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Sunday, July 31, 2022

R' Weiss was unique in his vehement opposition to Zionism and any cooperation with the State of Israel and its institutions - Yet, Weiss Chose To Move To The Zionist State & Benefit From The Security of Living In The Jewish State --- The Great Man In This Story is Nicholas Winton - See The 60 Minutes Clip Below On Winton....

 

Funeral of anti-Zionist Eda Haredit Jerusalem rabbi took place on Sunday - With security from the Zionist police

 

"We recommend using navigation apps that will have real-time updates on the traffic situation," a police spokesperson said.

 

Ultra orthodox jewish men attend the funeral of Grand Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss "Gaavad", head of the Eidah Hachareidit, in Jerusalem on July 31, 2022,  Weiss passed away at the age of 95.  (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Ultra orthodox jewish men attend the funeral of Grand Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss "Gaavad", head of the Eidah Hachareidit, in Jerusalem on July 31, 2022, Weiss passed away at the age of 95.

The funeral of the chief rabbi of the Eida Haredit (ultra-Orthodox community), Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, is set to take place on Sunday, after he died on Saturday.

Weiss, 95, passed away at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood after contracting an infection last month. He was hospitalized then and his condition worsened over the last few days. 

(Who paid for his hospitalization and care?)

Roadblocks in Jerusalem

Police officers under the command of Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman will be responsible for security at the funeral procession, maintaining public order and directing the movement of mourners, according to a police announcement. 


"We recommend using navigation apps that will have real-time updates on the traffic situation"

Police spokesperson



Ultra orthodox jewish men attend the funeral of Grand Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss ''Gaavad'', head of the Eidah Hachareidit, in Jerusalem on July 31, 2022, Weiss passed away at the age of 95.


Arriving at the rabbi’s house Sunday morning for final coordination with the family ahead of the funeral, two police officers were met with verbal assaults, as some shouted “Nazis” and “murderers” at them.

The roads will be reopened for traffic according to the procession and there may be changes in the time of the blockades. "We recommend using navigation apps that will have real-time updates on the traffic situation," a police spokesperson said.

Who was Rabbi Weiss?

Weiss was born in Pezinok, Czechoslovakia, (now Slovakia) to a wood salesman.

In 1939, Weiss was saved from the Holocaust in the Kindertransport organized by Nicholas Winton. He later immigrated to London alone, leaving his family behind.

 


 In 2014, 60 Minutes met Nicholas Winton, a British stockbroker who in 1939 traveled to Czechoslovakia and saved 669 children from the Holocaust.

 

He spent much of his adult life in London and Antwerp, where he was appointed a member of the beit din (Jewish court).

19 years ago, Weiss immigrated to Israel and was appointed Chief Rabbi of the Haredi Council of Jerusalem after the death of his predecessor, Rabbi Israel Moshe Dushinsky. He later headed the Jerusalem yeshiva Par HaTorah.

As a leader within extremist ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist factions, Weiss was known for his uncompromising views upholding the sanctity of the Shabbat and opposing the conscription of ultra-Orthodox men to the IDF,

Who are the Eida Haredit?

Formed in Jerusalem in 1919 by Rabbi Yosef Haim Sonnenfeld, the sect includes various hassidim forming the “Haredi Council of Jerusalem.”

The community consists of smaller groups and communities: the hassidim of Satmar, Toldos Aharon, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Dushinsky, Mishkenot Haroeim and Breslov, as well as the Pharisee congregation, Tiferet Jerusalem community and the Jerusalem People community.

The Eida is unique in its opposition to Zionism and any cooperation with the State of Israel and its institutions. 

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-713508?_ga=2.187580076.58321144.1659269130-1229034299.1617710680&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Iran+says+it+will++build+nuclear+warheads++and+turn+NY+into++hellish+ruins&utm_campaign=July+31%2C+2022&vgo_ee=Jn367jKILnpErXAAhCpdDovy7T5YEJ8ohjC9vauJg30%3D

Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Rabbi Ephraim Mordechai Levin to Succeed His Father as Rosh Yeshiva of Telze Chicago - We Must Ask - Is The Son The Most Qualified Person For The Job?


A Yeshiva Built With Public Funds - Does The Family Get To Choose Who Leads The Yeshiva? Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz ztvk"l said a resounding no!

This is not a new thought - The same question was asked of the yeshiva in Volozhin.

 

CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP: A FAMILY AFFAIR

 
After Rabbi Hayyim’s death in 1821, the leadership of the institution was taken over by his son, Rabbi Yitzhak Berlin (1780-1849). For the next decades, the yeshiva remained a family business. Rabbi Yitzhak’s death caused his son-in-law, R. Eliezer Yitzhak (1809-1853) to become rosh yeshiva and when he died, the mantle of leadership passed to his younger son in-law, Naftali Zevi Yehuda Berlin, the Netziv who governed it for four decades.

 

 

 Secular Studies & Volozhin - The Entire Story!

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/volozhin-the-rise-and-demise-of-the-mother-of-all-yeshivas/

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

Hack said that the beginning of the school year is a ​“deeply solemn time,” as September and October are full of holy days including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot. “It’s not a time to commence a sexual relationship,” he asserted.

 

Greer Seeks New Sex-Abuse Trial 

 

 

Incarcerated sex offender Rabbi Daniel Greer left his prison cell Wednesday to come to a New Haven courtroom — where one of his alleged victims testified that Greer had indeed had sex with a former student … but waited until the boy was over the age of 16 years.

Greer was the one who arranged to have the witness come say that, in the hopes of obtaining a new trial.

That was the focus of a four-hour hearing held in Room 6C in New Haven’s Church Street state courthouse. 

Greer is petitioning the court for a new trial based on what he claims is new evidence” provided by Aviad Avi” Hack. Greer is arguing that the 2019 criminal case in which he was convicted on four counts of risk of injury to a minor was based on an incorrect assessment of the victim’s age.

He is currently serving 20 years in prison for the attack on a former student at his Elm Street yeshiva, Eliyahu Mirlis, who was supposedly between 14 and 15 years old at the time. 

Since then, on Oct. 29, 2021, Hack — a former student and then a former employee at the yeshiva who has also described having had a sexual relationship with Greer — signed an affidavit stating that, to his knowledge, Greer did not have sex with Mirlis until Mirlis was 16 years old.

The statute defines a minor as being under 16.

Hack, now 47, testified in court on Wednesday, and asserted that based on his close relationship with Greer, he believed the truth” was that Greer did not have sex with Mirlis until the boy turned 16. Just as Hack said he himself did not have sex with Greer until he was 16.

 


After hearing the testimony, state Judge Jon Blue continued the proceedings until Sept. 23, when Greer may choose to testify.

Hack’s newly submitted evidence” relied primarily on observations and exchanges that he had with Greer back in the early 2000s, a time during which he was both serving as an assistant dean of the yeshiva while maintaining a sexual relationship with Greer.

Hack said that around that period, he spoke basically every day” to Greer.

During both a 2017 civil and 2019 criminal case concerning Greer’s relationship with Mirlis, Hack, in his own words, vanished,” to avoid appearing in court or speaking publicly about Greer’s behavior, with the exception of participating in a deposition in advance of the civil case. (Mirlis was awarded over $20 million in compensatory damages for Rabbi Greer’s actions in that civil case. Greer has been fighting paying most of that money in repeated court actions since then.)

On Wednesday, Hack claimed that he had not thought critically about the importance of identifying Mirlis’ age during that deposition, given that it was not relevant to the civil case in the same way it was to the criminal prosecution. (Click here to read a previous story about that deposition.)

Rather, he claimed that in recent years, after pouring thousands of dollars into therapy” and consulting with his rabbinic mentor, Hack spent more time reflecting on the timeline of Greer’s abuse as well as his obligation to tell the truth” in court.

Because it’s the right thing to do. Because the truth is that Mirlis was over 16.”

Hack said he thought Mirlis could not have been under 16 when Greer first had sex with him for several reasons.

First, he argued, Rabbi Greer detested” Mirlis when the student enrolled in the yeshiva as a freshman.

The student will never succeed … he has too many issues … he’s just not a nice person,” Hack recalled Greer saying.

He really didn’t like him. He wanted him out of school.”

That all changed when Mirlis entered tenth grade, Hack said. Greer then had a much, much warmer and friendlier relationship” with Mirlis, Hack said.

Mirlis’ birthday is on Oct. 27. He was born in 1987. 

That means that he would have turned 16 roughly three months into his sophomore year at yeshiva.

Hack said that the beginning of the school year is a deeply solemn time,” as September and October are full of holy days including Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot.

It’s not a time to commence a sexual relationship,” he asserted.

He said that even Greer abided by that rule. Although he and Greer were involved sexually, they would not have sexual contact, he said, around high holidays.

Rather, Hack suggested, Greer probably began his sexual relationship with Mirlis around November or December.

He stated that it was also around the late fall and winter that Greer began to confirm Hack’s suspicions that he was having sex with Mirlis.

Once, on a day when it was especially chilly outside,” Hack said, Greer proposed that they meet up in one of the properties he controlled on West Park Avenue, which was directly adjacent to Greer’s home.

Hack asked Greer whether he was not concerned about his wife, who was right next door, finding out about them.

I was here with Mirlis; everything was fine,” Greer said to try to console him, according to Hack. 

Among other soft observations, Hack remembered Greer had once said that ​one of the hardest things he ever had to do was wait to have a sexual relationship with me until I turned 16.” He could not remember exactly when Greer said that to him — it ​wasn’t early on in the relationship,” Hack said — but perhaps it suggested that Greer likewise waited to have sex with Mirlis until he reached the legal age of consent.

As Greer’s attorney, David Grudberg, questioned Hack, State Attorney Craig Nowak consistently objected, chalking up that new evidence” to utter speculation.

I’d follow his chain of reasoning,” Judge Blue usually responded. But, he added, I’m not saying it’s compelling.”

But it’s in the interest of justice that I hear the witness out.”

Nowak further questioned Hack’s reasoning for deciding to sign an affidavit and offer testimony now, following Greer’s incarceration, after consistently refusing to participate in past trials.

At that point I was psychologically in a different place,” Hack insisted. The whole subject was and remains traumatic to me. I didn’t want to have to air this again, especially in a public forum,” he added, specifically noting why he refused to speak during the criminal case.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed – I can’t look at him,” he said of Greer. I’m that angry.”

The fact that Hack is an uncle to Greer’s grandchildren did not impact his decision to come forward with new information that could work to Greer’s favor? Nowak asked.

It had no effect whatsoever,” Hack responded.

 

A Deal, & Rabbinical Court:
 
BAIS DIN IN SESSION

 

During cross examination, Nowak also brought up that Greer summoned Hack to a Din Torah/ Beit Din, or rabbinical court. Greer summoned him with the claim that Hack was responsible for Greer’s suffering” in prison and that Hack should be liable for the civil judgment against him” because the cause of that judgement was [Hack’s] deposition.”

Through that process, Hack struck an agreement that Greer would drop those legal pressures if Hack agreed to appear in court to testify about the affidavit.

That was contingent on my appearance in court, not what I say in court,” Hack asserted.

Rather, Hack said, he had decided before the Din Torah summons that he would show up in court to assert information he previously had not considered key in the case. 

He said had gotten a better grip through consistent consultations with his rabbinic mentor that we do the right thing even when it’s tough. And it is tough.”

Tags:

 

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/court_considers_new_evidence_in_greer_rape


Sunday, July 24, 2022

No Story Needed - Photos of Gold Colored Coffin - Church - And The Values Of White Trash!


 

כל המתגייר משום אשה משום אהבה משום יראה אין זה גר וכן היו ר׳ יהודה ור׳ נחמיה אומרים כל אותם שנתגיירו בימי מרדכי ואסתר אינם גרים שנא׳ ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים כי נפל פחד היהודים עליהם וכל שאינו מתגייר לשם שמים אינו גר:

תנו רבנן גר שבא להתגייר בזמן הזה אומרים לו מה ראית שבאת להתגייר אי אתה יודע שישראל בזמן הזה דוויים דחופים סחופים ומטורפין ויסורין באין עליהם אם אומר יודע אני ואיני כדאי מקבלין אותו מיד ומודיעין אותו מקצת מצות קלות ומקצת מצות חמורות ומודיעין אותו עון לקט שכחה ופאה ומעשר עני ומודיעין אותו ענשן של מצות אומרים לו הוי יודע שעד שלא באת למדה זו אכלת חלב אי אתה ענוש כרת חללת שבת אי אתה ענוש סקילה ועכשיו אכלת חלב ענוש כרת חללת שבת ענוש סקילה וכשם שמודיעין אותו ענשן של מצות כך מודיעין אותו מתן שכרן אומרים לו הוי יודע שהעולם הבא אינו עשוי אלא לצדיקים וישראל בזמן הזה אינם יכולים לקבל לא רוב טובה ולא רוב פורענות ואין מרבין עליו ואין מדקדקין עליו קיבל מלין אותו מיד נשתיירו בו ציצין המעכבין את המילה חוזרים ומלין אותו שניה נתרפא מטבילין אותו מיד ושני ת"ח עומדים על גביו ומודיעין אותו מקצת מצות קלות ומקצת מצות חמורות 

Friday, July 22, 2022

Doesn't This Jewish Man Realize That Polio Is A Hoax? If a Genius Giant Big Rabbi Says Polio Is A Hoax, How Dare He Contract Polio?

 

First US case of polio in nearly a decade is an Orthodox Jewish man in Rockland County, New York

 

(New York Jewish Week) — The first case of polio in the United States in a decade has been diagnosed in an Orthodox Jewish man in Rockland County, just north of New York City.

Local health officials announced the case Thursday and said they would begin a drive to increase vaccination against the potentially deadly virus. They said the victim was experiencing paralysis, a hallmark of the disease, and that he had not been vaccinated against it.

Multiple sources told the New York Jewish Week that the man is part of Rockland County’s substantial Jewish community. A local elected official said the same thing in a now-deleted statement condemning those who do not vaccinate, which drew fierce criticism on Twitter from many in the local Jewish community. 

“He was released from the hospital,” one source told the Jewish Week on condition of anonymity. “He’s a young adult, in a wheelchair. He got married recently.”

Polio is a highly contagious disease that can cause paralysis and even death. Before an effective vaccine was developed in the early 1950s, tens of thousands of Americans were infected annually; some wound up with permanent disabilities and a handful were consigned to iron lungs, machines that would help them breathe mechanically after their own bodies were too weakened to do so on their own. A 1952 outbreak killed more than 3,000 people, mostly children. 

The new polio case comes amid fierce backlash against vaccination in some Orthodox communities fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and following a measles outbreak in Rockland County in 2018 and 2019 that was centered in the area’s haredi Orthodox population. The county barred unvaccinated children from entering public places during the outbreak.

According to state data, 60% of Rockland County children have received all three doses of the polio vaccine by age 2, the recommended timeline for vaccination. Nationally, more than 92% of children are fully vaccinated by that age. Last year, Rockland County’s rate of completion of the childhood vaccination schedule, which protects against a range of diseases, was 42%, the lowest in the state. While the county has many residents who are not Orthodox Jews, its multiple Orthodox enclaves are the fastest-growing areas, in part because of their large number of young children.

On Thursday, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said the county is not “immune to vaccine hesitancy.”

“It’s exactly what led to the measles crisis we dealt with, and why we are constantly doing what we can to be proactive about getting people vaccinated,” Day said.  

Rockland County will offer free polio vaccinations in Pomona for any unvaccinated New Yorkers starting Friday.

State Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat whose district includes part of Rockland County, released a statement on Twitter in a now-deleted tweet asking to “bring the full force of the law down on those who have skirted these requirements.”

He singled Ramapo Yeshivas as having “a history of non-compliance with the state’s vaccine laws.” Ramapo is one of the Five Towns of Rockland County, in which the source said there are over 120 Yeshivas.

“Additional enforcement is required in light of today’s news,” Skoufis said in his statement.  

Skoufis’ statement drew criticism from within the Jewish community. Yossi Gestetner, a Rockland County resident whose Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council worked to combat negative publicity stemming from the measles outbreak in 2019, tweeted that Skoufis’ statement was “hateful and inflammatory.”  

“I missed your tweet calling out LGBTQ+ by name and as a community for Monkeypox,” Gestetner wrote, referring to the outbreak of a different virus that is underway. “So why treat visibly Jewish people this way? Every elected Dem should condemn you.” 

Gestetner told the New York Jewish Week that he recognized that there is vaccine hesitancy within the Orthodox community, but rejected the notion that vaccine hesitancy “is just an Orthodox community issue.” 

“People have real concerns about vaccines,” he said. “Even if they’re wrong, the government should go out there and show them the benefit of these vaccines rather than just yelling at people.”

Gestetner said he worried that directing attention to the Orthodox community could fuel antisemitism in the area, adding that comments like the one Skoufis made do not help.

After the backlash to his statement, Skoufis said on Twitter that he met with members of the Rockland County Jewish community to discuss the situation. “I truly appreciate the sensitivity on the ground and the need to make sure the language used like that in my statement from today better reflects that sensitivity,” Skoufis said on Twitter. 

After the 2019 measles outbreak, public health campaigns resulted in more children being vaccinated against the virus, including within the Rockland County and Brooklyn Jewish communities that were hardest hit. But since then, the advent of COVID-19 vaccines have heightened tensions around vaccination in those communities and beyond, with inaccurate information circulating widely. Zev Zelenko, an Orthodox doctor who became a hero in some circles for promoting untested treatments and opposing vaccination, was based just outside of Rockland County.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic has also caused childhood vaccinations to slow across the United States, as families have delayed or deprioritized routine health care.

“Childhood vaccine hesitancy is huge, and I think a lot of it may have worsened with the whole pandemic of misinformation,” Blimi Marcus, an Orthodox nurse who led a COVID-19 vaccine campaign in her community, told the New York Jewish Week in December.

The Rockland County polio vaccination site will be open Friday morning and Monday for a longer period at the Pomona Health Complex at 50 Sanitarium Road. Officials are urging anyone who is unvaccinated, including people who are pregnant, or who are concerned they might have been exposed to be vaccinated or boosted during the clinics.

https://www.jta.org/2022/07/21/ny/first-us-case-of-polio-in-nearly-a-decade-is-an-orthodox-jewish-man?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-46342-25499
 

But Tatty...... Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky said "Even The Polio Vaccine Is A Hoax"

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2022/03/but-tatty-rabbi-shmuel-kamenetsky-said.html

 
 
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2022/05/but-tatty-rabbi-shmuel-kamenetsky-said.html

Thursday, July 21, 2022

GEVALT! The Jewish Fress Gets It Right (After being tormented for 16 years For Being Idiots)


Word Prompt – GEVALT – Yisroel Picker


Photo Credit: Jewish Press

I recently posted the following on my LinkedIn account:

You aren’t to blame if the abuser loses their job due to your reporting.




You aren’t to blame if the abuser ends up getting divorced due to your reporting.

You aren’t to blame if the family of the abuser suffers because the abuser gets put in jail due to their actions.

And Finally:

You aren’t to blame if the abuser decided to take their own life rather than go to court and/or jail.

It is the abuser themself who is solely responsible for all the above.

Some of the comments complained that religious Jews should not be speaking about this in public. That the family of the (alleged) perpetrator shouldn’t suffer (despite the fact that I listed no names). That I was defiling Jews across the globe.

My reaction to these comments was a single word: “GEVALT!”

We have made huge strides in the area of child sex abuse prevention, but huge strides doesn’t mean we are anywhere near the goal.

https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/word-prompt/word-prompt-gevalt-yisroel-picker/2022/07/20/

 

...And in the beginning....בְּרֵאשִׁית


An Anonymous Flier (Pashkevil) In Brooklyn
By: Editorial Board  

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

It was doubtless inadvertent, but the author of the flier makes our point. Thus, the flier recites that "this mailing should not have been necessary," inasmuch as the target and his employer were warned in advance that if the individual either resigned or was fired, "th[e] mailing would be stopped." And on the Internet, the author has declared to one and all that he is about to "uncover" others if they do not accede to his demands. 

Plainly, this individual is engaged in an effort to fashion a weapon with which to impose his will on Klal Yisrael. 

An anonymously written flier mailed recently to many Jewish homes in Brooklyn, containing lurid accusations of improper conduct against an individual in our community and railing against his employer for not firing him, should be taken as a serious warning of a cancer growing in our midst. The flier not only offers no substantiation of the charges themselves, but also reports uncorroborated – and, it turns out, vigorously denied – comments from the employer, which the flier’s unknown author offers as proof of a cover-up. 

 READ IT ALL:

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2006/02/jewish-presstrash-weighs-in-with-their.html

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

We live in a time of extremes. Some of the religious leaders of our age have embarked on a battle against the world we live in. The argument that to be a loyal Jew (a “Torah Jew”) involves rejection of science and culture has to involve an emotional, not an intellectual position, and ipso facto it has to involve rejection—usually vehement rejection—of others.

 

Charisma: A Note on the Dangerous Outer Boundary of Spirituality


 
 

For the past several years, I have contributed postings to a number of websites on the subject of the dangerously charismatic teacher in schools. The material was based on my book on Jewish school management that was published at the beginning of 2010. The section on the charismatic teacher was entitled “The Pied Piper.”’[i] Paul Shaviv

Tragically, between the time that the section was originally written (in 2007) and the time the book was published, a former Jewish Studies teacher at our school was arrested on very serious charges of sexual molestation and assault. His alleged offenses were committed in Israel. Following his arrest, an investigation in Toronto unearthed many issues of concern. He had exemplified many of the good and many of the bad characteristics of the charismatic teacher, especially one active in the religious life of the school. While in Toronto (as a shaliah) he had been immensely popular; had been idolized by students and by some staff; was a talented musician, much in demand locally as a singer at weddings and other community celebrations; and was also used by NCSY as a youth leader and resource. Many former students testified to the profound religious influence he had on their lives. Others—as it emerged—had far darker, tragic, and damaging memories.

The whole episode and its aftermath caused me many hours of reflection, and made me reconsider fundamentally many other encounters throughout my life with charismatic rabbis and teachers—in both personal and professional capacities. I concluded that although many good teachers and rabbis have elements of charisma in their personalities and style, the overtly charismatic personality almost always masks far more sinister agendas, and must be treated and managed with the utmost caution. The tipping point is where the personality of the teacher/rabbi is more important than the content of his message or teaching. Sadly, most readers of this article will be familiar with examples from within our own community, let alone examples from other educational and religious communities.

Where, though, are the boundaries? At what point does charisma become dangerous? In a community (and a wider world) where an elusive quality called “spirituality” is constantly sought as representing the “authentic” in the religious quest, how can the individual, or the community, or the responsible leader, distinguish the teacher with integrity from the predator?

It can be difficult; but there are some obvious danger signs. They may be present in different combinations, and seem to have some degree of overlap with recognized patterns of cult behavior, although they are rarely so blatant. They may include, but are not limited to:

The personality of the rabbi/teacher becomes the most important part of his presence, rather than the content of what he is teaching. When people go to a shiur, or a workshop, or a lesson, to see what “X” is doing or saying—rather than what “X” is teaching—a personality cult is in the making. The same applies when their conversation is about X’s latest action, or remark, or appearance—rather than X’s “Torah.” A truly spiritual personality, in a Jewish context, is concerned to bring people to God, not to himself (more rarely—herself).

Extreme emotional or pseudo-intellectual manipulations are being used to demonstrate that X, and only X, has “the answer.” A spiritually and intellectually honest teacher will rarely deal in absolutes.


The teachings and views of others—particularly rivals for the charismatic teacher’s popularity—are openly disparaged or undermined.

In an institutional or community setting, the followers of the charismatic rabbi/teacher become a group within a group. They do not mix with others, and see themselves as an elite.


Individuals or small groups regard themselves as favored protégés of the teacher. When they no longer uncritically accept the teacher’s philosophy or Torah, they are quickly dropped; disillusion—often accompanied by feelings of betrayal—sets in.


Counseling, advice and guidance are being given on deeply personal, perhaps intimate matters, far beyond the training and competence of the rabbi/teacher. The personalities we are describing will often invite such disclosures.


There is one clear sign that should immediately raise red flags:

The rabbi/teacher teaches, or shows by behavior, that he or she is exempt from the rules that apply to others. Mesmerized followers accept that “it”—whatever “it” is—is permissible or not problematic because the rabbi/teacher has special reasons, or a special argument, or special circumstances, or special authority, to justify the behavior. Often, there is an accompanying condition: Don’t tell anyone about this, because no one else can understand.

This is most obvious in a sexual context, but any and every such instance is suspect. Are meetings and encounters taking place at times, places, and in circumstances that violate accepted norms and practices? Are improper communications passed between individuals? Are money, gifts, favors, special treatment being exchanged?

The sad list goes on. Unfortunately, in our community context, too many people who should know better willfully ignore such danger signs, arguing that the ends justify the means. The word “kiruv” frequently figures in such discussions. It takes a great deal of courage, and a great deal of conviction, to stand up against this type of activity.

We live in a time of extremes. Some of the religious leaders of our age have embarked on a battle against the world we live in. The argument that to be a loyal Jew (a “Torah Jew”) involves rejection of science and culture has to involve an emotional, not an intellectual position, and ipso facto it has to involve rejection—usually vehement rejection—of others. 

 Parallel or analogous political positions and beliefs will generate similar behaviors. They all encourage extreme personalities. Tolerating, let alone encouraging, extreme personalities makes the group vulnerable to unhealthy influence and behavior.

We need charisma—it has an honorable history in leadership, certainly including models of Jewish leadership—but we need it to be combined with uncompromising, uncompromised, and comprehensive integrity. That integrity has to be religious, emotional, behavioral, and intellectual. But it is very difficult to be a charismatic moderate!

 

[i]The character of the Pied Piper remains a seductive and sinister figure in folklore. According to legend, in 1284 130 children mysteriously disappeared from the medieval German city of Hamelin (Hameln). A man dressed in colorful (“pied”) clothing, and playing a pipe mesmerized the city’s children with his music. Bewitched, and entirely under his control, they blindly followed him out of the city to an unknown destination, and were never seen again. (Also by playing his pipe, he had lured the rats that plagued the city to their deaths by drowning in the local river. The town council refused to pay him for his services. In an act of revenge, he worked his magic on the children.) The poet Robert Browning (1812–1889) immortalized the story in verse (“The Pied Piper of Hamelin”).

Paul Shaviv had been the Director of Education at TanenbaumCHAT, the community high school of the Toronto Jewish community, since 1998. The school is the largest Jewish high school in the Diaspora, with almost 1,500 students (G9-G12) on two campuses. He subsequently served at Ramaz High School in New York, and currently is a highly regarded education consultant. He is originally from the UK, and was educated at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. In 2010 he published The Jewish High School: A Complete Management Guide. This article appears in issue 9 of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals
 

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Queens Yeshiva Teacher Witnesses Sexual Abuse of Kindergarten Boy; Fired for Reporting Incident

 




As the issue of child sexual abuse at the hands of educators continues to dominate the headlines, it was recently reported by the New York Post that a lawsuit indicates that a teacher at a Queens yeshiva allegedly caught a substitute teacher groping a boy of kindergarten age.

The teacher, Roza Tachalov, who teaches Hebrew at Yeshiva Sha’arei Zion Elementary School in Forest Hills, said in the suit that she was condemned for “making up stories” when she reported the abuse to school authorities.Having taught at the Queens yeshiva for nine years, in January 2021, Tachalov witnessed the alleged abuse, according to her Brooklyn Federal Court filing against the school, as was reported by the Post.

In the litigation that she filed, Tachalov said that when she witnessed the incident, students were watching a movie when she saw the substitute with “a kindergarten student sitting on his lap and … touching the child in an inappropriate manner, “ according to the Post report.

As Tachalov fled the classroom on that January day in 2021, the Post reported that the substitute put the child down. Later, Tachalov confirmed what she witnessed through a review of video surveillance. The Post reported that Rabbi Ephraim ben Mordechai refused to watch the video footage and accused Tachalov of mendacious claims and said she was attempting to “destroy” his position with the school board.

Tachalov was later terminated from her teaching position at the yeshiva, according to the Post report. Leaders at the yeshiva in Forest Hills has vowed to inform the parents of the boy in question but did not do so, the report indicated.

The NYPD said it has no reports of the incident, as was reported by the Post.

“We’ll let the courts decide the baseless nature of these charges,” Michael Miranda, a lawyer for the yeshiva, told the Post.

https://thejewishvoice.com/2022/07/queens-yeshiva-teacher-witnesses-sexual-abuse-of-kindergarten-boy-fired-for-reporting-incident/

Monday, July 18, 2022

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for a 6-to-3 majority, affirmed Kennedy’s assertion that his proselytizing on government property during a public-school function was “private,” “personal” and “quiet.”

 


Imagine your boss fervently proclaiming his religious beliefs at the end of a companywide meeting, inviting everyone on the team who shares those beliefs to join in. You’re surrounded by colleagues and other higher-ups. Everyone is watching to see who participates and who holds back, knowing that whatever each of you does could make or break your job and even your career, whether you share his convictions or not. But hey, totally up to you!

 


That’s what Joseph Kennedy, a former assistant coach in Kitsap County, Wash., did with his team — only he did it with public-school students at a high-school football game. When the superintendent made clear that by actively inviting players to join him at the 50-yard line for postgame Christian prayers, he was violating school policy and, by the way, the Constitution’s Establishment Clause, Kennedy took to the media, turning a small town’s school sporting event into a three-ring circus and ugly social media sideshow, with students effectively forced to perform or suffer the consequences.

Naming the single worst decision of the Supreme Court’s disgraceful 2021-22 term is a tough call. But the one that best captures the majority’s brazen efforts to inflict its political and religious agenda on the rest of the country may well be Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, which ruled that the coach had a constitutional right to pray on the field. Overturning precedent and in a cynical elision of fact, Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for a 6-to-3 majority, affirmed Kennedy’s assertion that his proselytizing on government property during a public-school function was “private,” “personal” and “quiet.”

It was nothing of the kind. In easily observable fact, Kennedy’s religious display was public, vocal and coercive, as demonstrated by testimony from football players and other community members and by video and photographs of the coach surrounded by crowds of people on bent knee. According to an amicus brief filed by one of Kennedy’s football players and seven other members of the community on behalf of the school district, participation in Kennedy’s prayers was “expected.” Students were explicitly encouraged by him to ask the other teams’ coaches and players to join in, something Kennedy himself boasted about.

But this court’s right-wing majority is following the dictum of our Trumpian age: Objective truth doesn’t matter. Subjective belief — specifically the beliefs of the court’s religious-right majority — does. The Kennedy decision wasn’t based on the facts but on belief in the face of facts. Moreover, those six justices are determined to foist their beliefs on the rest of the country.

In allowing for greater “religious expression,” the court curtailed the liberty of those whose prayers take other forms, Americans who practice non-Christian faiths and people who do not practice religion at all. Kitsap County is home to a variety of religions, including Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, Hinduism and Baha’ism. A coach-led Christian prayer on the playing field is necessarily exclusionary.

Students who walked off the field rather than take part in Kennedy’s prayers may have risked losing playing time and perhaps a path to a football scholarship. No athlete on a public-school team should have to pray to play.

“Kennedy v. Bremerton opens the door for so much more government promotion of religion and a great deal of religious favoritism by government officials,” Daniel Mach, director of the A.C.L.U.’s program on freedom of religion and belief, told me. “I think we are likely to see a lot more blatant religious favoritism by school officials who feel emboldened by the decision.”

This comes at a moment when, for the first time, a minority of Americans belong to a church, synagogue or mosque — only 47 percent in 2020, down from 70 percent in 1999. The number of nonbelievers is on the rise, with roughly one in four Americans identifying as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” Belief in God also fell to an all-time low in 2022, with 81 percent of Americans believing in God, down from 98 percent in the 1950s.

This trend is surely part of what drives the resurgent Christian right, and it may well even be on the minds of the current conservative majority on the Supreme Court, five of whom are Catholics and one of whom was raised Catholic but attends an Episcopal church. With their brand of religious dogma losing its purchase, they’re imposing it on the country themselves.

They target a vulnerable population. One atheist student on Kennedy’s team reported feeling coerced to participate. He described feeling “uncomfortable and unsafe” during a chaotic scene in which over 500 people stormed the field to join in Kennedy’s prayers. This deprived the player not only of his free-exercise rights, but also, according to the brief, of “his love for football, lasting friendships with his teammates and the respect he otherwise earned from his coaches.” Years later, the brief reports, he feels traumatized.

It’s also a largely powerless population. While the percentage of nonbelievers in America is increasing, secular humanists and atheists are among the least represented groups in American politics. And while 60 percent of Americans say they would vote for an atheist for president (up from 18 percent in 1958), only one member of the 117th Congress identified as unaffiliated with any religion in a 2021 Pew poll. None identified as atheist or agnostic.

It’s still dangerous to come out as an atheist in many parts of America, according to Rachel Laser, president and chief executive of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “We have religious-minority and atheist plaintiffs and clients who have received death threats and have had their kids physically attacked, their pets killed, their home windows shot out and their businesses boycotted,” Laser told me. “Many are too afraid to be named as plaintiffs and insist on being anonymous because they fear for their own and their families’ health and safety.”

Those who objected to Kennedy’s behavior similarly faced harassment in their communities and on social media. When Jennifer Chamberlin, a teacher in the school district, came out publicly in favor of her employer, she became, in her words, “a social pariah.”

 According to the amicus brief filed by community members on behalf of the school district, the situation forced her to “come out as atheist,” something she hadn’t previously done because “she was afraid of being ostracized.” The brief explained that being outed as a nonbeliever “resulted in ‘one of the most difficult times in her life’” and that her son “also suffered and was ‘constantly having to defend’ his mother from classmates and community members.”

Such intolerance mirrors the strong-arming intentions of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. Unhappy with what much of the country believes, the court’s right wing chooses to believe what it would like and foists the results on the rest of us. Just like Coach Kennedy, they’re out to proselytize.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/17/opinion/kennedy-bremerton-supreme-court.html

Friday, July 15, 2022

"Core studies would be instituted which, in turn, would prepare students for further education in remunerative fields and enable lucrative careers – and that would make it impossible for rabbis and wheeler-dealers to control who gets accepted where. They know the entire edifice would collapse on their heads."

 

A fight for the right to poverty and ignorance 

 

The ultra-Orthodox leadership's battle against state oversight of schools jeopardizes the future of their constituents – and of the country 
 
MK Moshe Gafni (left) with United Torah Judaism party colleague Meir Porush in the Knesset, June 22, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
MK Moshe Gafni (left) with United Torah Judaism party colleague Meir Porush in the Knesset - shnayim ochzin be-smartphone

The ultra-Orthodox leadership has found an old-new enemy: the state-Haredi education system. Last week, United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni said: “There will be no such thing as ‘state-Haredi’ education.” Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox public, went him one better by asserting that “those who teach in state-Haredi schools lose their place in the world to come.”

To the outside observer, this looks like yet another petty Haredi civil war. In reality, the consequences of that war for Israel are enormous. Victory would leave the ultra-Orthodox sector poor and insular, making an ever-smaller contribution, relative to its size, to the State of Israel and Israeli society.

Twenty-five percent of children enrolled in Israel’s Hebrew education system are ultra-Orthodox, and the number is growing at a rate of 3.7% per year (compared to 2.3% in the rest of the education system). The vast majority of Haredi children, 96%, study in unofficial ultra-Orthodox institutions. These institutions maintain only the weakest of links to the state system. Their curriculum generally does not include a full slate of core studies, if any at all; their supervision is lax or non-existent, and their connection to the state is mostly budgetary. Their administration is a failure and, in many cases, they are a source of income for wheeler-dealers no less than they are educational institutions. In a nutshell, this is a chaotic system run according to mid-20th century standards.

In 2014, Education Minister Shai Piron established the state-Haredi education system. The idea was to incorporate the ultra-Orthodox education system into the Israeli system, apply state supervision standards to it, and establish a more binding and meaningful core studies framework – to start transforming Haredi education from an extraterritorial system to a part of the state. The idea sounds proper and logical, but in practice it has had little success. Today, only about 3% of ultra-Orthodox schools belong to the state-Haredi education system. Of these, a large majority are affiliated with marginal Haredi streams such as Chabad, Breslov, or other small groups. The ultra-Orthodox mainstream is not there.

In recent years, following an increase of less conservative Haredim who desire that their children receive an education that will allow them to live above the poverty line, there have been attempts to establish state-Haredi schools in several major ultra-Orthodox population centers. These parents want their children to be educated in a more modern system that meets, at least, minimum standards of both curriculum and physical facilities, and which is part of the State of Israel.

Despite the marginality of this emerging current in ultra-Orthodox education, the Haredi leadership is waging a war of attrition. Attempts by parents in ultra-Orthodox cities to open such schools run into a brick wall. The municipal systems struggle with this, and the community condemns any parent who promotes such initiatives or sends their children to these schools. The words of MK Gafni and Rabbi Edelstein animate this Haredi horror show.

And they know why. The ultra-Orthodox education system is the power base of the Haredi leadership. Upholding ignorance and preventing Haredi boys from acquiring the ability to earn a decent living; preserving the communal regime that controls parental behavior through educational institutions and admission to them; the great budgetary “milking” operation that supports masses of ultra-Orthodox political hacks and dynastic courts.

All of these are necessary conditions for maintaining the ultra-Orthodox “system.” If that system should – heaven forfend! – become subject to supervision, core studies would be instituted which, in turn, would prepare students for further education in remunerative fields and enable lucrative careers – and that would make it impossible for rabbis and wheeler-dealers to control who gets accepted where. They know the entire edifice would collapse on their heads.

Haredi Jews currently constitute 13% of the Israeli population (1.22 million), and their median age is 16. If drastic change doesn’t occur soon, and if the current vectors of non-education, non-involvement in Israeli life, and non-participation in military/national service and the labor market continue unabated, Israel will collapse under this increasingly untenable burden and become an entirely different place within a few years’ time.

Strengthening the state-Haredi education system is a potential tool for change. If the next government to be formed is not encouraged to do so, it may be too late for those that follow. But the responsibility also lies with those many Haredim who want state-Haredi education but are afraid. If they don’t confront their leadership – which cares nothing for their well-being – neither they nor the state will survive.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-fight-for-the-right-to-poverty-and-ignorance/?utm_source=The+Blogs+Weekly+Highlights&utm_campaign=blogs-weekly-highlights-2022-07-14&utm_medium=email

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Pictures of the day!

 

Dropping to one knee, a tearful Biden moved by Holocaust survivors at Yad Vashem

 

On first day of Israel visit, US president speaks at length to two women who survived Nazi camps, tells one of them: ‘As my mother would say, God love you, dear’

 

 
 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/dropping-to-one-knee-a-tearful-biden-moved-by-holocaust-survivors-at-yad-vashem/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2022-07-14&utm_medium=email

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

A Palestinian state is a prescription for bloodshed!

 


Rabbis tell Biden it is time to recognize the “land for peace policy” as an exercise in futility and consider a new route

Rabbis tell Biden it is time to recognize the “land for peace policy” as an exercise in futility and consider a new route


A Palestinian state is a prescription for bloodshed

———————————————————————
Tel Aviv – Towards the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden in Israel, the Rabbinical Congress for Peace-Pikuach Nefesh (RCP) has launched a wide-ranged campaign with full-page ads in major English newspapers in Israel and worldwide web in which it sends a clear cut message to the President: 

Territorial concessions will not lead to peace but G-d forbid to bloodshed and instability in the region.


The RCP in the name of its 400 members express their deep appreciation for the President’s efforts to reach a true and viable peace agreement between Israel and its neighbors and wish him success in this noble endeavor. At the same time they warn against any Israeli territorial concessions. “The last 30 years have proven that the “land for peace” formula is an exercise in futility,” a formula for increased terrorism and a means of pushing peace further away,” the rabbis warn.


Furthermore, “any negotiations based on Israeli territorial concessions, especially for the creation of a Palestinian state, will only embolden our enemies to strike at us with further determination through terror attacks, boycotts, and international anti-Israel campaigns,” the ad says.


The rabbis cite the Halachic ruling in the Jewish Code of Law (Orach Chaim, sec. 329) which is based on the principle of sanctity of life, namely: Whenever a Jewish city is threatened by foreigners its townsmen are not only permitted but are obligated to arm themselves, even on the Sabbath, and prevent them from entering their city.


The rabbis state that it is time for American foreign policy-makers to abandon the futile “land for peace” formula and consider a new foreign policy route. The only way the U.S. can serve as an effective mediator is by declaring outright that there will never be Israeli territorial concessions nor will a Palestinian state ever be established alongside Israel, the RCP said.

 

Monday, July 11, 2022

Secular Jews Matter!

 

The Haredi thugs who spoiled my grandson’s bar mitzvah are winning 

 

50 relatives flew in to rejoice with Seth at the Western Wall and learned that Israel will stand up to any threat except when it's violence instigated by rabbis
Ultra-Orthodox youths interrupt a bar mitzvah ceremony at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall on June 30, 2022. (Laura Ben-David)
Ultra-Orthodox youths interrupt a bar mitzvah ceremony at the egalitarian section of the Western Wall on June 30, 2022

The Times of Israel has covered the Haredi attack on three b’nei mitzvah families celebrating their children’s transition into adulthood as committed Jews (Haredim interrupt Americans’ Western Wall bar, bat mitzvahs, tear up prayer books).

I am one of the grandfathers of one of the b’nei mitzvah celebrants at Robinson’s Arch when these juvenile delinquents attacked.

Seth Mann’s older brother and sister, as well as his two cousins, opted to stay home and become b’nei mitzvah in the USA. Seth liked the idea of becoming a bar mitzvah in Israel at the Kotel, knowing how important Israel was to his family.

At great expense, nearly 50 family members from both sides of Seth’s family packed up and flew from the United States to Israel to celebrate this important milestone of his life. That’s 50 family members who were booking hotel rooms, who were ordering food in restaurants, and who were filling their luggage with souvenirs and Judaica, to take home. This was my fourth trip to Israel and my wife’s sixth. Each trip to Israel before this has always been the trip of a lifetime.

While his family was making arrangements and preparing to travel, Seth spent the past year studying for his big day. He learned the Shacharit service, learned each of the Torah portions he would read, and prepared a speech sharing with his family what this momentous day at the Western Wall meant to him.

Bright and early on Thursday morning, our families arrived at Robinson’s Arch, an egalitarian area off of the Kotel that the Knesset had designated for non-Orthodox families to celebrate events like this in peace.

Our rabbi from Las Vegas, Nevada, Felipe Goodman, his wife Liz, and his daughters Dani and Ari, arrived at Robinson’s Arch ahead of everyone and had set up the pulpit area. Our excitement over witnessing Seth’s bar mitzvah was bubbling over.

The Shacharit service began with Seth chanting the blessings. He was nervous at first, but quickly calmed down and led the service as if he had done it hundreds of times. The calmness and serenity of the morning prayers were interrupted by someone at a different bar mitzvah yelling out. We all looked over, but didn’t understand what the shouting was about, yet.

Not long after the shout, the delinquents attacked us. I understand their shameful rabbis arranged for a bus, dismissed them from class, and instructed them on how to disrupt non-Orthodox services, using whistles and shouting terrible things. The vile demonstrators must have made their complicit rabbis proud.

It didn’t matter to them that dozens of fellow Jews had crossed the Atlantic Ocean and were participating in a morning prayer service, just like they had earlier in the morning. What mattered to them was that these Conservative movement Jews from America had the audacity to pray while standing next to wives and daughters, cousins and friends.

Seth, just like the other b’nei mitzvah praying that morning at Robinson’s Arch, kept his head down and, remembering the discipline he was taught in his studies, continued leading the service. 

Unfortunately, his family members and friends weren’t able to do the same. While the police stood by and watched, only getting involved if the delinquents got too close to the families, our family members and friends did the police officers’ jobs by forming a wall between these thugs who had been taught to hate their fellow Jews, and the Shacharit service.

My parents both survived Auschwitz and while they are no longer with us, it was them I was thinking about as I walked to Robinson’s Arch. How proud they would have been to see their great-grandson become a bar mitzvah in Eretz Yisroel.

Instead, I was left embarrassed about what the Orthodox had done to Israel. This great nation of the Jewish people is being held hostage by narrow-minded rabbis, the youth gangs they control, and a government that will stand up to every other nation that threatens her, but cowers at dealing with these homegrown thugs.

As long as Israel does nothing to stop these attacks, the Haredim will feel they have the government’s blessing and the violence will continue. Families will no longer feel safe celebrating and will just stay home.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-haredi-thugs-who-spoiled-my-grandsons-bar-mitzvah-are-winning/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2022-07-10&utm_medium=email