Non-Exclusive: Rabbi Roth Refused to Endorse Ezras Nashim

Rabbi Roth Shlita

At a meeting prior to Chanukah, several women tried to receive endorsement from Rabbi Cheskel Roth, Karlsburg Rov, to establish a women rescue service dubbed Ezras Nashim. “Rabbi Roth said that decision should be made by Hatzalah’s rabbinical advisors,” VIN is reporting today in an exclusive article titled “VIN Exclusive: Prominent Brooklyn Rabbi Endorses Women’s Volunteer Medical Corps.”

The article describes in length Chizuk that Rabbi Roth extended to women. They included quotes from CHAZAL of the prominent roles of Jewish women. The ultimate decision about Ezras Nashim, though, he left for the Hatzalah Rabbanim.

VIN is further reporting that: “Following Rabbi Roth’s advice, Ezras Nashim arranged a meeting with Hatzalah… “Hatzalah’s board told us that their members did not want women joining Hatzalah and that any changes to Hatzalah could potentially cause delays in service, which was obviously something that nobody wanted,” attorney and community activist Ruchie Freier who represents Ezras Nashim told VIN News.”

How this story is reconciled with the heading is beyond me…

The VIN report comes on the heels of yesterday’s Forward report of the newly established women’s ambulance corp. It quotes Yocheved Lerner-Miller, an emergency medical technician with Ezras Nashim, that “Basically, we did the Hatzalah routine and it is going to get us nowhere… They are adamant, and the goal now is to get going. That is how we are going to do it. We are going to do our own thing.”

The Forward is reporting that according to Ruchie Freier, founder of Ezras Nashim, respected rabbis they consulted in Brooklyn were sympathetic to Ezras Nashim’s cause but were reluctant to push Hatzalah to change its policies, given its standing in the community.

Freier declined to disclose the names of the rabbis she said had supported her group’s request. But she was adamant that Ezras Nashim would not have made a move without first having received their approval. “It was very, very important point to go to the rabbis,” said Freier. Referring to the importance of halachic, or rabbinic legal rulings, she explained, “The rabbis are the ones you go to for the halachic decisions.” Given the rabbis’ refusal to actively pressure Hatzalah, she said, “We decided the more appropriate route is to do it on our own.”

So it’s crystal clear from these sources that their plan is not coordinated with Hatzalah, as required by Rabbi Roth.

Frier is a contributor to VIN – a website that on several occasion published articles in support of the Ezras Nashim idea - and she is the probable source for this story. This proves that the rabbinic support for this group is non-existent. The most they have is a distorted endorsement.

OP made several attempts to reach Rabbi Roth’s Bes Din today for comment, but the phones seemed to be off-hook and after a half ring it went to voicemail.

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