Conference taveng::bagels

Excommunication - in hebrew chayrem - is a form of punishment that can be 
imposed by a beit din (court) on an indivuidual for various offenses. 
It is mostly imposed on a person who refuses to submit to the decree of the
court.  In the strict sense of the word, it has specific requirements, 
depending on the severity of the chayrem imposed.  The community could be
forbidden to learn Torah with him, have business dealings with him, etc.

In our day and age, this form of chayrem cannot be imposed - we dont not have 
the proper courts and qualified judges.

In its looser sense, a chayrem is used as an admonition - to both the individual
and the community - that a certain individual or group is engaged in improper
behavior.

A chayrem is only as good as the rabbi(s) who proclaim it.  

What did Barney Frank do? (besides being gay - that's old news)
What rabbi put him in chayrem?
Inquiring minds want to know!! :-)

			Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

    I've heard or read nothing to this effect.  Perhaps you're confusing
    Newt Gingrich with a Rabbi?(:-)
    
    By the way I remember Rav Adin Steinsaltz being put in cherem by Rav
    Goren because he dared to equate Goren with Idi Amin.  My respect for 
    Rav Steinsaltz rose significantly after that incident.
    
    --David

    Yes, I heard this too.  Can't remember the rabbi(s) who declared this,
    but I saw Frank's sister (big wig on DNC) on something like crossfire
    talking about it.  She said that it was complete garbage, and the
    rabbi(s) involved were just trying to make themselves look important
    but they really lacked any power for such a decision.

    
    Here's the article I read that prompted me to ask the question.  The
    quote is from "The Wanderer,"  a Catholic periodical:
    
    	Jewish Ecclesiastical Court Excommunicates Cong. Barney Frank
    
    New York:  Cong. Barney Frank (D., Mass) was formally excommunicated
    according to Halacha (Jewish Law) by the Beth Din Zedek (High Rabbinic
    Ecclesiastical Court) on June 27th, 1990 in New York City.
    
    According to a report by Michael Bobrow in the July 6th issue of the
    Jewish Press, the presiding rabbi of the Beth Din Zedek, Rabbi Joseph
    Friedman, declared that Cong. Frank was excommunicated for "desecrating
    the name of God and the Jewish people, for bringing dishonor and disgrace
    upon the high office of congressman, and for promoting and encouraging
    the moral corruption of society.  A prominent Jewish official, to our
    deep embarrasment Frank has been a blatant promoter of moral depravity."
    
    Rabbi Friedman stated that the "excommunication (or cherem, in Hebrew)
    can be lifted if Mr. Frank repents.  As Jewish religious leaders, ex-
    perienced in the field of ethics and moral theology, our authority to
    undertake this grave procedure is firmly based on Halacha, including the
    Code of Jewish Law in the Schulchan Aruch." ...
    
    Two major national Orthodox rabbinic bodies, the Rabbinical Alliance of
    America, and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis, though not participating in
    the cherem, expressed approval of it.
    
    
    
    	Dave
    

in my part of the world (Brooklyn, USA), i think every rabbi has been placed in
chayrem by every other rabbi (# chayrems - (rabbi)^2)

R. Stienzalts was also placed in chayrem by R Shach (from Punavitch Yeshiva and
Degel HaTorah party) for his book about the personalites of the Avot.  He made
them seem to fallible (even though the Ramban does the same thing all the 
time...) go figure

			Louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

p.s. if i havn't been put in chayrem yet, i'm sure that last remark will do it
      :-) :-) 

my formula should be...

	# chayrems = (rabbis - 1)(rabbis)

unless each rabbi puts himself in chayrem too!

			louuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

re .4:

Now I know who actually reads the *articles* in the Jewish Press!
All this time I thought the articles were there to fill in the space
between the ads.