Yid By Choice

Pray for Injured IDF Navy Commando Soldiers this Sabbath

The names of the rest of those injured in the recent “flotilla” incident , June 2010, are listed below. It is customary, in Jewish practice, to pray for an individual using his given name and the name of his mother. IDF commandos are not identified by first and last names for security reasons.

Dean Ben Svetlana
Roee Ben Shulamit
Yotam Ben Dorit
Ido Ben Ilana
Boris Ben Eelaina

Below  is the prayer for the welfare of IDF soldiers, as brought in translation by the Council of Young Israel who also publicized the list of wounded.

He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – may He
bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Force, who stand guard over
our land and the cities of our G-d from the border of the Lebanon to
the desert of Egypt, and from the Great Sea unto the approach of the
Aravah, on the land, in the air, and on the sea.

May the Almight cause the enemies who rise up against us to be struck down
before them. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our
fighting men from every trouble and distress and from every plague
and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every
endeavor.

May He lead our enemies under their sway and may He grant them
salvation and crown them with victory. And may there be fulfilled for
them the verse: For it is the Lord, your G-d, Who goes with you to
battle your enemies for you in order to save you.

Now let us respond: Amen.

Pesach (Passover) is a Biblical festival that begins on 15 Nisan (in March or April). Pesach is an eight-day holiday that celebrates the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt and our freedom from oppression in modern days. The holiday is also referred to as Chag he-Aviv (the Spring Festival), Chag ha-Matzoth (the Time of Our Freedom). It is the first of the three pilgrimage festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Shavuot and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it represents the beginning of the harvest season in Israel.

The primary observances of Pesach are related to the Exodus from Egypt after generations of slavery. This story is told in Exodus, Chapters 1-15. Many of the Pesach observances are instituted in Chapters 12-15. Probably the most significant observance related to Pesach involves the removal of leaven/chametz (the five major grains-wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt) from our homes. Ashkenazi Jews also avoid kitniyot (rice, corn, peanuts, and legumes-beans) as if they were chametz. We may not own, benefit from, or eat chametz during Pesach (this includes food for the animals). All chametz, including utensils and other kitchen accessories used to cook chametz, must either be disposed of or sold to a non-Jew (they can be repurchased after the holiday). This commemorates the fact that the Jews leaving Egypt were in a hurry, and did not have time to let their bread rise.

Laws to Reform Marriage, Conversion

(IsraelNN.com) The Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party is preparing two laws that, if passed, would have a significant impact on marriage and conversion among Israelis with no religious affiliation. One would create a civil marriage option, while the other would ease the conversion process by city rabbis to perform conversions.

It would be great if there was an option to work with a local rabbi for conversion. It is also a very good idea to stop retroactively “de-converting” someone.

I initially wrote about the issue of invalidation conversions in Israel here and here.

It has come to light that there is a “secret code” for those converts who get a divorce. It appears that the rabbinical courts are using a code that invalidates (or attempts to invalidate) conversions. Many divorcees do not even realize this is an issue that will affect themselves and their children/grandchildren.

The Secret Code of Repealed Conversions

[Rabbi and attorney Shimon Yaakobi] claims that while exercising their jurisdiction over marriage and divorce, the rabbinic courts of Israel,can question the validity of a conversion and determine that is was a mistake.

[snip]

Yaakobi brings statistics to claim that of the 1,313 converts who were divorced between the years 1996-2008, 1,276 are referred to as “converts” in the Act of Court and all the rest are referred to as “daughters/sons of Avraham our Forefather.” These people might not know it, but they already have one foot out the door. These things are scandalous and remind me of grim times indeed.

Of course, now there are people stating that conversions should just be stopped. Is this really the way to go? This is just as bad an idea since it punishes those of use who are sincere, righteous converts.

Why Orthodox Rabbis Must Stop Conversions

As the debate goes to the core of identifying who is a legitimate member of the Jewish faith, and as all Jewish people, without exceptions, are one entity, like one body with one heart and one soul, then the tragedy of this schism affects the totality of the Jewish people.

[snip]

When the root of the problem, however, affects the totality of Judaism, then a common denominator must be established. Either there is one standard of conversion acceptable by all or, in the more likely event of this never occurring, a cessation of all conversion process henceforth.

I initially wrote about the issue of invalidation conversions in Israel here.

There are now other voices asserting (what I had always believed/knew) that once a conversion is completed with the proper bet din, that conversion cannot be invalidated by someone else.

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Amsalem said that conversions made by Rabbinical courts headed by Rabbi Haim Druckman, which several Hareidi rabbis sought to cancel, could not be revoked, based on traditional Jewish sources.

Read the rest.

Ilana has been living a double life in Israel. Though her first visit was as a Catholic, she ultimately decided to convert to Judaism, and following her conversion in Italy in 2006, she moved to Israel. Incredibly, despite the fact that the (Orthodox) Chief Rabbinate certifies her conversion, the civil organs of the State of Israel continue to deny her basic rights as a citizen. [read the rest of the article]

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Is this really true? Generally it is the other way around – the civil authorities will accept someone but the Orthodox Rabbinate will not. Is it just me or does it seem as if (some) of the Orthodox Rabbinate in Israel not want converts at all?!

(IsraelNN.com) In a powerful echo of the Biblical story of the patriarch Abraham, a Mumbai doctor smashed his father’s idols and eventually decided to become a Jew in the Land of Israel. [rest of the story]

(IsraelNN.com) The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption reports success in recruiting religious-Zionist families to “accompany” would-be converts, but still needs another 2,000. [rest of the story]

This is a great cause and is very much needed in the State of Israel. An “adoptive family” makes conversion a lot easier and a lot of the mitzvot and Jewish life issues are made easier to understand.

I have been thinking about making aliyah (moving to Israel) for many years. I have been yearning to make the move more and more. The only thing that is really holding me in the galut (exile) is my parents. If I can convince them to immigrate, then I will go sooner. If not, then I must stay here for their sakes. That being said, I am applying for my passport (no, I’ve never had nor needed one) and then I will talk to NBN about opening a case.

I would prefer to live somewhere in the north of Israel – as close to the Golan as possible. I have been looking at various cities/communities and these are the ones (in no particular order) I am considering the most.

1. Kfar Vradim
2. Ramat Yishai
3. Nazareth-Illit
4. Kiryat Bialik
5. Haifa
6. Zichron Ya’acov
7. Karmiel
8. Shorashim
9. Hanaton
10. Ramat Tzvi

In Biblical times, the Golan Heights was referred to as “Bashan;” the word “Golan” apparently derives from the biblical city of “Golan in Bashan,” (Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 21:27). The area was assigned to the tribe of Manasseh (Joshua 13:29-31). In early First Temple times (953-586 BCE), the area was contested between the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and the Aramean kingdom based on Damascus. King Ahab of Israel (reigned c. 874-852 BCE) defeated Ben-Hadad I of Damascus near the site of Kibbutz Afik in the southern Golan (I Kings 20:26-30), and the prophet Elisha prophesied that King Jehoash of Israel (reigned c. 801-785 BCE) would defeat Ben-Hadad III of Damascus, also near Kibbutz Afik (11 Kings 13:17). In the late 6th and 5th centuries BCE, the region was settled by returning Jewish exiles from Babylonia (modern Iraq). In the mid 2nd century BCE, Judah Maccabee and his brothers came to the aid of the local Jewish communities when the latter came under attack from their non-Jewish neighbors (I Maccabees 5). Judah Maccabee’s grandnephew, the Hasmonean King Alexander Jannai (reigned 103-76 BCE) later added the Heights to his kingdom. The Greeks referred to the area as “Gaulanitis”, a term also adopted by the Romans, which led to the current application of the word “Golan” for the entire area. Gamla became the Golan’s chief city and was the area’s last Jewish stronghold to resist the Romans during the Great Revolt, falling in the year 67 (see Josephus, The Jewish War, Chap. 13, Penguin edition). Despite the failure of the revolt, Jewish communities on the Heights continued, and even flourished; the remains of no less than 25 synagogues from the period between the revolt and the Islamic conquest in 636 have been excavated. (Several Byzantine monasteries from this period have also been excavated on the Heights.) The decisive battle in which the Arabs under Caliph Omar, crushed the Byzantines and established Islamic control over what is now Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, was fought in the Yarmouk Valley, on the southern edge of the Heights, in August 636. Organized Jewish settlement on the Golan came to an end at this time. (source)

The Golan Heights were re-captured in 1967 at the end of the war. Jewish communities began to flourish there almost immediately. So, why am I interested in the Golan Heights (other than the fact that they are part of the Jewish homeland and a strategic necessity in Israel’s ongoing battles with the terrorists)? Well, since I do plan on making aliyah at some point, I have been thinking about where I would want to settle. I have decided that I want to settle in or very near the Golan.

I am currently looking at one of the following places:
Kfar Veradim
Kiriat Bialik
Haifa
Ramat Yishai
Zichron Yaakov
Karmiel
Shorashim
Hanaton
Natzeret Illit
Ramat Zvi