Shiloh Musings: Syrian Jews

Showing posts with label Syrian Jews. Show all posts

Friday, April 8, 2016

Guest Post: Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman

Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman ZTL
a guest post by Mr. Cohen

===============
INTRODUCTION:
===============

This message is about a short-but-memorable conversation
I had with Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman (of blessed memory)
in year 2004 CE. I believe that it is my duty to publicize
this little story, so it should not be forgotten.

Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman, despite his Ashkenazi name,
served as the spiritual leader of one of the largest
Syrian synagogues in New York City for several decades,
starting in year 1958 CE.

He was also personally involved in attempting to repair
almost every troubled marriage in NYC’s Syrian-Jewish
community for several decades [so I was told].

He also taught at Yeshivah University.

Finally, he also served as an Av Beth Din
[leader of the Rabbinical Court] for that
community for several decades, even though
other Rabbis in that community had the same title.

===============

MY SHORT STORY:
===============

One fine day in year 2004 CE, I saw
Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman and I asked
him where he was coming from.
He explained to me that he had just spent
most of that day attending an agunah conference.

I asked him: Does your community really have an agunah problem?

He answered me: YES.

I asked him: How many agunot are there in the Syrian community of NYC?

He answered me: ONE.

Somehow the subject of wife-beating arose in our conversation.
Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman told me confidently that since
he started serving NYC’s Syrian-Jewish community
in year 1958 CE, there had been exactly ONE case
of wife-beating, and that was in year 1959 CE.

In other words, there was exactly ONE case of wife-beating in 46 years, and this statistic came from a Rabbi who was personally involved in attempting to repair almost every troubled marriage in NYC’s Syrian-Jewish community [of 85,000 people, at that time] for several decades.

===============

LEARN THIS:
===============

His answers made a great impression on my mind, so great that I still remember that conversation 12 years later. He was an extremely busy man; there were many legitimate ways he could have chosen to spend his time.

Yet he chose to spend many hours attending an agunah conference, even though nobody paid him to attend, and even though his community of 85,000 Jews [at that time] had only ONE agunah!

Rabbi Zevulun Leiberman understood even ONE agunah is one-too-many! And he did not merely understand that as a theory; he LIVED that understanding with his actions.

===============

MY STORY 2:
===============

In the 1990s I had a short-but-memorable conversation with a Jew who was born in Syria and moved to New York City in 1959.

He insisted with great emphasis that when he left Syria in year 1959 CE, 99% of Jews in Syria observed Shabbat; and there was NOT EVEN ONE Jew in all of Syria who was a public-Shabbat-desecrator [Mechalel Shabbat Bepharhesia].

Maybe this happened because the Syrian Jews never accepted Reform or Conservative.

There was never a Reform or Conservative Syrian synagogue; only Orthodox.

____________________________________________________

“One [New York] Times opinion editor, Matt Seaton,
even admitted last year [2014 CE] that the newspaper
has a policy of veering away from criticism of Palestinians.”

SOURCE: Final sentence of article titled:
“New York Times Editor: Coverage of Israel
Most Criticized Aspect of Opinion Pages”
by Shiryn Ghermezian, 2015 October 14,
found in: The Algemeiner.

www.algemeiner.com/2015/10/14/new-york-times-editor-coverage-of-israel-most-criticized-aspect-of-opinion-pages/
____________________________________________________
PAT CONDELL SAID:

“Like all things Islamic, the Palestinians long-been
have been officially above criticism in the West…”

SOURCE:
Useful idiots for Palestine by Pat Condell,
2011 November 4 (available for free on YouTube)

MICROBIOGRAPHY:

Pat Condell is an atheist, who was born in Ireland around 1950 CE, and raised in England as a Roman Catholic, and educated in Church of England schools.
____________________________________________________
Please help Shurat HaDin SUE the terrorists in court:

www.IsraelLawCenter.org

Shurat HaDin won $9.4 million in appeal against Iran for terror victims:

http://israellawcenter.org/pr/terror-victims-win-court-victory-over-iran/

Shurat HaDin successfully froze over $600 million in terrorist assets:

http://5tjt.com/bankrupting-terrorism/

Shurat HaDin’s victory for Israel on FaceBook:

www.algemeiner.com/2016/01/08/facebook-finally-caves-on-anti-israel-hate-pages/
www.causematch.com/projects/shurat-hadin-givingtuesday/

Shurat HaDin Wins Major Victory in Lawsuit Against Iran

www.algemeiner.com/2018/02/11/terror-victims-win-major-victory-in-lawsuit-against-iran/

PS: Please check out these pro-Israel web sites:

www.camera.org * www.HonestReporting.com * www.memri.org *
www.ActForAmerica.org * www.aish.com * www.IsraelLawCenter.org
____________________________________________________________
PLEASE help the battle against
internet anti-Semitism by making
a PayPal donation to:
FourCupsOfWine@gmail.com.

THANK YOU!!
____________________________________________________________
OTHER BLOG POSTS BY MR. COHEN:

Quick Bible Quotes from Joshua and Jeremiah:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-joshua-chapter-23-verse-12.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-jeremiah-chapter-17.html

Ancient Roman historians connected Jews with the Land of Israel and Jerusalem:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/02/guest-post-josephus-vs-muslim-liars.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-cornelius-tacticus.html

Rambam Rejected Childless Messiah:

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/08/rambam-rejected-childless-messiah-by-mr.html

Why Muslims Hate Jews:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-why-muslims-hate-jews.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-moynihan-1982.html

Forgotten Muslim Oppression against Jews:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-forgotten-oppression.html

American anti-Semitism:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-seven-times-stronger.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-post-jewish-nyc-mayor.html
__________________________

How a Reform Rabbi Became Orthodox (true story):

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-did-reform-rabbi-become-orthodox-jew.html

Reform Judaism vs. Real Judaism:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-real-judaism.html

Sephardic Jews Reject Reform Judaism:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/07/sephardim-reject-reform.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/08/guest-post-persian-rabbis-decree.html
__________________________

How to Convict the New York Times:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-how-to-convict-new-york-times.html
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-nyt-erases-israel-from-map.html
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/03/guest-postnyt-vs-israel.html

Why Pray for Tzahal-IDF:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/04/guest-post-why-pray-for-idf.html

How to Pray for Tzahal-IDF:

http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/how-to-pray-for-tzahal-idf.html

How intermarriage harms Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel:
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/11/guest-post-joshua-chapter-23-verse-12.html

How Shabbat-desecration harms Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem:

https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/12/guest-post-jeremiah-chapter-17.html

Why Israel’s 1967 Borders are Undefendable:
https://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2017/03/guest-post-why-1967-borders-are-suicide.html

Friday, March 4, 2016

Guest Post: Greek Jews Syrian Jews

* * * Greek NYC Jews and Syrian NYC Jews * * *

a short historical essay by Mr. Cohen,

the moderator of the Derech Emet Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DerechEmet/
that teaches a big lesson about Jewish continuity.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Over the past 35 years, I noticed that the highest intermarriage rates [between Jews and non-Jews] are found in communities where Reform Judaism is most dominant, and the lowest intermarriage rates are found in communities where Reform Judaism does not exist.

Around the 1920s [of the Common Era], tens of thousands of Jews came from Greece to New York City, and tens of thousands of Jews came from Syria to New York City.

In the 1920s, the numbers of Greek Jews and Syrian Jews in New York City were approximately equal. Their observance of Jewish rituals was also approximately equal.

Around that time, the Greek Jews of NYC decided to follow Reform Judaism, while the Syrian Jews followed Orthodox Judaism.

By the 1980s, the Greek Jews of NYC [and the USA] were so few in number that there was only ONE Greek Synagogue in NYC, and that ONE Greek Synagogue functioned mostly as a museum. The very few Greek Jews of NYC were intermarrying with Gentiles at a very high rate, and very few participated in any kind Jewish activities. One Greek Jew who I personally spoke to had decided to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day instead of Purim.

By the 1990s, the Syrian Jews of NYC had grown exponentially, with many new synagogues that did not exist in previous decades, and more-than-enough new Syrian Jews to fill those new synagogues with active members. Their rate of intermarriage with non-Jews was LESS THAN ONE PERCENT [<1%].

By year 2015, the Greek Jews of NYC were so few in number that their community had basically ceased to exist. They had no schools, and only that one synagogue which mostly functioned as a museum.

By year 2015, the Syrian Jews of NYC continued to grow rapidly, with less than 1% intermarriage and many new synagogues that did not exist in the 1990s. The number of schools run by-and-for Syrian Jews also increased dramatically.

The Syrian Jews of NYC also added new mikvahs to their infrastructure, while the Greek Jews of NYC had no mikvahs.

By year 2015 the Syrian Jews of NYC had two of their own monthly magazines, while the Greek Jews had none.

By year 2015 the Syrian Jews of NYC had produced dozens of Rabbis, while the Greek Jews had none.

In the early 1980s the Greek Jews still had their own social club, called The Pashas.
In 2017, I could not find The Pashas with Google, despite several attempts to search for keywords like “Pashas” and “Greek Jews”. The Pashas seem to have vanished.

In dramatic contrast, the Sephardic Community Center (which is misnamed, because it is really the Syrian-Jewish Community Center) has often been filled to capacity or near-capacity since it was built in year 1982, which is impressive, when you consider the large size of the SCC building.

The Sephardic Bikur Cholim (which is misnamed, because it is really the Syrian-Jewish Bikur Cholim) is very active with many programs and its own building. The Greek Jews of NYC do not have their own Bikur Cholim organization.

Between 1980 and 2015, more than a dozen new siddurim and machzorim were published by Syrian Rabbis. Total number of Greek siddurim and machzorim published between 1950 and 2017: zero.

THE VALUABLE LESSON TAUGHT BY THIS TRUE STORY:

Initially, the only significant difference between the Greek Jews of NYC and the Syrian Jews of NYC was that the Greek Jews chose Reform Judaism while the Syrian Jews chose Orthodox Judaism.

Less than a century later, the Greeks Jews [of NYC], who chose Reform Judaism, have vanished; while the Syrian Jews [of NYC], who chose Orthodox Judaism, enjoy a rapidly-growing community and seem to have a bright future.

BOTTOM LINE: Reform Judaism causes entire communities of Jews to become extinct,
while Orthodox Judaism causes Jewish communities to grow rapidly.

PS: This short essay reveals a piece of Jewish History
which is known to only very few individuals.
Therefore, I feel it is my responsibility to publicize it,
before it becomes forgotten.

PS: The Persian Jewish community of NYC, which has never known Reform Judaism, also has an extremely low intermarriage rate. While I do not have exact statistics for Persian Jews, their intermarriage rate seems to be so low that it cannot possibly threaten their future.

PS: The difference between Greeks Jews and Syrian Jews is also demonstrated by their Hollywood celebrity representatives:
Lea Michele [Sarfati] is an American vocalist and actress, famous for her starring role in GLEE. Lea Michele’s father is [or was] a Greek Jew who converted to Christianity and married a non-Jewish wife [Lea Michele’s mother] and together they raised their non-Jewish daughter [Lea Michele] to be Catholic.
Paula Abdul, another famous Hollywood vocalist, is a Syrian Jew who lights Shabbat candles and helps Chabad.
____________________________________________________
PLEASE help the battle against
internet anti-Semitism by making
a PayPal donation to:
FourCupsOfWine@gmail.com.
THANK YOU!!
________________________________________

Please help Shurat HaDin SUE the terrorists in court:
www.IsraelLawCenter.org

Shurat HaDin won $9.4 million in appeal against Iran for terror victims:

http://israellawcenter.org/pr/terror-victims-win-court-victory-over-iran/

Shurat HaDin successfully froze over $600 million in terrorist assets:
http://5tjt.com/bankrupting-terrorism/

Shurat HaDin’s victory for Israel on FaceBook:

www.algemeiner.com/2016/01/08/facebook-finally-caves-on-anti-israel-hate-pages/

www.causematch.com/projects/shurat-hadin-givingtuesday/

Shurat HaDin Wins Major Victory in Lawsuit Against Iran
www.algemeiner.com/2018/02/11/terror-victims-win-major-victory-in-lawsuit-against-iran/
________________________________________

PS: Please check-out these pro-Israel web sites:

www.camera.org * www.HonestReporting.com * www.memri.org * www.ActForAmerica.org * www.aish.com

____________________________________________________________
OTHER BLOG POSTS BY MR. COHEN:

How a Reform Rabbi Become Orthodox (true story):
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-did-reform-rabbi-become-orthodox-jew.html