My Friend Shannon

Recently I have seen many people taking shots at a friend of mine, Shannon Orand. Shannon is a wonderful person who is going through the conversion process to Judaism. Rabbi Leib Tropper tried to take advantage of her in this process. Shannon recorded Tropper engaging in this horribly immoral behavior.

Let me be clear: Shannon has done nothing wrong. She is not the "mistress" of Tropper. Nor she is part of a secret conspiracy trying to get at Tropper. She is simply a woman who refused to be taken advantage of.

Those of us who know Shannon do not find her at fault for anything in this process. Shannon is a bright, caring, hard-working mother who is passionate about Judaism. She was formerly in the Messianic movement and now works hard to counter the Messianic missionaries. She also is very involved in countering anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hatred. Shannon uses a significant amount of her free time to help different Jewish groups. I personally look at her as one of the up and coming young leaders in the Jewish community.

Too often in our society, we attack the strong women who stand up for themselves rather than support them. Shannon Orand deserves our support.