Jewish Scene
Yitzchak Yosef: Rabbis encouraging Sephardic Jews to 'turn Ashkenazi'
Neta Sela
Published: 14.02.08, 12:52
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1. hmmmm
(02.14.08)
The one thing I don't understand is why do family or friends have to follow the bride and groom off to seclusion? No one should know what the bride and groom will be doing. This is private. After the wedding ceromony anyway their married and don't have to answer to anyone anymore.
2. The worst wedding custom
Aviva ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (02.14.08)
Taking family photographs for hours on end after the chuppah, while the guests wander around and fend for themselves.
3. Is this supposed to make news? Ynet is becoming pathetic!
gabriela ben ari ,   jerusalem   (02.14.08)
No YNET, we wont fall prey into hating Sephardim or Ashkenazim We love each other and wish each other well Have a nice day
4. Ynet can't you get real news ??? and stop with Nonesense
Harry   (02.14.08)
5. consummate their marriage?
(02.14.08)
r u nuts-dont u know anything about jewish traditions! they dont consumate anything-the most they do in there is kiss. Most of them have never touched a person of opposite sex before-and this is the first time they r actually even holding hands.The longest time they stay in there is about 5-10min-could u consumate anything in that time? YNET u really r an illiterate isr yellow press PS: even if u dont publish this-at least i know u read it and maybe learned something
6. YNet 's idiotic articles
Shalom   (02.14.08)
The couple do not consumate their marriage in the yichud room. They spend time together yes; they talk, they kiss (shock horror, readers), but consumation is at the right time, in the right place; there's not even a bed in the yichud room - there's a meal set out for them, as they have been fasting all day.
7. Sephardi Customs
NYC Girl   (02.14.08)
The first thing the rabbi should do is get rid of the fedora. Why is a Sephardi rabbi dressing like the Ashkenazi Hassidim I see in Brooklyn?
8. Synthetic Ashkenazi culture destoying genuine Jewish sephard
(02.14.08)
9. #3 This is not about loving or not loving, it is about fact
Chaim   (02.14.08)
Sephardic Jewish tradition is being lost - of that there is no question. Ever since we arrived here we have never been treated properly - first by the secular Mapainik establishment which saw us and our culture as inferior, and now by a significant portion of the religious Ashkenazi world which deliberately excludes us from living in certain areas or attending certain schools. You can't just shove this problem aside and call it secular propaganda - it is a real issue which needs real addressing and debate, not lame excuses.
10. I've said it a million times..YNET is a shmata
Al   (02.14.08)
You guys simply cant be taken seriously anymore. I read many websites during the day, its part of what I do and YNET has become so low so pathetic it simply is viewed as a running joke. JPOST has the Derfball writing for it. YNET has tons of dimwitts writing for it. Are the journalism schools in Isreal and elsewhere so poor as they obviously cannot produce a qualified writer? If Ynet hopes to be taken seriously it must stop being a shmata and start being a serious news website, otherwise it is viewed as a joke.
11. 1,2 It is the wedding photos that will be treasured among
Rivkah   (02.14.08)
the memories of the wedding day, so taking time, even a few hours, for photos is a good idea. There are churls who become vicious on a wedding night and relatives should be nearby. A high school friend was savagely treated on her wedding night by a husband who regretted marrying her and told her best friend at the wedding he wished he had married her. The hapless bride went to her parents' home the next day after having her nightgown torn off her and being savagely raped and discarded and told she was not loved. Her parents sent her back to the batterer. When my parents married, the hymen was too thick for the husband to penetrate and they had to wait until a physician could cut the hymen to consummate the marriage. The viciousness of an aroused, sometimes drunken male, is dangerous for the bride who expects kindness and understanding that sex is painful and difficult at first.
12. right
(02.14.08)
u are so right...gabriela ben ari they think we dont have any thing important more than this topic... come on really give us a break
13. What about Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef's hat in that photo?
Baz   (02.14.08)
Why is he not wearing a Shtreimel like the Ben Ish Chai wore in Baghdad?
14. This is not about religion, folks.
Terry ,   Eilat, Israel   (02.14.08)
This is about power-hungry rabbis trying to keep their followers. They look for any excuse or pretext to protect their position of authority. They are little different from the leaders of other bizarre sects of religious crazies who take extreme positions to isolate their followers. Neither Ashkenazi nor Sephardi custom is "correct" - they are only customs developed by communities separated for many years. To see the insanity of this, I'm half Ashkenazi & half Sephardi - what custom do I follow? Well, I'm not meshugga so I'll do what I like. These rabbis distort the Torah & should be condemned.
15. Shass leaders...
ezra   (02.14.08)
...should perhaps stop sending their own kids to ashkenazi yeshivot to begin with.
16. rarely read such a pile of shtuyoth !!!!!!!
(02.14.08)
17. It's time for one set of JEWISH customs
Chaim ,   Canada   (02.14.08)
Now that Jews are no longer isolated in remote geographical locations, it's time to unite us all. We Jews need one uniform set of customs and one Siddur with the same prayers for everyone. The Rabbis should get together and agree on this just like in the days of the Mishna.
18. Should the rabbis be concerned when people decide to shtoop?
Vitaliy ,   Brooklyn, USA   (02.14.08)
19. Of course the Sephardim are defensive
Chaya E. ,   Bat Yam, Israel   (02.14.08)
Their customs and traditions have been put down and denigrated.
20. Free Sephardic Halacha Ebooks in ENGLISH!
Sasson ,   Har Nof, Israel   (02.14.08)
Check it out: http://eduplanet.net/course/view.php?id=62 http://www.dailyhalacha.com http://www.learntorah.com http://www.piyut.org.il http://www.pizmonim.org For those Jews who want to read English Sephardi commentaries, read Meam Loez or Orot Sephardic Humash!!
21. I'm with Terry. Power hungry rabbis "fighting back"....
Andy ,   ramat hasharon   (02.14.08)
is disgusting. We are one people - one nation. Lets not forget that. From the Golan to Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to Eilat to London and New York. Gabriella is right about that too. Some of us follow one tradition others follow another. Some of us are observant others are not. We are Jews and we should respect each other and care for each other more. (Even Joseph P. in Jerusalem and even Kyle in Colorado. Hi Joseph P! Hi Kyle! I love you, you big Jews, you!)
22. And the black hat R' Yosef?
David ,   Los Angeles   (02.14.08)
23. 14 Terry: Follow the (ashkenazi) custom of your father...
OVADIA ,   FORMERLY ASHKENAZ   (02.14.08)
that is the way it is done when from a mixed jewish marriage, according to all opinions, including sfaradi and ashkenazi. And the Rav is right. One must continue the minhag.
24. #8 is just jealous!
drdov ,   uk   (02.14.08)
25. Intermarriage, jews getting away from the Torah...
Flavio ,   Sao Paulo,Brazil   (02.15.08)
...and this Rabbi makes all this fuss about a specifig minhag? G-d, haven't we learned with history that sin'a beinenu is the worst that can happen to us? Let's emphasize and give the proper value to what makes us all Jews, not making this ridiculous fight over irrelevant issues!
26. Sephardim.
Dave ,   Toronto, CANADA.   (02.15.08)
We the Sephardim are the kindler gentler Orthodox/ Traditional Judaism. We are still not given true respect by the Ashkenazim, whether secular or religious. We have true faith in G-d, but we are constantly made to feel like curiosities, so some of our rabbis have tried to become holier than your "rebbes/ rabbis", and it is a sad mistake, since If Ashkenazim adopted our attitudes toward spirituality and faith, assimilation would go down to zero. Put it this way- how many Sephardic athiests have you seen running around? Not many, right? How many Ashkenazi athiests? Several million. I rest my case.
27. The egg must be capped on its narrow end
Ran ,   London   (02.15.08)
never, never on the wider end, which is a vulgar practice, as all right-thinking men recognise.
28. I'm an Ashkenazi, let's adopt Sefard customs
Arthur   (02.15.08)
Their singing is much more beautiful, they have healthier balanced thinking and normal family lives. They don't have post-holocaust stress disorders, and are normal people, like the Spanish, like the Italians, like the Greeks. Let's just adopt their customs and let's do it now. Thanks for listening.
29. Agreed
Daniel Breslauer ,   Jerusalem   (02.15.08)
It is indeed true that Sephardim should maintain their customs regarding these issues. Please let nobody accuse me of discrimination: while I am a chassidishe Jew affiliated with the Edah haChareidis, at my wedding, I was walked down to the chuppah by two Mizrachim (one Persian and one Moroccan). Note that chassidic custom is that the chosson and kallah are *not* encircled by dancing and singing friends when going to the chuppah. Rather, they run out from the chuppah straight to the cheder yichud. It's only a litvishe minhag that people dance around them; chassidim consider it to be very improper. However, Rav Yosef should also respect the Ashkenazim for the things they do. I respect the Sephardim for the things they do differently than I do, please also respect me. And I would be the last person in the world to ever 'hate' Sephardim.
30. Sephardic? Ashkenazi? We are all Jews, enough of this
Antonio ,   Haifa   (02.15.08)
Galut nonsense!
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