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in this issue ...
DISPLACED GLORY, Nissan Wo/pin ...... 3
"'rELL ME, RABBI BUTRASHVILLI .. . ,"Dov Goldstein, trans lation by Mirian1 Margoshes 5
So~rn THOUGHTS FROM THE ROSHEI YESHIVA 8
THE RABBINATE AT BAY, David Meyers...... 10
VOLUNTARY SERVICE FOR WOMEN: COMPROMISE OF A
NATION'S PURITY, Ezriel Toshavi ..... 19
SECOND LOOKS
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RABBI N ISSON W OLPJN THE JEWISH OBSERVER Editor 5 Beekman Street 7 New York, N. Y. 10038 Editorial Board D NEW SUBSCRIPTION: $5 - 1 year of J.O. DR. ERNEST L. BODENHEIMER Plus $3 • GaHery of Portraits of Gedolei Yisroel: FREE! Chairman RABBI NATHAN BULMAN D RENEWAL: $12 for 3 years of J.0. RABBI JOSEPH ELIAS Plus $3 - Gallery of Portraits of Gedo lei Yisroel: FREE! JOSEPH FRIEDENSON D GIFT: $5 - 1 year; $8.50, 2 yrs.; $12, 3 yrs. of ].0. RABBI YAACOV JACOBS Plus $3 ·Gallery of Portraits of Gedolei Yisroel: FREE! RABBI MOSHE SHERER Send '/Jf agazine to: Send Portraits to: THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not iVarne ..... ll/ame ...... assume responsibility for the Kashrus of any product or service Address .... Address.... . advertised in its pages. City...... State .... ."' ... Zip .... . City ...... , ...... State ...... Zip .... . D Enclosed: $,. .. Series I Series II DEC. I 971 VoL. VIII, No. l 0 O D Bill me: $ 0 Series Ill ~@J . . .· Displaced·Glory
. the epic f ourney of the Jews of Soviet Ge~rgia across the head lines of our times: froni the inspiring "Letter of the Eighteen," to their current defaniation by the press-from the placid eye of the Russian hurricane, to their stormy resettlement zn outlying areas of Israel.
The Letter fo the U.N. The letter astoui1ded its readers, and at the same time seemed to set into motion an expanding chain of ·u· N'fn:. TWO YEARS AGO, the Jews of Russia were defiance that brought Georgian Jews to gather in protest ..·.· subject for d~ffident shoulder-shrugging and ~elp- ··demonstrations and to declare public fasts in Tbilis (Tif .· less speculation. Then, unexpectedly, the mr of .· !is) and Moscow in demand for exit visas to Israel. quiet defeatism was shattered. Eighteen Georgian Jews sent a letter to the Human Rights Commission of the The Letter to Podgorny United Nations, and even dared affix their signatures to ···s INCE TtlAt TIME, thousands of Jews have been this historic document. Golda Meir tearfully read its granted exit visas and have begun arriving by the ·· ... contents on Kol Yisrael. Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Levin planeload in Israel. And now another letter has .... recited parts of it on the Knesset floor. The heart leaped been penned by Georgian Jews, and it too has sent at the realization that in the Soviet Province of Georgia shockwaves around the world. This letter was addressed ~birthplace of Josef Stalin-this hardy group had to USSR President Podgorny. In effect, it said: Situa · preserved its faith. .tions here do not make this the promised land we While in surrounding territories, other Jews were dreamed about. Allow us to return to Georgia. forced to wander from place to place, abandon profes Tht: substance of their discontent has been docu;. , sional careers for night-watch assignments or jobs as mented and received a certain amount of airing, as is boot-blacks to maintain a life of Yiddishkeit without evidenced by the interview with one of their leaders, . arousing suspicions, the Georgian Jews stayed at home. R abbi Yehudah Butrashvilli, which was printed in the Unyielding to political and economic pressures, endur- popular Israeli daily, Maariv. (The text of the interview ing terms in labor camps-and entertaining no pleas follows this article.) . for assimilation-they remained a viable community ..· Mainly, they complain about their community being complete with shuts, mikvaos, shechitah, Hebrew fragmented to the point where they can no longer be schools. And it all found proud expression in their secure in their individual religious practice. They point . letter: to exposure to subtle and blatant irreligious pressures, assignments to jobs that involve Shabbos violation, and ·· ~'We religious Jews believe that there can be nO ·· a lack of Torah-education and general religious facil Jew without belief, just as there is no belief with ities in the areas of their newly assigned homes. . out tradition. . . . For decades we have been Israeli officialdom has found itself perplexed and caught up in the struggle against religion- we frustrated by the Georgian reaction. In the past, "ab· therefore want to go to Eretz Yisroel. . . . We sorption" of new immigrants has meant total assiniila .. will wait months, and years-and if necessary, .. tion into the life-pattern of modern Israel at its lowest all of our lives--and we will not forsake our common denominator by means of a systematic wean faith and our hope. We believe that our prayers ing away from Torah. And these systematic efforts will reach the Almighty. We know that our call succeeded. To a good many of the olim 9f previous will reach the hearts of men. We ask little, only · immigrations, coming to Israel meant leaping over a that we be permitted to go out to the Land of time barrier into the 20th Century- and they were our Fathers." shorn of superstilions, payos, tefillin, emunah and fnitz- vos, distrust of sophisticated machinery, and faith in the traditions of fathers, all with one decisive snip. Some Immigrants Pulled out of old habits, folk-ways, and allegiances, they were cast into a new mold without Torah. Thus In Israel Ask Return were the shameful chapters of Yaldei Teheran, Yaldei Morroco, and Ya/dei Teiman (Yemen) entered into To Georgia in Soviet the infamous record of "successful absorption." 'fhe Georgian immigrants refused to conform to Special to The New York T!mn the tragic patterns of the past. They had been living TEL AVIV, Nov. 26--Several dozen immigrant families fro!1'1 in one of the most advanced and prosperous of the the Soviet Repubhc of Georgia Soviet states. They are not wide-eyed strangers to the want t'o go baCk there, it was 20th century, nor are they unexposed innocents when reported here today. The newspaper Maariv quote it comes to resisting anti-religious coercion. Their Micha Minkashwilli, a ritual allegiance to Torah has been tested by a half-century slaughter now living in Ashdod, as having said that between 50 of Soviet rule, and it has survived. They are coming to and 200 heads of families. had ]srael-not as refugees from physical terror, as were signed petitions to PreSident their predecessors who fled from Arab lands-but as Nikolai V. Podgorny of the So pilgrims thirsty for religious fulfillment, and they see viet Union asking to be allowed back. . . f no need to settle for less than fulfillment. An official of the M1·n1stry o Absorption in Jerusalem co~ finned today that some Georgia The Response-Smokescreen and Distortion families wanted to leave the country, but he said it was a NSTEAD OF REASSESSING their policies, the govern marginal proble!11. .The gr~at ment ministries and the Jewish Agency have thrown majority were adJus_t1n_g, he s~1d. I Requests for repatnat1on by im up a smokescreen of half-truths and distortions. migrants from other parts of As a result, the official press releases fed to the Jewish the Soviet Union have been Telegraphic Agency have, in turn, described Georgian rare, he added. demands for placement in religious settlements as de mands for "more spacious and luxurious apartments ... ~~ The Jews of Georgia, who had in densely populated urban areas." ... Only recently, clung tenaciously to religious since the New York Times published a more accurate practices in their old country under the Communists, were account of the story, has the Ministry admitted to the shocked by-what they consid· true nature of some of the demands of the olim. ered the laxness of religious The activity of Israeli dati'im aimed at reassuring life in the Jewish state. Some newspapers charged the olim and giving them religious articles and advice that Commu~ists had agitated has been distorted in JTA reports to the work of among the immigrants and had provoked the petition-signing. Communist provocateurs, sowing seeds of discontent, However; a Ministry of Absorp urging olim to return. The existence of such agents is tion official acknowledged that certainly a possibility, but it is being used as cause their problems were genuine. for "the Jewish Agency ... to alert bnmigration per from the N. Y. Tinies, Noveniber 27, 1971 sonnel. As a result of the alert, strangers found at the hostels and absorption centers will be asked to leave if they cannot give a satisfactory explanation for their refused to accept the keys to the shul. By contrast the presence" (JTA). Exclusion of "strangers" has also JTA story read: meant exclusion of personnel from Yad L'Achim, the "Jewish emigres from Soviet Georgia finally agreed Israeli Agudah, and other Georgian Jews. to accept the keys to a temporary house of worship in An incident revolving around the presentation of a A shkelon that was put at their disposal by the Absorp set of keys for a shul in Ashkelon was similarly dis tion .Ministry until a permanent synagogue can be built. torted in the JTA report. According to the program Ministry officials ... were greeted by angry Georgian as planned, the keys were to have been presented to a .Tews who refused to enter the te1nporary sanctuary delegate from the Hisachdut Olei Gruzia, a govern clain1ing that if they did, a per1nanent one would never ment-appointed group of Georgians who have been be built. Youngsters, believed to be from an Orthodox absent from their land of extraction for decades. Rather sect, were reportedly seen exhorting the emigrt!s not to than allow implied recognition to the bogus representa take the key. The Absorption Ministry said it would tion, the Georgians-who are united under the lrgun ask the police to find out who the agitators were and Yotzei Gruzia BeYisroel, under Rabbi Butrashvilli- what group was behind them."
4 The Je1~.'ish Observer / December, 1971 :.·· :" , : .. ·..· Jt js ironic that the Absorption arid lmmigratfori • ( Ge6rgiari iml1ligrari ts)·. are Our brOthel"s Who are finaliy . Ministry seems unaware that-in accordance with par coining home and we dare not close our eyes to their agraphs l 8/19 in the Russian visa application-"'Citizens basic religious needs. We dare not close our cars to· ··.may only apply for the right to emigrate if their motives their anguished pleas. We must respo11d to them in the ·are religious (to lead a richer Torah life), not political fullest measure. Then the children of Olei Gruzia will · (Zionistic). find in Jiving in Israel an added dimension in their It is tragic that the absorptioriexperts have chosen commitment t6 Torah, rather than a threat to this commitment. to wrest the Jews of Georgia from the Torah that D .·· preserved them as a viable community in their home land and is still so essential to their continued existence even in Israel. It could be catastrophic if the Absorption Ministry "Tell me, Rabbi Butrashvilli .. /' fails to confer with the Welfare Ministry--0r at least · read the newspapers-to discover the ultimate results of (Ari interview with Rabbi Yehuda Butrashvilli, origin · a program of systematic enlightenment and absorption. ally of Georgia, USSR, which appeared in MAARIV on The paternalistic policies that pulled olei Teheran, et al, December 3, '71. By Dov Goldstein.) from all links with their past has fathered a generation Rabbi Bu trashvilli has been here about a year. His· of rebels without cause: Black Panthers who have no appearance, in his long black coat and white beard, is allegiance to Torah, little respect for a state that con majestic. He speaks calmly and deliberately in im:. tinually short-changes them, and no self-respect as non . peccable and often poetic Hebrew, and displays a sharp . integrated children of unsuccessful parents. wit. Rabbi Butrashvilli was for many years tav of the.· U.S. Jewry: More Than Witnesses small town of Kulashai, in Georgia, until he was forced to flee in the "good days" of '37-'38, when Stalin .R·.. ATHER THAN CONTENT ITSELF with being discern- .. •·.·· ing witnesses to the struggles of a group that will purged uncounted tens of thousands of his "enemies." .·· not permit an inglorious repetition of history, Separated from his family for years, Rabbi Bl1trashvilli American Jewry must see itself as bearing an onus of finally got together with them again, finding refuge in responsibility. Georgian immigrants to Israel have every various Russian cities. .. right to expect all facilities for a full religious life, as well as adequate housing in religious communities. · But if the government does not provide them with Rabbi Butrashvilli, what was difjetentaild speCi~l these, then American Jewry must lake note of it, and about Jewish life in Georgia? voice its dissatisfaction. In response to public pressure Many wonderful things! Firsfof all, it was a Y;ddish (sec the interview following), the Ministry of Religions keit that was free of any taint of assimilation, a 100% claims to distribute tefillin at the Lod airport, and traditional Yiddishkeit. The towns were almost com-. temporary houses of worship have been designated in plctely Jewish, while the Russians lived in the . sur some areas of Georgian settlement. rounding countryside. Since it was our custom to daven There are groups valiantly attempting tO meet the only b'tzibur (communally), several times a day one needs of the Georgian Jews in their efforts to adjust to could see the men of the town. old and young, their Israel without compromising their commitment of Juda small children with them, streaming through the streets ism. The Agudath Israel of America is now creating a to the shut. It was an unforgettable sight. million-dollar Gemiks Chesed Fund for Russian Jews, How was family life organized? which is being divided-half for a loan fund to help All the married children and their families lived in immigrants establish themselves, and half for funding the parents' house. They would simply add on a room youth work, social work, and other absorption meas for each new branch of the family. Being crowded ures. Chinuch Atzmai is expanding its Torah-school didn't matter, as Jong as everyone was together! The .· network to accommodate children of Russian olim, and ·grown sons would bring their wages home, and the · has special classes for over 500 Georgian children in father divided the money among the families. On its schools. Yad L'Achim is meeting the Georgian Shabbos and Yom-Tov the whole clan would gather :immigrants' needs for religious articles and moral sup in the largest room- the parents' room-and eat and port, and has helped them organize under the lrgun drink cmd sing together for hours on end. And when Olei Gruzia. Lubavitch has sponsored "Georgian settle anyone made a simcha in Kulashai, he didn't have to -inents" in Lud and Ramie. American Jewry must see send out invitations- everyone felt that the simcha was its role in these undertaking as crucial. Olei Gruzia .· his too, and came to join in the celebrating. How did the Jews of Georgia earn their living? whom want to come out. They can make excellent new They were tailors, shoemakers, and other types of citizens for the Land of Israel! craftsmen; son1e were businessmen; and later on n1any Now, why are the new immigrants complaining? worked in factories. Jews were not farmers, because There were many mistakes made in handling them. in the days of the Czar they were forbidden to own Officials were thoughtless, tactless, and brusque; there land, and they never went back to it afterwards. There were even cases of cursing. No one speaking our lan were some attempts to force Jews into the "kolhoz" guage was assigned to the Ministry of Absorption. agricultural collectives) hut the Jews resisted and Everyone was unwilling to find out what the arriving wouldn't conform. Jews want, or to provide it when they were told. They Did the Jelvs earn a good living? were given the distinct feeling that they are not wanted. Generally speaking, yes. Because it was difficult to Are you referring to their wish to be settled together live on the wages set by the government, most people in one group? did some private huying and selling on the side, which I certainly am. This is very important to us. Why is illegal there of course and carries heavy penalties if do you think we came here? For the children! And it someone is caught. Others were also involved in this turns out that the atmosphere here is much worse for sort of living, but Jews always got harsher sentences if the children than in Georgia! There they never saw they were caught. We all lived in great fear of the chilul Shabbos, Jews with hare heads or in mini skirts. authorities. We're not willing to sacrifice our children! So what we are asking for? To settle together in " .... any mo dern 1'd eas ....,,, closed communities, with our own shuls and schools; to keep out strange influences. What can be wrong with Did any modern ideas as far as dress or way of life that? affect Jews in Georgia? No one quarrels with your wish to remain religious, Not at all. We had a closed society that allowed no but if you live in closed comniunities, isn't there a external influences to enter. There were no non-Kosher danger that you'll set up your own courts once again, foods in our hotncs, no 1nixcd tnarriages among our and your own Tneans of livelihood, and have nothing to children. Jf ever one of us went to Moscow, we couldn't do with the country as a lvhole? believe that the Jews there were really Jews-where we Absorbing us into Israel life will take years at hes!. lived the Jews all looked different from everybody else, It can't be hurried. It's a question of confidence in the and were a separate entity. good will of the Government, of personal contacts Did the Jews take their grievances to Russian courts? forged at work and among the children. Of course we won't set up separate institutions. But we must have No! The Jews went only to the beis-din (Rabbinical ti1nc, a period of transition, a chance to get used to a court). Even when the beis-din was later declared new way of life. illegal and forced to meet clandestinely in cellars, the Jews went in secret and accepted the psak. Did you explain this to Minister of Absorption, Nat an Peled? Where did the children go to school? I tried. I told him that because we daven differently, They went to public schools; that was the law. But we can't feel at home in a shul where the nusach is Yiddishkeit was taught secretly, in the cellars of many different from ours, whether Ashkenaz or Sfard. Since homes, and there wasn't a child who didn't learn Torah. there's a freeze on new building, I told him we'll he When was the desire to conze to Israel aJ-vakened happy to convert one of our apartments into a tem aniong the Jews of Georgia? porary shul. He said apartments belong to the Ministry We always dreamed of reaching Eretz Yisroel, and of Housing, so there would have to be meetings and prayed for the wonderful day when the dream would consultations. We've had no answer up to now. come true. For many years our old people would go to What else did you request from the Minister? Eretz Yisroel to die and be huried there. After 1948, A number of things. One was to allow us to meet we were extremely anxious to come, but everyone was new i1n1nigrants at the airport, to give them a warmer afraid to say so openly. In the last year or so, however, and more traditional welcome than we faced when we new courage came to the Jews of Georgia, and they arrived. We want to greet them with cake and wine, started to bombard the government with requests to with music and dancing. Their so-called Committee of leave for Israel. Georgian Jews is a fake, you know, consisting as it does How 1nany are here now? of people who have been here for the last fifty years and About 800 families; 4000 people. It's a drop in the are completely irreligious. Another request was not to bucket-there are 80,000 Jews in Georgia, many of assign apartments arbitrarily, but to let us try to satisfy
The Jewish Observer I Decen1ber, 1971 .· .· ... ·· .. tl1e wish~s of new arri~als, •. ~~ they'll start their life here are three thing~ that one can acquire only withyesurim with· .confidence and trust. We asked them to . store a (suffering): they are Torah, Eretz Yisroel, and Olam .· supply of tefillin from the Ministry of Religions at Lod, .. Habah (the World to Come). I told them: You escaped where they would be accessible immediately as they the golus. You reached the land of our forefathers. are needed. We asked the Minister not to move people Isn't it worth some suffering? But nothing helped. into apartments where the mezuzos aren't up yet Others have been writing to their relatives: Dbri't that's a painful experience for our people. They said come, it's no good here, we're second or even third they would see about it; I haven't had an answer yet. dass citizens! The Communist newspaper in Tillis, the Are the people complaining that they have to work capital of Georgia, printed a full page of such letters foo hard? .·· -and everyone knows that they're not forgeries this They are willing to work, even those who aren't used time, because they are receiving the letters themselves, toit. We did ask for vocational guidance and training, not to mention telephone calls from Israel with the ·and Hebrew-language ulpanim-hut no one cares to same message. extend a helping hand or even, it seems, a kind word. Let me ask yousomething: When the 18 signers bf · The working day starts early here, and our people, who that famous telegram (that started the whole migration) as I've said daven only b'tzibur, find themselves with a landed at Lod, who was there to greet them? Nobody! conflict and are at a loss. Mothers have to go to work And yet other new arrivals get lavish airport receptions. for the first time in their lives, and they're terribly It seems to proves that we are merely second-class worried because the day nurseries are not under reli citizens over here. . gious auspices. Well, were you first-Class citizens in Georgia? Do you believe stories that women are fired for Only members of the Communist Party are first-class sittinJ? down on the job to rest? citizens in Russia, and our Jews are not Communists. I do. We all do, because we have no confidence in But there we were strangers in a strange land. Here we .the Israelis. are supposed to be in our homeland. Do you find it impossible to believe that some new ls it possible that a Soviet agent was planted among immigrants just don't want to work, but expect to have you to stir up trouble? everything simply handed to them? It's possible. There's a young man who keeps turning Even if there are such individuals, it would be very up who says he's from Kulashai, but I never saw him wrong to judge us all by them. Most of us work hard there, and he doesn't look like the rest of us. In fact, for little money-in fact, we find that the 200 Lirot when I spoke to those four families they agreed to we have left after paying for our apartments and utili reconsider their plans to leave, but by the next day ities each month is very little to live on here in Israel. they had changed their minds again. Who wrote to Podgorny about their troubles in Are there any among you who are happy hete? Israel? Of course there are! Even those who are struggling I spent a whole night talking to the four men who wouldn't think of leaving. Israel is our land, too. signed that letter. They complain that they want to . Is there any danger that the news from here will live in Ashdod with their relatives, but the authorities keep other Georgian Jews from trying to leave Russia? ·· claim there are no apartments available there. They ···insist that there are in fact apartments available, but Yes, there is. It will create a grave crisis in their they are being reserved for olim from America. They lives. We're begging the Israeli Government to under wrote Podgorny that they find themselves in a country stand and help us, but no one has time for us. For . which demonstrates prejudice and discrimination among months we're trying to get an appointment to see Mrs. its citizens, and they want to return to Russia. They Meir, but it's no use. claim that 300 families will go with them. I said to the Minister of Absorption: "Look, yoii send our young people to non-religious kibbutzim. For the first time in their lives tht::y're exposed to Jack of " ... are their complaints legitimate?" kashrut, to immodesty and to secularism. They're deeply and terribly disappointed and they think you're doing it on purpose." Do you agree that their complaints are legitimate? "So what?" was his answer. "Tarfus isn't shmad!" ·· Their complaints are definitely justified. There's no You see what I mean? They don't want to under . question about that. But their conclusion-they they stand that for an immigrant from Georgia, to eat tarfus ·· ·· have to go back! That's the horrible part! I begged "'-that is shmad! No one wants to understand! them not even to think of such a thing any more. There Tra11slation
The Jewish Observer / December, 1971 Thoughts From the Roshei Yeshiva
A convention of Agudath Israel offers a rare oppor such moments of inspiration. We are pleased to present tunity to be close to the leaders of the American Torah the following adaptations from some of the Torah scene-to be privileged to share their thoughts, to hear thoughts expressed during that weekend by the elder their comments on immediate problems and general Roshei Yeshiva, who are members of the Moetzes trends. The most recent convention) which took place Gedolei HaTorah. in Atlantic City, N. J., late November, afforded many
Attoh Echod ... Amcha ... Goy Echod The Oneness of G-d and His People
"You are one, Your na1ne is one. Who is like Your people-One nation on Earth?" (Mincha leShabbos) We do not think of G-d's oneness in the comparative-that He is unique because He surpasses all other forces ilT knowledge or power . ... We can only conceive of Him in the absolute; and we can only refer to His knowledge, His powers, His supremacy, in absolute terms. For once there is a Divine frame of reference, no forces-natural or occult, sacred or profane---can even exist in dependent of Him and comparisons of any sort are totally out of place. In the Shabbos afternoon amida, G-d, His name, and His people are all de scribed with the same term of uniqueness: Attoh echod-Amcho ... goy echod. Eehod-" one." This same unique one-ness must perforce apply to the Jewish people as it does to Him, making comparisons between Jewry and other nations' peoplehood impossible, rendering any criteria used to portray any other peoplehood unfit for A describing the Jewish People. These criteria simply have no application to a Theological People whose design for existence sh1ce its inception-whose structure, history and pattern of continued existence-is only 1neant to correspond to the design Parallel: for the manifestation of His glory. No matter how lofty the niche served for the Jewish people, comparisons can only be an exercise in minimization. There is a further parallel between the Attoh echod and goy echod-the one-ness of G-d and that of His people. The Gemora speaks of G-d's tefillin, which serves to "bind His mind and acts" as do the tefillin of His people. Inscribed on the "parchment of His tefillin" are the words: "And who is like Your people, one nation on the earth?" His bond to our one-ness corresponds to our allegiance to His one-ness. If, by any doctrine of secular nationalism, or any theories of political science, the one-ness of the Jewish people is reduced from the absolute to the co1nparative, a corresponding reduction of the Deity's one-ness is also implied. We must guard the sanctity of our l'eople as jealously as we guard our commitment to His sanctity. There is a prophecy which refers to the awesome effects of the tefillin: "When the nations of the Earth see the name of G-d proclaimed upon you (the head-tefillin) they will be awe-struck before you." When the Jews come to fully recognize the singularity of the Creator, as recorded in the tefillin, the singularity of the Jewish People will then also become apparent to all. -Horav Moshe Feinstein
8 The Je1vish Observer I Dece1nber, 1971 .·The first BaisBamikdosh stood for 410 years-"'-'"'ten years.less than the Second BaisHamikdosh. Actually the first Temple had been destined to stand an additional ten years, but by Divine calculations its tenure was shortened. Fourteen years prior to Nevuchadnetzar's destruction of the first Bilis Hamikdosh, golus Yochanya took place-an exiling of the spiritual leaders and ·· teachers of the Jewish People. Their role was to prepare the climate and establish A those institutions in Babylonia essential to a Torah life in the 70 year exile that was to begin fourteen years hence. Had the lapse of time between golus Yochanya HistoriCal and the exiling of the rest of Jewry been of greater duration, Yochanya's efforts Perspective would have been dissipated by the time the rest of the populace joined them in Babylon. The Divine plan of shortening the tenure of the First Bais Hamikdosh by those ten years was based on the premise that it was worthwhile foregoing ten years in the Holy Land for the sake of an enriched Torah-life in golus. This priority of Torah life over living in our Holy Land can be applied td present-day events, for by the same token, when a stay in exile does terminate, it must not be at the expense of the Torah content of those who return. When a golus period does come to a close, every effort must /Je expended to insure the Torah vitality of those who return to their spiritual homeland. -Horav Yaakov Yitzchok Halevi Ruderman
-.· . .. The Lovon Factor: A Supra-Theological Nationalism The Pessach Haggadah describes Lavon as "having sought to uproot all" of Israel; yet a cursory examination of his statements, his deceptions, his deeds, down to his last pursuit of Y aakov and his family when they stole away from Charon, finds no mention of such genocidic designs. But at their final parting at Galead, Lavon consecrated the pa~t of friendship · ·1euis1i·· between him and Yaakov by invoking "the G-d (sacred) of Avraham and the .. N atiimalism god (profane) of Nachor, (to} judge between us." Then he added, with no apparent relationship, "the god of their father." This, in effect, was an invitation to form a deific bond of nationalism based on common ancestry- one that would allow for private loyalties to lesser personal gods. Yaakov demurred .. and instead sealed his oath of allegiance with yet a different reference to Hashem Yisborach-"the Fear of Yitzchok his father" Challenge laking pains to omit any reference to Lovon's words. and Common ancestry may be basis for kinship, but even then it can only be Defense taken into account when devoid of supra-theological or mystical implications. His invitation to form a nationalistic bond between them, "based on the god of their father," was Lovon's genocidic thrust at Israel's integrity. One of the distractions of modern Israel is the ubiquitous spirit of nationalism which can at tbnes pre-empt authentic religious stirrings. Indeed, even: though the -Kosel Maarovi is revered as the last vestige of the Shechinah in our golus condition, in the eyes of a visitor the vastness of the plaza can dwarf the towering majesty of the significance of the Kosel itself. The nationalistic bond of Jewishness is a spiritual bond, and it canno( be replaced or bolstered by any other unifying factor, nor may it be subjegated to any such factors. 0 -Horav Y aakov Kamenetsky
The lewisli Observer / December, }971 . ·· ··· David Meps The Rabbinate at Bay
The perennial struggle between the secular forces and religion in Israel now focuses on control The Breach violent opposition. The ruling groups in the "Align ment," particularly the Mapai, may not want a State T IS SADLY OBVIOUS that the tension over religious dominated by the Rabbis-but they do not want it problems in Israel has reached extraordinary pro altogether shorn of its distinctive Jewish characcr, I portions. The question of "Who is a Jew?" and what which provides it with a historical identity, a unique is a valid conversion to Judaism; the problems of civil ethical mission, and a powerful link with World Jewry. marriage and of the status of mamzerim; the prolifera Separation of State and religion is even more unaccept tion of Shahbos work permits, transportation and able to the Mapai's religious partners in the govern recreational projects; the threat which National Service ment, the Mifdal*, which is deeply committed to seeing for girls and forced autopsies represent for the religious in the creation of the State a religious phenomenon, Jew; all these and many other such issues have given a the beginning of the redemption. new edge to the K ulturkampf in Israel. It is no longer seen only as a rather abstract question of whether the State shall have an essentially religious or totally The "Solution": More Flexible Rabbis secular character, but as a very personal problem: the HEY HAVE INSTEAD another "solution." "Let secularist is convinced that his personal rights and way the Rabbis be more flexible and understanding of life are being interfered with-and by the same Tin their application of halachah, taking into ac token, the religious citizen feels that his own personal count the views of the State and courageously freeing existence as a Torah-observing Jew is put in jeopardy. the halachah from the rigidity that has frozen it into its As the tension rises ever higher, and actually has present forms!" If only this were done, religion could led to violence and threats of violence, the search for peacefully coexist with a democratic State, on a basis a solution becomes ever more pressing. But along what of enlightened give-and-take, rather than clashing with lines can it be found? Given the present composition it. Golda Meir has repeatedly, and shrilly voiced this of the population, it is obvious that the State will not view; in a more reasoned way it has been presented at agree to accept the rulings of the Rabbis on all the length by Professor Moshe Silberg (Ha'aretz, October many crucial issues of contention between the religious 19, 1971), who argues that the State of Israel cannot and the secular camps. (In a recent article in She'arim, be separated from the halachah but that, on the other called "Turning Inward," Rabbi Kalman Kahane, vet hand, the Rabbis of the Talmud always found ways of eran Poalcy Agudath Israel leader and certainly a man adapting the halachah to the needs of the community, with a positive attitude toward the building of Fretz Yisroel, warns against the wide-spread but dangerous "And this is the question l want to put to the illusions that, with just a bit more effort and dedication, Rabbis: if it should become clear, and the Rabbis the State can be converted into a Torah-State; instead, themselves would concede, that a certain issur of Rabbi Kahane calls for strengthening our own camp the Torah seriously hurts the interests of the -a realism increasingly shared by the more thoughtful State, and there is a need to abolish, limit, or throughout the religious sector.) amend it, would they consider then1selves au The alternative would be the separation of State and thorized to do so? The ansJver to this question religion (see Jewish Observer, July, 1970). Quite apart must be af]irmative , .. the Chief Rabbinate of from the disadvantages and dangers inherent in this our days is the Sanhedrin of the time of the course of action, however, it is bound to encounter * Editor's note: DAVID MEYERS has been represented in the Jewish Observer The Mizrachi as a political party in Israel is known as Ji.iif with "Nonna/ization-A Strategy in Self-Defeat" (June '71) lagat Datit LeUniit-Nationa! Religious Party, usually refer and "(J11bidden Sponsors" (Oct. '71). red to in the abbreviated form of Mifdal and NRP. 10 The Jewish Observer / Decen1ber, 1971 Sei:6nd Temple, and 'Yi/tilth in his generatioii is inertts to the :Pathology·· Law (g6verning autopsies), · like Shmuel in his generation!' ..." and most :recently the question of National Service for The argument, persuasive as it sounds and wrong girls, have found the government, including its Mifdal as it is, is of course the same that Conservative Juda ministers, on one side, and the Rabbis and Dayanim ism has always used to justify its attitude to Torah. of the country, including the Chever Harabbanim shel ·· Remarkably enough, in the circumstances, this argu Mifdal (the Mifdal's rabbinic arm), on the other side. ment is also put forward-though with more caution . There should be no need to stress that the positions -by prominent members of the Mifdal. Thus Professor taken by the Rabbis on these cases were taken with a Gilath, head of the Department of Talmud at Bar-Ilan heavy heart, and only because halachah is not something University, at a recent Seminar for members of the to be tailored to the needs and conveniences of the Knesset, argued that "communal and social problems moment-because it is meant to mold our life rather arc a crucial factor to be taken into account in making than being molded by it. Surely this should be obvious halachic decision," and bitterly complained that "ques .to anybody with a genuine understanding of what tions affecting the vital interests of the country are Torah is. Yet the battlecry has been that the Kultur weighed by Torah authorities who have no sense of kampf must be brought to an end-and the Rabbis . communal responsibility and do not see the historic must be made to bend . consequences of their halachic decisions." (In a re As a result, a bitter battle has begun; on many dif markable display of irresponsibility on his part, Profes ferent fronts, but with one objective at stake: bringing sor Gilath then proceeded to show how the problems about a reform of the Israeli rabbinate. This battle of mamzerim, agunos, and yibum, could all be solved has not received enough attention in this country--:yet with a snap of the fingers, given the right attitude.) .·· its outcome will largely decide on what terms the A series of speeches and interviews by the Chiet Kulturkampf in Israel will be resolved, what place Rabbi of Tel-Aviv, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, seemed to Torah will occupy in the Jewish State, and-ultimately his hearers and readers to echo such thoughts: "There -the destiny of the State itself. is the possibility to conduct the government according The determined attack that has been·· 1aunched has to the halachah. but the rabbinate is obligated to find already borne some bitter fruit: the concerns and de in the ha/achah all possibilities of leniency. . . . The mands of Torah Jewry have been distorted and mis permanency of halachah is based on its flexibility, and represented in the public media; orthodoxy, compelled this flexibility can be extended if serious problems face to struggle for its rights, has been forced into the us." Rabbi Goren stressed that "from my experience defensive, and before a misinformed, public the Rab it is clear to me that halachah is sufficiently flexible to bonim have been cast in the role of villains. But it is make possible the free and democratic life of the Jewish clear that the attack will be pushed to its ultimate end people in its land," and expressed his regret that there ~subjugating Torah and its guardians to the will of are extremists in the Rabbinate who often determine a secular government. It is tragic that the government .·its image. can count on the cooperation of religious partners to-.· . Rabbi Goren's remarks drew heavy fire, notably tally blind to the implications of the policies pursued . from Rabbi Bezalel Zolty, a member of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, who pointed out that "one misleads Stage I: The Barrage the public by proclaiming that the halachah is flexible" .. .. BATTLEIJSUAT.I.Y Bf.GrNS with an artillery bar~ and creating the impression that all problems can be ·· ..· rage, designed to soften up the enemy. This solved in a manner that suits the government, and that A finds its equivalent in the pressure campaign that it is only the extremism of the Rabbis that stands in has been unleashed against the Rabbis wherever they the way. failed to perform as their critics would like them to. Yet in actual fact, this is the view of many 1n the Rabbinical courts, far from having their judicial in governing coalition, including the Mifdal. They are dependence respected, are ever so often reminded from convinced that, only by an "innovative" and "flexible" the tribune of the Knesset, from the newspaper col · approach to halachah can the problem of State and umns, and by very two-bit agitator, how they arc religion be solved-and they blame the Rabbis for not supposed to decide cases, and on what cases they are adopting this approach. Time and time again the Rab entitled to pass. The tactics used to break the opposi bis, from the Chief Rabbi's Council down to the local tion of the Chever Harabbanim shel Mifdal to the rabbinical courts, have stood in the way of the com amendments to the Law of Return that did not require promises urged by the government and acquiesced in conversion "according to halachah" may still be re~ by the Mifdal: the famous "Viennese conversions," membered; and so may the spirited if unsuccessful the case of the two mamzerim, the legislative struggle campaign to get a "cooperative" rabbinical court to over "conversions according to halachah," and amend- take the case of the mamzerim out of the hands of the The Je\ilish Observer I December, 1971 Dayanim in charge of it, and to produce the desired willingly identify ourselves with this extremism. solution. . ... We have educated in the past and will, with The most recent instance of this kind of pressure is G-d' s help, continue in the future to educate our the controversy over Sheirut LeUmi. In response to the students that 'Daat HaTorah'---and it alone scheme worked out by the government for encouraging determines what is permitted or forbidden to voluntary enlistment of girls in National Service, individual and community." Gedolei HaTorah reaffirmed their longstanding issur This letter is one of many indications that the nature of on any form of enlistment of girls. Their psak din was the struggle is well understood-for beyond the im endorsed by hundreds of Rabbonim and Roshei Y eshi mediate issue at stake, it concerns the right and duty vah from all over the country, including many associ of Rabbonim to judge and teach according to the will ated with the educational institutions of the Mifdal. of the Torah. It would seem that, with the nature of Moreover, the Chever Harabbanim she! Mifdal itself the struggle so clear, no pressure tactics are going to expressed opposition. The reaction of the Mifdal took coerce the Rabbonim. remarkable forms. Intense pressure produced a new statement in the Stage II: The Take-over name of the Chever which provided an endorsement of voluntary service-amidst voluble protests from the UT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS of winning the membership that they had not been consulted on this battle: the next step is to try to gain outright "turn-about." (As these lines are written, a special B control of the machinery of the rabbinate, on the membership meeting is being convened to consider the national as well as the local level. It is this considera issue.) As for the many instructors in the Mizrachi tion which explains the present controversies concern sponsorcd Bnci Akiva Y cshivos who had responded to ing the forthcoming election of the Chief Rabbis. the authority of the recognized gedolim of our age and The terms of the incumbents expired quite some had dared to sign the general issur, the official Mifdal time ago. However, in order to hold new elections an newspaper, Hatzofeh, was very blunt: enabling law has to be submitted to the Knesset, which "Their proclan1ation seriously injures the image would e1npowcr the government to issue regulations of the Yeshivot Tichoniot as institutions raising for the new elections. Obviously these regulations their pupils for Torah, piety, love for Israel, and setting the qualifications for candidates, their length of fulfillment of their patriotic duties. . . . With service, and the composition of the electoral body can downcast eyes we have to adn1it the serious decisively influence the outcome of the elections-and failure of the Yeshivot, through their Roshei the government has very specific ideas on what it Yeshiva and educators . ... The proclan1ation is a wants. It has felt, in particular, that the Ashkenazic distressing docun1ent in its form and content, Chief Rabbi, Rabbi -Unterman, has not shown enough consideration for the needs of the State (for instance, which 1nakes necessary a 1110.st thoroughgoing house-cleaning in all these Yeshivot ... without on the issue of the two mamzerim) and it is determined delay and without cover-up. Today and ton1or to use all the leverage it possesses to make sure that it rorr the situation n1ust be exa111ined and the will obtain a more satisfactory replacement. (Mrs. conclusions drattin." Meir specifically asked the two mamzerim and their attorney not to press their case at this time, assuring So they were. In Haifa, five signers of the proclamation them that after the election of the Chief Rabbis a were summarily disn1issed, and on1y the most intense solution will be forthcoming.) protests secured their reinstatement. Several Rabbis of The government's leverage is considerable, for even smaller towns announced that they had been threatened if the Mifdal were to decide to hold out against one or with loss of their positions. A statement was issued in the other of the regulations proposed by the govern the name of the faculty of Midrashat Noam ( Pardes ment, and thus blocked passage of the election law, Chana) that its members who had signed on the proc interim legislation would be needed to extend the Chief lamation had been misled-whereupon the faculty Rabbis' present term and to prevent their authority members promptly declared that this statement was from lapsing. The government agreed to such legisla unauthorized and untrue. In a remarkable display of tion last fall-but pointedly only for a period of four determination, a group of instructors at the Mizrachi months (rather than the one year period customary in sponsored Yeshivat Netiv Meir (Jerusalem) published previous instances). With the pressure of this deadline a response to the above-quoted Hatzafeh article: upon them, the coalition-parties have now reached an "If accepting 'Daat HaTorah' where it does not agreement on the terms of the election-and while the suit the opinion of the Hatzofeh is considered Mifdal is not happy about some details, it is basically ()rthodox extren1isn1, if unreserved acceptance of satisfied, for the regulations drafted in effect assure the 'Daat HaTorah' is Orthodox extren1isn1, then we election of Rabbi Goren, the man whom, for obvious 12 The Jewis!i Observer /December, 1971 unresolved between. government and Mifdal. The gov ernment wants to legislate an age Jimit for Chief . . ..··· ...... Rabbis, to make absolutely sure of the elimination of TheNewlfole Book Rabbi Unterman, while the Mifdal objects, out of fear The regulations drafted deserve our dosetscrutiny, that such a provision will make a boycott of the elec- for their adoption has correctly been called "a dra tions by the Rabbonim a certainty. However, this matic turning point fo the history of the institution." much is certain: if the present government plans ·will Among other points, they do away with the rule that go through, the Chief Rabbinate will become a mere the Chief Rabbis' Council must approve election pro- tool of the government. . cedures (as was provided at the time the Chief Rab When the Chief Rabbinate was . originally created, binate was established), or must at least be consulted Gedolei Yisroel strongly opposed the idea, because of on them (as later legislation provided, up to now). their conviction that there cannot be an independent In fact, the new election regulations were drafted by Rabbinate if it depends on the will of the secular maj the Ministers of Religions and Justice without any ority for its election and authority; as a result, Torah consultation with the Chief Rabbis and the Council. Jewry never fully made peace with the Chief Rabbinate The new rules turn over the election of the Chief (see box). Through the years there have indeed been Rabbis to a body composed in half of "representatives of the public" (heretofore these formed only 40% of the electorate), and do not require that these rep Whereas the Chief Rabbis had heretofore been resentatives declare that they have a positive attitude chosen by he community's rabbis and heads of toward Judaism. The new rules furthermore do away religious institutions, the Zionists introduced the with the requirement that the Rabbis on the electoral idea of a chief rabbinate with elections according body (who now will only form 50%) must all be in tu new rules which would give secularists a pow erful say in determining who would be the chief actual Rabbinic service, and allow the Minister of rabbis. Religions to appoint 10 of these Rabbis at his own Thus the battle was joined. Rabbi Yossef Cha:.. · discretion upon his own judgment of their qualifica yim Sonnenfeld led a bitter struggle against this tions. In other words, through this last provision as secular invasion of the rabbinate. On the other well as his role in the choice of the "public representa side was Rabbi Kook, who eventually, with the tives," the Minister of Religions can now in effect backing of the Mizrachi movement, became the .· · determine who will be elected as Chief Rabbi. (In first chief rabbi under the new system .... On terestingly enough, the readiness to give such power to the day the election took place Rabbi Sonnenfeld this minister reveals the Mifdal's determination to proclaimed a day of fasting for what he consid remain in the government and in control of this port ered a national tragedy. folio no matter what new conflicts will arise between " If some of us today fail to see the danger in u secular force controlling a rabbinical body," the government majority and the Orthodox.) wm·ned Rabbi Sonnenfeld with prophetic grim · Members of the Chief Rabbis' Council have violent ness, "in years to come all will agree." ly protested the new rules which "do away with the Rabbi Kook, it seems. also quickly cooled off safeguards for an independent Chief Rabbinate upon from his enthusiasm for secular participation in ·· which Rabbi Kook insisted at the very creation of the rabbimeal elections. At a conference for the es- institution," and they warn that the Council will not 1ablishment of the new chief rabbinate, held at be able to participate in the elections on this basis. the Zion Orphanage in Jerusalem on 14 Adar-l, 5681, he m ade the following statement: Likewise the Chever Harabbanim shel Mifdal decided to boycott the elections unless the Rabbonim will again "We originally looked with favor upon the par ticipation of non-rabbinical forces in the arrang be given a majority on the electoral body. A gudath ing of rabbinical a.flairs. But in the course of the Israel is seeking to force a full airing of the whole negotiations it is becoming clear that those whom issue in the Knesset. There the details of the regulations we expected to help is in establishing the rabbin would normally not be discussed, but only the law ate wish to gain control of it. We have seen their enabling the government to issue regulations; to prevent ambition w become the determining factor, a sit this, Agudath Israel is submitting a series of amend uation which is certainly unacceptable. We are ments to the enabling law, which would spell out in lovers and pursuers of peace, but it should be detail how the Chief Rabbis should be elected, and clear that we can not compromise on basic prin ciples. We have principles sacred to us no less would force the Mifdal to take a public stand. tlwn those of the secularists-and we shall defend Row Old May a Rabbi Be? them." (italics from Rabbi Menachem Pomsh's column, The future developments are uncertain, as of this ·· Jewish Press, Decemlw· 31, 1971) . writing, particularly since there is still one question The Jewish Observer I Di!cember, .1971 many efforts to intimidate or dictate to the Chief Rabbis ity to make sure of Mifdal control. As a result of some -and now finally the fears of the Gedolei Yisroel are of the most glaring partisan appointments, the com receiving their fullest corroboration. Chief Rabbis el position of the Religious Councils in Jerusalem, Petach ected under the new rules and (unlike judges of the Tikvah, and Bnci Brak (where the Mifdal, in the first Supreme Court or even the governor of the National place, forced the establishment of a Religious Council Bank) requiring re-election every five years, will un against the opposition of the local Rabbonim) has been doubtedly have to show some of the "flexibility" so appealed to the courts, and is presently sub judice. demanded by the government, and will feel compelled Whatever the results, however, the effort to control to help promote within the rabbinate the new spirit of the local rabbinate is obvious and sure to continue. It accommodation. should therefore not surprise anyone if a movement en1erges to create a truly independent rabbinate, on Stage III: Local Control the local level-and, ultimately, perhaps also on the national level. This is the meaning of the recent "illegal HE SAME CONTROL THAT IS SOUGHT over the Chief election" of a Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, which rep Rabbinate is also sought over the local Rabbonim. resents just another skirmish in the Battle of the T Here the procedure is even simpler. They are Rabbinate presently underway. chosen by the local Religious Councils-and the Min The last Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, ister of Religions has far-reaching authority to deter Rabbi Pessach Tzvi Frank ?"r, passed away eleven mine the composition of these councils. Their term just years ago. In all these years no official successor was recently expired, and Dr. Wahrhaftig used this author- chosen. Lately, however, with a Religious Council ap- "A GREETING AND A WARNING" (Excerpts I 0''Wi1' 'J::l1 1:Jn We the undersigned, empowered by the Chever Horab ;rw:m ;,-,;nxi Xl1""1ix? :i::i; mm1::1 banim VeRoshei Yeshivas Hakedoshos (Association of ,l1l\'Jl"li'il I':\J.'l!l'il '\!IN11 D'JJ~,.., lJll riY'NJ >J"n;; 1lnJN 'J Nn11'.Jn1 Pnn1\!I ::-;,; m':>'C'l~'J. J.\!11''1 ·1 oy ';JJ';J nlJ. 0 ,y,111, Rabbis and Roshei Yeshiva of Jerusalem I, hereby an ,1:111pi1 l'll 7y; il11J)';>_1 <-1111 ::Ct1 '111JJ~ :i·1 nJ11 ;1p•w '""; nounce that, after great deliberation, we have elected 'N'1 .:n lli:P n:ivr.i JON J''J" nlJ1\!l'il '\!INll o•i.:i.1'' ;~ 11rn1 ll'D :i11m r1;1 ri•::i l::in w G•Jv '~'iir ?N''i~::i ':Ii pN.\ RABBI BEZALEL ZOLTY, X"D'?!L' O>ni1.:>::1 lJNl .N"lJln D'71:'n> J1"1P'Y 'JJl l:'N11 p:n :n';J J1<1v•J Member of the National Supreme Rabbinical Court ;nm::i lnu;i ,-r)I~ lD\!I_ ·1-n::.1 Nl'1 "lnJ D'D\!IJ\!I u•:m 1 1~1J N:n:> •';JDN ''t" pNJ;1 ';Jw 0•1:"1 on>.n\!I o•J\!11''J.1 as Chief Rabbi of the City of Jerusalem. ni1r.m nimx:i on•;-HtJ1 o~';Jr:;· cl',-,n1~1 CP\!IVJD llN )1'Dl.l\ \!l>N 01\!I ]'il• '.JJ':> ,J"J'1 r11\!1'1j;>'1 n>J>\!l>i', '\!l~l', D'l::lli"', )) D\!IJ We trust that He who has chosen the Torah and the ,'11111,-, 'JJ:Jn ';J\!I 1n'.:'ni:i l''''H 1>;,,1 .H "ll!IJJ'; m111:iv11J i·~;1';J .;-nm 71:-• '1Jn7y':o 1··n 0111';>1 np1)nn:i p>m,-,J N':ll!i City of Jerusalem as His, will also find favor in our choice . D1N, p Ol\;') :nil?, °!'NI? .D~'';> ~"'11:;>J 1)'1),, J1N D')l'l' uxn At this writing, we are issuing the strongest of warnings, )J"V) N':l Dll .n Cl"'l\!10:::'.:" nnn)lllJ 1:-")<\'o Xl'1\!i Dl;JJJ J:>J '.>N.1\!i>).1 that no individual dare to announce candidacy for this lJ':> VDl\'Ji"l1 Olj;>D" JJ)ll )y cn1n ny; 1 ·~,'~~\ 1 ~~~~ ~;';~ ;-n'J "1J1 nN 0'P' l\!iN 11"1J lJ D'lP'l "Yl 1n_~)J PNVl lll)J )D\!I> position, or to aid even remotely in contesting for this ·l~'"" n".'>':'r N'.>1 - 11N.1,-, 'nm- '1"J D'l'.l\'J 1\J:>';> .;""]JlJl Ol)'V D'\!IJ tl'tlrilnl O'Jm:;i;; J11'l1)!J position to which we elected Rabbi Zolty. .\!11;Jtl'11 \!111p'1 l'Y 11DJ1 ;--,\!inpJ 01;-,JJJ 1n'Jn~1 1~-iN l'JY ';>y "··::i •; nv1vn';> D'~~tl'1 J.11[.'J HORAV YITZCHOK WACHTFOGEL J'"':l\!in 1wn11.i t"'J 7.l'i!l~~, :li'Y' pn;;' :n,~ Chief Justice of Supreme Rabbinical Court l:"l'':I< m''"°" '~; •,1;..1 n ;,·: ;·:ir of all Ashkenazic communities, and Rov N.. ::·r- ~~'"· ;;'"i"J."::. ·:r... ::.-, and Rosh Yeshiva, Jerusalem li~WJ0'1i i!Ji?7R :ii;i HORAV ELKANAH WISENSTERN e-· n•:iv. ;;u-.,,l~i~n1~·111:t~~.~ir-· ~.,,,.,,,: :- Rov in Jerusalem, and head of the Chief Rabbinate 0'""'': /\',"'"''" ';J~ )•;J ···:-. ~::~'C' ;'.-'~? ::;'•' _:i- Office of Religious Council of Jerusalem ------~ HORAV BORUCH YITZCHOK LEVINE Rov and Rosh Yeshiva, Jerusalem Spokesman for Association of Rabbis of Jerusalem Communities A "greeting and blessing," affirming the election of Rabbi Zolty, coupled with a plea to official circles to join with "consent, and rejoice in the choice" of Rabbi Zolty. 1w '.::i l:IWN-i:i• l:l"n"'*"tm 1:1•.,iu:i .,, nN ll'i"J!I., :ii:i 1i>im Signed by Rabbinical leaders of Sephardic Jews of Israel: 1•:i:i x•:i• :i1 i:i11 n1•:i:i ,1.: 0'"'""'' D'"''~'l:i '" m•:i., 1>1:n1:i .m.::ill'il .,,., :i•:i"t11n .,, "l'' tJ":i•v o•.,1?11•., HORAV SALOMON CHAGI AVODI Member of {Sephardic) Chief Rabbinate HORAV NATAN SELEM ~i"'!i :iil:-,, 1i1::iv ·~1n lN~)o Senior Rabbi of Syrian Jews ~"" ""~ 1'>'<1' 14 The Jewish Observer I December, 1971 poi~fed by the Miriistet of Religions to his own sat· isfaction,.it appeared thatthe election machinery would soon swing into action. At that moment, a representa tive group of Rabbonim and Roshei Y eshivah joined ·together to elect a Chief Rabbi on their own, disregard Stage IV: For the Future -··· ·.··· ing the official machinery provided by the law-and the A New Breed of Rabbis person chosen was none other than Rabbi Bezalel Zolty, mentioned above for his forthright defense of ··T···· · HE RESISTANCE OF THE RABBONIM and Roshei the rabbinate and the halachic tradition (see box). His .··.. Yeshiva to the. '_'r~newc:J of the ra~binate," as formal installation brought together leading Torah per government poht1c1ans like to call it, has only sonalities representing the Chief Rabbinate, the local given further impetus to the idea of producing .an · Rabbonim, and the major Yeshivos, in an impressive entirely new generation of Rabhonim who could be demonstration for the independence of Torah leader relied on to labor in the spirit of flexibility and accom ship. It seems clear, and almost inevitable, that-as modation to the demands of the State. - The means efforts are made to put the machinery of the official to this end? The establishment of a modern Rabbinical rabbinate under political control and dictate to it how Seminary. to conduct itself-the idea of an independent rabbinate Plans of this nature are not riew. Iri 1956, when the gains impetus. founding of such an institution was announced, the True enough, there was a violent reaction in govern Gedolei Torah, led by the Brisker Rov and Rabbi ment circles. The Knesset Committee for Internal Pessach Zvi Frank, came out with a formal condemna- Affairs acted with remarkable and quite unusual speed, tion and the project died still-born. Now, however, the .·within one day of Rabbi Zolty's installation, by critic sponsors of this idea feel a new urgency: What use is izing this event as "disturbing communal order"; by control of the machinery of the rabbinate if there are calling upon the Minister of Religions to speed up the .. no rabbis who understand the spirit of the age and official election of a Chief Rabbi in Jerusalem; and . could render the halachic decisions needed today? This by demanding a ruling whether Rabbi Zolty violated in effect was the point made by Dr. Loosktein, chancel any law by accepting the position. The Mifdal in Jeru lor of Bar-Ilan University, when he announced that a salem threatened that the Rabbonim who took part in rabbinical seminary would be opened in conjunction Rabbi Zolty's election would be deprived their gov with his institution, the pride of the world Mizrachi ernment salaries or even be dismissed from their movement. positions. But none of this will determine how Torah The orientation ancl thrust of such a program urider Jewry will view Rabbi Zolty's election. such sponsorship need not be explained at length. It "The secularists do not really need a rabbinate, is not just the utter disregard for Rabbonim, so openly and they are willing to accept it only if it acts in demonstrated, that matters. (How the leaders of Bar accord with government interest and policies. The Ilan University see their role vis-a-vis the Daat Ha- .Tew loyal to halachah needs a rabbinate, but only Torah of gedolel Yisroel was shown at a special press if it truly represents 'Daas HaTorah' rather than conference at which the rector and leading professors .· the will of a government or a coalition. As the declared that "as religious educators we see it as our ofjicial rabbinate is deprived of any truly inde duty to give support to the girls who enrolled or will pendent status, one is forced to the conclusion enroll in National Service," in the face of all the pro that an independent rabbinate must be set up, nouncement made against it; the University is present disregarding the desires of the government or of ly considering whether or not to bar any women stu · .. the Mifdal which views itself as the f!Uardian of dents who did not join National Service.) The entire .. the official rabbinate. The government coalition spirit and attitude toward mitzvos and Torah that .... can appoint official rabbis but it cannot force prevade the Bar-Ilan campus are well-known and them upon the Torah community." a source of concern to many of the more thought mul members of Mifdal. But, beyond this, there is The Hamodia, organ of Agudath Israel, goes on to the special nature of the Department of Talmud as point out that, it is not compliance with Knesset reg it presently exists under the leadership of Professor ulation that lends authority to a Rav, but only recogni Gilath (mentioned above), proud of its co-educational .. tion by those who truly represent the Torah commu Talmud courses marked by their "modernity" and nity, the Rabbonim and Talmidei Chachomim. It goes critical scientific approach to Talmud and Codes (see on to stress that: Hatzofeh, Ellul 2, 5728). The type of Rabbis produced "it is certain that an auton01nous rabbinate will .· under such auspices can easily be divined, and Dr. not attain speedy recognition, and will be fought Lookstein's announcement was immediately met by a ·· The Jewish Obsenw / December, 197 l strongly-worded protest signed by the heads of the Only in this way could a new type of modem Rabbi major Yeshivas (see box). be produced who would stand for a modernized and It is too early to predict whether, in the face of this more "adaptable" Yiddishkeit. Such Rabbis will be opposition, Bar-Ilan will drop its plans for good. demanded by the national leadership of Mifdal-and Meanwhile a similar project was announced in Jeru by the local religious councils under Mifdal control. salem under the sponsorship of the Midrasha connected Three years ago, for instance, the Mifdal-dominated with the Harry Fischel Institute. As these lines are religious council of Givatayim advertised for a Rabbi being written however, a statement by the Midrasha's whose qualification had to include army service and a adminisration declares that "in the light of the inter good knowledge of the entire country, so that he should vention of Rabboniln and Roshei Yeshiva . . . the "know something about all aspects of the world," as the administration decided that the entire time of study secretary of the council put it. Ultimately, the battle should be devoted to Talmud, Codes, Mussar, and over the Rabbinate may well be decided by the avail Faith," modifying the origiual idea of a Rabbinical abiliy of a new brand of Rabbi. Seminary. Yet there seems little doubt that the efforts to create such an institution in Eretz Yisroel will con Counter Strategy: Vigilance and Exposure tinue. HE STRUGGLE WE HAVE DESCRIBED is a desperate one-and the stakes immense. If the drive for the "''~" ~\'!1' ,., .. \'.,,,.,.. O'l"" .,,, '"' ~o;n;· ·~·>< :.i17-,~,,,~, "" ~'"' '""'~ ""~'~ 1)~tV1D "''"'" ,;,,c;J """ ·"'"'"' ::JimNO ""''' ""'"' ''""'"' T """~"" ~"''~ "~''' ""~"" ~~v or>N')"Jl ~1U'\0 "'JI'! ·"J 1'':-> '\O'N ' l'Vl ':' OY l1N 0'1'1,m ><'1'"" "'"''f.'Y "Reform of the Rabbinate" should succeed, G-d '"' ""'~V' .LJ;,, "'' .,,, ''l.'"'" "" '~" N;-1 "~''''"' ''""~ ':'1 '"'" 01>:' 1v no1;m "" ,,,,, .• '""'' '"'1 ~""' "'" ,,,,, ·"'""'' •NO\• ,., :0'1N- Ol'Nl ,,,.., r.n '"" o"""" l'N ''"'- forbid, and there would not, at least, emerge a new ,-,,1 '"'l ll''''"' r'•lt'''~ ,.,.,,, ·;1 7n'"' :·"'"' on~y ;y 7'.lj7'.i 11Y o•7,1tJtl m•1- 16 The Jewish Observer I December, 1971 .. " ,.".-·": ,.· .. :·.. chinations .arid .deals h ave been exposed to the light of ' ·.· / . . ::: .. day, their sponsors have been .put on the defet1sive or · ·· BURIAL IN ERETZ ISRAEL. .:.-.· ·.·::.:>· .:,,. · - -· even forced to give up their p1ans . .A s proposed solu tions to religious problems have been unmasked as Chevra Kadisha Perushinr-Ashkenazim .. . · indefensible compromises, and violations of basic OF JERUSALEM ·Torah principles, they could no longer be put across ' ' ~ ' e with impunity. If the pattern, traced here, of a sys Founded 5616 (1856) tematic attack on the rabbinate and a new demand for _.·· ... . halachic flexibility is clearly recognized and spelled PINCUS MANDEL, sole representative ...' ., .,.. ~· out to the community at large in its full revolutionary . ·· ..•- i significance, there is a good chance that those re Over 21 years experience sponsible will have second thoughts about the advis- . ·interment in all parts of Eretz Yisrael . .. ability of persevering on their course. Through vigil .· · ance alone-constant, unremitting, and perceptive J75 LEE AVENUE, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 11211 vigilance--can the Battle of the Rabbinate in Israel be won. 0 Day and Nite Phone 855-5121 A dedicated, dependable, expeditious service ..· ... ..: .. MACHON SARAH SCHENIRER of the Beth Jacob Teachers Seminary of Jerusalem O Special De Agudah Member-over 42 years. partment for American girls who wish to study in Charter Member, Brownsville Branch Israel to complete Teachers Training O 1 and 2 years programs O Leads to license from Israeli Ministry of Education n Dormitory facilities 0 Hundreds of American girls have completed this course with greatest satisfaction O For informa tion, write: Machon Sarah Schenirer I P.0.B. 511 I Jerusalem '.:.] GO ISRAEL- THE TORAH WAY SELECT, DON'T SETTLE! We'll Make the Land of fhe Torah Come Alive :;;?:'~~ ····"'"-,,. _; Through Agudah Tours, you'll walk through the ·..;/ :.:·_ ·:~).. .; .•.. .. -~- ~ - . broad sweep of Jewish history. Join one of our find hlit -~ how an invitation is never. ..· > : . ... organized tours which arranges every detail of your trip for you or al/ow our experts to arrange -~.. •< ~~~ ;~~1~~:~s~~!1f{JJ~~1~~~~e~~i~ i'fi~}~,- <:...... ·:. tours to fit your plans. 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Y. 10038 1 Tel: 258-0709 or 964-1620 Ask for At.IZA . . . ~;~1;i~l!illY1ii!~ISl~~~Miifl ...... j 7 . .:,.-· Tire Jewish Ol1server I December, 1971 ..·· ..."_ ... ~ · ...· · .. ::.·· .· ' ..- .· .. ·' ~. ·. .·. -:. .. ,." .. : ...... - .. · . .· .- ,· .· _,.· , ... ·· ·.··,.:.·:·. ....· ,.· Yatl L'achim &the Aliya of Russia sGeorgian Jews "No one understands .••" For more than a year YAO L'ACHIM has been aiding this extraordinary - Rabbi Butrashvi!li community of Russian Jews. To make their voices heard and to help maintain their courageous determina tion to practice a full religious life YAO L'ACHIM has assisted Rabbi Yehuda Butrashvilli - the highly respected leader of Georgian Jewry - in establishing the "Organization of Immigrants from Georgia in Israel." In an interivew with uMaariv" reporter Dov Goldstein, which appeared on December 3rd, Rabbi Butrashvilli stated the case in dignified but tragic terms: I said to the Minister of Absorption: You senfl our young people to non-religious kih])utzim ••. tl1ey're expossed to lac].,;: YAO L'ACHIM sponsored Torah class of kashrut, to im1nodcsty, and to secularisnt. for Georgian immigrants, "So what?" was his answer. "Tarfus isn't sh111ad." "No one seems fo care •.." They don't want to understan(l that for an imn1igrant - Rabbi Butrashvilli from Georgia, to eat tar/us-that is shmatl! No one "\\'ants to understand! BUT YAD L'ACHIM lJNDERSTANDS!! AND YOU l!NDERSTAND!! WILL YOlJ HEI,P? New emigrants from Georgia already total more than 5,000 and they continue to come. A rare community of Jews, profoundly committed to Torah life desperately YAO L'ACHIM sponsored excursions needs a YAO L'ACHIM. during school vacation. YAO L'ACHIM helps with funds, with Sifrei Torah, with sforim, with t e f i II i n . "The welcome here is cold, indifferent." - Rabbi Butrashvilli YAO L'ACHIM helps with typewriters, with paper, with stamps, with bus ,,~ tickets, with food. YAO L'ACHIM must provide tens of thousands of dollars to meet the needs of our brothers from Russia. Will you give a "hand to brothers" who have withstood 2,000 years of Russian "shmad" - 50 year of communist "shmad"? Help save this community whose glory is Torah life! We need your support now! YAD L'ACHIM 156 Fifth Avenue, Room 513 New York, N. Y. 10010 A YAO L'ACHIM sponsored Succos Who is Yad L'achim? celebration for Georgian immigrants. •' "Yad L'achim - Hachever J-lan1achane Ilatorati B'Yisroel proved J YAD L'ACHJM I I what ca!l he wrought and saved tl1rough constant effort a1nongst t l.56 5th Avenue, N.Y.C. 10010 I I the immigrant coinmunities, and with their extraordinary effort I want tC' extend a hand to Georgian : they have brought h11ndreds and tl1ousands of 011r brothers to Jews In understand and I will help. ! kedusha." Enclosed please find $...... "' I I I HORAV ELIEZER MENACHEM SHACH HORAV YAAKOV YISROEL KANIEVSKY Name ...... I I HORAV CHAIM SHMULEVITZ HORAV MOSHE CHEVRON! Address ...... , ...... : HORAV YECHEZKEL ABRAMSKI HORAV EZRA ATAYA City ...... State ...... Zip...... : HORAV YISROEL ALTER·Ger HORAV REFOEL TOLIDANO ------" 18 The Je1vish Observer / Decen1ber, 1971 V oluntaty National Service fot Gitls · Compromise of a Nation} Purity INCREDIBLE AS IT MAY SEEM, at this time when Israel's sider-..c:.rtot parental insight or personal wish~ This is very existence is under threat and when unity on the in direct contradiction to the principle of "pnima"..;:... home-front should be at top priority, the government not subjecting a girl to outside control; and as such it has chosen to revive a controversy that was laid to rest was simply an unthinkable plan. eighteen years ago-the issue of drafting women into Predictably, the religious yishuv reacted· with·· an .· the army and its attendant threat, national service uproar. The rabbinic leadership, with the Moetzes Sheirut LeUmi. Gedolei HaTorah (Council of Torah Sages of Agudath .· The Law of Military Draft of Women has been on Israel) of Bretz Yisroel at its helm, viewed Sheirut the books for almost two decades. At the time it was LeUmi as a threat that requires unconditional resist passed, then-Premier David Ben Gurion made no secret ance-even to the point of yehoreig ve'al ya'av or. The of his ulterior motives. The drafted women would plan was so inextricably bound up with subjegation to .. provide scant military benefit, for Israel's main military outside forces; and as such it was related to exposure to strength lies in its reserve system, which involves almost immorality, which is one of the three cardinal sins a all men under 46- but not the women. Ben Gurion Jew must avoid transgressing even at the cost of his was in favor of drafting the women because service in life. Girls were therefore instructed to resist induction the army would serve to unify the Israeli population regardless of the personal sacrifice involved-whether .· · and form one prototype Israeli. The religious yishuv social ostracism or jailing-as expressed by the ul fought this program for all its obvious and subtle im timate of yehoreig: giving up one's life. This stand was plications, for every conscientious J cw realized that also openly expressed by the Chazon Ish, the Brisker unification by Ben Gurion's formula would mean severe Rov, and the Chebiner Rov, zichronom livracha, and loss to that special spiritual identity of kedusha that was articulated on the Knesset floor by the Agudath the Jew so values. By contrast, the promiscuity rampant Israel representatives when they challenged the pro . in any army was, of its own, ground enough for pop posed law. Other rabbinical figures, including the Chief ular, nation-wide objection. Rabbis, added their voices to the growing consensus A compromise law was passed by the Knesset that against Sheirut LeUmi. What resulted was a remark allowed for exemptions on religious grounds, but would able demonstration of massive protest-with huge pub still draft religious objectors into Sheirut LeUmi- na lic rallies in America, as well-indicating to the gov tional service. This is a system of conscription assigning ernment that it faced the threat of civil disobedience girls to offices, hospitals, and other service institutions. of such scope, that the governmnet deemed is wiser to Torah authorities felt that this compromise in effect shelve the matter. would have uprooted every Jewish daughter from the So although the National Service Act was passed it insulating protection of the home and have intruded was never enforced , and while over the years 40% of . upon the tradition of sanctity that is passed from the girls eligible for draft have been opting for exemp ··mother to daughter; for a girl, her personal plans, and tion on religious grounds they have never been drafted the circumstances of her career would become the into Sheirut LeUmi, and remained in private civilian wards. of the state rather than the private domain of life. the girl and her parents. Change of plans, transfer of employment, reaction to unfavorable conditions would The proportion of girls claiming religious ex all be subject to the assessment and action of an out- emption from the army obviously exceeds those who are strictly observant. This simply reflected the EZJUEL TOSHAVl observes the Israeli scene for JO readers. prevalent attitude among parents, who attempt to The Jewish Obsen·er I December, 1971 shelter their daughter from exposure to environments national service and national purity; and if their girls they cannot control. This was demonstrated in an serve, why should other girls be permitted to "dodge article in Davar (Oct. 25) that meant to expose the the draft" on religious grounds? flimsiness of the claim to religiousness of most ex The New Law emptees. It rather succeeded in exposing the universal ity of private abhorrence toward army service for girls. THE STATUS QUO COULD NOT REMAIN. There was pub The article was based on interviews in a Tel Aviv lic agitation toward invdlving all young people in discotheque on a Friday night(!). The gist of the national service. The rate of girls seeking religious discussions was that no man who had served in the exemption from the army dropped; however, the army would allow his sister to be exposed to the pro NRP campaign to persuade its girls into Sheirut LeVmi miscuous atmosphere prevalent in the army, which he was resulting in ever fewer recruits. So a Knesset had witnessed there. As for the girls-if they were so co1nmittee, composed of Ministers of Education, Health, "religious," what were they doing in a place like that Labor, and Welfare, was convened to re-examine the on such a night?-"Well, a girl docs have to get dormant Sheirut LeVmi law. married, and here's where the boys arc." So not all the Welfare Minister, Michael Chazani, who is an NRP exemptees were the typical Me'ah She'arim girls-but, member, was served with a show-cause order from the even in their view, army service was morally out of Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem, demanding that he the question. explain why he not desist from meeting in judgment on a proposal to encourage countless individuals to defy a Rabbinical warning. The Attorney General ad Rumblings in the Interim vised Mr. Chazani that rabbinical courts have no juris NOT ALL WAS QUIET during these eighteen years of diction over national political affairs. So Chazani j~ined grace. The entire concept of avoiding any national service for any reason has been unconscionable to the National Religious Party (Mizrachi). The government, j'i j?O:l for its part, has not contested the pivotal role of the .'.i"'Wl'"l l'"JJW l'"l7'iil'"l:l COi~Jiii'V Yeshiva Bachur at his gen1ora in the defense structure JiiJ:li1 01'.A7 ~:\iJ:l i11U"l TlSl'i lJI1)ii t:'7.A 1::J~i 1'1i'i1 of the State, and has refrained from drafting bnei n1~ii'i1 rli'1":1Y nw;w~ nnN 7w· 1:'1"1T'::lN Nifi '1tvN Yeshiva into the army.... Besides, their value in ii:v"' r,Ni ;;iM"' NiM i"'iMW military service would be numerically insignificant. yiir;-; n::J:i ::!''"' Vin i'Vin7 t:l'i~iY J"liJiiji,iVfii nrii:ii Yet the NRP has been insisting that the students of 'n1TN '?JiN7 rli1W'7 0''.A11i1;1 ::J.l''Tlfl7 7NiiV' 11i.J:l 1'1N ~v1l1 ':l 1ll1Y1 C'?ll.l UM J~ 7y ,i;:J~0 !11l01.l:J M7tv its Bnei Akiva yeshivas serve in the army. This is 'n1TM 'l.l1M7 l111lV ;y Cl ?n C'Wl 01')1 110'1' 1"00 consistent with their historic pattern of conduct as C':J"nl.l mn 7M1lV' l11J:J ;; ;i; C'Jm 1JM1 .in1mn ?:i:J religious Zionists, reflecting their view that puts the 11011.l? 111'"' 1:iwoi ?y i11.ly71 7:i;i:i; v":i1111 n:i:i J:JM ideal of a Jewish State on equal partnership with Torah. 11117'1 C'1'' /11?;1;) Y:J1M1 ''l:J :iy:JW1 mn:i ?N1W' ,,,, And thus-either from lack of comprehension of the C'Y~l.lM0 ?;:i 1lll1071 C'7 Jl.l~Y 1:J'?lV01 71?;:>? 1:JWJW primacy of Torah study in Jewish existence, or from J"li':'171 :'f'iY:'17 rliil?J 1l1Ni 7::J'7Y i~i' 1W'N t:l'~ijinii 1.AJ an underlying compulsion to be more Zionistic than )'110'1 'l1Y ?1:io? J:l'?Y ?:i;;>71 1;;10;; 'l1J:J l11M17:l .(Tl l'D'l) cr:i ;; 1Ji11:i 1''='Y ':l :J·,n:i:i '11' 11.liv iv1v?1 the Mapai-they have found difficulty in tolerating 0'7iVi1' V"i1'Yn V"Eii;i ::J"'iVn ,?i?N i"ij .cinnil ;y i.:iN:::i religious exemptions for anybody. As part of this over-all philosophy the NRP sees the i"i~)1'''1i 'V'il-':: ::.·11 i~70 it.:?i iD~K girls as also being obligated to do their Sheirut LeVmi stint, and campaigns actively to urge girls to join. Some iiC"'NM "'' Mii!'! .MI)i C"'V"'iir. MtQr. C"'r.i.l"1MM i:M:Ni "'\ir.l"'l ,,C.,Ni M..MI) c: icviri ,,: C""J,, ,.,,w '"'M Kibbutz Hadati groups go to the extreme of insisting \'!l!l 11:1117 1'11"l11'7 n1:ii:nr-:; ,,,, ?K"lll'' l"l!l'I K1M that their gir1s serve in the army; so much so, in fact, CM.,.1,M,, 'N',W'I rii:: ,,, c.,,,~ ,,N, N"MW rii:cr. that some NRP kibbutzim expel girls who choose ex ·ic'NMQ NiM MfM i"''VM "'!l C"~,1'1~ "iMN ii;;M' N'W emption .... Mi'l,Q);M ..Mi!lt .,.,,~. i:w~: iicr.' C":""'M i:Nw C""'\ As for rabbinical objection: it has always been Miz iir.t;.ri MfliM=i Mriwiiv: i:riiiri ci"i' 1vr.' ri~: raehi doctrine that the rabbis are to be consulted on M'iN:' M!lt:i riN: 'i'W "1'1.M:i i:: C"'"',i'"W ,,, personal religious concerns, but not on political or .K"!:!l MJ:•\'11' national policy matters. There is no NRP counterpart ::J'f7wn 71wn1?.) :1"~ ,i"n V"i1'Y C'?c•ii·' to the Agudath Israel's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. '?~itv' r111l~ '?tv :1i1r1:1 ''?11l r1l)71?.l Ctv:l }''::."iX'lOt1 !:·~'ii 1~' 10 CiiJO iTl)'7X Even while making much of the Chief Rabbinate as 1'~ 11::1'!.V" l.VN1 'T:l'Ji!:l 11::1'!.V' fl,"N1 their central authority on halachic matters, it has studi "l1'17K 7K"ll7' i'Kt:l !:"M ously ignored the Chief Rabbis' decisions regarding ;"l":'l'i?ll '"101~ l"fl1:'1:::1 Sheirut LeUmi. So NRP sees no contradiction between f'Jl'i~ i"1~1N:'i 20 T!ie Jewish ()bserver / Decen1ber, 1971 his fellow committee Iliembers in hamriiering out ari as an· optiori:__behitnadvm~if the girf v~iunt~ers fotit. innocuous-sounding "compromise" called Sheirut Le Yet, there are several distinctly coercive aspects to the V mi behitnadvut-NationaI Service by Voluntarism. deceptively non-conscriptive tone of hitnadvut: The device of so-called voluntary national service is . . Any girl who volunteers for sheirut cannot, at any designed to honor the law of Sheirut LeUmi that has time during her two year term of duty, reconsider her been on the books all these years, while respecting decision; while, by contrast, any working girl who finds religious sensibilities by leaving national service open the conditions of conventional employment unsatisfac- PSAK DIN-JUDICAL DECISION OF 5713 (excerpts) Whereas the government has expressed int~ntion to all of Israel, and if necessary, emulate the of enforcing a draft of women into a national martyrdom of Chana and her seven sons; and the civilian service force, we hereby declare an un four hundred boys and girls who at the time of compromising prohibition against civilian service as the destruction of Second Temple threw them fully as we did in regard to military service of selves into the sea rather than submit to the im women, with the full strength of YEHOREIC V'AL moral purpose for which they were taken captive. YA' AVOR. Rather let yourself be killed than violate All methods must be employed to avoid con .·· this command 1 scription and to sanctify His name, for "For your We turn to all jewish daughters who are bound sake we would submit to death all the length of by the laws of our Torah to serve as an example the day." (Horav) TZVI PESSACH FRANK (Horav) ISSAR ZALMAN MELTZER ( Horav l ZEUG REUVEN BENCIS .(Horavl DOV BEIRISH WIEDENFELD Jerusalem: 22 Mar Cheshvan 5732 To the above decision we add our signature, to of preserving the sanctity and purity of our Torah state that it applies fully to our current situation. should stand us in good stead, so we may experi We appeal to all Jewish daughters and their parents ence the fulfillment of the prophecy: "And I shall not to respond to the deceptive attractions offered bestow peace on the Land," and so may we merit today, for this law involves those prohibitions which a full redemption. must be avoided, even at the cost of one's life. In the name of the Council of Torah Sages of The merit of standing in the breach for the sake the Agudath Israel (of Israel), ( Horav) ELI EZER MAN SHA CH (Horav) CHAIM MAYER Rosh Yeshivas Ponevez Vizhnitzer Rebbe .· (Horav) CHAIM SHMULEVITZ ( Hora'V) YISROEL ALTER Rosh Yeshivas Mir Gerrer Rebbe Also: as a party to this dedslon, (Horav) YECHESKEL ABRAMSKY Head of the London Rabbinical Court Also having issued a similar ban, several days e~rlier, against responding to the conscription of women in any form, (Horavl YAAKOV YISROEL KANYEVSKI Steipler Rov We the undersigned join the Gedolei Torah of Eretz Yisroel in their judgment as expressed in the above proclamation. (signed according to the Hebrew alphabet) ( Horav) YISROEL SHAPI RA (Horav) YAAKOV KAMENETSKY Bluzover Rebbe fHorav) YITZCHOK HALEVI RUDERMAN (Horavl MOSHE FEINSTEIN (Horav) NACHUM MOROECHAI PERLOW (Horav) YITZCHOK HUTNER .. Noveminsker Rebbe MOETZES CEDOLEI HATORAH of United States of America The Jewish Observer / December, 1971 tory or morally tenuous can quit at will. The "vol Agudath Israel has been conducting a nation-wide untary" aspects of hitnadvut begin with enlistment education campaign, which has been drawing huge and end there, too. crowds to lectures in synagogues and meeting places In addition, the national government will be carrying throughout Israel, focusing on the high premium placed on a full-blown recruiting campaign glorifying national on personal modesty (tznius) as opposed to Sheirut service as a patriotic duty, etc., creating an at1nosphere LeUmi. of "joining up." As is, many girls find it difficult to Back to the Shelf? withstand pressures to do their bit for national welfare, at the expense of their primary obligation of perpetu GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS have expressed surprise at the ating kedusha - sanctity and purity. A government closing of the ranks of Orthodox Jewry in the face of campaign will only serve to compound this pressure the veiled threat of Sheirut LeUmi, and at the subse to the point where few religious girls would be able to quent crumbling of their plan to win the cooperation resist. (or submission) of the religious community .... Perhaps they did not retain the lessons learned eighteen years Moreover, once caught in the net of service, many ago .... Perhaps they thought religious life eroded girls would be attracted to the overwhelming glamour somewhat in the interim .... Or perhaps they accepted of serving in military uniform rather than the com the National Religious Party as representing the na parative drudgery of Sheirut: "If put on the spot, of tional religious attitude. Whatever the basis for their course I'll join Cheyn (Chayal Nashim-Women's profound miscalculation, they are again faced with the Army Corps). They're not going to get me to scrub threat of massive opposition to a national plan geared to hospital floors!" (from October 25 Davar article) shaming girls into "volunteering," and it can be hoped Thus, Sheirut LeU1ni would become a conduit to army that the Sheirut LeUmi law will be put back on the service, where-unfortunately-the moral tone is a shelf to gather more dust .... The NRP is still in the blatantly permissive one. throes of a convulsive ideological struggle, wherein Finally, the hitnadvut compromise is only to be a rabbis are stiH demanding to be heard on religious six-n1onth experiment, and should it fail, conscription affairs--even when they have po1itical ran1ifications; would again be resorted to. In other words, you better and the politicians are insisting on independence of po ioin in sufficient numbers, or we'll draft all of you. litical action-even when it has religious ramifications. At all costs, the kedushas bas Yisroel-the sacred United in Opposition standing of the purity of the Jewish daughter-must remain intact, as a national priority of the highest THE RESPONSE OF ISRAEL'S RABBIS has been one thun~ order. D derous opposition to any plan that would remove a girl from her parents' custody. The members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Bretz Yisroel have re-affirmed the public proclamation issued eighteen years earlier, which PHILIPP FELDHEIM, INC. declared submitting to Sheirut LeUmi as a transgression New Publications: beyond compromise. (The text of the proclamation is on p. 21.) A proclamation issued by a committee The Inescapable Truth of sixty Sephardic rabbonim expresses the same prohib By RABBI ELI J. GOTTLIEB ition. The Chever Harabbanim of the National Reli A very important book for anyone interested in being a Torah-true Jew. Rabbi Gottlieb presents enlightening gious Party initially came out with a ban against re insights into many problems of Emunah and 1-Iashkofoh. sponding to national service for women in any form. He deals with such topics as Torah from Heaven, Free (If this embarrassed the NRP in any way, the Will vs. Secular and Religious Determinism, the One and Only True Judaism, etc. 336 pages $7.95 e1nbarrassment was apparently of short duration, for the NRP printed a call to girls to volunteer for national Gems from the Fountain service right alongside the text of the rabbinical proc By RABBANJT NECHAMA RABINOWITZ Topics on salient and puzzling points of the weekly lamation, in their daily newspaper, Hatwfeh.) Teachers Sidrah, presented in a clear and interesting n1anner. from a number of Mizrachi schools also issued a call A source of spiritual delight for young and old alike. against responding to the campaign to jon. With a Foreword by Chief Rabbi Y. Unterman. 220 pages $6.00 One of the chief spokesmen for Sheirut LeUmi, Mrs. PHILIPP FELDHEIM, Inc, Rochel N ariya (wife of NRP Knesset representative, "The House of the Jewish Book" Rabbi Zvi Moshe Nariya) resigned from her position 96 EAST BROADWAY. NEW YORK, N. Y. 10002 on an NRP recruiting com1nittee because she saw her Israeli Branch: role being misconstrued as giving undeserved religious FELDHEIM PUBLISHERS Ltd. sanction to a government controlled national service. 39 TACHKEMONI STREET, JERUSALEM, ISRAEL 22 The Jewish ()hserver / [)ccc111her, 1971 Ttt~;-u·· .... NOW WHAT?·· Our Russian Brothers have risked their all to leave Russia, to settle in Israel. BUT th~£r struggles are TUJt m;er: THEY NEED placement in religious co111mu11ities. THEY NEED spiritual help from sympathetic social Workers. THEY NEED sound guidance for the education of their children. THEY NEED your concern and your help. Match their grandeur of spirit with largeness of heart! We cannot fail them. GIVE TODAY! · . A separate corporation was established by THE AGUDATH ISRAEL OF AMERICA: GEMILAS CHESED FUND ~OR RUSSIAN JEWS to be used completely and solely for this historic rescue work. ·Become part al this life-line to help Russian immigrants survive. They're letting our people go•. · Now it's our turn to act! - --~~--~ - ~ -~------~ ------~~- ~ -~-~ . GEMILAS CHESED FUND FOR RUSSIAN JEWS 5 Beekman Street I New York City 10038 ' . Enclosed please find my donation of $...... ; .. :.;. .. ,...... ;. to this hisforicundertaking to · ·· · spiritually save our Russian brothers in Israel. NAME...... ; .. ..;; ...... ;...... ; ...... , ...... ;,; .. ...: ... ,~; ... . ADD RESS ...... .CI TY...... STA TE...... : ...... Z IP ...... ,~ CONTRIBUTIONS A RE TAX DEDUCTIBLE The Jewish Observer / December, 1971 All these Heinz Foods bearthe@Seal. """"¥~, .. .nlJ~in1J., i1 wi,1·f · .· :... -c>.,w11> _,. : .· , .· .·· .. · A SIGNIFlCANT MILESTONE IN CHINUCH HABANOS: . · _Resignation Requested ..: ~ . The Opening of ·. ··, ·· .• The Detroit News (November 17, . tremdy familiar ·with the pre~ 1971 ) reported the forced resigna · · cepts of the Orthodox Jewish tion of a Wayne County medical faith. MEDRASHA INSTITUTE, examiner for malpractice. "I was raised an Orthodox Jew and was one year away . Triggering his ouster was JERUSALEM . from becoming a rabbi when ·an incident involVing Morris · I decided to study medicine SEMINARY FOR Fealk, Orthodox Jew who an instead," he explained. died Sept. 8 in Sinai Hospital. ·,. AMERICAN GIRLS Fealk's family charged that . Interesting how Wayne County; . ·· Michigan, respects the sensitivities Dr. Corrigan disregarded the offering a two year program pre~ ' of the small Orthodox contingent family's religious beliefs by paring graduates for teaching in of its Jewish minority, in the name performing an [unauthorized] Yeshiva, Bais Yaakov and He- .· autopsy [and compounded it of human decency, while a conflict .has been raging between the reli brew-day schools in the United by performing it} on Saturday, States; including special courses ·· the Jewish Sabbath. gious community and many of the hospitals in Israel regarding the geared toward teaching secular The family also alleged that , very same issue. subjects, as well as methods in · he foiled to notify them that The law of the land in Israel instruction in graphic arts, culi Fealk's brain had not been indeed does recognize the family's nary skills, and fashion design. '. replaced before burial, another rights to object to the performance The Medrasha philosophy makes · violation of religious law. of an autopsy on the body of a it imperative that instructors in ·· .· . · Fitzpatrick, commenting (for . deceased patient - just as in all all its disciplines be genuinely · the City Council) on Dr. Cor · Western lands. However--'-and here committed to its principles - rigan's resignation said: "I'm · is the point of departure from pro pleased he abided by the opin of uncompromising devotion •to . cedure in virtually all civilized Torah and Yiras Shomayim. · ion of this legislative body (by Western countries, and here is the resigning). We never ques area of contention between the Medrasha will be located in tioned his ability as a scientist dati'im and the pathologists- when Jerusalem - the heart of Jewish .· or doctor but felt that be did · three doctors sign a statement that learning and consciousness. This · not have the capabilities of an autopsy is recommended, family will allow Medrasha's program to · confronting the public." wishes simply do not enter the pic extend beyond the classroom, Dr. Hoffman (Dr. Corrigan's · ture. Time and again, post-mortem adding an extra dimension .of successor) said the morgue examinations are authorized on the Kedusha to the curriculum, as .. controversy hasn't discouraged basis of pre-signed statements, and well as the extra-curriculum: .· · .him from moving to Detroit the objections expressed by next-of · ... (from Dall as, Texas) .... kin, and even the deceased, arc Medrasha Institute is accredited • Dr. Hoffman said he is ex- simply ignored. Time and again, by Torah Umesorah . .· ·· · The fir.~t semester of TRADITION PERSONNEL AGENCY . MEDRASHA INSTJTUTi: "At Your Service With All Your Employment Needs'i will begin in Summer 1972 . .·· · Need A Shomer Sbabbos Job? Looking For A Shomer Shabbos Person? For further information, contact :: For Fast, Efficient and Courteous Service RABBI SHMUEL HERMAN 18 W. 4Sth St., New York, N. Y. 10036 • 563-3994 438 Sterling St.. B'klyn, N. Y. 11235;» -• .·· Open Monday night by appointment only or telephone (212) PR 2-8427 The Jewish 0/Jserver I D ecember, 1971 ·.· : .. . ,. ,· .... . · .. ·'·· . , . ~·- :' ·.·.. "· ' .. •' .... . :. .. ·.·.·. . ·.. . ' , •' ·. ·· ..... ·· :~ .: : : : .. . " -.. - .. ·: ·. . · . ~: : .. Chevra Kadisha have had the dis SHOP AT heartening task of preparing a dis membered or hastily patched-to gether body for burial. Time and again, ailing Jews have hesitated to enter hospitals for fear the sanctity of their bodies might be violated. Thne and again, pleas for modera tion have gone unheard. So the long smoldering conflict has actual ly assumed some aspects of guerilla warfare. THERE'S A STORE NEAR YOU When a family learns of an un In BROOKLYN timely death at many a hospital, 319 Utica Avenue IN 7-5300 1412 Avenue J DE 8-8100 forces are mobilized to snatch the 353 Utica Avenue PR 2-2690 1920 Avenue M 998-0800 body from the hospital morgue be 515 Empire Blvd. PR 4-0400 1923 Kings Highway 998-0600 891-2800 4621 13th Avenue UL 4_7800 13 f I Avenue Z fore it is mutilated .... Threats to 510 Brighton Beach Avenue 769-6800 pathologists' lives have been re 5417 New Utrecht Avenue UL 1-8800 ! IOI Brighton Beach Avenue 769-6800 4410 Ft. Hamilton Parkway 871-5335 14 Lee Avenue 387-9800 ported and although some were 4722 16th Avenue 633-5230 54 Lee Avenue 387-1445 traced to non-religious sources, the 752 Flatbush Avenue IN 2-8100 128 Lee Avenue 855-9368 threats have become pretext for In MANHATTAN striking back, and doctors have 2189 Broadwuy 787-4720 4403 Broadway 568-7401 closed down hospitals with full-day In QUEENS 72-10 Main Street 261-3300 strikes in retaliation. . . . Press In THE BRONX reports (Newsweek, JTA, et al) 798 lydig Avenue 931-2900 speak about "zealots threatening .T 11N: T'i;i-e;:,yrc i'N niri1y1 ni~:i::i 11::i illj'n!V ,, ,,,,~iuyoy Yl'tii~ri· ,1YJ?'tvt? ,ic,,7c y<;~ pathologists' Jives in sraeI," and "llY1'0tu iyi iy"OnN 1Y"till' ,0"'!!$'00 11N iY!jip 1iY:Jt5~ 1lL':J j1N 11Y::l''1C ,e;.•pi~~-1Yi''tv'O American youth has been bombard .iitn-i::l"'!'J 1"::1N. C'i::i'Jwie '"'" 'l"'i"1)il ,oy:i.,01 1"::!N c~i::i7o"o illO~ i!"iU71 ric ;-,n:i.w;, i;:!jo ing Hadassah here with calls asking "!low [.. ong .. .?" 1;======1sRAEL INTERMENTS_ The doctors and the Committee RIVERSIDE MEMORIAL CHAPEL, INC. for Safeguarding Human Dignity 76th Street & Amsterdam Avenue, N. Y. C. Tel. EN 2·6600 have been called to meetings by the Minister of Health to iron out the SHLOMO SHOULSON differences. The Committee repre Announces: sentatives have come, but the doc With a feeling of Responsibility and Personal Vigilance we make all necessary tors have been staying away. Rather arrangements for BURIAL IN MEDINAT YISRAEL at ALL cemeteri-es. Everything is done with the greatest exactitude and according to Jewish Law. than negotiate, they would like to maintain a free hand in post-mortem SOLOMON SHOULSON CARL GROSSBERG Directors research; and they would like to see the general populace resign to Chapels Throughout New York, Miami Beach & Miami the situation as it is. The underlying Orthodox Social Service Agency THE wc:11J11i~h HOTEL ON THE OCEAN AT 43rd sT., MIAMI BEACH Seeks DYNAMIC ADMINISTRATOR Welcome! to ANOTHER GREAT VACATION to head organization. I I Salary commensurate with experience. Reserve Now For Send resume fo THE JEWISH OBSERVER Height of Season & PASSOVER HOLIDAYS Box 100 / 5 Beekman Street / N.Y.C. 10038 New Enlarged Sun Deck Area-SUN ALL DAY 8 NEW YORK OFFICE PHONE, 5 2 • 2277 Applications will be kept in strict confidence. 26 The Jewish Observer / December, 1971 · .··. pla~nt of the pathologist~ is that 1he · ..:1 , Ii , ,, . anti-autopsy movement 1s obscurant ·. · · t .· and if the Committee would be ..· 6 C iing J .•.· ·· ·: :~- Assured given free rein, an entire area of ·,...;...... __ ...,...,,~~,,..,.,~ scientific research would grind to a °tt;:7 halt. ~·' "; There is something discouraging KASHRUTH ·•• about hearing Jewish doctors, in a Jewish State, voice the argument QUALITJI · that scientific advance holds strong .. er claim to a person's body than . do the rights of the individual. ... And there is something dishearten VARIETY when you ask for ing about witnessing sympathy ex pressed for the medical profession's #C-7 ambitions to excel in a field that Fine Reproductions of Originals must rely on the trampling of re- • Suitable for framing • : ligious sensibilities. The State of In clear black & white. New Jersey, for example, does not 9" x 12"; $2.50 Postpaid. Specify number when ordering. permit any post-mortem examina Glatt Kosher tions unless the circumstances of P.0 .B. 725, Huntington Village · Huntington, Long Island, N. Y. 11743 death arc suspicious. Yet, New Jer sey is not known to be backward Airline Meals wherever you travel by air on in medical treatment. AGENTS WANTED major national and international So instead of concerning itself airlines. INSISTON SCH REI BER'S For two low priced ($2-3) and be SURE .... o·elicious with exporting the fruits of post household items- also useful STRICTLY KOSHER Breakfasts, mortem research, Israel just might Lunches, Dinners, Snacks. as gifts. get back to its old field of commer cial expertise: exporting spiritual ·· Perfect for fu.rul rai$i11g Sz '! . or door to door selling. .: ~ llr,• •Hi V"IO t • • i~ • , W • t • l'.@. ... ·· values. D .. ) U ~ f• 'i1$1(H• ('r l t How ls Tms P OSSIBLE? A man confesses his crime and he is rewarded. For the solution see P. 73 of -One of World's Larg:.t9 Com era Stores HAYCHA TIMTZAH! I A treasury of Torah riddles ll:JW "l~iW (IN E NGLISH) Order your copy by sending $3.75 hard bound or $2.50 soft bound 1/f;/IUee/ ~me/'a &b.lan,?e RABBI MORDECHAI WEINTRAUB P.O.B. 15, Brooklyn, N. Y. 11219 Complete Line of Cameras and Plroto Supplies " . . . These riddles .. . challenge every .: - person . . . baffle the " . .. This volume fills a genuine rieed ~ : Wholesale • Mail Order • Retail . and will add t o t he st~de nt's knowledge ,.. and enfoyment o f Torah." Special Reducfio1rs to all Readers of "The Jewish Observer" DR. JOSEPH KAM!NETSKY National Oireclor of Torah Umesorah ..Th e l ewis/1 Observer I December, 1971 .. ~ :· · . . ··· .· · ' ,.. .. ·.. · ..:.· :.· "··· ' .. . ,,.. .··· .. ..·· ::· ... . RECORD-SETTING CROWD AT 49th ANNUAL AGUDAH CONVENTION Atlantic City, New Jersey, long fa served as chairmen and offered introduc Mesivta Torah Vodaath). and Rabbi mous for its sandy beaches and ocean tury remarks at the sessions. Shlomo Lorencz (Knesset Member Agu sprayed boardwalk, underwent a trans A broad range of topics was devel dath Israel), introduced by Rabbi Ya formation last Thanksgiving weekend, oped by the Torah leaders who addressed akov Perlow, Dean of Yeshiva Rabbi when the 49th Annual Convention of the sessions. The underlying theme was Samson Rafael Hirsch; Rabbi Yaakov Agudath Israel of America took place. one of responsibility: to our heritage; to Y. Ruderman (Rosh Yeshiva Ner Israel, For that brief period, Atlantic City be our brothers in Russia, Israel. and in Baltimore), introduced by Rabbi Levi I. came the thought-and-action capital of America; and to ourselves as G-d fear Horowitz (Bostoner Rebbe, Boston); American Jewry. ing Jews. Rabbi Isaac Small (Chicago); Rabbi The fifteen hundred people who par Among those who addressed the Con Yaakov Kam-inetsky, introduced by Rab ticipated in this record-setting gathering vention at the initial session were: No bi Mordechai Weinberg (Rosh Yeshiva, also were "transformed'" during this vominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Nochum Per Mesifta Zichron Melech of Eastern Park way). Weekend devoted to open-end discus low; Dr. Isaac Lewin, chairman of the sions, inspiring Torah lectures, hard American Section, Agudath Israel World The Saturday night keynote session headed planning, and old-fashioned far Organization, on "60 Years Agudah 01 which was crowded by an additional five bren&en. The Convention delegates World Scene"; Rabbi Simcha Elberg, on hundred visitors who travelled by car Yeshiva deans and businessmen, Yeshiva "The Crisis of Jewish Identity"; Rabbi and bus fron1 New York, parts of New bachurin1, professional men, and rabbis Shlomo Rotenberg, on "Our Duty to Jersey, and Pennsylvania-was chaired -aH became activists in Jewish life for Russian Jewry"; Mr. Joseph Friedenson, by Rabbi Chaim Schmelczer (Chicago), those three days, and beyond. on "American Agudath Israel Faces its and featured addresses by Rabbi Moshe The thousand delegates who were reg 50th Year"; and Rabbi Mendel Chodo Horowitz (Bostoner Rebbe); Rabbi Bo istered for the entire weekend in the row, who made opening rem-arks. ruch Sorotzkin (Rosh Yeshiva ·relz); Sheraton-Deauville Hotel came from all and Rabbi Moshe Sherer. It was at this parts of the United States and Canada ENGLISH-LANGUAGE SYMPOSIUM ~ession that Rabbi Shlomo Lorencz, Agu -New York City, Baltimore, Philadel A stimulating English language sym dath Israel Knesset Member, reported phia, Los Angeles, Chicago, I)etroit, Sa posium was held on Thursday, the open on the plight of the Russian immigrants vannah (Ga.), New Orleans, Toronto, ing night of the Convention. The over in israel. and Montreal. all theme was: "Orthodoxy and the Modern World" PLENARY SESSIONS STIMULATING SESSIONS "Are we Providing the Answers?" Sessions were devoted to analysis of A major source of inspiration and The discussants were: Rabbi Joseph the problems and opportunities the Jew guidance throughout the weekend was Elias, Dean of Rika Breuer Teacher's ish community faces, and to meeting the the addresses given by the leading Ro Seminary for Women, who spoke about challenges they present. Topics on the shei Yeshiva, Chassidic Rebbcs, and "The Crisis of Orthodox Youth Facing agenda were: international affairs; or Rabbonim. (Essays, adapted from the J\1odern Society"; Dr. Jacob Landynski, ganization and press; financial reporl; addresses of some of the Roshei Yeshiva Associate Professor of Political Science, chinuch and chizuk hadas; legislation at the Convention, appear elsewhere in 1\1ember of Graduate Faculty of the and government aid; and Bretz Yisroel. this issue.) Many of the dignitaries New School for Social Research, whose Greetings were also expressed to the topic was "Should the Orthodox Jew entire convention, on behalf of Zeirei Play a Role in Social Activism?"; and Agudath Israel by David Friedman, pres SERVICES ARRANGED IN Rabbi Yitzchok Kerzner, Rov of Wilkes ident, and Menachem Lubinsky, nation Barre, Pennsylvania, who discussed "Or YOUR COMMUNITY al coordinator. thodoxy and the Secular Jewish Estab One of the most exciting aspects of an lishment." Agudath Israel Convention is the broad The Moderator was Lawrence M. range of Jewish communities that are Katz. Associate Professor of Law at the represented there. Chassidishe Yidden, Norman L. Jeffer University of l\1aryland School of Law. members of the Yeshivu world, men ac A lively question-and-answer session tive in the business circles, and promi COMMUNITY CHAPELS, followed. The development of these top nent members of the academic scene, ics by the discussants will be basis for all joined voices in discussions, Shabbos Inc. articles that will appear in future issues t:emiros, and Melave Malke celebrations. of The Jewish Ohst'rver. The motto Mesores Avoseinu Beyodeinu 47th Street & Ft. Hamilton Parkway proved to be more than a loose bond SHABBOS INSPIRATION that united these diverse elements. It Brooklyn Phone UL 3-4000 'fhe Shabbos was enhanced by ad was a basic philosophic platform upon dresse~ by the following Torah leaders: which all these varied forces could base Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, introduced by thought-searching debate, powerful ac Mikvah under Supervision of Mr. Louis J. Septimus; Rabbi Shneur tion, and the rikud and zen1er of inti Bikur Cholim of Boro Park Kotler (Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood), mate rhaveirim ( 1,000 of them ) at Rabbi Gedalia Schorr (Rosh Yeshiva Melave Malke. D 28 The Jewish (Jhserver / Dece1nber, 1971 evening Symposium at Atla111ic City, from the left: Rabbi Joseph Elias, Dr. Jacob Landynski, Rabbi Yirzclwk Kerzner, and Laurence Katz. CONCRETE CONVENTION RESULTS: New Presidium and Gemilas Chesed for Russian Jews · Administration Elected One of the most dramatic results of president; and Yaakov Schwebel, secre The new administration elected at the the Convention was an outgrowth of the tary. Altough it is financially a separate 49th national convention of Agudath Saturday night keynote session, which entity, the Gemilas Chesed Fund for Israel of America is headed by a presid featured an address by Knesset member, Russian Jews is under the supervision of ium consisting of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Rabbi Shlomo Lorencz. In his speech he the presidium of Agudath Israel of chairman; Rabbi Moshe Horowitz (Bos related how the Russian immigrants io Amesrica, of which R:..hhi Moshe Fein toner Rebbe), vice-chairman; Rabbi Israel are being assigned to housing in stein is chairman. Shneur Kotler (Lakewood); Rabbi No remote areas, totally Jacking in basic Gemilas Chesed for Russian Jews is chum Perlow (Novominsker Rebbe); religious facilities and educational insti to set aside one half of its income for and Rabbi Boruch Sorotzkin (Wickliffe). tutions, and are being placed in employ the purpose of granting interest-free Rabbi Chaskel Besser, chairman of the ment where Shabbos observance is im loans (Gemi/as Chesed) to Russian .· .Vaad Hanhala and Rabbi Moshe Sherer, possible. The problems could be solved o/im, to help them settle in religious executive president, will also serve on with substantial funds, to be used for areas, so they should not become lost in the presidium. facilitating settlement and funding reli a spiritual wilderness. The other half of gious guidance personnel. the fund is to be used for providing Rabbi Gedalia Schorr was elected · As a result, a $1 million Gemilas youth workers to guide their children, .chairman of the Vaad Hamerkazi (na Chesed drive was launched to construc ·religious social workers to help them tional council); and Rabbi B. Frankel, tively cope with this problem. It is strnc with their general problems of spiritual vice-chairman; Joseph Friedensohn, ge1;- ·· tured as a separate corporation, and eve adjustment, and a broad range of activ .· eral secretary; and Rabbi Boruch Bor ry penny contributed for this cause will ities that aim at saving the Russian Jew chardt, recording secretary. .·be utilized completely and solely for this ish immigrant from being lost in his sec Vice Presidents: Dr. E. L. Boden~ rescue work. Its officers are Mr. Sander ularist surroundings. ln Israel, the trea heimer, Yaakov Goldstein, Chaim Hertz, Kohtch, chairman: Mr. Moses Braun surers of the fund are American Agu David Klein, Julius Klugman, . Shmuel. stein, treasurer: D r. E. L. Bodenheimer, dists who recently settled in the Holy Roth, Rabbi Menachem Shayovich, and co-treasurer; Raphael Khlgman, vice- Land. D David H. Turkel. The treasurers are: Betiianiin Fishoff, Y ad Elim:elech Frank H. Klein, and Wolf Friedman. The gap from halacha to Tema'ase educational and rabbinical authcirities in Secretariat: Jacob Fink, Rabbi Shlomo from the abstract to the practical-was Israel and they expressed enthusiasm for Grunbaum, and Rabbi Israel Pressman . skillfully bridged as a result of a heart .his idea of creating religious nfternoon rending and challenging report conveyed youth clubs for supervised study and to the Agudath Israel Convention by . recreation. These youth centers are to Rabbi Gavriel Beer, who was visiting . be called Yad Elimelech, perpetuating ZELMAN'S STUDIO from lsnu:l. the name of Reb Elimelcch Gavriel FOR THE FINEST IN CREATIVE Tress, l;o"T, and his boundless devotion Rabbi Beer, who directs the Agt1dath COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY Israel of America Visitor and Tourist io the Torah development of our young. Bureau in Jerusalem, told of the unfor "The most recommencled name - tunate allegiance-drain the Torah com The visionary idea of the Yad E/ime in fin e photography" munity is suffering in Israel. Children lech Projects hit a responsive chord enrolled in religious schools are dis among the convention delegates, and missed at 1 :00 P .M. every day, and since then a number of local Agudah drift aimlessly during the afternoon branches have each undertaken sponsor .· often spending time in non-religiou~ ship of several afternoon centers-at the youth clubs. Rabbi Beer consulted with cost of $600 each, per year. n The Je1vish Observer / Dece111ber, 197I SAME LOCATION, OTHER CONVENTIONS: akov Yitzchok Ruderman. Another session, entitled "Agudath Is Nshei Rabbi Shlomo Lorencz from Bretz Yis rael on the Firingline," featured Rabbi The convention of Agudah Women of roeI, member of the Knesset and U .N. Shlomo Lorencz and Rabbi Moshe She America was held over the weekend of delegate, gave a moving address includ~ rer, who were treated to a question-and November 25-28 in Atlantic City, simul ing a report on the immigration of Rus~ answer session reflecting the sense of taneously with the convention of Agu sian Jews and their fervent desire to urgency and drive to know conditions dath Israel of America. 350 delegates settle in a religious environment. as they are, that are the hallmark of deliberated "The Changing Era-a Chal On Motzoei Shabbos, Rabbi Gavriel the dedicated Zeirei youth. The session lenge to Orthodox Jewry," and listened Beer talked about the need to expand proved to be an education for all par to many prominent speakers. to include the Social Services needed ticipants, and a11 emerged with a new Horav Yaakov Kamenetzky delivered for the old and new settlers. He stressed air of respect for each other. a stirring message reminding all to take the need for a Home for "Mothers and a more positive stand towards the cur Newborn Babies" for mothers to regain Zeirei Pickets Hadassah rent situation in Eretz Yisroel in regard their strength after confinement. More than 1,000 young members of to Orthodox Jewry. Reports regarding the Nshei projects Zeirei Agudath Israel of America pick in America and Israel were given by: eted the New York Hilton Hotel on Mrs. Daniela E. Buxbaum, Executive Wednesday, December 15, where 2,500 Vice President of Agudah Women; Mrs. new lifetime members of Hadassah were '0 0, Esther Knobel, former presidium mem heing honored. The picketers were prot ber; and Rebetzin Josephine G. Reichel, esting the continued policy of unauthor National President of Agudah Women. ized autopsies in the Hadassah Hospital Rebetzin Sorotzkin presented a stimulat in Jerusalem. The mass picket, which UNITED ing Shiur on the portion of the week. lasted for over three hours, included the Sessions were chaired by Mrs. Rose chant of such slogans as ".How long, Chions, co-chairman of the convention, Hadassah?" and "Stop It, Now." Police Chevra Kadisha and Rebetzin Chaye Frankel, former officials on the scene commended the D'chasidim • Har Hamnuchot presidium member. orderly way in which the p.icket demon Founded 1856 Plans are under way for an Interna stration was held. tional Agudah Women's Conference. The demonstrators carried signs say BURIAL IN JERUSALEM The newest project will be a Hachno ing "Adopt the American Principle of AND ALL CEMETERIES IN ISRAEL sat Kallah campaign, whereby brides and Prior Consent," "Let Them Rest in their mothers will buy or give the money Peace, Not Pieces." • to buy extra linens to be sent to Israel A circular distributed at the scene maal1n sakobesh for brides. '[he delegates left with a feel revealed that in a letter dated November ing of achievement and a definite hope 20. 1970, the director of the U.S. State SOCl€ty for greater accomplishments both here Department Agency for International and in Eretz Yisrocl through Nshei Agu Development stated that after comn1uni 44 CANAL ST. dath Israel. D NEW YORK CITY 10002 cating with Hadassah officials, "They Zeirei Agudath Israel have indicated that Hadassah is fully Nr. E. Broadway Sta. "F" Train Simultaneous with the Agudath Israel prepared to adhere to a policy of prior Convention sessions, the Agudah's viv consent." "This assurance," the circular Da:"· & Nite Phone brant youth organization-Zeirei Agu continues, "was given in connection with WA 5-2277 1 dath Israel-held meetings and discus an American government grant." A sions of their own. spokesman for Z.A.I. charged that not In Canada: One such meeting was addressed by only did Hadassah fail to live up to this Chevra Kadisha of United Jewish Congregations Horav Gedalia Schorr, Rosh Yeshiva of pron1ise, but even abolished the practice Montreal Tel.: 273-3211 Mesivta Torah Vodaath and Horav Ya- of accepting pre-signed objections. · .. ' I . SCHECHTER & HIRSCH'S ·.· ·· ... ~ K:~:R/la7i88£116H@l ~11flio ENTIRE OCEANFRONT BLOCll- 37th to llth St. MIAMI BEACH ••• is a GREAT Kosher Hotel - you'll love it! Qlhrljrstrns • DiAt. For Reservations Speak to MIAMI SAM SCHECHTER FREE PARKING BEACH PRIVATE POOL 800 - 327- 8165 AND Michael Harbater FREE! Or Call N.Y. Off: Pl 7-4238 SANDY BEACH Evenings & Sunday FA 7-1742 (516) 239-2328 30 The Jewish Observer / Dece1nher, 1971 _by RABBI MENACHEM PORUSH· in lhe "Jewish Press" Rabbi Porush reports the inside news, debates and scenes which occur in the Israeli Parliament and Government, which heretofore were unreported anywhere else. THE COLUMN SCOOPS THE WORLD WITH NEWS · ABOUT ISRAEL BEFORE IT HAPPENS! Rabbi Porush brings ~ith him a wealth of experience.. A 7th generation Jerusalemite, be has served in the Parliament since 1959. He is a member of the Law and Justice Committee, and also of the Education and Culture Committee. He is one of the few Knesset members who was horn in Israel. He bas heen a corresponde11t and editor for many newspapers, a member and director of the Central Committee of Agudath Israel . World Organization. He is one of the founders and directors of Cbinuch Atzmai Torah Schools. Read this Exciting and Informative Column in the ''JEWISH PRESS''! The Jewis f1 Observer I December, 197l ENTRANCE EXAMINATION FOR PHILIP HIBTB ACADEMY will be held on SUNDAY, JANUARY 16 - 10:00 A.M. at our New Building 4419 18th AVENUE, BROOKLYN, N. Y. 11204 Applications can be obtained through your Principal or by calling our office· 435-8478 Admission criteria include background, t.mius, yiras shomayim, and scholastic ability. THE BUILDING CAMPAIGN IS UNDER WAY TO ERECT A SPACIOUS NEW HOME FOR 150 OCEAN PARKWAY YESHIVA TORAH VODAATH OF FLATBUSH BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 11218 The future holds hard Serving for 14 years the Boro Park work and sacrifice: • Crown Heights - East Flatbush - and the future holds Flatbush communities. • Setting hope and greatness. new standards for Torah Chinuch. (Yeshiva Torah Vodaath of Flatbush • Unexcelled record of achieve and the Yeshiva & Mesifta Torah Vo daath are financially independent of ment. • All this in cramped, o:it one another. There are no subsidies or other forms of financial aid from dated classrooms. • No longer one to the other). can we permit our children and their rebbayim to have first-class aspirations in second class sur roundings. • The new Torah Vo dooth of Flatbush will rise, please G-d, on Ocean Parkway between Ditmas and 18th Avenue. THE FUTURE IS KNOCKING ON OUR DOOR! THE TIME HAS COME TO BUILD! Torah Vodaath of Flatbush has grown eicplosively and the best is yet to come. Our record of achievement has b-2- come a magnet for discriminating parents. Nearly 600 students are spread 0•1er three inadequate buildings. How long can we bear the responsibility of stifling their potential? BENJAMIN FELDMAN ALTER LIEBERMAN Chairmen, Buifding Committee RABBI HERBERT W. BOMZER, Vice-Chairman