Letters To The = Editor

Political=20 Betrayal

Ehud Olmert and his cohorts = are not=20 alone in their latest venture to dismember the state of Israel to = appease=20 the Arab butchers. Sometimes the internal enemy wears a yarmulke. = By=20 remaining in Olmert=92s coalition, the Shas Party continues a long = tradition=20 of betraying the Jewish people for political gain. They will have = to=20 answer for the Jewish blood that stains their hands.

Daniel=20 Fuchs

Lawrence,=20 NY

Israel=92s=20 =91Jewishness=92

= Re your=20 editorial last week on the Annapolis summit:

While Bush did not=20 immediately call on Israel to accede to all of the intransigent = Arab=20 demands, he made it abundantly clear that it will not be up to = Israel to=20 judge whether or not the Arabs are in compliance with their = obligations.=20 The very fact that the Olmert regime had no problem bowing to this = dictate=20 demonstrates how far the once independent-minded Israeli = leadership has=20 fallen. To add insult to grievous injury, Olmert adopted the = oft-repeated=20 mantra that Israel is in no small measure responsible for the = violent=20 proclivities of the Palestinians.

There will be those = who will=20 be comforted by Bush=92s statement that Israel must be recognized = as a=20 Jewish state in order for any progress to be made. But the present = Israeli=20 government, like many others proceeding it, has worked assiduously = to=20 negate Israel=92s Jewish essence. So what exactly does Israel=92s = remaining a=20 Jewish state mean? That its national language will still be = Hebrew? Big=20 deal.

I humbly suggest = that the=20 next time money is canvassed to help Israel, true Zionists, = whether=20 religious or secular, investigate exactly where their money will = end up.=20 It certainly does us no good to prop up a government that has no=20 compunction about ridding Israel of its historical Jewish=20 heritage.

Adina=20 Kutnicki

Elmwood=20 Park, NJ

Comforting = Columns

I recently lost my = father,=20 Jacob Asher, after a prolonged illness. During his last months I = would=20 read to him old =93I Remember When=94 columns which often brought = a smile to=20 his face. I want to thank Arnold Fine for providing me with a = means not=20 only to distract my father a little from his discomfort, but also = to be=20 able to share a laugh with him during that difficult = time.

Paulette=20 Kolchin

(Via=20 E-Mail)

Learning Our = Lesson

= As a=20 lawyer representing many alleged victims of Avrohom Mondrowitz, = and a=20 sociologist who has raised awareness about this case for 20 years, = we=20 commend you for your editorial on this indicted child abuser=92s = recent=20 arrest in Israel after evading justice for over two decades = (=93Justice=20 Delayed =96 and Possibly Denied,=94 Nov. 23). As you say, the case = proves the=20 need for a =93more honest approach to the very real problem of = pedophilia=20 and abuse in the Orthodox community,=94 including =93unhesitating = resort to=20 secular law-enforcement authorities.=94

You are also = correct in=20 deploring the fact that Mondrowitz =93was indicted in 1984 only in = connection with the charges made by the parents of non-Jewish=20 children.=94

But to blame the = Jewish=20 victims=92 parents for their =93apparent disinclination to come = forward=94 is=20 not really fair. Those parents did not act of their own accord. = Our=20 extensive information indicates that there were rabbis who were = aware of=20 at least dozens of Orthodox Jewish Mondrowitz victims when the = official=20 charges were being assembled. Rather than helping the victims=92 = families to=20 seek justice against the man whose alleged crimes had so = devastated a=20 community, these rabbis either took no action or actively = discouraged the=20 families from taking part in the law enforcement process against=20 Mondrowitz. When he fled to Israel, they again counseled silence, = leaving=20 the victims and their advocates to pursue the case without any = support=20 from their spiritual leaders.

If we are to learn = from the=20 Mondrowitz case, we must learn a different rabbinic approach to = child=20 sexual abuse. Otherwise, we will share the responsibility for the=20 victimization of children whose need for justice is thwarted by = the rabbis=20 they trust.

Michael=20 Lesher, Esq.

Amy=20 Neustein, Ph.D.

(Via=20 E-Mail)

Controversy=20 Over Conversions

Troubling=20 Development

=20 Your Nov. 23 editorial =93Conversions and Controversy=94 = was a timely=20 reminder about a very serious problem in confidence in batei din that our community = now faces.=20 As you noted, a purported p=92sak=20 from a prominent Israeli bet = din=20 supposedly condemned a recently formed group that bills itself as = seeking=20 to establish =93universal standards=94 for conversions. The p=92sak was circulated all = over the=20 Internet and there were media headlines declaring the group=20 authoritatively discredited.

= However, as=20 you pointed out, the bet = din=92s=20 document was the product of a one-sided presentation of alleged = facts and=20 represents, in any event, the private conclusions of some = individuals who=20 happen to sit on a religious court. Conclusions, it should be = added, that=20 are directly at odds with that of the many gedolim who support the work = of the=20 group. It is analogous to a judge giving an opinion outside of his = official capacity based upon informal conversations with one side = of a=20 dispute presenting its version of the truth. Individuals are free = to=20 respect and follow that opinion, but its significance should not = be=20 overstated.

=20 Unfortunately, the fact that members of a bet din can be manipulated to = produce a=20 personal document and package it as an official decision is very = troubling=20 and does little to instill confidence in batei din as an objective = arbiter of=20 disputes among Jews.

Larry=20 Fischman

(Via=20 E-Mail)

Radical=20 Break

= The Bedatz=20 of the Eidah Chareidis has recently brought some disturbing = developments=20 to our attention. (This is the actual Bedatz, not an unofficial = offshoot,=20 as some unfounded rumors would have it.)

I = must note=20 that I am not a neutral observer in this matter. I played a minor = role in=20 aiding Rav Moshe Sternbuch, shlita,=20 obtain information from the Internet as well as translating = and=20 distributing two letters. While I have some knowledge of the views = of Rav=20 Moshe Feinstein, zt=94l = =96 I am the=20 author of Yad Moshe = (Emunah Press,=20 2006), a topical index to all eight volumes of Rav Moshe=92s Igros Moshe =96 my comments = are what I=20 have heard from Rav Sternbuch and other rabbonim.

= Last=20 Chanukah, Rav Efrati described Rav Eliashiv=92s views concerning = teaching=20 Torah in a non-observant community which includes non-Jews who = think they=20 are Jewish. Concerning intermarried couples he said: =93Rav = Eliashiv, shlita, has repeatedly said = that those=20 living as intermarried couples cut themselves off from the Jewish = people.=20 Furthermore he holds that we are obligated to distance ourselves = from them=20 and their society and to cut off all connection with them. = However, this=20 community is different because its members mistakenly think that = the=20 non-Jewish spouses are Jewish. Therefore it is permitted to = maintain ties=20 with the Jewish spouses in order to draw them closer through ties = of love=20 and to bring them under the wings of the Shechina.=94

= This=20 shunning of intermarried couples has always been the normative = approach.=20

=20 Nevertheless, what if a couple comes to a rabbi and asks = for the=20 non‑Jewish spouse to be converted? While there are = dissenting views, there=20 are many great rabbinical authorities who permit conversion as a = last=20 resort =96 if the Jewish = spouse=20 becomes observant and the non‑Jewish spouse sincerely = accepts the=20 obligation to keep all mitzvos.=20

= Why did the=20 Bedatz issue its protest against participation in Eternal Jewish = Family=20 (EJF) despite its being supported by many gedolei Torah? Because EJF is = actively=20 pursuing the conversion of the non-Jewish spouse. Rav Leib = Tropper, the=20 head of the organization, has repeatedly denied proselytizing = because he=20 says he is only dealing with couples referred to him by rabbis. = However,=20 it is difficult to understand his denials since proselytizing = means trying=20 to convince someone to change his or her religion, and that is = clearly=20 what EJF does, spending a considerable amount of money per = convention to=20 persuade a handful of uncertain or curious couples that they = should become=20 Jews.

= In a recent=20 intensive exchange of e-mails, I asked Rav Tropper the halachic = rulings of=20 Rav Moshe Feinstein he claims as the basis for EJF=92s activities. = His=20 response was, =93Why do you think it=20 is prohibited?=94 This is an astounding justification for a = radical break=20 with the past. While in fact it is not explicitly prohibited, = devoting a=20 considerable amount of energy and funding to convince non-Jews to = convert=20 presents, in my opinion, serious dangers to the Jewish people. It = requires=20 acceptance or rejection through scholarly discussion in = peer-reviewed=20 response =96 as innovations have been justified in the past. =

Daniel=20 Eidensohn, Ph.D.

(Via=20 E-Mail)