Avodah Mailing List

Volume 04 : Number 259

Wednesday, January 5 2000

• Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"
• Re:Registry of "Who is a Jew"
• Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"
• Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"
• Re: YU is a Litvishe yeshiva in the mold of Volozhin (?)
• Registry of who is a Jew
• Re: Registry of who is a Jew

In a message dated 1/5/00 9:08:22 PM US Central Standard Time, 
sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu writes:

<< They are problesms that R' Elyashiv probably feels are real, but trumped by
 necessity. Tough on us. >>

That's the cost of belief, certainly. But are we allowed to enquire whether 
R'Elyashiv has actually considered these problems (i.e., to engage in a 
dialogue with him that retraces his reasoning)? Must we simply assume (or for 
that matter, decline to speculate one way or another) that R'Elyashiv took 
these problems properly into account? Or into account at all? Isn't the 
question of a registry sufficiently controversial to allow for more extended 
halachic debate before the question is entirely closed off as beyond dispute? 
Does R'Elyashiv approve of the anti-fraud "safeguards" you suggest we 
implement? If he hasn't considered the safeguards, don't we have to take the 
matter to him for a (unilateral) decision? Are we allowed at least to 
approach R'Elyashiv for a clarification? An extended clarification? A request 
for clarification that, if thoughtfully drafted, might trigger debate? 

David Finch

With all due respect to Rabbi Bechhofer, not every pronouncement of a
gadol batorah is a psak halacha.  Some pronouncements may be in the
category of eitzah tovah or a statement of what he considers to be
tzorech hasha'ah. 

While the same qualities which make him a gadol require that we pay
attention to his advice and suggestions, they certainly do not have the
force of psak.  Furthermore, while it would be ridiculous indeed for
anyone here to feel that he (or she) is qualified to express an opinion
on the quality of a gadol's psak, the same can not be said about that
gadol's grasp of realpolitik--unless we have all become chassidim, and
have anointed our g'dolei Torah with the near-omniscience that chasidim
attribute to their Rebbe.
Elazar M. Teitz

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----- Original Message -----
From: <DFinchPC@aol.com>
To: <avodah@aishdas.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"


> In a message dated 1/5/00 9:08:22 PM US Central Standard Time,
> sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu writes:
>
> << They are problesms that R' Elyashiv probably feels are real, but
trumped by
>  necessity. Tough on us. >>
>
> That's the cost of belief, certainly. But are we allowed to enquire
whether
> R'Elyashiv has actually considered these problems (i.e., to engage in a
> dialogue with him that retraces his reasoning)? Must we simply assume (or
for
> that matter, decline to speculate one way or another) that R'Elyashiv took
> these problems properly into account? Or into account at all? Isn't the
> question of a registry sufficiently controversial to allow for more
extended
> halachic debate before the question is entirely closed off as beyond
dispute?
> Does R'Elyashiv approve of the anti-fraud "safeguards" you suggest we
> implement? If he hasn't considered the safeguards, don't we have to take
the
> matter to him for a (unilateral) decision? Are we allowed at least to
> approach R'Elyashiv for a clarification? An extended clarification? A
request
> for clarification that, if thoughtfully drafted, might trigger debate?
>
> David Finch
>

This is a multi-part message in MIME format.

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----- Original Message -----=20
From: <DFinchPC@aol.com>
To: <avodah@aishdas.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 10:04 PM
Subject: Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"


> In a message dated 1/5/00 9:08:22 PM US Central Standard Time,=20
> sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu writes:
>=20
> << They are problesms that R' Elyashiv probably feels are real, but =
trumped by
>  necessity. Tough on us. >>
>=20
> That's the cost of belief, certainly. But are we allowed to enquire =
whether

I do not think it is the cost of "belief". This is not a theological =
issue. It is the cost of the proliferation of problematic conversions, =
marriages and divorces.
=20
> R'Elyashiv has actually considered these problems (i.e., to engage in =
a=20
> dialogue with him that retraces his reasoning)? Must we simply assume =
(or for=20

You certainly are. But that is not the way the conversation is being =
conducted here. I seem to recall someone declaring: "There must be a =
better way." Didn't sound like "enquiring minds want to know."

> that matter, decline to speculate one way or another) that R'Elyashiv =
took=20
> these problems properly into account? Or into account at all? Isn't =
the=20

Yes, we must assume that until proven otherwise. R' Elyashiv is a wise =
man, a sage, a giant among giants. While one may disagree with him =
(respectfully) on halachic issues (if one is blessed with halachic =
acumen), 'tis out of line to *not* assume that he took these issues of =
"realpolitik" into account.

> question of a registry sufficiently controversial to allow for more =
extended=20
> halachic debate before the question is entirely closed off as beyond =
dispute?=20

I believe, in fact, That R' Elyashiv himself said that it *might* have =
to to a registry. That means he himself would like to avoid this. It may =
be unavoidable.

> Does R'Elyashiv approve of the anti-fraud "safeguards" you suggest we=20
> implement? If he hasn't considered the safeguards, don't we have to =
take the=20
> matter to him for a (unilateral) decision? Are we allowed at least to=20
> approach R'Elyashiv for a clarification? An extended clarification? A =
request=20
> for clarification that, if thoughtfully drafted, might trigger debate? =


By all means. Approach R' Elyashiv. But what good does it do to debate =
the matter on Avodah?

Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Cong. Bais Tefila, 3555 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659
http://www.aishdas.org/baistefila    ygb@aishdas.org




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<BODY>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>From: &lt;<A=20
href=3D"mailto:DFinchPC@aol.com">DFinchPC@aol.com</A>&gt;</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>To: &lt;<A=20
href=3D"mailto:avodah@aishdas.org">avodah@aishdas.org</A>&gt;</FONT></DIV=
>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 10:04 =

PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Subject: Re: Registry of "Who is a=20
Jew"</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&gt; In a message dated 1/5/00 9:08:22 =
PM US=20
Central Standard Time, <BR>&gt; <A=20
href=3D"mailto:sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu">sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu=
</A>=20
writes:<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; &lt;&lt; They are problesms that R' Elyashiv =
probably=20
feels are real, but trumped by<BR>&gt; &nbsp;necessity. Tough on us.=20
&gt;&gt;<BR>&gt; <BR>&gt; That's the cost of belief, certainly. But are =
we=20
allowed to enquire whether</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I do not think it is the cost of =
"<U>belief</U>".=20
This is not a theological issue. It is the cost of the proliferation of=20
problematic conversions, marriages and divorces.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&nbsp;<BR>&gt; R'Elyashiv has actually =
considered=20
these problems (i.e., to engage in a <BR>&gt; dialogue with him that =
retraces=20
his reasoning)? Must we simply assume (or for </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>You certainly are. But that is =
<STRONG><U>not</U>=20
</STRONG>the way the conversation is being conducted here. I seem to =
recall=20
someone declaring: "There must be a better way." Didn't sound like =
"enquiring=20
minds want to know."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&gt; that matter, decline to =
speculate one way=20
or another) that R'Elyashiv took <BR>&gt; these problems properly into =
account?=20
Or into account at all? Isn't the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Yes, we must assume that until proven =
otherwise. R'=20
Elyashiv is a wise man, a sage, a giant among giants. While one may =
disagree=20
with him (respectfully) on halachic issues (if one is blessed with =
halachic=20
acumen), 'tis out of line to *<STRONG><U>not</U></STRONG>* assume that =
he took=20
these issues of "realpolitik" into account.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&gt; question of a registry =
sufficiently=20
controversial to allow for more extended <BR>&gt; halachic debate before =
the=20
question is entirely closed off as beyond dispute? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I believe, in fact, That R' Elyashiv =
himself said=20
that it *<U><STRONG>might</STRONG></U>* have to to a registry. That =
means he=20
himself would like to avoid this. It may be unavoidable.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>&gt; Does R'Elyashiv approve of the =
anti-fraud=20
"safeguards" you suggest we <BR>&gt; implement? If he hasn't considered =
the=20
safeguards, don't we have to take the <BR>&gt; matter to him for a =
(unilateral)=20
decision? Are we allowed at least to <BR>&gt; approach R'Elyashiv for a=20
clarification? An extended clarification? A request <BR>&gt; for =
clarification=20
that, if thoughtfully drafted, might trigger debate? <BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2><FONT face=3DArial>By all means. Approach R' =
Elyashiv.=20
<STRONG><U>But what good does it do to debate the matter on=20
Avodah?</U></STRONG></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer<BR>Cong. Bais =
Tefila, 3555=20
W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659<BR><A=20
href=3D"http://www.aishdas.org/baistefila">http://www.aishdas.org/baistef=
ila</A>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;=20
<A href=3D"mailto:ygb@aishdas.org">ygb@aishdas.org</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV>
<DIV>&nbsp;</DIV></BODY></HTML>

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I was so smitten with the diaries of RAEK and R' Hutner that I mentioned
this to a member of the Soloveitchik family and tried to explain the
"romantic" inspiration found in these diaries. He told me that R' Chaim
Brisker kept a "diary" as well. He wrote his chiddushim on Kodashim in it
between Dinei Torah.

Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Cong. Bais Tefila, 3555 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659
http://www.aishdas.org/baistefila    ygb@aishdas.org

----- Original Message -----
From: Micha Berger <micha@aishdas.org>
To: <avodah@aishdas.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2000 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: YU is a Litvishe yeshiva in the mold of Volozhin (?)


> Rich Wolpoe <richard_wolpoe@ibi.com> writes:
> : YU's derech to character devlopment was focused mostly upon the
intellectual
> : approach of learning, analyizing, thinking, understanding, etc.  It
tended to
> : avoid the emotional, "romantic" elements.
>
> That might be do to the Rav's Brisk-ness, no?
>
> : It's hard to articulate this, but most diveri Mussar I've heard are
about
> : making one feel "bad" or "guilty" about some shortcoming. R. Lessin
seemed
> : more about opening one up to the presence of shomayim, of connecting to
very
> : lofty spirtiual heights...
>
> Navardok's derech, IIUC, focuses on "vinafshi ke'afar lakol tihyeh".
Slabodka
> taught more about "bishvili nivra ha'olam", being bitzelem E-lokim, etc..
>
> Perhaps RYGB will accept this invitation to elaborate or correct this
> undereducated impression.
>
> -mi
>
> --
> Micha Berger (973) 916-0287          MMG"H for  5-Jan-00: Revi'i, Vaera
> micha@aishdas.org                                         A"H
> http://www.aishdas.org                                    Pisachim 94b
> For a mitzvah is a lamp, and the Torah its light.         Melachim-II 11
>

> 
> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: Wed, 5 Jan 2000 17:59:09 -0600 (CST)
> From: "Shoshanah M. & Yosef G. Bechhofer" <sbechhof@casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
> Subject: Re: Registry of "Who is a Jew"
> 
> Tht case, with names, made the Yated!
> 
> BTW, I am mystified by this whole thread. If Rav Elyashiv, a posek of
> universally recognized stature, to put it with restraint, thinks a
> registry is necessary, then who here exactly is competent to second guess
> him?
> 
Is Rav Elyashiv saying it  is a good idea or required.  You are also 
saying that because Rav Elyashiv is such a gadol he decision must be 
automatically accepted.


This is an item that affects all of Klal Yisroel.  Rav Elayshiv as you 
say is univerally recognized as a great posek, but his piskei are not 
necessarily univerally accepted.


What have the other gedolim said.   Is this completely accepted among the 
Satmar, Lubavitch, Gur, YU, RCA etc.

I have heard nothing about this being universally accepted.  To 
accomplish such a registry it must be universally be accepted.  We all 
have to follow our own poskim, who in turn follow their poskim etc.  

It is still too early to tell whether Rav Elyashiv's view will be accepted.

Harry 

This is response to R' Harry Weiss. while the page from which this is taken,
as others have noted here before, essentially the Web version of the Yated,
takes a generally predictable viewpoint, the interesting thing about this
essay is:

1. The writer - not a Lithuanian Rosh Yeshiva, but a "Rabbiner Doktor"
Yekkeshe (hooray!) Rav then Rosh Yeshiva, long-time editor of the
Encyclopedia Talmudit, talmid muvhak (in Berlin) of RAEK.

2. The date of its writing.

3. The contents.

No, it is not R' Elyashiv alone. And, it is plain 'ol common sense (the
fifth volume of SA). And, it is precedented. See below.

Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer
Cong. Bais Tefila, 3555 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, IL 60659
http://www.aishdas.org/baistefila    ygb@aishdas.org


27 Teves 5760 - January 5, 2000 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly

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 Opinion & Comment
A Call To Save Our Pure Yichus
by HaRav Yonah Mertzbach

[In Adar II, 5703 (1943) HaRav Yonah Mertzbach zt'l published the following
article in the chareidi publication HaDerech, dealing with the disastrous
halachic problems created by the aliya from Europe. This immigration
included people disbarred from Jewish marriage, as well as bogus converts to
Judaism who threatened to mix with the general populace in the Holy Land.
Because of judicial decisions concerning fictitious conversions and
recognition of the Reform Movement's activities, and the general problems of
bogus conversion among Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbonim, this
article has renewed relevance today.]


Before I even begin, I know that what I am writing here will be like talking
to the wall. It will be like blowing a trumpet during a peal of thunder.
Nevertheless, I cannot be silent. From day to day corruption is endangering
the very heart of my people.

In the Diaspora we were already fighting this milchemes mitzvah. We rebuked
the people there to the greatest possible degree, even to the point of
maledictions and open denunciation. The enemy from the outside swallowed up
all our weapons against it. Who knows if we did not harm ourselves by all
this? "Wars were only created to destroy the mamzeirim from among Yisroel."
Hashem, the vineyard's owner, burns down the thorns in His vineyard, and
after the fire starts, stacks of good produce are sometimes also destroyed.

When we emigrated to this Holy Land we were joyful that some of the
country's laws were controlled by our Torah leaders: Marriage, divorce, and
yichus were under the control of the rabbonim. At least the rabbonim could
enforce part of the Torah's mitzvos, though these were almost the only ones,
due to our many sins. In those matters, we thought, no one on the inside or
on the outside had the power to fetter us. We rejoiced, but were later
disappointed when we saw something that we had hoped never to see here.

I approached Agudas Yisroel in order to discuss the problem, and attended
its conference in Petach Tikva; but nothing at all resulted from that.
Political questions took precedence there over everything else. Today
politics is more important than all the 613 mitzvos. In politics everyone
finds a place to excel and be an expert, so why should a person choose to
engage in other things that demand that one seek advice and gain much
experience?

I went to the Taharas Hamishpocha Conference that took place in Yerushalayim
under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate and that dealt with a subject
bordering on ours. I heard many speeches, lectures, discussions, and
suggestions at the conference. At its end there were also endless
resolutions, but after all the commotion there was total silence. The yetzer
hora is meanwhile sitting and poisoning the situation more and more.

What exactly is our present situation? It is necessary to clarify it for
those who do not know.

I will not write at length. The stories will speak for themselves; the facts
will show what is happening. The following is only an example, one case out
of many that have, incidentally, become known to us. Similar occurrences
are, unfortunately, numerous, to our great shame.

A family from the country in whose rabbinate I once served, emigrated to
Eretz Yisroel. This family's children are mamzeirim mideOraisa: the father
married his brother's widow, despite the fact that she had living children
from her previous husband. It was a clear case of marrying a brother's wife
without a mitzvah of yibum.

We know that when Jews in western countries forsook many of the mitzvos, the
laws about arayos, too, collapsed where these laws were different from the
non-Jewish ones. When uprooters of the religion saw that the nation sinned,
they presented themselves as rabbonim and arranged "rabbinical" conferences
and passed resolutions. In fact, they did not only pass resolutions; they
also acted.

They arranged marriages even for those whom the Torah prohibits from
marrying and even said the sheva brochos there. They wrote bills of divorce
not according to the halocho and even against the husband's will, as if they
were Heaven's emissaries to carry out justice. They permitted another issur
and yet another, and caused irreparable damage. The result: mamzeirim were
born because of them.

Then the great aliya came. People immigrated from all over the world to
Eretz Yisroel.

When I was still in the Diaspora I warned the rabbonim in Eretz Yisroel
about the particular case just mentioned, but at that time no one knew where
they were living. After I too made aliya I located them, but what did I
find? One of the mamzeirim meanwhile had made chuppah and kiddushin and the
second was about to become engaged.

This is not the proper forum to clarify the entire halachic subject of a
mishpocha shenitme'oh. There are many differences of opinion. The Rishonim
differ over whether nitme'oh means having become admixed into the populace
or whether it means the family's origins were forgotten. When this principle
applies and when it does not is also a matter of opinion. But all in all,
who gave us permission to bring about such a situation with our own hands?

Indeed the heart aches over these unfortunate people who were born
mamzeirim. We are ready to honor them more than a Kohen godol who is not
fitting for his position, recognizing when they are fitting for such a
position if it were not for their being mamzeirim. There is, nevertheless, a
decree of the Torah, and we cannot raise doubts about it. Are we allowed to
let them enter kehal Hashem and marry?

There are many such cases in our land. You do not know, your son does not
know, your daughter does not know, who will be their future mates. Can you
ever be sure that, Hashem yishmor, your grandchildren will not be mamzeirim?

Is this the time to be silent? Should we simply do nothing?


Non-Jews, too, have mixed in among us, some pretending to be Jews.

For a year or two the Jewish Agency did not even bother asking the religion
and faith of the immigrants' wives when they handed them a certificate of
aliya. They and their Christian wives, and their halachically non-Jewish
children, made aliya, and more children were later born here.

There are also non-Jews who pretend to be Jewish. Reform rabbis in western
lands had good and compassionate hearts. Anyone who came to them to become
Jewish was accepted with their blessings. They did not check if these
people's intentions were lesheim Shomayim or not. They did not demand of
them to agree to observe all the mitzvos, since they themselves did not
observe or even accept all the mitzvos; and "What is hateful to you, you
must not do to your fellow man."

Many times these so-called rabbis accepted geirim even without halachic
immersion in a mikveh. There were some rabbis who just brought these
non-Jews to the shul, and after standing them in front of the open aron
kodesh they read the posuk of Shema Yisroel -- and in that way they
"entered" Klal Yisroel. These were geirim according to the Reform rabbis.
According to the halocho, without tevilla and accepting the yoke of mitzvos
they remained non-Jews, and the children of female "geirim" of this sort are
non-Jews, and their daughters' children too.

I am acquainted with immigrants of both types. They live in several cities
in Eretz Yisroel, and no one knows that according to halocho they are
non-Jews. There is no one to prevent them from joining am Yisroel through
chuppah vekiddushin.

Even when people are aware . . . I wonder what the Chief Rabbinate offices
in Eretz Yisroel will do if that professor of the Hebrew University who
tells chassidic stories and "prophecies," or that poet who is a Citizen of
Honor of the Hebrew city (Tel Aviv) and whose poems are printed in Israel's
newspapers, demands chuppah and kiddushin for his children from his
non-Jewish wife. These two men's wives never converted properly and never
accepted upon themselves the yoke of mitzvos, and therefore their children,
are, according to halocho, non-Jews. I just wonder what the Rabbinate
offices will do. What will they tell them? What they will answer them?

These are only a few cases we are aware of. Again I ask: are we to sit with
folded hands and see non-Jews assimilating among us? Are we to observe
passively while holy Jewish hearts and souls, until now pure, are strangled
by marriage to non-Jews who were not sanctified by halachic conversion? I
again ask: Are you, the reader of this article, certain that, chas
vecholila, your children will never intentionally or unintentionally realize
the posuk, "she [the non- Jew married to a Jewish man] will remove your son
[from the Jewish nation]." If this happens, it will only be because our
generation was spiritually impoverished and irresponsible. Should someone
not have given the warning to make a proper distinction between Jews and
non-Jews?


All the people of improper yichus in Babylonia went up with Ezra the Scribe,
and some opinions claim that Ezra forced them to come up to Eretz Yisroel.
Our land then became an isah ("dough"), as Chazal write (a mixture of yeast,
water, flour, salt, and bran, figuratively speaking) in comparison to
Babylonia.

Woe to our generation, in which our holy land is liable to become an isah
again in comparison to other lands, to the entire world, to become a mixture
of those who were held unfit by the whole Diaspora. This is liable to happen
if we do not do something about it.

How great is our shame! Not only because of the immigrants, not only because
of the filth of the sitra achra that dwells in the impure lands, have we
sullied ourselves. There are unfortunately other reasons.

The nonobservance of Jewish marital laws within the secular leftist
kibbutzim in Eretz Yisroel is a strict secret that can only partly be
revealed. We cry out from the bottom of our hearts over their chillul
Shabbos. We are deeply shocked in seeing their war against our faith and any
sacred values. We are not to blame for all this. When the time comes -- and
we are sure that it will come -- and these people truly return to Hashem and
His Torah, then even intentional sins will be transformed to unintentional
ones. If they repent because of love for Hashem, then their sins will be
transformed to merits. However, there are sometimes irremediable conditions.

Woe to us that we are forced to talk like this! Woe to ears that hear such
talk! We hope that Hashem's honor will be restored and that things will
change. I will only cite what one government-appointed rabbi of a community
in Eretz Yisroel bitterly wrote. With his pure heart he moans: "Why should
we bother trying to do something against the isolated cases of mamzeirim
mentioned above, when in the kibbutz near where I live the majority of
children born are . . . "

"For the sin that we have sinned before You by gilui arayos." "We have
sinned" is emphasized in that prayer. If we do not do anything, we will see
the glory of Klal Yisroel trampled upon by reckless feet, and sacred Jewish
values will be desecrated. Can we remain silent, can we not take even the
most extraordinary means to save what still can be saved?

Yirei Shomayim -- the rabbonim in Eretz Yisroel -- have already conferred
together about what should be done to prevent the many severe aberrations
that have happened in past marriages. They have made some takonos: two
witnesses must testify about the chosson and the kallah, and the names of
the intended pair are printed in local newspapers. (Though what have they
gained by printing the names in the papers if their original homeland is not
printed too?)

But we all know what happens in reality. People consider testifying about
the future chosson and kallah a mere formality, a matter of honor and
kindness. The couple request someone of their acquaintance who knows them --
sometimes even someone who does not know them at all -- to do them a favor
and honor them by signing in the Rabbinate office on a form that certifies
that the undersigned has no knowledge of any reason to prevent the marriage
of this couple. Is there any good-hearted person who will refuse to sign? In
addition, many times the yichus of the person who signs needs to be vouched
for too.

Furthermore, what will these attempts to rectify the situation help when
there are Liberal rabbis, of the German [i.e., Reform] type, who do not
recognize the eternity of the Torah and its laws, and who officially conduct
marriages for the Rabbinate? These "rabbis" do not even agree to all the
Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Faith. What is prohibited in other cities is
permitted in Yerushalayim, the Holy City! There is a Reform rabbi who
arranges marriages there, and no protest -- not even from Rav Meir Berlin,
the president of Mizrachi, who was enraged and cried out against this -- did
anything to help to remove this michshol.

We need to act, not to make takonos. Who still thinks that the world will
continue in the same way? There are truly many problems, but there are many
ways to deal with them.

It happened that an immigrant from Iraq asked me a question that astounded
me. In her homeland, parents are even today accustomed to marry off their
daughters as minors, which they are allowed to do according to the Torah.
Her father, too, married this woman off a few years ago. Since the chosson
was disliked by her, she never agreed to the match and a chuppah was never
made. The father, however, took the kiddushin money and therefore she is,
according to halocho, an arusah, a married woman.

In the meantime she has immigrated to Eretz Yisroel and her arus has
remained in Iraq. Now a new life has begun for her and she wants to become
engaged to someone else. She thinks that what her father did in Iraq does
not obligate her, since she was very small when he did it, and furthermore,
she never agreed to it. She asked my opinion: do I not agree with her?

Now what will be, if all the efforts to obtain a get from her halachic
husband are not successful? Will she withstand this test of faith? What will
be with those who never came to ask a rabbinical query, and who never will
come? Is it not possible that this young woman, who is actually an eishes
ish, will be married with chuppah and kiddushin, here in the Holy Land, even
before the most chareidi Rabbinate, because of not knowing that there is a
problem and an inability to investigate the case?

How many of the unfortunate children who have been saved from the Gehennom
of the wicked oppressor, and of those that will be saved (may Hashem, Who
has abundant mercy even when He is angry, save their multitudes) are clearly
aware of their parents' status, or of who their parents really were? Is
there not a danger, as our sages z'l always feared, that a brother may marry
his sister, chas vesholom? Is it possible any longer to postpone making
takonos and taking corrective steps? Or is it perhaps already too late?

Let no one think that I have enumerated even half of the problems. I could
add much more, but what I have already cited is sufficient to show what is
needed. Things that have never happened before are happening in our
generation.

It is our obligation to save the remnant of Jewry until the Redeemer comes,
the king upon whom we daily wait. We will then come before him and tell him
that we did all that we could. Our obligation is to save, to save both the
body and the neshomo, the Torah and its mitzvos, am Yisroel and its yichus.

Is there any way to do this? Is it at all possible?

Yes, it certainly is!

All the possibilities cannot be described in this article, but one way is
worth being cited here.

We all fondly remember the Dutch rabbonim and their lay leaders who showed
us the way; they themselves took it and succeeded. They carried out one idea
that, although it cannot solve all problems, could greatly help.

Let us follow them, let us act as they did. Let us demand that what they did
be done here. What was done in Holland can also be done in Eretz Yisroel:
arranging a certificate of yichus.

A certificate of yichus is signed by a beis din after they have clarified a
person's status according to the halocho and based on reliable witnesses who
know the neighborhood where that man or woman was born. These witnesses have
testified that there is no uncertainty about the yichus of the certificate's
holder. With such a certificate our children and grandchildren would be able
to know which people there are no doubts about, and which were born with
halachic doubts that must be looked into.

The yichus certificate would immensely help in several halachic questions.
Furthermore, its enforcement will be sufficient to arouse people's attention
to the importance of yichus.

It is currently still possible to investigate many halachic doubts, but in
the future there will be doubts that cannot be clarified. With these yichus
certificates we can save the pure yichus of the future generations.

"HaKodosh Boruch Hu only lets His Shechina dwell on families that have a
yichus." Let us fulfill our obligation, so that Hashem can once again let
His Shechina dwell upon the Jewish Nation.

Incomparable suffering surrounds us. The external enemy threatens to destroy
us. Let us take the example of Ezra the Scribe. When our archenemies planned
to destroy us, what did Ezra do? With a strong hand and a resolute heart,
without fear of anyone, through his deeds he saved the yichus of our nation,
and in that way saved the people.

Who will stand up to save our pride, our yichus? If not now, then when? Do
the leaders of our nation and the gedolim not see that we cannot delay? It
is now a time of pikuach nefesh. Let us try to save ourselves.

HaRav Yonah Mertzbach zt'l was rosh yeshiva in Yeshivas Kol Torah in
Yerushalayim. This English translation was first printed in the Rosh Hashana
edition, 5757. We are reprinting it because of its relevance to the renewed
issue of yuchsin.



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