Skeletons in the Lubavitch closet
One brother became secular, the other was mentally ill

By Yair Sheleg
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/864748.html
Wed., May 30, 2007 Sivan 13, 5767

In the early 1990s, Prof. Menachem Friedman, a leading researcher of ultra-Orthodox society in Israel, decided to write a comprehensive study on Chabad Hassidism that would include a biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Friedman labored for almost a decade and traced every detail of the Rebbe's past, but in the end decided not to publish his book. Among other places, he searched through the archives of universities in Paris and Berlin to understand what precisely the Rebbe studied there during the 1920s and 1930s. His search yielded information about the so-called "King Messiah" that differs considerably from that publicized by his followers.

Friedman also uncovered interesting information about the Schneerson family: In order to preserve the family's distinguished lineage, there were many marriages within the family; these often led to the birth of mentally and physically handicapped children. The Rebbe himself had a mentally ill brother, Dov Ber, who was murdered by the Nazis in the Ukrainian hospital where he was hospitalized, and his memory has been obliterated from the history of Chabad Hassidism. Another brother of the Rebbe's, Aryeh Leib, turned secular, but Chabad followers tend to portray him as a very pious and righteous man.

The Hassidimim relate that Rabbi Menachem Mendel studied at the University of Berlin, but only after lengthy research was the Rebbe's name found in a list of people auditing classes at the university. It turns out that during his six years in Berlin (1926-1932), the Rebbe studied philosophy and mathematics for a semester and a half.

A similar search in Paris revealed the legend that the Rebbe had studied medicine and engineering at the Sorbonne was also far from the truth. In fact, he studied electrical engineering at Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics, du Batiment et de l'Industrie (ESTP). As the younger son-in-law of the previous Rebbe, he was not the designated successor, and was allowed therefore to acquire a "secular" profession like electrical engineering.

Blocked archives

Despite the considerable effort invested, Friedman has yet to publish the book. "There were all kinds of excuses I told myself," he says, "such as, I have more pressing and important studies to work on, but the truth is that I didn't feel sure enough to publish the book. The Hassidim blocked access to several of their important archives, and I felt that without those archives, the work wouldn't be accurate. I had excellent material and I felt that I had indeed found the story of this life, and still I was concerned."

Instead of a book, Friedman published a lengthy article analyzing the messianism of the Rebbe, who was perceived by some as the Messiah starting from the early 1980s. According to Friedman, the messianic idea started back in the tenure of his father-in-law, the Admor (rabbi and leader) Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok, known by the Hebrew acronym, Riyatz. The Riyatz was convinced that his era was a messianic era because all the Lithuanian rabbis fled Russia during the period of the Communist revolution, and the Orthodox Jewish community in Russia was left under the control of Chabad, which became the leader of Orthodox Jewry in Russia.

But then Stalin started cracking down on Chabad activities, and the Riyatz was forced to flee, first to Poland and later on, with the Nazi invasion, to the United States. "He had to explain to himself the failure of his predictions, and therefore explained that everything that was happening in Europe was essentially intended to serve as a warning to American Jews to repent to be saved from a similar danger. He himself was saved to be a kind of prophet like Jonah, who warns them of the danger and brings them to repent," says Friedman.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe stayed in France at the start of the Second World War. He was saved thanks to an American visa he obtained through the concerted efforts of Chabad members in the U.S. When he arrived in the U.S., he was not in line to become the Admor. The "natural" candidate was his older brother-in-law, Shmaryahu Gourarie, who had the added advantage of a son - the Rebbe was childless. According to one version Friedman heard, the Rebbe himself was afraid to bring children into this world because of the "precedent" of his brother; according to a rumor among Chabad Hassidim, the Rebbe had a child who died young.

By the time of the Riyatz's death in 1950, things had changed, and he decided to make his young son-in-law, who turned out to be much more talented and charismatic than his older brother-in-law, the leader of the movement to bring people back to religion and "win over hearts" that he had begun to nurture. In addition, the fact that Gourarie had an heir was transformed from an asset to an impediment, because the son renounced religion and became a secular computer businessman, Barry Gourarie (later on, he even demanded the vast Chabad library for himself, in a scandal that created a storm within the movement for years). Friedman spoke at length with Gourarie and heard fascinating details from him about what goes on behind the scenes in the Chabad movement.

Schneerson was named the Admor, but not before there was a sharp clash between the two camps in the year following the Riyatz's death. Even after his selection, the widow of the previous rabbi did not accept the choice and "did not allow the Rebbe to set foot in her house and also did not agree to give him the Riyatz's shtreimel [fur hat]. That is how the custom began of the Rebbe wearing a fedora instead of a shtreimel." Retroactively, as happens with the Hassidim, Schneerson's perceived shortcoming in his childlessness was actually seen as proof of his being the messiah: "An entire doctrine was conceived, which the Rebbe developed already in his first speech as the Admor, around the fact that he is the seventh Admor of Chabad," relates Friedman. Because the number seven has mystical significance, the idea that it was not coincidental that he had no heir began to circulate - he was the seventh and last Admor and redemption would come through him anyway.

To mark Friedman's 70th birthday, Bar-Ilan University will be hosting an international conference in his honor in another two weeks.

He began to research the ultra-Orthodox world completely by chance: "I was taking a seminar with Prof. Shmuel Eisenstadt (the sage of Israeli sociologists - Y.S.), and every student had to write a paper on one of the parties in Israel. Because I worked hard to earn a living, I arrived late when the topics were assigned and Eisenstadt's assistant informed me that 'all the parties had already been taken.' In the end she said: 'Well, there is one party left that doesn't interest anyone.' It was Agudat Yisrael."

Out of that paper, Friedman created a new discipline, the study of modern ultra-Orthodox society from the end of the 19th century to the contemporary era.

Friedman was familiar with the ultra-Orthodox since his childhood. He grew up in Bnei Brak and his parents were both raised in hassidic homes and left them as young adults. In the wake of the Holocaust and the absorption crises he experienced in Israel, his father started moving back to the hassidic world he had left. "I think the encounter with modernity was so traumatic for him that he just went back to his father's house, to the shtibel [small synagogue], to Hassidism. He grew a beard again and went back to wearing a capote [caftan], which prompted very heated arguments with my mother, and he also sent me to an ultra-Orthodox Talmud Torah," recalls Friedman.

As far back as the 1980s, Friedman was the first to coin the term hevrat halomdim (society of the learners) as the primary characteristic of ultra-Orthodox society in Israel, a society where in an unnatural way, most of the men do not work, but learn. He was the one who long ago predicted its collapse, based on the assumption that a time would come when Israeli society would be unwilling, or unable, to finance an entire sector in which most of the men are unemployed by choice.

Ostensibly, Friedman erred in his analysis: Members of the ultra-Orthodox community suffered in recent years from the burden of cuts in child allowances, so many entered the labor market. Meanwhile, the community is not showing any signs of collapse. Moreover, in addition to the graph showing a decline in their economic situation, there is a graph showing the community's growing political power, which enables the ultra-Orthodox political parties to continue to force Israeli society to finance the "society of learners." But Friedman stands by his forecast and even argues that the stability of Israeli society at large is threatened.

A secular child in every family

Friedman says, "True, there is some entry into the labor market, but opposite this, there are two difficult questions: First, is the degree of economic crisis not more intense than the pace of entry into the labor market? Second, the requirements demanded by the labor market today are much stricter, and whoever did not learn any general knowledge until he became an adult will have a hard time closing the gap. I don't see Israelis being able to withstand the sight of Jews starving for bread, even if they are ultra-Orthodox. So the society will be tempted to continue supporting them, at least on a basic level, and then two things will happen: Many in the middle class will be fed up by the situation and they will leave the country, so the ones who stay will be in an even worse financial situation."

Friedman believes the financial collapse will also alter the religious character of ultra-Orthodox society. The mere necessity of entering the labor market will make the ultra-Orthodox increasingly resemble the religious Zionists: less separatism, and with a much higher percentage of people becoming nonreligious, something like "a secular child in every family." This fact will compel them to also change their perception of secularism, because it will become a widespread phenomenon in their midst. He speaks of the model of Eastern European Jewry in the wake of the crisis caused by the Enlightenment, when many families split up into ultra-Orthodox, Zionist and completely secular groups.

Other experts on ultra-Orthodox society present the American model as proof that the ultra-Orthodox's entry into the labor market need not alter the religious character of society - they will be able to maintain a model where a clear line is drawn between being a part of the labor market and maintaining cultural isolationism. Friedman responds, "whoever reviews the American ultra-Orthodox model in depth sees that it, too, is split, mainly between Lithuanians and Hassidim. The Lithuanians did in fact enter the prestigious job market, but they also acquire a high level of general knowledge during their high school years, something that I still don't see happening in Israeli ultra-Orthodoxy. The Hassidim for the most part live in dire poverty, similar to the Israeli ultra-Orthodox."

Given his pessimistic forecasts, Friedman suggests making the entry of the ultra-Orthodox into the job market a key goal for the ultra-Orthodox sector, including totally waiving the demand to do military service, even in the framework of the compromise in the Tal Law. "If we concede to them completely on military service, many of them will leave the yeshivas and enter the labor force. I'm aware of the intense inequality in this proposal, but it is preferable to the existing situation," he says.

Friedman himself sat on the Tal Commission and presented this suggestion to its members, but he says, "Judge Tal told me that his colleagues, the High Court of Justice judges, would for the sake of the principle of equality not let such a proposal pass. Unfortunately, it is possible that he is correct. At the time, I felt that the security situation allowed for the transformation of the entire IDF into a small, professional army. But the Second Lebanon War proved we still need a large people's army, and in the current situation I don't see who will concede in a sweeping and official way to the ultra-Orthodox on the need to do military service."

He concludes with a sigh, "political correctness, not just in this area, has become the curse of this generation. People cling to the slogans of 'correctness' even if they know that in the long term it will lead to greater damage and perhaps endanger their own world."

Labels: Haredi Judaism, Israeli society, Lubavitcher Rebbe, Messianism

- posted by Izak @ 10:10 AM (0) comments

 
World takes note of 2000 year old burial spot of controversial Judean king
Herod: The Bible's biggest villain

As archaeologists announce they have discovered Herod the Great's burial site, Eric Silver looks at the life of the Jewish king who killed three of his sons, executed one of his wives and ordered the massacre of the innocents

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2524437.ece
Published: 09 May 2007

Under a brain-numbing sun, the mountain gradually gave up its secrets to the archaeologists' trowels. A flight of stairs - part of the route of the elaborate funeral procession planned by the tyrannical ruler - leads to the very place where the notorious king of Judea was buried.

Yesterday, on the powdery grey flank of an artificial mountain overlooking the Arab villages and Jewish settlements scattered across the Judean Wilderness, Israeli scholars presented their answer to one of the great mysteries of biblical archaeology: the tomb of Herod the Great, a Roman client king who ruled the Jews with the ruthless paranoia of a Stalin or Saddam Hussein from 37BC until his death in 4BC.

For Ehud Netzer, professor of archaeology at the Hebrew University, the find was the culmination of a 30-year search. Herod was known to have been buried at Herodium, the towering desert fortress he built for that purpose a day's march south of Jerusalem.

The Roman historian Josephus Flavius described the lavish funeral procession in his book The Jewish Wars, the unchallenged source book of the Second Temple era. He told how the body was attended by members of the family richly dressed in silks and jewels, how soldiers from across the ancient world paraded in their armour, as for war, accompanied by hundreds of attendants carrying spices such as frankincense. He said the king's body was covered in a purple shroud and carried on a bier.

"The bier," wrote Josephus, "was of solid gold, studded with precious stones, and had a covering of purple, embroidered with various colours. On this lay the body enveloped in purple robe, a diadem encircling the head and surmounted by a crown of gold, the sceptre beside his right hand."

The sarcophagus, with its triangular cover decorated on all sides, was indeed a unique specimen, Professor Netzer said. Its remains were still clearly identifiable although it had been smashed into pieces, probably, he said, by Jewish rebels fighting between the years 66 to 72AD, decades after the king's death.

Jews who had rebelled against Roman rule in 66AD and took refuge at Herodium were the most likely suspects. "The rebels," explained Professor Netzer, "were known for their hatred of Herod and all that he stood for as a puppet ruler of the Romans."

Herodium was one of Herod's many architectural masterpieces in the Holy Land, and according to some, his finest work. A man of great ego and architectural vision, this was the place he had chosen to be not only his burial place but also his memorial.

Herod was also responsible for the rebuilding and expansion of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and the desert fortress of Masada, as well as building up the port city of Caesarea and other major projects.

Herod's tomb is no 21st-century Tutankhamen treasury. There are no bones, let alone a mummified body. What Professor Netzer unearthed on the West Bank three weeks ago were dozens of fragments of finely dressed pale-pink limestone, elegantly carved with rosettes, decorated stone urns and the remains of a stone podium 10 metres square on which the mausoleum is believed to have stood.

All that is left of Herod is his notoriety - which in the view of many people, was well-earned. To Christians, he was the king who ordered the massacre of the innocents, described in St Matthew's Gospel (though in no other source). St Matthew tells how, soon after the birth of Jesus, three wise men from the east came to Herod and asked where they could find "the one having been born the king of the Jews". Herod, who feared the rise of a a rival for his kingdom, ordered the slaughter of all boys up to the age of two in Bethlehem.

Joseph, who had been warned in a dream that Herod intended to kill Jesus, fled with his family to Egypt, where they stayed until after Herod's death.

To his Jewish subjects Herod was at once a benefactor and a scourge. Kenneth Spiro, a modern American rabbi, defined him as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis", but acknowledged that he was "also the greatest builder in Jewish history".

Jona Lendering, a Dutch historian of the Holy Land, summed him up thus: "With building projects, the expansion of his territories, the establishment of a sound bureaucracy, and the development of economic resources, he did much for his country. However, many of his projects won him the bitter hatred of the orthodox Jews, who disliked Herod's Greek tastes - tastes he showed not only in his building projects, but also in several transgressions of the Mosaic Law."

Not the least of these was the erection of a golden eagle, the symbol of the Roman Empire, at the gate of the Jerusalem Temple, which was torn down by Jewish students just before his death.

Herod, the son of an Idumean father and Arab mother, encouraged the Jews to practise their faith, however. He married Mariamne, a princess of the deposed Hasmonean royal family, to buttress his legitimacy (having put aside his first wife, Doris, in order to do so). Above all, he rebuilt and greatly expanded the Temple. It is said to have taken 10,000 men 10 years to build the retaining wall of the massive man-made platform on which Al Aqsa mosque now stands. One face is the Western Wall, the holiest of Jewish sites.

"The sanctuary," Josephus wrote, "had everything that could amaze either mind or eye. Overlaid all round with stout plates of gold, in the first rays of the sun it reflected so fierce a blaze of fire that those who endeavoured to look at it were forced to turn away as if they had looked straight at the sun."

Herod brought prosperity and a measure of stability to the land. He skilfully played off the rivals among his Roman masters. He commanded his troops to victory over local foes. But, like tyrants throughout history, he feared plotters, real or imagined, and liquidated anyone he thought might challenge his supremacy. These included two high priests - one his father-in-law Hyrcanus, the other his brother-in-law Aristobulus - who were drowned in a bathing pool, as well as 46 judges of the Sanhedrin, the rabbinical court.

Not even those who Herod supposedly loved passionately were spared the paranoid monarch's wrath. Convinced by his sister Salome that his beloved Mariamne was being unfaithful, he planned to have her murdered. According to Josephus, once Mariamne found out about the plot to have her killed she stopped sleeping with her husband but this simply convinced Herod that he was right to suspect his favourite wife in the first place and he swiftly had her put on trial for adultery. "As soon as his passion [anger] was over," Josephus wrote, "he repented of what he had done and his affections were kindled again." But it was too late. Mariamne had been executed.

Mariamne's mother, Alexandra, who had colluded in her trial, was also executed after she accused Herod of being unfit to rule in a bid to seize power.

Nor did he spare his sons. "It is better to be Herod's dog than one of his children," the Roman emperor Augustus is said to have drily remarked. (Augustus should know; he gave permission for their executions.)

Herod's two sons by Mariamne, Alexandros and Aristobulus, were strangled on their father's orders after being found guilty of high treason. (Herod's heir, Herod Antipas, the king who ordered the beheading of John the Baptist, is alleged to have incited his father's anger against his half-brothers.)

Antipater, his son by his discarded first wife, was also executed, accused of involvement in the insurrection that led to the smashing of the golden eagle.

Of Herod's monuments, many can still be seen: the Temple platform and the Citadel near Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem; Herodium, the only one to carry his name, and its sister fortress Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea; the massive structure erected over the traditional burial place of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Hebron; the ruined Mediterranean port city of Caesarea; and a winter palace complex excavated by Professor Netzer near Jericho in the 1970s.

The professor still has to prove to some scholars that he has indeed found Herod's tomb. An official of the Palestinian antiquities authority, visiting the site yesterday, noted that the Israelis had found no inscription. Stephen Pfann, a Christian textual scholar at the University of the Holy Land, hailed the find as "a major discovery by all means," but cautioned that more research was needed."We're moving in the right direction," he said. "It will be clinched once we have an inscription that bears his name."

Professor Netzer, who learned his trade under the celebrated Yigael Yadin at Masada, is confident of his attribution, however. "The location and the unique nature of the findings, as well as the historical record, leave no doubt that this was Herod's burial site," he insisted.

The stones bore all the marks of majesty, he said, and the sarcophagus was similar to those found at the Tomb of the Kings in Salah ed-Din Street in East Jerusalem. "It's not every rich Jew or citizen of this time that could afford this royal sarcophagus," he argued. "This podium, this base, is a well-executed monument. The stone work is very different from any we know elsewhere in Herodium." The location was right, he added. Pottery and coins found on the site showed that so was the date.

But the work is not over. Excavation began as recently as August 2006. Professor Netzer will keep on looking for the clincher.

----
For more articles about this topic, see:
Israeli scientists discover King Herod’s tomb (Article search by Google)

Labels: archaeology, Herod, Israel, Jewish history, Judea

- posted by Izak @ 9:46 PM (0) comments

 
Insemination among single Orthodox females
A single religious woman with 3 children

They waited patiently, put their faith in the Lord, but when they turned 40 the time had come to decide between life without a family or defying the norms

Yael Shuraki-Elfasi
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3324371,00.html
Published: 11.07.06, 15:01

Biological clocks tick the same for religious and non-religious women. There comes a moment when a religious woman who could not find her match made in heaven must choose between a life alone and having children out of wedlock. The Halacha does not ban this explicitly, but the social ban is tough. Still, an increasing number of Orthodox women chose not to give up on their personal joy.

They waited patiently, put their faith in the Lord, but when they turned 40, they started to lose hope that the knight in shining armor would show up. Their biological clock was ticking and the time has come to decide between life without a family and defying the norms and realizing their dreams of motherhood. In recent years, the phenomenon has been expanding: Orthodox women choose to become single mothers - a daring act, particularly in the religious sector.

'Schedule change'

Naama Eilat (41), an accountant, was the only woman who was willing to be identified in name. "I've got nothing to hide," she smiled. "I believe it is important for religious women to gain strength and hear clear things."

She did it twice and today raises Alon (3) and twins Tamar and Shlomit (1).

"The main problem of religious women who wants to have children without a partner is fear of their surroundings and that it may not be entirely kosher. I am not authorized to speak about the Halakic view and, to my regret, the rabbis are not expected to issue an authorization for single mothers any time soon. On the other hand, Halakah does not really have a problem with that. The rabbis do not have a Halakic problem. They worry about the social aspect, fearing this might impair on the matrimonial institution and create a situation where people think lightly of marriage.

"I believe they fear too much because starting a family alone is not an easy decision to make. Most women would rather have a male partner - it is the natural way for the women and for the children. I think of choice the choice I made as a mere change of schedule. That is, normally you would choose a spouse and than start a family, but I - for lack of a better choice - reversed the order of things. I still believe paring up is important. I am not breaking the rules. I was forced to go this way.

"It is very hard to decide to start a family on your own. It takes courage, mental strength, and giving up on many things. I care a lot about my immediate surrounding, and I was blessed with a supporting family and support from the place where my children are raised and educated."

Now or Never

A., a religious lawyer from central Israel, decided to bring a child into this world when she was 40-something. "Regrettably, I did not find my knight in shining armor. I felt that if I waited another moment, I would never have a family or children. Biological constraints made it all too clear - it was now or never.

"When I decided to start the process, my family and friends, most of whom are religious, greatly supported me, including some elderly and observant women that I did not expect to support such a dramatic decision." A. has three children today: a boy (6) and twins (1).

Where do the children go to school?

"My children found a place in a regular religious kindergarten - neither Reformist nor Conservative. The teachers and the other children treat them and me very well."

Do the children ask about their father?

A. paused before she spoke about this sensitive issue. "Look," she said, "one day I heard children asking my boy, 'What? You don’t have a father?' I said, 'Yes, we don’t.' 'Then who says the Kiddush?' they asked. 'In our home, mom does,' I said.

How do you explain this to your children?

"When my eldest was 3, I told him that when I could not find a partner, I went to the doctor and he helped me bring a child. He is not bothered with more. I sometime hear him react very naturally to his friends: 'You don’t know that in our family we don’t have a father? You are such a joker.'"

From the Halakah point of view, there could be two main problems: The donor might be a bastard (momzer) - a child born to a married Jewish woman from a Jewish man who is not her husband. If this is the case, his child is a bastard too and cannot marry a Jew. Many single mothers, therefore, choose non-Jewish donors. The other problem is that if a donor's sperm was used to impregnate several women, hypothetically there might be a situation where children from the same father - namely, siblings - may wish to marry each other, unknowingly.

How did you deal with these problems?

"I did not think about momzers. I wanted my children to have a Jewish father, with a whole Jewish soul."

Could this be a problem for your children when they want to marry?

"I very much hope not. I expect the rabbis to come up with a solution. Sperm banks could provide the Rabbinate with several digits from the donor's ID to make sure that children of the same father never marry each other. This could also solve the momzer problem."

Willing to Pay the Price

S., an ultra-Orthodox woman whose modest dress follows Jerusalem's Lithuanian neighborhood codes, is 40 and has tried a few inseminations. "I will keep trying until I succeed," she said with determination.

When did you decide to start?

"I always thought that if I am not married by the time I am 30, I would do something, but the truth is that I did not dare. Some 18 months ago, my sister told me she was pregnant, and then it hit me. I realized I was already 40 years old. I did not know where to start at first, but I found a forum of single religious mothers on the Internet and received initial information from them."

How did your family react?

"My family is secular, though my mother had some reservations. I believe, however, that once I have that child, she would support me all the way."

How do your ultra-Orthodox friends react?

"In various ways. For example, I have a friend who does not approve, to say the least, but in the meantime she still invites me for Sabbath. I am not sure this will go on once my pregnancy starts showing. I have taken this under consideration and I am willing to pay the price. Another ultra-Orthodox friend correctly said that even if a child born to a couple of parents, there is no guarantee he would be happier."

S. made two unusual decisions: to get inseminated, and to find a partner and not go to the sperm bank.

Why did you choose not to go to the sperm bank, like other religious single women?

"I considered both options for insemination, the bank or a partner. I asked at the Pua Center, a religious institute with a team of rabbis and doctors who specialize in fertility issues, whether a single woman can be inseminated according to Halacha. They told me that a Jewish donor could be a problem. I started asking around about a non-Jewish donor, but it was not simple because there was none where I lived. Then I started thinking about a partner. I worried about the child's future, knowing he will ask about his father one day. I felt it is important for the child to have a father figure he could be in touch with."

How do you find a partner like that?

"Simple. I found one on the Net."

What did you find out about him?

"First of all, he is Jewish. I saw him, and he looks good. He is very reliable, has a steady job, showed up for every insemination we scheduled, and has been fully cooperative."

Are you considering a parental agreement?

"No. I trust him fully. We agreed on everything, and it is all going easy and with a fantastic emotional match. I am not afraid this would change. We both have a strong desire to have a child, so this is clean between us. Incidentally, he is not religious."

Recommending Adoption

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, a religious-Zionist leader, is known for his special sensitivity and is one of the most important Halakic rulers of our generation.

How does the Halakah view insemination from a non-Jewish donor?

"Certain rulers maintain that if a girl is born, she may not marry a Cohen, but most of them have ruled against this. This is even easier than conversion, where a non-Jewish child converts to Judaism. In this case, the child is born Jewish because his mother is.

"The other issue is waste of sperm. Halakah rules against wasting sperm, that is - men are not allowed to release sperm for purposes other than procreation. The thing is that single women are not obligated to procreate; only married men have that duty. Still, certain rulers allowed that, stating that in this case, sperm is used for procreation, hence it is not considered wasted.

"The main problem is a moral one. Some rulers feared that artificial insemination of single women is immoral, since there is fear that a woman might fornicate, become pregnant, and claim the child is from insemination. There is an even greater fear - that the positive, healthy family structure of a mother, a father, and children might be ruined. A fatherless child grows with frustrations and complexes."

How does the Halacah view such a child?

"The Jewish Halacah calls such a child a 'silenced child' because when he asks his mother about his father, she silences him. A couple of parents give a child the stability he needs, like standing on two feet. A silenced child stands on one foot and is actually an orphan. The Torah pities orphans and the Lord is the father of all orphans. Still, here we create an orphan with our own hands. It is even worse than an orphan because an orphan had a father, a figure he could identify with and refer to, while here he only has a void."

What about the pain of single women, their freedom, their right to have a good and satisfying life?

"Obviously, having a child is not only an egoistic need of the single woman. It is also grace, but such a grace should be seen through in a way that does not create problems to begin with. The leading Halachic principle in this case looks at what is best for the child. A child is not his parents' property. There is no denying that single women have a problem, but you do not solve one problem by creating another. You do not do the right thing while doing something wrong, while sinning. I would recommend that single women adopt a child. This would be an act of grace for a lonely child who already lives and needs someone to look after him."

----

Non-Jewish sperm 'legitimate'

Woman seeks Goy sperm, so offspring is not considered 'illegitimate' according to Jewish law

David Regev
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3299953,00.html
Published: 09.05.06, 15:49

A 43-year-old woman whose husband refuses to give her a divorce is asking for a sperm donation from a non-Jewish man so that her offspring will not be considered illegitimate according to Jewish law.

"I want to have offspring without worrying about them being illegitimate," she says.

The woman is due to petition the Israel Family Court via the New Family organization in the hope that it will permit her to receive the donation. New Family is an organization that provides moral and legal support to assure that all forms of the family unit are eligible for rights.

Until just three years ago the woman led an ordinary life, she had been married for six years and had been undergoing fertility treatments. Meanwhile, she discovered her husband was cheating on her, after which he informed her that he no longer wished to have children with her.

As fertility treatments require the consent of both parents, the health clinic refused to continue treatments although the woman still had several frozen eggs.

Bypass halacha

After her husband left her, refusing to give her a divorce while at the same time fathering a child from another woman, the woman became concerned that her biological clock was ticking and that she would remain alone.

The woman contacted the New Family organization and decided to try and bypass the Jewish halachic laws by being artificially inseminated by the sperm donation of a non-Jew, so that the baby would not be considered 'illegitimate.'

Irit Rosenblum, the woman's attorney said she had contacted the Health Ministry and the organization is currently waiting for its response, but that she will simultaneously file a petition to the Family Court.

"I hope the court will help solve the problem, allowing me to realize my dream of having my own child," the woman said.

Labels: Artificial insemination, Halachah, Jewish singles

- posted by Izak @ 11:20 AM (2) comments