Testimonials

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'Roots 0 'I6 Ass.-m·.-'at.-on'
By Moses
In thl' Ia.... t :1O Yl'ars. I
havl' writu'n 20 books on
Jl'wish Law rt.'gardingrontl'mporary probll'ms. I
l'arn my IiVl'lihood in thl'
bllsiRl'sS world an.d am wl'lI
acquaint.l'd with thl' rl'alitil'S of our \'outh in todav's
world. I h~Vl' sJx)kl'n a~d
ol'alt with a multitudl' de'
coupll's who havl' intl'rmarril'd. I thl'rl'fort.' an
comJll'tl'nt from a sl'holarlv
perspl'l'lin'. a." Wl'lI as rt'aiis til' in my appraisal of thl'
situation.
Jl'\\'ish Il'adl'rs havl'
turnl'd hl'aVl'n and l'arth
dl'l'r~'ing Pn'sidl'nt Reagan's visit to Ritburg's
l.'l'mt:'u'ry in Wl'S t (~l'r­
many. May 5. H185. where
some -Ii ~H Nazis ar(' buril>d. ~oml' han' declared a
national day of mourning
for that saml' da\·.
Whatt'vl'r misi~terpreta­
tions can arisl' from such a
visit. it is. at most. onlv
symbolic. What is real and
not symbolic and what
r('ally d('s('rves a national
da~' of mourning and soul
searching' for Jews is the
spiritual holocaust that is
decimating the Jewish peopl(' right underneath our
noses. With a 50% intermarriage rate and zero
population growth. how
man~' Jews will be around
in anoth('r generation?
What is at the root of this
- , tragl'<h'?
The root is a three-letter
word that is missing in all
the misguided efforts to
win the new generation,
naml'l~' G-O-D. Some Jews
today refuse to acknowledge the root of the problem of assimilation. The
root is their insistance on
tossing God out of Judaism.
-...11._-----
-------~--
'at Mount Sinai.
Jewish Law is not fixed
3.500 years ago. up to. or. monolithic. and there
today. This is ~~e power 0
eXist variable faces to each
the Oral Tra(htllln.
II!-w that become operaWhy should the thou- tlOnal under changed facsands of .Jews we are losinA tual conditions. All these
to assimilation and inter- books accept the Divine
marriage (without the non- authority of Jewish Law.
Jcwil-lh party converting) ~ven t~e sectarian grOUPS
rl'main .Jewl-l whlm tho~ In JewIsh history. such as
who yrofcss to repn'Sen
the Samaritans, SadducJudaIsm adopt thl' tactia
cees. and Karaites
of our worst en{!mk'S'! No. accepted Divine authority
only do the anti-Hemite~ for Jewish Law. They, howtry. by falsehoods. to del
ever •. differed regarding
gitimitize the Divineorigin certain practices at the
and the authenticity of Ju- startoftheschism. In time
daism. but Jews the~selvesl :~ey drifted far apart. untii
do likewise. If all that i~
ese groupS disappeared
Judaism is man-made. why, from the scene of Jeish hisshould they remain Jews'!
Unfortunately. the J
e fact tha~ certain
detractors of Judaism have_ews do not practice Jewish
succeeded in selling their
fiction. That is the reason
for the mass exodus of Jews
Law does not per se confer
from Judaism. Jews today
the
status of Judaism upon
are too intelligent for the
theiritreligiousity.
Even
fiction of the detractors.
aU
the
other
monotheistic
Can we expect to have
faiths accept the Divine
non-Jews. spouses of Jews.
of Jewish Law. but
basis
taught by their faith that it
contend
that it ha..<; been
is Divine, exchange it for a
by their faith.
superceded
Judaism that some Jews
However. Jews were at
claim is man-made? Likef.1inai thousands of years
wise. do we really ex pect
,earlier. Jewish practices
any Jew to be committed to
a "faith" that is decided by I and doctrine confirm Jewish belief.
men? If certain men can
"For what makes upJudacreate it or destroy it. why
I ism'!
Is the singing of
should they not do likewise?
"Hava Nagila" and "HatikThere exists a minimum
vah" Judaism? Is the eating
of hundreds of millions of
of km,idlm·h. matzo balls.
Judaica hooks and doculox and bagel. and gefilte
ments in libraries all over
fish with borscht Judaism?
the world. extending from
Or is the commemoration
the writing of the Talmud
of the Holocaust. the birth
2.000 years ago up to today.
of Israel .. or marching for
With the exception of the
Soviet Jewry all there is to
writings of the bible critics
Judaism?
Such emotional
and those Jews searching to
experiences will satisfy the
cast off such Jewish Laws
older generation. who witthey consider burdensome.
• nessed the Holocaust. but
which of these millions of
creates only a sour taste for
books does not accept the
their children and Jews-byI Divine authority of all Jew- choice.
ish Laws in our possession
____
We are witnt.'Ssing a new
crt'ation ofa faith withouta
G-d. or at least divorced
from Him a.<; thl' Author of
.ft'wish practi{'es and law.
The first to invent this
canard. that .Judaism is
man-made. Wl're the bible
critics in thl' Hlth Century.
whose purpose was to
d{'ll'gitimitizeJudaismand
makl' Jews outcasts. Their
basl'll'ss premises have
bl'l'n shreddl'd by Jewish
and non-.Jewish scholars.
Whose testimony are we
to al'cept. the objective testimony of millions of individuals expl'ril'ncing the
dl'tailsofthe LawsofKashrus. Shabbos. family purity. prayer. marriage.
divorce. and conversion. as
rl'corded in the Talmud
and Shulchan A ruch. orthe
fiction of pl'ople living
~t500 years later?
Furthermore. the Talmud volume Baba Metzia.
page 92A. and the prologue
to Yaad Hachazaka. by
Rambam (Rabbi Moses
Maimonides). record that
there existed millions of
manuscripts dating from
the timeofthe Exodus that
served as the basis for the
editors of the Mishna and
the Talmud. These manuscripts were written by the
Jewsduringthefortyyears
of wandering the desert. as
well as during the time
interval that passed until
the Mishna and Ta)nud
were officially edited' and
accepted. The authenticity
of Judaic practice is its continuous and consistent
acceptance by Jews all over
the world. For thousands of
years. these Laws were ~Y'L_ - practiced, in every Jewish
home from the giving of the
to~h
!,
i
Those who preside over shell fish and tenuresolium
the UJA may win a respite and echinococciasis when
to the bitter reality of the eating pork.
number of Jews and "Jews
Those Jews who have
in name only" who contri- elected to choose their own
buteo However. the day of sexual1ifestyle rather than
reckoning is no more than a what the Torah ordains
generation removed.
find that their election was
There was a time when
pregnant with AIDS and
all Jews, as a result oftheir other diseases that can lead
lifestyle and being "differ- to infertility.
.
ent" because ofthe d i c t a t e s .
of Jewish ritual, were
JeWish women who
spared the social plagues obs~rve the laws of fa!'lilr
and diseases of other peo- purity have the lowest lOCI·
pIe. Now many Jews have d~nce of cancer of the cerbeen "liberated" and VIX. T~ose Je"Yesses who
equally share the plgues have dlffere~t Ide~ about
and misery of non·Jews. these ~ra~tlces dls~o~er
Only the wise Jews have that theIr risk ofa.cqUlrmg
insisted on remaining loyal cancer of the cervIx equals
to Jewish Law.
t~oseofthe general popula·
Those Jews who have tlOn.
adopted the convenient
In view of all of the above
way out of marriage, with- social plagues and diseases
out the burdens of Jewish the Jew has brought upon
divorce (Get), now expe- himself by adopting the
rience a 50% divorce rate, lifestyle of the dominant
and zero population faiths or the non-religious
growth.
civil lifestyle, what is the
Those Jews who have rid- wisdom of all who fight for
iculed the many rituals of the right of Jews to adopt
the traditional Shabbos such modes of living?
now experience the same
Jewish survival will not,
risks of acquiring psycho- ' come from such practices.
somatic diseases and heart Jewish survival can only
disease and strokes as the come from a dedication to
risks experienced by the the civilization of the Jew, ,
non·Jewish population which, in Europe, was
becuase they are not forced nearly destroyed by the
to break the tension of I Nazis and other anti·Semweekday activity:
ites who resented the Jews'
Those who have been competitiveness and
"liberated" from the die- intrusion into their lifetary restrictions of obser- style.
.
vant Jews now lament the
No monuments can bring
incidence of the dise~es back the six million mar·
they are exposed to when tyrs. We can. however,
eating forbidden food. such keep alive the ideals to
as hepatitis associated with which they were commit--ted. The aim of the antiSemites is to destroy Juda,. ism by exterminating the
Jews. Let us counter-attack
by marrying. remaining
married, having large families, and resolving to
observe all the Laws of Ju-'
daism, in accordance withl
the Shulchan Aruch, as
, Jews have practiced for the
past 3,500 years.
I
The secret for Jewish
survival is to accept as
truth Ule 3,500 year conviction of all the J~h_l.{j.~-
-----
tyrs: "Our faith was given
by G-d at Sinai a.500 years
ago. It was witnessed by
ml'11'Ions 0 f J ews an d non·
Jews. The Laws existing
today, of Shabbos, Kashrus, family purity, prayer,
marriage. divorce. and con·
.
verSIOn,
are th ose Law~"
transmitted by father and
mother to son and ~augh.
ter. They were practtced by
J ws all over the world
f:om the time of Sinai until ,
today and recorded in
manuscripts that served as
the basis for the Talmud
and Shulchan Aruch. That
is why we are prepared to
live and die for Judaism.
"Am YiHroel Chai LeO/am
_ The Jewish People will
live forever."
Let us hope that all Jews
will sincerely adoptJewish
Law at least in the areas of
conv~rsion, marriage. and
divorce for the sake of the
survivai and unity of the
Jewish people.
'
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RABBI I. I. PIEKARSKI
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98-30 67th AVENUE
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REGO PARK, N. Y. 11374
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TABLE - OF
CONTENTS
.
".?! ' . :: ; ; ~ : . , ,
.....
'
T~st!~~ ....,.. e:.~ ...... ~ .................. ~ •• ~"-::r .i;~··
Chapter' : '. :Psychologi~ai ~nd;Halac.hi£" Adjustqtent' ',:.
,;.... ;:i:r~·?'!: :<:·,:"";·i~ o~;~.w.~~~J\J::Iavin.:s A~orP.-0~~~ ......... ~,)(j;,
~hap~rV:~;.F~th.and,~~Role of*eoJ~W1sh ;;",:',.; ,
;,:f.~~;");" ',/.! ,Womanaild'Mother: Taliaras
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<', ;". ,,'::,.~".:":'~ Hdmishp()ch~i~: .. :'.' ... ".. ~.':'.. ,,;'.~ ....,•..,.. ~.:::,.,
Chapter VI: The'Halachic StatUs of the:Unbom-;:,
"
Ch~ld ~~.'.. :... ~ ... ~ ...... ~:~: ....•.................
Ghaptel" VII: Conflict of Lives: Surrendering a
". ' , Fugitive; Organ Transplants,' and
. ~emoval of a Life Sustaining ~ystem ~ .....
'
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Approbation of
RAV MOSHE FEINSTEIN
My friend, the very distinguished Rav Moshe
is noted and acclaimed widely for his Torah scholarship and
erudition. He is a man who [ossesses wisdom and common sense.
K"U'?lO, the son of Harav Menachem
Harav Moshe -~
Sender
was ordained with the rabbinical
degree Or semlcha Dy filS teachers, the Gaonim at Torah Vodaath,
15
14
and also by me some years ago. He is a Torah scholar and one who
fears Heaven with integrity and wholehearted ness.
I have known him for the entire period of' time since
ordination and am familiar with his excellent reputation regarding
all matters in regard to his upright and correCt conduct as is
appropriate for a Torah scholar.and one who reveres G-d, who is
to be blessed. He has written a.. very important book in English,
the most widely spoken language in this country: He has collected
many wonderful concepts and enchanting pearls from Gemorah,
Rishonim, Achronim, shulchan Aruch, and Shea los Uteshuvos
· (r~ponsa) regarding the prohibition of aborting an ~nborn child
that-:-'physicians predict can· possibly be disabled. Rabbi
~ ,-. . . ... .
kS shown that it is forbidden, and that it is
tan:~mount to Jturder. May he be congratulated! .
· ::'t~ The contemporary Gaonim have explicitly prohibited such
· abortions.' And I likewise have explicitly· prohibited it; and I
consider it tantamount to murder. I therefore support his effort to
publish and distribute his book to inform people that such
abortions· are tantamount to murder. This book will expose the
lies and distortions (that advocates of abortion propound). G-d
should help us that all decrees harmful to the Jews should be
abolished, and that we speedily should merit the coming of our
Righteous Messiah,.
Rabbi.
.
.may be relied upon in regard to the
i material he has collected and interpreted in words so beautiful as
'rto bripg the layman and even the rabbi closer to Torah and
'Judaism. His writings are also beneficial for the instruction of
students. It is, therefore, a very commendable thing that he is
publishing this book to increase the love of G-d. and the
knowledge of His Holy Torah regarding matters that are the
foundations of the faith and fundamental to the very existence of
the Jewish people.
And on this I have affixed my signature of the 7th day of
Tammuz 5739.
Moshe Feinstein
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'w",
Approbation of
RA V I. I. PIEKARSKI
My friend, our revered teacher, Horav Moshe
X"t)'7tu is distinguished for Torah knowledg·e and reverence and
widely acclaimed for his scholarship and erudition, and he is one
who "seeks the good of his people." I have known for sometime
that he studies every day Gemora, Tosfos, and Rishonim, etc. and
98-30 67cb
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South Setauket, New York 11720
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Home Phone 516-732-8713
Email GCBENEZRAQAOLCOM
February 1, 1999
Rabbi & Mrs. Moses
147-27 75th Avenue Flushing, New York 11367
Dear Rabbi & Mrs. Morgenstern:
Please accept this as a token of our appreciation for your help, understanding
and patience.
Words cannot express how grateful we are for what you have done for our
family and for your cooperation with regard to our financial situation. Please
know that we will send you the money as soon as we are able and as often as we
can.
We hope you will continue to help many other women become free.
With
. our deepest thanks,
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YOUi RABBI ATE PORK - WHAT DO YOU DO?
You are tfie member or a shul in New Jersey that decided to take a
kosher trip to New Orleans and the Louisiana Bayou country.
Several hours out of New Orleans your steamboat docks in the
Bayous and you embark to a Cajun restaurant where you can at least
enjoy the drinks. As you are· standing in line waiting for some
refreshments you are astonished to notice that your cousin's
Orthodox rabbi from Michigan Is eating a Cajun pork dish. You call
this to the attention of members of your group who are in shock.
You and your spouse go over and confront the Rabbi, who says
so what I do what I please on my vacation! Meanwhile, several
congregants have snapped his picture.
Upon return to New Jersey you notify your cousin of' ·the
incident. ABet Din'is sent to New Jersey to get positive identifica·
tion from eyewitnesses.
.
The Bet Din's final verdict is that the Rabbi ate pork. The Bet Din's
findings are presented to the membership of the congregation who·
must vote whether to fire the Rabbi or not.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
1. What exactly is the nature of the sin that the. Rabbi did?
2. Should his congregation get rid of him?
3. In the event that the majority of the shul vote to keep the rabbi
what is the responsibility of the minority membership?
Leaving the question of chilul HaShem aside, the sin of eating pork
is Malkot, lashes (Hil. Ma'achalo! Asurot2:2). Certainly i rabbi that
has done this is to be "thrown out on his ears" by the congregation,
as verified by eye witnesses; which according to the Chachmat
Adam includes women who qualify as "eyd echad ne'eman b'isurin."
If the congregation decides to keep the rabbi by a majority vote then
the pious minority have a question to resolve whether they should
leave the shu! or stay and fight until the rabbi. is thrown ~ut in
accordance With "He who has the power. to protest and falls to,
is held liable (Auoda Zara /8a}."
,
.....
What would be the case ir the rabbi did something far worse then
eat chazir and did it publicly in the newspapers or in rront or his
congregation· a sin for which 'he incurred excommunication? How
much more .50 is this rabbi to be thrown out and not listened to (s'A.
Choshen HaMishpat 8:1). The Jerusale!ll Talmud (Bikurim 3:3)
cites rabbis' who disparaged corrupt ,rabbis and encouraged the
people not to call the corrupt; "rabbis," and when beholding them to
"regard the Talit they wear as the saddle packs or an ass." Simply
put any rabbi who disgraces his calling is to be removed.
(Kitz. Shulchan Aruch 144:7). His ordination is to be considered
"batel k'afra d'ara"'null and void like the dust or the earth.
DEFENSE OF RABBIS
I
AND RACKMAN BY THE
24 MEMBER BET DIN ELYON OF AMERICA
FOUNDED IN 5735 (1974) BY DISCIPLES OF
THE MOETZET G'DOLAI HATORAH
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Why did we place this ad? Because several rabbis have had the
chutzpa to libel giltin emanating from halachicly valid rabbinic
authorities. The authorities include Rabbis Emanuel Raclmian and
Moshe Morgenstern. They have not been working in a vacuum.
Their gittin have been subjected to scrutiny by other Rabbis includ·
ing members or our "Gait (the popular word get, is incorrect it is
written with a tzeirai not a segol) Commission" including.
Rabbis Moshe Antelman, Mordechai Friedman, Tarbiyahu Gilner,
Yitzchak Jacobson, Kuzriel Meir and our Av Bet Din's Rebbe z'l
(d. 4 Tevet) Naftali Steinberger, Rav or the BerKnesset HaGadol,
Rehovot, and Supervisor of Talmudic studies for the Ministry or
Education or Israel. He was engaged by Rav Moshe Feinstein z"l and
other G'dolim to create curricula in Talmudic studies in American
Yeshivot. He was considered to be among the· greatest living
Talmudic authorities of our generation; a disciple disseminating
the teachings or his revered Rebbe, HaRav Reuven Katz z'l, Rosh
HaYeshiva Lomza. In his Sh"uT "Degel Reuven" Rav Katz held
Hafka'at Kidushin, marriage annulment a valid procedure .. Thoserabbis who have libeled the giltin deserve excommunication. This is
writlen in granite in Jewish law. It is called the Cherem or Rabbenu
Tain and is 'to be round verbatim in the last Mordechai or Gitlin
(455) .• Fur' h ermore it has beim reiterated by G'dolim throughout
Ihe generations. Exemplary or Ihis is a leller written by R.
Yechezkeillandau .the Noda B'Y'huda; against some or the greatest
rabbis or his time ror libeling a gait. He de.elared in a Letter or
Condemnation to the Frankfurt Bet Din: "In order to de rend the
Honor or Heaven and the Honor or the Torah in regard to the regu·
lations pertaining to the dapghters of IsraeL .. whomever shall sian·
der this Bill or Divorce ... ir his stature be that of a cedar he shall
nol escape Ihe nel or the excommunication or Rabbenu Tam
(Prague 4 Tishrei 5528 {/767}."
Rav Moshe Feinstein in our time repeated the theme stating that
one must not libel a gait arranged by a duly ordained Rav ... "and it
is forbidden by anyone to dispute it according to Torah law (Igrot
Moshe EH 1:137}." This was said or any Rav. R. Moshe
..
is a musmach of Mesivta Torah V'Daat as well as~
Feinstein. Furthermore, he interned under Rabbis Feinstein and
Yisrael Pekarski in marriage and divorce cases for 30 years. If he is
not qualified ror adjudicating gittin, then who is?
The Torah is "Morasha Kehillal Ya'akou" (Deut. 33:4), an heirloom or
Ihe entire Jewish people. It is not the property or the exclusive domain
of Ihe Rabbis. We are fiduciaries or the people. Those Rabbis who
disparaged these gittin are to be thrown out on their ears. If not, then
congregants who refuse to do anything about it are accountable to God.
Furthermore, each and every Jew should realize that these libeling so
called rabbis are our enemy. Rabbenu Tam and the great sages realized
that to libel a gel would mean t~at eventually all Jews would automati·
cally become mamzerim.
10 ________
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Cour1
.As debate sw
in letter to U
LAWR'ENCE COHLER
S1;AFF WRITER
A
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issued," Kharrazi stressel
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But Iran's supreme I~l
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same cOfl.ference of jurisl
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erates in Iran's political h
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The Jews, from the ci
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teachers and a ritual slau
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be likely to convict them
But some feared il co
E
RABBI MOS
AV BET DIN:
LIFE MEMBER AGU:
The definitive book on c
(416 pp, hard cover) '"
with Haskamot 01: Bet Din Ichud I
Rabbis Nallali Steinberger (z·I). A;
THEGI
AGUNAI
(275 pp. sol
VARON GO.
3 BurJa St..
US Distributor Suprell
POB 855, Boro P
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6!'t'n' VA 16'"
A A+1HM
"Simchan from Acco. Israel.
My husband belonged to the so-called
"Russian Mafia." It's been over 14 years since he
just disappeared. It's likely that he's dead, murdered by a rival faction. The other rabbis all want
conclusive evidence that he's dead before I can
remarry, so I'm chained to a dead man.
Rabbi Ante1man's Court found a way to free
me and now I can marry and live a normal life.
~
.
,
"Habiba" from Tel Ayiv. Israel.
My then-husband went off to Canada fourteen years ago, abandoning me and his young
children. He still refuses to grant me a gait -·a Jewish divorce certificate. Thanks to Rabbi Antelman
and the Supreme Rabbinic Court of America, I am
now free to remarry and to continue to raise my
children properly.
"Dorothy B." from London
My husband was a savage. He used to beat
me to a pulp whenever the mood struck him. He
raped all of my sisters. At the end, when I couldn't
live with him any longer, he threw my down a staircase and almost killed the baby I was carrying.
The local rabbinate said that unless he
voluntarily gave me a gait, th~y couldn't help me!
I thank God for the day I heard about these
compasSionate rabbis from the Supreme Rabbinic
Court who annulled my marriage and freed me
from this animal.
e
,e=e"w3::CO '00==
pco
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"Esther" from Philadelphia. PA
Just ten days after my second husband and
I were married, he abandoned me. He had pummeled me severely, and threcitened to choke me to
death .. I knew that he was serious and that some
day he would carry out his threat.
He has been diagnosed by a psychiatrist as
some type of psychopath - I'm not sure of the technical name.
•
The rabbincal courts explained that they
couldn't do anything unless he voluntarily granted
me a gait, which he naturally refused.
Rabbi Rackman and_~_ _ _ ' annulled
my ,ill-fated marriage and saved me from certain
death. I am eternally grateful to them.
"
.~
"Hazel" &om Brooklyn. NY
My husband changed from a kind man to
an alcoholic, compulsive gambler, and finally, a
drug abuser: For ten years he claimed he would be
able to "straighten himself out," and he went from
one expensive rehabilitation center to another.
I finally couldn't tolerate his bellavior any
longer and refused to allow him back. The established rabbinical courts told me to treat him with
love and sympathy so that he could mend his ways
- but they didn't have to live with him!
He absolutely refused to consider giving me
a gait, because everything, the rabbis had concluded, "was my oWn fault."
Rabbis
1 and Rackman finally
liberated me from this nightmare marriage and now
I'm free to look for a good man and live the rest of
my,life in peace.
AGUNA FILES -- PERSONAL
STORIES
.
ting himself to the will of Allah, he insisted that I
submit to his deJl1ands!
He has since married two Moslem women
and has fathered 14 known children. But he demanded that I give our five children to him so that
they, too, could be converted to his new faith or he
would never grant me a Jewish divorce. Without
the gait, I would be deprived of a husband and
male companionship forever.
There is no power 011 earth that could force
me to permit my children.to abandon their faith, so
I was sentenced to a living death
But Rabbis Antelman.
and
Kuzriel Meir were able to finaffie- halachic -religiously acceptable - grounds to grant my annulment. Now I am free, "unchained" again. May the
Almighty bless these righteous rabbis.
~
"lucy" hom Brooklyn. NY
My former husband is a psychotic - a manic
depressive, I believe that the current term is bipolar
disorder - and a convicted felon. He's currently
serving an extended prison term. He made my life
a living Hell; I can't even begin to describe the
physical and emotional abuse I suffered. His second wife was driven to take her own life and if I
had been forced to remain with him, I surely would
have resorted to suicide as well.
He refused to grant me a gait, a 'Jewish
divorce so that I could live a normal life, unless I
paid his blackmail. I was willing to pay any price if
I could to be free of him, but his demands changed .
almost every day - when he was around.
Other. rabbis rlidn't want to help me, but
Rabbis Rackman and
n found a way to
annul our marriage:. E:;veYf1fIT1aily Orthodox Jews
find their procedures flawed in some way, I know
that at last I'm free of him and can salvage the rest
of my life. I'm sure that God Almighty wants all the
. other rabbis to treat women as fairly as they do.
~
..
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"Blondie" from Brooklyn. NY
My ex-husband is a sexual pervert. He
engaged in perverted sex acts with other worrten
from the first day we were married .. I was so nalve
I didn't really know how to handle things.
He's also a compulsive gambler. He regularly ran off to Atlantic City for gambling and to
satisfy his abnormal sex needs.
He refuses to support our children and
won't agree to granting me a gait unless I pay him
a large sum - which I don't have - and perform
certain sex acts which are repugnant to me.
Although I've been in this situation more than ten
years, the rabbis in our local divorce courts say that
they can't help me; I should accept it and be a
better wife so that he'll treat me better!
Now that I've found these compassionate
rabbis who have annulled my marriage, I am free
of the threat of blackmail- and can rebuild my life.
~
',:,
"Galila" hom Haifa. Israel
My Jewish husband converted to Islam, joined the PLO, and is wanted by the authorities for .
the murder of 5 Israelis. For twelve years I lived in
a purgatory where I had no husband and couldn't
marry or even see another man.
Rabbis Antelman, Meir, and·found halachic grounds to end my marriage ancf
~-renewed my faith in Judaism. Now I can legally
find a good husband and get married again.
~
£\.\ZUIxa rlL~b>
-
"Shaina" from Long Island. NY.
My husband was a vicious thug who usually
neglected me completely. The only time he paid
attention to me was when he beat me mercilessly.
He told me to go look for other men to satisfy my
needs for affection and sexual fulfillment because
he didn't care about what I did.
I was totally depressed and lost all my selfesteem. When I finally summoned the courage to
do something, I felt my only choices were suicide or
leaving that man.
I made the dreadful mistake of confiding in
two prominent "divorce court" rabbis. Instead of
maintaining my secrets - as I had thought they were
obliged to do - they voluntarily decided to tum this
information over to the courts and to make it public. As a result, I lost custody of my children to their
depraved father.
Because of the way they had betrayed my
confidence, I sued these rabbis for ten million dollars. Somehow, Social Services then received information that I was an abusive parent and I lost
visitation rights to my children. It took me almost
three months to defend my reputation and to regain the right to see my children.
.1
Rabbi Rackman and Rabbi .
succeeded in annulling my unfortunate-marr'iage,
but their annulment is recognized by only a minority within the Orthodox community. Shortly thereafter, some "unknown party" broke into my home
at 1 AM and beat with a baseball bat. I Suess.
someone hoped to teach me the lesson that rabbis
are above the laws of out country and that I should
drop my law suit against our venerable "sages." I
was taught; instead, that an open-head wound
eventually heals ~ut the scars that our "learned
rabbis" inflicted on my soul will remain forever.
But that's not all. My ex-husband has been
spreading rumors that I'm an adulteress. He has
r~J:S.b)Vl~AL
b>·IVKl~b>
received the usual recognized gait - Jewish divorce
certificate - but has never authorized the rabbis to
deliver the decree to me .. Without it I'm still not
. divorced, according to m~st religious Jews .. This
leaveS him free to go his way as a divorced man
and it makes me - in the eyes of the orthodox Jew• ish community - an adulteress. Can you believe it?
~
"Yetta" from Spring Valley. NY.
My ex-husband is a convicted felon and a
drug addict who was sentenced to 75 years in
prison at the end of 1996. He came close to murdering me when he split my head open with an ax.
He has sworn that he will never grant me a gait.
Since he didn't succeed in his attempt to kill
me physically, he is determined to torture me to
death emotionally. As a "still-married" woman in
the Jewish community, I can't date other men or
get married or have sexual relations with anyone.
The courts had found sufficient justification
to issue an "order of protection" to keep my husband from harming me. But the "div9.rce court"
rabbis, siding with the man as they always do,
convinced me that if I relinquished the court order,
I would receive my gait. When I complied, my
husband was able to enter my home and he nearly
murdered me, thanks to the meddling rabbis.
Although there are some Jews who refuse to
recognize justice and reality, my marriage has now
·been annulled and I am able to go on with my life.
~
"Aviv" from Petach Tikvah. Israel
Twenty-nine years ago, my husband decided to return to Morocco and to convert to Islam,
the religion of submission. But instead of submit-
AGUNA FILES - PERSONAL· STORIES
.
"Chava" from Portland. OR
My husband systematically abused me. He
practiced psychological and physical terrorism. My
body had barbaric marks as a result of his constant
beatings. Worse, he made me feel completely
worthless. He refused to accept our daughter because she was a female and he wouldn't visit me in
the hospital after her birth.
•
Then he threw me out of the house because
I couldn't concentrate and failed my comprehensives for acCeptance in a PhD program. This meant
he'd have to. do with less of my money. He never
worked, never supported the family. I had to work,
to be the pr<?vider - in addition to being a housewife, mother,and student doing graduate studies.
After we separateg.,. he refused to grant me
a gait so that I could seek::happiriess in some new
relationship. It wasn't that he wanted a reconciliation; he simply demanded a payment of Five MUlion Dollars! This terrorism was "negotiated" by
rabbis who were supposed to be helping us.
Pnrh1n="tely, I heard about Rabbis Rackman
&1
.' _
and the Supreme Rabbinic Court
of America~ They found a way to grant me .a
religiously acceptable annulment so that I could get
on with the rest of my life. My former husband, his
family, and th~ greedy rabbis were incensed - not
that I was finally free of being a victim, but because
they couldn't. collect any money. I understand that
the "impartial" rabbis were being given a fee of
10% of whatever he could extort from my family
through their "mediation."
~
"Deena" from Queens. NY
My ex-husband was a brute who never hesitated using his. fists and beating me to a pulp. He
constantly threatened to kill me and my parents if
he did not get his way. He was diagnosed as hav-
ing a psychotic personality disorder.
I have been told that I'm quite beautiful when I wasn't black and blue - but my husband
spent more time with his}llale lover than with me.
Eventually he just left me and our children for his
homosexual lifestyle. "Although he is a prominent
millionaire, he refuses to support me and our childreno He used the refusal of granting me a gait - a
Jewish divorce certificate - as a means of further
impoverishing his children and making my life a
living hell.
The rabbis of a Queens religious court, to
which I turned for help, told me that I should relinquish all monetary demands against him - alimony,
child support, etc. - and give up custody and visitation rights to our children, or else I would never
receive a gait. My suffering and abuse meant nothing to them. I was the one who would have to
sacrifice if I wanted to lead a new life!
These Rabbis of the divorce court must have
been paid very well by him to arrive at such a decision. They counseled me to think of myself as a
Holocaust survivor who was fortunate to survive
with my life and the gait, " and to use it to start a
new life for myself. Just forget all of "the suffering,
forget my children, forget the years L~ent trying to
hold a family together, and gift it all to him!
Thanks to Rabbi Rackman and Rabbi .
my marriage was religiously annulled.
Now I am free to date and, maybe some day when
the emotional scars have healed, to marry again.
Since the rabbinical blackmail is finished, I have the
self-confidence to pursue my legal, financial, and
custody rights in the courts.
It's not finished yet, but these rabbis have
given me the will and the means to go on living
and fighting for my dignity.
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