The letter that 100 Rabbis signed against homosexuality, המכתב שנחתם ע"י מאה רבנים נגד תועבה

Recently, an American Jewish clergyman officiated at a matrimonial ceremony that is incorrectly being reported by some in the media as “the first time that an ordained Orthodox Rabbi has officiated at a same-sex marriage in the United States.”

We, as rabbis from a broad spectrum of the Orthodox community around the world, wish to correct the false impression that an Orthodox-approved same-gender wedding took place. By definition, a union that is not sanctioned by Torah law is not an Orthodox wedding, and by definition a person who conducts such a ceremony is not an Orthodox rabbi.

Jewish tradition unequivocally teaches that marriage can only exist as a union between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of a homosexual relationship. It is a distortion of Torah to confound that sacred principle. We strongly object to this desecration of Torah values and to the subsequent misleading reportage.

We appreciate the sensitive nature of intimacy. We, as rabbis, lovingly play a crucial role in helping Jews who may be facing great personal challenges to feel comfortable and welcome in our communities. Rabbis are always available to discuss congregants’ personal issues, including intimacy. We understand from our experiences in offering pastoral care that some individuals experience deep inner conflict as they seek a holy path to serve G-d and to fulfill their spiritual needs. As rabbis, we devote our lives towards helping all those in our broader community achieve their loftiest spiritual potential, while fully upholding the timeless values expressed in our Holy Torah.

The public should not be misled into thinking that Orthodox Jewish views on this issue can change, are changing, or might someday change. The Rabbinical Council of America recently declared that “the Torah, which forbids homosexual activity, sanctions only the union of a man and a woman in matrimony.” This is the only statement on this matter that can reflect Orthodox Judaism. Any claims or statements to the contrary are inaccurate and false.



SIGNED:

Rabbi Elie Abadie - New York, NY
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein - Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Eitan Allen - Fairfield, CT
Rabbi Sol Appleman - Woodsburgh, NY
Rabbi Moshe Averick - Chicago, IL
Rabbi Ian Bailey - Silver Spring, MD
Rabbi Yisroel Bendelstein - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Etan Berman - New York, NY
Rabbi Azriel Blumberg - Brighton, MA
Rabbi Heshy Blumstein - Hewlett, NY
Rabbi Avram Bogopulsky - San Diego, CA
Rabbi Kenneth Brodkin - Portland, OR
Rabbi Zev Cinamon - West Hempstead, NY
Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen - West Palm Beach, FL
Rabbi Judah Z. Cohen - Hewlett, NY
Rabbi Yitzchok Cohen, New York, NY
Rabbi Mordechai Cohen - Milwaukee, WI
Rabbi Yosef Cohen - West Hartford, CT
Rabbi Nissim Davidi - Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz - Valley Village, CA
Rabbi Ari Enkin - Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
Rabbi Ephraim Epstein - Cherry Hill, NJ
Rabbi Aaron Feigenbaum - Memphis, TN
Rabbi Dovid Feinberg - Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman - Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Ilan Feldman - Atlanta, GA
Rabbi Eliyahu Ferrell - Passaic, NJ
Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Shmuel Fink - Lawrence, NY
Rabbi Dov Fischer - Orange County, CA
Rabbi Arie Folger - Munich, Germany
Rabbi Barry Freundel - Washington, DC
Rabbi Zvi Friedlander - New York, NY
Rabbi Cary Friedman - Passaic, NJ
Rabbi Zev Friedman - Lawrence, NY
Rabbi Mallen Galinsky - Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Benjamin Geiger - Forest Hills, NY
Rabbi Avraham Ginzburg - Forest Hills, NY
Rabbi Saul Gold - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Jay H. Goldberg - Far Rockaway, NY
Rabbi Chaim Goldberger - Minneapolis, MN
Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer - New York, NY
Rabbi Shlomo Grafstein - New York, NY
Rabbi Alan Greenspan - Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Yonah Gross - Wynnewood, PA
Rabbi Yosef Grossman - Monsey, NY
Rabbi Ben Hecht - Toronto, Canada
Rabbi Ari Jacobson - Monsey, NY
Rabbi Ari Kahn - Givat Ze’ev, Israel
Rabbi Howard Katzenstein - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski - Richmond, VA
Rabbi Ira Kronenberg - Passaic, NJ
Rabbi Pinchas L. Landis - Cincinnati, OH
Rabbi Eliezer Langer - Austin, TX
Rabbi Levi Langer - Pittsburgh, PA
Rabbi Avi Lebowitz - Palo Alto, CA
Rabbi Yonah Levant - Queens, NY
Rabbi Menachem Levine - San Jose, CA
Rabbi Philip Lefkowitz - Chicago, IL
Rabbi Yaakov Luban - Highland Park, NJ
Rabbi Avraham Maimon - Sunnyvale, CA
Rabbi Reuven Mann - Phoenix, AZ
Rabbi Harry Maryles - Chicago, IL
Rabbi Baruch Pesach Mendelson - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Jacob B. Mendelson - Bridgeport, CT
Rabbi Yossi Mendelson - Queens, NY
Rabbi Lester Miller - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Yerachmiel Morrison - Lakewood, NJ
Rabbi Jonathan Muskat - Oceanside, NY
Rabbi Yehuda L. Oppenheimer - Forest Hills, NY
Rabbi Gavriel Price - Passaic, NJ
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky - Teaneck, NJ
Rabbi Aharon Rakeffet - Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi Michael Rapps - Far Rockaway, NY
Rabbi Hershel Reichman - New York, NY
Rabbi Rachmiel Rothberger - New York, NY
Rabbi Gidon Rothstein - Riverdale, NY
Rabbi Lawrence Rothwachs - Teaneck, NJ
Rabbi Yackov Saacks - Dix Hills, NY
Rabbi Nosson Sachs - Pittsburgh, PA
Rabbi Nachum Sauer - Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Hershel Schachter - New York, NY
Rabbi Moshe Schapiro - Bergenfield, NJ
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld - Queens, NY
Rabbi Zev Schostak - Queens, NY
Rabbi Tsvi G. Schur - Baltimore, MD
Rabbi David Shabtai - New York, NY
Rabbi Dov Shapiro - Spring Valley, NY
Rabbi Jay C. Shoulson - Long Island City, NY
Rabbi Zecharia Sionit - Dallas, TX
Rabbi Ze’ev Smason - St. Louis, MO
Rabbi Aryeh Sokoloff - Queens, NY
Rabbi Aryeh Spero - Great Neck, NY
Rabbi Reuven Spolter -Yad Binyamin, Israel
Rabbi Leonard Steinberg - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Gil Student - Brooklyn, NY
Rabbi Michael Taubes - Teaneck, NJ
Rabbi Moses David Tendler - Monsey, NY
Rabbi Benzion Twerski - Milwaukee, WI
Rabbi Michel Twerski - Milwaukee, WI
Rabbi Avrohom Union - Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Noach Vogel - San Jose, CA
Rabbi Gedalia Walls - Potomac, MD
Rabbi Yaakov Wasser - East Brunswick, NJ
Rabbi Philip Weinberger - Teaneck, NJ
Rabbi Matan Wexler - New York, NY
Rabbi Ari Zahtz - Teaneck, NJ
Rabbi Asher Zeilingold - St. Paul, MN
Rabbi Aharon Ziegler - Jerusalem, Israel

3.8 Earthquake felt in Northern Israel, 3.8 הרגיש רעידת אדמה בצפון הארץ

Jerusalem Post reported a 3.8 earthquake in Northern Israel that was felt in Tel Aviv, Afula, Haifa, among others.

The image above shows a history of earthquakes in 2011 reported by the Geophysiccal Institute of Israel (GII).

A new god - the IDF, אלוהים חדשים צהל

The Israel Defense Forces – the soldiers of Tzahal are doing their job with a full heart! They are protecting Am Yisrael and the Holy One protects them! It is for every Jew, without exception, to honor and bless them and to pray for them to succeed in all their endeavors!

We have to encourage Tzahal and its soldiers, to give them our trust – they are our children, they do their best and what is best for the holy Eretz Yisrael!

NBA is at it again -- this time he thinks Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us, Am Yisrael to trust the IDF.  Is there something wrong with this picture?  A new Israeli god, the IDF.  How much longer are you going to listen to this navi sheker?  Only in Medinat Yisrael, will you find such nonsense.

Rabbi Wallerstein Rocks! הרב ולרשטיין הוא מגניב

Rabbi Wallerstein is here for a reason.  He helps those who need his help.  Hear his story about how he helped an anorexic from Bais Yaakov who had an episode a little like Deena bas Yaakov and changed her life.

If you can't view the video, go here.

Critical Days are Coming, ימי קריטים קרובים

As we all know, bad days are coming.  The situation in the world is not good.  Anytime from now, a nuclear war might erupt.  I've been following the news in the Middle East more intently now.  I do feel the urgency. Rabbi Mizrachi speaks from his heart.  He's trying to save as many Jews as possible.

He repeats from the Zohar that 15 days before Moshiach comes, the world will be in total darkness, likening the Plague of Darkness to this one where the wicked Jews and Goyim will be destroyed modestly.  He reminded us about the last mini plague of darkness that engulfed the East Coast from NJ to Maine for a week, which was caused by the sudden early snowstorm brought by Hashem.  I said that it was a preparation for these upcoming massive Plague of Darkness as predicted in the Zohar.  He too said something in a similar vein.

He reiterates that Torah and gemilus chasadim are important for the Jewish men, and modesty for the Jewish women.  If I had known what I know today, I would have taken modesty more seriously.  I was taught that the three important mitzvos for Jewish women are candlelighting, separating the dough from challah and family purity.  When I was in Israel, I wasn't careful about my necklines as I wasn't informed or learned about kosher necklines.  This type of topic is usually only taught in seminaries, and I wasn't a seminary girl.  A Baalas teshuvah -- yes.  But I've learned so much in the past few months about modesty from the same Rabbi who taught seminary girls and published two books about it.  I hope my teshuvah counts. I'm also more attentive to slivers of hair revealed from my snood.  Skirts have to have at least 4 inches of ease at the hips. I left Facebook.  I am worried about the Jews today.  There has to be good reasons why Hashem kicked me out of Eretz Yisrael and back into the Diaspora -- to help me do teshuva in ways I would not have if I still remained in EY.  Baruch Hashem. This blog would not have come to be had I not left EY.  In EY, I was always worried and looking for parnasah, how to keep my family in the country without having to go begging for food at the special Kupah where poor people end up.  Blogging would have been out of the question.

He shows a short video clip at the end about a tzadik in Monsey and how he prays.

I hope we end up alive to greet Moshiach Tzidkaynu.  If not, my contributions to the world remains.