- Rav Elyashiv’s rulings hit mainstream media: link
- Wikipedia striving for balance on divisive issues: link
- NYC Dept of Health issues poster to wash hands and recite the blessing after using the bathroom: link
- Ivanka Trump married Jared Kushner in an Orthodox ceremony: link
- Rav Elyashiv forbids accepting Christian charity money: link
- R. Yechiel Eckstein to list Charedi institutions that receive Christian money: link
- Anti-Slifkin antagonist demands respect for Rav Soloveitchik: link
- R. Meir Orlian on finding objects on the train: link
- Bukharian Jewish museum in Queens: link
- Rav Soloveitchik’s final exam in Jewish Philosophy: link
- A Ben Torah’s guide to Parnassa on TorahWeb: link
Anon comments: Who reads Theology/Jewish Thought in OJ? Nobody in OJ that I know. Maybe you’ll read a hashkafah sefer from a well known Rav or Godol, but nobody is reading theology from an academic.
IRA writes: This quote,
"Finally, it will teach all of our students that non-Orthodox denominations represent a viewpoint that we respect. Even if we disagree with some of their philosophies, we value them as one of many necessary instruments in the Jewish symphony. In this way our diversity is not a compromise of our commitment to Torah, but a confirmation of it; it is our way of teaching certain core Torah values outside the classroom and not just inside."
This quote drives a truck through orthodox judaism, by maintaining that conservative judaism and reform judaism and who knows what else, is a "necessary instrument in the Jewish symphony."
It is one thing to teach "love all jews","love the sinner hate the sin" and that the non observant are still our family and brothers, but that doesn’t legitimize their torah interpretations as valid.
NACHUM LAMM POSTS: Staying alive *is* a civil liberty, you know? The people who died in the World Trade Center would have valued that one far above the question as to whether some terrorist got his Koran.
Would you support forcing Orthodox rabbis to marry homosexuals? Because you know that’s the issue that Mr. Beigelman is tiptoeing around.
Speaking of Orthodox rabbis and marriage, the news from New Jersey…well, it confirms a bleak fact, but anyway.
Ah, growing up my elementary school rebbeim used to mock Reform and Conservative Judaism: "Ha! They convert people just so they can marry Jews! Mickey Mouse conversions!"
Time and again I’m reminded how wrong they were to limit themselves.
Indeed, one of the most radical charedim out there is out to convert people for just that reason, if only post-facto. (I dunno.)
Maybe the rich have different rules. I hate to be cynical, but this one screams for it.
ANON POSTS: I dont know Jared or Ivanka at all, but (i) they have been regulars at KJ every shabbat for several years, as well as on chagim and (ii) Rabbi Lookstein has reluctantly signed up with the RCA Beit Din for conversions [he doesnt like having to be subordinated to the Rabbinut in Israel on these issues and fears that it what is coming]. Much as people can chuckle [and people at KJ certainly do about this], there is no reason to impugn this geirus simply because she is famous.
I also understand that the wedding was more tznius-dik than a typical KJ wedding.
HAGTBG WRITES: There is an article in the New York Times about whether Ivanka dressing with sleeves will bring them back into wedding dresses.
"I thought Ms. Trump looked sensational in her lace dress. It was the sleeves. We’re so used to seeing brides in strapless dresses that Ms. Trump’s gown made a fresh statement. Maybe she’ll have an influence on brides."
MJ POSTS: So, are food stamps, WIC checks, Section 8 vouchers, and certain refundable tax credits considered charity?
GIL REPLIES: No, because it comes from a communal fund that includes money from Jews, even if only a minority. Rav Kook discusses such a case in his teshuvah.
SHLOMO POSTS: It’s worth noting in this context that most charedi institutions in Israel are funded by the Israeli government, using money allocated in return for the charedi parties’ voting in favor of arming terrorists and expelling Jews in order to give their homes to Hamas. The left-wing parties that initiated these policies have the excuse that they honestly thought they would bring peace. The charedi parties had no such illusions but voted in favor anyway. In short, they purchased their institutions in return for Jewish blood.
LAWYER MALLOY WRITES: Honestly, this is just another example of when there’s a rabbinic will, there’s a halachic way. (Though I disagree with Ble Greenberg for social reasons, she is right in that little catchphrase of hers, as everyone knows.) Just like the Chochmas Shlomo came up with a distinction, we can do the same. We can say the prohibition only applied when money was instrinsically valuable. But when it’s just a piece of paper, not even backed by gold, then the issur doesnt apply. Or whatever rationale you want to come up with.
I mean, will anyone argue that Nefesh B’Nefesh has not done more good for Jews than almost any other charity? What can possibly be greater than bringing thousands upon thousands of Jews to settle in the Holy Land? (What, you think opening yet another yeshivah in New Jersey where guys learn nothing is better?) And Nefesh B’Nefesh is supported by Christians. It makes no sense to say you can accept a sacrifice by Christians because of aivah, but not charity.
Whatever. Another pronouncement to be ignored from the so-called Charedi "Godol Hador". If we cared what he said, we’d be embarassed for him. Personally, I am hoping institutions accept this "psak". It means less money for them, and the less money for anything that blindly follows Rav Elyashiv, the better.
CATHY HORYN WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES:
“I was driving around Hoboken at nine-thirty on Sunday night,” said Vera Wang, when I called to ask about Ivanka Trump’s wedding dress. No, Ms. Wang did not miss the wedding on Sunday, at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., but apparently she and her husband, Arthur Becker, missed a turn on their way back to Manhattan.
I thought Ms. Trump looked sensational in her lace dress. It was the sleeves. We’re so used to seeing brides in strapless dresses that Ms. Trump’s gown made a fresh statement. Maybe she’ll have an influence on brides.
…Did she think Ms. Trump might start a trend with her sleeves? “She might very,” Ms. Wang said. “Nothing would make me happier. I’ve been doing strapless dresses for 15 years. It’s tiring.”
"Shiksa goddess" is a flippy term — either an honorific or a slur depending on how you view the stereotype of the blonde gentile who lures Jewish guys to abandon their religion for love.
Now blonde model millionairess Ivanka Trump, who converted to marry Jared Kushner in a Jewish ceremony yesterday, flips the term again. The ladies of The View were all over the gala wedding. (Barbara Walters was a guest). And the pr gal for book new in paperback, The Shiksa Syndrome, (Plot line: Jewish girl plays shiksa to catch Jewish guy) is all over this.
Traditional Judaism has always discouraged such conversions.
Cindy Adams was one of 500 close personal Trump friends invited to attend the Jared Kushner–Ivanka Trump nuptials at the Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey this past weekend, and she didn’t like what she saw. Here are five of the things she disapproved of.
1. It was cold. In fact, according to the septuagenarian gossip columnist, the weather was "nippy."
2. There were some awkward moments. "During the ceremony, the bride kept trying to take the groom’s hand."
3. Some people didn’t know how to behave. "Black, which the older generation never wore to weddings, was everywhere."
4. It was loooong. "For most invitees, it was more than an eight-hour gig. They left home 2:30-ish, arrived back after midnight, and even then it meant splitting before the cake came out."
5. There was some extreme tackiness. "Friends may still be discussing the wedding invitations they’d received. It had a flier inside for Donald’s other golf properties."
New York magazine corrects itself:
Daily Intel just received the following missive from one Ivanka Kushner, née Ivanka Trump, regarding our earlier post about the Post‘s Cindy Adams report detailing the J-Vanka wedding, a.k.a. the event of the season, at least until this weekend, when Gay New Year arrives. Sayeth Ivanka:
Cindy Adams neither attended nor was invited to my wedding, and her story was filled with various inaccuracies, including those about the weather and the “marketing flyer” included in the invitation, which were both easily fact-checkable. My wedding was a private, perfect occasion, the memories from which I will treasure for a lifetime.
Brittney Lee writes: "Ivanka has had everything handed to her on a silver platter. Her chin, nose, cheeks, breast were all paid for by daddy. Ivanka’s phony conversion to Orthodox Judaism was also paid off. Ivanka is such a fraud. I can’t believe people actually admire her. She’s a joke."
Like many women, I am sure Ivanka would not have converted like that for just any tommy, dicky and harry. No. She did it for Jared because he was worth it to her. They make a great match. Let’s face it. And all other things held equal, it is clear to me that she felt there was enough there to work with, that was workable, but there were some differences that were a bit out there that needed to be brought into congruence to give the marriage some added padding and protection, and to avoid divorce due to “irreconcilable differences.”
Obviously, some differences cannot be reconciled. But luckily for those two, religion is one of those things that can, if the parties are not too rigid. Jared, likewise could have converted to Christianity. But these big switches work better if the woman submits. I hate to sound Victorian but the facts are the facts and have not and will not change for centuries. A man needs to feel that to some extent, his woman has submitted to him. He has to feel like he’s the CEO in the marriage. And you know what? Secretly? I think women need to feel that too – that she has married a man who is man enough to be given the privilege of being her CEO. And it’s a missing ingredient in a lot of modern marriages. That is why so many are failing. Ivanka clearly understood this dynamic and so, even though she didn’t have to, even though she could have had her pick of so many eligible Gentile bachelors in New York, she converted to show her commitment, and to submit to her husband and to her marriage and relationship.
I see no fraud here. I see a smart woman. I see an intelligent wife who is doing the best she can under the circumstances to avoid a speedy, embarassing divorce. I see a strategist pulling out a preemptive strike to protect her interest in her investment of time making all those kosher dishes, investment of emotions, and everything else besides.
I am sure the agreement goes to the unborn children and includes a clause about what their last names will be. Trump-Kushner no doubt – as opposed to TRUMP or KUSHNER alone. And of course, they will be raised Orthodox Jews. I am sure that is in the prenuptial agreement. And they likely will attend Hebrew school according to the stipulation of their parents.
Yea. But Orthodox, huh? Wow. When you convert to Orthodox Judaism from Christianity for your husband, that’s intense. That is off the charts love, I would surmise. You really shouldn’t need a prenup with committment like that.
New York magazine reports July 17, 2009: This spring, for instance, Ivanka attended a benefit for the Mikvah, the traditional Jewish bath, in Jared’s hometown of Livingston, New Jersey, with his mom, Seryl, and his two sisters, Nicole and Dara. One attendee reported that Seryl introduced Ivanka to friends solely as "Ivanka," and not as Jared’s girlfriend.
Nicole writes on the JewishJournal.com: "Ivanka’s “conversion” was a fraud and only done for marriage. Ivanka’s “conversion” was completed in 8 months and was done just to get married to Jared Kushner. Orthodox conversions take 2-4 years to complete and are never done for the reason of marriage. Ivanka’s wedding was a “Big fat interfaith marriage.” There was nothing Jewish about it."
