Good for the Jews? Conservative and Reform Jews Can be Paid State Rabbis in Israel

Really. The Times reports that now, following a "brokered deal," Conservative and Reform rabbis will qualify to be paid employees of the State of Israel, "JERUSALEM — The Israeli government announced on Tuesday that, for the first time, it planned to pay the salaries of a small number of Reform and Conservative rabbis, as it does with many Orthodox ones."

Our experience with Israeli rabbis paid by the State is terrible, horrible, awful.

The rabbis we dealt with last year refused to allow us to officiate at the wedding of the son of a dear friend, even after we submitted our credentials. "Not enough wedding experience," they told us.

Note to world: a Jewish wedding is a simple ritual, no experience needed, five minutes of preparation will suffice for a complete novice. And PS, we have semicha from Rav Soloveitchik.

We were hurt and insulted and put down by the State employed Israeli clergy. (Names on request.)

Now, Conservative and Reform rabbis can join the ranks of Orthodox rabbis and serve as unfriendly and insulting clergy in the State of Israel.

But in achieving this "milestone" the liberal clergy accept insult upon themselves. "They will be classified as 'rabbis of non-Orthodox communities' and paid by the Ministry of Culture and Sport, not the Ministry of Religious Services," the Times says.

And further, "The deal says these non-Orthodox rabbis will not have any say over matters of religion and Jewish law, so it is unclear what their roles will be, or how many communities will request them."

And what hey, the Reform and Conservative rabbis apparently like to be insulted.

The Masorti movement’s chief executive, Yizhar Hess, called the decision historic, while Rabbi Gilad Kariv, the head of Israel’s Reform movement, described it as “a major breakthrough.”

Progress? You decide.

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Funny Sexy Israel Tourism Ad

Funny Sexy Israel Tourism Ad (from 2010).

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Using and Misusing the Tehillim

We have published on Halakhah.com the SYNOPSIS OF SEFER SHIMUSH TEHILLIM: Containing Protections Against Numerous Calamities. Attributed to Rav Hai Gaon, in Hebrew and English, compiled by Reuven Brauner.

From the Introduction:

Sefer Shimush Tehillim is a short and relatively little-known treatise attributed to Rav Hai Gaon (according to the Sedei Chemed) which describes the Kabbalistic uses of particular chapters and verses from the Book of Psalms for prophylactic or healing purposes. These selections are meant to be either recited alone, frequently multiple times, or in conjunction with some other action or prayer. Shimush Tehillim is mentioned in Teshuvas HaRashba (413), by the Chida, and others. This work is not to be confused with bibliomancy which is the use of Biblical verses for predicting the future.

We attend a synagogue where an additional Psalm is recited every weekday after Minhah on behalf of something. We believe that is an overuse and misuse of Tehillim.

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Rabbi Lichtenstein's Foreword to Mikra and Meaning by Nathaniel Helfgott

Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgott has written an incisive and perceptive book of literary approaches to selected biblical texts, Mikra and Meaning. The work must be examined within the literature of such studies written for the modern Orthodox reader, that is the college educated observant Jew. It stands out as a remarkable success within that genre.

What struck us in this book was the Foreword by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, a former teacher of ours, and an exemplary individual whom we use to describe the scribal archetype in our recent book on prayer (God's Favorite Prayers).

He sums up his endorsement of the book  as follows, in a manner that we find less than exemplary, starting from the simple given that if you write a foreword, that you take the time to read the entire book (in this case not a great burden since the book is around 240 pages):

...I have not read every line of his treatise. Given the sensitivity of the complex of selected topics, it is conceivable that someone would raise some objection to some points - although I did not encounter such in the largely random and yet representative chapters I read. But the sincerity of his approach and the depth of his commitment to tradition and its polyphonic voices are impressive. This factor should in and of itself, for benei Torah reared in the tolerant and appreciative tradition of talmidei hakhamim shebeBavel, elicit sensitive caution in dealing with the material and its author. Virtually by definition, one repeats insistently, recognition of the need to draw lines is axiomatic; and within certain limits, just where that may be is likely to be embroiled in controversy. However, it should be clear that respect for the issues and for the personages engaged mandates that discourse be conducted in the proper spirit.

That, of course, affords no assurance that lines will not be overstepped. In his latter years, no less an iconoclast than Rabbi Mordechai Breuer lamented that some of his students had exceeded what he regarded as the bounds of normative fealty. Even in the company of self-defined Orthodox scholars, one is occasionally riled upon hearing or reading assertions that can be justifiably regarded as lying beyond the pale of Torah ideology and institutions. Even sans assurance, however, proper sensitivity remains crucial.

In sum, this book is, admittedly, not every ben Torah's cup of tea, and not just in light of conventional reservations regarding de gustibus. A measure of knowledge, sensitivity, and sophistication - and, above all, discretion and discrimination rooted in commitment - is requisite in order to extract from these studies that which they have to offer. Those who approach them with the appropriate spiritual mindset and proper intellectual array can find themselves amply rewarded... 

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Is lying and cheating Jewish?

No lying and cheating is not Jewish. It is universal, everyone does it a little, a few people do it a lot.

In the WSJ, to promote his new book, Dan Ariely wrote, "Why We Lie" he explains, "We like to believe that a few bad apples spoil the virtuous bunch. But research shows that everyone cheats a little—right up to the point where they lose their sense of integrity."

Ariely's research shows that nearly everyone cheats and lies if given the opportunity. In his book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone---Especially Ourselves Ariely explains why.

Based on the WSJ write-up, this looks like a good book.

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How "Rabbi" J. Ezra Merkin Bought His Co-op Apartment at 740 Park Avenue

The J. Ezra Merkin of recent headlines and scandals -- known for eternity as a Bernie Madoff feeder -- and the Merkin family live in duplex apartment 6/7B at 740 Park Avenue.

A book by Michael Gross, 740 Park, is a fascinating account of rich New York through the prism of that single exceptional building.

We bought this book several years ago to read about the really rich folk in the neighborhood where we grew up, including Merkin's upstairs neighbor, our former Brown University buddy, Tommy Tisch (duplex 8/9B), and the rest of the club at the "tony" address.

There's barely a mention of Tommy in the book and the passage on Ezra, mistaken by the co-op board for a rabbi, is now, in retrospect, funny. Here's what Gross says on page 467 about how Ezra Merkin bought his apartment from Faith Perelman:

Faith dropped (Ronald) Perelman’s name, but stayed in 740 until she married plastic surgeon Peter Linden in 1994. The rich get richer; she made about $11 million on her (1978) $300,000 investment.

The buyer, Ezra Merkin was the son of Hermann Merkin, the child of a family of furriers who’d escaped from Nazi Germany. Hermann became an American intelligence officer, a private investor, and one of the philanthropic elder statesmen of New York’s Jewish community.

Like his father before him, Ezra is president of the Orthodox Jewish Fifth Avenue Synagogue, where Faith worshipped. Like Israel Englander, he’s a principal in a hedge fund.

Unlike his sister Daphne, a writer who publicized her rejection by the co-op board at 1075 Park Avenue (she claimed her essay on sado-madochism in a book titled Dreaming of Hitler inspired the turndown), Ezra Merkin is an intensely private man.

Aside from one 1991 tantrum against what he deemed Steve Ross’s mismanagement of Time Warner, neither he nor his Gabriel Capital Corporation is much in the public eye.

Some in the building even believe he is a rabbi. Which may explain why, when he appeared in a yarmulke for his admissions interview at 740 Park, Donald Rynne later told a realtor, board members thought he was a rabbi and were so afraid of offending him they hardly asked a question before accepting him.

Gross created quite a helpful web-site to back up the book, calling it, "Step Inside: 740 Park: the Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building" with a new blog entry there called, "The murky world of Ezra Merkin" and with links to 740 Park Avenue building resources like these:

• Cast of Characters
• Press Release
• Excerpt
• Floor Plans
• Interiors
• Miscellany

Gross' blurb from the web site:

For 75 years, it’s been one of the most lusted-after addresses in the world. Even today, it is steeped in purest luxury, the kind most of us can only imagine. Until now. The story of 740 Park Avenue sweeps across the twentieth century, and Michael Gross tells it in glorious, intimate and unprecedented detail. From the financial shenanigans that preceded the laying of the cornerstone, to the dazzlingly and sometimes decadently rich people who hid behind its walls, this is a sweeping social and economic epic, starring our wealthiest and most powerful old-money families-–Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, Bouvier, Chrysler, Houghton and Harkness-–and today’s new-monied elite: Bronfman, Perelman, Kravis, Steinberg, Koch and Schwarzman. [Last updated 12/30/08 - Reposted.]

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Detroit News: What is a Kosher Amigo Shabbat Scooter?

The Amigo Shabbat Scooter is a clever invention. We had bought one for our dad in 2007. It helped him get to shul on Shabbat.

Kosher scooters help Jews keep faith

Mich. company's device gets disabled Orthodox followers to synagogue

ORALANDAR BRAND-WILLIAMS
The Detroit News

Wixom --Michael Balkin observes traditional Jewish practices, but walking to services has been difficult for the past 20 years.

A worsening neurological disorder has made walking more than a few steps nearly impossible for the 59-year-old West Bloomfield resident. But in recent years, things have improved for Balkin, thanks to a motorized -- and perfectly kosher -- scooter.

"Now I'm able to do whatever and go to Shul and do whatever I want and how I want," said Balkin.

Orthodox Jews don't drive vehicles or use anything motorized during the Shabbat, or Sabbath, which lasts from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday. But a Bridgeport company has rolled out specially designed scooters that allow Orthodox Jews to follow their beliefs and still make it to the synagogue.

Amigo Mobility International Inc. began making the Shabbat-approved scooters five years ago. It uses a module manufactured in Israel and certified by the Zomet Institute, an Israeli nonprofit that specializes in electronics that meet Halakha, or Jewish religious law.

The scooters, which cost $2,500 to $3,500, are sometimes covered by insurance. Amigo sells the scooters at a a store in Wixom the company opened two years ago to meet the needs of the estimated 7,000 Orthodox Jews in Metro Detroit.

Scott Chappell, the manager of the Amigo Mobility Center on Wixom Road, said the company was approached by the local Orthodox Jewish community for a scooter model that could help homebound individuals to be able to get to the synagogue during Shabbat.

"It's designed in such as way that on Fridays and Saturdays, it's a special mode and during the week it is a standard mode," Chappell said.

The Shabbat-approved scooter carries a special black-and-white sticker that has to be displayed at all times so others know it meets Halakha law, said Chappell. "(Others) will see that it has been certified by Zomet."

Balkin said he has used the Shabbat-authorized scooters during his trips to Israel. He was happy that he was able to get one in the United States. Deborah Balkin says she's glad that the scooter has given her husband more mobility so that "he doesn't have to stay home on Shabbat."

"He can go to services," said a smiling Deborah Balkin. "We can walk to a friend's house on Shabbat. It keeps him from being isolated. One of the worst things for a person who is ill is to be isolated."

Iris Rosen, who is not Orthodox, but uses a scooter to get around, said she is happy to see the technology come to the United States.

"It's amazing. It's proven. It's approved by the Orthodox community. It's definitely, definitely a good thing," said Rosen, a Farmington Hills resident.

Rabbi Jason Miller, who has been studying the use of technology and Judaism, said the technology has allowed Balkin and others to be more physically comfortable and practice their faith "without violating the tradition."

"We should all see this as a benefit to our community no matter where you are on the observance spectrum," said Miller, also the rabbi of Oakland County-based Tamarack Camps and the spiritual leader of Congregation T'chiyah in Oak Park.

"There are many rabbis out there who would give him permission to drive to synagogue on the Sabbath but on a psycho-spiritual level for someone with his observance patterns they would still be uncomfortable with this leniency," said Miller.

"His (scooter) allows him to be part of the community on the Sabbath and to feel comfortable in knowing that he hasn't compromised his observance.

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Was Christopher Columbus Jewish?

Yes, Christopher Columbus was a Jew according to some historians.

Charles Garcia, writing via CNN, summarized the case for Columbus the Jew in a story on May 20, 2012, the 508th anniversary of his death, "Was Columbus secretly a Jew?".

The crux of the evidence is this:

Recently, a number of Spanish scholars, such as Jose Erugo, Celso Garcia de la Riega, Otero Sanchez and Nicholas Dias Perez, have concluded that Columbus was a Marrano, whose survival depended upon the suppression of all evidence of his Jewish background in face of the brutal, systematic ethnic cleansing.

Columbus, who was known in Spain as Cristóbal Colón and didn't speak Italian, signed his last will and testament on May 19, 1506, and made five curious -- and revealing -- provisions.

Two of his wishes -- tithe one-tenth of his income to the poor and provide an anonymous dowry for poor girls -- are part of Jewish customs. He also decreed to give money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter.

On those documents, Columbus used a triangular signature of dots and letters that resembled inscriptions found on gravestones of Jewish cemeteries in Spain. He ordered his heirs to use the signature in perpetuity.

According to British historian Cecil Roth's "The History of the Marranos," the anagram was a cryptic substitute for the Kaddish, a prayer recited in the synagogue by mourners after the death of a close relative. Thus, Columbus's subterfuge allowed his sons to say Kaddish for their crypto-Jewish father when he died. Finally, Columbus left money to support the crusade he hoped his successors would take up to liberate the Holy Land.

Estelle Irizarry, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University, has analyzed the language and syntax of hundreds of handwritten letters, diaries and documents of Columbus and concluded that the explorer's primary written and spoken language was Castilian Spanish. Irizarry explains that 15th-century Castilian Spanish was the "Yiddish" of Spanish Jewry, known as "Ladino." At the top left-hand corner of all but one of the 13 letters written by Columbus to his son Diego contained the handwritten Hebrew letters bet-hei, meaning b'ezrat Hashem (with God's help). Observant Jews have for centuries customarily added this blessing to their letters. No letters to outsiders bear this mark, and the one letter to Diego in which this was omitted was one meant for King Ferdinand.

In Simon Weisenthal's book, "Sails of Hope," he argues that Columbus's voyage was motivated by a desire to find a safe haven for the Jews in light of their expulsion from Spain. Likewise, Carol Delaney, a cultural anthropologist at Stanford University, concludes that Columbus was a deeply religious man whose purpose was to sail to Asia to obtain gold in order to finance a crusade to take back Jerusalem and rebuild the Jews' holy Temple.

In Columbus's day, Jews widely believed that Jerusalem had to be liberated and the Temple rebuilt for the Messiah to return.

Scholars point to the date on which Columbus set sail as further evidence of his true motives. He was originally going to sail on August 2, 1492, a day that happened to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av, marking the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples of Jerusalem. Columbus postponed this original sail date by one day to avoid embarking on the holiday, which would have been considered by Jews to be an unlucky day to set sail.
(Coincidentally or significantly, the day he set forth was the very day that Jews were, by law, given the choice of converting, leaving Spain, or being killed.)

Columbus's voyage was not, as is commonly believed, funded by the deep pockets of Queen Isabella, but rather by two Jewish Conversos and another prominent Jew. Louis de Santangel and Gabriel Sanchez advanced an interest free loan of 17,000 ducats from their own pockets to help pay for the voyage, as did Don Isaac Abrabanel, rabbi and Jewish statesman.

Indeed, the first two letters Columbus sent back from his journey were not to Ferdinand and Isabella, but to Santangel and Sanchez, thanking them for their support and telling them what he had found.

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VIN: Rabbi Manis Friedman Says the Internet is not a Crisis for Judaism

On the day of a major stadium rally that was called by rabbis to warn against the dangers of the Internet, a prominent Lubavitch rabbi says there is no "unprecedented crisis." VIN reports:

In an address to a group of teenage students, noted author, lecturer and educator Rabbi Manis Friedman dismissed the notion of banning the internet and rejected the idea that the Jewish community is facing an unprecedented crisis.

Speaking on May 2nd at the United Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Crown Heights, Rabbi Friedman called the internet the nisayon of today’s generation and advised students to do what Jews have been doing for years – stay strong and withstand the test that is being placed before klal yisroel...more...

Since we met him many years ago in Minnesota, Rabbi Friedman's trenchant observations have always made sense to us.

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Celebrating Yom Yerushalayim

Today is Yom Yerushalayim. It is a Yom Tov. I recited Hallel in shul - with a berakhah.

This year 5772, a few weeks ago, I made a sad trip (with my brother, sister and son) to Jerusalem to accompany my father's remains on El Al and to inter him in his final place of rest at Har Hamenuchot in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem, gush yud, chelka bet, shura tet.

My father, Zev Zahavy, loved Israel, and especially Jerusalem. He owned two apartments there. He visited many times. He now rests there next to his wife and near his brother and his parents, all of blessed memory.

Here is how last year in 5771 we described our happier celebration in Jerusalem:

44 years ago in the Six Day War the IDF took the Old City in a fierce battle and united Jerusalem under a single government. From our point of view as a young Orthodox Yeshiva student at the time, this accomplishment was a great miracle. The old city of Jerusalem under Jewish control meant that the historical places of our people were again accessible to us, including the Temple Mount, or at least the Western Wall. A year later in 1968 we came to visit Israel and Jerusalem for the first time.

We were just in Jerusalem Israel to celebrate the wedding of the son of a friend and thought, how do we commemorate this special day? And we had to do most of the celebrating a day early, because we were returning to New Jersey on a midnight flight last night and would miss the main activities of the day today. Bad trip planning, but no matter, there were workarounds.

First yesterday we went with super-guide Asher Altshul to explore the city of David excavations just outside the old city. Asher showed us the site from top to bottom and provided rich up-to-the-minute explanation and interpretation. He took us to the Herodian excavations in the Jewish Quarter next and gave us his expert guidance capped off by a summary of his own research. A truly great way to make Jerusalem Day meaningful. We added a visit on our own to the restored Hurva Synagogue, a magnificent job of rebuilding.

We took the long way back to our hotel to avoid the traffic jams in the city that had already started in the afternoon prior to the holiday. That allowed us to see all of the impressive new construction of the past few years. Most obvious is the new light rail, completed but not yet open to riders. During the day the authorities run the rail on schedule throughout the city with no passengers. We guess this allows for the adjustment of the system to balance and assess the functioning of the system and it's impact on traffic flow. In any case when it opens in August it will take one of the world's oldest cities into a new era of technology and transportation.

But how we thought can we celebrate this holiday on it's eve before we embark to the airport? Our favorite hotel is just a few blocks from the Mercaz Harav Kook yeshiva. We decided to go there for maariv evening services. This venue combines the best of Zionist Orthodox fervor. Our friends warned us to get there early since it is always packed for the davening of Jerusalem Day.

We got there and waited in line to be screened. The man next to us in line turned out to be a classmate of ours whom we had not seen in 38 years. We got caught up quickly. The Yeshiva gatekeepers clearly wanted to let the students in first and waved them ahead of us. That seemed right. We did at last get in after careful screening, including a gunpowder check of our hands. Apparently Bibi Netanyahu was scheduled to appear to speak after services amid the night's festivities and that meant precautions had to be high.

The prayers were outstanding. A sea of white-shirted Yeshiva boys, led by a chazan, chanted a few Psalms and select verses of liturgy and said the regular evening prayers. It was moving.

We couldn't stay to hear Bibi. (Link to a report about his speech in Haaretz.) Our ride to the airport was waiting. We bought a knitted kippah on the way out of the Yeshiva.

To cap off the day, we discovered the free wi-fi at the majestic Ben Gurion airport. Thinking back to our first trip in 1968 we could not help but admire the amazing accomplishments of the past 44 years in Israel, from the airport and the light rail and so much more infrastructure, to the economic, social and political advances over the period, despite enormous obstacles.

Halleluyah. Happy Yom Yerushalayim!

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What does the Talmud say about Islam?

The Talmud says nothing at all about Islam.

The Talmud was published around 499 CE and Islam was founded may years later, around 622 CE. The Talmud mentions Arabs in numerous places, but that has nothing to do with Islam, the later religion.

For some reason a recent story about the new Arabic translation of the Talmud, "Lebanon news -Jordanian center translates Babylonian Talmud into Arabic" tells us that Mohammad Najem, spokesperson of the Amman-based Middle East Studies Center, said about the Talmud translation project, "It is important to understand how Jews view Islam as well as their own religion." Given the historical facts, the implication of this statement makes little direct sense.

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Remembering Our 1964 Red Citroen DS19

In 2007 the NY Times reminded me of my 1964 Red Citroen DS19 with a picture spread of the author's car and a nice little story.

This essay is mentioned in the Times' spread.

The New Citroen
by Roland Barthes 1957

I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.

It is obvious that the new Citroen has fallen from the sky inasmuch as it appears at first sight as a superlative object. We must not forget that an object is the best messenger of a world above that of nature: one can easily see in an object at once a perfection and an absence of origin, a closure and a brilliance, a transformation of life into matter (matter is much more magical than life), and in a word a silence which belongs to the realm of fairy-tales. The D.S. - the "Goddess" - has all the features (or at least the public is unanimous in attributing them to it at first sight) of one of those objects from another universe which have supplied fuel for the neomania of the eighteenth century and that of our own science-fiction: the Deesse is first and foremost a new Nautilus.

This is why it excites interest less by its substance than by the junction of its components. It is well known that smoothness is always an attribute of perfection because its opposite reveals a technical and typically human operation of assembling: Christ's robe was seamless, just as the airships of science-fiction are made of unbroken metal. The D.S 19 has no pretensions about being as smooth as cake-icing, although its general shape is very rounded; yet it is the dove-tailing of its sections which interest the public most: one keenly fingers the edges of the windows, one feels along the wide rubber grooves which link the back window to its metal surround. There are in the D.S. the beginnings of a new phenomenology of assembling, as if one progressed from a world where elements are welded to a world where they are juxtaposed and hold together by sole virtue of their wondrous shape, which of course is meant to prepare one for the idea of a more benign Nature.

We are therefore dealing here with a humanized art, and it is possible that the Deesse marks a change in the mythology of cars. Until now, the ultimate in cars belonged rather to the bestiary of power; here it becomes at once more spiritual and more object-like, and despite some concessions to neomania (such as the empty steering wheel), it is now more homely , more attuned to this sublimation of the utensil which one also finds in the design of contemporary household equipment.

The dashboard looks more like the working surface of a modern kitchen than the control room of a factory; the slim panes of matt fluted metal, the small levers topped by a white ball, the very simple dials, the very discreetness of the nickel-work, all this signifies a kind of control exercised over motion rather than performance. One is obviously turning from an alchemy of speed to a relish in driving.

The public, it seems, has admirably divined the novelty of the themes which are suggested to it. Responding at first to the neologism (a whole publicity campaign had kept it on the alert for years), it tries very quickly to fall back on a behaviour which indicates adjustment and a readiness to use ("You've got to get used to it"). In the exhibition halls, the car on show is explored with an intense, amorous studiousness: it is the great tactile phase of discovery, the moment when visual wonder is about to receive the reasoned assault of touch (for touch is the most demystifying of all senses, unlike sight, which is the most magical). The bodywork, the lines of union are touched, the upholstery palpated, the seats tried, the doors caressed, the cushions fondled; before the wheel, one pretends to drive with one's whole body. The object here is totally prostituted, appropriated: originating from the heaven of Metropolis, the Goddess is in a quarter of an hour mediatized, actualizing through this exorcism the very essence of petit-bourgeois advancement.

©Roland Barthes from Mythologies Vintage ISBN 0 09 997220 4 1957

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Is Caroline Kennedy's Husband Edwin Schlossberg Jewish?

Yes, Edwin Arthur Schlossberg is a Jew.

All four of Schlossberg's grandparents were Russian (Ukranian) Jews born near Poltava and arrived in the United States at Ellis Island.

In 1986 Schlossberg married Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis at Hyannis Port when Caroline was 28 and Ed was 41.

Their afternoon wedding ceremony was held at the Church of Our Lady of Victory in Centerville, Massachusetts and did not include a mass.

How Jewish is Schlossberg? Nate Bloom refers to "American Legacy: The Story of John and Caroline Kennedy" by C. David Heymann as follows:

Heymann writes that Schlossberg was raised in a "devout Orthodox Jewish family" that belonged to a modern Orthodox synagoue in Manhattan. He attended Hebrew School and had a bar mitzvah ceremony.

Bloom adds some of the speculation regarding Schlossberg's current religious practice:

The harshest comment about Edwin Schlossberg and religion came from film producer Susan Pollock. She is a relative of Edwin's and has dined now and again with Edwin and Caroline. Pollack told Heymann that she believed Ed actually converted to Catholicism to marry Caroline and "I know he [Ed] takes Holy Communion which means he would have to convert?..."

UPDATE: See the comment below signed by "Edwin Schlossberg" denying the Bloom account. ["I have never had a conversation with Susan Pollack. I have not converted to Catholicism and have not taken Holy Communion.I am proud to be Jewish and am disappointed that this misinformation has been presented on this site and hope that you will remove it immediately." Edwin Schlossberg -- Posted by ES to Tzvee's Talmudic Blog at 3/10/2009 1:59 PM].

/reposted/

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Shmuley Boteach Warns the Forward of Legal Action

In February the Forward published an article about Shmuley Boteach's candidacy for congress in New Jersey. We did not like the article. We do not like the Forward. We consider it to be a high-school-quality newspaper with little original news reporting content of any value. The article about Boteach impressed us as an example of poor journalism, laden with suggestions and innuendo of wrongdoing, where none was merited.

According to a news report now (Boteach’s Battle Royale: Celebrity rabbi threatens to sue Jewish Daily Forward newspaper), Rabbi Boteach now has responded to the article with a lawyer's letter. Good for him. The article and a copy of the lawyer's letter was published in "The Washington Free Beacon" which we never heard of before but which describes itself as, "a nonprofit online newspaper that began publication on February 7, 2012. Dedicated to uncovering the stories that the professional left hopes will never see the light of day..."

Oh gee whiz why does he do this to us? We endorsed Shmuley's candidacy because we like the idea of a rabbi in congress. But by throwing in with the radical right wing, Shmuley is making it hard for us to continue to support him.

One thing for sure we disagree with. Shmuley chalks up the Forward's hatchet job on him as motivated by left wing political leanings at the paper. Oh gosh golly, we think of the Forward as a rightward leaning rag. Okay, we see that our perspectives differ.

We do hope this campaign will not get too dirty and that the Jewish press - especially the Forward - does not turn to raking muck to attack a hard-working serious and effective rabbi.

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Is the Internet Kosher?

Is the Internet kosher?

Now, the hot dogs served at Citi Field can be judged kosher or treif.

The Internet cannot. It is a medium for communications and hence cannot be kosher or treif. Some rabbis are making a mass rally about the Internet the center of attention for their communities.

We wonder if the rabbis know that every month we give away 25,000 tractates of the Talmud on our web site www.halakhah.com.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the "Orthodox Internet Rally Divides a Community".

Previously the WSJ reported, "A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews have rented out Citi Field for a meeting later this month intended to draw thousands of men to discuss the dangers of the Internet and formulate a communitywide response. The event, set for May 20, has been publicized internationally within the Orthodox Jewish press and tapped into a world-wide debate over how to reconcile modern life with the Internet's perceived moral dangers."

In our Talmudic view, this event is a giant mistake. Nothing of value can be accomplished through a rally in a stadium to remedy a perceived threat to morality. And clearly the Internet is not the problem. If the ease of accessing pornography via the Internet is at issue, and we assume that is the main concern, then the pornographers who create the content ought to be the target, not the communications and delivery mechanisms of the Net.

It looks to us like the rabbis are making a statement through the rally, but the wrong statement. The event says to us that the rabbis fear that the beauty of the moral life of Torah cannot compete with the attraction of the depravity of the x-rated content of the Internet. A rally, like the one planned, is a sign of panic that the battle is being lost, not a sign of confidence in the strength and validity of Judaism as a moral system and beacon to the nations.

There is much to be done to bolster morality in the world and to promote Judaism. A Citi Field rabbi-rally is not an effective means of doing either.

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Yossi Abramowitz: Madonna is Jewish

We've been posting for nearly seven years that one of our favorite pop singers, Madonna, is not Jewish even though some of her music makes allusion to the Kabbalah and she has been involved in Kabbalah studies.

Now Yossi Abramowitz in the Jerusalem Report, strongly insinuates that Madonna is Jewish in actual fact ("YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ hails the arrival of Madonna to Israel – and to Judaism").

Yossi writes a nice column, but we just don't buy the premise of this story, especially because he has not interviewed Madonna to ask her if she has converted to Judaism. Nice try though.

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A Successful Kindle Direct Promotion for God's Favorite Prayers

I allowed the previously scheduled Kindle Direct Publishing promotion for my book "God's Favorite Prayers" to proceed on Sunday May 2, even though I was sitting shiva for my dad. I thought he would have had no objection to that.

I expected that when Amazon made the book free for a day it would result in the download by readers of a few hundred copies. That would be a good way to build momentum for the volume within the KDP publishing program.

At the end of the day on Sunday I looked to see the number of downloads for that one day.

The number was 1,852. The book rose to number 131 on the overall national Amazon free Kindle book list. I was surprised and pleased.

Now I will monitor how this benefits the future sales of the volume, since that is the primary motive for participating in the promotional program.

Talmudic Books for Kindle on the Talmud, Bible, Kabbalah and Prayer
The Kindle Edition of the Classic Soncino Talmud in English

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My father's most valuable autographs

During the shiva for my dad this past week, Rabbi Dr. Zev Zahavy, I showed many people an important part of our inheritance from him - five valuable autographs.

Now these are not autographs of Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle or of presidents or anything like that. 

These are the five signatures on my dad's klaf - on his diploma of ordination from Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, which he received in 1942.

The priceless autographs are by five great Torah scholars, Rabbi Binyamin Aronowitz, Rabbi Bernard L. Levinthal of Philadelphia, Rabbi Samuel Belkin, Rabbi Moses Shatzkes (the Lomza Rav) and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik of Boston (the Rav).

Rabbi Yossi Adler looked at the klaf during the shiva and confirmed what I had been told, that it was rare to have five signatures on such a document. My own ordination has two (Rabbis Belkin and Soloveitchik).

I once asked my dad what it was like to go before these five great rabbis and be examined before receiving semicha - ordination. He told me, "They were tough. They made me sweat."

We greatly treasure this part of the legacy of my dad.

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Rabbi Zev Zahavy z"l (update)

I regret to inform you of the passing of my dad.

Rabbi Zev Zahavy z"l

Beloved husband of the late Edith Zahavy z"l; father of Rabbi Tzvee Zahavy '72R, Professor Reuvain Zahavy and Professor Miryam Wahrman; grandfather and great-grandfather, brother of May Chait and of the late Rabbi Noah Goldstein '51R z"l and Selma Guedalia z"l.

Rabbi Zev Zahavy was a wonderful son, husband, parent, grandparent, and great-grandparent. He served sincerely as a synagogue rabbi and worked diligently as a Judaic scholar and college professor. He was upright and honest in all his dealings. He loved his family and friends and his religion. He told wonderful stories and jokes and was an accomplished photographer and cartoonist. He enjoyed swimming and his summers at his home in Atlantic Beach. He cherished the State of Israel and his homes in Jerusalem which he visited with pride and enthusiasm.

He served as Rabbi in New York City at the West Side Institutional Synagogue, Congregation Ohab Zedek and as Senior rabbi at the Park East Synagogue. He worked as an esteemed Professor at the City University of New York. He was the author of books on cosmology and on kabbalah. More than 200 of his synagogue sermons were reported in the New York Times. He always inspired his family, his congregations and his classes with his unbridled idealism, optimism and good cheer.

The funeral took place at 10am, Wednesday, at the Park East Synagogue 163 E. 67 Street New York, NY. Additional eulogies and interment took place on Thursday at Har Hamenuchot in Jerusalem, (Gush Yud, Chelka Bet, Shura Tet) at 3:30 PM. Shiva started Thursday afternoon in Jerusalem at the Leonardo Inn Hotel. Shiva continued in New Jersey from Friday morning (5-4) through Wednesday morning (5-9) at Rabbi Tzvee Zahavy's home, in Teaneck.

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