Today, the leaders of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization – and the Rabbinical Council of America — a membership body representing 1,000 Orthodox rabbis, issued the following statement with regard to the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia:
The leadership of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Rabbinical Council of America was saddened to learn of the passing of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. Justice Scalia was a towering intellect, passionate architect of American law and dedicated public servant. Of course, as a member of the high court, Justice Scalia shaped so many areas of the law. But for the American Orthodox Jewish community, among the issues dealt with by the court, one of the most important to us is that of religious liberty. Through his opinions in many cases interpreting the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause, (with the notable exception of his majority opinion in Employment Division v. Smith), Justice Scalia moved the jurisprudence of that topic away from an extreme view of strict separationism and back to a principled approach of government neutrality toward and equality among religions.
On the whole, Justice Scalia contributed much to expanding religious liberty in the United States and we are thankful for his service. We extend our condolences to his beloved wife, children and grandchildren.
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8 Responses
Why do they issue a statement about this? Will they issue a statement when every influential person out there passes away? Do they issue a statement upon the passing of every gadol? This seems a bit crazy to me.
Every important org. that represents citizens of the US issue a statement when an important person dies tragically and even not tragically. a sudden death is always a tragedy.
The OU and its Rabbinical affiliate should take care of their own business first:
(1) The OU Job Board — which has been providing job placement and job training for hundred of people each year — will “die” soon, due to internal dissention and lack of commitment by the OU.
(2) Some of their Kosher certifications are questionable and require review.
As CHAZAL have taught: “Kshot Azmecha, VeAchar Kach Kshot Aceirim”!
M: unfortunately for you, you never took a civics class in yeshiva. You have no idea how how the “chesed” works within our “medina shel chesed”. The Chesed comes from the liberties of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has the power to have the final say on interpreting the Constitution. Justice Scalia was someone more inclined to judge decisions in a way that enables the government to give money to Yeshivos, to prevent us from being mistreated because we are Jewish, and to allow us our kehilos to thrive as religious people. As a cure to your lack of knowledge I would at minimum recommend spending some time on wikipedia and learning how America works.
Avraham what kosher certifications are questionable? If you know of a specific product call them up and ask About it , spreading lashon Harah in a comments section is really poor form .
For those that don’t know justice Scalia was the featured speaker at an agudah dinner a few years ago. He was great. If you don’t appreciate what a loss this is you are likely in opposite to every gadol in America who listened intently as he spoke
Example of questionable OU certifications:
They certify nearly one thousand (no exaggeration) “NON-dairy” coffee creamers, all of which are actually Milchig!
When I brought this to the attention of my Posek — a prominent Rav — he urged me to pursue this matter with them. So far, all I get from OU is either nothing or a vague answer. My Posek is very unhappy!
I tried to contact the OU Posek, HaRav Schachter SHLIT”A, but cannot get access to him.
Before you bad-mouth a very respectable agency…
There’s a difference between non-dairy and dairy-free. A product labeled non-dairy can have a small amount of dairy in it. Dairy-free usually indicates that there is no dairy in the product at all.
Thousands of creamers? I doubt that there are that many creamers out there on the market. Why are you so quick to insult rabbi Schechter but won’t say who your Posek is?
Ou as a policy puts oud on products that are parve but made on dairy equipment, like Oreos so I have trouble believing what you are saying without specific examples