ups which led to further victimization.

For the past few years, many advocacy groups popped up, exposing this ugly truth. The result was that some rabbis courageously encouraged victims to go the police and took a stance on the issue. Devastatingly though, most rabbis have remained silent on this issue and many continue to maintain their myopic and misplaced beliefs on this topic. One only need to do a simple google search to read numerous articles about rabbis giving wrong/bad advice, encouraging silence, demonizing the victims, etc.

In our global community, we accept the Rabbi’s role to be one of an authority on our actions, thinking, methodologies, education and community. The Rabbi is the most important and central feature of our group, often dictating permissible and impermissible things. Accordingly, when there is a danger within a community, the Rabbi is central to the overall decision making on the matter.

Understanding this point, is understanding rabbinical criticism.

 Silence or inaction on an issue threatening a community is unacceptable.

 A Rabbi must take a stand and must have a course of action. Those that lack courage, but have Torah and learning should remain as community teachers, but not leaders. Thus, the very nature of their job and position puts them in the forefront of dealing with issues pertaining to CSA. Silence and inaction are unacceptable.

The problem, as illustrated by the attached article, is that far too often, Rabbis have said that they empathize with the victim, yet their actions revealed the opposite. In the recent Zauder case, many prominent Rabbonim wrote letters of support for an evil man, mostly out of foolishness and a lack of understanding/education on the issue.

This rightfully subjected them to immense criticism and we should all demand their renouncement and apology for that.

There are countless more examples of this type of action. The Crown Heights Bes Din issued a psak two years ago that told victims of CSA that they may go to the police. Despite this being a very commonsense and halachically required approach, only two of the three rabbis signed this edict. The holdout has continuously assisted predators to the detriment of the victims. Furthermore, one of the rabbis that signed the edict is actively working to delegitimize a victim that did go to the police!

So are Rabbis above criticism? Absolutely not. Should they be severely exposed if they take the wrong course and harm society? Absolutely.

Let’s make one thing clear: I’m not here to negotiate with children's safety. The Rabbis can take a stance and make their opinions publicly known, or they will be forced to change by the advocates. There isn’t a middle nice ground here. This is not an arena for pleasantries and niceties…its children’s lives.

If you have a problem with that – please unfriend me and please don’t ever talk to me. I don’t want to be a part of your world.

http://jstandard.com/content/item/taking_care_of_the_victims/30533

Taking care of the victims - The Jewish Standard

We are sisters. One of us is a former child abuse and sex crimes prosecutor. One of us is a licensed social worker who has worked clinically with victims of sexual abuse and is also a victim of...

JSTANDARD.COM

This weekend, BBC World Service is repeatedly running a half-hour segment by reporter Matt Wells, titled "Betraying the Faith: Abuse in Jewish Brooklyn."

Betraying the Faith: Abuse in Jewish Brooklyn

New York’s Brooklyn district is home to more than 200,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews who live in close-knit enclaves, according to strict religious laws. 

A culture of secrecy and denial is said to have surrounded the crime of child sexual abuse in this area, with some rabbis preferring to deal with it internally, rather than calling in police. Their religious codes are said to have protected abusers and many victims also accuse civil prosecutors of helping shield perpetrators.

These cover ups are rooted in the concepts of 'mesirah' - not handing people

 over to the secular authorities - and the desire among some

 in the ultra-Orthodox communities to protect abusers, including many rabbis,
 at any cost. 

In this program, reporter Matt Wells hears from one man who says he was sexually

 abused in a religious bath house but thrown out of summer camp for speaking out. 

Supporters of the abused say hundreds of people have suffered but that even when cases 

get to the secular authorities, there has been a cover up. 

Matt Wells also talks to rabbis who can’t agree themselves how cases of sex abuse

 should be handled. 

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this program then there are support groups

 who have been set up to help.

CHECK PROGRAMMING TIMES IN YOUR AREA:
LISTEN TO THE AUDIO:

 CLICK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01y0s9q

 Michael Lesher is on the program. He is the author of 

Sexual Abuse, Shonda and Concealment in Orthodox Jewish Communities.

 A truly fascinating book, available shortly.

See link at:
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-7125-6

"It takes courageous visionaries to stand up to the shared “wisdom” on child sex abuse in a religious community, and to press the rule of law against anarchical, instinctual protection of the religious organization’s image and cohesion."

Sex Abuse and Lawlessness in the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community

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Here we are at the end of Child Abuse Prevention Month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and let’s just say that the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community as a whole is not going to receive any justice awards soon, though two brave individuals should.

First, there is the specter in Brooklyn of a sweetheart plea deal for the criminal who threw bleach on the face of the bravest advocate of sex abuse survivors in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Second, at the end of last month, there was a veritable celebration in honor of the prison release of the criminal who tried to bribe a young woman and her boyfriend with $500,000 to drop charges against ultra-Orthodox molester Rabbi Nechemya Weberman.

The Sweetheart Plea Deal for a Vicious Assault
Former Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes repeatedly let down the victims of child sex abuse in the Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. He actually lost his job because of it. The man who replaced him, Ken Thompson, ran on a platform of protecting the children who were abandoned by the Hynes administration. He started off strong by dropping the charges against Sam Kellner, who was unfairly charged with extortion when in fact he was trying to obtain justice for his son, who was sexually abused. He made many points then. Earlier this week, he backtracked.

The fight to protect victims of abuse in religious communities is difficult and daunting, and those inside the community can pay the steepest price. One of those men in the ultra-Orthodox universe is Rabbi Nuchum Rosenberg, who has persistently ministered to the abused in his community, forced the issue into the public square through a call-in show and blog, and proudly stood in support of legislative reform in Albany for them. His dogged persistence has created a wedge in the community for justice, and survivors sorely in need of support have started to speak up.

Tempers were running high December of 2012 following the trial and guilty verdict of sick molester and esteemed counselor Rabbi Nechemya Weberman.

Rosenberg had been a victim of violence before, but the day after the Weberman verdict, Meilech Schnitzler approached Rosenberg and threw bleach in his face. But for the quick action of a person who threw a cup of water on Rosenberg’s face, he might be blind today.

In a move that has sent chills through the ultra-Orthodox survivor community, Thompson cut a deal with Schnitzler that will hardly deter future violence against the survivors’ advocates. Instead of serving the years in prison the crime should have earned, Schnitzler confessed to throwing the bleach on Rosenberg and received nothing but unsupervised probation. To quote Rosenberg, “Probation in our circles is a joke.”

The Grand Celebration for the Man Convicted of Bribery in the Weberman Child Sex Abuse Case
As I discussed at the end of 2012 here,the day that Weberman was convicted was a very good day for survivors in this community. It was the first public conviction of a well-known and respected counselor, and it was high time the survivors were vindicated by the legal system—even if shunned by their own community.

The next very good day occurred when he was sentenced to over 100 years in prison. Even though the total number of years was eventually reduced, he is still facing life in prison for his sick, sadistic years of abuse of the Orthodox girl who was entrusted to him for counseling. She was only 12 when he started preying on her.

Sadly, the community guaranteed that the legal process was sullied from beginning to end. In the midst of the trial, Abraham Rubin approached the victim’s boyfriend and offered the couple $500,000 if she would drop the charges and leave the country, so that Weberman could go free. Rubin was convicted for trying to subvert the justice system but served mere months for his crime.

He was released late last month from Rikers Island, and how did the Satmar community greet him? Like a returning hero. There was dancing in the streets, music, and a party in a large wedding hall. Ads were even placed in Der Blatt, which is a community weekly, praising Rubin. They were honoring this man who had subverted the legal system for a child predator: “The son of the Satmar Rebbe declared Rubin atzadik (righteous man) and declared, ‘I would be happy to exchange places with Rubin in the world to come.’”

The Silver Lining: Weberman Still Rots in Jail
Against the backdrop of the lawlessness on display above, I would remind good people that Weberman will be in jail for the rest of his life. Justice John G. Ingram of New York’s Kings County Supreme Court sentenced Weberman with the statement: “The message should go out to all victims of sexual abuse that your cries will be heard and justice will be done.”

Michael Lesher and Amy Neustein have rightly suggested that federal prosecutors should press charges against those who perpetrate violence based on religious identity, even if it involves fellow believers threatening each other. Their point is well taken, though the problem is so much more complex than finding a legal basis to hold bad people accountable.

It takes courageous visionaries to stand up to the shared “wisdom” on child sex abuse in a religious community, and to press the rule of law against anarchical, instinctual protection of the religious organization’s image and cohesion. Rabbi Rosenberg is one of those people, and, let us hope that in the future, instead of senselessly lashing out at him, good people will join his decent and worthy cause.

Weberman’s victim gave an impassioned and memorable victims impact statement at the sentencing hearing, saying, “I clearly remember how I would look in the mirror and see a person I didn’t recognize. I saw a girl who didn’t want to live in her own skin. A girl whose innocence was shattered at the age of 12.”

She and Rabbi Rosenberg are heroes.

Marci A. Hamilton is a professor of law at Cardozo School of Law, and the author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children, which was just published in paperback with a new Preface. She also runs two active websites on issues she writes about frequently, www.sol-reform.com and www.RFRAfolly.com. Her email address is Hamilton02@aol.com.

- See more at: http://verdict.justia.com/2014/05/01/sex-abuse-lawlessness-ultra-orthodox-jewish-community#sthash.j4VWHgw4.dpuf

“I don’t do metzitzah b’peh. Period. The health risks are pretty clear.”

Yehuda Lebovics: “I don’t do metzitzah b’peh. Period. The health risks are pretty clear.” 


Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/04/30/life-religion/americas-top-mohels#ixzz30OSPyFKR

What The Yeshivas, Agudath Israel, BMG - Lakewood Yeshiva...Can Learn From The Donald Sterling Saga...

Personally, I do not care what Sterling said to his girlfriend in private; the man is a lowlife in the worst order! His actions  ----  being a miserable philanderer his entire life and having the prostitutes on his arm at the Clippers games for all to see, to me, are worse than what came out of his filthy mouth in the confines of his home.

Yet, Yeshiva Gedolah had no problem putting his name on their building and taking his filthy money!

Even the NAACP - yes, that pathetic reverse racist organization, will stop honoring him for now!

BMG, the Agudath Israel and numerous other organizations --- know --- that the entire NBA --- you know the guys that get paid million$ to throw a ball in a hole - were on the verge of NOT playing ball until Sterling was removed from their organization!

Jews are just not that smart!

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/04/28/clippers-owner-donald-sterling-has-long-history-of-trouble/

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Sterling has been known to heckle his own team from the center-court seat where he has sat for decades, whether with his now-estranged wife or women young enough to be his granddaughters.

Sterling has faced extensive federal charges of civil rights violations and racial discrimination in business, making shocking race-related statements in sworn testimony before reaching multimillion-dollar settlements. He has also been sued for sexual harassment by former employees, and the court proceedings detailed an outlandish list of Sterling’s personal proclivities.

Cui Bono? - "Who Benefits From This?"

Attorneys use the above Latin phrase often - not as often though as evolutionary biologists. I trained myself to think in these terms - when I do, I am always able to shine a light on the essential causes of why people do what they do.

Men (humans) are extremely selfish animals. One just needs to view their surroundings, and we will see people keeping busy with their own needs, primarily. The failure to realize what's good for us is also good for our neighbor (and the converse), is exactly what is destroying our civilization.

So when we clean our yard - and we dump the trash over the fence - our yard is clean - but the trash is still there and toxic. When we send our children off to school in the morning; if there's dangerous bacteria in the school dining room, or there's a teacher, a principal, or any school employee that is emotionally ill with a mental health infirmity, it is only a matter of time when your child could be debilitated by an illness or damaged emotionally by a person who is so sick that they are unable to control their deviant proclivities.

Stephen Jay Gould, the famed paleontologist, in his work - "Rock Of Ages", went through great lengths to reconcile science and religion, with his theory of "Non-Overlapping Magisteria". He claimed that science explained the natural world, while religion spoke for morality. His students actually pointed out that religion was redefined as a moral philosophy.

An overwhelming number of scientists and philosophers called this intellectual rubbish, and were shocked that a man of such brilliance could actually delude himself by claiming that morality was something that only religion could articulate.

Nothing could be a bigger falsehood! When we put religion under the microscope - all religions - we discover that humankind is being destroyed in the name of religious morality. Cui Bono? Who benefits from religion today? Not the masses of people or the plain-folk! It is the leadership and the leadership only.

There is no greater corrupt body of people in the history of mankind than the "religious" leaders!

Who benefits?

1 - When your children are kept ignorant and discouraged from getting an education that would permit them to develop their intellect and have the ability to discern right and wrong, truth from lie - other than what their religious leaders are telling them?

2 - When the leadership themselves are ignorant, evil and deceitful charlatans?

3 - When the so-called leadership, line their coffers with your money - while they amass fortunes in real estate for themselves and their families - while you can barely survive paying your monthly expenses?

4 - When the Agudath Israel allies themselves with the Catholics to keep law enforcement out of the religious schools while our children are endangered by sexual predators, whilst the teachers, principals and the schools' finances are not held accountable to anyone!

5 - When poverty is encouraged for the masses - by encouraging your children to rely on God and miracles for a living!

Every rabbi sitting on the Moetzes Gedolei Torah is directly responsible for protecting and enabling child rapists and child abusers!

And there are scores of people that choose to remain anonymous, that accuse them and tens of other rabbis for knowing about other rabbi-rapists, and have done nothing!

Is this the moral philosophy that religion is suppose to have given us? When the Agudath Israel's allies, the Catholics, knowingly let millions of Africans die rather than educate them on sexual disease prevention - is this the morality of religion?

The children, the helpless, the poor, the ill, the weak --- are not these the people that religious morality dictates that we do everything possible to prevent them from a tortured existence? And yet, these religious leaders are the most responsible for the hell on earth that they visit on their flock, with total impunity! No police --- No IRS audits - No taxes ---- NOTHING!

What morality does religion exactly provide us with?

Yisroel Belsky will not perform a bris unless he performs metziza b'peh; yet he had no problem letting any child's bris kodesh be fondled and violated by Kolko, and only God knows how many others over his fifty plus year history in supervising children - In Camp Agudah, Pirchei Agudath Israel, Camp Torah Vodaath and Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. We're going to be extra cautious on the halacha - are we now? Did anybody notice that he was not on the list with the twenty five other whiskered cows visiting Postville the other week. He's even too corrupt for the OU to roll him out in public anymore!

This it what it's come down to - We've let every single outside decadent influence into our homes and souls - we don't have any idea what morality looks like any more.

Why The Yarmulke?

יאַרמולקע, from the Aramaic meaning "fear of the King" (i.e. God)) --- According to some authorities, however, it has since taken on the force of law because it is an act of Kiddush Hashem (lit. "sanctification of the Name", referring to actions which bring honor to God).  Kitzur Shulchan Aruch cites a story from the Talmud (Shabbat 156b) about Rav Nachman bar Yitzchok who might have become a thief had his mother not saved him from this fate by insisting that he cover his head, which instilled in him the fear of God.

 

                     

READ ARTICLE:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/nyregion/rapfogel-pleads-guilty-in-scheme-to-loot-new-york-charity.html?hpw&rref=nyregion

Standing On The Shoulders Of A Giant!

Among Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz's ztvk"l last wishes, was that his son in-law, Rabbi Alexander Linchner, go to Israel and "rateve der Sefardishe kinder" - save the Sephardic children! This, from a humble Jew from Europe, whose sheer breadth of human compassion was beyond imagination, and concern for the well being of children was a paramount concern to him. Even as he lay on his deathbed.

He was the human Hubble telescope - he saw universes and galaxies beyond what anyone else was able to see or fathom.

Yes, the children were his primary concern -- because it is they that would carry the Jewish people forward until the coming of Moshiach. A well-educated, emotionally healthy child, imbued with the appropriate set of values, Torah values, would keep Yiddishkeit's light burning throughout the planet! The torch or "shraga" would light Torah fires in every nook and cranny on the planet Earth.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein said about RSFM -- "every single student in a yeshiva in America, now and forever, is a talmid of RSFM"! He loved Jews and Judaism with a passion unmatched in recent history. He fought off his detractors - the naysayers that scoffed at him and his concept of the new American Jew. He could care less what the masses thought about his concept of Torah (Im Derech Eretz) education in America. He battled the kannoim - the crazies. He declared war against self-inflicted poverty of the mind. Many of his dearest talmidim were encouraged to seek a parnassa outside the walls of the yeshiva. He battled Rabbi Aron Kotler on "high school" education in yeshivas. It is not for naught dear Zeide. The American Yid will survive, although this generation has lost its way.

"Your children" were trampled on, your values were spat upon, your way of dress has been soiled by gangsters, your pure Yiddish language has been twisted into vulgarities, your yeshiva kinderlach were sexually and emotionally raped by animals posing as rabbis, your battle for the sanctity of kashrus has been turned into a -- big illicit profit crooked gesheft, your Bais Yaakov girls were violated by beasts posing as rabbis, teachers and principals.

There is still a fire in a few Jews that will never give up, never! We will battle your battle until our last breath, as you did! We will turn the world upside down -- until your values return to the nation of Israel.

Your values will return to the Jewish people, I promise! Beseech God on behalf of your kinderlach dear Zeide - we need your intervention with the Ribbono Shel Olam -- we must prevail, we must not fail!

RABBIS.....

The UOJ Archives

by Rabbi Immanuel Jakobowits

(Sent in by a reader-Tradition. Deserving of its own post.)

By the encouraging response from many readers to our observations under this heading in our last issue, we venture now to expand on this theme and to offer some constructive solutions to the problems posed. The principal criticisms leveled at the existing tendencies in the preceding review may be summarized by the following five points:

1. The denigration and usurpation of the role of practicing rabbis by yeshivah deans had virtually eliminated the traditional place and functions of the rabbinate in the spiritual government of the religious community, resulting in the disappearance of the public Torah image in the community at large.

2. The transfer of rabbinic jurisdiction from communal rabbis to academic scholars confined to yeshivot had severely limited the scope of contemporary Halakhah and caused substantial deviations from the traditional pattern in the methods used to determine Jewish law.

3. These unprecedented developments had led to the displacement by yeshivot of kehillot as the institutional center of gravity in Jewish religious life.

4. The yeshivot's discouragement of rabbinical careers was directly responsible for the spread of mediocrity in the rabbinate and the growing scarcity of candidates forleading rabbinical positions.

5. Yeshivot, by tending to stifle rather than to promote a sense of commitment to the wider community, had been equally unsuccessful in raising a community-minded laity, so that public Jewish life became increasingly drained of rabbinical and lay leaders alike.

To reverse these baneful trends will require much courage and vision. But the foremost requisite is a willingness by all concerned to engage in a dispassionate debate, to tolerate genuine criticism and dissent, and to sweep away the cobwebs of conformity and stereotyped thinking to make room for honest search and bold correctives.

The following observations and suggestions on the above five points are offered in this spirit:

1. The answer to the first challenge is obviously the restoration of rabbinic authority. "Jephtah in his generation is [vested with as much authority] as Samuel in his generation, to teach you that even the most unworthy person, once he is appointed w a leader over a community, is like the mightiest of the mighty" (Rosh Hashanah 25b). Rabbinical authority, our Sages averred, derives from communal appointment, not from mere wisdom or learning. As expressed so forcefully in the incident on fixing the date of Yom Kippur (Rosh Hashanah, 2:9), a Rabbi Joshua, however superior his scholarship, must submit to the rulings and decrees of a Rabbi Gamaliel as the practicing office-holder. There can be no substitute for, or challenge to, an official and legitimate incumbent of a rabbinical post.

A part of the problem may lie in the current use and abuse of the rabbinical title.

Semikhah (rabbinical ordination) is traditionally the conferment of power and responsibility to exercise rabbinical jurisdiction, as emphasized in its wording yoreh yoreh-"he shall surely give rulings." It is the passport to an office, not some honorific title or degree. It is a charge to practice rabbinics, a "crown" of sovereignty that confers obligations as well as rights, as the wording of the document implies.

It is definitely not just a certificate of academic proficiency.

"Any scholar who has attained hora'ah (or semikhah) and does not exercise it withholds Torah and causes the public to stumble; regarding him it is written: 'A mighty host are all her slain' (Prov. 7:26)" (Yoreh De'ah, 242:14), just as a qualified physician who does not practice medicine is deemed guilty of bloodshed (ib., 336:1).Semikhah ought to be awarded only to candidates for the active rabbinate and not as a kind of higher yeshivah graduation diploma, and the use of the rabbinical title should be limited to practicing rabbis. It was never meant as an incentive to Talmudical studies. "A man should not say, I will study so that people will call me 'Rabbi' " (Nedarim 62a). If any such incentives or rewards are really needed, let us reintroduce the time-honored titles of "Morenu" and "He-chaser" as a mark of distinction for scholarship and piety. Let outstanding masters be known by the affectionate "Reb" or the more eminent "Hagaon."

Even many Talmudical savants were content to forego any rabbinical appellation, men like Hillel and Shamai, or Abaye, Rava and Samuel, amongst numerous others!

Businessmen, accountants, or insurance agents using the title of rabbi without exercising it can hardly contribute to the public respect for the rabbinate, especially in our confused society.

Historically and halakhically, a rabbi is an administrator of Jewish law, a spiritual guide and a communal leader. Yeshivot, as the custodians of Torah education, should be the first to acknowledge the function of rabbis in this capacity, and not merely as expedient fund-raising agents, if the Torah image and authority are to be restored in Jewish life.

2. The effectiveness of rabbinical authority today largely depends on public endorsement. For the first time in our history Judaism must be vindicated in a democratic age. Gone are the days when any ex cathedra pronouncement or dogmatic ruling by a rabbi would automatically command popular respect by virtue of his learning or standing.

In the administration of Jewish law, justice must not only be done, but be manifestly seen to be done; as far as is possible, the logic of halakhic decisions must be demonstrated before the bar of public opinion to win acceptance.

To translate this essential ideal into practice, three elements are required: (a) relevance, (b) sweet reasonableness, and (c) a measure of tolerance.

(a) Halakhah must be, and appear to be, a guide to human progress, not a brake on it. All too often rabbinic judgments deal with religious problems in the light of modern conditions, not with modern problems in the light of religious conditions. Vast segments of our people are alienated from Torah life because they believe that Halakhah creates problems instead of solving them.

This is bound to result from the emphasis in rabbinic rulings on subjects of little relevance to the average modern Jew rather than on the great moral, social, and intellectual challenges troubling our age. To make Judaism meaningful and true to its primary purpose, halakhic guides must address themselves increasingly to defining the contribution of Jewish thought and teachings to such areas of current concern as birth-control, juvenile delinquency, the use of leisure, the economics of automation, Jewish-Christian relations, and the place of religion in public life. Halakhah cannot become a popular guide to life unless it embraces all life.

(b) In making halakhic decisions, the reasons given are as important as the conclusions. Even Moses was charged "to trouble himself in making everyone comprehend the reasons" for his teachings (Rashi, Ex. 21:1), and the Shulchan Arukh forbids rabbis to issue permissive rulings "which astound the public" because they are unintelligible (Yoreh De'ah, 242:10). Today more than ever before, rabbis must interpret or explain as well as adjudicate the law if they are to enjoy the fealty of the public.

They must serve both as priests "to teach God's judgments to Jacob and His Torah to Israel" (Deut. 33:10) and as heirs to the Prophets (B. Batra 12a) in presenting the moral and universal aspirations of Jewish existence.(c) The third requisite, tolerance, is equally indispensable for the restoration of rabbinical authority. Differences of opinion are the dynamics of Jewish learning and practice. They have always fertilized the very soil of the Torah "tree of life." The cause of Torah Judaism is hindered rather than helped by the present tendency towards ever more rigid uniformity, turning stringency into a fetish and branding all dissent as heresy. The violent agitation against Rabbi Mosheh Feinstein's ruling on artificial insemination and against the Manhattan Eruv, though both based on unimpeachable authorities, are cases in point drawn from recent experience in New York.The absence of all these three desiderata is inherent in the exercise of rabbinical jurisdiction by yeshivah deans who are remote from the concerns of contemporary society, shielded from the pressures of public opinion, and conditioned by the unquestioning loyalty of their yeshivah students. Practicing rabbis, on the other hand, are necessarily exposed to the broader challenges of real life, required to win consent as well as obedience, and compelled to explore legitimate concessions or to tolerate dissent.

3. Rabbinical offices cannot be filled with incumbents, adequate in quality and in quantity, without training them.

A lamdan (Talmudical scholar), however learned, is not necessarily a rabbi and may be a far cry from it. 

To meet the exacting and manifold tasks of rabbinic leadership, especially in our trying times, numerous skills are required in addition to scholarship. The spiritual leadership of a congregation calls for a high degree of proficiency in the presentation of Jewish thought, in the exploitation of public and personal relations for religious ends, in the impressive conduct of religious services and functions, in communal vision and diplomacy, in educational expertise, in some literary finesse, and above all in competently grappling with the intellectual challenges of our age. The exercise of purely rabbinical jurisdiction as a moreh hora'ah (an administrator of Halakhah), too, requires far more than mere competence in a few Talmudic tractates and some one hundred chapters of Yoreh De'ah dealing with ritual slaughter and kashrut, as presently constituting the semikhah program. To pass halakhic judgments a rabbi must be at home in all parts of the Shulchan Arukh, especially the Orach Chayyim and Even Ha-Ezer, familiar with the responsa literature and its methods, and proficient in the shikkul ha-da'at (weighing of opinions) indispensable for all rabbinic rulings. These skills can be acquired only by years of training and experience (shimmush), and through the constant consultation of writings and masters reflecting this experience.

The requirements for rabbinic ordination, therefore, should be amended to include this training, both in theory and in practice. To authorize rabbis to practice rabbinics and to guide congregations by virtue of their Talmudic learning only is as irresponsible as to qualify physicians to treat patients and to administer hospitals merely on the basis of some academic studies in the principles of medical science and without any clinical or hospital experience. Yeshivot devoted to theoretical studies in Talmud and parts of Yoreh De'ah can no more turn out competent rabbis without the help of rabbinical seminaries than medical schools and textbooks can produce qualified doctors without hospitals.The rabbinate today demands highly specialized professional skills to be an effective agency of spiritual leadership and halakhic jurisdiction. To ensure an adequate supply of high calibre rabbis professional schools are no less essential than for the training of any other professionals. The yeshivot can continue to ignore this need only at the cost of letting countless more spiritual "patients" die for lack of competent healers.

The appalling toll of defections from Judaism, of religious casualties, will hardly abate unless rabbinical functions are restored to rabbis equipped to respond to the questions and questionings of our times-men able not only "to learn and to teach" but also "to guard and to act."

4. Yeshivot are meant to make Jews, kehillot (congregations) to preserve them; the former prepare for Jewish life, the latter act it out. When Moses communicated the main principles of Jewish living to the Children of Israel, he assembled them in "congregations," not in yeshivot (Ex. 35:1; Lev. 19:2, and Rashi). For countless centuries congregations led by rabbis have always been the backbone of organized Jewish life. Under their umbrella all other facets of communal activity grew up and operated: education, rabbinical courts (batei din), mikvaot and welfare services. Today, with the disappearance of kehillot as the principal bulwark of Jewish life and their replacement by yeshivot, many of these communal amenities are largely either non-existent (such as communal batei din), or in unreliable private hands (such as kashrut and shechitah), or under non-religious control (such as the social services of the federations, etc.), and the religious community is fragmented and impotent in guiding the destinies of our people.This situation will not be ameliorated until the yeshivot orientate their students towards a sense of communal responsibility, as expressed, in the first instance, by active membership in established congregations.

So long as our most valuable human resources are absorbed and nullified by communally ineffective shtibels, which neither demand nor offer any contributions to the wider community, the most vital potential for building up the organism of Jewish religious life is frittered away, and the congregations that do exist are religiously emaciated for want of members who are intensely committed and exemplary in their learning and conduct.

The allegedly low standards of observance and religious fervor in larger synagogues are no excuse for defying Hillel's maxim, "Do not separate yourself from the congregation" and for surrendering our public institutions to the rule of ignorance and apathy. On the contrary, "where there are no men, you endeavor to be the man!"

The decline of our congregations calls for mobilizing the support of our yeshivot, not for their withdrawal and indifference. The dearth of Torah-committed members in our major Orthodox synagogues does not excuse the yeshivot - it indicts them.

5. The Torah tradition, as "a tree of life to them that strengthen it," has always given equal recognition to the scholar and to the supporter of scholarship, to Issachar and to Zevulun who shared the rewards and the responsibilities for Jewish learning in identical parts. Hence, it was considered no less important to raise Zevuluns, dedicated to the support of Torah learning and living, than to produce Issachars, devoted to the mastery of Torah studies.Today this essential balance in Jewish life is being dangerously upset. The yeshivot, by their monolithic program aiming at the accomplished lamdan as their sole ideal, seek to fulfill one requirement whilst ignoring the other. As the main custodians of public Jewish education, yeshivot will have to be more diversified in their curriculum and objectives to meet all our needs. The graduation of a potential Zevulun-a successful and devout businessman or professional -should be as urgent and precious a task as raising a profoundly learned Issachar.

To this end, yeshivot (at least the larger ones) should have a dual program of Jewish studies: one, stressing intensive learning designed to train competent scholars, rabbis and teachers, and the other, with an academically more limited scope, aimed at producing dedicated and knowledgeable ba'alei battim, distinguished by their piety and public-spiritedness rather than their scholarship.

These latter products will eventually swell the ranks of an enlightened and loyal laity from which our lay leaders and Torah supporters are recruited. Not every yeshivah student is fit or willing to be fashioned into a lamdan. By focusing the entire educational system on the few who are intellectually and otherwise endowed for Talmudic excellence, the yeshivot neglect all others and they are often lost to traditional Judaism later in life. With proper modifications in yeshivah policies, aims and methods, this large group could be turned into an element no less vital for the preservation of the Torah community than the most erudite scholars.

It is to this group of deeply committed "plebeians," at present completely ignored in the yeshivah "world," that we must look for providing our scholars with followers and financial support and for replenishing the thinning ranks of our lay leaders and communal workers.

Without Zevuluns, Issachars will eventually disappear, too, and it is up to the institutions of Jewish education to raise the former as well as the latter if creative Jewish living is to be perpetuated, and if the Jewish people is to recover its national purpose.

Yisroel Belsky Pesach Special - Buy One Hazmana For Loshon Hara - Get One Free!

Excerpted from The Jewish Fress Pesach Edition:


JF: Rabbi Belsky, what do you make of the D.A. now going after pigs/pedophiles in yeshivas?

Belsky: Boruch Hashem you asked.

Mendel Epstein and I have been scratching our seder plate beitzim about this - the only solution is purchasing a loshon hara hazmana from us. Mendel came up with the concept of "buy one get one free" - cash only no checks - if not, he gonna breaka you face and you gonna swim with der fishes. 

Boruch Hashem you asked!

Click on sample hazmana to enlarge:

"When We Resolved To Take Communal Affairs Into Our Hands, We Discovered A Serious Evil In The Midst Of Our Community!"

A Rabbinical Decree (g'zeirah) to the Jewish community in Cairo in the year 1167, believed to have been written by Maimonides, anonymously, as his first act as a Jewish leader.

"In times gone by, when storms and tempests threatened us, we used to wander about from place to place; but by the mercy of the Almighty we have now been enabled to find here a resting place. On our arrival, we noticed to our great dismay that the learned were disunited; that none of them turned his attention to the needs of the congregation.

We therefore felt it our duty to undertake the the task of guiding the holy flock, of inquiring into the condition of the community, of "reconciling the hearts of the fathers to their children," and of correcting their corrupt ways.

The injuries are great, but we may succeed in effecting a cure, and - in accordance with the words of the prophet - "I will seek the lost one, and that which has been cast out I will bring back, and the broken one I will cure" (Michah iv, 6).

When we therefore resolved to take management of the communal affairs into our hands, we discovered the existence of serious evil in the midst of the community, etc...."

Chag Sameach - חג שמח

Talk Yiddish To Me

"What better way to counter Israel's most recent attempts to eradicate Torah study than to celebrate its miraculous continuity with a gadol b'Yisrael?"

This Is What Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Pornography Looks Like!

It's Monday, the day after the Atzeres Hatefillah in Yerushalayim, and I am on my way back from Tzefas when my cell phone rings. Reb Shmuel Karelitz, Rav Nissim Karelitz's son, is on the phone. "Now is a good time to come to Bnei Brak," he says. "Rav Chaim will see you to talk about the kollel." I was elated.

Kollel Chazon Ish is one of the most esteemed Torah institutions in the world, and Rav Chaim Kanievsky is one of the world's greatest Torah authorities. So my elation doesn't require any explanation. What better way to counter Israel's most recent attempts to eradicate Torah study than to celebrate its miraculous continuity with a gadol b'Yisrael?

Bnei Brak is a rather difficult place to navigate by car. Small boys and girls tend to dash across the street without bothering to check if any cars are in close proximity, and the other drivers are equally oblivious to your presence. When we arrive safely at Rechov Rashbam, I am more than a little relieved. 

The kollel is housed in an imposing dun-colored building several stories high. Maariv is starting in the large beis midrash on the upper floor and I join the mispallelim. After davening Reb Shmuel Karelitz introduces me to Rav Binyamin Shikovitzky, one of the kollel's roshei chaburah. Rav Binyamin joined the kollel after he got married; he is now in his seventies but as fresh and motivated as if he had just arrived. We find a place in the office where we can all sit down comfortably...