What a load of nonsense i think the tooth fairy is more creditable than these so called men of God.

"the judges ruled that the woman and her children could undertake the mourning" AND "she would not be allowed to remarry before a thorough discussion was held on her personal status" Is the above not reasonable enough? what's the fuss about?Just one more futile gossip about the nothing, with pernicious effects to a whole community? Why for?

and to know that each neshama is so important, and doesnt get dumped at sea like a packet of garbage. His heartbroken wife will wait a while. His memory is holy to her, it obviously isnt holy to our no 1 friend. He would probably recommend that she cheers herself up at a disco tonite.

even if you don like it - israel is a jewish state - you are twisted with hate towards jewdaism so why you not leve israel and live some other place - you making every body sik with youre anti jewish coments everyday

your grandparents would be very proud of you

#1 has not one drop of compassion - he should be pitied.

Without YNET I would not be reading any halacha! Thankyou for having the clear intent to cater your news specifically to ignorant Jews like me who seek to learn everything about halacha from you.

I respect religious laws - I don't follow them, and I don't agree with them, but I was raised to respect them - well, most of them. Do these rabbis honestly think she is going to go out the next day and get remarried? I understand that a wife is classed as an abandoned wife if the husband leaves her - but he didn't leave her, he was killed in a plane crash. It's not fair to treat this woman this way - she's a widow with children now - let her grieve in peace.

You can't take those idiot Rabbi's not seriously....my g-d get a life and let people practice religion at their homes/synagogues....but SEPERATE RELIGION & STATE NOW, so maybe there is still a chance for Israel to join the 21st century.............Israel si NOT a democracy rather ........

But the status of this woman had to be clearified by her Rabbanim . They could not immediately declare her to be a widow , now , after some days , they can ; refering on a ruling by Rav Ovadia Yossef in a similar case .

Keren: there is nothing obvious here. The judges allowed the woman to mourn, how gracious. This is really big of them. They do assume the husband is dead then, so what is the fuss about? She is a widow and when it is time for her to remarry she will. It will not be today or tomorrow. The rabbis have no kindness and sympathy - they are showing who is in charge, who is ruling people's lives- this is causing pain and anxiety- #3 proud Jewess: good for you- You do understand- even if the reverend holy leader don't.

What would be nice for you to understand is that the system you live in is not the only system existing in the earth and it is not the "right"one as you are conditionated to think. There are people who live under Bramanic laws;there are people who live under Taostic laws;there are people who live under (oy vey) muslim laws and there are people who live under democratic laws ,as you. The woman the articles talks about is the wife of a Rabbi so she lives under Jewish laws that are good for her and she does not interpret them in the offensive way you do.Understand? She LIVES this way so she accepts to rulling of the rabbis,otherwise she would get out and live in another way.She is not obligated to accept;she is free.Understand?

Her husband's plane went down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for crying out loud, and these rabbis are just adding to her suffering. Leave the poor woman alone. She's already been through enough of a shock and the last thing she needs is to have a bunch of rabbis debating her status.

The article is related to chabad community in France where state and religion are separated by law and where religious Jews still live according to halacha. Reading article before posting ridiculous talbacks is a must.

It was Rav Hertzog who was first confroted with a plane going down over the Medeteranian in the Second World War, and he ruled that anytime a plane goes down over water that the wives of the people on board are widows. this decision has been quoted many times including by Rav Ovadya Yosef and Rav Mordechai Eliyahu.

Where was this written ?

A religious woman lives also unther her religious laws [ in France civil laws are # 1 as you know ] So she has to consult her Rabbanim about her status , how painfull it can be for her . Only when she's declared a widow , only then can she "officially" mourn . And to remarry immediately . Even civil laws do not allow it , i think

Very sad situation when one loses a mate in a airplane accident and still requires the blessing of a rabbi before she can mourn. Is this really orthodox Judaism?

I understand that it is so for religious people- I do however find it very uncaring and cruel to have to beg a rabbi's permission for mourning in this particular case. Theoretically a woman could wait forever, because the rabbi does not give permission,, because he does not have 100% proof of the husbands death? I know, Keren, there are many religions with strange customs- some or outdated, some are more than strange, some are cruel- some are unquestionably wrong. Keren, I do not think 'my system' is the only right one, you are wrong there- but there are moments when ancient laws just do not work in a modern world. In this case, the woman knows her husband perished, the rabbis know, all the relatives know there is no chance of him surviving, there is NO WAY on hearth he could have survived this crash- don't you think in this particular case there should not even be 'a discussion' about her status? It ended up in Ynet- so there must have been something unusual about this case- it took too long to decide? ... something out of the ordinary?- otherwise it would not have made the news. I do not make it a habit of questioning religious people- but it looks to me like the religious leaders have maybe taken extra steps to 'do it by the books'?

Here is yet another example of the stupidity and uncaring nature of rabbis who misuse their power. Only and uncaring group of miscogenistic, power hungry religious fanatics would make such a ruling. Shame on them and shame on all their ilk for the shame and ridicule they bring to us. These religious functiionaries have no compassion and no humanity.

This is a community of fanatics. Why would it be necessary for them to rule about the obvious? Not these rabbis are not reasonable, they are X+++!@!!***!.

What you fail to understand is that,for ex.in the present case,the support of the community is more important than the mourning itself. You ,a secular,G'od forbid,can mourn as much as you want,but you are lonely;when the community rule,people have an emotional support that has no price in this world. The religious world is something you can not understand because you don't know it,so it is very inoportune to judge it.

We know tnat we must never expect haters of our religion to see the human side. They just vent their bile as soon as they see rabbi/chabad/ torah etc. They scour these columns for any weeny word that contains the slightest reference to a religious jewish theme, and the Haman and Pharaoh in them screams 'off with their heads/kippa'. Those of us who saw the human aspect first, immediately felt how heartbreaking all this is for chabad that another tragedy hits them..... yet again. They've been through so much, with such dignity. Thank you Gd for not making me a secular jew. I can see the flaws in our midst (eg corruption in the bet din rabbani TA that will never be dealt with) and we have many flaws,( note the 'we' not the 'they'...like the rasha in the hagadah) but to see our flaws from a hating secular standpoint, I can think of no worse destiny. Again, thank you Gd for not making me a red inked no 1 supporter.

Sorry to be the one to tell you but Israel is a democratic state that recognises all jews of all origins and of all religious observnce or not at all. This article just goes to show how ridiculous and irrelevant such rulings are. i do not recognise the autority of Ovadia Yosef who is a leader of a cult which claims to represent jewdism. Thankyou for your advise on where i should live however i feel there is work to do here , which from your bitter tone and and lack of intelligence confirms.

"Sorry to be the one to tell you but Israel is a democratic state that recognises all jews of all origins and of all religious observnce or not at all." "i do not recognise the autority of Ovadia Yosef who is a leader of a cult which claims to represent jewdism. " Can't you see your own persistent,flagrant,screaming contradictions?

Well thats your opinion but i guess being death and dumb has its disadvantages to Karen as you so clearly demonstrate.

israel is a JEWISH demacratic state - even if you like it or not and it bother you - everyday you write nasty vishous talkback about anything that relate to jewdaism - why you so bother about what happen in france to this woman - you think these rulings are ridiculous & relevant they are not they are part of jewdaism - if you cant say somthing nice you shuld keep quiet

Premise 1: The plane crashed. Premise 2: Everyone aboard the plane died. Therefore, her husband died. Logical? No! Much of the criticism of the rabbis stems from the routine denial, by too many (not all) of them, of science, education and reason; focusing on insects too small to be seen by the naked eye, reversing conversions of non-fanatics, condemning the usage of umbrellas on rainy Shabbat days because the rabbis can't tell an umbrella from a tent, absorbed in the making of indirect computer keyboards & mice for Shabat emergency use and Shabat door locks for hotels because the rabbis don't know the difference between fire and electricity and whether women's sleeve length is long enough--all, contrary to Torah, inwardly focused and self-absorbed. How sad that it's only the non-Orthodox who are outwardly focused--socially conscious on loving one's fellow man as oneself--marching on behalf of the victims of Darfur. R. Hileil acknowledged that is higher priority than the superficial accessories of tzitzit and laying tephilin that even some Jews for J-Zeus do. This is compounded when intellectually vacuous religious lemmings bow and worship such rabbis, practicing rabbiolotry rather than Torah. While Jews are subordinate to the authority of the beit din, Torah also requires every Jew to personally verify Torah before supporting or opposing a rabbi or beit din (Devarim 30.11-20; Shemot 23.2). Further, Zekharyah explicitly warned against a future time in which רעי האליל (roi hâ-elil; feckless / ineffectual shepherds; Zekharyâh 11.17; cf. also Yekhezqeil 34.2-10, 23; 37.24; Yirmeyahu 10.21; 23.1; 3.15). Those who study Torah (rather than study rabbis, trusting rabbis instead of ha-Sheim) are not surprised. On the other hand, what if the husband never boarded the plane? What if he blew up the plane and faked his death for some reason? Such possibilities must be considered, within a reasonable time, before a logical conclusion can be reached. In this case, the rabbis are simply wiser and more responsible than reckless and negligent tb-ers who sound off about every subject just to see their precious, over-confident, frivolous, ignorant opinions published. The only question is whether they fail to put their brain in gear before engaging their keyboard or what we see is what little intellect they have. Paqid Yirmeyahu The Netzarim, Ra'anana, Israel Israeli Orthodox Torah Jew (Teimani Baladi Dardai) Advocate for Logic as Halakhic Authority Welcoming Jews & non-Jews www.netzarim.co.il

Jewish law (Halacha) was written thousands of years ago and not every Jew follows it. Halacha cannot be enforced on a Jew of any standing. However, Halacha is also a guide through life as well as a Law for those that wish to follow it. Now, when Halacha was written, there were no planes, fast cars, trains and other 2009 inventions. Knowledge and inventions have progressed over the last thousand years and is now far greater than it was back then. According to Halacha, death is not a tragedy, but a natural process. But only when there is a body to bury. Halacha needs to be updated to reflect the current changes. Married people as well as single get killed in cars, planes and train crashes, some bodies are never recovered, but a Jew must be buried so the shiva can begin. Which brings me back to the latest unacceptable deeds by the French Rabbis. Halacha, as much as I respect it, needs to be reviewed and changed to reflect current technology and the hazards it can sometimes bring. Nothing is impossible.

i agree. at least theres one smart person here.