Letter to Chief Rabbi Unterman about the Destruction of Bombay Beit Din Archives and Bene Israel Integration (1964)

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לכבוד הרה״ג מוהר״ר איסר יהודה אונטרמן שליט"א

אחדש״ת!

לפני כעשרה שבועות שוחחתי את רומע״כ ע״י הטלפון בענין שאלת כת בני ישראל מהודו, ומע״כ תמה אז במה שעשה הגבאים של ביהכנ״ס של יוצאי בגדד בבומביי במה ששרפו את כל התשובות של הב״ד של בגדד בשאלת הבנ״י, והבטחתי לו לחקור ולדרוש בענין ולהודיעו על הנ״ל.

הנה מיד כתבתי אל הרב שלמה ששון שליט"א מאנגליה, אבל בינתיים נחלה, ותשובתו קבלתי רק אתמול. לפי דבריו, גבאיי ביהכנ"ס היו תקיפים ובעלי זרוע, ולא מן הנמנע שלא יצייתו לדברי הב"ד: אך מה השיחות ואת כל ההעתקים זה לא מפני שדנו את התשובות לשריפה מחשש שמא ימצא אותו מישהו, אלא מפני ההתרשלות והיחס של אי-חשיבות וביטול כלפי כל הענין. מעשם הי' במקרה רגילים, פשוט לפנות מקום לחומר ח__.

אני מקוה שקיימתי בזה את הבטחתי, ואני תפילה שסו"ס יבא כל הענין על מקומו בשלום.

בכבוד רב, ובברכות התורה,

נחום לאם

Letter to Moses Feuerstein about the Position of the Israeli Rabbinate on Bene Israel (1961)

Dear Moe: Concerning the [redacted] fiasco, I had spoken to Rabbi Kahaneman at least twice. I very much fear that the situation is beyond his control at this point. Rabbi [redacted] has already agreed to the "Heter." The problem is the circumstances under which this was done. I think that Dr. Weiss can enlighten you more in the discouraging aspects of the case. Sincerely, Rabbi Norman Lamm

Practical Halacha India

Letter to Dr. Weiss about the OU's Attitude Towards the Position of the Israeli Rabbinate on Bene Israel and Sending a Rabbi to India (1962)

Dear Dr. Weiss: (1) The enclosed copy is for your records.(2) Your letter to Jhirad was most appropriate. To say that I am dismayed by the information he has sent us from Bombay is an understatement. (3) I have before me the letter to you of April 22nd from Dr. Tartakower. Basically, I think he is right. The “p’sak” by the Chief Rabbi has been given and, as you so well put it, “gazetted.” The problem of the controversy that remains would come into consideration, possibly, if the Union were called upon to officiate at a wedding or openly declare its position. However, this is not the case. All that we are asked to do is to participate in the budget for sending a qualified Rabbi to India. We ought to have sufficient confidence in the Chief Rabbi to do at least this. Frankly, from Jhirad’s letters, from the apparent deterioration in the situation in Bombay, and from information from other sources, the situation is most acute, and nothing less than sending a Rabbi now—not three years hence—will be an adequate solution.To my mind, we ought to inform Dr. Tartakower that we agree in principle, but that the exact nature of our budgetary commitment is as yet undetermined. The Overseas Commission should then make a decision in the matter.Sincerely,RABBI NORMAN LAMMNL\:ffEnd.

Practical Halacha India

Letter from David Mazgaonkar to the "Mebasser" Criticizing Israeli Rabbinate on the Bene Israel (1963)

Dear Sir: I make bold to address you on the matter which is of vital importance to every Bene Israel in India. a. Presumably you have read in the "Mebassar" of February 1963 that in January of this year the Kenesseth, by a majority, defeated Mr. Emma Talmi's Bill which sought to punish the marriage Registrars who attempted to impose restrictions on the performance of marriages between Bene Israel of India and other Jews in the State of Israel. The Government of Israel has accepted Bene Israel for the purpose of recruitment as bonded labourer to dig roads and trenches on the borders of the Israel State! But where marriage with other Israelis are concerned they have left the Bene Israel to the tender mercies of the ravenous Rabbinical wolves who seek to impose on them an inferiority status, in precisely the same manner as it was imposed on Jews in Eastern Europe, Hitler's Germany and Arab States. With the formation of Israel State these refugees from Arab State and Eastern Europe have now assumed the roles of arbiters to decide the purity of Jews from India and are attempting to the same inferiority status on Bene Israel which was imposed on the Jewry in Eastern Europe and Arabia. b. The second disturbing news published in the same issue of "Mebassar" is about the visit to India of Rabbis Goren Senior Chaplain to Israeli Armed forces, for the self-imposed task of finding out whether the Bene Israel community of India at all consists of even a fragment of "pure Jews".In this connection I may state that the Bene Israel community in India never intended to seek any recognition from the Jews outside India during its isolation for over 2,000 years. They remained true to Torah without the help of a Rabbi and kept themselves scrupulously aloof from intermarriage with local Indian communities by segregating the progeny of such intermarriages. Are we the descendants of these proud Bene Israel forefathers now prepared to submit ourselves to scrutiny by the descendants of those…

Practical Halacha India