I am really not sure what to think about the latest developments in the inquiry into the Meron tragedy. Yesterday they sent warning letters to several people involved. Aryeh Deri so far hasn't been warned of an impending indictment and seems to have convinced them he was not responsible, but Netanyahu as Prime Minister for 12 consecutive years with overall responsibility and awareness of the dangerous situation was warned, as was Amir Ohana the Minister of Internal Security at the time, along with several police officials and other central figures. Maybe more will be coming to other people, maybe not.

According to the news, another structure in the Kever Rashbi complex in Meron has been dismantled last night as per a recent court order.

 I have lost count but this is the most recent in a  series of structures in the complex to have been ordered destroyed. 

It is amazing to consider the chaos and anarchy that was going on in Kever Rashbi complex, no rules, no order, no law. I dont know who "they" is, but they basically just did whatever they wanted. Everyone already said this when the Meron Tragedy happened but it really is a miracle no disaster had happened there previously, considering the lack of order and safety compliance.

Today we will approve a compensation package of half a million shekels for each family that lost a loved one in the Meron tragedy. This is a very serious humanitarian situation, and the government of Israel is offering a hand. The State should take responsibility, even before the conclusions of the investigative committee, which can still take a lot of time... this year the celebration in Meron will look different. We will allow it to take place in a safe manner. Whoever goes to Meron - does not need to endanger his life. I rely on the Minister of Religious Affairs and on the rest of the ministers involved in this. The compensation will not bring back the 45 people who died there but at least it will help the families get through such a difficult period.

The "Vaadat Chachamisha", the Committee of Five, that runs the complex of Kever Rashbi in Meron recently announced that as of this Thursday the complex will be shut down. They are having a problem finding insurance to cover the site, ever since the tragedy this past lag B'Omer in which 45 pilgrims died. Without insurance on the site, they are not willing to keep it open to visitors with the risk falling all on them. If, God forbid, something should happen and some would get hurt there, they could be sued without insurance.

If the Admors play for an hour or more with the cotton, it draws the whole thing out, the young people stand around and watch, it becomes interesting. If they come out and light the match, the whole thing takes a minute or two, so how many people will stop and watch? 500? But if it takes an hour, 5000 people gather. It was never before like this in Meron. There was the holy bonfire lighting, but what are all these performances? What are these platforms filled with "achamim" (ie important people form the community)? this should not be allowed to happen, as every year we nearly have a tragedy. All the lightings should be cancelled except for the traditional one on the roof of the structure, and it should not take more than 2 minutes. The Admor can stay in hsi room in hitbodedut for an hour and talk to the angels, I don't care all is good. But wen he comes out, he comes out with the stick and fire and it takes two minutes and it is over. With a stopwatch in hand.

זה שהם עטופים בטליתות לא הופך אותם לצדיקים, הגיע הזמן להעיף את הקיצוניים שמטילים אימה בשכונות החרדיות מחיינו, חלאות ונבלות שמבזים ורומסים את הדת פעם אחר פעם, הבוקר זה קרה במירון, תיעוד קשה לצפייה של קיצוניים קורעים את קיר ההנצחה לזכר הקדושים שנהרגו, דרך ארץ קדמה לתורה, בושה. pic.twitter.com/CZhrggjdjl

— אריאל אלחרר (@ariel_elharar_) July 14, 2021

The government is not interested in what happened in Meron. Their objective is to embarrass the Haredi MKs, the former Prime Minister, and the families, instead of helping them financially. The government just wants blood and for heads to roll. 

After the Meron tragedy we heard a lot of pontificating of what we must repair as part of our communal soul searching... Some of the more vocal opinions have been, as is common, the women and tzniyus, even specifically "lace top sheitels".

WHOA!!!

In light of the Meron tragedy, Kikar is reporting that the regional council Mevo'ot Hachermon is canceling the upcoming yahrtzeit ceremony celebration (aka hilula, however you want to translate that) of Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel at Amuka.

Italy suffered a terrible tragedy on Sunday when the cable of a cable car snapped and the car crashed into a wooded mountain. 14 people died (including some Israelis - no matter how small a people we are, how small a country Israel is, it sometimes seems as if the Jew and Israelis are everywhere and somehow involve din almost every crazy incident anywhere in the world) and one child is in critical condition.

I know I am late to the game on this, but it is time for a comment.

With today having been declared a "Day of National Mourning" (whatever that means) over the tragedy in Meron on Thursday night-Friday morning, I wont be posting videos today, and maybe not written posts either later - we'll see what comes up.

During the stormy weather on Shabbos, the poor infrastructure in parts of Tel Aviv failed, as it does just about every year during the few days of heavy rains... the streets of some Tel Aviv neighborhoods resembled Venice more than Israel. People could be seen kayaking and boogie boarding down streets that were turned into rivers. Sadly, it generally also leads to some tragedy every year. This year, among the tragedies, was a particularly horrific one as a couple, both 28 years old, died in an elevator when they went down to the building parking lot, below ground level, to check on their car. The entire parking level was completely flooded and the elevator got stuck int he water and flooded. Both of them died in the elevator from hypothermia (initial reports said they drowned in the elevator, but it seems they died of hypothermia). Emergency services had been called but it took them way too long to get their, due to all the flooding and dangers and blocked roads everywhere else on the way.

Without laying blame anywhere, and without knowing all the facts, and according to news reports an investigation is now under way to determine where the failure was that caused this tragedy who who was responsible for whatever that failure was, I saw this news report that made me wonder.

In the first ten or so minutes they show some of the craziness around Tel Aviv, and what happened in the elevator. They also talk with the owner of the building, just a year old - the building, not the owner - and that is the part that makes me wonder....

take a look for yourself...

She seems awfully defensive, to me. Screaming wildly and blaming the mayor for the infrastructure failure and flooding. It seems to me like she is trying to deflect any liability from herself.

I get people are upset. Who isn't? Who wouldn't be? She seemed a little over the top, to me, and a bit crazed in her attack on the mayor.

Maybe the mayor is responsible. I don't know. Maybe the owner of the building is responsible, in part perhaps, as the report suggests the drains in the parking level were all blocked and that is being checked. Maybe the national government is responsible. I don't know. It cannot be easy to rip up the infrastructure of an "old" city like Tel Aviv and redo it. I don't know who is responsible, but the owner looks, to me, more concerned with deflecting blame away from herself.. Maybe only one of them is responsible, or maybe all of them are each partially responsible. Or maybe none of them are and this is simply what the insurance companies call "an act of God".

What do you think?

The tragedy in Jerusalem in which 2 young girls died from poisoning and their brothers are still fighting for their lives has led to an unfortunate but interesting psak halacha.

On Thursday Shimon and Michal Gross buried their daughters while still accompanying their sons in the Schneider Hospital in Petach Tikva.

The dilemma of the situation is that the parents should be sitting shiva for the daughters, while being there in the hospital for the sons. What to do?

They asked Rav Ezriel Auerbach, rav of Bayit Vegan in Jerusalem, what to do about mourning the daughters while dealing with the sons situation.

Rav Auerbach paskened that the parents do not have the laws of mourning right now and should not sit shiva. The reason is based on Shulchan Aruch that says someone sick and his attendants are exempt from sitting in a sukka.

Obviously the boys need their parents by their bedsides, and it is clear that of not for the mourning the parents would definitely be there, so they are exempt from all mitzvos and should not now sit shiva. Rav Auerbach added that if they insist on sitting shiva now, the mother should not sit at all but should stay with her children, and the father could sit for just a few minutes after the morning services.
source: Bechadrei

Rav Auerbach did not say, or at least it is not quoted in the article, but I would guess that when the boys get better, IYH, then the parents will need to sit shiva on the daughters.

Such a sad and unfortunately necessary psak.

We woke up this morning to news of a terrible story in Jerusalem. A leak from a gas tank (a tank for supplying gas to a house) led to an explosion,. Part of the building collapsed and a family was killed - wiped oout.

The only thing I have to say about this, besides for Baruch Dayan HaEmes, is that gas tanks should be made illegal. They are old and dangerous. The gas companies should be required to lay new infrastructure to pipe the gas right in - even to old houses. They should not be using gas tanks any longer.

We need this gas tank reform. True, it is only one accident, but everywhere else it is just an accident waiting to happen. The first apartment we lived in after marriage was an old building that used these gas balloons. Besides for being inefficient and a nuisance, they are terribly dangerous. It is a miracle, in my opinion, that accidents do not happen more frequently. it might be a part of the special protection the Jews of Eretz Yisrael have, but it is time to no longer rely on miracles...

A strange but sad story in Pittsburgh.. a mohel botched a bris pretty badly.. he cut the whole penis off. I cannot even imagine how this can happen..

From CBS Pittsburgh:

A local rabbi is being sued after allegedly botching a bris, the traditional Jewish circumcision ritual, and severing a newborn boy’s penis.
The incident detailed in the lawsuit happened at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill within the last year.
The Jewish circumcision ceremony was performed by Pittsburgh Rabbi Mordechai Rosenberg – who is also a mohel.
Sometime during the bris, according to the lawsuit, Rosenberg severed the baby boy’s penis.
The baby was rushed to Children’s Hospital, where doctors performed emergency microsurgery.
“If your finger, your thumb was cut off and was put back on, that is pretty exciting,” said renowned UPMC plastic surgeon Dr. Joe Losee.
Dr. Losee was not involved in the boy’s treatment and he can’t talk specifics.
But our sources say it took eight hours. The baby needed six blood transfusions and was hospitalized for nearly two months. Sources describe the reattachment procedure as successful.
Dr. Losee says microsurgery advances every day, but it’s risky.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t always work,” he says. “When you’re reattaching a portion where you include nerves, sometimes the nerves don’t heal well beyond where you reattached it. So there are limitations for sure.”
On his website, Rabbi Rosenberg says he is recognized as a “certified mohel by the American Board of Ritual Circumcision.” His site also says “a doctor’s medical circumcision, usually performed in the hospital, is not considered valid according to Jewish law.”
“That is extraordinarily serious and is extraordinarily rare,” said attorney David Llewellyn.
Llewellyn handles cases involving injury during circumcision – injury brought on by both doctors in the hospital and mohels in religious ceremonies.
“Your average pediatric urologist probably spends about 20 percent of his or her time repairing children who have been circumcised,” Llewellyn says.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in every 500 newborn boys experience significant acute complications as a result of circumcision.
“This is pretty much unregulated,” Llewellyn said.
He says there is no regulated standard for training or certification of mohels, or any place for reporting injuries from circumcision.
“There’s virtually no regulation of this any place in the United States that I know of,” Llewellyn said. “I think the government probably should require some sort of training if this is going to be done.”
Rabbi Rosenberg told KDKA “I am trained in this.” He also called the case a “tragic accident” and a “horrible situation.” But also said he continues to perform circumcisions.
Sources close to the case say, while the baby is recovering, there’s no way to know if he’ll make a complete recovery. The incident happened about eight months ago.

I do not see why it would be a problem to regulate mohels, with certification, exams, training, etc. As far as I know, in Israel there is regulation and mohels must take a test, take an exam, become certified, in order to practice. I don't know how strictly it is regulated, but it is regulated. But even with the tightest regulation, the best training, accidents can and will still happen, mistakes can and will be made, and some tragedies will occur. The regulation and training would hopefully minimize all that, but there is no perfect solution.

After the terrible tragedy of a family lost in a car accident, I kept seeing different announcements of what the "cause" of the tragedy was. I decided to make a list to keep track of the possibilities. these are the ones I have seen (in no particular order)..

1. Rav Benayahu Shmueli says the reason is because of sinat chinam. The solution is achdus. As well, we must enter a teiva, an ark, that will protect us. The teiva today is the zohar, and everyone should learn 10 minutes of zohar each day. (kikar)
2. Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said the reason is because we are too busy dealing with the unimportant things of this world, such as finances, support and all the hevel of this world. When Hashem sees us busy with those things instead of worrying about our afterlife, He exacts his justice on the world (Ladaat)
3. Rav Shteinman and Rav Chaim anievsky said the Internet is the cause of the recent tragedies. (Bechadrei)
4. Rav Shick from Breslav said now is not the time to ask questions and to look for the cause. Now is the time to do teshuva - be more careful about keeping Shabbos properly, eating kosher, not harming others or stealing, etc.. (Kikar)
5. Rav Sharki from Machon Meir said everything Hashem does is just and right, even when I don't understand it. the attempt to find a way to explain everything that happens is a person making himself equivalent with God. (Srugim)
6. Rav Simcha Kook of Rehovot said everyone must do a cheshbon hanefesh to see what he needs to fix. (INN)
7. Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger just sent out an announcement, a kol koreh, saying that we all must make a cheshbon hanefesh and see what needs to be fixed. He specifically adds that we neeed to deal better with the situation of parsha sheets in shul. People read them during davening. Gabbaim should only put them out at the end of the tefillah.

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After a number of recent tragedies, especially the family destroyed in a fire in Rehovot, a pashkevil was put together and publicized in the haredi media.

The pashkevil says, in the name of the gedolim, that the tragedies are because of:

1. people having iPhones, blackberries and other such devices, along with unfiltered internet access.
2. not protecting our kids enough from the Internet and movies

So, because I or you use Internet, that poor family had to go up in flames.

Natan Zahavi, a radio broadcaster, attacked this pashkevil, quoting it on air and then saying "I dont understand, rabbonim that are considered great leaders, shepherds to their flock, are so depraved.. they suffer so much from thousands of years of mental decay? sometimes, the fanatical and stupidity of religion, - they have no boundaries."

Zahavi then also attacked Kuti Sabag and Bet Shemesh saying " I saw in the headlines that now Bet Shemesh is on the map. But Bet Shemesh was already on the map for a long time, because of stupidity, idiocy, violence, religious fanaticism and discrimination against Ethiopians. Sabag represents exactly what that city is - a dark and primitive city, excluding a small group of residents that are good and not at fault. Kuti is appropriate for Bet Shemesh and also fitting to win the "pach hagadol" (play on words of big brother and big garbage can)." (source: Globes)

I wonder what "good people" he was referring to, but the rest of his statement is awfully vicious.

Regarding the pashkevil, his comments are harsh and biting, though not totally untrue. Can anybody know why they died? Did they really get burned up in flames in their sleep because I was using the Internet? Is that really what the remaining family members need to hear about the dead children they are mourning?

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This past week has seen the tragic, horrific, deaths of 8 children - 3 murdered in France and 5 on Tuesday night in a horrible fire in Rehovot.

2 interesting responses I have seen regarding the tragedies:

1. Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau said that the mothers should realize that the tragic deaths of their children was, perhaps, to atone for harsh decrees that were possibly meant to be brought down upon the nation of Israel. (source: Ynet). Maybe yes, maybe no, at least he offered comforting words suggesting there might have been a greater purpose.
   
2. Rav Shlomo Aviner, while acknowledging the aspect of the personal tragedy of mothers losing their children and husbands, said this should not be played up to a national tragedy. Rav Aviner said that before modern medicine 2/3 of children would die from disease, and now it is rare for a child to die of disease, and that is only due to modern medicine. The death of each and every child is a tragedy and the general picture of statistics does not solve the suffering of those families. If even statistically only one out of a million children die from a certain disease, for the mother of that one child it is 100% - to her it matters not what happens to the rest.
   
   We, with a broader perspective, are living in paradise, but we must remember that people die all the time... every year more than 350 people, including children, die in car accidents, more than 10,000 from smoking while up to 1/6th of them dont even smoke - why does nobody get emotional about all of them? That does not even take into account all the people who die of heart diseases from poor eating habits. Because those are large numbers.
   
   It is not right to turn to Hashem and ask why He did this to us, when just about everything we have is very good. There are countries in which the people have almost nothing to eat. Every day 30,000 children die of hunger. Have you seen anybody get emotional over that?
   
   Every death is a tragedy. But the personal tragedy of a person should not distort everybody's thinking. For that family it was truly a tragedy, but there are many other families with tragedies. A family that was killed in a car accident is less upsetting than that killed in a terrorist attack or in a fire? (source and more: Srugim)

While Rav Aviner is putting this into perspective, I am not sure what he is trying to do. While it would make sense if he would be saying to be more emotional and recognize the tragedy in even less dramatic tragedies, it seems more like he is trying to get people to be less emotional about these tragedies.