Announcement: "Integrity Committee"


The Action Committee for Integrity in Providing for Religious Services, which includes many of the most prominent Rabbis from Ramat Bet Shemesh, requested that I help the English-speaking public understand the issues encompassed in the struggle to ensure that Mikvehs provide any woman who wishes to utilize Mikveh services with amiable and Halachically-sound service which will promote Mikveh use.

I may also write up some summaries in English of the material which has been publicized in Hebrew in the past several weeks; but, first of all, I wish to encourage anyone who wishes to hear the truth from someone who has studied this issue in depth, and whose purpose is simply to promote positive experiences relating to dipping in the Mikveh and other spiritual actions, to contact me by phone or Email for more details.

Catriel Lev
Mobile Phone: 050-205-7867
Home Phone: 02-991-4332
Email: clev@actcom.com

Comments

  1. Catriel Lev12 May 2010 at 10:15

    As a public service I bring to the community's attention the information I have found about to how to file a complaint if someone has been mistreated at a Mikveh. For the public good, in order to correct the situation, women who have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh are requested to file formal complaints (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel).

    Here is what I learned about filing such a complaint in Bet Shemesh:
    Complaints about mistreatment at the Mikveh (including any physical mistreatment or threats, as well as violation of a woman's right to use the Mikveh according to her own Minhag) may be filed with Rav David Spector of the local Rabbinate. His phone numbers are: 052-385-9105, and 999-4987; and he meets with people at his home on Reuven Street in Scheinfeld at certain hours by appointment. He also has an office at the Rabbinate building downtown on Abba Naamat Street, and appointments with him at his office at the Rabbinate building can be made through the Rabbinate phone numbers: 991-1361, 991-2867. Rav Spector's Email address is: spektor@neto.net.il (This information is also available in the Shemeshphone on page 25e of the blue pages in English).

    Anyone who knows women who experienced mistreatment at the Mikveh (even if they were only "threatened" that they will not be allowed in the Mikveh pool unless they perform an injurious process or behave in contradiction to the Psak that they have received), should please encourage them to file a formal complaint. It is understandable that women, who have gone through an experience as traumatic as some of these experiences have been, might not want to dredge up the unpleasant memories by going through the formal complaint process; but the many oral complaints received so far by the women dealing with this do not result in any action being taken to correct the situation, so it is for the public good that women are being requested to file formal complaints if they have endured mistreatment of any kind at the Mikveh (and this is true of any Mikveh anywhere in Israel). Only formal complaints can help correct the situation, and, the more women who formally file their sincere complaints about unjustifiable behavior toward them, the more chance there is of ensuring that nothing like this will be allowed to occur in the future.

    Catriel Lev
    Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel
    Mobile Phone: 050-205-7867
    Telephone: 02-991-4332

    ReplyDelete
  2. Catriel Lev12 May 2010 at 10:47

    Since I have been asked about it, I am posting, in English, the names of the Rabbis involved in the Action Committee for Integrity in Providing for Religious Services, since they are investing great effort in resolving the problems of the Mikveh issue, they are:
    Rav Yosef Edry, Bet Knesset Mishkan Avraham U'Meir
    Rav Shai Naftali, Bet Knesset HaSefardi Ramat Shilo
    Rav Boaz Mori, Rosh Yeshivat Lev HaTorah
    Rav Yitschak Amior, Bet Knesset HaSefardi Or BaRama
    Rav Refael Rones, Bet Knesset Ben Tzvi
    Rav Nir Vargon, Bet Knesset Ramat Shalom
    Rav Daniel Drier, Bet Knesset Nachalei Tefillah
    Rav Chaim Soloveichik, Bet Knesset Or HaShalom
    Rav Itiel Ariel, Bet Knesset HaMercazi HaAshkenazi
    Rav Menachem Copperman, Bet Knesset Ahavat Tzion
    Rav Zeev Rones, Ramat Shilo
    (There may also be some other Rabbis involved.)

    ReplyDelete

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