The Mossad Messiah: a novel of Israel by Leigh Lerner

Author:Leigh Lerner [Lerner, Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Counterflow Press
Published: 2017-09-06T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

The Fast of Esther, 13 Adar 5783 – Monday, 6 March 2023

Nachum Aviam Steinitz, the Borisover Rebbe, occupied a bench at the Yazuv Zov's synagogue. All present recognized him, and no one would sit near him. The morning prayers went pro forma.

Everyone but Nachum seemed to know the next destination, downstairs to a reception hall where no food was served on account of the fast, and seats were arranged in a semi-circle around a podium with a microphone attached. Reporters already awaited the Yazuv Zov and his announcement. It wasn't a large crowd. What great announcement could a Torah authority on menstruation and birth control make at this point? The Voice of Israel and the Jerusalem Post were there, as were Arutz Sheva and Ma'ariv. Yated Ne'eman, the Haredi journal, had a presence, along with some neighborhood giveaway news sheets serving Orthodox areas. The Yazuv Zov planned it that way, having no real use for the general press but wanting to make at least some splash outside his usual arena.

A number of police were also present. Nachum thought them unnecessary, but maybe the Yazuv Zov feared that Borisovers would attend with the intention to riot and attack him for his statements and planned excommunication of their Rebbe and all his Hasidim. Nachum, however, hadn't told anybody about the meeting. Wasn't confidentiality the meeting's original premise?

After a few minutes, the Yazuv Zov appeared and strode to the podium. He blew into the mic, found it in operating condition, and began.

"Yesterday I attended a meeting held at the home of the Borisover Rebbe, Nachum Steinitz. At the meeting, that man discussed his plans to teach women how to help other women with problems related to taharat hamishpacha and to provide classes for these yoatzot so that they might know more about halacha, becoming women counselors to advise other women on matters which require reference to a rabbi."

Nachum knew that wasn't precisely what he'd said. The Yazuv Zov skipped the part about the supervisory panel and about teaching the yoatzot to refer difficult problems to rabbis, while keeping the identity of the inquiring woman private.

"My thirty years of study and experience tell me that I must condemn this elevation of women into an area of Torah which requires rabbinical knowledge. But it gets worse. The Borisover Rebbe spoke of a new understanding of the mitzvah of p'ru ur'vu which would lead the Torah True observant family to limit family size to two children only, two children regardless of sex, and which might also lead to use of halachically unacceptable methods of birth control in order to accomplish this unholy goal."

Nachum noted that the Yazuv Zov once again skipped important parts of his presentation and made his birth control statement seem extra controversial. The man played fast and loose with his words.

The Yazuv Zov went on. "The Rebbe believes he defends our women of valor, our observant Jewish women. He believes he is sensitive to women's needs and their privacy. He believes he is opening doors for women to participate more quickly and readily in the society of Ha-Aretz.

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