schechte@csd2.UUCP (asher schechter) (01/28/85)
The "racist Ultra-Orthodox" people mentioned in Bill's article are
just trying to save the Israeli society from a disaster. If the
Ethiopian Jews don't undergo a "token" giyur then their children
would be considered possible mamzarim by jewish law (like it or not).
It may be "racist" but jews don't marry into a people whose origin
is not known hallachically to be Jewish and pure. To save Israel
we ask the Ethiopian Jews to swallow their pride for a minute and
conform with this technicality.
The rabbinical interpretation of nidda was given at Sinia and
all Jews knew about it but may have forgotten it.
Asher Schechterrlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Fred Mertz) (02/02/85)
> The "racist Ultra-Orthodox" people mentioned in Bill's article are > just trying to save the Israeli society from a disaster. If the > Ethiopian Jews don't undergo a "token" giyur then their children > would be considered possible mamzarim by jewish law (like it or not). > It may be "racist" but jews don't marry into a people whose origin > is not known hallachically to be Jewish and pure. To save Israel > we ask the Ethiopian Jews to swallow their pride for a minute and > conform with this technicality. [Asher Schechter] On the other hand, how do the Ethiopian Jews know that those Jews in Israel are "halachically" "pure"? Perhaps the pride-swallowing should be in the other throat. -- "Does the body rule the mind or does the mind rule the body? I dunno." Rich Rosen {ihnp4 | harpo}!pyuxd!rlr
teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz) (02/07/85)
The token giyur as it was called does not alleviate the problem of mamzerut. A Jew who is a mamzer can never undo him status. So if the problem with the Ethiopians was mamzerut they would be stuck The idea of the gerut, as I understand it, is for the Ethiopians to show that they accept modern rabbinic explainations of the Torah. By modern I mean the Talmud, which they did not have. They must show that they are willing to join rabbinic Judaism, and not the version they have been practicing, because their version is not recognized, and if tey want to join the Jewish community they must accept the laws as we have them. The only probem I have is their contention of coming from the Queen of Sheba. Aside from the traditional commentaries who say that the ruler was not female but rather a male, and the use of the feminine is to show a weak ruler, or to show that a delegation was sent to Solomon rather than the king himself, I still have one problem. Was the queen, assuming she was a woman, Jewish? If not, then the Ethiopians are not Jewish either, and then their gerut is a very real one. If she was Jewish then the gerut would be a symboic lic acceptance of rabbinic authority Eliyahu Teitz. > The "racist Ultra-Orthodox" people mentioned in Bill's article are > just trying to save the Israeli society from a disaster. If the > Ethiopian Jews don't undergo a "token" giyur then their children > would be considered possible mamzarim by jewish law (like it or not).