Banning Food! Next: Raisins!

In case you haven't heard, you can't eat any vegetable/ fruit any more because of insect infestation: First spinach and asparagus then broccoli and cauliflower, strawberries etc. The latest to join this growing list is RAISINS. The KAJ evidently felt very strongly to the point where they feel that NO raisins are kosher under any hashgacha at this time. The OU however, does not agree with their findings and has issued the following report. To eat or not eat raisins...that is the question!

Update: The Vaad of Queens has issued a statement declaring that the infestation was found only in gefen and mishpacha raisins.Dole and Sun-Maid were not found to have infestation. In other words don't buy things with Jewish names as they may have infestations? (sarcasm)

The Latest Ban: Shabbos Ovens

I'm not sure how I missed all the talk but evidently the latest ban from some of the Gedolim in Eretz Yisroel is about the Shabbos Ovens. You can read the Kol Koreh here. I spent a good part of the yom tov listening to several drashas concerning the complexities of the whole issue regarding electricity and why it's assur etc.. It would seem on the surface that using electricity on yom tov is less problematic on yom tov then on shabbos but why it's assur is perhaps part of the issue. The interesting point this particular rav mentioned was the following: Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann is certainly a posek in his own right. People certainly rely on him regarding laws of a bibical nature i.e. kashrus. In a case that may be rabbinical in nature certainly there is room to rely on his p'sak ( and if you consider the problem a bibical in nature it's no different then kashrus perhaps). He felt that perhaps bans such as these facilitated a "Fear Mongering" as it were. In other words, to make it known you don't agree with a p'sak is one thing. Don't you have the right to rely on your own rav? There is a story he told regarding Rav Yaakov Kanmietzky who when visiting Miami for some down time was greeted with many Shielos and his response was: you have rabbanim here, ask them. Evidently Rabbi Moshe Feinstein felt something along the same lines regarding the building of an eruv in Manhattan. When he was asked about the building of the eruv on the West Side his response was he would not allow it. However he said if there were other poskim who would consider putting an eruv up and he would not overrule them since they are poskim but would disagree with their p'sak. He did not try to ban anything. It is certainly an interesting point of view and brings a new perspective to the whole issue.

Rabbi Yisroel Belsky: Speaking Out on Music Ban?

I'm not even sure that the yeshiva world has this information yet:It is public knowledge that the latest ban of the the "Big Event" has unfortunately given many a reason to lose faith in "daas torah". I was told by a very reliable source that Rabbi Yisroel Belsky is getting ready to publish a response to this ban in a Jewish Newspaper to be named shortly. The reason for the response: he never signed the kol koreh (shocked?!). I haven't looked that deeply into the whole episode regarding how much of a forgery it was but I always suspected as usual it was a lie to some degree. Now if Rabbi Belsky did not sign it, how much more likely that many others did not. I await to see this letter and the reaction it receives. There is no question that things of this nature should be left to one's own Rabbi to decide.

Chaim Berlin Ban.... Wigs in Jeopardy!

Chaim had originally brought this story to my attention via Dov bear and I had to investigate it more closely. A friend of my family who is very close with the Rosh Yeshiva stated that Rav Aron Schechter was approached by some of the kollel bochrim concerning the photos in the window of the wig store across the street. Rav Aaron proceeded to request that the store owner please take down the photos. The reply in kind was rude: "this is not Bnei Brak" which certainly is not a respectful way to speak to a Rosh Yeshiva. I'm not certain that the response alone was the reason for the ban but it certainly did not make the Rosh Yeshiva happy. There may very well be more to this story than meets the eye. There is certainly at least one prominent posek in the area (from Chaim Berlin originally) who does not see the photos as a big deal. This whole fiasco will certainly come to a close as this woman only has a 6 month lease and the owner of the establishment has close ties with the yeshiva.

Jewish Music Ban: More Thoughts and Information

There has been a lot of talk about the recent ban in Israel over a Jewish Music concert. Today there is an article in the 5 towns Jewish Times by the editor. He gives some more information about the actual validity to the story as well as it's ramification to singers involved. In the article he mentions the idea that Shwekey who got the green light by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. According to the article there is a effort being organized to ban Shwekey from being hired in the 5 towns!