Echt Antwerps. Mijn Daas Jochid 1. De pruikencrisis: de matierim blijven zich manifesteren: Rabbijn Gavriël Zinner (N.Y

Echt Antwerps

FORUM– ‫פאָרוּם‬ van de joden van Antwerpen Nr. 61 20 mei 2004 Speciale editie [3]

“twee joden, drie meningen”

Plein in Rome, tussen het Capitool en de Palatijnheuvel, waar burgers samenkwamen om publieke zaken te bespreken en recht te doen. ‫בס"ד‬

íï−òè ë−−ì - öî−ñèí ³¾îðš ñ¼ þîô¾ñ êò E-post-weekblad van de v.z.w. GOEDKOSJER Lid van de Unie van de Uitgevers van de Periodieke Pers (U.P.P.) European Periodical Publishers Association (F.A.E.P.)

Henri Rosenberg Hoofdredacteur

‫מיין דעת יחיד‬

Mijn Daas Jochid 1

De pruikencrisis: de matierim blijven zich manifesteren: Rabbijn Gavriël Zinner (N.Y.) is matier 1

= Eenmansopinie.

F O R UM nr. 61 - 20 mei 2004 – pagina 1/24

,‫ ושפתי מדבר מרמה‬,‫ נצור לשוני מרע‬,‫אלקי‬ ‫ פתח‬.‫ ונפשי כעפר לכל תהיה‬,‫ולמקללי נפשי תדום‬ ‫ וכל‬.‫ ואחרי מצותיך תרדוף נפשי‬,‫לבי בתורתך‬ ‫הקמים והחושבים עלי לרעה מהרה הפר עצתם‬ 2 ‫וקלקל מחשבתם‬

1. De pruikencrisis: het kamp der matierim neemt toe Rabbijn J.M. Kohen van Shomrei Hadass heeft zopas een responsum geschreven, waarin ook hij de weg van de toegeeflijkheid (‫ )כוחא דהתירא‬bewandelt. Zie achteraan het volledige responsum. Kennelijk is ook Rabbijn Gavriël Zinner van de Congregation Nitei Gavriël in Brooklyn matier. Zie zijn brief hieronder onder de titel “Rav G. Zinner is matier”. Na een shioer door Antwerpenaar Rabbi J.D. Schmahl in Amsterdam (waar hij dienst doet als hulprabbijn), nam Rabbijn F.J. Lewis van Amsterdam er het woord en verklaarde dat vooralsnog in zake de pruikencrisis niemand iets moest ondernemen en dat de afwachtende attitude van ‫ שב ואל תעשה‬de aanbeveling verdiende. Inmiddels is Forum erin geslaagd de wereldexpert ( ‫אחד הידוע כמומחה הכי גדול‬ ‫ )בעניני הודו‬in hindoeïsme te identificeren, waarop Rav J.S. Eliashiv zich baseerde om zijn heter wereldkundig te maken. Het gaat om Prof. Dr. Anand Mohan, professor van religie en filosofie aan het Queens College, City University of New York., en zelf een hindoe priester. 2

G-d, behoed mijn tong voor kwaadspreken, mijn lippen voor het spreken van bedrog. Laat mij stil zijn tegenover allen die mij vloeken, laat mij als stof zijn voor wat van dien aard ook. Stel mijn hart open voor uw thora en laat mij er naar streven Uw geboden op te volgen. Verijdel snel het plan van allen die iets kwaads tegen mij in de zin hebben en vernietig wat ze in gedachten hadden.

Volgens deze expert is het haarknippen geen offer (in de zin van ‫ )קרבן‬voor welke godheid ook. Het is het gevolg van dames die een gelofte maken dat, indien een heuglijke gebeurtenis plaatsgrijpt of een ongeluk vermeden wordt, zij hun kostbaarst bezit zullen weggeven. Immers mogen zij hun haar nooit knippen, zodat hun long en zijdeachtig haar hun mooist en meest geapprecieerd bezit uitmaakt. Zij beloven dus uitgerekend dat te zullen knippen. Dit moet volgens hun ritus niet in enige tempel gebeuren en zij mogen het haar weggooien, omdat het voor het doel dat zij nastreven van generlei belang is wat er met dat afgeknipte haar gebeurt. Centraal is dat zij afzien van hun meest gegeerd bezit. Theoretisch kan de gelofte ook betrekking hebben op bijvoorbeeld een gouden armband of welk ander waardevol bezit. Het knippen van het haar wordt in het hindoeïsme gezien als een purificatieritus, zoals een stortbad nemen, waarbij in plaats van vuil verwijderd wordt, hier het haar wordt afgevoerd. Na het knippen van het haar, gaan deze mensen inderdaad eerst in het bad, vooraleer een tempel te betreden. Op dezelfde wijze als lichaamsvuil dat bij deze purificatie in het bad vrijkomt geen bijzondere heiligheidgehalte heeft, zo ook is het haar na de purificatie door het knippen slechts een wegwerpbijproduct van dit purificatieproces. Sommige rijke dames laten hun haar trouwens in hun hotel knippen. In het verleden gebeurde het knippen op straat, voor de tempel, waar zij ook een bad konden nemen vooraleer de tempel te betreden. Toen werd het haar ook weggegooid, totdat de verantwoordelijken van de eredienst (niet de clerus volgens Dr. A. Mohan, maar de trustees) er een business van maakten door het haar te collecteren en het te verkopen. Theoretisch


konden de dames hun haar evenzeer zelf verkopen, maar dat zou de waarde van hun offervaardigheid verminderen. Tot hier het verslag van Dr. Anand Mohan, waarop Rav J.S. Eliashiv zijn heter baseerde (zie Forum nummer 60). Toentertijd werd hij in zijn heter gevolgd door Rabbi Shloime Zalmen Auerbach en Rabbi Pinchas Sheinberg. Deze laatste baseerde zijn fact finding op een Sefardische Chacham. Toentertijd steunde Rabbi Yisroel Belkin (OU) eveneens de heter. Dit feitenrelaas werd bevestigd door Prof. Diana Ack, professor vergelijkende godsdienst- en Indiastudies aan de Harvard University. Zonder het verslag van Dr. Anand Mohan te zien, gaf zij een identieke versie der feiten, met name dat het knippen van het haar een voorbereidende daad is voor de eredienst.

De bijna Opperrabbijn van Machsike Hadass, nu ex-kandidaat Rabbijn Aron Dovid Duner houdt voet bij stuk: in een lezing woensdagavond in Londen gehouden, volhardt hij in het feit dat deze pruiken uit Indisch haar weldegelijk ‫עבודה‬ ‫ זרה ממש‬zijn, omdat hij zelf gezien heeft dat het haar aan Boeddha (!) als “offer” wordt gegeven ter ere van de godheid Vishnu. Om deze reden zullen deze pruiken openbaar moeten verbrand worden (onder opzegging van een speciaal gebed). Ene Rabbijn Sinai Halberstam uit Bnei Brak gaat nog verder en adviseert Rabbijnen om geen hechsher te geven (noch een heter te zoeken), nu een sheitel sowieso verboden is. Het geven van een hechsher zou een nonsens zijn te vergelijken met een hechsher voor shatnes op niet-kuise kleding....


Gezond verstand? Geachte Dr. Rosenberg, "Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." (Mark Twain)

Rijke madammekes buiten schot

blijven

sowieso

Rabbijn Avrohom Zvi Cohen uit Bnei Brak geeft (lees: verkoopt) een carte blanche hechsher, die certificeert dat de pruiken van David Peretz van Europees haar geconfectioneerd zijn. Hoe kan hij dat weten en bevestigen?

Eerste reactie bij het lezen van Uw Forum blad: "Hebben wij Joden, nu geen andere problemen dan deze Sheitel kwestie" Dan ben Ik gaan denken: "Dr.Rosenberg heeft veel gevoel voor humor" Derde reactie: "Kinderen lijden honger in Israel en wij denken aan ons haar" Vierde reactie "Bestaat er een methode om die Sheitelech te kasheren, en met de opbrengst, voedselpakketten aan hongerlijdende families in Israel uit te delen. Daar zou iedereen baat aan hebben" Michel Sommerfeld

Beste, In plaats van de pruiken op brandstapels te verbranden, zou je ze niet beter aan kankerlijdende chemotherapiepatiënten schenken. Zo maak je op zijn minst nog een kiddush hashem, i.p.v. het achterlijk middeleeuws beeld dat thans wereldwijd van ons vrome joden wordt opgehangen. Naam bekend bij de Redactie


‫האגודה למען טוהר המחנה‬ ‫ת‪.‬ד‪ 57049 .‬ירושלים תובב"א‬ ‫טל‪ 025377793 .‬פקס‪025388774 .‬‬ ‫________________________________‬ ‫בס"ד‬

‫לאפרושי מאיסורא‬ ‫הרינו להודיע בשער בת רבים כי‬ ‫סיון(‬

‫באולמי וואגשל‬

‫התגלתה שער‬ ‫קוגעל תפ"א‬

‫ע"ז‬

‫)היום יום חמישי ער"ח‬

‫בבני ברק‬

‫אלמוני שאין ידוע את מקורו במנת‬

‫וידוע ששער בזמן הזה הוא בגדר ספק‬

‫כי אולי מרובא פריש ורוב נשים בב"ב‬

‫לובשות שייטל ובימינו נפסק להלכה ששערות‬ ‫שייטל הם בגדר תקרובת ע"ז ממש‪,‬‬ ‫ועל כן החלטנו להורות את סגירת האולם‬ ‫הנ"ל עד לבירור עפ"י בדיקת ‪ DNA‬של מקור‬ ‫שער זה האם מקורו בהודו‪.‬‬ ‫נעשו סידורים עם אולמות אחרים לשמחות שהיו‬ ‫מזומנות לאולמי וואגשל ויתפרסמו מודעות על כך‬ ‫בהקדם‪.‬‬ ‫ההנהלה‬ ‫‪Ook Rabbijn G. Zinner is matier‬‬ ‫‪Ziehier een vergroting van deze brief uit de‬‬ ‫‪aankondiging:‬‬

‫‪Aan de hand van volgende brief die‬‬ ‫‪Rabbijn G. Zinner heeft afgegeven en van‬‬ ‫‪het gebruik dat van deze brief wordt‬‬ ‫‪gemaakt, kan men afleiden dat Rav G.‬‬ ‫‪Zinner zich ook achter de matierim schaart.‬‬ ‫‪Anders had hij geen dergelijke brief‬‬ ‫‪afgegeven, waarvan hij moest weten dat‬‬ ‫‪die als een soort hechsher, zeg maar een‬‬ ‫‪schaamlapje, zou gebruikt worden.‬‬

‫‪F O R UM nr. 61 - 20 mei 2004 – pagina 5/24‬‬

had van de op punt staande Rabbinale ban, doet wellicht gouden zaken. De oproep van dezelfde Rabbijnen om de prijzen in bedwang te houden, schijnen niet dezelfde hysterische reacties uit te lokken dan de ban op sheitel en worden naar verluidt niet nageleefd.

De pruikencrisis poëtisch bekeken To be sung to the tune of “If You’re Happy and You Know It” If you’re Jewish and you know it Burn your wig You love G-d and want to show it Burn your wig

Rabbijnen roepen op om sheitel-prijzen in toom te houden

Unless your instincts are prophetic And your shaitel is synthetic Go ahead, you won’t regret it Burn your wig Semi-custom, fall or box Burn your wig Avodah Zora’s in the box Burn your wig Be it a Freeda, Ralph or Clary Might as well be Mother Mary So be very, very wary Burn your wig It’s it’s blond, or black, or brown Burn your wig Don’t be the apikores in town Burn your wig Take it off and don’t go near it Wear a snood – you’ll have to bear it Drive a Chevy but don’t wear it Burn your wig

De prijzen van synthetische (dus probleemloze) sheitels swingen de pan uit en wie inside information (= voorkennis)

Do what’s right, don’t be heretical Burn your wig Just stay calm, don’t get hysterical Burn your wig


Your whole life is still ahead Go put butter on your bread But no Buddha on your head Burn your wig! Chad Gadya for Sheitals! Sing along! Subject: One Sheitel, One Sheitel One sheitel, one sheitel that husband bought for an arm and a leg. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came The Sheitelmacher, who put it in her little shop, that husband bought with his life savings. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came the European Manufacturer, who sold it to the sheitelmacher, that husband mortgaged his house to buy. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came the Hindu Church, who auctioned it to the European manufacturer, who sold it to the sheitelmacher, that husband paid half a year’s salary for. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came the Hindu Priest, who cut off the hair, that the church auctioned off, that the European manufacturer put in the highest bid for, who sold it to the Sheitelmacher, that husband went into credit card debt to purchase. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came the Hindu Pilgrim, who bowed before the priest in an offering to Vishnu, and he shaved off the hair, which the church auctioned, that the European manufacturer got for a steal, who sold it to the Sheitelmacher, that husband created a tzedaka fund for. One sheitel, one sheitel.

And came Rav Eliyashiv, Shlita, who paskended the hair was assur, that the pilgrim offered to the polytheistic gods, that the barber shaved, that the church auctioned, that the European manufacturer got his hands on for bupkis, who he sold to the Sheitelmacher, that husband sold his daughter into slavery so that he purchase it. One sheitel, one sheitel. And came the Holy One, Blessed Be He, Who said, “I am the L-rd thy G-d, thou shalt not have any other gods before Me”, which Rav Eliyashiv took very seriously, so he paskened the hair was assur that the pilgrim offered to the other gods, that the barber shaved off, that the church put up on eBay, that the European manufacturer couldn’t believe the deal he got, who sold it to the Sheitelmacher, that husband got his knee-caps broke because he couldn’t pay off the interest from the loan he got from Goombah Vinny. One sheitel, one sheitel.

De pruikencrisis in de wereldpers BBC NEWS World Edition Rabbis spark wig burning rumpus Married Orthodox women are forbidden to go bare-headed. Orthodox Jews in New York and Israel have been burning wigs made of Indian human hair after rabbis ruled they may contravene religious law. Hundreds gathered in the Brooklyn suburb of Williamsburg on Sunday to ignite a bonfire of more than 300 wigs.


weekend. Instead of wigs with human hair, the women are now using one made of synthetic material and scarves, The wigs with human hair cost more than one thousand dollars and the hair comes mainly from India, China and Indonesia. Hair from India are prized because of their texture. Orthodox women often wear wigs because custom requires that they cover their own hair in public once married. Indian wigs were declared non-kosher after Israeli rabbis discovered the hair was often cut at Hindu ceremonies. Orthodox law forbids use of any items used in what they consider to be idol worship. Last Wednesday, a revered Israeli Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Shalom Yosef Elyashiv, issued the ban on wigs made with the offending hair.

But now Rabbi say that once the hair has been offered to an idol, Jews cannot use it. The ban is not based on the religion of a person but on the fact that they have been used in a ceremony and presented to an idol. Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, where thousands ritually offer hair, is one of the major source for human hair from India.

Orthodox Jews Williamsburg

Burn

Wigs

In

Rabbinical Authorities Had Denounced The Wigs As Possibly Tainted Orthodox Jews burn wigs from India 14.53 IST 18th May 2004 By

India

Express

Bureau

Orthodox Jews in New York are burning their wigs made of human hair from India following the example of their counterparts in Israel after some Rabbis banned their use declaring them to be “idolatrous”. Married women in orthodox families are not expected to show their hair and hence they wear wigs and retailers, who have thousands of expensive wigs, are now taking them off the shelves in the orthodox Jewish areas, including Brooklyn where bonfires of the wigs had been set over the

May 17, 2004 9:59 am US/Eastern NEW YORK (CBS) Orthodox Jews set fire to piles of women’s wigs at a Brooklyn intersection after learning that rabbinical authorities had denounced the wigs as possibly tainted. The demonstration Sunday mirrored several similar displays in Israel over the past week, all in response to a ruling that because the wigs were made from human hair in India, they might have been used in Hindi rites antithetical to Orthodox beliefs. The crowd of several hundred gathered in Williamsburg at about six Sunday evening. They burned about 300 wigs, known as sheidels, drawing the attention of police


officers who tried to keep people from getting too close to the flames. In keeping with the Orthodox Jewish code of modesty, many Orthodox Jewish women wear wigs to cover their hair in public.

BEHIND THE HEADLINES Ruling on ‘idolatrous’ wig hair creates frenzy in Orthodox world By Uriel Heilman NEW YORK, May 18 (JTA) — When word reached a fervently Orthodox enclave in Beit Shemesh, Israel, that wigs made from Indian hair may not be kosher because of the hair’s heathen origins, pandemonium erupted. Women replaced their $2,000 wigs with $5 kerchiefs, simple snoods and synthetic-hair substitutes as they waited to hear the final word on a religious ruling that has created chaos in the Orthodox world, where many married women cover their hair as a sign of modesty in conformance with Jewish law. “There are humongous things going on here,” said a fervently Orthodox woman who lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh. “I know a girl who just spent $2,000 on a sheitel and was told it was no good,” she said, using the Yiddish word for wig. The controversy reached a fervor last week when Rabbi Shalom Elyashiv, one of Israel’s pre-eminent authorities on Jewish law, or halachah, instituted a ban on wigs made from Indian hair out of concern that the hair’s original owners had used their hair for idolatrous Hindu religious ceremonies.

The hair is bought after Hindu women, who never before have cut their hair, shave their heads at the Tirupati temple in India as a sign of religious reverence. Jewish rabbinic authorities are divided over whether the hair itself is used in idolatrous worship or whether the haircut is what is ceremonially significant — and whether the hair is then forbidden according to Jewish law. Many anxious women also were uncertain whether their wigs contained Indian hair or were made of “kosher” hair from Europe or elsewhere in Asia. “On the one hand it’s comical, but on the other hand it’s a serious issue,” said Chaim Waxman, a sociologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “We’re not used to thinking in terms of idolatry, because for 2,000 years monotheism prevailed in the Western world, where Jews lived,” Waxman said. But “if in fact Hinduism is idolatry, and if in fact the cutting of the hair is part of the ritual, then theoretically it could be a problem.” This is the recall story of the Orthodox community, observed Jeremy Stern, a fervently Orthodox Jew who lives in Israel. Just as the recall of Firestone tires in 2000 caused anxiety in the general public due to safety concerns, this episode is causing fervently Orthodox Jews to act out of religious concern. When some Jews in Israel and Brooklyn started burning their wigs — believing they were following the religious injunction to destroy idolatrous religious objects — it added fuel to the fire. Wig makers hastened to find religious authorities to compile lists of wigs whose provenance was not under suspicion, and they posted them on the Internet.


“In general, the mass hysteria has a lot to do with the communications today, with all the faxes and the e-mails. In the old days, a thing like this would take such a long time,” Stern said. “The Internet has really made everything a global shtetl.” Meanwhile, Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn to Bnei Brak are debating the intricacies of Hindu worship at a temple halfway around the word. “The haircut is part of the avodah, not the hair,” said Elliott Brill, a fervently Orthodox New Yorker, referring to the religious service at the Indian temple. “They don’t cut their hair their whole lives until they get to the temple.” Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, director of the Central Committee of Chabad Rabbis of America, said his group appointed a sixperson rabbinical task force to look into the matter. “Some serious questions were raised and they need to be dealt with in a serious way,” he said. “Somebody from India is coming here. There have been numerous calls and correspondence from India. It’s fact finding more than anything else.” For many people, a lot of money is at stake. Human hair wigs can be expensive — custom-made ones sell for more than $2,000, and even low-end synthetic wigs can cost several hundred dollars — and wig-making is big business in the fervently Orthodox community. Aside from wig manufacturers, there are wig importers, weavers, cleaners and sellers. But the controversy is about more than just money. Aside from the obvious religious issues involved, anti-wig forces in the fervently

Orthodox community are using the brouhaha to bolster a century-old argument against the use of wigs. “This issue touches upon a debate at the heart of haredi life,” said Menachem Friedman, a sociologist at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, using the Hebrew word for fervently Orthodox. The uproar owes much to the origins of Jewish wig-wearing in the late 19th century, he said. Up until then, only a few upper-class, observant Jewish women wore wigs, while other women covered their hair with hats, kerchiefs or shawls. But a rise in the standard of living, coupled with technological advances that made wig manufacturing more feasible and affordable, resulted in an upsurge in wigwearing among Orthodox women. The new ubiquity of wigs presented Orthodox rabbis with a dilemma. “The goal is that the women will be modest. And how do you do it? With head coverings,” Friedman said. “But when the woman is more erotic wearing a particular kind of head covering, that presents a problem.” Many rabbis sought to ban the wigs, but that would have meant hurting a lucrative Jewish business and declaring that the women who had worn wigs for generations — including the rabbis’ own ancestors — had sinned. Most rabbinic authorities therefore did not oppose them. “They don’t want to delegitimize the previous generations, and this is a significant Jewish business,” Friedman said. But the controversy over the Indian-hair wigs has breathed new life into the antiwig crusaders. Rabbinic proponents of wig


wearing have stayed quiet largely because they recognize the problem inherent in advocating head-coverings that make women more, rather than less, attractive, Friedman said. “A lot of people are anti-sheitel, and they’re definitely pushing it along,” said Brill, whose company, Lacey Costume Wig, manufactured wigs for Orthodox women until 15 years ago, when his business shifted to wigs for the stage. “They consider sheitels bourgeois and not a real head covering.” Brill said women have phoned him in tears over the controversy. In Cleveland, a fervently Orthodox school closed for a day because the female teachers didn’t know what to wear over their hair, Waxman said. One fervently Orthodox woman in Ramat Beit Shemesh said she felt embarrassed wearing her wig in public — even though it’s made from European hair — because people looked at her as if she were a heretic. “People you would never have seen walk out of their house with anything but a wig are now wearing snoods, tichels,” she said, using a Yiddish word for kerchief. “It’s almost comical.” Freeda Kugel, who lives in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, runs a company that manufactures European-hair wigs. Freeda Wigs employs 200 people and produces 600-700 wigs per month, mostly for customers in the United States.

“The Indian hair is nice and it’s cheaper, and I could not get hold of this hair. Now, thank God that I didn’t go into it,” she told JTA. Despite the uproar, Orthodox community members say most people are taking a more reasoned wait-and-see approach. “The guidance that we are giving is that currently those women who have determined that their wig comes from India should not wear it pending a definitive ruling from Israel,” said Rabbi Basil Herring, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Council of America, an Orthodox rabbis group, explaining that Elyashiv’s ruling was a tentative one. “At the same time, they should not destroy them.” “Wear a synthetic wig for a couple of weeks, or a wig from Europe,” Chabad’s Kaplan advised. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

In ons volgend nummer (morgen!): Chareidim met gehandicapten-passen op Eggedbussen aan 22,90 ‫ ש"ח‬i.p.v. 29,90 ‫ש"ח‬ (Jeruzalem-Ashdod). Een undercoveronderzoek door Aroutz-2.

Inhoudstafel voor deze rubriek Op onze site: http://www.goedkosjer.org

Though many wig wearers say Caucasian hair is the best quality, followed by Indian and then Korean hair, Kugel said she always wanted to work with Indian hair.


Overpeinzingen door

The Shaigetz3

In this season of goodwill and cheer for the goyim outside there is something that bothers me immensely about our society. I was invited to the Office party at the place where I work. Just so as to get the picture straight – I dress like a chassid. That is to say I wear a dark long-jacket suit, a white shirt (why do we always wear a white shirt?) a full beard and conservative dress shoes at all times (well almost) and a round black felt hat if I wear one at all. Yet I was still invited to the office party so I went. I grant you that it felt a little funny at the beginning, but it did not take long before I began to enjoy myself. To give credit where credit is due, my non-jewish colleagues did their very best to accommodate me. They together figured out what drinks I was allowed to drink and which not. (If anybody can tell me definitively whether Cointreau is Kosher…) They spent ages trying to work out what I could eat (although Jewish comedians certainly have a point. The gentiles really don’t seem to eat much between the drink after drink that go down the hatch.) It was a fun party. As the participants got sousder and sousder some of them dared to approach me and talk about many of the things they must have been scared or embarrassed to ask in the five years that I have known most of them. The most noteworthy comment was one young man of about 30 called Evert. He is an accountant and he studies philosophy as a hobby. Although we work pretty closely 3

together on occasion, we have never chatted about anything outside the job on hand before. To be brutally honest I always thought he did not like either me personally or what I represent as the only Jew in the company. After we did get talking - and with the help of an advisor who has stood behind the wisdom of many a great statesman, Johnny Walker- he told me that he had been meaning to talk to me for years but never had because “you people are always so aloof”. He then went on to tell me that he had seen this program about OJs on TV and had learned that on Saturday one was not allowed to use the phone except for preservation of life. “In my mind I had this picture,” he told me, “of this Jewish tailor who goes past his shop on Saturday and notices it is burning. He can’t call the fire brigade because the danger is to property not life. He runs home and gets his wife and kids sends them upstairs above the shop and then Preservation of Life he calls 999.” That story aside though what struck me really hard at that party was that even in a society where the media image of Jews is somewhat less than inspiring and with Israel having hit its popularity low of decades the interpersonal relationships between Jews and gentiles can be good. I could go even further and say that if our friendships are shallow at best it is because we Ojs and recovering ex-OJ are wary of letting ‘them’ get too close rather than the opposite. In Israel on the other hand, the opposite is true. The religious are not welcome in non-religious society and those making me (us) unwelcome are not ashamed of it. It is a sad truth that I am perfectly happy to go to a cinema and watch a film in peace in London, NY, or even Antwerp (one of the least Jew friendly of European cities) yet in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem I can expect at least verbal abuse.

http://theshaigetz.blogspot.com/


For my money if I need a friend outside the Shteeble it would be Evert over Uzi any day.

Transcriptio Nuntiorum Hebdomadalis Nuntii Latini 7.5.2004

Captivi Iraquiani humiliati

Colofon Echt Antwerps FORUM wordt uitgegeven door de v.z.w. GOEDKOSJER – Joodse Verbruikersvereniging, [Oprichting: 1 mei 1989.. Statuten: Bijl. B.S. 12 oktober 1989, nr. 13.711. Aangesloten bij: Centraal Israëlitisch Consistorie voor de Benelux 4 ], Belgiëlei 195ª te 2018 Antwerpen. Verantwoordelijke uitgever: H. Rosenberg, Belgiëlei 195ª te 2018 Antwerpen. Medewerkers, schrijvers, tekenaars, fotografen worden niet betaald en zijn verantwoordelijk voor hun bijdragen. Echt Antwerps FORUM verschijnt vrijdag. Member of the worldwide Anti-Defamation Chain. Nummers online: http://membres.lycos.fr/antwerpforum/inde x.html

Cives Americani et multi alii quoque homines obstupefacti sunt imaginibus nuper divulgatis, quae ostendunt captivos Iraquianos a custodibus carceris Americanis et male mulcatos et insultanter irrisos esse. George Bush, praesidens Civitatum Americae Unitarum, ubi primum iura humana a suis tam graviter violata esse audivit, magistratus ministerii defensionis hortatus est, ut diligentissime cognoscerent, utrum illa facinora tantum paucis ergastulariis stipendia merentibus crimini darentur an de maiore malo apud exercitum orto ageretur. "Utcumque se ea res habet", inquit, "omnes, qui tanta belli scelera commiserunt, digni sunt, qui severissime puniantur."

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4

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Curiosum I


Curiosum II New Delhi Times: ASSOCIATED PRESS: Hindu religious authorities have ruled this week that it is forbidden for Hindu women to sell their hair to Orthodox wig makers. “We have asked our women to put their hair on holy altars as a sacrifice to our gods. Instead, they ship it to Boro Park. Is this the way to show honor to our gods, by shipping hair to New York?” The Hindu Association for Indians who are Religious (H-A-I-R) had all their major authorities as signatories on a new proclamation forbidding these shipments. Young women, however, feel more ambivalent than the local authorities: “What’s a good idolater to do?” said Irfana Patel, a nineteen year old resident of New Delhi whose long hair is soon to be shorn. “I know my options. My parents want me to cut it at the local Temple and have it burn for our family shrine. My fiancé learned about the cost of highlighted wigs in Meah Shearim. He wants me to sell it to put the down payment on a new apartment.” These issues are clearly complex Down a long alley in this large Indian city is a salon where run-away teenage girls and older widows have flocked for years to have their hair cut in a confidential and private setting. The salon owners, who spoke only on the condition on anonymity, said that they have had contact with ultra-Orthodox Jews for the past ten years. “They are our best customers. Indian hair is thick and easily dyed. When they came here to visit, we introduced them to chapaties. They brought us gefilte fish. My husband loves chrain. He makes dal out of it now. We are sad that business might change for us.” The economic fall-out of this decision has yet to be fully assessed, but small Hindu businesses everywhere are suffering. The human hair industry has grown exponentially since Orthodox women discovered that snoods were used in idol worship in Thailand. The Thais would “tie” the snood around small birds that were sacrificed on mountain tops. Straw and wool hats have also been worn by idol worshiper for centuries, but modern Orthodox Jews have never been particularly concerned about it. A spokesman for the Orthodox Union said that there are bigger issues to worry about, like whether or not Campbell’s vegetable soup will retain its heksher. “We don’t really care if modern Orthodox women are wearing hats once used by idolaters as long as they aren’t davening in women’s prayer groups.” India is not the only source of human hair. In New York Times best-seller, Hair Today: Gone Tomorrow: The Hindu Hair Scandal, historians say that sheitel machers originally went to the Far East, to places like Singapore and China as their hair source. Investigative reporters have now shown that the Kai Feng community was started to export human hair, perhaps inspiring the enduring love of Jews for Chinese food. “The hair was cheap but hard to work with,” says one anonymous sheitel maker. “More expensive hair comes from Russia. I personally did not use Russian hair until all the refusniks were out of the former Soviet Union. Not everyone was so principled.” European hair has become very popular and expensive. But Europe is a big place. For example, many ultra-Orthodox women today would rather have hair from Belgium than Lichtenstein. German and Austrian hair still carries taboos, and some women refuse to use F O R UM nr. 61 - 20 mei 2004 – pagina 16/24

French hair until France becomes more supportive of the war in Iraq. Relations with Tony Blair have been particularly good so English hair – although its off the continent – has become especially prized. So many countries have been involved in the production of human hair sheitels, that the U.N. is considering an international resolution. The United Nations will permit the sale of all European hair on condition that business exchanges involve the Euro and that Israel dismantle its security Fence. Despite all the politics, religious Hindus feel that their right to worship idols has been severely compromised by this new scandal. “Orthodox Jews don’t want us, and we don’t want them either. We have our own humras in New Delhi. Wait until they find out where all their tefillin is made!”

‫בכדי לא להשאיר הגליון ריק‬ ‫הננו לפרסם עודה"פ האיסור החמור ומצות הביעור שיצאו מביד"צ‬ ‫שע"י העדה החרדית בעיה"ק תובב"א‬

‫השוה עם הקול קורא להלן מטעם ביד"צ דק"ק בריסק דליטא בארה"ק‬ F O R UM nr. 61 - 20 mei 2004 – pagina 17/24

‫מדור "הם היו אומרים"‬ ‫בס"ד‪ ,‬יום רביעי כ"ב אייר תשס"ד‬

‫ועשית ככל אשר יורוך‬ ‫ובערת הרע מקרבך‬ ‫אחרי שהשלוחים שיצאו בשליחות הרבנים למדינת הודו‪,‬‬ ‫בראשות הרב אהרן דוד הלוי דונר שליט"א‪ ,‬וחזרו‬

‫ומרנן ורבנן פוסקי דורנו גאוני עיה"ק ירושלים תובב"א‬

‫מרן הגרי"ש אלישיב שליט"א‪,‬‬ ‫מרן הגר"מ שטרנבוך שליט"א‪,‬‬ ‫מרן הגר"מ בראנדסדארפער שליט"א‬ ‫שמעו עדותן המצמררת‪) ,‬אתמול יום ד'( כי הדברים הרבה יותר חמורים ממה שנודע‬ ‫לציבור עד עכשיו‪ ,‬והינו לא רק חשש של תקרובת ע"ז רח"ל‪ ,‬אלא יותר גרוע מכך‪,‬‬

‫המדובר הוא בתקרובת עבודה זרה ממש רח"ל )לגבי השייטל( ובבסיס‬ ‫לדבר האסור רח"ל )לגבי האשה הלובשת(‪.‬‬ ‫וע"כ הוחלט ע"י הרבנים שליט"א‪ ,‬כי עפ"י דין תורתינו הק' מחוייבים כל אלו אשר‬ ‫נמצא ברשותם הפיאות האסורים וכן הנשים לובשות הפיאותת‬ ‫האסור‪ ,‬לבער הטומאה מביתם‪ ,‬דהיינו‬

‫שכאמור להן דין בסיס לדבר‬ ‫האשה עם פיאותיה‪ ,‬בשריפה או בביעורם כדין‪ ,‬עפ"י האופנים המבוארים‬ ‫בשו"ע‪ ,‬ויפה שעה קודם‪.‬‬ ‫לאור זאת מתבקשים כל החרדים לדבר ד'‪ ,‬להתכנס כאו"א בתוך שכונתו וסביבתו‪,‬‬ ‫להקהיל קהילות ברבים‬

‫ולקדש ש"ש ברבים ע"י ביעור הרע מקרבם‬ ‫בהבערה והדלקה ברוב עם‪ ,‬אחרי תפילת מעריב‬

‫ביד"צ דק"ק‬

‫בריסק דליטא בארה"ק‬


‫כוחא דהתירא עדיף‬ ‫‪De milde toepassing van de wet verdient de voorkeur5‬‬

‫‪ 5‬רש"י‪ ,‬ביצה‪ ,‬דף ב' ע"ב‪" :‬דהתירא עדיף ליה – טוב לו להשמיענו כח דברי המתיר‪ ,‬שהוא סומך על שמועתו ואינו ירא להתיר‪ ,‬אבל כח‬ ‫האוסרין אינה ראיה‪ ,‬שהכל יכולין להחמיר‪ ,‬ואפילו בדבר המותר‪ .‬מדור זה אינו הלכה למעשה‪.‬‬







Echt Antwerps. Mijn Daas Jochid 1. De pruikencrisis: de matierim blijven zich manifesteren: Rabbijn Gavriël Zinner (N.Y

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