International Conversion Controversies
It’s not just the rabbinical courts in Israel and the U.S. that are getting media attention for not accepting converts and the children of converts into their communities and institutions.
Read more
In the J-Papers This Week
The recent fallout from the tenure of Rabbi Leib Glanz as rabbi to the Jewish inmates of “the Tombs” prison in lower Manhattan raised a local media uproar. In an interview with The New York Jewish Week, local Board of Rabbis head Joseph Potasnik says Glanz “went too far, but there was no malice.” Potasnik also expounds on how his organization goes about promoting rabbinical candidates for positions in the City’s prison system, and we hear from other prison rabbis about the challenges they and orthodox inmates face on the inside.
The Jewish Press reports on a fascinating photo exhibit currently on display at The Detroit Institute of Arts. Titled “Of Life and Loss: The Polish Photographs of Roman Vishniac and Jeffrey Gusky,” the show takes a before-and-after approach, with 45 Vishniac prints focused on mid-1930’s Eastern European Jewry, and 45 which Gusky took in the same locales 60 years later.
Philadelphia’s Jewish Exponent gives a detailed look at the dramatic restructuring of that city’s Vaad, minus funding from the local Jewish Federation, and how how a floundering economy and changing ideals could shape the final product.
Finally, in honor of Michael Jackson’s passing, The L.A. Jewish Journal interviewed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach about his once-close relationship with the “King of Pop,” before they cut ties five years ago. Also, OLAM magazine’s David Suissa recalls the day he serenaded Jackson at the singer’s Neverland Ranch with a Sephardic melody about Abraham and Isaac. “I don’t remember what Michael said after I finished,” Suissa writes, adding, “All I remember is that while I was singing, his eyes were closed and he was smiling.”
Michael Jackson Sings “Bei Mir Bist Du Shein“Just in case you were worried that R’ Shmuley Boteach was the only Jewish angle to this story. Check it out at the 2:50 mark.
(via JYuter)
“Optimus Prime” Jewish?(via JewishTweets)
Rebbes to Bochurim: Marry Older WomenYeshiva students are supposed to listen to their rebbes, but sometimes rebbes have to repeat themselves. Hence, a letter written last year, signed by today’s Orthodox rabbinic heavyweights, that called for young Orthodox men to marry “older” women, has been re-released.
The letter quotes the halachic arbiter R’ Yosef Shalom Elyashiv as encouraging young men to marry older women in an attempt to combat the notorious shidduch crisis facing the Jewish community.
The full English text is after the jump.
This is to ascertain that when I met with HaGaon Horav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Shlita, this past CHol Hamoed Sukkos and discussed with him the shidduch issue that is plaguing our country, he permitted me to publicize in his name that any bochur who marries a young woman who is “older” (past early marriage age) is ruach chachomim nocha heimenu. And with unusual enthusiasm, the Gaon blessed all who do so wuth extraordinary berachos in the establishment of their homes.
Regarding those who do so, I heard that same from another of the most outstanding Gedolim of our time: “Ruach chachomim nocha heimenu.”(Signed)
Aharon FeldmanWe join in the opinion of the above Gedolei HaDor and encourage bochurim to marry those who are close to their age (and even older), and we bless them that they merit thereby to establish botim ne’emanim in Klal Yisroel in which they dwell the limitless blessings of Hashem.
What’s striking about this call is that, one, apparently not enough young Orthodox men have heeded their rebbes’ call. Otherwise, why would it need repeating?
Two, while this may sound like an enlightened position on the part of rabbis, a man marrying a woman “close to” his own age, with the parenthetical addition of “(or even older),” shouldn’t be a chiddush.
Third, R’ Elyashiv might have made more headway with the shidduch crisis if, instead of encouraging men to marry older women, he’d encouraged them to marry women whose dress size is larger than a 2, or whose families don’t have a lot of money.
Lastly, if men do heed their rebbes’ encouragement, it could completely change the face of the Orthodox community. Women who get married older will have fewer years to have children — which could mean a stalling of population growth. Even a difference of one less child per family could be significant.
Not to mention a woman who has spent some time as a single adult may have more of a chance, or more of a need, to develop marketable skills, and would be able to bring in a better income for her family.
There is, of course, the danger that an older woman will become something of a mother figure to her husband, but, let’s be honest, some of these yeshiva bochurim could use a little mothering, so it might be a good thing in the long run.
Richard Nixon on “Our Jewish Friends”Recently released tapes of Richard Nixon’s Oval Office conversations from January and February 1973 reveal his bigoted feelings about Jews, women and minorities.
Of “our Jewish friends,” Nixon told evangelist Billy Graham in a February 1973 conversation about how Jewish-Americans were resisting evangelicals’ attempts to spread Christianity:
“What I really think is deep down in this country, there is a lot of anti-Semitism, and all this is going to do is stir it up.”
He added: “It may be they have a death wish. You know that’s been the problem with our Jewish friends for centuries.”
Nixon disclosed his views on mixed-race children in his private response to the Roe v. Wade decision, acknowledging that abortion would be useful in certain cases, such as, “When you have a black and a white.” Jews, presumably, weren’t a concern because of their death wish.
And on women in politics, Nixon had this gem to share with then-Republican party chairman George H.W. Bush, recounting his recent trip to South Carolina:
“I noticed a couple of very attractive women, both of them Republicans, in the legislature. I want you to be sure to emphasize to our people, God, let’s look for some … Understand, I don’t do it because I’m for women, but I’m doing it because I think maybe a woman might win someplace where a man might not…”
Don’t you worry, Mr. Nixon, we understand perfectly.
While my gut reaction to these comments is to suddenly feel less proud to be an American, the fact that the tapes have been revealed (36 years later, but who’s counting) and can be discussed openly, restores a measure of patriotism.
Most Profound Tweets in Jewish History:
Our weekly rundown of the tweets you should’ve seen.
Read more
Week in Review: June 25, 2009Click here to watch in High Definition (HD)
In Brief: Women, Children and VotingJewish student skips graduation to observe Shabbat. “Li Morse has chosen not to attend her graduation at Mott Haven High School because the ceremony falls on a Saturday, which conflicts with the Sabbath,” reports WPIX.com. The school did offer Morse an alternative, however: “to march down the aisle of the school library by herself on Friday to receive a diploma from school Principal Walton.” Lo and behold, Li found this alternative lacking and, instead, will “receive her diploma from School Chancellor Joel Klein in a private ceremony on Thursday.”
National Council of Jewish Women and other Jewish groups praised the Supreme Court’s upholding of “a key provision” of the Voting Rights Act, “which requires certain states and districts with a history of discrimination at the polls to get approval … from the federal government before making any changes in their election practices or procedures.”
Fitness clubs are offering women-only workout spaces in response to requests by Orthodox Jewish and devout Muslim women.
Mikvahcalendar.com offers women observing family purity laws a hi-tech way to keep track of their menstrual cycles. And it was designed by an Orthodox woman with a Master’s from MIT:
Founder and co-creator Rebetzen Rivkah Bloom, who holds a masters degree in computer science from MIT, says she was inspired by women approaching her for help with the mathematics of the laws of purity. “Women needed help with the family purity calculations and because women today are internet and computer savvy they asked me to develop a program to help them do it on their own,” said Bloom.
Somehow, women have been successfully practicing the laws of niddah for centuries without the help of an MIT education or the internet, but hey, whatever works.
For women on the go, there is also a Mikvah App for the iPhone.
Swine flu shuts down Jewish summer camps. A Union for Reform Judaism camp in California canceled some sessions “after large numbers of staff and volunteers began to exhibit flulike symptoms,” and another URJ camp in Waco, TX is treating its 600 campers and staff with Tamiflu “to prevent the spread of the disease after one confirmed and four suspected swine flu cases.” Another Jewish camp, Camp Sabra in Missouri, “decided Monday to close for a week” after an unspecified number of campers and staff became ill.
OU To Offer Advanced Kashrut Course for WomenThe Orthodox Union has announced its first advanced kashrut course for women, to be held this summer, from August 24-28.
Unlike another recently-announced kashrut training program for women run by the Baltimore-based Kosher certification agency the Star-K, the OU’s course is not specifically intended to train women as kosher supervisors, or mashgichot. Rather, Grossman told the Newsdesk via email, “We hope that every woman attending the course will gain from the course what she specifically needs in terms of her specific educational goal.”
Read more