Reuvein Feinstein - a man is what he does and who he allies himself with; therefore you are a menuvel b'rishus ha'Torah for your affiliation with Leib Tropper and EJF!
When Jewish historians will tell the sordid tale of EJF, it will be the story of Reuvein Feinstein and the myriad of ignorant, peasant rabbis that bought into this scam; they will be the real villains, more than the low-life Leib Tropper. Tropper will be a footnote, as Avi Shafran will be for his purveying of lies and deceit, when the real story of the Agudath Israel rabbis will be told.
But if not for Feinstein trading on the good name of his father, Rav Moshe z"tl; Reuvein Feinstein would be shoveling shit from the Staten Island Ferry to the shores of Battery Park in lower Manhattan.
He has said nothing of significance that will survive his death, he has written nothing that will be remembered for its wisdom -- he will be remembered for his attempt to destroy the very foundation of "Who Is A Jew" -- by accepting a $3 million dollar payoff to "sanctify proselytizing gentiles", no different than Rabbi Alexander Schindler of the Reform movement.
Alexander Schindler From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Alexander Schindler (1925-2000) was a rabbi and the leading figure of American Reform Judaism during the 1970s and 1980s.
Born in Germany, he came to America with his family at age 12. He was one of the last European-born leaders of American Reform Jewry.
He served as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (since renamed the Union for Reform Judaism) from 1973 to 1996.
His best-known, and most-controversial, pronouncements were his call for Jews to accept Patrilineal Descent (recognizing as Jewish children of Jewish fathers) and "outreach" to non-Jews. He intended this to include general proselytizing to non-Jews, but in practice this applied to non-Jews married to Jews.
He served as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations".
RABBI ALEXANDER SCHINDLER DEAD By CHARLES W. BELL - DAILY NEWS - RELIGION EDITOR
Thursday, November 16th 2000, 2:15AM
Rabbi Alexander Schindler, a longtime Reform leader who encouraged women to become rabbis and non-Jews to convert, died yesterday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 75.
The cause of death was listed as heart failure.
He retired four years ago as president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, which represents about 850 Reform synagogues in North America, after 23 sometimes tumultuous years.
Schindler was a major figure in late 20th century Judaism, and a bold one - he once suggested, "only half in jest," moving the Jewish Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.
He broke with centuries-old tradition in the late 1970s, when he developed an outreach program to woo nonobservant Jews and non-Jews seeking a religious identity.
Schindler argued that instead of excluding Jews who had married outside the faith, synagogues should welcome their non-Jewish spouses. This, he said, would preserve Jewish traditions and rites that otherwise might become lost to assimilation.
He also broke with an ages-old tradition of defining Jews only as children of Jewish mothers. Schindler successfully campaigned to include Jewish fathers. This since has become the standard for many American Jews.
He once distributed tens of thousands of special cards to students and others, giving them free membership in synagogues and even Sabbath meals with Jewish families.
Born in Munich, Schindler fled with his family in the early 1930s. He became a U.S. citizen in 1943, and the next year joined the U.S. Army as a ski trooper. He took part in three European campaigns and was wounded in action.
When he returned home, he decided to become a rabbi. He was ordained in 1953 and quickly moved up the ranks of the Reform movement hierarchy.
At the time of his death, Schindler was president of the international Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and a vice president of the World Jewish Congress.
An Israeli forest of 500,000 trees is named for him.
He is survived by Rhea Schindler, his wife of 44 years, five children - one daughter, Judith, is a rabbi - and nine grandchildren.
Funeral services are scheduled at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Temple Israel in Westport.*
Charedi/Ultra-Orthodox Judaism frowned on the BT/Baal Teshuva movement until sometime in the late 1980's - when they saw Noach Weinberg cashing in on his ATM machine with no limits -- They frowned on the Russian Jews until Rabbi Meir Kahane made it fashionable -- and the US government contributed millions of dollars to emancipate as many people as possible from behind the Iron Curtain. And now these ignorant peasant thieves jumped on the Giyur/Conversion bandwagon when Tropper pick pocketed Tom Kaplan for millions of dollars and passed out that money freely to any rabbi with a black hat or a turban that showers once a week whether they need to or not.
Feinstein was the knowing facilitator of this scam, he knew too well that his father's family name name on this document would make it easy for Tropper to do the legwork and bring others on board without even questioning the motives for holding intermarriage weekends. Worse, once someone attended a free weekend, they easily were able to get their children into a Chabad school - with full Jew status - conversion and circumcision or hatafat dam brit down the road, maybe! And what person with a drop of Jewish blood (all descendants of Avraham Avinu) would turn down a free weekend at a luxury hotel?
Rabbi Elyashiv and all the other Alzheimer senior rabbis from Israel were fed the scam via their feeding tube, through the ilk of Nochum Eisenstein and other like parasites - in most cases these rabbis have a difficult time even imagining that they are still alive, never mind that a fraud of this magnitude could even be dreamt up; yeah, intermarriage is a very bad thing, good idea Tropper/Feinstein, let's save the Jews from this plague.
But nobody asked guys like me; we knew Tropper, he's been banging any naive BT or other unsuspecting vulnerable women for years now; the Tendlers did it for free, Tropper collected a fee.
And let me not forget the other smiling Agudath Israel rabbi; the guy up to his eyeballs with Solomon Dwek; the IRS had a caravan of FBI agents pull up to the Philadelphia Yeshiva last August, hauling off truckloads of records. How much was Shmuel Kaminetzky paid to "lecture" at the EJF conferences? None of Tom Kaplan's tax returns reflect a payment to Kaminetzky or the Philadelphia Yeshiva as did the $3 million dollars to Feinstein's Staten Island swamp. We know that Tropper's Horizons/Kol Yaakov returns reflect a $3 million dollar slush fund; did Kaminetzky lecture for free?
EVERY RABBI LISTED BELOW IS FOREVER PART OF THIS SCAM - IGNORANCE IS NEVER AN EXCUSE - THEY CAN NEVER BE TRUSTED FOR ANYTHING - EVER!
http://www.Troppergate.com --- run by an insider in Monsey is reporting that Rabbi Leib Tropper has formally resigned and told a select few, one of whom told him.
May i ask what is the purpose of your 'Unorthodox movement"!?!?!
Don't you think there are enough people out there who are pointing our the problems our community has. Aren't there enough out-side people who underline and highlight every weed in our patch of roses. Why do you feel like you're doing a sevice to people by belittling and shaming the orthodox? Why do you think anything good can come out of an organization that's a pure lashon hara?!?!? The way your articles are written make it quite clear you're not in this l'shem shamayim. Yes, it's true there may be problems in certain communities and with certain individuals, but orthodoxy as a whole is beautiful and i'm sure as a whole orthodxy brings a nachas ruach to the RBS'O. Nothing good can ever come out of ignoring one of mitzvos is our holy Torah. So, as a loving member of klal yisroel- i'm telling you off because you're doing a lot of damage to yourself and a lot of damage to everyone who reads your articles. You won't have a very pleasant existence in Olam Haba- if you've been the cause of spreading loshen hara to hundreds of thousands of people. They say gehenim really hurts. I'm begging of you to take this seriously.
May Hashem give you the strength to make the hard, bold but correct choice.
And may you use the mind and kochos you were given to bring nachas ruach to Hashem yisborach to make up for all the pain you've caused Him.
Haltzlach.
Sincerly, "
*
What should I answer this nice lady?
UOJ - President and CEO of The Unorthodox Movement!?!?!
Let's be nice -- so your comments should address her like this:
"To punish me for contempt of authority, Fate has made me an authority myself.
Although I'm a typical loner in daily life, my awareness of belonging to the invisible community, of those who strive for truth, beauty and justice, has prevented me from feelings of isolation.
People flatter me as long as I'm of use to them. But when I try to serve goals which they are in disagreement, they immediately turn to abuse and calumny in defense of their own interests.
Arrows of hate have been aimed at me too, but they have never hit me because somehow they belonged to another world with whom I have no connection whatsoever.
God gave me the stubbornness of a mule and a fairly keen scent.
When I was very young, all I expected from life was to sit quietly in a corner doing my work without the public paying any attention to me. And now see what has become of me.
Many crackpots of the world frown on my work, but they are of interest to me. A favorite pastime of mine is to reconstruct their thinking process; I feel genuinely sorry for them.
Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human actions."
A serious poster on Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn's Da'as Torah blog has called it like it is by asking the most solid Halachic questions (shaylos) and comes up with the most obvious answer:
"Tropper - Why the Rabbis were silent: Anonymous said...First of all, this is not about one community. Second of all, the pulse of the community is beaten by us, not by the Rabbonim in the shuls. Third of all, Purim is coming up. We need a resolution. Those who live near Grove Street or Maple Avenue need to know where their children can go to deliver mishloach manos. As a family with teenage daughters, we need to know if Kol Yaakov bochurim should be allowed to dance in our house this year. When bochurim go shteeble hopping, do they go to Kol Yaakov? Do we drop by the purim shpiel? What if a shidduch is red with a Kol Yaakov bochur? Without any answers or at least progress reports, I think the de facto answer will be to isolate anyone having to do with Kol Yaakov..."
This is what it's come to. The above was in response to the interview in the 5 Towns Jewish times by Rabbi Ribiat of Forshay in Monsey NY : "Leib Tropper - Why the Rabbis Were Silent: 'If True - A Venomous Snake in our Midst'" January 24, 2010.
The masses of Torah Jewry are about to take the law into their own hands.
They must.
They HAVE TO protect their daughters, and sons, who can easily be "role played raped" as Tropper told Shannon Orand he could do, by Tropper or one of his henchmen.
The dangerous Tropper cult is practiced in OUTWARD frumkeit and chumras but INWARD sexual depravity and sex-crazedness. They think that sexual misdeeds are just "opportunities" up the rung of the next act of "teshuva", they are morally meshuga and the Jews of Monsey where the Tropper wolf's lair is dug in are the most worried because they have werewolf Tropper and she-wolf Leba with fangs dripping on YouTube for the world to hear and see on their doorstep.
The time for fun and games is over.
Word has it that the people at Agudath Israel are going to continue stonewalling, they are going to act dumb and dumber and have bozo articles written by Avi Shafran to have the wool pulled over the oilem goilem's eyes, but they can forget about it.
Just listen to the underlying fear in the tone of that heartrending shaylo from a Monsey resident. Amcha is calling.
It's going to be a people's revolt against Tropper and the rabbanim are going to look like a bunch of frightened castrated caged rabbits imprisoned in Tropper's basement.
What do you do when you a have an unmasked werewolf and rabbinic dracula like Tropper posing as the "rabbi next door"? Ever seen a werewolf or dracula movie? You have to be brave and defang him, (just don't show him a cross r"l or maybe that is just what apikores Tropper needs to be shown he is a false messiah like Yoshke)
It's not a joke and no one is laughing!
Behind the scenes the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America is in deadlock over how to react to the Tropper scandal.
Since the ruling Moetzes is controlled by a troika of old-time octogenarian talmidim of the late R Yitzchok Hutner led by Aron Shechter of Chaim Berlin yeshiva and abetted by Aron Feldman of Ner Israel with the supposed Agudah head Yakov Perlow of Novominsk bringing up the rear, and of course they can count on Dovid Feinstein brother of Reuven Feinstein to protect their interests, and Shmuel Kaminetzky is probably dithering somewhere in the middle because in the past he was the only one who stood up to Shechter in the kidnapping affair of Isaac Hersh and he also backtracked from the forged "kol koreh" against LIPA the singer, so maybe now too Kaminetzky is knocking his head against the wall that Shechter does not want to cut his losses and Kaminetzky may be the only lonely voice pleading that Agudah say something more clear. He will have no problems dumping Tropper once and for all and not have that darned place in Monsey Kol Yaakov associated with his late father's holy name.
So what do they think these Agudist Moetzes mighty men? That people don't know what's going on? Or that America is like Meah Shearim and you can stop people from reading and writing on blogs? Or that freedom of the press does not apply to Jewish newspapers that can get some good mileage out the Tropper/EJF sex scandal? Just how dumb do they think people really are?
Maybe they are trying to save the name of the near defunct EJF organization by passing the buck to dumbo megalomaniacs like Suchard of Gateways according to some reliable rumors. But they are clearly out of date and out of their depths here as this scandal will never go away until Tropper's own rabbis, not the BADATS that already wiped its hands of Tropper years ago, or the RCA that condemned him the minute the scandal became public, but these same dunder heads at the Moetzes must show what they are made of and not act like Nixon's cover-up squad.
The Über-Agudists are the ones who got the millions from Tropper, like Reuven and Dovid Feinstein and those who have been in cahoots with Tropper for decades like Aron Shechter must now do the avoda of the kohen gadol and send the Tropper se'ir la'azazel and be done with him once and for all, or else risk a massive destruction of every last vestige of respect that anyone has for so-called "gedolim" who cannot even go by the simple logic of "if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck -- it's a duck" and get rid of the Tropper monster duck once and for all and not act like a phony Sanhedrin of shotim gemurim.
In light of everything, the fact that there is irrefutable proof that it is none other than Leib and Leba Tropper's voices on those tapes committing those abominations and depravities, as well as much else that is both common knowledge and behind the scenes knowledge about Leib and Leba Tropper:
1. Leib and Leba Tropper must be put in CHEREM immediately! There are enough good rabbonim to do so. Tropper must PERMANENTLY give up all positions in the rabbinate. No more "rosh yeshiva" of anything no more "rabbi of this and that" and all the titles he collected like a tin pot dictator. Preferably the Tropper family must leave Monsey and settle in place like Switzerland (Tom Kaplan can buy them a chalet near a minyan) or in Florida (they have friends there) as PRIVATE CITIZENS stripped of all rabbinic rank, power and influence!
2. EJF must be shut down PERMANENTLY!
3. Kol Yaakov yeshiva in Monsey must be shut down PERMANENTLY!
4. Horizons outreach program must be shut down PERMANENTLY!
5. The Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation must be shut down PERMANENTLY !
6. Menachem Lubinsky of LUBICOM must be boycotted PERMANENTLY for the damage he facilitated by acting as EJF's PR and propaganda czar.
7. Tom Kaplan and his wife Dafna Recanati, the enablers of Tropper/EJF/Horizons in these last years, must be kept out from the Orthodox and Charedi community (they are not religious Jews in any case and don't care much about wanting to be religious) and not one more cent must ever be accepted from them by anyone in the Torah world, PERMANENTLY!
8. No more funds should be accepted in the Orthodox and Charedi world from Guma (he should have a refuah sheleimah bekarov) and Jamie Aguiar, and Guma's mother Ellen Kaplan Aguiar and the Aguiar family or their Lillian Jean Kaplan Foundation -- PERMANENTLY. They were also originally Tropper's enablers with the EJF scheme.
9. Rav Reuven Feinstein must be put on notice to STOP his support of the immoral and corrupt Leib Tropper AT ONCE and NOT harass and instigate problems against those from Rav Sternbuch's side who have had the courage to speak the truth when it was not popular. Had R Reuven Feinstein heeded the advice of those from the BADATZ he would not be in the sick situation he is in now. He only has himself to blame. When you sleep with the dogs you catch fleas.
10. Aron Shechter of Chaim Berlin yeshiva in Brooklyn must be put on notice that the world will NOT tolerate his tyrannical irrational and damaging support for Tropper that must stop once and for all and cut of all contact with Tropper PERMANENTLY. Shechter's disciples are called upon to protect Shechter from himself and from the dragging Chaim Berlin into irreversible shame and disgrace. Shechter is in remission from cancer and he should have a refuah sheleimah bekarov but he would be well advised to stay home in Brooklyn and end his days in happiness surrounded by his family and zombie talmidim and stop his delusions of protecting sickos like Tropper and Michael Hersh. Shechter has already caused lots of damage by his stubbornness in protecting his crazed BT disciple Michael Hersh who sent his own son to the island of Jamaica with Shechter's blessings and support. Maybe the earthquake in Haiti was a sign from Hashem against that. What if Isaac Hersh would be now on Haiti under ten feet of rubble, would that make Shechter and Michael Hersh happy? Who knows.
11. The Jewish Press newspaper should be boycotted, and Dennis Rapps Esq its legal counsel who wrote all the pro-EJF/Tropper drivel and lies in it should become persona non grata in the Torah world, for their appalling shameful support of Tropper at every twist and turn and glorifying EJF from its inception and helping to bring about the ensuing international Chillul Hashem disaster by giving Tropper/EJF legitimacy! At least if anyone really has to, buy the English YATED because its editor stuck to his guns and boycotted Tropper and EJF in spite of pressures on him, and the Yated now publishes a weekly column by Rav Moshe Sternbuch of Yerushalayim who is the first and so far only gadol and posek to 100% oppose and fight Tropper and EJF for years.
12. And finally, Agudath Israel of America must speak out STRONGLY to condemn and shut down any vestige and trace of Tropper and his organizations. The Agudists are so dumb for not seeing what's going on here. Wake up Agudah and smell the Tropper poison-laced coffee, before Klal Yisroel starts organizing demonstrations against all of you, running away from you, and the worst fate you deserve, just IGNORING you the way you are ignoring the festering and still spreading Chillul Hashem of the Tropper/EJF cancer.
Wake up, before it's too late!
It may already be too late, so much damage has already been done by your Agudist ilk and brother Leibel Tropper der menuval shebemenuvalim, as Rabbi Rothkopf referred to him in Yerushalayim recently when students at YU in Israel asked what should be the reaction to the Tropper sex scandal!
Every corner of the Jewish globe is aware of this scandal as each day goes by more get to know about it, and only you, Tropper's Agudist rabbis can bring it to proper closure by putting Leib and Leba Tropper & Company (vechol abizraihu) in Cherem and shutting them down PERMANENTLY!
Or else face the wrath of history as you too and the whole Agudah world become disgraced for your cowardice, greed and cover up of the Leib and Leba Tropper/EJF sex scandal -- and members of Agudah will be called upon to resign from this disgraceful hypocritical organization, once founded by Giants of Torah Jewry now infested with meek mice who fear predatory cats like Leib and Leba Tropper more than they fear Hakadosh Baruch Hu and the Emes (Truth) !!!
By Allison Hoffman - Tablet Magazine | 7:00 am Jan 19, 2010
CREDIT: Photoillustration by Tablet Magazine; Tropper photo from RationalistJudaism.com; background photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.
In May 2007, Leib Tropper arrived in Phoenix, Arizona, to preside over a grand conclave of prospective converts to Judaism sponsored by his Eternal Jewish Family organization, which offered “Cadillac conversions” to non-Jews as part of an effort to seize control of the conversion process outside of Israel. Buoyed by a $4.8 million infusion of cash from the billionaire Thomas Kaplan, an oil and mining mogul who is currently president of the board at the 92nd Street Y in New York, the fast-talking rabbi with global ambitions and a smooth line of patter had offered would-be Jews a special treat: an all-expenses paid weekend of discussions on topics like “Becoming Part of the Jewish Family” at the Arizona Biltmore, a spa resort on 39 acres at the foot of Phoenix Mountain that is part of the Waldorf-Astoria chain.
While offers of Ayurvedic massages and luxury accommodation may seem at odds with the somber, discouraging face that ultra-Orthodoxy has traditionally turned to prospective converts, Tropper, by most accounts, did not seem particularly interested in relaxing halachic codes to accommodate the modern world. A biblical literalist, he played an active role in an effort by a group of ultra-Orthodox rabbis to ban the books of another rabbi, Nosson Slifkin, who believed that the world is older than the Jewish calendar—that is, 5,770 years. In 2006, among his other duties, he took it upon himself to retroactively invalidate the conversion of a woman who subsequently dared to violate ultra-Orthodox codes of modesty by wearing pants.
As a newcomer to the fraught business of conversions—and, according to people who dealt with him, someone who could at times be an abrasive individual—Tropper appears to have been willing to augment his personal power at the expense of his conversion candidates, a vulnerable group whose well-being is supposed to be protected from oppressive behavior by millennia of explicit rabbinical teaching and practice. To his students, he presented himself as a learned teacher who could help them reach the God they yearned for. In the billionaire Thomas Kaplan and his multimillionaire nephew Guma Aguiar, Tropper found a pair of patrons who, in exchange for access to the leading halachic authorities in New York and Jerusalem, would help the rabbi reinforce his newfound influence over the conversion process with lavish spectacles in American cities like Phoenix and Boston as well as at the luxurious David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. In addition to paying for food, drink, and hotel rooms at five-star hotels, Tropper also used Kaplan and Aguiar’s millions to curry favor with some of the most elevated rabbinic authorities in the world—including Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, one of the ultra-Orthodox world’s pre-eminent scholars, and Israel’s Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar.
The world of spa vacations at the Biltmore was a long way from Tropper’s home base in the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Monsey, New York, where the rabbi ran a small yeshiva, Kol Yaakov, that specialized in “returning” non-observant adult Jews to Judaism. For more than two decades, Tropper—who was born into a rabbinic family on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and educated in Jerusalem—instructed returnees to Judaism, called ba’alei teshuva, on the laws of Torah in a modest brick-and-stucco house outfitted with a basketball hoop in the narrow parking lot out back. He got his start at Ohr Somayach, one of Monsey’s largest adult yeshivas, but splintered off to start Kol Yaakov in 1981 with help from a late New York couple, Louis J. Septimus and his wife, Edythe, for whom the school’s building is named.
The backing provided by Kaplan and Aguiar, Kaplan’s now-estranged nephew, was on an entirely different scale. The largesse provided by the two men over the years—at least $8 million, according to financial documents filed with the IRS—gave the rabbi entree into the insular world of the Israeli rabbinate—a cloistered group of men who, with the approval of the Israeli government, determine who can and cannot be considered a Jew, whatever their level of religious observance. By the time Tropper got to Phoenix, he could offer their imprimatur to reassure nervous hopefuls that he was the one conduit to becoming “a real Jew.” “If we ever make aliyah, there isn’t going to be any question of my Jewishness,” one Tropper graduate, Lucia Schnitzer, told the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix before the 2007 Biltmore weekend. “If my daughter wants to marry a Kohen, there isn’t going to be any question.”
In the past month, Tropper has been undone by the emergence of audio and video recordings that seem to indicate he tried to use his position to coerce a student, Shannon Orand, into having sex with other men in exchange not just for her conversion to Judaism but for cash. According to a student who answered the door at Kol Yaakov on Sunday, he remains in charge of the yeshiva, but Dovid Jacobs, Tropper’s former right-hand man, told Tablet Magazine the rabbi has been removed from his positions at both Eternal Jewish Family and its parent organization, Horizons Bais Achiezer, which have separate offices a few miles away from the yeshiva, in the neighboring town of Suffern. Tropper did not respond to requests for comment.
In the weeks since Tropper’s downfall, none of the rabbis who facilitated his meteoric rise in the Jewish world—men whose lives are devoted to the pious observance of God’s word—have stepped forward to publicly condemn Tropper for his violations of ultra-Orthodox codes on modesty and extramarital sex, let alone for his apparent willingness to use his position of religious authority to exploit the single mother of two young children for sex. The deafening silence parallels the response from the Roman Catholic Church after allegations of widespread child abuse surfaced in 2002; in diocese after diocese, bishops chose to protect the abusers, and settle generously with the victims, rather than forthrightly condemn what any parishioner would rightly see as an abomination in the eyes of God. “A community is measured by how it responds to something like this,” said one ultra-Orthodox rabbi. “The right-wing yeshivishe world is in damage control.”
As recently as November, when Tropper’s son got married, the list of rabbis who either attended or sent blessings included Elyashiv, and Reuven Feinstein, the son of the Rav Moshe Feinstein, who died in 1986, the most respected ultra-Orthodox halachic authority of his time. In addition to his impressive lineage, Reuven Feinstein is a widely respected figure in his own right and the head of the Yeshiva of Staten Island—which received a $3 million gift from Kaplan and Aguiar’s family foundation in 2008. Tropper gushed on his blog after the celebration, “The chuppah looked like a who’s who of the Torah world!”
In the wake of Tropper’s resignation from EJF, in mid-December, Feinstein declined to condemn Tropper’s activities or distance himself from EJF. Indeed, Feinstein issued a statement indicating he would increase his work with Eternal Jewish Family, to ensure that the organization would “continue to be guided by the highest halachic standards.”
To some, Feinstein’s circumspect response to the Tropper scandal was reminiscent of his silence on two other recent scandals involving sex and the abuse of rabbinic authority, both of which involved members of Feinstein’s family, [the sons of his sister and brother in-law, Rabbi Moshe Tendler]. One, Mordecai Tendler, was dismissed in 2006 from his post at a synagogue in Spring Valley, near Monsey, after a congregant accused him of seducing her into an affair with threats the she’d never find a husband unless she slept with him. A few weeks later, Tendler’s brother, Aron, resigned as principal of an Orthodox day school in Los Angeles amid allegations that he had “inappropriate” relations with female students.
Feinstein, of course, wasn’t involved in either of those incidents. But Feinstein’s willingness to take strong public stands on abstract questions of morality—including some as minute as whether or not men can return handshakes proffered by women (they can, to avoid embarrassing the other person)—only underscored, to some, his unwillingness to say even a single word about much more obvious abuses of Jewish law and halachic authority by eminent rabbis within his professional and family circle. (Feinstein did not return a message from Tablet seeking comment.)
It remains unclear what the future of Eternal Jewish Family will be. Kaplan has served as the organization’s chairman; his attorneys told Tablet last week they don’t know whether he will remain in that role. The group currently has a caretaker leader, after the rabbi initially announced as Tropper’s replacement—Elya Wachtfogel, head of a yeshiva in the Catskills hamlet of South Fallsburg, New York—subsequently released a letter saying he had not, in fact, taken the position. “The rumors which were spread of late regarding the EJF organization, alleging it is under my direction, are in error and baseless,” Wachtfogel said, in a handwritten declaration. Nothing further about Tropper, or his transgressions, was said.
If the silence of the ultra-Orthodox rabbinate is meant to keep members of their community in the dark, and shield the authority of the rabbinate from shame, it has been countered by outraged discussion on ultra-Orthodox blogs, whose commenters have been following the money that passed through Tropper’s organization—and venting their anger at the ongoing silence from the halachic establishment.
One anonymously written blog, The Unorthodox Jew, called on Feinstein to shut down “this house of prostitution.” A commenter on the blog called for a letter-writing campaign to “as many Orthodox-affiliated Jews as possible, alerting them to the unworthiness of our so-called ‘gedolim’”—a Hebrew term used by ultra-Orthodox Jews to refer to their leaders. “King Lear should be obligatory reading in the ultra-Orthodox world, along with All the King’s Men,” wrote another person. At another highly critical blog, Daas Torah, a commenter wrote: “The chillul hashem”—insult to God—“of Tropper’s scandals is only getting worse with time like a festering untreated cancer.”
One of the few religious authorities to speak out publicly on the Tropper case has been Aba Dunner, the executive director of the Conference of European Rabbis, a group that publicly opposed Tropper’s incursion onto its turf even before the scandal; last week, Dunner published an op-ed in the Five Towns Jewish Times, a New York-area paper catering to Orthodox readers, in which he accused Eternal Jewish Family of conducting a “bounty hunt” for new Jews, by allegedly paying local rabbis to funnel intermarried couples into its fledgling conversion courts.
“Tropper is a fraud,” Dunner wrote. “The organization he created is in his image and is therefore a fraud too. The creators of that image are fraudsters and hucksters who are trying desperately to keep the line to Mr. Kaplan’s millions open.”
***Breaking News - January 14, 2010 Thursday, January 14, 2010 2:13 AM EST - From Israel***
The Supreme Court judges just freed Avrohom Mondrowitz. The terms for his bail are being negotiated while the State's prosecutors decide whether to file an application for a second appeal. The judges did not read their decision but it should be published on the Internet later today*** ************************************************************* R' Shmuel Kaminetzky at podium - R' Reuvein Feinstein to his left
The Smartest Domestic Animal in The World Dec 16, 2008 - Chris McLaughlin
A roadblock humans have in deciphering intelligence in animals is that we can't help but assume the smartest ones must resemble us. Clearly, nobody told that to the pig.
How is intelligence measured? After all, even people can be intelligent or extraordinary in many ways. Some excel at math, and some are gifted linguists. Others fail in the academic arena entirely, and shine as masterful artists. One way to measure intelligence is based on the ability to solve problems.
The associations people have made with the word, ‘pig’, are less than glamorous. In fact, there are downright negative connotations attached to the word, which is why we use it to insult people. But, let’s put aside our preconceived ideas of what we think a pig is, let’s take a look at who they really are.
Pigs have been touted as the smartest, and the cleanest domestic animals in the world. The phrases, “sweat like a pig” or “smell like a pig”, may come to mind. But, consider that pigs don’t have sweat glands, and therefore, can’t sweat (except on the very ends of their snouts). The lack of sweat glands means lack of odor - affording no credibility to either statement.
To compensate for the lack of a natural way to bring their body temperature down, pigs seek out water or mud.Pigs rolling in mud may look uncouth, but they are actually being quite smart. The mud not only keeps them cool, but keeps biting pests at bay, and prevents sunburn.
As Smart as the Primates
Intelligence research was done with pigs in the 1990s. One of the experiments was to train the pigs to move the cursor on a video screen with their snouts. When the pigs used the cursors again, they were able to distinguish between the scribbles they already knew, and the scribbles they were seeing for the first time. The pigs learned this skill as fast as the chimpanzees.
EJF PRESS RELEASE [Read Agudath Israel - Kaminet$ky/Fein$tein]:
New York - Your interview with Rabbi Aba Dunner, the executive director of the Conference of European Rabbis (January 7, 2010), unfortunately twists the truth about Eternal Jewish Family International (EJF) and is, to say the least, insulting to leading Gedolei Yisroel. Any real search into the truth behind Rabbi Dunner’s charges will lead to discredited sources that are using the recent personal scandal of the founder of EJF as an excuse to disparage leading Torah scholars and the organization.
Rabbi Leib Tropper, the organization’s former director, has resigned and no longer has any role in the organization. EJF continues its worldwide activities under the leadership of the Gedolei Yisroel
Here are the facts about the scandalous charges Rabbi Dunner made:
Who approached whom and why did the arrangement sour?
Rabbi Dunner was the one who approached EJF for assistance in funding the Bais Din activities in Europe under the direction of Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu, the head of the European Bais Din. This was consistent with EJF’s mission to promote universally accepted conversions in intermarriage, as per the dictates of leading poskim, including Harav Moshe Feinstein zt”l who ruled that in the case of a baal teshuva and a potential ger tzedek (convert who accepts Torah and Mitzvos as a way of life) hat such conversions are to be encouraged. In its four-year existence, EJF has affiliated with a network of 19 Botei Din in this country and provided support to the dayanim in the form of conferences and seminars.
EJF made a significant grant to the CER to expand the activities of the Botei Din in Europe. It soon grew suspicious of the questionable use of the funds by Rabbi Dunner who is employed by the CER and whose responsibilities included the activities of the Beis Din. EJF asked Rabbi Dunner to refund the balance of the money that had not yet been spent or at least to place the money in the trust of Dayan Ehrentreu. Rabbi Dunner refused and in fact continued to bill EJF for “Bais Din expenses” even after the money was spent. (We expect that Rabbi Dunner will surely donate this money to charity as he suggested to rabbonim who received reimbursement for their expenses to attend EJF conferences.)
While Rabbi Dunner mentions the 25-member Standing Committee of the CER as the basis for his recent support in opposing EJF seminars for intermarried couples, it turned out that he had never received that body’s approval to go forward with the original EJF –CER arrangement. He managed to circumvent the same body that he is now using to discredit the EJF.
What is the halachic basis for the seminars for mixed couples and who in Europe supports it?
The seminars are really kiruv seminars for couples where one spouse is well on the way towards becoming a baal teshuva (or may already be) and the other enroute to becoming a ger tzedek. It is consistent with the kind of chinuch that the Gedolim have ruled is fully permissible and even to be encouraged for a prospective convert and the baal teshuva spouse. In fact, this past week EJF sponsored a seminar for nearly 30 couples in Munich that was under the auspices of Dayan Ehrentreu, the leading halachic posek in Europe. The Dayan lectured on such subjects as taharas hamishpocho (family purity) and kashrus and met with each of the couples.
Rabbi Dunner’s opposition to EJF was based on the support by the CER Standing Committee (later joined by an unsigned statement by the London Bais Din of which Dayan Ehrentreu is a member). The Standing Committee issued a resolution against the seminars and in essence against their own Av Bais Din. For some unexplained reason, none of the senior rabbonim was in Moscow when the decision was taken by the CER Standing Committee to issue such a statement against the seminars and EJF’s role in Europe. When Dayan Ehrentreu did attempt to board a plane for Moscow to attend the session, he found that for the first time in his life his visa was mysteriously invalid.
Reacting to the derogatory remarks against Gedolei Hatorah, including Dayan Ehrentreu, sharp letters of rebuke against this bizoyon of kovod Hatorah (insult of the honor of Torah) have in recent days been issued by Harav Yosef Chaim Sitruk, president of the CER, Harav Moshe Lebel, the chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of CER, and Rabbi Yihya Teboul, the Chief Rabbi of Lyon, France. It should be noted that the seminars were endorsed by Rav Aaron Leib Shteinman, shlita, even as Rabbi Dunner claimed that Rav Shteinman was opposed to the seminars. The Rosh Yeshiva, in fact, told Dayan Ehrentreu and numerous other witnesses, including Rabbi Dunner’s own brother, that he was categorically in favor of these chinuch seminars. He reportedly told Rabbi Dunner: “What’s wrong with the seminars? They (EJF) don’t do the geyrus.” But Rabbi Dunner used his version to obtain the resolution from the Standing Committee.
Has the organization inappropriately exerted pressure on Botei Din to grant questionable conversions?
Even Rabbi Dunner was at a loss to cite specifics. EJF does not do geyrus. They are done by independent Botei Din who make their own decisions on the qualifications for geyrus. All the 19 Botei Din in North America, Dayan Ehrentreu’s Bais Din, and numerous Israeli Botei Din operate independently and after a careful evaluation of each case perform geyrus according to Halacha.
How is the organization reacting to the scandal of its former director?
The director of EJF involved in the regrettable personal scandal has resigned and has no role in the organization. EJF has added the highly regarded Rabbi Chaim Blum to its staff to assist it with expanding its rabbinic leadership and key personnel in its offices in the US, Europe and Israel. Its remarkable achievement in affiliating with a network of Botei Din and advancing order to the chaotic geyrus scene is to say the least a formidable accomplishment.
Five leading Gedolei Yisroel (Harav Yosef Sholem Eliyashiv, shlita, Harav Aaron Leib Shteinman, shlita, Harav Chaim Kanievski, shlita, Harav Yitzchok Scheiner, shlita, and Harav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, shlita) have recently written Mr. Tom Kaplan, the Chairman of EJF, urging the continuation of the work of the organization. The three heads of the Halachic Committees (Harav Reuven Feinstein shlita – USA, Dayan Ehrentreu – Europe, and Harav Shmuel Eliezer Stern –Av Bais Din of Harav Shmuel Wozner – Israel) have urged the Botei Din around the world to continue their work under the EJF.
The organization’s activities have not been limited to geyrus support programs. It has partnered with numerous well-known kiruv organizations (Gateways, Ohr Someach, Lev Leachim, Hidabroot, Arachim and Nefesh Yehudi) to encourage Jewish youth to marry Jews.
We are extremely disappointed that Rabbi Dunner has chosen to exploit the regrettable circumstances of the scandal to discredit Gedolei Yisroel and the Eternal Jewish Family. It is our hope that all Jews who seek the truth and who cherish kedushas yisroel (the sanctity of the Jewish nation) will appreciate our efforts to set the record straight.
Rav Dunner Responds to EJF Attack No Punches Pulled Published on Monday, January 11, 2010 - By Rabbi Aba Dunner
GO TO THE WEBSITE BELOW TO READ THE TRUTH ABOUT THE GEDOLIM FROM EJF!
A small quote:
......."Tropper is a fraud. The organization he created is in his image and is therefore a fraud too. The creators of that image are fraudsters and hucksters who are trying desperately to keep the line to Mr Kaplan's millions open. The chareidi world feels diminished and tainted and wishes they would go away and the chilul Hashem would stop"................... ♦
************************************************************* UPDATED RABBI PIMP TROPPER INFORMATION BELOW! I'M GOING TO LEAVE THIS POST UP UNTIL THE AGUDATH ISRAEL ISSUES A STATEMENT ON THE TROPPER SCANDAL! R' Shmuel Kaminetzky at podium - R' Reuvein Feinstein to his left
THOU SHALT NOT! Rabbi Leib Tropper is heard on tape urging his "cutie pie," Shannon Orand, to have sex with others, and fantasizing about rape.
Tal-mood for love Sex-tape rabbi tries to 'share' hottie By REUVEN BLAU and MELISSA KLEIN
Last Updated: 7:44 AM, December 20, 2009
Eww, that's not kosher!
A prominent Orthodox rabbi has been caught on tape discussing his apparent love affair with a shikse that was converting to Judaism -- whom he allegedly also pushed to have sex with his friends. Rabbi Leib Tropper of Rockland County is heard encouraging pretty, blond Shannon Orand of Houston to participate in phone sex and actual sex with men the rabbi knows, including one he calls "the Satmar guy. Tropper, who calls the woman "darling" and "cutie pie," talks about his own love affair with her at one point, saying: "I want to squeeze you. He also fantasized about rape. "I could role-play a rape with you but I couldn't actually rape you -- you know what I'm saying, darling -- does that make sense?" he asks.
The scandal has rocked the Orthodox community from Rockland County to Israel, and transcripts of the sex tapes are circulating on Jewish blogs, with the audio posted on YouTube. The rabbi talks about paying Orand money for a lawyer and a stipend of $1,300 for the month of November. He also mentions putting in writing an agreement between the two.
"Why would you want to document that kind of agreement on an e-mail?" an upset Orand asks. Orand, who identifies herself on the tape, apparently recorded the phone conversations. "It was only supposed to go to a few leading rabbis," Orand, 32, told The Post. She refused to comment further, and later released a statement saying, "While an individual 'rabbi' acted in an inappropriate manner, my desire to become a bona fide Jew is undeterred. Orand reportedly told a Jewish blog, failedmessiah.com, that Tropper would tell her: "If you fulfill my needs, I'll fulfill yours -- and you need a conversion.
The blog reported that Orand's conversion was to have been finalized last week, but was canceled at the last minute by a religious court. Tropper declined to comment, but a source close to him said the rabbi feels like he's a victim and was used by Orand.
He resigned effective Dec. 12 from Eternal Jewish Family, a Monsey-based organization that primarily works to convert gentiles in interfaith marriages to Judaism. The 59-year-old rabbi is the founder of Eternal Jewish Family and sought to create strict universal guidelines for conversion, which are handled differently by various Jewish sects.
rblau@nypost.com
The Leib Tropper Mistress Collection - "Shared Hotties" With Tiger!
Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky Gives Eternal Jewish Family a Brocho - August 24, 2009
Sources:
Harav Shmuel Kaminetsky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, gave a brocha to Eternal Jewish Family for its work and mentioned the “vast problem we are dealing with here in America because of intermarriage and Jewish conversion. To illustrate the accomplishments of a proper geirus, Harav Kaminetsky used the example of Ruth, whose Jewish conversion (geirus) escorted her to the pinnacle of greatness among the Jewish people. Other presenters included Rabbi Nota Schiller, Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein, Rabbi Yonasan Rosenblum, Rabbi Dovid Shochet, Rabbi Dovid Gottleib, Rabbi Mordechai Fishberg, Rabbi Mordechai Neugroschel, and Rabbi Doron Kornbluth.*
"....But in any battle between an institution and an idea, the idea, in the long run, has the better of it. I do not enter into the absurdity of arguing that the truth always survives. I believe nothing of the sort. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that an idea that happens to be true -- it seems to me that such an idea carries a special and often handicap.
The vast majority of men prefer delusion to truth. It soothes. It is easy to grasp. Above all, it fits more snugly than the truth into a universe of false appearances -- of complex and irrational phenomena, defectively grasped. But though an idea is true, is this not likely to prevail, and an idea that is attacked enjoys a great advantage.
One never hears of a martyr in history whose notions are seriously disputed today. The forgotten ideas, rather, are those of men who put them forward soberly and quietly, hoping fatuously that they would conquer by force of their truth; these are the ideas we now struggle to rediscover.
Had an idea "or a group of ideas" lived to be burned at the stake by outraged "orthodox lunatics", it would have been a glorious day for these ideas. As it is, it is helped on their way every time they are denounced as immoral and against God...."
I would welcome the folks who read (preys G-d :-)) at VIN and YWN, to participate in this poll
New Year's Gedolim Riddle - What Does Shmuel Kaminetzky, Reuvein Feinstein and Alexander M. Schindler Have In Common?JUDAISM/YIDDISHKEIT FIRE SALE - $3 MILLION DOLLARS! CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE: ************************************************************* *************************************************************
Thursday - December 31, 2009
In conjunction with the decision of made by the standing committee of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER) that met in Moscow in the month of Kislev we strongly object to involvement of the organization known as the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) in matters of conversion in Europe. By virtue of the fact that the abovementioned organization (EJF) involves itself in matters of conversion to actively influence gentiles to convert which is against the traditions of our community from previous times, and there is a concern for a breach of the walls of our faith in Europe, and by virtue of the fact that the leaders of this aforementioned organization caused a desecration of the Divine Name and a disgrace to the name of the Orthodox Rabbinate throughout the world in recent weeks, we the leaders of the Kehilos HaKodesh in Europe call upon the organization called the Eternal Jewish Family to cancel their planned seminar. If they do not heed our request we call upon the Rabbis that were invited to the seminar not to participate with them and to guard themselves from entering there.
Signed by The London Beis Din, The State Beis Din and the Conference of European Rabbis
London Beth Din
Av Beth Din - the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Jonathan Sacks Rosh Beth Din - Dayan Ch Ehrentreu - RETIRED NO LONGER WITH LBD - On Tropper's payroll since 2006 Dayan M Gelley Dayan I Binstock Dayan I Berger (Consultant)
The London Beth Din in its capacity as Court of the Chief Rabbi is historically the supreme Halakhic Authority for several commonwealth countries and additionally is consulted by Batei Din throughout Europe. ********************************************************** EJF AFFILIATED RABBIS AND "BATEI DIN" - lifted from Shmarya CLICK TO ENLARGE: ***********************************************************
Interview with Conference of European Rabbis Rav Dunner Speaks Out Against EJF
By 5TJT Staff
Published on Thursday, January 07, 2010
The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox Rabbinic organization in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and its current executive director is Rabbi Aba Dunner. All the chief Rabbis across Europe joined the organization, and attended its first conference in Amsterdam. It is now run by a standing committee of 25 members which meets twice a year, and just met in Moscow. The Five Towns Jewish Times and VINNEWS spoke with Rabbi Dunner in an exclusive interview concerning the recent statement by the Conference of European Rabbis about the EJF (the Eternal Jewish Family).
Interviewer: Firstly, can you tell me about the Conference of European Rabbis?
RD: We are an umbrella organization of all the Chief Rabbis in Europe ranging from Dublin to Kazikstan. They turn to us for guidance. It was designed to prevent the non-authentic forms of Judaism from entering Europe.
Since then, the Conference of European Rabbis has been active in four main areas. The office in Brussels deals with combating anti-Semitism, and attempts to stop Shechita. There is also a “Lo Tishkach” department identifying the 20,000 Jewish cemeteries and mass graves in Europe and to protect them. The fourth area is to establish a Bais Din in areas where they do not have them in order to stop what we call, “Cowboy Geirus and Gittin.”
INT: What else does it do?
RD: We also have a department that builds Mikvaos. A Rav without a Mikvah is like someone with one hand tied behind his back. How can a Rav discuss Taharas HaMishpacha without access to a Mikvah? This is something else that we do.
INT: One would think that there would be worldwide condemnation against Leib Tropper, the former leader of the EJF, and its organization - yet there is virtually nothing. Why is that?
RD: We are amazed why it is. We unmasked this organization and the chap who ran it, I would not call him Rabbi - before this scandal.. We found him to be a control freak and a megalo-maniac, we found him to be so disrespectful of Rabbanim that there was a unanimous vote of the standing committee to make sure that he and his organization do not enter Europe.
Having a seminar of mixed intermarried couples to convert is so bizarre - this was all done in order to gain favor with their sponsor.. We decided, en masse that we wanted nothing to do with EJF .. We are amazed that the Gedolim have not come out against this. We do not understand this at all.
I will press and will continue to press very hard to continue to ensure that this organization ceases from its nefarious activities.
INT: Are you aware of any improprieties by this organization in terms of pushing onto the batei Dinim questionable Geirus?
RD: I have heard stories from America in this regard, but do not know firsthand. I have found the tape to be so terribly shocking, however, that anything can be.
INT: Have you experienced this organization undoing a proper Geirus?
RD: I have only heard that they do such things but do not know of anything for certain. I like to know names and facts before I take a stand on something as serious as this.
I have no idea what their criterion [for geirus] is, if a geirus came in we would make inquiries. We do know of certain unscrupulous batei dinim - there are questionable rabbonim. We look at the geirus that comes up on the table.
This EJF was a random organization, a private organization by a miniscule Rosh Yeshiva in Monsey. What are we talking about here? He has no experience. It is a private organization that got numerous people involved in it for reasons that we all know.. He tried to assume authority and dictated to people what they can and cannot do.. I don’t know why Mr. Tom Kaplan would do this..
INT: Are you convinced that these tapes are legitimate?
RD: Yes, absolutely. I heard the tapes, I know his voice. They are absolutely, totally, and completely genuine.. The whole thing is sick. Never in my entire klal life did I ever experience anything like this. It is quite sick I am 72 years old and, unfortunately, I was exposed to these tapes. I had to hear things that never in my life I would thought to hear. To think of the person and what he did. So unbelievable and so terrible!
INT: But what about the possible good work that he may have done here? Should we throw out the entire organization because of what he did?
RD: Yes, absolutely. Mendelson translated the Tanach into German. He was an apikores. I once asked my father (Rav Dunner‘s father was the head of Keddassiah)- He said, “Abba, it is Assur, this is apikorsus any work that he has done has apikorsus in it..
The same goes to an organization that has been founded by this depraved individual.. He has no right whatsoever to have a Yeshiva.. He is a man that should stay home and be happy that nobody stones him. The same goes for his organization..
Let Mr. Kaplan put his money into Jewish education. Schools are dying because of this economic situation. That is the future of Klal Yisroel.. He could do so much more with his money. The amount of money that has gone down through this black hole is sinful.. Don’t pollute our Jewish world with this type of organization..
INT: What would you recommend American Rabbonim do in the meantime?
RD: They should organize themselves and come up with an alternative method of evaluating geirus.. There are very capable and fine Rabbonim in America. They are quite capable of doing it themselves and working it out themselves. I am sure they can do that to put their house in order.. They should not take money from such an organization..
INT: What in your opinion should Rabbis do who have accepted money personally when they attended these EJF Conferences?
RD: If someone got personal money they should give it to tzedaka, as being part of the backers of EJF - they should immediately give it away. Not back to the EJF.
But chas veshalom they should put it in their pockets..
They should also write a letter to EJF and say, “We want nothing to do with the organization and the funds we received we are forwarding to the following tzedaka organization.. The mosdos of chinuch.” If there is all that money, it should be given to a useful purpose..
INT: Are there any other statements you would like to say regarding this situation?
RD: I call upon every single Rav in America to look at themselves in the mirror and say to themselves:
“Did I do the right thing [in taking EJF money]? For the sake of Chillul Hashem we should show that when the truth comes out, we should say we made a mistake. We know the truth - a genuine mistake. We were wrong. We therefore say, “EJF goodbye! Close down. We don’t need you.” and say to Tom Kaplan, “Please use your money for education.” - That is my call to them..
INT: Thank you Rabbi Dunner, this has been most enlightening.
In UOJ language - THE WEASEL TROPPER IS A FILTHY FRAUD! He should be shunned by any honest rabbi...(there are precious few!) The low-life charlatan is an example of another mean-spirited and evil person, dressed in full "rabbi" regalia, preying on the weak, naive and the vulnerable! Tropper - I'll come after you as an exterminator goes after poisonous rats! I'm on to you and your pathetic scam! You're going down - BIG!
Rav Sternbuch, shlita approved translation by Daniel Eidensohn
5th of Kislev 5768
Concerning the Holiness of the Jewish People “ the Holy Nation.
The senior dayanim of the Bedatz met today to discuss allegations that certain kiruv activists are actively proselytizing the children of intermarried couples to convince them to convert “ even though according to Torah law there is no halachic relationship with their Jewish fathers. They are calling for the acceptance of these non-Jewish children in Jewish programs and religious schools.
Such an action is literally a disaster and self-destructive. It is self-evident that such a program is absolutely prohibited by the Torah.
Furthermore until now anyone who wanted to marry a non-Jewess Heaven forbend! We knew very well that this act would sever them from the Jewish people forever.
Because of the dire consequences of intermarriage, there was a strong barrier that prevented many from intermarrying. However now that the consequence of exclusion from the Jewish people has been removed - this motivation not to intermarry has been lost. Consequently these intermarried couples and their children remain amongst the Jewish people. This results in their non-Jewish children being accepted into religious schools out of the hope that they will eventually convert.
Therefore we are warning that this activity is against the Torah. It has never been acceptable to proselytize non-Jews. Furthermore as we mentioned it actually encourages intermarriage.
We therefore are turning to the poskim and the roshei yeshivos not to participate in their conventions - such as the one that occurred in America last week. Even if their motivation was to improve the standards of conversions “ they are making improvements in one area while making things worse in another.
This approach is directly causing serious problems.
Those who heed our cautions will benefit and receive blessings.
We - the members of the Bedatz in Jerusalem - affix our signature to this document out of fear and concern for the holiness of the Jewish people “ the holy nation.
Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel Assumes EJF Leadership, Rav Leib Tropper Steps Down
Statement by the Eternal Jewish Family
The Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) announces today that Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Zichron Moshe in South Fallsburg and one of the leading Gedolei Hatorah internationally, has agreed to assume the position of Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of the Eternal Jewish Family following an announcement that Rav Leib Tropper has resigned that position effective December 12, 2009. Rav Wachtfogel joins a distinguished board of rabbinic and halachic authorities who oversee the activities of EJF, headed by Rav Reuven Feinstein, Chairman of the Halachic Committee (US), Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (Europe) and Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern (Av Bais Din of Rabbi Wosner’s Bais Din – Israel).
EJF also announced that Rabbi Chaim Blum, EJF’s liaison to the network of Botei Din in the Torah community, has agreed to serve as interim director of EJF. The organization operates offices in the US, Europe and Israel with international headquarters in Monsey NY. In accepting the position, Rabbi Blum said: “The recent announcement by Rav Tropper that he is resigning his post at EJF is accepted with sadness and regret but we appreciate the years of dedication and service he brought to the organization. His vision, expertise and leadership significantly contributed to EJF’s success. The announcement by some of the world’s leading Torah authorities that they will take an increased role in the Eternal Jewish Family is testimony of the organization’s strength and commitment to its core mission. The many people who benefit from EJF’s activities should know that the organization remains fully committed to its important mission, one which has helped thousands of people in their pursuit of a Jewish life.”
Statement by Rabbi Leib Tropper
I have decided to resign my position at the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) effective December 12, 2009 to pursue a variety of other interests.
As a founder of EJF, I am proud of my role of being an architect of a very dynamic and important movement in our community. I will in the coming months do my utmost to be of service to the Jewish community in any way I can. I am extremely enthusiastic that a distinguished Torah personality of the stature of Rav Ela Ber Wachtfogel has agreed to assume my position of Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee and that Rabbi Chaim Blum has agreed to serve as interim director of EJF. I wish every continued success to EJF, its rabbinic leadership and the extraordinary team of dayanim and dedicated individuals that serve the organization in many parts of the world.
Statement by Rav Reuven Feinstein, President of Halachic Committee on EJF
It is with a deep sense of regret and yet renewal that I note a change in leadership of the Eternal Jewish Family that includes the agreement by Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel to serve as Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of the Eternal Jewish Family. I hope that Rav Leib Tropper’s decision to resign his position at EJF will serve him and his family well. At the same time, I have also agreed to take on a more active role in overseeing all of the halachic nuances of EJF in assuring that all universally accepted conversions are in compliance with the highest standards of halacha. I wish to reassure the community that EJF will continue to be guided by the highest halachic standards under the leadership of the Gedolei Yisroel, headed by Rav Wachtfogel and myself in the US, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu in Europe and Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern in Israel.
******************
Personally, I believe and have believed for years that Tropper is a low-life of the worst order; I put him in the same category of unconscionable scumbags along with Shalom, Mordecai and Aron Tendler.
Rabbi Leib Tropper, EJF head, allegedly verbally coerced, manipulated and negotiated various sex acts and other perversions with a female conversion candidate -- for himself and others.
Any person or persons wishing to submit additional confidential reports of sexual abuse or solicitiation of sexual favors by Rabbi Leib Tropper, or scandalous verifiable information about the organization known as the Eternal Jewish Family, EJF, are invited to send whatever information they deem appropriate to:
bobX@anonymousspeech.com
My message to Reuvein Feinstein:
If you think you can cover up this scandal and blame the victims, I'll come after you with everything I have!
Reuvein --- this house of prostitution called EJF should be shut down!
For at the very least - twenty years, YULA and the RCC (Rabbinical Council Of California), have been enabling Shalom Tendler and Aron Tendler to be in a setting that caused great harm to their victims, under the cloak of respectability. There are numerous victims that could have been spared a life of misery if YULA and the RCC would have expelled these two vicious sub-humans when they became aware of their activities in the late 1980's.
The civil liability may extend to the Shaarey Tzedek Congregation, and the Young Israel Of North Beverly Hills as well and their officers.
I urge the victims to consult, anonymously if you wish, with Jeffrey Herman Esq. the world renown sex abuse advocate at: jherman@hermanlaw.com--1800-686-9921. His website is hermanlaw.com for information about his successes.
Please contact as well, the religion editor of the L.A. Times, Mr. Steve Padilla.
Steve can be reached at:steve.padilla@latimes.com.It is long past due that we hold everyone accountable for the damage caused to Judaism and our children.
**********************************************
This was sent to me by an anonymous reader...... I have been accused over and over again that I'm not doing enough to go after the sins of our MO brothers. While I must admit that there are plenty of nasty incidents in the MO world that are horrifying, in my opinion they are dwarfed by the criminality and corruption involved --- and the number of events in the charedi sector. So I will put this up after some slight editing...the thrust of this rant is intact! I'm assuming he sent the original rant to Mr. Pareve Veggie Burger...aka the Chelmer Putz from Chicago .... I believe there is "some" truth here. How much, you decide. I did edit out certain rabbis' names...The writer does not understand -- that while Lanner conned everyone; Kolko conned noone, EVERYONE KNEW HE WAS SCREWING WITH LITTLE KIDS AND THE "GEDOLIM" STILL LEFT HIM IN THE CLASSROOM!
........"So Harry, you’re appalled by the ban eh? Good for ya. But let me ask you, where were you when the midgets of the RCA issued a ban on American cars and told us to switch over to Corollas and hybrids? I can’t even fit in those matchboxes, but I guess for those morons global warming means more than your life. And of course what I smoke is their business, ain’it? But if they’re so hell bent on saving my life via refraining from tobacco, how can they shove me into a Corolla? Well, I guess that’s their Da’as Torah. Oops, they reject the notion. So it’s their psak.
So Harry, you’re appalled by the fact that a “Rebbe” was molesting children for 40 years and left in that school, aintcha? Well let me tell you something, your dear gadol knew about it all along the way and didn’t do jack. The first formal (i.e. criminal) accusation came nearly 30 years after the fact, you know that well. But let me ask your dear Gedolim, where were they when NCSY was covering up for Baruch Lanner, who did penetrate a kid or two. It was again your gadol who put him away, in the quietest way possible, so as to save NCSY’s and YU’s good name.
BTW, Harry, aren't YOUR articles published in a rag that supports Hillary Clinton and Mordy Tendler? Oh, I'm not allowed to mention it, sorry. *************************************************** You know, Mordechai Tendler, who shtupped every married woman in his congregation (no big deal here, admittedly, as in MO circles this is the norm) all the while the lowlife Klass brothers, who publish your articles among other rubbish (let’s see if they have the guts to publish your article on the ban too - something tells me they don’t), were covering for him. What about good ol' Uncle Shalom Tendler in L.A., the filthy pervert that people are now claiming molested both Mordy and Aron? Let's not forget that Uncle Shalom and Aron were doing and sharing high school girls in L.A., and any woman without false teeth, while Rabbi Dr. Moshe was running around besmirching Kollel Avreichim and covering up his dear jewels’ crimes, while your YU boys in L.A. were selling Holocaust memorabilia. ***************************************************** But your Dear Deer had the gall to go to Teaneck – wife-swapping capital of the world, and I take Steven Pruzansky who knows yet does nothing about it as my witness – and give a “drashsa” (read: accolades to UOJ for having courageously dragged Rav Elchonon Wasserman through the mud) about calling the police on child molesters. Well, can you ask this crusader why didn’t he call the cops on Lanner?
My dear, it is you who held the Jerusalem Rabbonim accountable for Kolko’s crimes, so here’s one for the road. (If you have patience do some research in the Israeli media -it's old stuff so I won't kill myself digging it up.
But here's a worthy quote: "Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein decided yesterday not to prosecute former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Avraham Shapira and former NRP MK and current NRP candidate Haim Druckman for failing to take action against the former head of Yeshivat Netiv Meir, Rabbi Ze'ev Kopolevitch. Kopolevitch has been indicted on charges of forcing 19 of his students to engage in homosexual relations with him.
Police investigated allegations that some of the students had complained about Kopolevitch to Shapira, the head of the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, and Druckman, who was head of the B'nei Akiva yeshivot at the time, and that they had not passed on the complaints to the authorities. Police recommended prosecuting the two rabbis. Rubinstein did not provide the reasons for his decision not to do so. Dan Izenberg" )
But I guess rape and murder are not enough to make you tremble; A ban on idiotic concerts is. Well, I guess if I were a moron who calls Shlomo Carlebach “rabbi” while spitting on real talmidei chachomim, I’d tremble too...............
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