Suffern, NY – In a significant move, the Eternal Jewish Family has appointed a new director after the abrupt resignation of Rav Leib Tropper, the former Chairman of its directing committee. The Eternal Jewish Family has been at the forefront of numerous conversion issues, from spearheading conversions of non-Jewish spouses of intermarried couples to conducting seminars affecting the future of hundreds of converts from other Batei Dinim across the country.
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Below is the press release from their own website.
The Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) announces today that Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Zichron Moshe in South
Fallsburg and one of the leading Gedolei Hatorah internationally, has agreed to assume the position of Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of the Eternal Jewish Family following an announcement that Rav Leib Tropper has resigned that position effective December 12, 2009. Rav Wachtfogel joins a distinguished board of rabbinic and halachic authorities who oversee the activities of EJF, headed by Rav Reuven Feinstein, Chairman of the Halachic Committee (US), Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu (Europe) and Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern (Av Bais Din of Rabbi Wosner’s Bais Din – Israel).
Statement by Rabbi Leib Tropper
I have decided to resign my position at the Eternal Jewish Family (EJF) effective December 12, 2009 to pursue a variety of other interests. As a founder of EJF, I am proud of my role of being an architect of a very dynamic and important movement in our community. I will in the coming months do my utmost to be of service to the Jewish community in any way I can. I am extremely enthusiastic that a distinguished Torah personality of the stature of Rav Ela Ber Wachtfogel has agreed to assume my position of Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee and that Rabbi Chaim Blum has agreed to serve as interim director of EJF. I wish every continued success to EJF, its rabbinic leadership and the extraordinary team of dayanim and dedicated individuals that serve the organization in many parts of the world.
Statement by Rav Reuven Feinstein, President of Halachic Committee on EJF
It is with a deep sense of regret and yet renewal that I note a change in leadership of the Eternal Jewish Family that includes the agreement by Rav Ela Ber Wachtfogel to serve as Chairman of the Rabbinic Committee of the Eternal Jewish Family. I hope that Rav Leib Tropper’s decision to resign his position at EJF will serve him and his family well. At the same time, I have also agreed to take on a more active role in overseeing all of the halachic nuances of EJF in assuring that all universally accepted conversions are in compliance with the highest standards of halacha. I wish to reassure the community that EJF will continue to be guided by the highest halachic standards under the leadership of the Gedolei Yisroel, headed by Rav Wachtfogel and myself in the US, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu in Europe and Rav Shmuel Eliezer Stern in Israel.
Why the sudden resignation?
Goodbye good luck! this org is a huge chilul hashem
Re: “I have decided to resign my position . . . .to pursue a variety of other interests.”
Rumor has it that those “other interests” do range in “variety”!
Oh, dear. This does not sound good. A sudden resignation with a very vague non-compelling explanation. Tell me this isn’t another scandal that’s about to hit the news.
Why the sudden resignation, you ask? The answer may not be too far away. Look four articles down and you’ll see the article about Mr. Guma Aguiar. He’s the newest Jewish philanthropist out there and until a very short while ago was giving heavy money to Rabbi Tropper and EJF. They’re now fighting it out in civil and criminal court after some very serious allegations from Aguiar to Tropper.
Maybe, just maybe, one can draw the connection…
s`shmekt nisht git…story to follow..
Where is Reb Ely Z’L when you need him?! He knew exactly this person was!
Just another reason why these rabbonim cannot be trusted to decide a matter as important as geiyrus.
A chosheve Rov does not get into physical fights with baale batim. Now that this chilul Hashem is in the courts, how can he not step down. He stood for tough conversions, unless the person doing the converting was marrying a wealthy baal habus. In that case, the rules changed. Of course he stepped down. He disgraced the organization.
Maybe he wants to spend some more time with his family
These are NOT gadolei yisroel…they are kattanim both in terms of their midos and lamdus if what many of us believe to be the real reason for the resignation is confirmed in the next several days.
Is my conversion still valid? They put us through hell (l’havdil)
There is a lot more that will be coming out soon about this so called “Rabbi”. Ican’t believe it took so long to unveil this phony. Just feel bad for his family.
Rav Segal ZT”L of Manchester was no big fan of this clown either.
As A Talmid Of Reb Elya ber, The Real Shocker Is That HE Of All People Would Take This Position, Everyone That Knows Him Knows That Its Totally Not His Type. There Is Much More To This $tory. . .
how the Torah world will react? To be honest over the next couple of days this story will in all probability break wide open. The only question is how that will happen. The Torah world could boldly confront the issues, bringing if not full disclosure, at least some admission of the man’s sin. Or it can continue down the path of the duck and cover that has suited so much of the Torah world so well with the various child abuse scandals. Sweeping the dirt under the rug, and protecting the perpetrator while abandoning the victims.
Unfortunately that path will not work here. While child abuse is often a fuzzy concept in the minds of many people, and the children can be blamed as being vindictive and lying, the evidence that will be presented here will be most incontrovertible it is only a matter of time before it breaks in the media. At which point the Torah world will be judged as either accomplices of a fiend or advocates of truth. It will not be a black and white issue. It will be more of a spectrum I think with those who ardently opposed him on one side and those who continued the support him on the other.
Good Bye (and Good Riddance). We are supposed to discourage conversions, not build organizations to reach out to and attract potential converts. If the holy Reb Moshe zt”l were alive today he would not brook any of this nonsense, even if millions (and possibly billions) of dollars were on the table. If Rabbi Tropper, who is basically a good guy, could get entrapped in deep mud and gooey slime, the organization should immediately be disbanded and its charter purposes be buried. Rabbi Reuven is the absolute most engaging Rosh Yeshiva, but he is far from a conversion halacha expert. Enough said.
i smell a RAT
“I have decided to resign my position . . . .to pursue a variety of other interests.”
What are those other interests’ names?
I would sugjest to the administartor to “lock” all furthur comments in this matter. Due to many detailes that may arise – It is best we stop now. Thank You.
Why do they do this? Do they think the story wont break? Admit and apologize !!! for the rest of the frum community’s sake.
Please dont tarnish how we are seen any more then you already have….. please admit and apologize and dissapear from public view….Please
at the risk of sounding like a complete naif, who is Rav Elya?
Joey:
This is why they are putting Reb Elya Ber in there.they want a real godol in charge.
I know it’s wrong, but I really cannot wait until the reason for the sudden resignation is uploaded.
I am confused I looked at the EJF website and it listed Rabbi Tropper as the head of its Rabbinic Committee. I laso noticed there was a halachic committee. headed by Rabbi Feinstein, What is the difference between a rbbinic committed and a halachic committee.
The rabbinic committee is in charge of money, the Halachic committee don’t want to get their hands dirty!
If EJF has a character like LT as its founder maybe instead of a replacement should just close and a diffrent organization emerge without the taint. The fact that there is a willingness to continue the organization in the post-LT era is disturbing and calls in to question the Daath Torah exercised by those formally aligined with LT.
Reb Noson would never have allowed reb Elya Ber to take over. Wait till the real story hits “the sudden resignation”. Chilul Hashem R’L.
Well, chazal does tell us that the bigger the tzadik the bigger the yetzer hara
Well, he’s not a tzaddik.
I was in rabbi troppers yeshiva for many years.He was a very nice person and although not perfect, was very dedicated to myself and the other talmidim.He never asked me or the other talmidim for a dime yet let us eat and sleep in the yeshiva for free.(talmidim were asked for tuition but whoever didnt have was never turned away.)He is no malach but I dont think he did anything to warrant such vicious remarks.So what if he made a mistake,only 4 people didnt make any.
Rav Feinstein’s quote say’s it all.
“I have also agreed to take on a more active role in overseeing all of the halachic nuances of EJF in assuring that all universally accepted conversions are in compliance with the highest standards of halacha”
Rav Feinstein taking over and is going to provide the oversight that his Halachic Committer was supposed to provide in the past,
“Halachic Nuances” are carefully crafterd words. What do they mean?
“assuring that all universally accepted conversions are in compliance with the highest standards of halacha”
Miklal hein in the fututue Nishma Lav in the past.
.
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Another case of a bunch of frustrated, angry and vicious (to be kind) people from Monsey and E”Y who have decided that because they have failed miserably in their pathetic attempts to discredit EJF despite its strong backing of Rov Gedolei Yisroel, they have resorted to the tactics which are representative of the dirt which they truly are:instead of having a machlokes on issues they have resorted to destroying a man’s life by spewing vague accusations and inuendo. This has absolutely no place in Klal Yisroel but unfortunately has become the MO of certain select rabbis in certain locales, as well as some deranged and perverse blogsters in the US and E”Y.
Whoever is defending this man please please just stop. His absolute ga’ava, both in the repulsive tapes (which i admit to listening to), and in his resignation, just serves to put a nail in the coffin of trust in gedolim. Our lives revolve around trust in Da’as Torah, but with coverups and deplorable actions such as these and the many others which have surface thanks to the internet, Im finding it harder and harder to do so.
I thank this woman for having the courage to come forward. I didn’t. I can assure you there are numerous others.
He is very manipulative and if he senses you won’t cooperate, he turns on you and tears you apart. When you don’t cooperate with him, he turns on you and attempts to tear you down psychologically.
As the tapes reveal, he wants “positions” from his wife that she is not willing to, but he then says she eventually conceded… No doubt fearing he would replace her with these other women if she didn’t. It’s all psychological manipulation.
This organization in a matter of weeks will cease to exist who is going to fund such an organization. They want to save face so they bring in someone like Reb EB to head the organization. I think all the geirus that were done by this organization should be called into question. Rav Druckman comes smelling like a rose any anyone who does Rav Druckman knows tht he is a very sincere and special person.
Freilchen Chanukah,
Josh
how do you know the tapes are true?hoe do you know she’s not a agent from someone like augiar?or that she wan’t a plant?