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Correspondence

Oct. 2, 1962

Letter to Haham Gaon about Sending Rabbi to India to Resolve Divorce and Conversion Issues (1962)

The Rabbinate India
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Correspondence

Letter from Dr. Weiss to Abraham Jhirad about Sending a Rabbi to India and Problematic Mebasser Content (1962)

Dear Mr. Jhirad, I trust that you received my letter of June 25th. In the meantime, we received here the latest issue of Mebasser. While we are happy that the magazine appeared again, we have been greatly disturbed by some of its contents. We find, for instance, the remarks concerning the late Professor Aaron most distasteful. They amount to the besmirching of the memory of a person no longer among us to defend himself. Even if such remarks were to refer to a living person, they should have no place in a publication dedicated to Torah and its ideals.Also, some of the statements dealing with Israel reveal an unhealthy and vindictive attitude which should have no place in the columns of a magazine which is designed to represent Judaism at its finest.There are two kinds of debates. One kind is directed at, and concerned with, the issue at hand. A point of view is stated and arguments are marshaled in its support. The other kind is directed *ad personam*, attacking the opponent and his motives rather than speaking on the issue. This must be avoided at all costs. It is un-Jewish. It is also very harmful to the cause of the UOJCA, which is to bring people closer to Torah-true Judaism.Of course, you may say it is easy for an outsider to counsel patience in so sensitive an area as is the problem of the recent debate on the marriage rulings of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel. But even to the most excited ones it must become obvious that tremendous progress has been made in the last year—more than in the five preceding decades—and that this progress can only be harmed by explosive and violent statements.It is the leadership of the UOJCA, therefore, which must rise to the wisdom and the statesmanship of keeping their people in check and not to permit vindictiveness and negative attitudes to appear in print or in any other public statement.We learned from Mr. Kelman that Dr. Warhaftig, the Israeli Minister of Religion, in conjunction with the Chief Rabbinate, intends to send a q…
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Letter from Dr. Weiss to Israel Kelman about Sending a Rabbi to India and Problematic Mebasser Content (1962)

Dear Mr. Kelman, Thank you very much for sending me the copies of your letters of June 25th and July 6th. I trust that you received in the meantime Rabbi Lamm's reply, dated July 16th. We here, too, are very much disturbed by some of the statements published in “Mebasser” and by some of the negative tendencies. I have made our feelings very clear to Mr. Jhirad and I hope that it will have the desired effect. The Bene Israel community is, of course, terribly excited about the problem of their marriage disabilities, and allowances must be made. Still, it is not our purpose to support the publication of personal attacks and of anti-Israel material.I hope that in the meantime Dr. Warhaftig has found a rabbi to come to India with full authorization of the Chief Rabbinate, to take care of the pending Gittin. In my letter to Mr. Jhirad, I have made it a point to stress our complete agreement with this proposed procedure.Rabbi Lamm, in his reply of July 16th, has made his annotations to your proposed booklet of prayers. I would like to submit for your consideration the inclusion of *Emet Veyatziv* until *Go'el Yisrael.* I base my recommendation on the fact that the Mishnah ordains the *Berachah Acharonah* in the same way as the preceding two *Berachot.*Our printer tells me that it would be much more practical to reproduce the pictures of our kashruth booklet by photo offset rather than sending you the blocks—or, as we call them here, the cuts—of these photos. Still, if you prefer the blocks, we will send them to you. For your convenience, I am enclosing a set of these photos so that you may ascertain the opinion of your printer on this question.Permission to reprint this booklet or parts of it is, of course, gladly granted. The same applies to all other publications you may wish to translate in toto or in part. As Rabbi Lamm wrote you, Mr. Jhirad has a supply of our booklets available, among them our pamphlets on the Jewish festivals.With kindest personal regards, I amVery…
The Rabbinate India

Correspondence

Letter from Israel Kelman about Sending Rabbi to India to Resolve Divorce and Conversion Issues (1962)

Excerpt: As I wrote to you when I was last in Israel, I discussed the position here with Dr. Warhaftig, the Minister of Religions, who agreed to send a rabbi immediately to deal with divorces, conversions, etc. At the beginning of this month, we received cables to the effect that Rabbi Chugi Abudi, the Av Beth Din of Jerusalem, was being sent here for six weeks. After a series of cables, the proposed *schlichut* was cancelled for the following reasons:The tense situation here as a result of marriage difficulties for the Bene-Israels in Israel.He is an Iraqi – not a very wise choice.I had not collected all the documentation regarding all the cases pending.After considering the whole project, I have suggested to Dr. Warhaftig that it may be advisable to arrange for a rabbi from London or America to come here to deal with the abovementioned problems. For an Israeli to come, it would be interpreted by a rather voluble opposition as an Israeli directive and probably take on a political tinge. I am of the opinion that the above selection would be an English rabbi since India is part of the Commonwealth, whereas I have my serious doubts if a rabbi from America belonging – as he must do – to one of the trends would be acceptable by all sections of the community here.However, if a rabbi from the Orthodox Union would come to India to serve the community for a period of one or two years, I have little doubt that within a short period of time, we could influence the Conservative and Reform groups to accept his rulings on these problems which are causing so much difficulty.THE ABOVE WAS SIGNED BY ISRAEL KALMAN
The Rabbinate India