Jewish Liberty and the Striking of Roe v. Wade – Violations of Jewish Liberty that Were Foreseeable

Note to reader:

This post is the entire text of a Forward article, being reprinted in its entirety without permission of the Forward. I believe it to be of utter urgency; and if the Forward tells me to take it down, I will oblige.

The great irony here is that ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders have endorsed the elections of the very officials, including Donald Trump, who made the destruction of 50 years of US legal precedent regarding a woman’s right to an abortion possible. Many liberal and secular Jews saw this coming. That the ultra-Orthodox religious community and its leaders, including Agudath Israel, among many did not have the foresight to understand that their support of conservative leaders would eventually come to bite us all, is dumbfounding.

Striking down Roe v. Wade will violate Jewish religious liberty

Orthodox Jewish organizations are running out of time to organize our political power and communal voice in defense of abortion laws that allow us to keep our faith.

By Ephraim ShermanMay 03, 2022

“A woman who had desperately wanted to get pregnant ended up having to have an abortion.

This woman, who I know well, told me her story through tears but without hyperbole or exaggeration. 

She and her husband had tried to conceive for three years before she finally became pregnant. Everything was going smoothly until 18 weeks into the pregnancy, when the woman’s water broke and contractions started, stopping the development of the baby’s lungs in the absence of amniotic fluid. 

An ultrasound additionally showed that the woman’s uterus had become infected, and that she could die if the nonviable fetus was not removed. Thankfully, once they did so, the infection cleared and this woman was able to have a son a few years later.

The woman told me this story the morning after a draft ruling was leaked from the Supreme Court. If adopted as law, it would have sentenced this woman and countless others to death.

When this woman’s fetus was removed to save her life, the fetus still had a heartbeat. Such an abortion would become illegal in several states if Roe is overturned.

Abortions happen regularly in Jewish communities, even Orthodox ones, but often go undiscussed. Jewish law allows for abortion in many cases, and requires it if the mother’s life is in danger.

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This ruling is the culmination of a decadeslong political organizing campaign by Christian conservatives, many of whom believe that abortion is murder, even if the procedure is done to save the life of the mother or in the very early stages of pregnancy. 

Republican politicians since 1973 have used the promise of banning abortion to get Christian voters out to the polls, and this has been key to many of the GOP’s electoral successes. A 2015 poll found that 23% of anti-abortion voters would only vote for a candidate that was also anti-abortion, and Donald Trump’s 2016 victory can be largely attributed to his promises that he would only appoint Supreme Court nominees who would overturn Roe v. Wade. 

The fundamentalist Christian position is the exact opposite of the halachic approach to abortions. The success of this Republican-Christian strategy should strike terror in the hearts of frum communities across America. It should also motivate us to action.

This ruling is the culmination of a decadeslong political organizing campaign by Christian conservatives, many of whom believe that abortion is murder, even if the procedure is done to save the life of the mother or in the very early stages of pregnancy. 

Republican politicians since 1973 have used the promise of banning abortion to get Christian voters out to the polls, and this has been key to many of the GOP’s electoral successes. A 2015 poll found that 23% of anti-abortion voters would only vote for a candidate that was also anti-abortion, and Donald Trump’s 2016 victory can be largely attributed to his promises that he would only appoint Supreme Court nominees who would overturn Roe v. Wade. 

The fundamentalist Christian position is the exact opposite of the halachic approach to abortions. The success of this Republican-Christian strategy should strike terror in the hearts of frum communities across America. It should also motivate us to action.

The Orthodox Vote

The Orthodox Jewish community, in recent years, has become overwhelmingly aligned with conservative politics and politicians. Large communal organizations make efforts to remain officially nonpartisan, but it is plainly clear where the political sentiments of the majority of community members rest.

For some, U.S. policy on Israel is the deciding factor above and beyond all others, and increasingly, that has meant that Republican politicians win Orthodox communities in a landslide.

While some Orthodox views of the world are conservative ones, a stance that is against abortion in all cases would prevent many women from fulfilling Jewish law. 

Jews who live in Florida, Ohio, Texas, Georgia and other states with Republican controlled governments will soon lose access to legal abortion, even when their rabbi has told them that Jewish law requires them to receive one, thus violating their religious liberty.

Worse, Georgia and other states have already attempted to pass laws that would criminalize traveling to another state for the abortion, and even criminalize helping a woman travel to another state for one.

The law in Texas, which bans all abortions after about 4 weeks, explicitly says that religious leaders can be prosecuted for supporting and helping a woman get an abortion. 

There has been no significant national outcry from Orthodox Jewish communal organizations. We are running out of time to organize our political power and communal voice in defense of abortion laws that allow us to keep our faith. 

New York and several states have recently passed laws protecting safe and legal abortions no matter what the federal law is, but the looming threat is significant. 

Are we prepared to see parents from Brooklyn arrested by Florida State Police because they helped their daughter in Miami get the abortion her rabbi and doctor agreed she needed? Are we prepared to see rabbis arrested for making halachic rulings? Are we prepared to see Jewish doctors convicted of crimes for performing abortions?

When a woman is told the crushing news by her infertility doctor that one of her twin fetuses is thriving but one is not, and neither fetus will be born alive if the second fetus is not aborted, do we want a politician telling her rabbi and medical team that they must not intervene to save her viable fetus?

We cannot accept any of that. The time to organize and prevent this disaster was a decade ago, but the next best time to organize is now. 

When laws are proposed that could hinder circumcision, or Shabbat observance, or even public menorah lightings, every Orthodox communal organization has lobbied with passion and fire. Are the literal lives of women less important to protect?

The story I related at the beginning is a straightforward one, as far as Jewish law is concerned. The woman had a significant chance of dying if her fetus was not removed, and the fetus had zero chance of survival: abortion was the only ethical option, and also the only halachically acceptable one. 

But soon in many states, this woman’s medical team would have had to wait and let the infection worsen. Their choice would have been between risking the woman’s life or facing jail time.

That is not a world American Jews should tolerate.”

The Single Sickest Group by Proportion – the Most Violent Protesters of Covid-19 Lockdowns – Pikuach Nefesh F-U

Dear Reader:

The hypocrisy is astounding.

By proportion all over the world, the single sickest group of people to population numbers is the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community. It is in the numbers and the math speaks for itself. These rates of illness (and death) are consistent in the US (with particular attention to New York and New Jersey), in Israel (Bnei Brak, Beit Shemsh, Beitar Ilit), in Belgium (Antwerp), in the Ukraine, in the Netherlands, in England (London) and the list goes on and on. And with the increased rates of illness and flouting of Covid-19 precautions, the increase in many of these places is resentment, hatred and ultimately anti-Jewish sentiment.

Everywhere there are large groups of organized religious people (whatever the religion), the numbers of Covid-19 infected people are higher. Most religious groups have scaled down. The ultra-Orthodox have not! Where they have stopped congregating, the numbers have reduced, sometimes dramatically. Sadly, the ultra-Orthodox Jews have, in large part, not stopped congregating. The rabbis are telling them that it’s all in G-d’s hands. But, if G-d sends us a lifeboat are we not supposed to acknowledge it is there for a reason?

As those same religious Jews profess to be pious and observant, (Talmidim Chachamim) to study Torah and worship One G-d as the Chosen People, they have set aside the single most important tenet of the Jewish laws, the notion of THE SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE. (Pikuach Nefesh) To that, they have said a glorious F-U.

Haredi Society, Flouting Covid-19, Lax Enforcement, Frustration

Enfeebled and enraged, Haredi society feels forsaken on all sides

The focus of growing anger, and increasingly frustrated in turn at the government’s lax enforcement of virus rules, the ultra-Orthodox are now a political time bomb

Monday afternoon in the Knesset. MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism heads to the dais to speak about a bill advancing through parliament that will allow police to slap steep fines on schools that violate virus restrictions and even to close them by force.

He’s visibly angry; his comments are short and to the point.

“You’re only bringing this bill to vilify the Haredi public!” he declares.

Then he adds, in comments that would later go viral on Israeli social media, “It’s not our fault! You, who sent us to live in such crowded conditions, it’s your fault!”

It was an astonishing display that encapsulated the confused, anxious Haredi non-response to the crisis of rule-breaking that’s setting parts of the community aflame, and the frantic search for someone to blame.

Ultra-Orthodox violations of the virus restrictions aren’t new. The problem has simmered for months, occasionally waning as contagion rates and corresponding restrictions recede, then exploding again onto the public agenda when the pandemic returns with a fury.

But the latest round of anger and anxiety surrounding Haredi struggles with the virus has quickly reached a fever pitch. Recent days have seen violent riots in Haredi population centers as police moved in to enforce long-ignored health closures.

In the usually placid city of Bnei Brak, a municipal bus was torched to its metal skeleton after young Haredi men dragged the driver from the vehicle. Camera crews, including a Fox News team, were either attacked or had their vehicles vandalized in Haredi areas. Israeli news broadcasts have carried photogenic vignettes of such violence for days.

Police clash with Haredi men as they enforce coronavirus restrictions in the Haredi neighborhood of Mea She’arim in Jerusalem, January 24, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

And throughout the rising violence, Haredi rabbinic and political leadership were nowhere to be found.

Voter fury

The anger and frustration have now engulfed the debate. Channel 12, sensing the public mood, decided to ask in a poll released Tuesday whether Israelis wanted Haredi political parties to be part of the next governing coalition.

Among the self-identified center-left, 78 percent prefer the next government not include the Haredi parties; just 5% want them included. That’s an extraordinary gap, but not really unexpected. The center-left is largely drawn from Israel’s secular bastions, the large cities, kibbutzim, and the like.

The surprising figure came from the other side, from the self-identified right. A majority, 52%, said they, too, didn’t want the Haredi parties in the next government. Just a third, 33%, said they wanted them.

To continue reading, click here.

Apples and Trees, Kings County, Q-Anon FBI Arrests, DC Coup, Radical Fundamentalism…

Orthodox Jews waving Trump flags in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, October 7, 2020.Credit: YUKI IWAMURA/ REUTERS

How Far Will We Go In Our Support of…

Dear Readers:

This is being written in direct response to calls to publish more about the arrests in Washington, DC, particularly as they relate to the Jewish community and the arrest of a resident of Kings County. For a host of reasons I decided to stay away from the topic; but its absence on these pages has raised as many questions as it has avoided. I will begin by stating that I have shied away from this topic because, on the one hand, if there is one thing I have come to adopt in the last few years it is a firm belief that the system of electing judges and politicians in Kings County, NY is entirely corrupt. The law firms who are on the committees to elect judges, who control the slate, and who are in positions within the power structure in Kings County are in direct conflict of interest with the public’s right to judicial integrity. As such, both the attorneys and their hand-picked elected judges and politicians are ripe for manipulation and all is lost for a fair playing field for anyone on the other side of the kingmakers. I posit that only a judge who is independent can possibly be impartial. And it is my belief that absolute power corrupts absolutely. On the other hand, and taking a consistent view on fairness, reporting the subject of those arrested should also be fair. And, I do not believe it has been.

If I am honest, my feelings about Kings County politics, both judicial and governmental have tempered my approach to anything related to that subject. However, my position as a parent, an idealist and someone who believes that we should be more charitable and kind and that sites like mine should have integrity provides guidance on how I will treat the arrest of a Kings County native, something that will be clear as you continue reading.

Before you read further, be warned. I was not a fan of Trumpism. But, that was more about his brash, childish, vindictive, narcissistic and self-serving traits as a human being. Old-school Republicanism is something I go back and forth on. The office of President in all of its old school formalities are requirements to which I ascribe whomever holds that position. We spent years building up our government; and the office of President should be dignified regardless of the affiliation of the politician who sits there. Even Nixon respected the office and wanted to leave with dignity. Trump, not so much. And Trumpism, the embodiment of the man and his politics, is a frightening window into extremism American style. The following editorial will reflect this view. If you are a forever Trumper, my comments after the first few paragraphs will not be for you. Let’s agree to disagree.

I will start with this: HOW THE DC ARRESTS ARE BEING REPORTED AND SIGNIFICANT BIASES

The arrests of the people in Washington, DC for the role they played in the coup d’etat has highlighted famous figures, likely because it seems so shocking. I premise later some thoughts on that. For now, all of the arrests should be about the individuals, not their families. Some of those arrested are police officers, some governmental figures, GOP lawmakers, some military figures, some violent, some less so, and some Olympic athletes. They were each, in my view, a victim of ideological, neo-Fascist indoctrination with few exceptions. They were following what I firmly believe to have been a false narrative: “Stop the Steal.” That narrative has been a recurring theme through Trump’s entire Presidency, one that attributes his failures to things “stolen from him.” Each person that attended that rally but crossed the line of violence and organized coup is individually accountable for his or her actions. But collectively their leaders, whether governmental, social or religious are no less culpable.

The media coverage of each arrest has focused on the name of the person, not who that person’s parents are, with extremely rare exception. In New York the high profile arrest of a 34-year-old son of a Kings County Practicing Orthodox Jewish judge is one such exception and an unfair stain on the father for the actions of the son. The subject’s father is a registered Democrat and his brother is the executive director of Chovevei Zion, a politically conservative Orthodox advocacy organization as well as a Brooklyn district leader and vice president of the South Brooklyn Conservative club. Clearly there is a difference of opinion on politics within that family. Sitting at the Passover Seder must be an interesting, if not potentially volatile experience. Both of the sons are adults. They both can think for themselves. What happens next is up to the family; but unless the arrested man’s father convinced him to take an active stand in DC, a potentially violent stand, his father should be given his privacy and not made the focus of news articles or media attention.

The Covid Conspiracy? Or, a Group That Believes Itself Immune?

Yeshiva World News WhatsApp Blast

WHEN IT COMES TO REQUESTING CHARITY TO ASSIST VICTIMS OF COVID-19, THE PANDEMIC IS REAL. WHEN IT COMES TO COMPLYING WITH GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS, IT IS NOT REAL. SO, WHICH IS IT?

There is no shortage of video currently available with endless clips of non-socially-distant religious Jews who are not wearing masks and flouting safety precautions. They seemingly do not care about one another in that regard nor do they care about those outside of their community who may be adversely affected by their actions.

Many assert, like President Trump who has proudly proclaimed that Covid-19 is a “gift from G-d” or just a “flu” that Covid-19 is not a major health threat. Many believe that Covid-19 is a conspiracy imposed upon the people [religious Jews] for the purposes of mind control, limiting religious belief or some other absurd assertion. Many within the religious Jewish community believe themselves immune, either because G-d will step in “B’Ezrat Ha’Shem” and provide assistance, because they have already reached “herd immunity” or because the “others” are not worthy of their consideration or concern.

But the great irony is that there are also no shortage of requests for financial assistance, “chesed” charity to families of people suffering from Covid-19 or families of people who have died. When will the reality jive with the illusion that Covid-19 restrictions are not an anti-Semitic approach to a public health threat, but rather, a means to keeping everyone safe.

Covid-19 is a hazardous virus that presents a major health threat. Those members of the religious community who do not comply with strict requirements of social distancing and mask-wearing present a public health threat, not only to themselves but to others. Covid-19 is killing people. Those who are not adhering to law are committing acts of bio-terrorism.

It is about time that the non-civil law adherent Jews within the religious Jewish community at least begin to adhere to Jewish law “Pikuach Nefesh” which holds human life to be paramount.

The Earth Shattering Savagery of NY Jews Beating a”Moser” “Snitch” – Covid-19

Boro Park uprising against @andrewcuomo @nycmayor has begun. People starting fires in the street. So not normal. pic.twitter.com/AB5BpfeyvF

— NYCPHOTOG (@nycphotog) October 7, 2020

The noise — and smell of smoke — heard 5 blocks away as police and FDNY arrive to disperse the crowed pic.twitter.com/byOubETR2v

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) October 7, 2020

Jewish man is left critically injured after being branded a ‘snitch’ by ultra-Orthodox rioters in Brooklyn who attacked him and a photographer for recording COVID-19 violations amid spike in coronavirus cases

Mordy Getz said his brother, Berish Getz, 34, was ‘critically injured by anti-mask Hasidic rioters’ during a protest in Borough Park, Brooklyn, Tuesday night

Victim was reportedly recording video of crowd, when some called him a ‘snitch’ and demanded that he stop; eventually they caught him and assaulted him

Mordy Getz said his brother was critically injured and taken to local hospital   

Meanwhile, near the same area, photographern Bruce Schaff was chased down

He said Orthodox Jewish protesters punched and kicked him for taking photos 

Schaff said he managed to escape before being seriously injured during incident

Protests erupted Tuesday night following Gov Andrew Cuomo’s new restrictions on nine mostly Jewish neighborhoods where coronavirus cases have surged  

The restrictions were placed on schools, businesses and religious gatherings 

The Daily Mail, click here.

A “WOW” Moment – Covid-19 and the “Manhattan Jewish Experience”