Death Threats Against R' Aharon Lichtenstein

Update: Entire Hebrew transcript of R' Aharon's lecture: here Having read through it, I highly suggest you take the time to read it as well (if your Hebrew is up to par). R' Aharon painfully recounts the details of this breaking story, and how we arrived at the current situation. Worth reading. --Jameel

YNET (translated from the Hebrew), rotter and ynetnews report:

In an emotional lecture to his students, often breaking into tears, R' Aharon Lichtenstein announced that he has received death threats by a student of R' Motti Elon in retaliation for his participating in the Takana forum which labeled R' Motti as a "dangerous person."

"This is the reward we received after hours of meetings with important people," he lamented. "This isn't one individual case [of abuse], I wish it were only one individual case. Sometimes, one needs to close the gemara and deal with this important issue."

In response to allegations of of the harsh treatment towards R' Motti, R' Lichtenstein said: "[R' Motti was Blackmailed?] Blackmail? What Blackmail? Who received any benefit from this [Takana report]? [It only caused us] only severe pain and suffering"

"The incidents accumulated, but the outcry isn't over that. We would not have gone with that to the media. The issue was to the point -- and people were being hurt. There were people whose families were seriously hurt. People were suffering mental anguish. The dam started to leak in terms of the confidentiality surrounding the issue -- when information started leaking to the media. There was a sword hanging over our heads, when would the news leak out."

We made the decision to publicize the events a week ago. The Takana forum warned R' Elon, and then another abuse was brought to the attention of the Takana forum, which was defined as "extremely serious."

"Everything was done with a heavy heart, believe me, I know what a blow this is to him and his family; his wife is broken and exhausted, yet we had to do it [publicize the warning"].

In related news -- the JPost covers more of this agonizing story:

Rabbi Yuval Sherlo, head of the Petah Tikva Hesder Yeshiva and a member of the rabbinical forum that works to prevent sexual harassment in the national-religious sector, said on Wednesday that Rabbi Mordechai (Motti) Elon's actions were "far worse than sexual harassment."

Elon admitted to the acts in a meeting with Takana Forum members, Sherlo told Army Radio, adding that the rabbi's confession is documented in the forum's protocol.

Sherlo went on to stress that even if what happened between the rabbi and his students was consensual, it was wrong for Elon to exploit his "spiritual authority" for this purpose.

Since the accusations against Rabbi Elon were made public, Sherlo said, 10 other students of the rabbi had filed complaints against him to the forum.

Elon has denied all of the allegations against him and said they derived from one “seriously disturbed” student, adding that the charges constituted “a blood libel, but I am happy that the truth is beginning to emerge."

However, Takana Chairman Yehudit Shilat told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that reports claiming the allegations against Elon were solely the result of a single disgruntled student or someone with a personal vendetta against the rabbi were “absolutely false.”

Shilat, who said she hadn’t slept over the past 55 hours, would not comment on the number of complaints and the severity of them, saying the organization still needed more time to determine how many of them have any basis.

According to a statement posted on Takana’s Web site Wednesday, the group was reluctant to publicize the matter in order to “protect the complainants.”

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Shabbat Afternoon Youth Group Games

Bnei Akiva...NCSY...Ariel...Ezra...Sinai...Oz...(add your own)

All these youth groups meet up on Shabbat afternoons, and its always a challenge to find interesting activities. The "Our Shiputzim" blog mentions the game “Ein Zahp” (which I admit, I've never heard of) and that got me thinking about the games we used to play back then.

I recalled this one from when I was growing up, which I have successfully conveyed to my kids:

Zoom, Schwartz, Mafigliano, No Dice.

At first, I wondered if this would appear anywhere on the internet, and I wasn't disappointed. While Wikipedia has an entry for a slightly corrupted, similar name with "Profigliano" instead of "Mafigliano"...I was thrilled to see the following sub-entry on the same page:

Counterpoint Melbourne Variant (Zoom-Schwartz-Mefigliano-No Dice)

This was orally transmitted to the Melbourne Australia Modern Orthodox Jewish Community in 1974, by an Jewish Educational Outreach Team from Yeshiva University who ran a programm known as Counterpoint.

The calls are as follows:

Zoom – Can only be done to one of the 2 players immediately adjacent on either side. When a player is Zoomed, the Itness (ie the concept of being It) passes to them.

Schwartz – Can also only be done to one of the 2 players immediately adjacent on either side. But when a person is Schwartzed, the Itness passes to the player to the other side of the caller.

Mefigliano – Can be done to any player, including those adjacent. (A common misconception is that adjacent players can’t be Mefiglianoed)

In contrast to some of the other variants, the player making these calls must simultaneously call, look and point at the intended receiver. (When a player makes the call, but only points after some delay, this is known as the delayed finger reaction, and causes that player to go out.)

No Dice – A player who is Mefiglianoed (but not one who is Zoomed or Schwartzed) has a fourth response option, ie by saying No Dice, in which case the Itness remains with the previous player. One does not have to look, or point while saying No Dice, because it is essentially a blocking move. (Some have the practice of crossing their forearms in front of them to illustrate the blocking nature of the move - this was observed at a game in Caulfield in December 2008- but it is not essential).

A player can No Dice successive Mefliglianos only twice – if they are Mefiglianoed a third time, a full transfer of the Itness is deemed to have then taken place, and they now must respond with one of the 3 other calls.

Players very commonly respond to a Mefigliano with No Dice – so that it is virtually expected. Hence making one of the other 3 responses instead is a strategic move because it can catch other players off guard.

Apart from that restriction, in contrast to some other versions, there are no other restrictions on how many times a person can make the same call in succession. This can also be used strategically eg repeating Zoom many times in succession allows you to catch other players off guard when you unexpectedly change the call. There are also no restrictions in the order of calls including the starting call (though Zoom does tend to be the most commonly used starting call).

Play continues until all but 2 are out, who are then declared the joint winners.

Those counterpoint volunteers who went to Australia in the 70's, were considered the best of the best in Jewish Outreach. Back then, it was revolutionary -- which paved the way for today's Counterpoint programs which are all around the world.

Of course, today's kids can get by with more than just circle games. While Trivial Pursuit and Risk were around the in late 70's and 80's...today's kids also have options including Killer Bunnies and the quest for the Magic Carrot and The Settlers of the Shomron Catan (available in Israel in Hebrew as well)

Of course other games included Clue, Mille Bornes, Stratego, Monopoly, Life, and Othello.

Scrabble? Feh :-)

What games did you play on Shabbat afternoon....?

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Those Evil Settlers

Labor Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak @ last night's Saturday Night Rabin memorial rally, describing Jewish Right-wingers:

"We used to call them weeds, today they are no less than cancerous growths…There was writing on the wall then that we weren’t wise enough to see...this is not just writing on the wall, this is a sharp undermining of democracy, the rule of law, the IDF, police and all the authorities serving a normal society. We promise you Yitzhak, we will remove this evil from us."

Of course, if you attended the rally, Shimon Peres says of you:

"You are Israel's backbone; the difference between an inspirational democracy and anarchy, you are the ones who care, and Israel future and hopes depend on you."

Its very simple -- those who attend the Rabin Memorial political rally, are pro-peace, Israel's future, and the backbone of democracy.

If you didn't attend the political rally, are right wing or G-d forbid, a settler, then you are anti-peace, pro-war, racist, a cancerous growth...the embodiment of evil. (source)

R' Yuval Sherlo has an excellent op-ed piece directed at Shimon Peres on this very topic (still in Hebrew, will bring the link when it's in English) entitled; "This is not our Commemoration Rally" where he plainly states that it is not a Rabin Memorial Rally but a political one -- those with a different political outlook of the organizers are simply not invited, nor wanted.

1. Thanks to Commenter Abbi for the R' Sherlo link
2. Political Cartoon by Shai Charka, Makor Rishon Oct, 24, 2008

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד