Comments on: EMANUEL: Rav Greuenwald Decries Injustice in Bar-Lev Case

By: apushatayid

apushatayid — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 18:21:11 +0000

To get back on topic for a second. Rav Bar Lev was released from prison late last night.

By: mdd

mdd — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:12:45 +0000

Mw13, we are talking about children of working fathers not getting accepted into a yeshiva because their fathers work as opposed to learning full-time.

By: mdd

mdd — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:09:05 +0000

I meant 2 thousand years.

By: mdd

mdd — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:08:12 +0000

Farfrumt, you are right — almost 2 years in golus, and still we have not learnt the lesson.
For the Israel-bashers, the state of Israel is a fact. And it is a regional superpower at that, and not a toy country. You have to act accordingly. Just as you would not defy the British or the American government, do not defy the Israeli one, but be unshakeable in your mitsvos observance.

By: mw13

mw13 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:44:21 +0000

#37 – “discrimination exists… so if you dont know the facts, please dont bother to comment on the situation”
I never said that there is no discrimination. I said there was no discrimination in Emanuel.
“this disease has already landed on America’s shores – in the form of separate yeshivas for ‘working’ and learning’ families in lakewood. same idea.”
I fail to see how having separate programs to cater to the needs of both learning and working boys is discrimination. Sounds like common sense to me.

By: farfrumt

farfrumt — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 01:03:03 +0000

#33 you can ask anyone living in a major chareidi city in israel: discrimination exists . i personally know of two families that changed their last names because the school would not accept them otherwise. (both sfardim, one added the suffix ‘witz ‘ to their last name and one adopted an ashkenazi grandparents last name- crazy huh?) why they wanted that mosod is a dif question(not mine or your biz) but i ask- will one more sfardi family(with a sfardi sounding name) destroy the name of the school?! i guess so. so if you dont know the facts, please dont bother to comment on the situation .

wake up people, this disease has already landed on America’s shores – in the form of separate yeshivas for ‘working’ and learning’ families in lakewood. same idea. who is holier ? ashenazim or sfardim? ‘workers’ or ‘learners’?

By: chiefrabbi

chiefrabbi — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:21:27 +0000

It was מרן חיד”א over two hundred years ago who commented that ספרדים follow the מדה of חסד and אשכנזים follow גבורה. This has not changed over the years as evident by the approach taken by both sides with dealing with ציונות, חוזרי בתשובה and a host of other issues. The Supreme Court ruling was outrageous by putting the onus of integration on the parents, some of the poorest and disenfranchised people in the country. So this is pretty absurd. And of course, the basic right of religious freedom was denied them, since they were not allowed to remove their children from the classroom. But the idea that they can one day decide on dividing a school into two that was hitherto a single school and put a fence down the middle is just outrageous. I am saying this as an Azhkenazi. I could imagine how the Sefardim feel.

By: mw13

mw13 — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 00:10:31 +0000

#34 – “what these great (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) gedolim and leaders of our generation in Israel need to do now is learn Torah together… and create an integrated governing board that overlooks major areas of halacha… like kashrus!”
First of all, the Gedolim are than capable of figuring out what they should and should not be doing. Secondly, when it comes to halacha Ashkenazim and Sephardim have different minhagim. There is no need to “integrate” them: the Sephardim follow the pesak of Sephardi Gedolim, and the Ashkenazim the Ashkenazi Gedolim.

By: yoheved

yoheved — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:53:32 +0000

to farfrumt… exactly…not to mention the ‘kitchen’ issue again… but my son in yeshiva in Israel couldn’t go to my cousin’s home for Shabbos because his family (my cousin) accepted the kashrus of the rabbanut … i was floored that the ashkenazi gedolom in Israel were on a different page altogether regarding kashrus than the Sephardim … it took explaining this to relatives (they couldn’t believe that the rabbanut wasn’t scrupulous about terumah and maaser) for me to fully understand this… how could an entire wing of gedolom not enforce this crucial mitzvah? not saying it is wholly a Sephardic issue (many Ashkenazim go by the rabbanut) .. but how can a leading ‘halachic authority’ consider this mitzvah (unique to Israel) optional? …. what these great (Ashkenazi and Sephardic) gedolim and leaders of our generation in Israel need to do now is learn Torah together… and create an integrated governing board that overlooks major areas of halacha… like kashrus!

By: mw13

mw13 — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 23:36:18 +0000

#30 – When you said that the Gedolim aren’t sitting at the same table, I assumed you meant that they were actively disagreeing with each other, and therefore not talking to one another. Now, however, I see that you simply meant to say that the Ashkenazi and Sephardi Gedolim have not sat down to fix the problem, and you are wondering why.
First of all, I still believe that it is entirely possible that the Gedolim have indeed communicated with each other about this issue, albeit not to the public.
If however the Gedolim have not met, as you claim,perhaps they do not see a problem that they need to sit down and discuss. As I have said earlier (in comment #25 in my second response to comment #3), I do not believe there was any discrimination in Emanuel.