A local news website in Baltimore - 'Baltimore Jewish Life', was asked to publish a letter from Rabbi Shlomo Porter, CEO of the Etz Chaim Center for Jewish Studies, and former president of AJOP (Association of Jewish Professionals for the Proximity of Hearts), which was sent to rabbis in the city.
In the letter, Rabbi Porter announces that after consulting with Rabbis Heinemann, Kostlitz, Goldberger and Neiman, he is informing the community about the condition of Mark Hart, or by his name known to local Jews: Yehuda Mordechai.
• Shock in Baltimore: 'Kiddushim Man' Turns Out to Be a Christian Missionary
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
As you may recall, on the eve of Passover, one of the members of the community discovered that Mark, or Mordechai, was a member of a Christian missionary sect. The revelation created a huge commotion in the community, and the rabbis announced that they would immediately hold a meeting in which the rabbis would discuss the implications of the revelation, as the man was a regular guest at feasts and kiddush ceremonies, which earned him the nickname "the kiddush man" - and now it has been revealed that the community had been drinking sacrificial wine for years.
Rabbi Porter states in his letter that "Mark was born to a Jewish mother who could not care for him, and he was taken from her and placed in the care of a Christian adoptive family. At the age of 20, Mark discovered his Judaism and decided to repent, and 18 years ago he moved to Baltimore to integrate into the Jewish community.
""In all those years that Mark lived his double life, no one is known to have tried to influence him to accept Christianity or to approach it. Thanks to the organization 'Jews for Judaism,' we discovered that he serves as a 'rabbi' in the church. He confronted the information - and confessed.".
""As of Passover Eve, Mark severed all ties with the church, and we rabbis believe that the community should accept his repentance and place him on probation.
""Mark chose to return to the fold of Judaism and should not be harassed because of his past.".
According to the ruling of Rabbi Heinemann, wine that has been touched by a marker after Passover Eve is permissible to drink and is not a wine of sacrifice.
