Letter from Moses Feuerstein about Soliciting R. Kahaneman to Weigh in on the Bene Israel Controversy (1961)

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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 Moses Feuerstein about the Position of the Israeli Rabbinate on Marriage with Bene Israel (1962)

Dear Moe: I think no more about the enclosed than you do. I am awaiting the text of the Chief Rabbi's decision before I can appreciate all the nuances and subtleties of the situation. However, superficially it seems that Rabbi Nissim struck a compromise. He allows intermarriage with the Bene-Israel, but only after a thorough search of the genealogy of the Bene-Israel applicant. The Rabbis of the right object to the dispensation altogether, and the Bene-Israel activists in Israel object to the special condition. Poor Rabbi Nissim is right in the middle. Which is where we are, too. Cordially yours, Rabbi Norman Lamm

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