Chief Rabbinate blacklist of US rabbis points to widening rift

Israel's Chief Rabbinate has compiled a blacklist of overseas rabbis whose authority they refuse to recognize when it comes to certifying the Jewishness of someone who wants to get married in Israel.

The list, obtained by The Associated Press, includes a number of prominent Orthodox rabbis in North America. Among them are a social activist in New York who has advocated for greater rights for women, a Canadian rabbi who is friendly with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a close colleague of the rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump.

The list, which includes 160 rabbis from 24 countries, is another sign of a deepening rift between overseas Jewish communities and Israeli religious authorities.

The Chief Rabbinate (Photo: Atta Awisat)

Tensions have already been mounting between the world's two largest Jewish communities since the Israeli government last month froze plans to create an expanded egalitarian prayer section at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. The rollback of a deal reached last year to open up the holy site to liberal streams of Judaism was seen as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's capitulation to pressure by his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners. Those ultra-Orthodox partners also control Israel's Chief Rabbinate. Jews who immigrate to Israel are required to provide the government's Interior Ministry with proof of Judaism in the form of a letter from a rabbi. But those who wish to wed in Israel face an additional hurdle. While the Interior Ministry's criteria are clear-cut and inclusive, the ultra-Orthodox-dominated Chief Rabbinate takes a much stricter line. For instance, it does not recognize the validity of Reform or Conservative Judaism, which is practiced by the vast majority of North American Jews. The Chief Rabbinate's blacklist included not only Reform and Conservative rabbis overseas, but some of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis as well. Rabbi Avi Weiss, an Orthodox clergyman based in Riverdale, New York, who advocates a "more open and inclusive Orthodoxy," said he was unaware of the list and could think of no reason why he was placed on it. "The whole thing seems to be nonsensical on every level," Weiss said. Although he said he didn't find it personally painful, its existence was "tragic" because it only served to "alienate" fellow Jews. Another member of the list, Rabbi Adam Scheier, who leads an Orthodox congregation in Montreal and has ties with Trudeau, called it "an affront to the hard work and devotion of so many of my colleagues—of all denominations." The blacklist, he said, appeared to be "one of the many cases in which the Chief Rabbinate has carried out its function without transparency or process." Rabbi Daniel Kraus of Kehilath Jeshurun, a major Orthodox synagogue in Manhattan, also is on the list. Kraus serves with Haskel Lookstein, the rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump. Lookstein's name was not on the list, and while his conversions have been questioned by the rabbinate in the past, they are now accepted. Also rejected were rabbis teaching at Yeshiva University, the flagship university for the US Modern Orthodox movement, a rabbi with the Chabad movement at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and prominent Modern Orthodox rabbis pushing for greater openness in Judaism. In March 2016, an Israeli court ordered the rabbinate to release a list of rabbis whose testimony it had approved to ITIM, the Jewish Life Advocacy Center, an organization that helps Israelis deal with the rabbinate's bureaucracy. ITIM asked the Chief Rabbinate for the names of rabbis whose letters were approved and rejected in 2016 at the beginning of this year. The rabbinate complied in April. ITIM founder Rabbi Seth Farber charged that the rabbinate has no explicit criteria for determining the Jewishness of people who wish to marry in Israel. "There's little rhyme or reason," Farber said. "These are peoples' lives at stake." A single rabbinate official, Rabbi Itamar Tubul, is responsible for determining the validity of rabbinical letters testifying to marriage applicants' Jewishness. Neither the Chief Rabbinate's spokesman nor Tubul's office responded to requests for comment.

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Ultra-Orthodox cult leader drowns in Mexico

Rabbi Shlomo Erez Helbrans, 55, leader of the "Lev Tahor" ("Pure Heart") ultra-Orthodox sect, was found drowned in a river in the Mexican state of Chiapas on Friday, according to local media.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement saying the reports were being looked into by the Israeli embassy in Mexico.

Sect leader Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans

According to local media, Helbrans' body was pulled from the river by rescue forces on Friday afternoon after the rabbi was swept away by strong currents while swimming before Shabbat.

Rabbi Helbrans was the head of a group of forty ultra-Orthodox families who entered the state of Chiapas about three weeks ago, after crossing the border from Guatemala.

Helbrans was born Shlomo Elbarnes into a secular family in Jerusalem, only becoming religious as a young man. He studied at the Itri Yeshiva in Jerusalem before founding the Lev Tahor sect in the 1980s.

Lev Tahor is an ultra-Orthodox sect comprised of predominantly Israeli Haredi extremists who leave their families behind in Israel as part of a wider boycott of Zionism. The group is widely considered to be a cult for its extreme conduct which adheres to the strict word of Jewish scripture.

Lev Tahor in Guatemala

In the 1990s, the movement was under investigation by Israeli authorities for allegedly collaborating with Islamist elements against state security. Helbrans fled to the United States along with several students who were smuggled out of Israel with fake passports. As such, an additional investigation into Helbrans for kidnapping was launched.

Whilst in the United States, Helbrans was arrested and served two years in prison for kidnapping after assisting a 13-year-old boy go into hiding from his secular mother.

After his release from prison in the US, Helbrans was to be deported to Israel, but instead fled to Canada where he was granted refugee status after claiming persecution in Israel for his religious and political beliefs.

According to estimates, the sect numbers about 230 people, of whom about 150 are children.

About three and a half years ago, Canadian authorities blocked the group from transferring underage members to Guatemala after Canadian courts issued a decree requiring some children to be transferred to foster families after being found to have been severely abused.

Welfare officials in Ontario and Quebec claimed that they had evidence of abuse involving beatings, underage marriage, and illegal education. However, the sect succeeded in transferring a number of the children to Guatemala giving rise to a legal battle over the last few years to expel them back to Canada.

In September 2016, at the request of Israeli authorities, Guatemalan law enforcement raided the Lev Tahor compound and arrested its leaders on suspicion of child abuse. The raid prompted its members to leave the site to a new location in eastern Guatemala, and complain that they were being persecuted due of their faith.

Helbrans and the group had crossed the Guatemalan border into the Mexican state of Chiapas several weeks ago. 

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6 more New Jersey couples charged in benefits fraud probe

LAKEWOOD - Six more couples were charged with theft Thursday as part of an investigation that has uncovered more than $2 million in public welfare benefits going to New Jersey families that made too much to receive them.

Prosecutors in Ocean County say the six couples received nearly $400,000 combined in Medicaid, food, heating and other benefits. The charges by summons come after seven other married couples in the town of Lakewood were charged with similar crimes last month.

Those arrested as part of the joint state, federal and county investigation include a rabbi and the former leader of a Jewish religious school. The investigation is continuing, and more arrests are likely.

Two of the main suspects, Rabbi Zalmen Sorotzkin and wife Tzipporah (Photo: AP)

The town has seen huge population growth with an influx of ultra-Orthodox families, and the charges have been met with some anti-Semitic backlash. Vandals cited the reports in fliers posted on cars around town last week and posted a banner containing an anti-Jewish slur on a Holocaust memorial in front of a synagogue. A message on the banner included an ethnic slur for Jewish people and stated they "will not divide us," along with the name of a group supposedly responsible for it. State authorities announced Sunday they were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to conviction of those responsible.

Anti-Semitic fliers in Lakewood

Religious leaders in the town have spoken out against the welfare fraud allegations, but also to make sure people don't use the investigation to condemn the entire community. "We have a failure in our community that we have to address," Rabbi Aaron Kotler, leader of the world's largest yeshiva outside of Israel, told NJ.com. "Theft is wrong. We need to do better to educate people." Members of the Vaad, a group of religious leaders and business owners in the town, acknowledged that the problem may be linked to the number of rabbinical students in Lakewood's numerous yeshivas. Many qualify for poverty relief while studying, and Vaad members said the students need to do a better job of leaving public assistance once they begin making money. "The challenge for the Orthodox community is to get these students quickly into the workforce," kosher grocery story owner Abe Muller told NJ.com, "where they pay taxes like everybody else, and make them understand the rules." Seven couples were arrested last week, including Rabbi Zalmen Sorotzkin, of Congregation Lutzk, and his wife, Tzipporah. A lawyer for one of those charged last week said that everyone arrested will be vindicated. Those charged Thursday were Eliezer and Elkie Sorotzkin, Samuel and Esther Serhofer, Yisroel and Rachel Merkin, Jerome Menchel and Mottel Friedman, Tzvi and Estee Braun, and Moshe and Nechama Hirschmann. It wasn't immediately clear whether the couples had lawyers to comment on their behalf. Phone messages left with those who had listed numbers were not returned.

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200 make aliyah from US and Canada on 4th of July

While Americans were celebrating their Independence Day and the Canadians marked Canada Day earlier this week, 201 new immigrants from the US and Canada made aliyah to Israel on Tuesday, arriving on a charter flight organized by Nefesh B'Nefesh, a nonprofit organization that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the US, Canada and the UK.

 

Hundreds of people were standing outside the airport, welcoming the immigrants with cheers and song.

The Nader family (Photo: Avi Hai)

Among the immigrants who arrived were 34 families and 51 single men and women. The oldest immigrant has just celebrated 82, and the youngest is only a month and a half old. The total number of children on board was 78, with five pairs of twins. Of the total number of immigrants, 47 will live in the periphery, while the rest will settle in the central cities. Jared Bates, 18, immigrated to Israel from Ontario, Canada, to join the IDF next year. In the meantime, he will be welcomed in Kibbutz Yagur, where he will learn Hebrew. "I see it as an adventure," said Bates. "All my life I was a Zionist, and I studied in Jewish institutions. Today I'm applying everything I was taught to do, and there is no better feeling. I feel now what it means to be a true Zionist."

Dr. Jeremy Berg, 44, who immigrated to Israel from Chicago with his wife Jennifer, 38, and their three young children—Eli, Rafi and Elka—said the decision to immigrate to Israel was clear for them, as they have been sending their children to Jewish education facilities, which are considered private.

The Berg family (Photo: Doron Cooperstein)

"When my little girl's education costs more than I have to pay for educating my three children in Israel, the choice becomes very simple," he said.

MK Ksenia Svetlova (Zionist Union), who attended the event, said it brings her back to the day when she came to Israel with her family, some 26 years ago. "I'm very glad to be here and welcome the new immigrants, who come to join us in the State of Israel," she said.

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Congressman apologizes to those hurt by gas chamber video

A Louisiana congressman apologized Wednesday for what he called the "unintended pain" caused by a political video he recorded inside a gas chamber of a Nazi concentration camp, an action that Holocaust experts called inappropriate and disrespectful.

In May, Rep. Clay Higgins visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camps in Poland, where more than a million Jews were killed in the Nazi genocide.

In a five-minute video posted on YouTube and on his Facebook page Saturday, Higgins describes the horrors that took place in the gas chamber, and adds that "this is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible."

Clay Higgins (Photo: AP)

The video ends with an image of the first-term Republican lawmaker and former sheriff's captain that he used during his campaign last year: With a badge on his chest, he bows his head reverentially, his face partially obscured by the brim of his cowboy hat. The image is superimposed over images of the US and Israeli flags.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum had criticized the video Tuesday in a Twitter post, saying the building where genocide was committed against thousands of Jews should not be used as a stage. On Wednesday, Efraim Zuroff, director of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the video contained political rhetoric that was inappropriate, although he didn't think Higgins had bad intentions.

In a statement issued later Wednesday, Higgins said he did not intend to offend or disrespect anyone.

"My intent was to offer a reverent homage to those who were murdered in Auschwitz and to remind the world that evil exists, that free nations must remember, and stand strong," Higgins said in his statement. "However, my message has caused pain to some whom I love and respect. For that, my own heart feels sorrow. Out of respect to any who may feel that my video posting was wrong or caused pain, I have retracted my video." Higgins added that he was offering a "sincere apology for any unintended pain."

Photo: Reuters

Higgins caused some controversy about a month ago for something he wrote after a terror attack in London.

"The free world ... all of Christendom ... is at war with Islamic horror," Higgins wrote, going on to say of terrorists: "Hunt them, identify them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all."

His election to an open congressional seat last year was fueled in part on the popularity of anti-crime videos he made as a deputy, then later captain, in the St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Department. The video he made at Auschwitz was reminiscent of those earlier productions.

"It's hard to walk away from gas chambers and ovens without a very sober feeling of commitment," a stern and earnest Higgins says outside the building. "Unwavering commitment to make damn sure that the United States of America is protected from the evils of the world."

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Holocaust survivor Veil to be inducted in Paris Pantheon

Holocaust survivors joined France's president and European dignitaries Wednesday at a special memorial ceremony for Simone Veil, who rose from the horrors of Nazi death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and Bergen-Belsen to become president of the European Parliament and one of France's most revered politicians.

Best known in France for spearheading the legalization of abortion, Veil faced down sexist criticism and repeatedly broke barriers for women in politics. She died last week at age 89.

Simone Veil (Photo: MCT)

During a national ceremony with military honors Wednesday at the Invalides monument, home to Napoleon's tomb, President Emmanuel Macron announced Veil will be inducted into Paris' Pantheon mausoleum—the final resting place of dozens of French greats.

French President Emmanuel Macron at the ceremony (Photo: EPA)

  

European flags around France were lowered to half-staff to honor a woman whose experience at Auschwitz-Birkenau made her a firm believer in European unification.

Former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande attend the ceremony (Photo: EPA)

Macron praised her as inspiring "respect and fascination."

"She loved Europe, she always fought for it ... because she knew in the heart of this European dream there were above all dreams of peace and freedom," he said.

Photo: EPA

Veil lost her parents and brother in Nazi camps, and spoke frequently about the need to keep the memory of the Holocaust alive.

"She knew that memory is here so that the unthinkable does not happen again," Macron said.

Photo: EPA

"Just as you leave us, Madam, please receive an immense thank you from the French people", he concluded in front of the coffin covered with a French flag, in the presence of hundreds of ordinary citizens and high-profile guests including former presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande.

Veil will be the fourth woman to be honored at the Pantheon. She will join two women who fought with the French Resistance during World War II, Germaine Tillion and Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz, and Nobel Prize-winning chemist Marie Curie.

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Vandals post anti-Jewish banner at New Jersey Holocaust Memorial

Vandals posted a banner containing an anti-Jewish slur on a Holocaust memorial in front of a New Jersey shore town synagogue where several Jewish residents were recently accused of misrepresenting their incomes to improperly obtain public welfare benefits.

 

Photos posted online Sunday by the state chapter of the Anti-Defamation League show the covering on the memorial in Lakewood. A message on the covering included an ethnic slur for Jewish people and stated they "will not divide us," along with the name of a group supposedly responsible for the covering.

State authorities announced Sunday they were offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to conviction of those responsible.

The sign posted on the memorial

Seven married couples who live in Lakewood, including a rabbi and his wife, now face charges they misrepresented their incomes to get a combined $2 million in public welfare benefits they weren't entitled to. Three couples were arrested late Tuesday in Lakewood after four couples, including Rabbi Zalmen Sorotzkin, of Congregation Lutzk, and his wife, Tzipporah, were arrested Monday. The couples eventually were released without bail after making initial court appearances. Prosecutors say they failed to disclose income from numerous sources on applications for Medicaid, housing, Social Security and food assistance benefits. The state and federal investigation centers on Lakewood, which is home to a large and growing ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Lakewood is the state's fastest growing town and has more than 100 private religious schools. The population increase has intensified concern over how public money is spent and sparked complaints from neighboring communities that say they face overly aggressive solicitation from real estate agents looking to find homes for the Jewish community.

Anti-Semitic fliers placed on cars after the arrest

In another incident, anti-Semitic fliers referencing the recent arrests were placed on the windshields of dozens of cars in Lakewood. It wasn't clear if the same people are responsible for both acts. New Jersey's chapter of the Anti-Defamation League tweeted Sunday, saying that town officials, residents and community leaders "must offer full throated condemnation of this anti-Semitic attack."

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