Category Archives: World affairs

Fugitive Rabbi and followers in S.A.- how to react?

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How should we react when a Chassidic Rebbe accused of sex crimes in Israel arrives with 300 of his followers in our community before Pesach after being expelled from Morocco and now Zimbabwe?

on the one hand, there is a prohibition against helping sinners (mesayin yedei ovrei aveira) and the Chilul Hashem involved here is unsurpassed.

On the other hand, some of the more naive members of a cult like this might well be “tinokos shenishbe’u” and victims of their own upbringing and environment- would the normal Mitzva of kiruv and hachnasas orchim, and tzedoko not apply to those of them who have nowhere to go for Yom Tov?

the Chief Rabbis of S.A. and Israel seem to think “yes”, on condition that they agree to go back to Israel after Pesach- is this not wishful thinking though, and kind of like offering a drug-addict help on condition he gives up drugs in a week?

Is this not really a far deeper problem that needs far more expert help- they are, after all, fellow Jews who are either willing accessories to horrendous things or unwilling victims of a terrible cult?

is this not perhaps an opportunity for us a community to do far more- or is it more than we can possibly handle, and wise to follow the Chief’s advise and get out as fast as possible?

The Chief Rabbi’s letter is posted below

“

Dear Rabbonim שליט”א

 

As per the previous e-mail, R. Eliezer Berland and his followers have wrongfully descended on our community, and in doing so have exacerbated the terrible chillul Hashem of the situation.

 

However, it appears that some of these families are now destitute without food or shelter before Pesach. Given the dire circumstances, those who are able to help these destitute people over the course of Pesach should do so on the following condition, that after Pesach the entire group of these followers must agree to return to Israel immediately.

 

R. Eliezer Berland himself must return to Israel immediately to face the criminal justice system. It is untenable and unconscionable for anybody to support or shelter a fugitive from justice.

 

His followers must return home immediately after Pesach and we as a community must insist they do so.

 

The direction provided in this letter is based on discussions with and represents the consensus of my opinion and that of Rabbi Kurtstag and the Johannesburg Beth Din, as well as Chief Rabbi David Lau, the Chief Rabbi of Israel.

 

חג כשר ושמח.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein

”

Rabbinic fugitive in Africa

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When the Vilna Gaon excommunicated the Chassidic movement based on its early cultlike tendencies, one wonders whether he imagined 300 Breslaver Chasidim blindly following  their renowned fugitive Rabbi, accused of sex crimes in Israel, from one African country to another, creating one of the greatest Chilulei Hashem of the day.

He certainly was reacting to the specter of thousands of followers of the false Massiach Shabtai Tzvi who followed their leader in his conversion to Islam  and his student Jacob Frank into radical sexual permissiveness.

yet we cannot blame Rabbinic sex crimes temselves on Chasidism- we have had more than enough of these scandals spanning the full spectrum of Orthodoxy from modern Orthodoxy and Religious Zionism to Lithuanian and Chasidic Chareidism-

nor do they have the monopoly anymore on blindly following leaders into insanity……

There is something far from healthy in our own backyard, and we dare not ignore it any longer

Turkish Elections: another failure of democracy

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Since Adolf Hitler abused the democratic process to come to power and proceeded to wipe out all opposition, many a tyrant has taken advantage of the voting power of the easily manipulated and intimidated masses to stay in power.

Turkey’s Recep Tayip Erdogan has recently joined the ranks of such tyrants , and this week’s local elections in which his long-ruling  party  managed to capture about 46% of the vote- hardly a majority, but enough to claim a public mandate for his tyranny, and to control the country’s two largest city council’s of Istanbul and Ankara, are truly an example of democracy’s Achilles-heel.

That a leader who threatens to destroy his opponents, imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world including China, and even bans Twitter and Utube to prevent people spreading reports of his corruption, can do so well in an election, truly reminds one of the famous words of Sir Winston Churchill: “The greatest argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter!”

dare I guess the same will apply in South Africa this May?

yet what can one do? there is no better system currently available….

 

the “Great Rabbi” accused of child molesting

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My thoughts on the judgement against a famous Rabbi for indecent acts against minors, Hashem yishmor.

I was asked, on my timeline, if I believed that the sentence passed in the relevant case was too mild.

I replied to the question, and am sharing my reply as a post as well, as I believe it is very relevant and on many people’s minds.

“This is a very sensitive one. Part of me says that this man disgraced us all,used his position as a Rosh Yeshiva and national leader to take advantage of kids, and should be given the most harsh sentence possible. Part of me, having met the man myself, and seen his kindness and caring for ALL people (even his insistence of visiting Chris Hani hospital and seeing how AIDS victims are treated), feels VERY sorry for the man, and for all of us who have lost him as a mentor, and that something could also be awefully wrong with the charges. I do not think that either approach is rational. All he was convicted of was “relatively minor” indecent behaviour. The more serious charges were NOT proven. Whether anyone likes it or not, in a democracy, a person is innocent till proven guilty in a court of law. he had his trial, and he was NOT proven guilt of rape, sodomy, or any serious sexual crime. What is also true, is that things that in western culture are considered to be sexual assault, are not always that way in middle eastern, african, or even jewish culture. Affectionately hugging or kissing a student is NOT sexual assault, unless it is done in a sexual way. I hug my students all the time, and there is NOTHING sexual about it. My uncle , Rav Tucazinsky zt’l, used to kiss and hug me, and hugging and kissing students is very common amongst many rosh yeshivos and Rebbeim, and there is NOTHING sexual in it at all. yet many secular teachers at Yeshiva College felt uncomfortable with Rabbis hugging students, which was totally ridiculous. This of course, makes it easy for Rabbis who do have sexual issues to take advantage, and very hard to tell the difference, but it also means that what to western courts are indecent acts might not even be indecent in reality. I do NOT know what Rabbi Druckman is thinking- perhaps he truly believes that the Rabbi in question is innocent, along the lines of the above, though we all know Rabbi Lichtenstein took a VERY different approach. – Personally, I wish and still hope he is innocent- he is or AT LEAST was a great man who has touched the lives of literally thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people for the better, but I am also NOt an ostrich . Even great men make bad mistakes and can do TERRIBLE things sometimes. David heMelech committed adultery and killed the girl’s husband. HE suffered his whole life for it. He did Teshuva, which was eventually accepted. Those who denied his right to repent in their self-righteous manner were also criticized. Of course, even the relatively “minor” verdict of the court would be enough for me not to let him anywhere near my kids in private, just out of caution. nor has he admitted to the charges publically, but it is NOT a halchic requirement of teshiva to publically confess to something- confession is a private matter between a sinner and Hashem, and who says he hasn’t done that? And does any of this really mean that he is so evil that one cannot learn anything from him, or that he deserves to rot for the rest of his life in prison for kissing a kid on his neck, however much it disgraced us, and however bad it might be? The judge can only take into account that which has been PROVEN in his sentence, and so can we- that is ALL. As for the rest, we have to take caution and not let vulnerable people be in private with ANYONE suspected of such things, but thats it. Would I invite him to teach minors, NO- Do I think he should be condemned for ever as an evil man and shut out of society – I dont think any of us have a right to make that call based on the above . The discussion remains open, and there is much to say and debate. It is NOt simple, it is really painful, and what is more painful is that this is not just an isolated incident, but all too common these days- it needs to stop and be stopped- but how to stop it, how to get to the root of the problem- that needs great wisdom, and I fear that we lack it!”