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Dear Haim Kalb, amv"sh
Rather than apologize for the lack of respect you accuse Ms. Dym toward a Rabbinic scholar,please consider the following: Torah Shebaal Peh is based on Torah Shebichtav. Let's talk about Mitzvoth d'Oryata.
Isn't there a Mitzva Al Taamod Al Dam Reiecha. Did you see the blood flow from the youth at Amona? How about all the Kassam Rockets going into Sederot on a Daily basis. Did you see the bloody videos of little children and adults as a result of the gov't abandoning Sederot. The army knows exactly where those Kassam rockets are originating from and knows how to get rid of them. Yet the gov't has not given the IDF the green light to stop these rocket attacks. The army must look the other way. Did Rabbi Weinreb as the Rabbinic leader of the OU speak out in protest regarding this Pikuach nefesh crisis so as not to violate this important MItzva D'Orayta. Maybe rabbi Weinreb doesn't get Israel Kaplan's emails every day informing him of every single damn rocket that hits Sederot (please excuse the terminology but if that rocket is damned then Halleluka)
How about the Mitzvot DOrayta of not to afflict the Ger Yatom and Almona. I can tell you some very gruesome stories of how the gov't went to the house of an Almona whose husband was murdered and woke everyone up in the middle of the night including the little kids and ransacked their home and put them on a vehicle and left them in the street somewhere in the middle of nowhere. I don't remember hearing Rabbi Weinreb's voice then either. I do think he was thinking very carefully about speaking out publicly against the policies of the gov't of the State of Israel. What about the Mitzvot DOrayta not to afflict the Yatom and Almona?!?.
How many times does it speak in the Torah that Hashem promised the Land of Israel to the seed of Avraham Yitzchok and Yaakov for an eternal inheritance and we in turn are obligated to keep the Mitzvoth. Nodeh Lecha Hashem Elokeinu, al Shehinchalta Laavoseinu, Eretz Chemda, Tova Urechava....It's in Bentching and the fact that Hashem gave us Eretz Yisroel is also in the Parshiot of Shma. What kavana do you have when you kiss the Mezuza or Tzizis or Tefillin in which the passages of Shma is embedded? Yet President Bush is speaking since 2002 about a 2 State Solution, a Palestinian State and a Jewish State living side by side. Yet the OU is Silent. Shtika Kehodaya Damya. Silence is complicit agreement. Is this what Hashem thought of when He gave the broader boundaries of Eretz Yisroel to Am Yisroel in the Bris Bein Habesarim and delineated in Parshas Masei on a smaller scale. Since Rabbi Weinreb and the Rabbinic Leaders have turned a blind eye when blatant violations of Mitzvoth D'Orayta are committed, then I don't think Susie Dym has to apologize for calling his position non honorary. Have his actions as Rabbi truly been honorary? Are the actions of his colleagues worthy of being called Rabbis. A Rabbi is someone who is not only intellectually familiar with the Torah but is actually someone that is a role model for keeping the Torah. Doing the Torah. Observing the Torah.
Let's talk about Torah and mitzvoth. How about Shemittah. Can we keep the Mitzvoth Teluyot Baaretz like Shemittah if we give the Land away. If we truly desired to keep the Mitzvah of Shemittah we would simply say that the Land belongs to Hashem and we are obligated to let the Land lie fallow in the 7th year. Will the "peaceful democratic Palestinian State" have these considerations as well? Keeping the Mitzvoth is what brings Kedusha into the world. Even President Bush called it the HOLYLAND. But are the Palestinians keeping the Mitzvoth in the Land making sure that the aspect of KEDUSHA is maintained?
I think it is you that should apologize to Susie Dym who is humble and truly has Ahavas Yisroel and doesn't insist that people call her any special title and doesn't care about titles. She volunteers her days and nights working selflessly for Klal Yisroel and Eretz Yisroel and you have the Chuzpa to even suggest that she is disrespectful to someone that gives the impression he just doesn't really care? I am sure that to a certain degree Rabbi Weinreb does care. But if Rabbi Weinreb truly cared enough, he would have spoken up before Gush Katif and after Gush Katif and would have spoken up against the travesty and would have done something to alleviate the emotional and economic and sociological pain of our brothers Achainu Beis Yisroel that were brutally removed from their homes, had their parnassa taken away from them, their beautiful communities destroyed along with their dignity and had the cohesiveness of the family unit destroyed. What about all the Mitzvoth Dorayta regarding property rights, Mitzvoth Aseh and Mitzvoth lo Saaseh? What is the point of studying all these topics yet not apply them. It's like learning all the laws regarding giving to the poor and in the middle a poor person comes by and asks for help and we turn him away because he is disrupting our learning.
Talking about picking and choosing Mitzvoth. Isn't it you that is doing the picking and choosing?
Up in Shamayim they are laying out the carpets for the likes of Susie Dym. Susie Dym is truly the one that is worthy of honor. Before you accuse Susie of being disrespectful to the Rabbanim, respectfully ask the Rabbanim regarding the Mitzvoth D'Orayta mentioned above.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Haim Kalb <Kalbcpa@012.net.il>
Date: 2008/2/6
Subject: RE: הפעם לדוברי אנגלית בלבד English Speakers On
To: מטות ערים <mattot.arim@gmail.com>
From: Haim Kalb <Kalbcpa@012.net.il>
Date: 2008/2/6
Subject: RE: הפעם לדוברי אנגלית בלבד English Speakers On
To: מטות ערים <mattot.arim@gmail.com>
- the chief non-honorary officer-this is degrading a Rav
- THE ALLUSION WAS TO THE FACT THAT RABBI W IS EXECUTIVE VP -- WHEREAS THE PRESIDENT IS THE CHIEF OFFICER, HOWEVER THE PRESIDENT IS AN HONORARY POSITION (NO ACTUAL POWERS I.E.) SO PRACTICALLY SPEAKING (IE OTHER THAN HONORARY POSITIONS) -- RABBI W IS THE CHIEF OFFICER
- IF YOU THINK THAT THIS ALLUSION WOULD BE MISUNDERSTOOD BY RABBI W. I AM HAPPY TO EMAIL AN APOLOGY CC YOU
- Rabbi Weinreb and his like-minded colleagues-Professionals are colleageues, Rabanim are Rabanim! CORRECT...COLLEAGUES THEREFORE MEANS HIS FELLOW LEADERS IN THE VARIOUS AMERICAN JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS
- convince Rabbi Weinreb and his like-minded colleagues to rethink these policies quickly. It seems they have not yet internalized-What you are saying is they have not adapted your opinion or to the level of your activism and we must convince them to adapt our opinion and our degree of activism. Keep in mind the Rabanim deal with a lot of issues most other people and organizations don't. They deal with chinuch, shlom bayit, conversions, medical and scientific halachic issues, kashruthand many more all at the same time. You are implying that the Rabanim should reorganize what they do and put at the top of their list the issue most important to you
- I THINK THE POINT IS THAT THERE IS A PIKUACH NEFESH OF THE RABIM HERE. NOTE THE LATEST PRONOUNCEMENT OF THE GEDOLEI HATORAH (A FEW DAYS AGO) IN E'Y ENDORSED BY THE GEDOLEI TORAH IN USA ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC POINT
- . On the other hand think about where Am Yisrael would be if everyone "rethought their policies" as you put it and do exactly what the Rabanim do. Everyone whould be makpid on all the Mitavot, keep shabbos and kashruth properly, learn hours of Torah a day etc, and this would surly change Am Yisrael's position in the world tremendously. Am Yisrael survived 2000 in exile without a state. But as we see with intermarriage around the world, Jews can't survive more than 1-2 generations after they stop intensively keeping Torah and Mitzvot.
- YES INDEED, ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. HOWEVER THE PALESTINIAN STATE ISSUE IS AN EVEN MORE SHORT-TERM DANGER UNFORTUNATELY
- Israel's continued survival depends -- among other factors -- on its ability to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. The goyim don't have any power except the power the Jews give them by not keeping Torah and Mitzvot. WE KNOW THAT EVEN IN OUR PARENTS' LIFETIMES THERE WERE MANY INSTANCES OF HESTER PANIM IN EUROPE AND ELSEWHERE IN WHICH THIS WAS NOT BORNE OUT...IT IS ALSO NOT REPRESENTED BY THE MEKOROT...I DONT THINK THAT TALMIDEI CHACHOMIM WOULD ENDORSE THIS STATEMENT AS YOU HAVE EXPRESSED IT.
- Rabbi Weinreb must act like a leader-this is condescending. I am sure he does lots for Am Yisrael leading them in many areas the OU is involved in. Again, he may not have the same activism as you in the area of your interest but I am sure in the areas he is involved in he acts like a leader.
- Rabbi Weinreb must work tirelessly-again, this is condescending.
- CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM PARTICULARLY IN MATTERS OF PIKUACH NEFESH IS NEVER CONDESCENDING. HOWEVER, IF YOU CONTACT RABBI WEINREB AND FIND THAT HE TOOK OFFENSE FROM THIS (I AM PRETTY SURE HE WOULD NOT...) I WILL BE HAPPY TO CLARIFY -- IN WRITING CC TO YOU THAT THERE WAS NO INTENTION TO CAUSE OFFENSE.
BIVRACHA NEEMANA -- S. DYM
From: מטות ערים [mailto:mattot.arim@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2008 11:56 PM
To: Haim Kalb
Subject: Re: הפעם לדוברי אנגלית בלבד English Speakers On
Mr. Kalb, pls pull out any expressions you find offensive (or mark them in some color...) and list them for us here and we will consider your constructive criticism very carefully. We do hope thought that you will consider a suitably respectful letter in the language you feel is right and with content you feel is appropriate, to Rabbi W. regarding this pikuach nefesh issue. Bivracha.
On 2/5/08, Haim Kalb <Kalbcpa@012.net.il> wrote:
Although I generally have similar opinions to your group, I am outraged that you refer the way you do here about a Rav in general and about his so-called "colllegues" (i.e. other Rabanim) in particular. You are free to have your opinion but keep in mind that the Gmara states that one of the reasons for the current exile is because Jews didn't have respect for Talmidei Chachamim. You may agree with their view or you may not but if you don't at least respect them then you learned nothing from 2000 years of exile. The existence of the State of Israel is more dependent on respect for Rabbis and love of every Jew than it is on American or Israeli gov't policy. It is Hashem's policy that counts, and although part of that policy entails "hishtadlut" which is what you are trying to do, you can't do hishtadlut at the expense of respect of Rabanim and talmidei chachamim-that is part of the reason for the exile and without fixing it, the state will again be at risk. By doing hishtadlut at the expense of respect of other Jews, that is called "שכרו יצא בהפסדו.
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