Israel's Un-Justice System

The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind - to a halt.

What a shocking state of affairs. 

A family with 6 children from Bnei Braq (lets call them the Golds) ran into financial difficulties, and decided to move out of the home they owned and rent it out, whilst they moved into far cheaper rental accommodation near Modi'in Illit. This was not an easy decision for the Golds to make, nor an easy step to take, but circumstances were such, that they were forced into making the move.

Their tenants, (lets call them the Smiths), a family with eight children, also ran into in financial difficulties and fell 3 months behind in their rent. As the Smiths weren't paying any rent to the Golds, the Golds were unable to pay any rent to their landlord. Being fine upstanding people, they contacted their landlord and explained their situation to him, and negotiated to relinquish their lease and to vacate the flat immediately.

They got back to Bnei Braq, and went to their flat to tell the Smiths that as they hadn't paid any rent for 3 months, they - the Golds - had been unable to pay their rent and ישג returned the flat to the landlord, and would the Smiths do the same, i.e., move out.

The Smiths viewed the events in a different light, not having paid any rent does not alter the fact that they are tenants. You can't just march into your tenant's flat and ask them to leave. That is harassment! In response to which, the Smiths called the police.

(As an aside, I was under the impression that Bnei Braq "charedim" considered going to the police as Mesirah.)

When the police arrived, they informed the Golds that the Smiths were right, and you cannot get them out of the flat without obtaining a court order.

I don't know about Israel, but in the UK it takes a good 6 months, at least, and is not a free service. 

But - Now here's the good bit - the Israeli courts are in RECESS, the entire country's judiciary has shut down, the courts are in recess and there is nothing to be done until after Yom Tov!

The Golds have been forced to put up a makeshift tent in the grounds of their building, where they have to live, eat and sleep, all 8 of them, in the heat of Bnei Braq, with no running water, no kitchen, no hygiene facilities. Whilst his scrounging tenants are sleeping in his beds, sitting comfortably on his couch, keeping their food fresh in his fridge, cooking in his oven and keeping cool using his air conditioning.

I'm sure that the tenant, who must be a big Yorei Shamayim, is only doing this, Leshem Shamayim, I mean, what kind of a Yomtov would he be giving his wife and children if he moved out now???

וצדקינו במשפט

http://www.bhol.co.il/article.aspx?id=58755&cat=1&scat=1

Satmar vs Breslov

A Breslov mashpia Rb Kluger, a disciple of Rabbi Nissan Duvid Kivak of Jerusalem,  travelled to Kiryas Joel,  NY, the stronghold of the Satmar faction led by Reb Aron. This is a destination he has frequented quite regularly.  And as usual,  Kluger visited the Rebbe, who acts as the rov of KJ, soon after his arrival,  to pay his respects and, as per his usual habit,  to request permission to set up his own minyan for prayers and to give public lectures,  a formality which is always granted as a matter of protocol.

On this occasion,  he was greeted with a strong rebuttal. Not just a refusal to set up his own minyan for the few days he is in KJ, a refusal to so much as step within 2000 cubits of the perimeter of the city limits.

The Rebbe told him,  whilst he accepts that Rb Kluger is a God fearing Jew, nevertheless,  the teachings of Rb Nachnan of Breslov,  which Kluger disseminates, are in sharp contradiction to the Satmar philosophy; and are no longer welcome in Kiryas Joel.

Is this a genuine claim?  For years Satmar has been closely associated with Breslov.  In Uman, just a few steps from the grave of Rav Nachman,  there is a Satmar shul. Perhaps that shul is under the auspices of the beother, the other Satmar Rebbe - Reb Zalman Leib, with whom Reb Aron is enmeshed in a bitter dispute,  and the 2 brothers keep on dragging each other through the civil courts? Or perhaps,  he is trying to stem the loss of young chassidim who are deserting him and joining the ranks of the Breslav sects.

Either way,  there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Electing Rabbis and Running a Community

Electing Rabbis to their position is rather topical at the moment, so when the blog IF YOU TICKLE compares Rb Padwa and his father's differeng views on protesting and demonstrating (outside the EU in Brussels against Israel for extending the draft to cover Yeshiva students), I felt like letting of some steam. Here is a link to that blog, followed by my rant.

http://ifyoutickleus.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/unlike-father-unlike-son.html

I have very little time and patience for anything which is in any way connected to the current Rov and management of the Kehillah, aka UOHC.

Unlike his father, who was sought-out for the position and was furnished with glowing recommendations from the elite of the Torah world, the incumbent does not have a right or claim to the position of Rov. Such an appointment requires a majority vote of the entire kehilla - which did not take place. And if the position is inheritable, he has an older brother – the position of Rov is not passed on from one yoresh to the next until it is fulfilled. (And if it is indeed an inheritable position, than why has the late Dayan Dunner’s position not been passed to a [any] son?) Furthermore, the 3 qualifying requirements to enable someone to take up the position are: מי שהוא חכם ושפל ברך ודעת הבריות נוחה הימנו, wisdom, good middos and has garnered favourable public opinion, indisputably the Rov does not enjoy (even a majority of) all three.

Rabbis V & S Schonfeld זצ"ל, established the UOHC to serve ultra-orthodox, Torah observant, Anglo-Jewry. Dedicated self-sacrifice to help others was not an aphorism they bandied about at a Kol-Nidrei sermon – it was their way of life. (Even after his stroke the late Rb Dr S Schonfeld walked for over 2 hours on Yom Kippur – every year – to look after the far-flung outposts of the Adass). Today, the entire structure of the UOHC is based on corruption, nepotism and cronyism, and is run by self-serving, disingenuous, egotistical braggarts.

As Mr Tickle points out, the Rov does not follow the diktats of his father, hence his attendance at this farcical demonstration. One should note that he is quick to “blame” his refusal for accepting the NW London & his ban against even exploring the N London eruvin squarely at his father's feet.

I don’t wish to get involved with questioning his talmudical/halachical status and knowledge, however, regarding the running and management of the Kehilla, particularly the disgraceful affair that has been the talk of the town for the past 9 months, he has shown that he is sorely lacking in the skills needed for such a position as well as suffering with a deficiency of common sense.

In the past, particularly following his whirlwind tours of NW London to quell any talk of a break in the Kehilla, he was viewed as an inconsequential eccentricity with a speech impediment that any self-respecting human being would realise was sufficient reason not to accept a position of that nature – recognising that there is more to the job than wearing a kolpik and wielding a hammer. Following his mismanagement and constant retractions of the 2012-2013 epic events, he is regarded with contemptuous disdain, and considered on par with the village idiot. History will show that his was the greatest role in the break-up of any semblance of unity amongst the observant Jews of London and a major contributor to the desecration of His name.

I fail to comprehend why any person is baffled by his attendance at the protest demonstration; it is just so typical of him. I do, however, wonder if the costs of the trip came out of the communal coffers?

I set out below - in hebrew - some sources for requiring the vote of all the members of the community to elect a Rov.

גמ' (ברכות נ"ה.( אמר רבי יצחק אין מעמידין פרנס על הצבור אלא אם כן נמלכים בצבור, שנאמר (שמות ל"ה) ראו קרא ה' בשם בצלאל. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה משה הגון עליך בצלאל אמר לו רבונו של עולם אם לפניך הגון לפני לא כל שכן אמר לו אף על פי כן לך אמור להם הלך ואמר להם לישראל הגון עליכם בצלאל אמרו לו אם לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא ולפניך הוא הגון לפנינו לא כל שכן

הרי"ף פסק את דברי ר' יצחק והביא שיש להתייעץ עם. 

בימינו יש חובה להתייעץ עם הציבור בבחירת פרנס על הציבור, וכפי שכותב הרשב"א, והרדב"ז. וברב פעלים הזכיר ג"כ שיש צורך בזמן הזה להתייעץ עם הציבור לפני כל מינוי. 

דין זה נפסק ברמ"א: מי שעושה זה בלא רשות הקהל, מצער הצבור ועתיד ליתן את הדין. הגר"א ציין שהמקור הוא הגמ' בברכות שאין ממנים פרנס על הצבור אלא א"כ נמלכים בצבור. 

האורים ותומים כתב: ותמהני (על הרמ"א) שלא העתיק שהוא חרם ר"ת ורשב"ם וראב"ן וק"נ רבנים והוא בתשובת מהר"ם וז"ל ועוד גזרנו ונידינו וחרמנו בשמתא ובשם מיתה שלא יהיה אדם רשאי ליטול שררה ע"ה לא ע"י מלך וכו' אם לא שימנו אותם רוב הקהל מפני חשיבותם והעובר על זה וכו' פתו פת כותי וכו'. הדור אתם ראו ושמעו כמה רב מהעונש שיש בזה הנוטל שררה על הציבור על ידי שררה ובעו"ה פשטה נגע צרעת ממארת הזו בזמנינו וכמה כרכים נחרבו וכמה בתי מדרש נדלדלו ע"י כן וכמה הריסות בתורה ולומדים גרם זה וחובה על רבני זמן לעשות גדר וכו'. 

בשו"ת צמח צדק העלו בפניו בקשה שלא להתייעץ בבחירת רב אלא עם העשירים ולא עם העניים,  ועל כך כתב: יראה דלאו שפיר דמי למיעבד כך לדחות העניים הנותנים מעט. וראיה לזה הא דאיתא במתני' סוף מנחות נאמר בעולת בהמה אשה ריח ניחוח. ובעולת עוף אשה ריח ניחוח וכולי לומר לך אחד המרבה ואחד הממעיט וכו'. הרי מבואר בהדיא דמועט של עני שקול כנגד מרובה של עשיר. ולכך הוקבע המנהג ברוב הקהילות ממדינה זו שלא מיקרי רוב בקבלות הרב וחזן ושמש אם לא שיהא בהסכמה אחת מרוב בנין ומרוב מנין, והיינו רוב מנין הם רוב נפשות. ורוב בנין הם רוב ממון. מפני שהנך תרי רוב שקולים הם. ליזל בתר רוב הנפשות הא עשירים הם כנגדם שהם רוב הממון. ליזל בתר העשירים שהם רוב הממון. הא העניים הם כנגדם שהם רוב הנפשות. לכך צריך תרווייהו רוב הממון ורוב הנפשות. ומנהג זה מנהג כשר הוא.

למדנו שכאשר באים למנות פרנס על הציבור על בית הדין להתייעץ עם הציבור. החובה להתייעץ עם הציבור כוללת את כל הציבור.

Informing the Authorities

Many saw TV footage of the Gava"d Rav Padwa advising a victim not to involve the police. Not mesira!!!

I don't claim to be as knowledgeable as Rav Padwa, perhaps he suspected that there was something untoward in that particular event, nevertheless, we must all get one thing very, very clear; in cases of abuse – mental, physical or sexual – it is necessary to help the victim and to inform the authorities immediately. A perpetrator, even one who has been confronted and has sworn to stop, will continue abusing this victim and will seek out others; it is unlikely to ever stop without physical restraint. The perpetrator is considered a roidef who must be informed upon. Mesira does not apply, it is a bullying tactic used to frighten the already scared and vulnerable.

Rav Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos veHanhogos 1:850) states the authorities may be informed of a person who drives recklessly or without a valid licence.  

Rb Yitzchok Adlerstein heard the following from Rb Mordechai Kaminetsky, in the name of Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky.

In the 1970's an unsavoury group were smuggling valuables in tefillin and other religious articles that would usually evade inspection. They would send religious articles with unsuspecting haredim and asked to deliver them to certain locations near their final destinations. When US customs officials got wind of this scheme they asked a few observant agents to help crack the ring. In addition to preserving the sanctity of the religious items, the customs authority felt Jewish religious agents would be better able to determine knowing accomplices from unsuspecting participants who had been duped into thinking they were actually performing a mitzvah.

The Jewish custom agent in charge of the operation decided to confer with Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky on this matter, and explained how the severity of the crime was compounded by its use of religious items. "Smuggling diamonds in Teffilin," he explained, "These thieves, by taking a sacrosanct symbol and using it as a vehicle for a crime, have destroyed the eternal sanctity and symbolism of a sacred object. Their evil actions may cause irreparable damage to countless honest religious people. Those rogues must be stopped, by any means possible!" he exclaimed.

If R’ MS permits informing on unlicensed or reckless drivers and R’ YK insisted on stopping smugglers who used tefillin, without encountering the “problem” of mesira, do not think for a moment that it applies in cases of abuse, IT DOES NOT!!!

It does not matter who the perpetrator is, a teacher, counsellor, rabbi, the Torah commandments and the laws of the land apply to them too, nobody is above the law, and you must report them.