The controversy over the release of a woman from her status as an Agunah has been the subject of the Daas Torah blog run by Rabbi Daniel Eidensohn for quite some time now. In virtually all of his posts on the subject he wasted no time besmirching the reputation of 2 respected Rabbis - elders in their 90s - for permitting that woman to re-marry.
He and many other rabbis rejected outright the Heter (Halachic permission) they used for her to remarry. Since she has remarried based on that Heter, Rabbi Eidensohn and the rabbis who rejected it characterize this couple as adulterers in the Halachic sense.
He and many other rabbis rejected outright the Heter (Halachic permission) they used for her to remarry. Since she has remarried based on that Heter, Rabbi Eidensohn and the rabbis who rejected it characterize this couple as adulterers in the Halachic sense.
I am not here to dispute or support that Heter. But even assuming Rabbi Eidensohn is correct, the way he is handling this is beyond disgusting. His latest post has actually asserted that he will no longer publish any comments critical of him. Thus it will be Rabbi Eidensohn that has the last word.
I responded nonetheless with the following:
You won't be publishing this, but I'm going to tell you anyway since you will in fact be reading it before you delete it.
It is not your view about the halachic issues involved here that is in question. You may in fact be right. Indeed the consequences of those actions are serious. It is the way you handled it by besmirching the Chashuva Rabbonim whose views and actions you criticized. In doing this in such a public manner, you have lost your Chezkas Kashrus among so many of your former supporters - of which I counted myself as one.
How sad it is for someone with your talent - and all the contributions you have made to Klal Yisroel in other areas - to have fallen so low. I cannot tell you how disappointed I am in you - someone I used to admire so much. I'm actually thinking about publishing this comment on my blog so that my views will be known by more people than you. Because you deserve a public rebuke.
But he did respond to you, immediately. Why did you fail to note his response? Furthermore, why did you not take out your false claim that he will not respond to you? Where is your emes?
ReplyDeleteHere is rabbi Eidensohns response: http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-only-defense-being-presented-for.html#comment-2441292427
"Conceding that I might be correct regarding the facts leaves you in a rather difficult situation when you claim to condemn me for besmirching chashuva rabbonim. If my facts are correct they deserve to be publicly condemned! Or do you think geting people to commit adultery is not serious enough to criticize them?
Harry you apparently didn't bother reading the letters written by a wide range of gedolim that I published on this blog. As you unfortunately have done with other issues you don't bother ascertaining the facts before you pontificate. And you respond on an emotional level rather than as an adult with concern for the truth.
You don't seem to understand that rabbis who twist the halacha to accomplish certain inappropirate goals - are not deserving of respect.
Especialy regarding adultery and divorce laws. Please take some time and read Rav Aharon Feldman's letter. I even have it translated so it shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to understand that you are severely mistaken in your crtiticisms
I wont comment on his site nor will I stoop to bring nasty this is my response to his recent post
ReplyDeleteRabbi Eidenson,
i Feel your pain there is no reason for you to be insulted or demonized. I personally think you did a fine job in the tropper case. This is case in my humble opinion is very different.
1. You have characterized the Kamenetsky's as Liars and the Heter as Phony-frankly all of the above is a matter of opinion not a fact. I don't understand why such derogatory language is needed or allowed. Why is it not enough to disagree?
2. According to your blog the heter is based on the fact that there is evidence that the man had a diagnosed personality disorder prior to his marriage to the woman that he concealed. you can argue about whether most shidduchim would break up if this was known beforehand or not...you can argue whether or not heresay such as this or the cases R Moshe dealt with is acceptable. But again I don't understand the campaign here. The fact is you have let the world know about it no one who is concerned about this issue will either marry any progeny of the marriage or the woman should she separate from her husband. Why you think its your job to try to force a change in Psak Halacha I don't know..I think if you are worried about Gett meuseh you should be for sure worried about forcing a psak Halacha by public opinion
3. You clearly have supported the man not giving a Gett as a ploy to get more visitation...this is Bizarre. The use of a Gett in this way is practically a Chilul Hashem regardless of what arguments can be made. Why aren't you encouraging him to take her back to Beis Din????
4. I find it hard to understand why you use the blog to Pasken shailos for the man..why is that appropriate?
5. It has been said and written that this Psak makes a pirtza in the kedusha of the jewish family...honestly using this blog has made the pirtza. most of the world would not have known about it..it was super quiet for over two years
6. Finally, it seems to me that despite your efforts the vast majority of Poskim who are active in Gittin and Kedushin and other gedolim in the US have not commented on this case. It seems from their silence that they dont agree with your tactics otherwise they would have publicly supported in your efforts and turned public opinion on to your side
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DeleteDear Sir,
DeleteAll of your points indicate that you are blissfully unaware of the eternal stakes at hand. These being, rare, terrifying dangers that any serious Jew loses sleep over, minimally. In fact, the reaction of many a humble, kosher Jew, over the ages, was to sacrifice his life in defense of these timeless principles.
Your last point as well, is rooted in your nonchalance, r”l – leaving you with comfortable room to ‘rely’ blindly on people who haven’t yet commented, while ignoring the anguished cries and pain of the many the Poskim and Gedolim who have resoundingly come out against the ‘heter’ and the Rabbis who created it [Rabbis Kanievsky, Karelitz, Sternbuch, Badat”z Jerusalem, Hisachdus USA, Wachtfogel, Miller, etc. etc. – I have heard, firsthand, of these Rabbis, reasonable, yet extreme, anguish after researching the story.
My point is not to judge your commitment to Yiddishkeit, ch”v. However, certainly, if even some of the above Rabbis would sign a statement that your neighbor was a murderer – you would be thanking Rabbi Eidenson for making sure that the problem is not swept under the carpet, and you wouldn’t depend on a handful of people who say he may not be one [people, who after all these months, have yet to present a coherent defense].
Please keep me posted on any other posts you put up on this issue. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteTypical. You and Harry are two peas of the same pod.
DeleteOf course. We sat next to each other for 10 years in my Daf Yomi shiur. He was my right hand man. :-)
DeleteHarry is right. Rav Feldman himself claims what Eidensohn is doing is worse then the sin of אשת איש. Besides , Eidensohn is not a posek and frequently distorts Halacha. On my site I prove him wrong on many of his made up Halacha and showed what he does , renders him an apikores. Daistorah.wordpress.com
ReplyDeleteThe best solution is to STOP posting on Eidensohn's Blog. By feeding the monster it just grows. No one changes anyone's mind on that blog. Conjecture is stated as irrefutable facts, and then repeated over and over again. Opinion is stated as Halacha. So please, just stop posting there. The voices of reason are here, not there.
ReplyDeletehttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OFXmIGzj6cw/Vo605WBg-KI/AAAAAAAAUgE/z8KSvPexnbM/s1600/R%2BShmuel%2BKaminetsky%2Bsupport%2Bletter%2Bfrom%2Bstudents.jpg
ReplyDeleteWhy do you have a link to his blog on the right side of this in your blog list? suggest you remove it. End.
ReplyDeleteIt's fascinating to watch a man lose his olam habah in public. I'm talking about you.
ReplyDeleteIt is never too late to comment on such an important matter. Reb Dovid Feinstein's Beis Din ruled that Rabbi Greenblatt was wrong to marry the woman because she is an Eishes is to her husband she divorced through civil law only. Rabbi Greenblatt gave the heter because he trusted the Rabbis from Philadelphia. They were incorrect. Rabbi Eidensohn is correct. You may not like his methods, but his word is the emes here.
ReplyDelete