YU Rabbi Deals With the Issue of Ben Niddahism Honestly

Unlike Rabbi Shafran, who absurdly attempted to minimize the concerns of ben niddahism I raised without identifying it explicitly (of course), and unlike a lot of the frum commentators who denied this was even a real concern, and unlike Steve Brizel and some others from Beyondbt who insist that “The Gedolim� have mostly nullified the impact of ben niddahism, Rabbi Josh Waxman, a YU rabbi, has addressed the issue of ben niddahism, which he concedes “is problematic for allowing baalei teshuva to marry.�

Unfortunately, when someone in the Orthodox world like Rabbi Waxman emerges who deals with such an issue honestly and openly, it is such a rare occasion that I think we should all stop whatever we are doing, stand up, and give a loud cheer of support.

Really, a foundation should be established to support and honor those few Orthodox rabbis who publicly treat such issues with intellectual honesty and candor, without the apologetics that insults our intelligence, or cynically exploiting the reality that many secular and liberal Jews are not educated in these matters. Perhaps a nominal cash incentive of $50 could be given away in such instances. It would probably cost no more than $500 annually, at least at the beginning, and if it were started under an existing foundation, the administrative costs would be nominal.