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Posted on 06/30/2004 3:36:34 PM PDT by Alouette
Gedolei Yisroel [Rabbinical Authorities] Warn Against Birthright Trips to Israel
by M. Halevy
Last year, gedolei Yisroel [rabbinical authorities] in Eretz Hakodesh (the Holy Land) and the US, headed by Maran HaRav Yosef Sholom Eliashiv, shlita, issued a statement against trips for chareidi ("ultra-Orthodox") youths from the US to Eretz Yisroel that cause numerous stumbling- blocks, in tznius [modesty], kashrus [keeping kosher] and hashkofoh [religious beliefs]. Maranan verabonon [Our Rabbis and Teachers] said these trips, organized by a program called Birthright, have a detrimental effect on the participants.
In recent years, an Israeli-American organization with Zionist leanings began offering trips to Israel to impart girls with "ahavas Yisroel." [Love of Israel] These trips are highly subsidized and many participants--hastily assuming the program was sponsored by chareidim and was perfectly kosher-- have been tempted to take part.
Last summer, rabbonim from the US and Eretz Hakodesh [The Holy Land] strongly opposed the initiative, which has already caused spiritual harm to many girls, after it was learned that the organization planned to expand its activities by offering similar trips for boys.
Recently, a prominent educator reiterated warnings against these trips, after hearing more stories about the spiritual dangers they contain, including the following account: A group of girls from Monsey registered for a chareidi seminary in Israel for girls from abroad. Before the school year began, they unknowingly decided to join a Birthright trip. One of the guides was a female soldier who had been educated in chareidi institutions before falling off the path [of religious observance]. This soldier formed a friendship with several of the girls and later even came to the seminary where they studied. The director would not allow her to come inside, but for one of the girls it was already too late. This chareidi girl had already formed a bond with the soldier girl and agreed to meet with her outside the seminary. Eventually the soldier had a negative influence on the seminary student and took her to Lishkat Hagius (the IDF induction bureau), had her sign induction forms and walked her through the induction process. Thus the seminary girl descended into spiritual ruin, to the astonishment of all her acquaintances.
Rabbonim [Rabbis] and principals recently received a disturbing letter containing eyewitness testimony by two Birthright participants describing the stumbling- blocks and spiritual trials they faced during the trip.
"Our journey began on a Monday," they wrote. "When we arrived at the airport we were greeted by the tour guide and a representative of the travel company. We immediately noticed they were clearly not chareidi and wondered what lay in store for us. When the girls got off the bus at the first rest stop and began to take pictures, we immediately noticed the lack of spiritual supervision on the trip. All those who oversaw the trip saw that their responsibility focused only on maintaining the girls' health and physical well-being. There was nobody there who could guide the girls in matters of kashrus [what food is and is not kosher], tznius [modesty] or halocho [Jewish law].
"During our trip, because the girls thought they were on a Bais Yaakov [Bais Yaakov is a very prominent network of Orthodox girls' schools] trip, they let down their guard and were not wary to maintain an upstanding spiritual level. Some of the girls went with the flow and accepted the entire itinerary without question because they assumed it had been planned according to a Bais Yaakov level.
"When we began to get friendly with the girls, we learned of the lack many of them sensed. These girls had come to Eretz Yisroel [the Land of Israel], many of them for the first time, with tremendous expectations of encountering the kedushoh [holiness] of Eretz Yisroel. But there was no opening talk about the kedushoh of Eretz Yisroel and how to access this power.
"Based on this marked lack, we took responsibility. At this point, L. gave a short, stirring talk on the kedushoh of Eretz Yisroel. This was a real awakening for the girls and for the first time they really felt they were in Eretz Yisroel.
"A few days later we grew closer to the girls. Some of them told us that until that moment they had wondered what was not quite right with them. They couldn't understand why they failed to feel the kedushoh they had heard so much about. After the first night, the two of us recognized we were the only ones who could assume the job of spiritual supervision and we privately decided we would do as much as we could. Some of the girls on the trip also recognized the problems we faced and they told us of their concerns."
At this point, the chareidi girls described incidents in which the participants were taken to restaurants with questionable or no kashrus where some of them ate because they relied on the organizers. The overall nature of the trip and the choice of sites to visit was more suited to the secular Zionist approach and the explanations given by the official guides had Enlightenment undertones.
The long, detailed letter goes on to say, "On Thursday we took a tour of the northern town of Tzippori. We were taken to an archaeological dig and they brought us into what was once the home of a wealthy Jew who lived around the time of the Mishnoh. We were astonished to see the ancient mosaic floor was decorated with depictions of pritzus [nude figures] and immodesty and images of centaurs suggestive of pagan culture. The girls were not yet aware of the hashkofoh [religious outlook] problems with the tour guide and when she began to speak, many of them still accepted her remarks as authoritative. The guide explained that the home had belonged to an influential Jew who lived during the time of R' Yehuda Hanossi and the findings indicated the floor may have been from the home of R' Yehuda himself [afro lepumei] [so she claimed] . . .
"We realized how illogical what she was saying was, but we stood and listened until we saw some of the girls were accepting her remarks as fact. When L. saw a girl taking notes on what the guide was saying and other girls began to speak, a debate broke out over the logic of her [the tour guide's] explanations. This was our first open confrontation. We tried to stop the debate without retreating from our position.
"In response to our remarks, the tour guide said perhaps R' Yehuda lived in this house and the fact he could assimilate Roman culture [afro lepumei] without being negatively influenced is indicative of his high dargoh [spiritual status] . . . We left Tzippori with an uncomfortable feeling, knowing the girls had imbibed spiritual coolness and bewilderment as a result of what happened."
*
A letter issued by roshei yeshivos and marbitzei Torah [Rabbinical scholars and Semiary Deans] in the US read, "With regard to the trips known as Birthright, in which many from our own ranks have begun to participate, we hereby alert and warn that although the leaders of the trips present them as kosher and in keeping with our ways, we have learned this is not the case and they harbor a great danger to the education of our dear children by causing our sons and daughters to breach the bounds of tznius and kashrus and to expose them to opinions that run counter to our holy Torah. Therefore, parents and teachers should know not to register their son or daughters or talmidim for trips of this sort."
The statement is signed by HaRav Shmuel Birnbaum, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir; HaRav Yisroel Povarsky, rosh yeshiva of Beis HaTalmud; HaRav Aharon Shechter, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin; HaRav Eliyoh Simchah Shustal, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Beis Binyomin of Stamford; HaRav Shmuel Avigdor Feivelson, rosh yeshiva of Beis Medrash LeTorah; HaRav Yosef Rosenbloom, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Shaarei Yosher; HaRav Chaim Leib Halevy Epstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Zichron Melech; HaRav Eliyoh Dov Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Zichron Moshe of South Fallsberg; and HaRav Malkiel Kotler, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Lakewood.
In Eretz Hakodesh, gedolei Yisroel wrote, "Gedolei haTorah of the Diaspora in America have already revealed their opinion, daas Torah, regarding the breach of arranging trips to Eretz Hakodesh in the framework of Birthright, which lacks any proper oversight and spiritual supervision, leading to numerous stumbling blocks in modesty and kashrus and exposure to a misleading worldview, and opinions contrary to the holy Torah in the framework of these trips.
"We hereby join them in their directive not to send talmidim and talmidos [yeshiva and seminary students] on these trips.
"And be'ezras Hashem [G-D willing] those who heed us will merit nachas [pride] of kedushoh [holiness] from their children."
The letter is signed by Maran HaRav Eliashiv, HaRav Aharon Yehuda Leib Steinman, HaRav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and HaRav Shmuel Auerbach, shlita.
HaRav Lefkowitz also stated his opinion in a separate letter in which he replies to inquiries and explains at length that these visits are in stark contradiction to daas Torah [Jewish religious opinion] in their very essence since they distort the proper perspective on Eretz Yisroel.
"Regarding trips called Birthright, in which many people from our own ranks have begun to participate, including groups of girls raised in chareidi homes, the results demonstrate that during the short time they are in Eretz Yisroel many of them are negatively influenced and are infused with a hashkofoh that Eretz Hakodesh, chas vesholom [G-D forbid], is a place and a state just like any other country, with no feeling for the kedushoh [of Eretz Yisroel and of the site of Beis Hamikdosh] [Holy Temple] even after the Churbon, [destruction] [while] Chazal [Our Holy Sages] say the kedushoh of the Kosel Maarovi [Western Wall] has not ceased, for it is a place of tefilloh [prayer] to the Creator.
"And now we have heard that this organization seeks to arrange [a trip for] a group of bochurim [young men] studying at yeshivas in the U.S. [who are] unaware that these trips, Rachmono litzlan [G-D forbid], distance the participants from everything holy, and the organizers represent a group that can be considered machti'ei horabim [inciting to sinfulness], a type of group Rabbenu Yonah in Shaarei Tshuvoh ["Gates of Repentance"] ruled it is forbidden to join (Shaar 3, Piska 51). Therefore we hereby warn parents and yeshiva staffs to prohibit talmidim from joining this group for trips of this kind, for the danger is a very dire danger and who can know the extent of [spiritual] decline they can cause?
"May HaKadosh Boruch Hu ["The Holy One, Blessed Be He"] infuse us with a spirit of purity and holiness to be safeguarded from all of these ways of the yetzer hora [Satan] and may all those who heed [this warning] merit siyata deShmaya [G-D's protection]. May HaKodosh Boruch Hu spare us from such trials."
However, the "Free Trip to Israel" program appeals to two groups of American Jews: 1) Religious youths whose families can't afford to send them to Israel on vacation and 2) Leftwing ISM sympathizers who use "Birthright" free trips as a way of ripping off a free ticket from the eeeeevil Zionists and then go on to Gaza to serve as "human shields" for terrorists.
The program was never designed for the "ultra-Orthodox" and therefore the primarily leftist, secular organizers of these tours are not equipped to handle the particular requirements of this group.
My son went to Israel on a "Birthright" tour, ostensibly for "Orthodox" students, but according to him, they visited mixed beaches and other sites not particularly apropriate for religious Jews. Thank G-D, when my son's "Birthright" tour ended, he entered a "hesder" yeshiva (which combines Torah study with military training) and then joined the IDF.
Other "Birthright" participants, like Adam Shapiro, need I say more?
My youngest daughter wants to go to Israel on this program next year. She is an impressionable, easily influenced teenager, so I am concerned about negative impact this might have. However, she really wants to take advantage of the program in order to visit her sister in Safed.
If there was no age limit, I'd go myself! Maybe someone can start a program for parents of IDF soldiers.
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I wonder at the notion that joining the IDF and defending the Jewish nation against those who seek to destroy it and all its inhabitants constitutes "spiritual ruin."
Well, my prayers for your son. I don't understand the Ultra-Orthodox--who would want to live in Israel but not fight to defend her?--but I am a Christian and far from the intricacies of Jewish faith and politics. I just pray for a secure and faithful Israel.
you need to look a the big picture here - if the vast majority of participants are being infused with a genuine and strong love for, and connection with, Israel, then the program is beneficial - and that seems to be the general consensus.
that there are occasional exceptions (did Adam Shapiro really go on this trip?) is sad, but to be expected. however, lapses in Halachik standards definitely need to be addressed.
Which is a good thing, no?
My son went to Israel on a "Birthright" tour, ostensibly for "Orthodox" students, but according to him, they visited mixed beaches and other sites not particularly apropriate for religious Jews.
There's "Orthodox" and there's "ultra-Orthodox" and there's "Haredi," and there is no authoritative definition of where the lines are drawn. If you're that particular, you should check things out more carefully.
This seems like an easily fixable problem. The more Orthodox could have their own tours. I know the Chabad Rabbi in my area is planning on doing a Birthright trip with local kids. In terms of Adam Shapiro, let's not waste our energy worrying about that self hating jerk off. There are much more positive things for us to do.
Well, if anything, my son has become more devout since joining the IDF.
I think the article was worried about the negative effect that military service would have on religious girls, since there are no units for religious women comparable to those for religious men, there is rampant promiscuity among female soldiers and abortion is encouraged.
Most Americans know either secular leftist Jews or "modern" Orthodox who participate in "normal" everyday modern life (sometimes in ways not to their credit, like the entertainment business). How many Americans are aware of that other vast world out there?
I wish HaShem's help and guidance for you in dealing with your daughter. May HaShem and His True Sages guard and save Beit Yisra'el and ultimately the human race from impurity and from the false philsophies of the modern world. 'Amein. Ken yehi ratzon.
My co worker just came back from a birth right trip. He loved it.
How old are these girls? It seems that they are raised to be too trusting of anything that seems to have a "Rabbinic" stamp of approval and have a hard time asserting themselves when challenged.
This highlights the need for parents to go over plans with their children, check them out and discuss issues that are likely to come up. It surprises me that parents would send their teens on such a trip without even knowing who the sponsors or counselors would be.
Yeah, well, I've been called all three at various and sometimes at the same time.
But it's FREE!!!! They would be much more meticulous if they were paying for it.
My point is that if a tour is described as "Orthodox," it's probably a safe bet that they won't serve pork or ride in a bus on Saturday, but if you have stricter standards than that, you ought to ask first.
"Birthright" was originally set up for the unaffiliated and uneducated secular American Jew, it was not intended for the religious. However a very large number of the applicants are Orthodox and so the organizers set up a program called Maayanot for religious tours. Maayanot is targeted to the "Modern Orthodox" or "Young Israel" Jew, not the Hasidim.
Now, even though my family is Hasidic, the program did work out very well for my son. I don't know if it would be a good influence for my daughter, unless she could just skip the tour and head directly to Tzefat to her sister.
Now if the Satmars and the 'Snags want free tickets to the Holy Land but don't want their little darlings exposed to (gasp! horror!) Zionism, let them set up their own tours. If they are so repulsed by Zionism, maybe they can get George Soros to bankroll the project.
Then they should be banned from Israel more than the Kahanists are.
SEE ALOUETTE that ticket
Let Israel draft you start program for parents of IDF soldiers
NOW YOU THINKING
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