Perl Reich will have Reality Show! The fun begins!

Three ultra-Orthodox Jews ditch their strict religious lifestyle and join the sin-city world of secularism in a docudrama, called “Shunned,” about their new lives.

 
One of the chosen three, Pearlperry Reich, who is now embroiled in a divorce and custody battle for her four children, said she joined the cast to give voice to people who are often ignored — and to help her budding acting and modeling career.

“My main purpose is to create a positive Judaism,” said the 30-year-old stunner. “And it would be a really good opportunity for me to get my face out there.”

Noah Scheinmann, an executive producer at No Regrets Entertainment, said the company is now shopping “Shunned” to the networks, and is searching for a fourth cast member leaving the faith. Its allure, he said, lies in people’s relative ignorance of the Hasidic community. Divorce will be a key theme.
Of the three cast members, all met their betrothed through arranged marriages. They’re all divorced, or in the midst of a divorce.
Shauli Grossman, 24, who’s dating Reich, said he joined the show to help educate Orthodox teens. “There are a lot of people [for whom] this lifestyle is not a choice, and they would die to leave,” he said. “We’re married off at 17 or 18 before we even know what we want.”
Luzer Twersky, 26, was married after his first date at the age of 19. He likened his experience moving away from the ultra-Orthodox world to living in a one-room basement apartment your whole life, and then being thrust into Grand Central Terminal at rush hour.He grew up in the Belz and Satmar sects in Borough Park. Now he works in fashion.
“A lot of things are new to me. I saw ‘Star Wars’ for the first time last year,” he said. “It’s interesting. At least now I can understand what people are talking about; ‘May the force be with you.’ ”
And then there was bacon.
“When I had the first bite, I felt angry,” he said. “I felt how could my parents keep this from me?”
Twersky, divorced with two children, said that after leaving the faith, he played the field for a while. “The lifestyle didn’t fit me,” he said. “You can’t sleep with a lot of women. You can’t try a lot of different kinds of food. It’s all about fitting in.”
Now he’s in a committed relationship with a blond, Irish-Catholic girl from Arkansas, a plot line that “Shunned” will be sure to follow.
“She’s as shiksa as they come,” he said. “She’s f---king awesome!”

Oprah's interview with Chassidic families! Video

Part 1

Part 2

Pollard rushed to Hospital! Condition Critical

Pollard has been hospitalized for several days in the Federal Hospital near the Butner North Carolina prison. He is suffering from intense pain for which the doctors have not yet found an explanation.

Esther Pollard, the wife of the convicted American Naval Intelligence analyst who has spent 27 years in prison for spying for Israel, on Sunday entreated President Shimon Peres to act immediately to try to secure her husband's freedom before it is too late.

Esther was accompanied by MKs Uri Ariel and Ronit Tirosh who head the Knesset lobby for the release of Jonathan Pollard, along with members of The Committee for the Release of Jonathan Pollard. "I am the wife of Jonathan Pollard. I do not want to be the widow of Jonathan Pollard," she said her voice trembling with emotion and her face crumpling with anxiety.

Esther told Peres that she lives in daily terror that the phone will ring and inform her of yet another medical crisis. "It's just a matter of time before the next one occurs." The issue right now she said is to stabilize her husband's condition.

Pollard entreated Peres to use all the influence that he has at his disposal to ensure that Pollard is not returned to prison. "Sending him back to prison is a death sentence," she said.

Frum Girl comes home after living with Arab for two years!

The Lehava anti-assimilation organization has been able to locate a young Jewish woman and her one-year-old baby, two years after she ran away from her home with an Arab boyfriend.

Aryeh from the Lehava organization told Arutz Sheva on Thursday about the rescue operation. He said that the 25-year-old woman, originally from Jerusalem, left her parents’ home two years ago after meeting an Arab man at her workplace. The woman, who was identified only as A, ran away with the man to an Arab village in northern Israel, where she gave birth about a year ago.

unsuccessful until Wednesday.

Aryeh said that A’s parents contacted Lehava, but all attempts to make contact with A were

“Yesterday the father told me that there is a new development and that she may want to come back home, so we drove to northern Israel together,” he said. “Fortunately she had not yet converted to Islam and married him in some official capacity, otherwise what we did would have been considered kidnapping.”
Aryeh said that A had told him that as the holiday of Passover approached, she began to miss her parents and the festive mood in their home. “There are stories of girls getting hit, but in this case she was respected by the man. But she said she missed Passover, Jerusalem, and her mother and father. She got her Jewish spark back.”
Aryeh recalled that he went to the Arab village in the morning and was told by A where to go to find her.
“I hid my peyas under my cap and took all the Judea and Samaria stickers off my car to avoid being recognized,” he said. “I drove through the village until I saw her with the baby. I waited with the baby in the car, and she brought all her bags out. Within a half an hour we were out of there.”
He added, “It was a miracle, she lived on a street on which an Arab clan lives in five houses right next to each other. It was ten o'clock and there was not a soul out there.”
The emotional reunion between A and her parents was held later that evening, in a safe apartment in central Israel.
The deputy mayor of the northern Israeli town of Afula recently said that a growing number of young Jewish girls are marrying Arabs.
Lehava chairman Bentzi Gopstein has said the Knesset must pass a law that prohibits seduction of a minor, in order to fight the phenomenon.A 15-year-old missing Jewish teen from Lod was recently found in an Arab village, a few weeks after running away with an Arab man.
“We’re currently handling more than 500 cases of Israeli girls aged 13 and over who are in contact with non-Jews,” Aryeh said. “We speak in schools and in girls’ ulpanot to prevent this phenomenon. Remember, we at the Lehava organization are always here to help.”

Chag Kosher V'Samaiach

Route 306 in Wesley Hills will be closed April 12- 15

The state Department of Transportation will close Route 306 in Wesley Hills between Grandview Avenue and Willow Tree Road for construction activities between April 12 and April 15.
Weather permitting, the closure will begin at 8 p.m. April 12.
Previously, the department had planned to maintain one-way, alternating traffic with a temporary traffic signal from April 2 to April 20. Partnering efforts with the Village of Wesley Hills have enabled the DOT to close the road instead to save time and money.
Motorists are encouraged to follow the posted detour and to use caution when traveling through the work area. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone.In accordance with the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005, convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of a driver’s license.

The Yeshivaworld.com writes an Op-Ed, asking why we don't let Arabs know that we are also Anti-Israel!

The Yeshivashe World is getting crazier by the second.

They own a News Blog called Theyeshivaworld.com, and in that blog they print an Op-Ed and ask:
"where are we? What are we doing to let the Arab world know that we are not pro-Israel? Good, the Neturei Karta of Yisroel Dovid Weiss is fake and wrong, but where is the real Neturei Karta? We, the frum Jews of the world, know that it was not our idea to make a state, fight wars against the Arabs or arouse their anger. We are peaceful people. But how are the Arabs going to know that if we don’t find some way to tell them?"


Dusiznies:
We are not "pro-Israel"? We send our kids to learn Torah in their institutions, and have their children put their lives on the line to protect our bochrim ... and we are not "pro-Israel?


Yeshiva world states:
"We, the frum Jews of the world, know that it was not our idea to make a state, fight wars against the Arabs or arouse their anger. We are peaceful people."


Dusiznies:
Its not "our idea...to fight wars against the Arabs?
What a stupid ignorant comment. The Israelis want war with the Arabs? They want their children to die?
Doesn't the Torah write "Habo Lehorgach" If someone wants to kill you, kill him first?
Arabs killed us before there was a State... did you forget about the pogrom that murdered yeshiva students in Chevron in 1929 almost 20 years before the state?
Here is the whole stupid and crazy article:

The latest episode in so-called Neturei Karta’s history of meeting with and marching alongside the enemies of the State of Israel – their participation in the March to Jerusalem from Jordan and Palestinian Land Day commemoration in Lebanon – must give us pause for reflection.
Of course, it is reprehensible to show support for terrorism of any variety, or to honor the memory of a terrorist with blood on his hands. But I wish to carry the criticism of this fringe group a step further. One of their stated purposes is to soften the Arabs anger at Jews by showing them that at least some Jews, in particular Orthodox Jews, oppose Zionism and the State of Israel. By claiming to represent us all, they aim to save us all from a would-be attacker. My question is: just how do they expect to succeed in this mission, when every action they take elicits condemnation from just about the entire Orthodox Jewish world? Do they think the Arabs will really believe that they represent anyone but themselves?
If these people are really serious about their goal, they must stop acting on their own, and seek out support from the Gedolei Hador for everything they do. If Gedolim tell them that their current approach is wrong, then they must follow the Gedolims guidelines for the right way to get the message out. As long as they don’t do that, they are doing more harm than good, because the picture of four Jews joining an Arab march while the rest of the Jewish people condemns them is enough to convince anyone that almost all Jews are pro-Israel.
Which brings me to my question for the larger frum Jewish world: where are we? What are we doing to let the Arab world know that we are not pro-Israel? Good, the Neturei Karta of Yisroel Dovid Weiss is fake and wrong, but where is the real Neturei Karta? We, the frum Jews of the world, know that it was not our idea to make a state, fight wars against the Arabs or arouse their anger. We are peaceful people. But how are the Arabs going to know that if we don’t find some way to tell them?
Yesterday, Rav Nochum Weissfish was attacked by an Arab youth with an axe as he walked in the streets of Yerushalayim. Two weeks ago, a rabbi and three Jewish schoolchildren were murdered in France. The perpetrators were evil murderers, but anyone with common sense knows that when there are murderers walking around, you have to make sure not to get caught in the crossfire. You have to distinguish yourself clearly from those whom the murderers hate. These innocent Jews could have been any of us. To a terrorist, we all look the same. What are we doing to address this problem? Where are we?

Father of child who got rejected from Yeshivah Screames at Rav Neuman!

This happened in Boro Park on 13th Avenue....
The following Yeshivas in Monsey should get the same treatment:
Yeshiva Chofeitz Chaim ... Rabbi Mazza
Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah ... Rabbi Rubin
Yeshivah Ohr Reuvein ... Rabbi Bamberger
Anybody who has more names to the list ...make a comment

Shocking Poll: 62% of Jewish Voters would elect the Anti-Israel Obama, only 4 % consider Israel to be top priority!

Jews never learn read the following article from the Dailycaller.com and weep!

President Barack Obama continues to have the Jewish vote firmly in his corner.

A new survey from the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) has found that 62 percent of Jewish Americans said they would like to see Obama re-elected in November. Thirty percent said they would prefer the Republican alternative.
According to the PRRI survey, Obama is enjoying the same level of support “as during a comparable point in the 2008 race.”

Just 4 percent said that Israel is the most important factor in their choice — the majority, 51 percent, rated the economy as their top factor, followed by “growing gap between the rich and poor” with 15 percent, and health care with 10 percent.

PRRI CEO Robert Jones told Haaretz that the relatively-low ranking in voting priority Israel polled at for American Jews does not mean it is not an issue.

“As a voting priority it is low, [but] it doesn’t mean it’s not important,” he said, adding that “we wanted to be sure on this issue and allowed people to mention their first and second-most important voting issue, because it was clear the economy is swapping everything. But even as a second issue Israel didn’t move up the list — it was still 5 percent.”

Of those interested in the Republican alternative, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had the most support with 58 percent of the vote. Fifteen percent favor Rick Santorum, 13 percent like Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul gets 12 percent of the vote.
 

“There has been some speculation about possible movements toward the GOP among Jewish voters, but the current state of the race suggests that this year’s Jewish vote will resemble past elections,” said PRRI Research Director Daniel Cox. “The likely Republican nominee, Mitt Romney, is unpopular among most Jewish voters, and the GOP’s signature campaign proposal — repealing the recent health care law — is opposed by nearly six-in-ten American Jews.”
According to PPRI, the survey was conducted online between Feb. 23 and March 5, 2012 among 1,004 random self-identified Jewish adults with a +/- 5 margin of error.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ignors Satmar and goes to the Kotel!

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie touches the stones of the Kotel, the holiest site where Jews pray, during his visit to Jerusalem's old city, Monday, April 2, 2012.

Avraham Perl charged with 40 counts of sexual assault on a 12 year old girl! Video

A 59-year-old Monsey man has been charged with 40 counts accusing him of having oral sex with a girl when she was between the ages of 12 and 15, police said Friday.

Dovid Kohn, also known as Avraham Perl, is being held on $1 million cash bail in the county jail in New City on 40 counts of second-degree criminal sex act and first-degree sexual conduct against a child.

The girl is now in her mid-20s, Ramapo Detective Lt. Mark Emma said Friday.

The woman came forward March 19 to file a complaint against Kohn, who runs a video business in Monsey that covers events for businesses.

“This happened over three years when she was between 12 and 15,” Emma said. “I wouldn’t question the motive of any victim who decides to come forward.”Emma said there is no statute of limitations on sex crimes. The sexual-conduct charge is applied when the alleged abuse lasts at least three months.

Authorities would not say how the suspect and the woman knew each other.

The reason for the high bail from Justice Rhoda Schoenberger was because he uses two names, police said. The judge set bail at $5 million bond or $1 million cash.

His legal name is Avraham Perl and he has lived in the Monsey community for 30 years, said his lawyer, Kenneth Gribetz. He is married with three adult children.

Gribetz said his client will plead not guilty and will provide the court with documentation showing his legal identity.“We will review the facts and circumstances of the case when the police and District Attorney’s Office provide us with the details,” Gribetz said.

Emma said anyone with information can call the Ramapo Police Department at 845-357-2400 and ask for the detective bureau.

Obama's State Department refuses to say that Jerusalem is the Capital of Israel, Video!

Let’s state the facts:
The State of Israel has a capital.
The capital is Jerusalem.


Barack Obama, while he was a presidential candidate, even admitted that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital at AIPAC when he stated, “Jerusalem must remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”


Okay, so, Obama then hemmed-and-hawed to get out of the political quagmire caused by his statement which offended the poor Arabs, but even when trying to weasel his way out of the controversy, Obama still called Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Obama told ABC News, “The fact is, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. So, I was simply stating a fact.”


Yes, it is simply a fact— Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.


It is not up for negotiation. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.


Keep saying this over and over.


The United States is legally obligated to recognize Jerusalem as sovereign Israeli territory. Not just “West Jerusalem” or Jerusalem that was under Israel’s control prior to 1967, but all Jerusalem.


Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.


The United States and Britain signed the 1924 Anglo American Convention which is a ratified treaty. That means the two countries are legally obligated to honor the rights laid out in the Mandate for Palestine, of which the Jewish People are the sole beneficiary. The territory mapped for the Mandate includes all Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, all the Gaza Strip, and oh yeah, Trans-Jordan.


Yes, I agree with the claim that "Jordan is Palestine," but remember all Palestine is the legal territory of the Jewish National Home. There is no legally recognized Arab nation in Palestine. Arabs right of self-determianation was recognized in Arab countries, like Syria, Lebanon, Mesopotamia (Iraq), and what today is Saudo Arabia, but not in Palestine


The Arabs right of self determination in Palestine was not recognized at San Remo nor through the Mandate for Palestine. Any question about that? please read the minutes from the April 1920 San Remo Conference. I will be uploading this in the near future to the Office for Israeli Constitutional Law web site in the near future.


All Palestine/Eretz Yisrael belongs to the Jewish People, as Winston Churchill stated, “by right and not by sufferance.” These rights are based on “The historical connection of the Jewish People with Palestine and the grounds for reconstituting their home in that country.”


For those who think being Torah observant means, “The only rights we need are the ones G-d gave us,” well, I can’t argue with you. G-d is the only one who grants rights, otherwise they are just priveleges. However, it was those “G-d given rights,” based on the Tanach (Bible), upon which the world body based their recognition of the Jewish National borders. British Prime Minister David Lloyd George defined the recognized borders that would be tied to the Mandate for Palestine as “from Dan to Beersheba,” using the Tanach’s repeated description of Israel’s borders. He explained the term to mean the greater area of land that had been under Jewish control from Joshua through the First and Second Temple periods.


The U.S. is obligated to recognize these borders and Article 5 of the Mandate for Palestine, which prohibits ceding any territory from the Jewish National Home, and article 6 which recognizes the rights for Jews to build anywhere in within the boundaries mapped for the Mandate for Palestine. Any statements made by the U.S. Administration that challenge or attempt to negate these rights, violate the legal doctrine of Estoppel. Estoppel is the prohibition against taking any action, or making any statements that violate a prior legal agreement or obligation.


Since the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as being part of the Mandated Jewish country via the 1924 treaty, the United States Government is legally barred from adopting any policy, taking any action, or making any statement that would appear to imply that the Jewish People no longer have sovereign rights to Jerusalem.


This is not a matter of challenging a President’s foreign policy. The recognition of Jewish legal rights to the Jewish National Home is U.S. law. Violating a treaty, which the constitution refers to as the “Supreme Law of the Land,” is illegal.


The right for the Jewish People to name Jerusalem as our capital, which was done around three-thousand years ago, long before the United States existed, cannot be denied. There is no reason not to adamantly demand the world respect these rights.


 Prime Minister Netanyahu must tell President Obama that if he wants to play, he will have to respect Israel. The Jewish People do not have to be subject to abuse by the U.S. Administration.


If Israeli leaders and Jews around the world would uniformly declare the Jewish State will not have its sovereign rights challenged, perhaps the U.S. would suddenly be able to find Israel’s capital on the map.


Don’t be afraid to stand up for your rights.


Enough is enough !

Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky Backtracks on his comment about Metziza B'peh,

We should have known this the minute Rav Kaminetzky said that Metzizia Be'Peh should only be done with a tube...

Rav Kaminetzky also backtracked when he gave an Haskamah for Rabbi Slifkin's Books and then when under pressure asked that his Haskama be removed....
The Rav must have been under tremendous pressure for him to have made the following comment, reported by Yeshiva World. Notice he uses the term "clarify", the Rav doesn't deny he said what we reported.
"I wish to clarify remarks that were attributed to me on the subject of Metzitzah B’Peh.

The practice is indeed time honored and is followed by the majority of the Orthodox Jewish community today around the world, as it has been for thousands of years.

To my knowledge, it has not been proven that the practice leads to contraction of illness. The halacha is extremely sensitive to health concerns and it is wrong to insinuate that Jews who are very particular in the care of their children would be engaging in a practice for thousands of years which is inherently dangerous.

We have a sacred responsibility to protect our children from danger and that responsibility is paramount. However, in the absence of an inherent danger from our performing mitzvos or following our traditions, we must follow them. In my view, there has been no demonstration of an inherent danger associated with Metzitzah B’Peh.

The statement that, “I don’t think there is a response to them,” referred specifically to those who allegedly said it would be invalid to use a tube where there are demonstrable health issues present as to either the Mohel or the child.

Similarly my comment that in my community “as far as I know they do metzitzah with a tube,” refers to a case where a health concern has been established and was in no manner intended to suggest that I believe that it should be universally adopted.

In no way should what I said be misconstrued as supporting the curbing of, or outside interference with, Metzitzah B’Peh. In fact, we have very effectively self-regulated the practice over the past 3500 years.

Jews have made tremendous sacrifices over the millennia to properly observe our religious obligations and traditions; it would be a shame to return to the days when parents and circumcisers feared performing the hallowed bris which enters every Jewish male into a covenant with God.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky.

Sugar causes Cancer!

Dr. Robert Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist at the University of California, believes the high amount of sugar in the American diet, much of it in processed foods, is killing us. And as Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, new scientific research seems to support his theory that sugar is toxic, including some linking the excess ingestion of sugars to heart disease. Gupta's report will be broadcast on 60 Minutes Sunday, April 1 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Americans are now consuming nearly 130 pounds of added sugars per person, per year. Those include both sugar and high fructose corn syrup. And while many vilify high fructose corn syrup and believe it is worse than sugar, Dr. Lustig says metabolically there is no difference. "They are basically equivalent. The problem is they're both bad. They're both equally toxic," he says.

Dr. Lustig treats sick, obese children, who he believes are primarily sick because of the amount of sugar they ingest. He says this sugar not only leads to obesity, but to "Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease itself." Something needs to be done says Dr. Lustig. "Ultimately, this is a public health crisis...you have to do big things and you have to do them across the board," he tells Gupta. "Tobacco and alcohol are perfect examples," he says, referring to the regulations imposed on their consumption and the warnings on their labels. "I think sugar belongs in this exact same wastebasket."

A recent study supports the idea that excess consumption of high fructose corn syrup is linked to an increase in risk factors for heart disease by increasing a type of cholesterol that can clog arteries. The University of California, Davis, study also indicated that calories from added sugars are different than those from other foods. Subjects had 25 percent of their caloric intake replaced with sweetened drinks. Nutritional biologist Kimber Stanhope was surprised to see that after only two weeks, "We found that the subjects who consumed high fructose corn syrup had increased levels of LDL cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease," she tells Gupta. "I started eating and drinking a whole lot less sugar."

What happens says Stanhope, is the liver gets overloaded with fructose and converts come of it into fat, which gets into the bloodstream to create "small dense LDL," the kind of LDL that forms plaque in arteries. The irony here is that for precisely that reason - avoiding heart disease - a government commission in the 1970s mandated that we lower our fat consumption. "When you take the fat out of food, it tastes like cardboard," says Dr. Lustig. "And the food industry knew that, so they replaced it with sugar...and guess what? Heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and death are skyrocketing," he tells Gupta.

And other scientific work shows that sugar could also be helping some cancer tumors to grow because sugar stimulates the production of the hormone insulin. Nearly a third of common cancers such as some breast and colon cancers, contain insulin receptors that eventually signal the tumor to consume glucose. Lewis Cantley, a Harvard professor and head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says some of those cancers have learned to adapt to an insulin-rich environment. "They have evolved the ability to hijack that flow of glucose that's going by in the bloodstream into the tumor itself."

What does the sugar industry have to say about this? Gupta spoke with Jim Simon, a member of the board of the Sugar Association. "To say that the American consuming public is going to omit, eliminate sweeteners out of their diet, I don't think gets us there," he says. Simon points out that the science is "not completely clear" and it's wrong to single out one food because the real emphasis should be on long-term reduction of calories, balanced diet and exercise.

Neutrei Karta (Yemach Shemom) join Arab Murderers of Jews on "land day protests"

American Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss (C), and other members of Neutrei Karta (Orthodox Jews United against Zionism) activists listen to the speech of Hezbollah senior Nabil Qawouq at Beaufort castle in Arnun, Lebanon, 30 March 2012, during a ceremony to mark the annual ‘Land Day. Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers and police in the West Bank and East Jerusalem on Friday, and one person was reported killed, during protests to mark Land Day, an annual commemoration of the 1976 shooting of six Arab-Israelis. 

Jewish Rabbis march with, thousands of Jordanians travelling towards the Jordan Valley to participate in a planned march, held as part of global demonstrations in support of the Palestinians and a free Jerusalem, in the Jordan Valley, Jordan, 30 March 2012. Activists from across the country plan to gather in the village of Kafrein near the holy baptism site, near the Kingdom?s border with the Palestinian territories, and Israel following noon prayers on Friday 30 March 2012. The rally is held under the umbrella of the Global March to Jerusalem which will feature the participation of activists in 80 countries, with rallies planned on the borders of Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories with Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon.  EPA/JAMAL NASRALLAH

The Shiur of a Kzayis (Olive) as we know it and have been taught , is totally wrong!

Rashi almost certainly never saw an olive. The same goes for other medieval authorities in Ashk’naz (Germany-Northern France). This little-known but indisputable fact should matter to you. It has everything to do with the following question: Is Halakhic Judaism rational and rooted in reality, or is it a hypothetical construct unconducive to engaging the real world?

It is a simple matter to ascertain, or describe to another, the volume of an average olive, a ‘k’zayit’…provided you have olives. But what if you have never seen an olive? How would you understand the concept? How would you describe it to someone unfamiliar with olives?

This was the reality in Ashk’naz in the Middle Ages, and there is no mystery as to why. The olive tree is native to the Mediterranean basin, from Israel in the East to Spain in the west; it does not naturally grow elsewhere. In Roman times, due to the trade routes which crisscrossed the Empire, olives may have made their way to Germany and beyond. The collapse of Rome, however, led to a breakdown of law and order, and therefore trade.

Medieval Ashk’nazim were unfamiliar with olives, a fact confirmed by R. Eliezer b. Yoel’s (d. circa 1225) discussion of the minimal amount required for a b’rakha aharona: “Wherever a k’zayith is required, one needs a sizeable amount of food, because we are unfamiliar with the size of an olive…” (Ra’avya, B’rakhoth 107).

Some Ashk’nazi authorities concluded that an olive was half the volume of an egg, while others demonstrated, based on Talmudic sources, that it must be less than one third of an egg. How much less they could not say. The truth, of course, is different, as was clearly perceived by one 14th century authority who actually made it to Eretz Yisrael. Responding to the proposition that a person could swallow three k’zaytim at once (which is quite impossible if one assumes a k’zayit to be half of an egg in volume) he wrote: “As for me, the matter is plain, for I saw olives in Eretz Yisrael and Yerushalayim, and even six were not equal to an egg.” S’pharadi authorities, on the other hand, had no such difficulties. One wrote that an olive is “much less” than a quarter of an egg (Rashba), while another mentions in passing that a dried fig is equal to “several olives” (Rittba). The last three statements, made by sages who saw olives, are entirely accurate.

In present day Halakhic practice, predicated on opinions rooted in the aforementioned lack of knowledge and experience, a k’zayit is often said to be 30 cc, while others say 60 cc. These figures bear no relation to the real world olives of Eretz Yisrael which average 3-5 cc.

It is claimed by some that once upon a time olives were much larger. This claim is false.

Olives and olive trees have not changed, as evidenced by the fact that there are over 70 olive trees in Israel ranging between 1,700-2000 years old, and 7 are approximately 3000 years old. These trees continue to produce fruit identical to the olives of younger trees. Halakhic responsa from the G’onic period echo these facts, stating plainly that olives do not change. Some would have you believe that there are two kinds of olives: real olives and ‘Halakhic’ olives. In their view, Halakha need not reflect reality; it exists in an alternate reality of its own. This is a tragedy because it paints Judaism as divorced from reality and irrelevant to a rational person. This is a lie because Torah was intended by Hashem as our handbook for operating in the real world.

The ultimate purpose of Judaism was announced by the Creator before He transmitted the Torah to His people: “And you shall be for My purpose a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). The nation of Israel is the priest connecting God and mankind. “I, God, have summoned you for a righteous purpose…. and have assigned you for my covenant with humanity, a light for the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

The Jewish people, in order to succeed, have to live and lead in the real world. To deal with the challenges facing us as a nation we must think, act and believe rationally. A rational person does not believe in olives 2o times the size of the olives we see with our own eyes. To deal with reality, we have to get real.

We are described as being created in the image of Hashem because we can think and reason. To convince ourselves that Halakha can be based on irrational claims is an insult to our God-given intelligence. Not to mention that it places Judaism squarely in the realm of fairy tales. What kind of message does that send to our children?

Nothing could be more pernicious than the notion that truth and Torah do not mix. The same goes for the idea that Halakhic opinions rooted in Exile-induced misconceptions are sacrosanct and immutable. A philosophy that turns aberration into truth, the Torah of Galuth into the real McCoy, is intolerable. The clear implication is that Judaism, as a system, is broken and beyond repair.

Before you eat your k’zayit of matza at this year’s seder, you might pause to consider what you are about to say about yourself, and what message you are about to send to your family and friends.

I can tell you what message I will be sending: that Torah and Halakah are as real as it gets.

David Bar-Hayim is an Israeli rabbi who heads the Machon Shilo Institute in Jerusalem, Israel. HaRav Bar-Hayim’s beth din is well-known for having issued a p’sak halakha permitting the consumption of kitniyot for all Jews residing in Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky says Metziza P'peh should only be done with a pipe!

Rabbi Kamenetsky told the Jewish Week  that in his community “as far as I know, they do metzitzah with a tube!

R’ Kaminetzky expressed surprise that any Mohel would perform metitzah b’peh, given the links between the practice and transmission of certain diseases to infants, saying that under the circumstances, performing metitzah b’peh would run counter to halacha.

The rabbi also expressed disbelief about those who would insist on the practice despite its links to the transmission of disease to infants.

“Chas v’shalom [God forbid], if [children are] getting sick [from oral suction], [you] wouldn’t do it,” under Jewish law, he said.

For its part, the Agudah, the haredi umbrella group, has never explicitly denied the risk of herpes transmission through metzitzah b’peh. But its spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran, recently told The Jewish Week that “to scientifically assess the risk … one would have to have more [information] than a number like the 20 [cases The Jewish Week counted in the literature],” namely the total number of metzitzah b'peh procedures done over the same time period.

Rabbi Kamenetsky also stated that because it is permissible to do the suctioning with a tube, which poses “no risk at all” to the infant, this should be the practice.

Meanwhile, a paper published in the Winter 2012 issue of the haredi periodical Dialogue — entitled “Is Metzitzah bePeh Dangerous?” — has apparently become a reference for those seeking to defend the practice.

The paper, by Dr. Daniel S. Berman, an infectious disease doctor, seeks to challenge those who argue that metzitzah b’peh carries serious helth risks and falls within a tradition of writings that defend against potential government interference for health reasons.

In the paper, Berman, who has a letter in this week’s Jewish Week, attempts to cast doubt on public health officials’ findings linking the herpes simplex virus to a particular mohel — presumably Yitzchok Fischer, who has been tied to at least four neonatal herpes infections, including one death. Berman argues that absent DNA “fingerprinting” that matches the baby’s virus to that of the mohel involved, one cannot claim that metzitzah b’peh was responsible for the baby’s infection.

Dr. Jonathan Zenilman, former president of the American STD Association and professor of medicine and chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, rejects that argument. In insisting that DNA fingerprinting is the only way to conclusively demonstrate a link between MbP and a case of neonatal herpes infection, Zenilman says, Berman denies “the validity of standard epidemiological methods which are widely accepted by pretty much everyone else.”

In fact, while blood tests can determine if someone is infected with — and thus capable of transmitting — the herpes virus, it is not always possible to obtain the virus’ DNA, which is most likely to be obtained from fresh sores that have not yet scabbed over. “The lack of genetic sequencing to conclusively demonstrate that these are the exact same strains of herpes is not necessary, or even relevant, from a public health standpoint,” Zenilman emphasized.

Even when a mohel does not cooperate with testing — which has apparently happened in several reported cases — causal inferences can be made. “There is a whole paradigm of causal inference in epidemiology,” noted Zenilman, “which includes things like temporal association and biological plausibility,” a term that refers to a cause-and-effect relationship that is consistent with existing biological and medical knowledge.

Indeed, Berman himself seems to acknowledge that Fischer failed to cooperate with an investigation by the New York City department of health, refusing to undergo DNA testing because the city “offered the testing in a way that was extremely unfavorable to the Mohel with regard to his future.”

(Both the city and state departments of health have declined to comment on the investigation into Fischer, who was ordered to stop doing MbP in New York state in 2007; it appears, based on taped conversations obtained by The Jewish Week, he may have defied the order.)

Berman ultimately concludes, based on his summary of reported cases, that there is a “small risk” of herpes transmission through MbP.

However, experts like Zenilman caution that there is likely substantial underreporting of these infections because, for example, recognized cases are not always reported and other cases may not be recognized. “It’s the tip of the iceberg,” Zenilman believes, noting that once a child is infected with herpes, if he survives, he has the virus “for life.”

Without addressing the issue of underreporting, Berman asserts that it is reasonable to assume that any “small risk” of herpes transmission can be eliminated by the mohel rinsing his mouth with Peridex or Listerine, a claim Zenilman calls “nonsense.”

In the second half of the paper, Berman criticizes the New York City health department for declaring that there is “a definite risk of infection” from MbP, and seems to suggest that Jews in particular are being targeted because he “cannot find any recommendations from the Department of Health to members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses faith telling them of the dangers of refusing blood transfusions, which is part of their faith.”

However, there have been numerous cases in which the courts have ruled that the interests of the child and the interests of the state outweigh the parents’ rights to refuse medical treatment, and in some states parents who have declined to seek medical care for their children outside of their own religious treatment have been charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.

In fact, according to Alex Luchenitser, associate legal director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, though it has not attempted to do so, the government does have the power to ban metzitzah p’beh in the interest of protecting the public health.

“A practice that can cause infants to die or be infected with a sexually transmitted disease is certainly a practice that the government can constitutionally ban, even if the practice is a religious ritual of some sects,” Luchenitser told The Jewish Week.