RSS
Rabbinical court rules Berlin rabbi accused of sexual misconduct should not hold positions of authority
(JTA) – A Jewish religious court has determined that a Berlin rabbi accused of manipulating women into sexual contact should not hold any positions of religious authority in the Jewish world.
The decision, announced Wednesday morning, follows days of testimony from at least 15 women who had accused Reuven Yaacobov of using his rabbinical status to force them to comply with his sexual demands over more than a decade. Yaacobov also testified last week before the court, known as a beit din, after the court delayed its process to accommodate him.
“Reuven Yaacobov is not fit to hold a rabbinical position,” the beit din said in a letter to the plaintiffs who had testified, and who were authorized to share the letter publicly.
“Accordingly, he should not serve in any religious, rabbinical, or educational positions such as a Rabbi, shochet (ritual slaughterer), mohel (circumciser), sofer (scribe), and teacher,” the letter said.
Yaacobov had filled all of those roles in Berlin’s Jewish community over nearly two decades. The Jewish Community of Berlin, the communal umbrella organization, had fired him on May 31, one day after hearing testimony from several women who accused him of sexual misconduct. They and other women came forward afterward to give the beit din their accounts of being preyed upon by Yaacobov, whom they said had taken advantage of their naivete or emotional vulnerability to use religious arguments to lure them into sexual relations.
“I am happy that his status has been removed,” one of the women who testified before the beit din told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Wednesday. “I fear he will continue to influence people, to manipulate and do his things, but the decision means there will be fewer victims.
“The more public it is, the better,” added the woman, who asked to remain anonymous because she said she feared Yaacobov. “If everyone in the whole world shares this, he will have less chances to do his things elsewhere.”
In a public statement, the rabbinical court said its decisions reflected a clear expression of communal values.
“A person who harasses or abuses others is not suitable to hold a rabbinical position and should not be in religious, rabbinical or educational positions,” the court said.
In a statement issued through his attorney, Yaacobov disputed the court’s legitimacy under Jewish law and said its process had been “one-sided,” with his guilt predetermined. He also said the court and he were operating under “two different worldviews as far as Judaism is concerned” because the court is made of Ashkenazi rabbis and he is a Sephardic Jew.
“I do not accept the beit din’s decision and will contradict it in another beit din,” he said in the statement. “Today I know more than before that it was a targeted campaign against me, and that beit din was part of that campaign. I remain strong and will continue to fight until the full truth comes out and all the people who organized this campaign will be punished by the court.”
Yaacobov also noted in the statement that the beit din had not ordained him and thus could not rescind his rabbinic ordination. While the beit din did not claim to rescind his ordination, Rabbi Avichai Apel — who is on the board of ORD, Germany’s Orthodox rabbinical organization, and was one of the rabbis sitting on the bet din — said his group has been in touch with the Israel-based organization that ordained Yaacobov.
The ORD said that all circumcisions and bar mitzvahs carried out by Yaacobov remain valid. Apel told JTA anyone who had concerns about the status of a Torah scroll written by Yaacobov could contact the organization.
The rabbis of the beit din issued several other calls intended to manage the fallout of the case, which has particularly impacted a subset of Germany’s Russian-speaking Jewish community. The rabbis called on the general public to “continue to treat his wife and children with respect,” and to ignore any photos that the accused might publish of his accusers.
Some of the women who spoke to JTA previously said that when they tried to extricate themselves from Yaacobov’s influence, he told them he had taken compromising photos or videos of them and others and would release them.
Apel said the beit din warned Yaacobov not to release any such photos, if he had them.
The rabbis of the beit din also urged the Jewish Community of Berlin to reopen the Sephardic Synagogue, which has been locked since Yaacobov’s firing, as swiftly as possible, and to provide financial support to the women to cover the costs of psychological treatment “for the trauma they have suffered and its consequences.”
Another woman who had testified before the beit din told JTA on Wednesday that the swift action against Yaacobov over the last six weeks reflected the right approach to allegations of sexual misconduct.
“If you want to be sure that something is just a rumor, you have to investigate it,” the woman said. “The person with the resources and the power and the knowledge, they need to investigate.”
—
The post Rabbinical court rules Berlin rabbi accused of sexual misconduct should not hold positions of authority appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
The post ‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login