Lady Chassidic Rebbe Will Get a Street Named After Her

The Heiliger Chana Ruchel Webermacher

DIN:
My "Holy" comments after the article! 

From The Jewish Press:
A Jerusalem Municipality decision recently angered Hareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) representatives of the city, according to a report by Tzipi Malcob.

The municipality decided to name a street "HaBetula meLudmir", or in English, "The Virgin from Ludmir".

As you can imagine, using the word "Virgin" in a Jerusalem street name might upset some sensitive religious sensibilities.

But before you decide that the Jerusalem Municipality is trying to upset its Hareidi citizens, here is a little background.

The Virgin of Ludmir was the name given to Chana Rachel Webermacher (1805-1888), born in the town of Ludmir, Volhynia (now the Ukraine).

Webermacher was an unusual person. At one point in her life she decided to take on many of the ritual practices usually reserved for men, such as wearing Talit and T'fillin (possibly even wearing 2 pairs of T'fillin).

Due to community pressure in Ludmir, she got married, but quickly got divorced. She may have even gotten married and quickly divorced a second time.

Webermacher gained the reputation as a holy woman, and in 1860, she made Aliyah and moved to Jerusalem.

But what made her most unusual, is that it appears that Webermacher actually held court in her Meah Shearim home, with her own Hassidim, receiving her followers, handing out blessings and presiding over a regular Shabbos Tish, just like any other Hassidic Admor.

It's also known that Webermacher studied Kababla, taught Torah to women, and prayed with women at the Kotel and at Rachel's Tomb.

In short, the first Hassidic feminist.

She died in 1888, and was buried on the Mount of Olives.

In order to relieve Hareidi displeasure at having the word "Virgin" in the street name, the committee decided to change the name of the street to "The Virgin of Ludmir - Chana Rachel Webermacher".

The Hareidi representatives deemed that a respectable compromise.

What is not yet known is which Jerusalem neighborhood will welcome the Virgin.

DIN:
So my friends, why is it ok for the Torah to write "Besulah" to describe Rivkah (Chayeh Sarah 24:16)? 
Why is it ok to write "Besulah" on the Ketubah?
But it's not ok to write it for a street? I don't get it?

It also seems like that Chareidim are not upset that they are going to name a street after a single lady, that spoke to men, read their kvittlach and ate her sharyim. They are also not upset that she wore Tefillin & Tzizis and davened with women at the Kosel.
So why are we getting bent out of shape, that the Women of the Wall want to do the same thing?
Also did she wear "Vasseh Shtrimp?" 

History of Webermacher from Mishpacha Mag printed on November  5, 2013

On 22 Tammuz/June 11, 2004, a hakamas matzeivahtook place on Har HaZeisim at the newly discovered gravesite of Chana Rochel Webermacher (1806–1888). It was the 116th yahrtzeit of the “Ludmirer Moid,” or Maiden of Ludmir, as she was also known.

The story of the only chassidish female who behaved like a rebbe — fiering tisch, accepting kvittlach, and performing miracles — but didn’t belong to any of the chassidic dynasties, has generated many articles, books, and plays in countries around the world. From these many accounts, it is possible to piece together a picture of one of the most fascinating lives of the last century.

A Rebbe’s Blessing

Chana Rochel’s story begins in the shtetl of Volodymir, Volhynia (then Russia, today northwestern Ukraine). Called Ludmir by its Jewish inhabitants, the shtetl is associated with the Tosfos Yom Tov, Rav Yom Tov Lipman Heller, who served as rav there from 1634–1643, and the Noda B’Yehudah, Rav Yechezkel Landau, who attended yeshivah there in the 18th century. Another prominent citizen of Ludmir was the founder of the Karliner dynasty, Rav Shlomo HaLevi, who settled in the town in 1786.

Munish Webermacher and his wife, a wealthy couple living in Ludmir, had been childless for over ten years when they were given a blessing for children by a chassidishe rebbe. Although all sources agree that Munish was a chassid of the Maggid of Chernoble, Rav Mordechai Twersky, they differ as to which rebbe gave the brachah that produced the Webermachers’ brilliant red-haired daughter. Since there is no documentary evidence regarding this fact — most written accounts were published decades after her birth — some historians of Chassidus, such as Shmuel Abba Horodetzky, a grandson of Rav Aaron of Chernoble, and writers such as Yochanan Twersky, another scion of the Chernobler dynasty and author of a Hebrew novel about the Maiden of Ludmir, attribute the blessing to the Maggid of Chernoble.

On the other hand, writers Menashe Unger, a brother-in-law of the late Bluzhever Rebbe, and Ephraim Taubenhaus, a descendant of the Maggid of Mezeritch, who wrote much about the Maiden of Ludmir, claimed it was the Seer of Lublin who told the Webermachers that he foresaw a child being born to them within the year who was going to have a very lofty soul.

Chana Rochel was unlike other children, who liked to play. She was always hungry for knowledge and begged to learn Torah. Her father hired private tutors for her, but tried to dissuade her from learning Gemara. When she continued to beg him to teach it to her, he finally humored her and permitted her to learn, hoping she would find it too difficult and lose interest. Instead, she became an outstanding student and became renowned as a “talmid chacham.”

The awe-inspiring kavanah she exhibited when she davened three times a day set her apart as an unusually holy girl. When she reached bas mitzvah age, she insisted on putting on two sets of tefillin, those of Rashi and Rabbeinu Tam, in private. Her father, who was very upset with her behavior, took her to his rebbe, hoping the Maggid of Chernoble would dissuade her from behaving like a male.

Bnei Brak woman drugged and raped after meeting a man through a Shadchan

A Bnei Brak woman said that she woke up in a bed naked after being set up on a date through a matchmaker, Israel Police said.

The Petah Tikva Police Department said that they arrested 40-year-old Boaz Aharon on Monday, after being accused of raping the 35-year-old woman at an apartment in Petah Tikva.

During the night, the woman called the police after she woke up in the man’s bed. The woman could not tell police where she was, but officers located her by tracing her cellphone.

Police arrived at the apartment and arrested the man.

He was brought before the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court for a bail hearing where he was remanded into custody for at least 4 days.

According to the police investigation, the woman met the suspect through a matchmaker. When she arrived at his apartment, he asked for sex, and when she refused he offered her a drink.

The woman told investigators that she does not remember what happened to her after she had the drink until she woke up naked in the man’s bed, leading police to believe that she was drugged and raped.

DIN: I have some questions;
1) Why did she meet him at the apartment?
2) After he asked her for sex, why did she accept a drink?

Chareidee Fanatics blame the "wicked" Israeli Government for making them use money instead of Chickens for Kapporis

Anyone visiting Israel during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, couldn't help but observe the flagrant abuse of chickens, perpetrated by the chareidim, leaving the chickens broiling in the sun, alive.!

So, even though the prohibition of Tzar baalei Chayim is an Issur D'orisah, they insist on using chickens since this is their minhag, a minhag that the Mechaber says should not be practiced, and the Mishna Berura explains and clearly states that the reason the Mechaber doesn't want it practiced  is because it is a "minhag amoirie" a minhag of Ovdei Avoda Zara!

See Mechaber, that explicitly says that this Minhag should not be done. See Mishna Berurah that explains the reason of the mechaber and says that the reason is should not be done is because of "Darkei Hamoirie" The Rama actually says that "Vein Leshanois" that people should not stop shlugging Kaporis, but if the Rama would be alive today, he would prohibit it because of the Issur of "Tzar Baalei Chayim"

Years ago, when I grew up, you went to the market or the butcher and he had chickens for his customers and the chickens looked into the "Bnei Adam" and every one went on the merry way, but now, with bli ayin hara thousands and thousands of chareidim, this minhag of "shlugging kaporis" with chickens, should be totally eradicated...

So the Government cracked down on them, and now they are screaming "fowl"!

Pashkavilim appeared yesterday in the Meah Shearim and Geula areas of Yerushalayim from the Eida Chareidis instructing the tzibur to do kaporos with money this year instead of chickens.

Using the phraseology:
 “Because of the wicked government that has prohibited continuing the minhag of kaporos, a minhag handed down from our fathers…. We are announcing one who is capable of doing kaporos with chickens should do so while others who cannot due to the gezeira of the government, should use money. Each person should use 25 shekels and recite the appropriate nussach”.

The Ministry of Agriculture is being meticulous in enforcing laws pertaining to the transport and handling of chickens, limiting transport to certified vehicles exclusively. In practical terms, this means it is virtually impossible to transport a sufficient number of chickens for kaporos.

While some frum areas have been preparing the traditional areas used annually for kaporos, it is now evident there are no chickens available. Efforts are still continuing but it does appear many if not most areas that usually host kaporos will not be operating this year.

At least one avreich has been arrested after he was found to be transporting chickens illegally. Health officials’ seem to indicate there will be some kaporos stations operating, adding the law will be enforced, including the regulation demanding that the chickens are slaughtered within eight hours of transport.

Ramapo Judge impounds votes on "Ward System" ... No Results until OCT 10

Breaking News:
Too much fraud going on in Ramapo ...so Judge impounds all ballots.... and says no results until Ocober 10..

Amid petitions filed by local activists over absentee ballot deadlines and chaos at multiple polling stations over who was, in fact, allowed to vote, a New York state Supreme Court Justice ordered that all ballots in Tuesday’s referendum election in Ramapo be impounded until the court has had time to sift through legalities.

LOHUD.com (http://lohud.us/1vsbXg7) reports that Justice Margaret Garvey issued the order following a chaotic day in Ramapo that saw a heavy voter turnout in the town in the election that could swing the power and size of the Town Board.

Voters were being asked to decide on whether the Town Board should be increased from 4 to 6 members, and if they were in favor of dividing the town into 6 wards, a proposal that as drawn sharp criticism from the town’s Orthodox Jewish and African American communities.

The controversy began on Monday when it became clear that unregistered voters 18 or older would be allowed to vote as long as they could prove U.S. and local residency.

This action caused local activists Michael Perietti and Robert Romanowski to not only file a petition with the court seeking clarification, but to ask as well that the court clarify the cutoff date for absentee ballots.

Typically, absentee ballots are counted as long as the they are postmarked the day before the election.

In this case, election administrator, Town Clerk Christian Sampson announced prior to the election that only absentee ballots arriving at the Town Clerk’s office by 5 p.m. on Tuesday would be counted.

In accordance with Garvey’s order, all ballots have been transferred to the Rockland County Board of Elections until the court has a chance to rule on the petitions.

Why I fast on Yom Kippur

Mayim Bialik

by Mayim Bialik

Several articles have been posted in the past week discussing the Jewish New Year, with a few focusing specifically on the issue of fasting for Yom Kippur. Many people don’t like the concept of fasting, and many people don’t see any religious or spiritual value in fasting. I happen to be a person who likes the concept, and who sees and reaps a tremendous amount of religious and spiritual value from fasting. I also have fasted throughout two pregnancies and through nursing babies and toddlers on demand all day and all night.

Am I better than you for fasting while nursing and pregnant? No. Do I work hard to accomplish this? Yes. Here’s why I put in the effort:

1) Fasting is an important religious and spiritual exercise. Fasting and “afflicting ourselves” on Yom Kippur is described in the Torah, which is my personal guidebook for life. I have made a commitment to find a way to apply the wisdom of thousands of years of history and tradition to modern life and it works for me.  Praying, singing, chanting, meditating, and spending time away from work and cell phones and cars and electronics is what we Jews have the opportunity to do every week on Shabbat. On Yom Kippur, doing these things while fasting takes it to a different and much more intense level. As it should be: this is the day our year is, in part, determined. It’s a heavy day and fasting sets it apart as intense and meaningful in a special way.

2) Fasting is symbolically important. By peeling away the material parts of our existence through refraining from the sustenance we live by daily, we get to see what’s left over. Without the rhythms of meals, what drives my day? Without snacks to keep my hands busy or to calm my anxiety, what can I do? Look what we think we need, and look what we literally can go without.

3) Fasting makes us angelic. Last Yom Kippur, as the 25th hour of fasting was coming to a close and we were all exhausted and starving and ready to go home, our rabbi said with a huge smile on his face, “I wish this didn’t have to end.” And through my exhaustion and hunger, I felt it too. There is a “high” you get when focusing so much on fasting and praying and just being in your head. Fasting makes us like the angels, they say. We make ourselves literally “above” the need for mortal sustenance. On Yom Kippur, we draw near to a different way of existence and it’s heavenly.

4) Fasting is groovy. While we are discussing the “high” you get from fasting, I want to mention that we have access to different parts of our brains when we refrain from food and drink and it makes your brain a little bit loopy but also very free. Our glucose storage is emptied out by the end of the day, and we are running on adrenaline and a lot of mental strength. It’s a healthy exercise, and it’s one that our Prophets employed to encourage transcendental experiences. A lot of religious observance is about finding what works for you within an ancient framework, and I love that my fasting makes me feel connected to thousands of years of Jews who have fasted too. It’s just plain awesome.

5) Fasting is not going to kill you. If you have medical reasons not to fast which are confirmed by a doctor, of course, don’t fast. We are instructed to live by the Torah, not to die by it. The health of human beings is always valued over and above any religious proscriptions. Rabbis are trained to answer all sorts of questions about fasting, and there is no charge to ask a rabbi a question. Try your local synagogue, JCC, or even a Chabad. They love answering questions!

6) Fasting and nursing can co-exist. If you are nursing, consult with a lactation consultant and your pediatrician about fasting. My personal experience both as a nursing mom and a Certified Lactation Educator Counselor is that during the first three months of nursing, when milk supply is being established, you want to be very careful about supply, and babies will often want to nurse a lot the day AFTER a fast to pull up milk supply that may have dropped from a day of no water and no food. Fasting is so important to me that I put in my best effort to keep it going: I step up my fluids the day before I fast, and I take it super easy: no elaborate walks, no active playing with the kids, and nothing involving too much effort at all. I make simple snacks for my boys and I explain to them that mama is tired and hungry (and grumpy) because she is fasting, so let’s have an easy day. Sometimes a new toy or book helps fasting days go more smoothly. I think it’s important for my kids to hear why I fast so that they can learn the value and see that commitment in action.

7) Fasting can be modified. Depending on your religious proclivities, there are established modifications that allow you to fulfill the obligation to fast, should you so choose it. Traditional guidelines about eating small portions of food (less than something called a kazayis) throughout the day can be explained to you by a rabbi, and it works for a lot of people. The idea behind fasting is to shift your consciousness, to shift your pattern, and to shake your life and head up. I recommend the following suggestion to anyone on the fence or just plain grumpy or skeptical about fasting whether you go to synagogue or not: try your own modification as a self-disciplinary, spiritual journey this year. Try eating smaller portions. Or eat only “simple” foods without sauces or jams or sweets. Skip dessert and decadent foods, or only drink water instead of juice, soda, or coffee.

Judaism is not a cafeteria religion; I am not saying to just pick what you like and leave the rest. But it’s okay to try out aspects of observance – such as fasting – and see if it strikes something in you. Each mitzvah we do is independent of every other mitzvah, and it counts. It counts if we light Shabbat candles even if we go clubbing after. It counts if we bless challah, even if we put bacon on it after we bless it. Every thing we do counts. It does make a difference in this world. We are all “good Jews,” we just practice differently. Just like we are all “good parents,” even if we practice differently.

Every year holds tremendous potential for personal growth, change, and self-discovery. Fasting has the potential to teach you a lot about what you need, what you don’t, and what you can accomplish. Whatever your Yom Kippur looks like, may you have a blessed year full of only what you need and nothing you don't

Monsey Silent Majority wants you to Vote "Yes" to the "Ward System" Defying Agudah who decided to meddle in

by Jacob Kornbluh

A referendum that could decide the future of the Town of Ramapo is turning out to be as heated as the one conducted last week in Scotland.

On Tuesday, September 30th, voters in the town of Ramapo will vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ whether to increase the number of Town Board members from four to six, and whether to separate the town into geographical districts (wards) to elect a Town Board member from each district.

Currently, four Town Board members are elected in a popular vote and don’t represent specific areas of the town. The four board members are representatives supported by the Hasidic community in Monsey, New Square and the surrounding neigbrohoods.

As the vote nears, the Orthodox Jewish community in Rockland County is divided, with both proponents and opponents of the ward system reaching out to the Hasidic community voting bloc.

Opponents of the ward system, said to represent a majority of the Hasidic community, claim the new system would weaken the political influence of Orthodox Jews in the town by permitting them to vote only for candidates from their immediate neighborhood rather than the town as a whole. In that case, only two seats up for grabs would represent the Hasidic community.

Furthermore, they argue that the referendum was put forward solely to target Hasidic Jews by the Preserve Ramapo group. As of such, supporters of the ‘NO’ vote, asserted in several interviews with JP, that while the ward system is generally proposed to help minorities who can’t win townwide or citywide elections, in this case, both the black and Hasidic communities would be concentrated into their own districts – 2 out of 6 seats. This would make it unlikely for either group to retain the same level of representation they enjoy under the current system.

In a statement issued last week, Agudath Israel of America urged the Orthodox Jewish community to vote “no” vote in the upcoming referendums. “This is classic minority vote dilution, only this time the victims are Orthodox Jews. A minority is being intentionally shoved into a small district to limit its ability to affect the outcome of elections in the community at large,” the statement read. “Efforts to inhibit the voting power of any minority group, including Orthodox Jews, are simply intolerable. They must be firmly denounced and resoundingly defeated.”

The Ramapo Republican Committee, Assemblymembers Ellen Jaffee (D-Suffern) and Kenneth Zebrowski (D-New City), as well as Chris Day, the Republican congressional candidate in the 17th District, have already endorsed the ward system.

In a pamphlet distributed over the weekend in Yiddish, and obtained by JP, Hasidic activists urged community members to go against the establishment and vote ‘YES’ in the referendum in an expression of unity and peace.

The brochure, written by activists claiming to be the “silent majority” of the Orthodox Jewish community, urged voters to support the ward system and bring an end” to this irresponsible behavior that only benefits the pockets of a numbered few greedy developers who unfortunately have the money and power to maneuver Rabbis and scare members of our community to come out with the truth.”

“We believe that enforcing the Ward System is the best thing that can happen to this town, and we see it as the only means to the ultimate end, which is to restore the harmony and neighborly peace this blessed corner of the world was once known for,” they write.

Speaking to JP, Spring Valley resident Yoel Falkowitz said, “We’re basically the silent majority. Most people are afraid of the developers who have the money and control our politicians in every way that benefits their agenda. The people of Rockland county are decent people who want peace and quiet. It’s the developers who are making it sound like we’re in a battle.”

“We’re here to say ‘enough is enough, we don’t want to fight. We want to live in peace and have everyone’s needs represented properly,” Falkowtiz added.

The referendum will take place, as noted above, on Tuesday from 6am to 10pm.

Paula Abdul wants you to keep Shabbos

Lady Secret Service Agent couldn't overpower knife-wielding White House intruder

by Debbie Shlussel

We now know that knife-wielding White House intruder Omar Gonzalez got as far as the East Room. And we know that he got there in part because he easily overpowered a FEMALE Secret Service Agent. Shocker.

Julie Pierson, the Chickie Poo, Obama hired to head the Secret Sevice

Last week, I told you that the ongoing problems–failures!–at the U.S. Secret Service at the White House can be directly attributed to Obama’s affirmative action police: he hired a woman to run the agency based on her sole qualifications of past ability to ovulate(though only her gynecologist knows for sure if that once existed) and Billie Jean King’shaircut from 1982. Now we know that women in the Secret Service are part of the reason for its failure, not just at the top, but in its midst.

The man, 42-year-old Omar J. Gonzalez, ran unobstructed for 70 yards across the front lawn of the White House before entering through the North Portico. On the way, he brushed by a Secret Service officer with a drawn gun, sources tell CBS News’ Bill Plante. Gonzalez then proceeded to run through the entrance hall to the cross hall of the White House, past the staircase that leads up to the first family’s residence. He was confronted by a female Secret Service agent, who he overpowered, and made it all the way to the East Room, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, told CBS News, citing whistleblowers.

Are we really surprised that women are physically weaker than men and in most cases can be overpowered? 

Is this some new Einsteinesque, rocket science info? Really? 

This is a predictable result, not shocking in the least. Not even to feminists who pretend that a woman can do whatever a man can. 

And we will see the same thing in the Marine infantry and Army Rangers programs where women are being pushed into positions for which they aren’t qualified. The standards for women in federal law enforcement are lower than those for men. Successful female Secret Service applicants who become agents don’t have to run as fast, do as many push-ups, or shoot as well as the men. And that only breeds the situation that Omar Gonzalez encountered.

When you make vagina-based affirmative action, rather than ability and uniformly strict standards, the mission in your employee recruitment, hiring, and retention, this is what you get. A bunch of incompetent minorities and, frankly, a bumbling group of agents in the majority whose morale and own standards have been lessened as a result. 

As I told you a few months ago, this is the policy of the Obama Administration for all law enforcement, as Obama’s “Justice” Department is suing the Pennsylvania State Troopers for having uniform physical standards that weed out only a tiny portion of female applicants(70% of the females still make it into the PA Troopers).

What’s also predictable–and notable–is that much of the media coverage of the SecretService agent being overpowered at the White House, left her genderless. 

Yes, many of the media stories, including one in the print version of today’s Wall Street Journal, fail to mention that this was a chick agent who was overpowered. They don’t want you to know the truth. They want you to think that all Secret Service agents are equally competent . . . or incompetent, when her inferior strength as a female is the key fact to the story.

Most private sector bodyguards are male . . . for a reason. As I noted last week, for all the negative press Blackwater (later named, “Xe,” and now called, “Akademi”) got, the organization NEVER lost a dignitary it protected in war-torn Iraq or Afghanistan. And if you look at the company’s rolls during that time, it was almost entirely male. In fact, I’m surprised we didn’t see any Obama EEOC gender-based lawsuits against the company. The fact is that in jobs focused on security and protection, men are physically more suited than women. Not everyone applying is a brutal lesbian WNBA lookalike. Most aren’t. And even those “women” are generally weaker than the average man. It’s just a fact of nature.

And it won’t change, no matter how politically correct and affirmative-action-driven the U.S. Secret Service becomes. When security and protection become secondary to affirmative action, armed or weapon-girded intruders will get to the East Room of the White House. And further. And Presidents and their families will eventually be harmed. The slippery slope is greased. And the agency slid to the bottom.

New Motto: The U.S. Secret Service . . . Did someone break a nail?

Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey Rushed to Hospital

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of Monsey, Rav Mordechai Hager, was hospitalized today at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. The 92-year-old admor, who leads his chassidus in Kaser Village in Monsey, NY, had been feeling unwell. He was reportedly suffering from dehydration and other ailments.

On Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe participated in the tefillos with his Chassidim and joined them for a neilas hachag yesterday.

This morning, he felt extremely weak and was taken to Mount Sinai, where a series of tests are being conducted and he is receiving medical treatment.

The Rebbe has battled various ailments over the last few years.

All are asked to daven for a refuah sheleimah for Rav Mordechai ben Margolia.

Meanwhile, the Rebbe’s great-grandson, Reb Sruly Hager, is still in serious condition from injuries sustained in a car accident last week.

Rabbi Ysoscher Katz Leaves Satmar Lifestyle Becomes Rabbi in Progressive Synagogue

By Rukhl Schaechter

He grew up among the ultra-Orthodox Satmar Jews in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, in a childhood with rules so strict that playing Frisbee at summer camp was considered a radical move.

Today he serves as the spiritual leader of a small, relatively young, progressive Orthodox synagogue where women are allowed to open the holy ark, carry Torah scrolls around the women’s section and lead the congregation in some contemporary prayers. In the context of Orthodoxy, these, too, are radical moves.

Rabbi Ysoscher Katz’s gradual, sometimes painful but ultimately successful journey from one end of the Orthodox spectrum to another is a rare example in which a former Hasid is eagerly sharing with non-Hasidic Jews the deep knowledge he gained in the yeshiva world. Katz’s transition could provide a model for disillusioned ultra-Orthodox Jews who long to engage with the modern world without losing their religious identity altogether.
“Rabbi Katz is one of those rare individuals who comes from a world of Torah study and diligent learning, was recognized as a brilliant mind from a young age, yet chose to marry that incredible skill set with a progressive [worldview] within halachic Judaism,” said Jonathan Reich, 34, an attorney and president of The Prospect Heights Shul, which hired Katz after a six-month search.

Katz, 46, is a talmudic scholar raised in the Satmar yeshivas of Williamsburg, and ordained by Satmar Rabbi Yechezkel Roth. That’s a far cry from where he lives now Jewishly: 

He is the head of Talmud studies at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, a left-leaning Orthodox rabbinical seminary in the Riverdale section of the Bronx and a leading voice in the delicate process of carving out halachic decisions for progressive Orthodox synagogues like The Prospect Heights Shul, home to about 50 couples and young families.

As Katz takes the helm of the synagogue, he will remain on staff at Chovevei and will continue to live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side with his wife, Sharon Flatto, who is a professor of Jewish studies at Brooklyn College, and their two young sons, Avi and Gavriel. His work as a pulpit rabbi at the Prospect Heights Shul will, in the meantime, remain part time.

Katz says he is excited about his first job as a pulpit rabbi. Sipping a hot decaf in a sleek Midtown Manhattan coffee house recently, he said that his greatest joy will be sitting with his congregants and learning Talmud. “My plan this year is to delve into the laws of shmita,” Katz explained. Shmita, the sabbatical year in the seven-year agricultural cycle mandated by the Torah for the land of Israel, includes laws pertaining to remitted debts and how fruits can be deemed ownerless and therefore picked by anyone

“I’d like to explore not just how each of these laws plays itself out theologically, but also its ramifications for social justice. V’akhlu evyoni amkho, there should be enough for the poor to eat, too,” he explained.

The progressive values of The Prospect Heights Shul, including the emphasis on helping the poor and on giving women a greater role in the service, are close to his heart, and quite a distance from his formative years in Williamsburg. As a child of a Satmar father and mother who hailed from a different Hasidic sect, called Pupa, young Ysoscher spent every winter and summer in Satmar schools and camps, except two summers when he was sent to a Puppa camp.
“That was considered modern because they let us play Frisbee,” he said, chuckling.

Katz loved learning, and he excelled in his studies. But the more he learned, the more he began to see religious Satmar texts as simplistic and lacking nuance. 

In the early 1980s, other Satmar yeshiva students were becoming similarly disillusioned and had begun reading more mystical texts from the Lubavitch movement. “Lubavitch was considered by us to be the most sophisticated, creative and courageous of all Hasidic groups,” Katz said.

He began studying the Tanya, the Chabad approach to mysticism, hoping he could keep that a secret from his yeshiva rabbis. But he couldn’t.
“They found books missing from the yeshiva library,” Katz explained. “I had a reputation for being a bibliophile, so they thought I might have stolen it. They broke into my dorm room, looked all over. Didn’t find what they were looking for, but instead found the Tanya under my bed.”
Horrified, the rabbis immediately expelled Katz from the yeshiva. His parents, though supportive and loving, were crushed. They sent him to Jerusalem to study at the Brisk Yeshiva — an odd choice, since that institution was affiliated with the historical Misnaged movement, which for centuries had opposed the Hasidim. 

After a year at Brisk, Katz came home, was married off and returned to Jerusalem with his new wife to continue his studies. In comparison with his theological disappointment with Satmar, Katz found himself much happier at Brisk, as he took on the yeshiva’s stringent approach to life. “I became very diligent in following the law: no compromises, basically more fanatic,” he said.

The couple eventually returned to the United States and had three children. Katz learned daily in a kollel, a yeshiva for married men, and began leading a daily Talmud class in Brooklyn’s Boro Park for men who work all day. The class grew very popular, attracting 80 to 100 participants from all Hasidic groups and occupations, ranging from financial brokers to gefilte fish purveyors.
At the same time, though, Katz’s marriage began to fall apart. “She was happy, but I wasn’t because it was obvious that we were mismatched,” he explained. “I began to realize that the Satmar system was at fault, because it didn’t value compatibility as a factor in a relationship. Everything we’re supposed to do, including marriage, is in the service of the bashefer [Creator]. The rabbis refused to accept that we are all just human beings.”

Their troubled marriage opened the floodgates for Katz; soon he began to doubt all the other assumptions of the community. “Once I discovered that little crack in the edifice, it all began to crumble,” he said.
It was a painful time. “I was frightened, because leaving the community was a terrifying thought,” he said, especially the possibility that he might lose his three children. “I began feeling suicidal.”

Katz also started noticing the way the Hasidic community viewed its women. “I felt uncomfortable that among us seven siblings, my brothers and I had optimal access to the holy texts, while my sisters and mother, who are all incredibly smart, had no access,” he said.

By age 29, Katz was ready to take his first steps out of the community. Telling no one but his wife, he registered at a teacher education program and then got a stint teaching at an Orthodox high school for girls in New Jersey. Katz was thrilled about the opportunity, but was careful to make sure none of the participants in his Talmud class found out about it. “They would be horrified to know I was teaching women,” he said.

Finally, Katz told his wife that he wanted a divorce. She was devastated. Although she was a Satmar woman, she called on the Skulener Rebbe, a popular figure even among Jews who are not Skulener Hasidim. The rebbe asked her if she had been shaving her head, and she said no. “Then why are you surprised?” he asked.
“When she told me this, I was furious,” Katz said. “First of all, if he knew me at all, he would understand that shaving her head would make things worse, not better, and secondly, how incredibly insensitive it was to make her feel that it was her fault the marriage wasn’t working! Wasn’t she in enough pain already?”

It was then that Katz finally made the break from his community, stepping out into the “wilderness” to find his path as a modern observant Jew.
“Of course, my parents were very upset and we all suffered a lot,” he said. Yet, they never cut off relations with him. “Today they all live in Boro Park. They’re more ‘enlightened’ now.”
Whenever he and his new family visit them these days, they treat them warmly and respectfully. “Of course, when we’re there for Shabbos, I always put on my Satmar wardrobe,” he said. And despite the fact that he is no longer part of the Hasidic world, he is still asked to teach at one of the local Satmar synagogues every time he visits.

Although his first wife has remained Satmar, his three older children are not.

Katz hopes that his transition from Hasid to Modern Orthodox Jew will inspire others contemplating the same path. He and Levi Brackman, a formerly Chabad rabbi in Colorado, founded a website for those who are “Orthodox and stuck” (www.frumandstuck.com), where they offer help to those wishing to leave devoutly observant Jewish communities.
“Honestly, the ghetto walls have collapsed,” Katz said earnestly. “Another prohibition here, another ex-comunication there, the rabbis are trying everything but they know that nothing can stop it. That’s why I want to do whatever I can to help those people who are seeking a different path.”

A version of this story appeared in the Yiddish Forward

Gedolim Daven at Kosel Just Hours Before Rosh Hashanah, Ignoring and defying Satmar Ban!

The Gedoile Hador of our generation are "fifing" (whistling)  at the R' Yoel Teitelbaum's (first Satmar Rebbe) ban to go to the Kosel, and came in mass to be mispallel at the Holiest Jewish Site! People are starting to realize, finally, that the "shita" is totally irrelevant and want to take our religion back from the fanatics that scream at holy people that do not hold from the shita, "Koifrim" "Apikorsim" "Yemach Shemo" etc etc... 

During these 10 days of Awe, let us all side with Gedolim that advocate love of every single Jew!

This gathering of Gedoilie Yisroel Erev Rosh Hashona at the Kosel, thumbing their fingers at the "haters"  is a message to all of us and is a great start!

G'Mar Chasima Tova!

Happy Sweet New Year

Wishing all of Klall Yisroel

Health and Wealth and Time To Enjoy Them!

Monsey – Great Grand Child of Viznitz Rabbi Critically Hurt In Accident

A 23 year old man a great grand child of the Viznitz rabbi from Monsey is in critical condition after being struck by a vehicle Monday night.

Shortly after 10:00 pm Hatzolah responded to a call for a pedestrian struck on route 306 and Phyllis Terrace and found the man laying on the road unresponsive, after treating him on the scene they transported him to Westchester Medical Center where he was listed in critical but stable condition.

Investigators from the Ramapo police department responded to the scene shortly after the accident and closed off the street for the Investigation.

After hours of investigation Police determined that the driver of the vehicle struck the pedestrian who was walking in the roadway and caused the pedestrian to suffer injuries to the head and face

The family asks the public to be mispalel for the speedy recovery of Yisroel ben Shifra.