Free Telephone
Conference Laws of Marriage and Family Even Hoezer #19 - Sept
9 Wed 9:30 PM
Destruction of Marriage, Family and
Derech Erets now in “Footsteps of the Moshiach”
Call 605-562-3130
enter code 411161#
Rabbi Dovid E.
Eidensohn/845-578-1917/eidensohnd@gmail.com
The gemora[1]
lists two major causes of Jewish decline and confusion. One is the Destruction
of the Second Temple when the Romans destroyed the Temple and exiled many Jews.
The other major cause of Jewish decline and confusion is called “In the
Footsteps of the Moshiach.” It seems that the latter problems are, in some
crucial areas, much worse than the era of the Destruction of the Second Temple.
The earlier periods were known for the losses of great rabbis and deep decline in
the level of Torah learning. But the “footsteps of the Moshiach” period is
known for decline in family and Derech Erets. We know that Derech Erets comes
before the Torah. This is taught in the beginning of Sefer Tono Divei Eliyohu.
When we see today the decline of marriage and family, we
must realize the magnitude of our difficulties. Surely the young children who
are the greatest sufferers of a broken marriage should arouse us to think about
improving things. The way things are going, there will be many children broken
in spirit. And also, as I will explain, we have a growing problem with invalid
Gittin that leads to Mamzeruth.
The problems we face in family today are:
1.
young people refusing to
marry
2.
divorce is common
3.
broken children from broken
marriages
But there is another problem, in a sense, worse than the
others. And that is, that there is a huge war among the rabbinate how to deal
with some of these problems. The major issue is whether or not to force a
husband to divorce when his wife demands a GET. Some will be quite lenient and
seek any excuse to declare a woman free to remarry despite the fact that the
husband did not want to give a GET and was forced to divorce. And some will say
that such a coercion such as that practiced by ORA, to publicly humiliate and
demonstrate outside of the house of the husband and his family, makes an
invalid GET. The children born from the woman when she remarries with an
invalid GET are mamzerim. Thus, in the coming generation, we will have people
who keep Shabbos and go to shull, and will want to marry somebody, and will be
told, “You are a mamzer.” This is the ultimate child abuse, and there is no
cure for it.
But the rabbis who made the problem may not retract. They
will perhaps perform marriages for such people as they believe that the GET was
kosher. The Orthodox community will thus be split over the issue of who is a
mamzer.
Ultimately, all
divorced women could be a problem, until the details of her divorce and what
Beth Din she used are clarified. Even today, there are Beth Dins that Gedolei
HaDor have ruled that they lose Chezkas Beth Din, the status of a Beth Din for
Gittin, because they violate open teachings in the Shulchan Aruch when forcing
a GET. I personally heard this from Posek HaDor HaGaon Rav Yosef Shalom
Elyashev zt”l. We spoke at length about coerced Gittin and the New York State
GET law which he opposed as it coerced a GET. And he sai that any Beth Din that
coerces against the Shulchan Aruch loses the status of a Beth Din. This was
subsequently published as a letter from leading rabbis today, in the book
Mishpitei Yisroel. The Beth Din of Rav Nissim Karelitz, Rav Chaim Kanievsky,
Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner and many other great rabbis ruled that any woman who
coerces her husband to give a GET with public humiliations [such as done by
ORA] has an invalid GET and must have a new GET by a respected Beth Din.
Rabbi Moshe Heinemann of Baltimore has a letter on ORA’s
website calling for people to support its humiliation of husbands to force a
GET, and congratulating them on the forced Gittin of 150 women. I consider
those Gittin as very possibly invalid and children born from them are quite
possibly mamzerim. Thus, we realize just how bad the battle is and it will be getting worse, not better. It will not
be between Modern Orthodox and Haredim.
It has now become a war in Yeshiva University and among the Modern
Orthodox, some stricter and some more lenient. It is a problem for the Haredim,
as one Rosh Yeshiva of the Philadelphia Yeshiva is encouraging a woman to
remarry without a GET, even though her husband wants to settle things and give
a GET. The vast majority of Haredi and even
Modern Orthodox rabbis consider the children born from this woman if she
remarries and has a child, to be a definite mamzer. But there are all kinds of
rabbis, and many of them have no fear of doing what they want, and producing
all kinds of children with severe problems of mamzeruth.
“Who is wise? He is sees the future.” Are we prepared to
realize the above? Are we ready to do something about it?
The above gemora in Sota about the suffering an decline of
the Jews says, “And we have nobody to turn to other than our Father in Heaven.”
Reb Elchonon Wasserman said, “This is not a call for despair. It is a call for
the courage to fight for Derech Erets and Torah even in the darkest times, and
HaShem is stronger than anything else.”
Now, before Rosh HaShana, let us gird ourselves with courage
and faith, and fight for the children who will ask us, “Why were you silent when
I became a mamzer?”
And if they do not ask, HaShem will ask. And He will be
asking this on Rosh HaShana, and Yom Kippur. He will be asking this every day.
Anyone who is truly concerned about the future of our
children should call me or write me at the above contacts.
Dovid Eidensohn
“I know Rav Eidensohn for many years as one who delves
deeply into complex halacha.” The Gaon Reb Moshe Feinstein zt”l’s haskomo on my
halacha sefer. “Words of truth are recognized, and they are written lishmo.”
HaGaon Rav Shmuel HaLevi Wosner zt”l’s haskomo on my halacha sefer. HaGaon Rav
Yosef Shalom Elyashev zt”l gave me his name to use for my Gittin Beth Din.
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