the kvetcher

Wolfish Musings: Sit Down, Shut Up and Don't Question

2010-01-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

Wolfish Musings: Sit Down, Shut Up and Don't Question

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2007-04-04T12:35:00.000-07:00

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Did What Happened in Egypt Stay in Egypt?

2007-04-04T07:57:00.000-07:00

The narrative of the exodus emphasizes the lack of baggage the Hebrews took out from Egypt. Nowhere is this made as clear than in the story of the matzo itself. Egypt was the height of civilization at the time, and it’s culture sophisticated and overwhelming. But Egypt was considered depraved to the core; we were to leave with as little of its cultural imprint as possible.

And yet, if we consider our common practice which includes but is by no means limited to: animal sacrifices; circumcision; genocidal designs; and ironically, slavery...well, perhaps we left with more baggage than we would like to admit.

Agudath Israel Supports War in Iraq

2007-03-31T19:47:00.000-07:00

The Agudah released the following over the top statement of blatantly absurd and delusional support for Bush and the war in Iraq:

Upon consultation with its rabbinic leadership, Agudath Israel of America issued the following statement: Since September 11, 2001, the United States has been involved in a war against forces of evil and terror. These forces pose a grave danger not only to the United States and its allies in the Western World, but also to our Jewish brethren in Israel and across the globe. America’s efforts in Iraq have been part of this larger battle. While, in retrospect, the planning and execution of some of these efforts may have been less than perfect, there have also been significant achievements. The bottom line, at this time, is that the stakes in Iraq remain high, and that there still remains much to be done.

Agudath Israel of America believes that President Bush is entitled to great deference in his ongoing efforts to stabilize the situation in Iraq. Such deference is appropriate both because of the constitutional authority that inheres in the President’s position as Commander in Chief, and also because of the moral authority the President has consistently displayed in leading the battle against international terror.

We feel compelled to express our views at this time because the Union for Reform Judaism, purporting to have arrived at its position through an application of “halachic norms” and “Jewish values,” has publicly proclaimed its opposition to the President’s policies in Iraq. This group is entitled to its own organizational position, but that position is neither a legitimate expression of halachic Judaism nor reflective of authentic Jewish values.

Clearly these guys are out to lunch if they believe this war is going anywhere good like they claim. But they aren’t, and they don’t. Bush is in a desperate position because of the horrific slog he has got us into and under false pretenses, and it’s only going to get worse. We lost this war a long time ago, and the increasingly unbearable cost for protracted attrition, both domestically and to our world standing, will continue to escalate.

But. If those few Jewish groups who are usually considered his allies retreat from their support, this will be remembered. It won’t affect the war—at all—in terms of where the Agudah positions itself. Consider that first of all. But for the Agudah to support this president in this horrible war is a sound strategic decision not just for the Agudah’s standing with the Christian far-Right, but for American Jewry generally, as we are hedging our bets. We on the moderate-Left and even the moderate-Right cannot be held to such expectations. But the far-Right is another thing in its entirety, and haredi realpolitik concerns cannot and should not be crafted by those like ourselves.

Needless to say, I am certainly not an Agudah loyalist, and am no supporter of this war, detest Bush, and voted against him twice. I was so crushed after the second election I huddled in my living room and rented Burns's "The Civil War." But I think the Agudah did something smart here. I have to admit, if I were a haredi political leader, I think I would have done the same thing. Of course, I’d never be a haredi political leader, and probably neither would you. But that’s not the point. Consider this from their paradigm, and do a cost/benefit analysis from that place.

This was shrewd.

Hat tip: Likelihood of Success

Expanded Kitnyot Awareness Creates Dearth of Gentile Homies to Sell Chametz

2007-03-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

The Jerusalem Post reports,

Because this year many young Jews are now aware that marijuana is forbidden on Passover, new gentiles are being sought for the sale of chometz than has occurred in past years, both in traditional secular quarters, and in the Left-wing Modern Orthodox[…] Michael of Jewlicious usually sells his chometz to his gentile best friend Chris, but because that will now include his marijuana, Michael does not trust Chris to “leave my stash alone.” Chris did not dismiss Michael’s concerns explicitly, but rather, noted, “That dude always has good s---.”

However, others see this as a positive development. Yosef Leib of Seven Fat Cow noted that, "The issur is on owning the seeds. But if my homeboy comes over and lights up and offers me the smoke, well, that isn't seeds now, is it?" Yosef grinned broadly.

Y-Love, the Aramiac rapper, said that as a Bostoner Chassid who does not eat gebrachts on Pesach, and with many baal teshuvah members of his community, he is pleased with this awareness. "Many newcomers to Chassidus grew up...differently, and if they get baked and go over to a friend's house where they're serving Matzoh Ball soup..." Y-Love shook his head. "Look, we've all heard the horror stories."

Though ck of Jewlicious is Sephardic and does not advocate a ban on all Kitnyot products on Passover, he warns that, "Marijuana should be restricted on Passover everywhere in the Diaspora, as there are Pizza shops open everywhere."

Full Story

Big Aish Passaic is Desperate

2007-03-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

Young Manhattanite reports that Big Aish Passaic can’t give it away – they are actually paying people to go.

$1,000 for a month. It's called the "1 month Jewish challenge."

Don't take it.

The Mashgiach

2007-03-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

Many have asked me why I am so obsessed with BTs attending a good college. Well, I saw some ugly, ugly things in the haredi kiruv world, and heard some very bad advice and guidance dispensed. Very bad.

Like this:

In his article, "Inside Le Affair Le Marais" Failed Messiah writes,

Yitzchak Bitton's story is sad. He is one of the very best rock drummers in the world. In France, before becoming Chabad, he led a band, Jackie and the Variations, which kept the Beatles out of the top spot on the French pop charts. He gave up his 'sinful' life and moved to Crown Heights. He learned, and he eventually formed a band Raya Mehemena, which was one of the best live bands I ever heard, religious or not[...]But the haredi and Chabad worlds (apart from BTs) were not ready for real musical talent. Bookings were not frequent enough to pay the rent, and the Rebbe would not give his blessing for the type of shows Matisyahu now does, surfing mosh pits and dancing in front of and sometimes with women. (This is a problem many BT musicians faced in the 1980s and early 90s.) So Yitzchak Bitton sold cameras for a living. He apparently went from that to serving as a mashgiach.

The Orthodox Union is in a big fight with Mr. Bitton over accusations they are not frum enough. The Orthodox Union is the parent organization of NCSY.

Update: Radloh of Seven Fat Cow (and only Radloh, others distanced themselves from his post either because they disagreed with him or just for fun and spite) challenges Failed Messiah's analysis based on his own personal knowledge of Mr. Bitton.

Chulent Piece

2007-03-26T22:44:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, you figured out I was kidding about the chulent piece when I added satire tags, right?

Anti-Circ Study Proving Circumcision is “Mutilation” Published in Urology Journal

2007-03-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

If you look at what drives the bizarre controversy of the religious Jewish Left, of demands for “parallel” ceremonies of circumcision, whether a simchat bat, the Tzipporah precedent for the mohelet movement, or the incessant babbling about how circumcision makes sense as an Aids prophylactic when we have condoms which do that better, and still, the feigned shock that the procedure continues to drop among the U.S. general population. It is the elephant in the room, and direct contact with its trunk is often assiduously avoided.

And that will now be harder to do. Assuming that the findings presented by this anti-circ group in the British Journal of Urology is accurate, the practice and eventually the legality of circumcision are going to come under siege like we couldn’t imagine, and this attack will come from very reasonable people.

According to the International Coalition for Genital Integrity the study proves that,

“men with normal, intact penises enjoy more sexual sensitivity — as much as four times more — than those who have been circumcised. Circumcising slices off more of a male's sensitivity than is normally present in all ten fingertips.”

The study itself concludes that,

“The glans of the circumcised penis is less sensitive to fine touch than the glans of the uncircumcised penis. The transitional region from the external to the internal prepuce is the most sensitive region of the uncircumcised penis and more sensitive than the most sensitive region of the circumcised penis. Circumcision ablates the most sensitive parts of the penis.”

Link to study is here.

To be clear, this study was initiated by those with an anti-circ bias, including Marilyn Milos. Who is Ms. Milos? A former nurse who is the founder of Nocirc, who was nurse fired for showing parents a video of the actual circumcision procedure in 1985. But 1985 was a long time ago in American anti-circ years, and she received an award for patient advocacy from Nurseweek in 2001.

Who do you think will win this battle over time in the general U.S. population? And how will the liberal Jewish community not follow suit?

But if the traditional community offered a less radical option for circ considered in line with Torah (though at its most moderate, not in-line with Rabbinic law) law according to no less than the Rambam, some of the intense bitterness that will grow towards this ritual could be conceivably mitigated a bit, even though this would require changing tradition, something that is not advocated by the Rambam. A deal of sorts could be cut.

But that won’t happen on a massive level, and possibly – at least publicly – may not happen at all.

Instead, all aspects of a radical bris including brit periah, will be defended with fantasies and legends of martyrdom in the recent and ancient past. And all who seek a compromise will be denounced as Hellenists.

But this is not expansively declaring various foods "chometz." This is cutting babies. And while those of us in the secular community who lean traditional may want to continue circumcising our boys in some literal manner, we would prefer not to do so radically.

Fortunately, we have a crucial partner in promoting a less radical circumcision. That partner is within the haredi community -- those factions which insist that sucking baby-penis blood by mouth (well, that's what it is, isn't it?) is an integral aspect of tradition that cannot be tampered with, as well as those who defend their position.

That's a really compromised position for laying down the law, and opens the issue up to allow for reconsidering other stringencies and traditions never referenced or discussed in the Torah itself.

Young Men to be Cleared of False Rape Charges

2007-03-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, three young men are to be cleared of the false charges that were leveled against them, maybe. To be clear, these men were victims of racism. Academics rushed to judgment at least partially because the young men are white and their lying accuser black.

John Podhoretz writes in the NY Post,

“Some 88 of them - more than 10 percent of the entire Duke professoriat - engaged in a shocking rush to judgment in the weeks following the party where the accuser falsely alleged she had been raped.

They signed an ad declaring they were "turning up the volume at a moment when some of the most vulnerable among us are being asked to quiet down."

Their shameful conduct helped create the lynch-mob atmosphere that tempted and seduced DA Nifong to believe he could ride an indictment of the three young men to political victory in the Democratic primary that took place only weeks after he charged them.

It is not too much to say that many of the adults at Duke, who should be stewards for their students, actually wanted the false rape story to be true because it fulfilled their ideological predilections.

Since the academic work of those who organized the ad centers around the notion that the white male power structure subjugates and violates all those who are neither white nor male, the case was actually a dream come true for them.“

Now – it’s important to note that almost 90% of the “professoriat” signed no such advertisement. While this is indicative of the absurdity and bile of a small percentage of academic professors, that is a major problem, but it cannot be proven that they dominate academia.

However, if the signers were overrepresented from the history and sociology departments, then maybe we do have a very big problem indeed. If there is significant density of this point of view in these departments, this surely affects the quality and fairness of their teaching in ways it might not affect the IT or chemistry professor’s.

I would like to see the breakdown.

Two Rabbis in Newsweek Top Fifty List Not From Major Branches

2007-03-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

I wouldn’t expect Newsweek to get anything right about Judaism, and would expect their list of The Top Fifty Rabbis in America to be a joke.

But two of them in the top ten aren’t even from the branches of liberal Judaism. They are leaders of other religions entirely. That is to say, unlike the progressive branches of Reform or Conservative who wrestle to find Jewish meaning (and usually lose) in their negotiations with secularism and liberalism, these two religions represented in the top ten contain specifically foreign theological content.

Number four is Yehuda Berg, of the ~~cult~~ New Religion, the Kaballah Centre.

And the number one (number 1?!?) is Rabbi Marvin Hier, the leading theologian for political Holocaustism.

Holocaustism is more insidious than the Kaballah Centre, as Holocaustism is tolerated by so many in the mainstream Jewish community, and worse, it has infiltrated large swaths of Jews in all the major denominations.

We must stand up to Holocaustism, declaring to ourselves and the world that this is not Judaism. We are much deeper and complex than that, and we go back a couple of years earlier than 1933. Judaism is NOT victimology, and our past conflagration is not the burden or history of the American people. We should not be building these ubiquitous memorials and museums like they are a town mikveh. We have to try and make our own understand that the Holocaust did not happen here, and these museums and this singular, shrill, and obsessive focus is not helping us. Not outside, not inside.

If Rabbi Marvin Hier had his way, we would build a Holocaust memorial with a U.S. flag in front of it on the moon.

Hat tip: Failed Messiah

Modern Orthodox Icon Grows a Pair

2007-03-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

The Jerusalem Post reports,

The rabbinic court system must offer alternate judicial services not under the auspices of the haredi establishment, Efrat Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin said Thursday in response to the appointment Tuesday of 15 new judges to the rabbinic courts, 12 of whom were haredi.

"After this week's selection of an inordinate number of haredi judges, many of whose chief qualifications were family relationships, I call for an alternative court of religious-Zionist, modern Orthodox judges who will include love of Israel together with concern for the purity of Israel and will express the principle of 'for the sake of preventing agunot. [women trapped in a marriage by Jewish law] our law finds leniencies,'" Riskin told a conference dealing with the Israeli constitution in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Failed Messiah notes,

"Personally, I think this is a case of too little, too late. The MO-NRP world wasted its time on land and expanding Jewish 'control' over the West Bank and Gaza. While it did so, haredim hijacked the apparatus of state religion, making life worse for everyone but, perhaps, a few haredim themselves. And, at the same time, secular Israelis and the Israeli center – made up mostly of traditional Jews who at one time valued rabbis and Orthodoxy, if not as a daily way of life then as an ideal – have moved farther away from religion and have increasingly hostile views of Orthodoxy and of rabbis.”

The cost of course, is to world Jewry as well. The myth that being “religious” is synonymous with being “haredi” is one many Jews (including myself many years ago), both religious and secular have bought, both in Israel and in the Diaspora.

The issue though, is not just that this is bad for Judaism itself (which it is, it’s awful) but it is simply a bold-faced lie, absolute historical revisionism. And the Modern Orthodox, who so frequently publicly focus only, or at least, mostly, on the State of Israel, have done nothing but aid and abet this nonsense by allowing themselves to be portrayed as a purely post-1948 brand of Judaism.

Haredi power brokers seized upon this perceived weakness, and further disseminated and contrasted their lie of a unique religious continuity, by incessantly appealing to a past intense purity that never existed the way they pretend it once did, and dismissing the reality that they too have changed just as much (and perhaps, much more) because of the establishment of the Jewish state, just like the Modern Orthodox and secular Jewish communities, but of course, in very different manifestations. And not because Jewish secularists oppress them (they really don’t), but because we all change when a major geo-political development affects us.

Most Jewish communities have substantially changed because of the State of Israel, both there and in the Diaspora. But by overemphasizing and restricting their focus to a religious-Zionist vision that was often speculative, the Modern Orthodox allowed themselves to be marginalized externally by both haredim and secularists, and even internally.

Having said that, Rabbi Riskin’s fight against this haredi power grab is encouraging. Once again, when the haredim go too far and take too much, the Modern Orthodox are demonstrating the will to fight.

Chulent is Over

2007-03-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

Welp…as some of you may know, there was this big article in the NY Times about this social group I’m peripherally a part of, and indeed, I went to cholent last night, and was horrified by what I saw. There were hordes of Upper West and Upper East Side Jews in search of “the scene.” Some wanted the chulent (those would be the Upper-West Siders), and some inquired as to the appropriate amount of the “suggested donation” (those would be the Upper-East Siders). Some of the high-heeled crowd were puzzled by the lack of an elevator, and many complained about the smoke…even while outside. There was some perfumed yuppie from NY Magazine doing yet another article as well, and she kept insisting her story was already in the works before the Times piece came out, and she was interviewing people I've never even seen before.

And then there were the kiruvniks. Formerly of Big Aish, Rabbi Sammy “Are you ready to rock?!?” was there, and he declared that, “Judaism is the ultimate counter-culture!” Sholom the anarchist rabbi almost pummeled the poor bastard, but unfortunately, some dude in a serugah intervened (you know how the Zionists are). He offered some platitudes about Jewish unity, and probably because of the vodka mixed with beer, I went outside and promptly vomited.

Anyway, that’s it for that.

Orthodox on Campus

2007-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

Yaakov Weinstein has a piece on Beyond BT, "Orthodox Assimilation On Campus - Part 2," which addresses the challenges of risk and reaction to those who choose to attend a secular college campus in a respectful and thoughtful manner, and he does not seek to minimize the importance or validity of secular education, but in addition to noting the reality that the dual curriculum schools are not the only options students will take, he demands others support this choice. Though he blames some of the challenges to faith on a young person’s desires, he also advises,

“Don’t give glib answers to sincere questions. If you think you can answer who wrote the Torah or the evolution ‘problem’ in a one minute conversation keep it to yourself. You merely show that you are not taking the question seriously.”

I would personally go further of course, and would note that the sacrifice a young BT makes in his early years is in some important ways not unlike credit card debt assumed in his the early years. The weight of such decisions, if too heavy, can come down hard later, manifesting in painful and debilitating ways. If people are interested in the health and longevity of a baal teshuvah, they should advocate a path that will be satisfying in the long-term, and not advise a track because it increases the odds for stricter religious adherence in the short-term. [Note to haredi kiruvniks – grandchildren being religious Jews is not a sufficient example of personal long-term satisfaction, and when that’s all you offer, it only reveals how debilitating and costly your ways are, or you would have given something more personal beyond “nachas.” You can’t pay a mortgage with nachas, and nachas isn't what people face on a daily basis at work.] Why must long-term satisfaction usually include a quality higher education at a secular college campus? Look at the popularity of Beyond BT itself, a site primarily for established BTs -- not new ones.

Secular and liberal Jews who become Orthodox usually never stop being baalei teshuvahs. Nuance in culture and outlook in contrast to FFBs remains forever, and is even passed down to subsequent generations. This is not a bad thing at all, and is a credit to these people. Those who can truly reject every aspect of their personal and familial past and value system are either chameleons, or must come from something truly terrible. Neither is the case with most of secular Jewry, nor with BTs.

And another thing, at last – Yeshiva University

2007-03-19T22:52:00.000-07:00

I have refrained from writing this post for a long time, but I think it must be said.

There are those in the Right-Wing Modern Orthodox Baal Teshuvah community who would prefer to see as many Jews as possible attend dual curriculum schools such as Touro College and Yeshiva/Stern College. While I have not attacked YU before, there are murmurings of YU starting a new program for Jews from secular backgrounds for after a year of Israel.

For graduate school, YU has some great ones. By all means, go. However. At the undergraduate level (at least for the men), I am afraid Yeshiva College is not appropriate for most Jews from secular backgrounds. The only exceptions I know anecdotally are those Jews who descend from Holocaust survivors, and came to the U.S. during the post-war period.

I went there, and my great-grandfather attended a yeshiva later absorbed into YU. But Jews at YU from such families as mine are few and far between. Like most of the men I know from a secular background who went there, I did not enjoy my experience at Yeshiva College, and not because Yeshiva College is a bad school – it most certainly is not -- but because the culture of the students and campus life is simply too limited and far removed from those of us who have been in the U.S. for a long period of time. I don’t want to attack my alma mater, and wish the best to YU. We are not talking Touro College. You will learn secular studies for real. But it simply is a very bad idea to send secular Jewry into Teaneck, unless they are really Zionist. We pretty much all hated it. Even Yeshiva College students from out of town went to the same summer camps, and come from an insulated culture. We have nothing in common. For instance, I was the only guy who played the violin while I was there. The school’s literary journal was confiscated from our mailboxes because of its objectionable content. A few years ago, I met a younger brother of a baales teshuvah (she has since left Orthodoxy) who convinced her younger brother to attend Yeshiva College. He was a really nice kid, and very polite, just like his sister. I met him one Saturday night, and asked him how he liked it, and he said it was okay. I told him I thought it was sometimes hard for those of us who were from secular, more Americanized backgrounds, and then he began to become visibly upset, stunned at the empathy of a stranger who understood immediately. I assured him all of us felt that way, and to just realize that it would be over forever soon enough, and that he was young enough to just transfer out, which I believe he did. I felt bad for the guy, and certainly remembered my own time there. But all that was understood later…it was my earliest initiation that was the first chill of Yeshiva College reality.

I was a reporter for The Commentator, the student newspaper. For my first story, I asked a rabbi, who turned out to be quite prominent in the Modern Orthodox world, for a quote. He was sitting with another rabbi, and he declined, which is his right. But as I was walking away, he said sarcastically, “Bye, bye!” I was stunned. He had no idea who I was; we had never met. His contempt was therefore not towards me personally, but because I was part of the school newspaper, which was independent of rabbinical control. I became concerned that a lot of what I thought were only haredi anti-Western attitudes I had fled by going to the Modern Orthodox world were clearly here as well. I don’t want to name the rabbi, except to note it was neither Rabbi Blau nor Rabbi Schachter,

This sort of culture is fine for those brought up in Right-Wing Modern Orthodox communities if that’s what they want (and it apparently is, it was the students who forced the literary journal recall -- from our mailboxes), but this type of controversy and experience is really inappropriate for those of us from secular backgrounds.

I am pretty sure none of the above would not be the case if I had attended SUNY Binghamton, never mind Oberlin, and simply don’t personally know any Jews from secular backgrounds who would attend Yeshiva College if they did it all over again except for those whose families came post-war and are either accountants, lawyers, or rabbis. In the off chance the student from a secular background you know descends from a family that has been here longer than the late 1940’s, or is considering other vocational options, he is not a good candidate for Yeshiva College.

Jews from secular backgrounds should not be steered towards the dual curriculum undergraduate schools. Not even Yeshiva College. They are not welcome there, and they are not wanted there.

Yeshiva College should think twice before actively recruiting Jews from secular backgrounds to their institution. Yeshiva University, which was built and continues to be funded predominantly by secular Jewish money, has revealed their contempt for secular Jewry for decades by letting NCSY and other institutions push newly Orthodox Jews into haredism without Modern Orthodox institutional options. YU let their program for those from a public school falter even as the baal teshuvah movement gained ground. And if you remember the scandals of NCSY and the Lanner bais din, you can’t say YU has not been involved in NCSY. In fact, YU people were involved in enabling the most egregious chapter of NCSY.

YU had a chance to demonstrate concern over the welfare of secular Jewry in many ways. They consistently blew it, and should not be given another chance. The students who go there will be just as miserable, albeit better educated, than those who go to Touro.

The first rule of kiruv should be, “Don’t create misery.” If YU creates a new program that leads to the social isolation and misery, as well as a lack of appropriate extra-curricular activities and available internships for those outside the business school areas of focus, they should be discouraged from now, finally – decades into this kiruv thing – pretending they care.

No one is out for a fight with YU. In many ways, YU is the largest institutional achievement of the Modern Orthodox. But if YU creates a program for Jews from a secular background, and does not meet their needs (for their needs are different than those of the normative Yeshiva College student population), the complaints are not going to be restricted to within the walls of Muss. You are going to have a big mess on your hands. So you better think this through.

Oil and Darfur

2007-03-19T14:53:00.000-07:00

The root of the conflict in Darfur appears to be fueled by the thirst for oil. Racism is certainly a factor, but oil is apparently a major economic factor for the longevity and intensity of the conflict, even if a speculative one.

On the Save Darfur Coalition page about this conflict, there is nothing about the role of oil.

Why does the Coalition not care to emphasize this issue? Do they believe this is not a factor as others claim it is? The coalition notes that the attacks are coming from “government-backed militias.” But what about the issue of a corporate backed government? What of the lure for the profits for those controlling the oil reserves? Though some feel it is important to note that much of the oil is speculative, that is not apparently whether there is a significant amount of oil, but exactly how much.

Has the coalition forgotten the economic root of the brutality in Sierra Leone? The root cause of diamonds had to be addressed for any guarantee of long-term stability.

Why is Darfur any different?

Churchill was a Tzaddik

2007-03-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

"But if we fail, then the whole world --- Will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand year, Men will still say: 'This was their finest hour'." -- Winston Churchill

In case any of you were not aware, Winston Churchill was cleared of defamation. I am horrified that there have actually been Jews who used this opportunity to attack Churchill, and would like to remind my co-religionists that Churchill was the one man who had the will to fight the Nazis, and dragged his countrymen into war for moral reasons, and they accepted.

I would remind Jews on both the Left and Right that even if he had written these statements (and he did not) it wouldn’t matter. Here’s a little customized tip to some of my my favorite groups to help prevent this from happening next time.

To my liberal Jewish friends: I would ask that you accept that the greatest political leader of the 20th century was not FDR (he was hardly outstanding during the war), was not JFK, was not Martin Luther King, and was not even Golda Meir, EVEN though she was the first woman prime minister in the Middle East. Churchill trumps them all. And no, he wasn’t a liberal. He was a conservative. War is hell like that.

To my far-Left Jewish acquaintances: I would ask you to accept that the most heroic leader of the 20th century was not transgendered, was not a person of color, was not gay, and was not some Marxist putz on a motorcycle itching for a global nuclear war with the U.S. Tragically, he was a white, Christian, middle aged, cigar smoking, hopelessly straight male.

To my Neocon friends (no real need to emphasize they're Jewish, right?): Yes, you love Churchill. But you love Reagan more. I would ask you to accept that even more effective than trickle down economics or running away from Lebanon after the first suicide bomb, even more beneficial to survival than deregulation and privatization such as with Enron and Latin American water supplies, even more satisfying than our wonderful triumph in Iraq, Churchill’s defiance of Hitler proved a greater benefit to a broader range of capitalist consumers by most marketplace standards.

To my frum friends: I would ask you to accept that Churchill was even shrewder than the Gedolim who insisted everything would be just fine and to stay in Europe. I would ask you to find the strength to say Churchill had a strong moral code, and concede not only that he was a true hero, but that he was (I’m trying to put him in terms you understand) very big. Do kids learn about Churchill in haredi schools in the U.S. and Israel? What are they taught about him?

We would all do well to remember Mr. Churchill with the gratitude he deserves, and remember this greatest world leader of the 20th century with the respect he deserves. I would translate that into holding fire at his general character because of a stupid letter. Even if he did write it, which he clearly didn’t.

Below is a picture of Charlie, a parrot that is (very) dubiously thought to have been owned by Mr. Churchill, a claim many want to believe because of the bird’s habit of spewing vulgar anti-Nazi tirades for whomever will listen. Next time Jewish bloggers attack Churchill over some letter he didn’t write, they will have to face him.

NCSY [Hearts] Agudath Israel

2007-03-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

NCSY is working with Agudath Israel, a haredi political organization, through a new partnership in running a kiruv organization, Camp Nageela Midwest. The website, available through NCSY’s site, offers no information about who the Agudah is, never mind its involvement (and ownership) of this camp.

Emes Ve-Emunah praises this new relationship, and notes,

In this partnership, Agudath Israel has agreed to provide both the facility and funds for the camp, while NCSY has been given charge of administrative staff, developing programming and running the camp. Counselors will be culled from both the NCSY and the Agudah worlds [Editor's note: I told you!], and all staff people will be approved jointly by Agudah and NCSY. The posek for the camp is Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, dayan of Agudath Israel, who has a longtime sensitivity for kiruv issues and close working relationship with NCSY.

Check out NCSY's listing of this summer program on their site. Where is there mention of the haredi Agudath Israel’s involvement? They say it is a “partnership trip,” but unlike other partnership trips, such as their Taglit-Birthright and Summer at YU partnership trips, there is nothing about Agudath Israel being a partner.

I wonder why not…

Mechitza = Sanctuary

2007-03-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

One of the most troubling aspects of Liberal Judaism adherents is the belief that all aspects of Judaism must be continually revised to conform to modern sensibilities. More arrogant, or perhaps, just strange, is the insistence that none of these issues ever existed before this writer came of age.

In his article “Scrap the Mechitza,” Aaron Hamburger writes,

Seating me with a bunch of men is like locking Jackie Gleason in a delicatessen, as the old Jackie Mason joke goes. But if I were to sit with women, my own beauty might distract everyone around me. I could sit in a section composed solely of gay men, but then we’d all distract each other. To be safe, I’d have to sit in a room with only one other person, a lesbian. But first, we’d both have to undergo testing to make sure neither of us had any latent bisexual tendencies[…] Separating men from women does not make shul a sex-free zone. Even in a synagogue that bars openly professing homosexuals from attending, you might still have a few closeted gay or lesbian congregants who secretly get their jollies from sitting among members of the same sex.

This is not, in fact, a new issue. There have been gays – including Jewish gays – since the dawn of man and woman. This phenomenon did not start with Stonewall.

“Also, where would you seat a hermaphrodite, or someone who’s undergone a sex change? If you seat a biological male who’s turned female among men, you’re certainly creating a distraction there. However, a mechitza requires you to do just that because its designers could only conceive of gender in bifurcated terms.”

In fact, the Talmud does discuss hermaphrodites. So there certainly was a conception outside of a bifurcated understanding of male and female. Why not allow that Judaism prefers perceiving gender in stricter terms in the synagogue itself?

Hamburger continues to refute all the usual reasons given, but doesn’t allow for the fact that there are many times when people prefer to segregate according to respective male and female groups. While this may be frowned upon to some extent in the American corporate world, there is no reason for Judaism to mirror that approach. I personally prefer the mechitza, and only feel comfortable in synagogues with a mechitza during the service. Why does the service need to feel like work?

Hamburger writes,

Some women resent being separated from men. Some men feel uncomfortable being separated from their families. Why does their discomfort count for less than the rather unnatural discomfort at finding yourself next to a member of the opposite sex, the way you would on any street corner?

Because we are not on the street corner. If you want things to be like they are on the street corner, go walk the streets. The synagogue is a sanctuary; it need not be like the street corner, and in fact, should not be like the street corner.

Hamburger further reveals his real issue, which is not the mechitza, but traditional Judaism generally.

The “separate but equal” argument doesn’t really work either because the act of separation is in itself inherently unequal. Walk into any Orthodox synagogue, and you won’t need much time to figure out which sex is in charge. (If you need a hint, it’s the one you see on the bimah.)

So you see, his issue is really Orthodoxy itself.

Well, I for one am sorry that many Jews do not see value in an Orthodox service or synagogue, and can only say that I find the jostling for parity and over the top demonstrations of their progressive nature of certain congregations frequently unsatisfying, and sometimes, quite frankly, abrasive. It can’t be MLK day every weekend. All too often, there seem to be very little of the moral and intellectual challenge at non-Orthodox congregations that some of the traditional Jewish places offer, nor do I feel a sense of continuity of faith at a congregation where the emphasis is "halachic progress." There is no end to that, only continued frustration. It simply isn't the faith of my ancestors. Laymen did not focus on that in shul each and every week.

What Hamburger does not even consider is that a mechitza does not just represent a division between men and women, but also a division between our secular lives and thoughts and our Jewish ones.

And when congregations don’t have one, this manifests in other ways as well. They are often not taking Judaism as seriously as the Orthodox congregations, as they can’t even muster the strength to say Judaism has value unless Judaism's world view is in line with their secular world.

If that’s the case, why bother going to synagogue at all? And who needs Judaism?

A better question is why anyone bothers going to a synagogue without a mechitza.

Iraqi Mandaeans Face Extinction

2007-03-04T23:09:00.000-08:00

The BBC reports,

The Sabian Mandaeans - one of the oldest religious groups in the world - are facing extinction, according to its leaders.

They claim that Islamic extremists in Iraq are trying to wipe them out through forced conversions, rape and murder.

The Mandaeans are pacifists, followers of Adam, Noah and John the Baptist.

They have lived in what is now Iraq since before Islam and Christianity.

There are thought to be fewer than 70,000 of the Sabian Mandaeans spread across the world - only 5,000 are left in Iraq.

This is an ancient people, and they desperately need rescue. We cannot absorb millions of immigrants from this horrific mess we have made, but we can take 5,000. This is not trying to solve Africa’s wars, nor is it trying to spread democracy. These are a tiny remnant of a peaceful civilization facing elimination from Islamic fanatics, innocent bystanders offensive to both sides.

We appear to go way back with them. They originated in East Judea, and apparently even left with the Jews when the First Temple was destroyed.

They need our help. Please spread word.

They face genocide.

UOJ Warns Rabbi Over Bigamy

2007-03-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

UOJ claims he has evidence of a rabbi allegedly facilitating bigamy.

Very recently I have come to know that a rabbi has performed a Kiddushin or a Jewish wedding ceremony for a couple, while the woman "was still married" to her first husband. The violation is clear. The rabbi sanctioned this marriage "under the laws of Moses and Israel" while the woman was committing bigamy in the eyes of the law of the United States of America.

It would appear from UOJ’s language that the issue is that the woman is divorced according to Jewish law, which is to say, she received a get – but that she is not divorced according to American civil law.

Full story.

Homelessness and the NY Jewish Community

2007-03-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

From what I have seen, I do not think Jewish homelessness and poverty should be left to general programs. For instance, I have personally heard two separate complaints of anti-Semitic violence in the shelter system, including a shelter under Jewish communal auspices. When a Jewish program services Jewish recipients less successfully than the non-Jewish recipients, we have a problem.

I would like to see a shelter in New York that does not accept government funds, and is not open to the public, but is a private shelter system specifically for the Jewish homeless.

Ye, it would be nice to solve homelessness generally, but I don’t know how to do that. What I do know is that the Jewish community is one of the wealthiest communities in the world, and if we can’t even successfully and significantly help our own, what good is it?

Mass Transit and Homelessness

2007-02-26T23:39:00.000-08:00

POJL got scammed by a panhandler. I think many of us have a fear of being homeless. I know I do, though I do not give to panhandlers on trains. But most homeless people do not panhandle, and the greater problem is that NYC uses the subway as a de facto homeless shelter. This is not only a bad use of a mass transit system; it is an utterly irresponsible one. And that is why it is (officially) illegal to panhandle on the subway.

Many cities do not have a twenty-four hour subway system because they do not want their metro filled with smelly, stinking vagrants. Most American cities do not have an extensive rail system to speak of period, and even those few that do are often limited because of township fears of what a stop in their neighborhood will bring in.

The cost for this is an important aspect in denizens not only being unable to live auto-free, but without a rail alternative, completely auto dependent, at least in the suburbs.

This aids terrorism and abets rogue regimes. There would not be an Iranian regime or Saudi Arabian “charities” as we know them without oil.

The U.S. consumes 25% of world oil. Half of that is by passenger vehicles.

This country is not comfortable with mass transit. It is considered dangerous and dirty, especially one that runs 24/7. Guess which city's mass transit system people think of for that?

Most Americans are not willing to endure what we do, and part of that is because they have kids, and part of that is because the filth and the nonsense we allow in our subways is well known and not particularly desired by most suburban Americans.

If we are to get off oil, we all have to do our part, and we all have to sacrifice. That means many things, but it also includes New York liberal Jews accepting that we have to clean up the subway in order to prove to the rest of the country that a 24/7 metro system (which all cities should have) does not necessitate accepting a culture of homelessness, harassment, and incivility into our daily lives.

Or we can do what we have been doing, and give the country a great excuse for not getting off their oil and their cars, and shrug as we head towards a darker and more dangerous future.

We are making the wrong choice. By siding with the schizophrenic junkie panhandlers right to squat, sleep, and solicit in the subway, we are indirectly siding with Al Qaeda, Hizbollah, Ahmadinjad. etc.

And before you dismiss this as insane and reactionary, answer me this: Why did Al Qaeda attack the mass transit systems of London and Madrid? Was it only to kill a lot of people? Or was it also to discourage new mass transit systems?

Think about it, Pissed Off Liberal Jew. And talk to your friend Mik Moore about it as well. I am sure both of you would vastly prefer to see more mass transit projects, and doubt either of you think this is a small issue. It would be nice to be able to have a stinky, sometimes scary, homeless subway shelter AND broad public support for a massive undertaking of 24/7 mass transit projects across urban and suburban America. But we can’t have both. Something's got to give. And if your answer is, “Well, then what do we do about them?” then it already has. If you demand homelessness be solved in its entirety first, you are effectively preempting a national mass transit system expansion. By voting for the panhandlers and for vagrancy in the NY subway, you are voting for the automobile in the rest of the country.

And then you are really getting scammed.

Big Aish on Campus: Laundering Kiruv Through Zionism

2007-02-26T09:32:00.000-08:00

The NY Times reports,

When a Middle East discussion group organized a showing at New York University recently, it found that the distributors of “Obsession” were requiring those in attendance to register at IsraelActivism.com, and that digital pictures of the events be sent to Hasbara Fellowships, a group set up to counter anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses.

Failed Messiah notes that the Hasbara Fellowships are run by Aish HaTorah, and this Zionist front gives Aish HaTorah "a huge list of college-age Jews they can target with haredi missionary propaganda which, no doubt, is a major goal.”

Also – in case you missed it – see Failed Messiah’s story on where Big Aish recruits their kiruv machers. Apparently, if they were lying for and enabling Lanner, they are ready for Manhattan and online projects.

Shouldn’t they be in Hasbara?

Fifty Years of Quality Secular Education in Crown Heights

2007-02-22T13:57:00.000-08:00

For the 50th anniversary of his alma mater, Sholom the anarchist rabbi penned a heartwarming retrospective about his own Crown Heights yeshiva days, and reminisces about how his experience proves that a haredi background need not sacrifice one iota of so-called “secular” subjects, whether science, or what his rabbis called “the essentials of the essay.” Sholom also recalls the wonderful friends he made, and defends uniform dress at least for teenagers, because it “successfully masks the class divisions so evident in the secular world.”

While Sholom did not go into the professional corporate world like seven out of ten of his peers did, he remains tight with this world, and spoke to his fellow alumni about his experience posing for Fanorama.

Proposed Sudan Boycott Drawing Resistance

2007-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Week reports on “a proposal to put the umbrella Jewish group in line behind efforts to impose divestment on Sudan because of the genocide in Darfur.”

Let us be clear – if successful, this proposal will accomplish nothing in terms of stopping the bloodshed. But it will successfully put a big sign up that yids with glass houses like to throw stones.

Fortunately, this time there is resistance.

Doug Chandler reports,

“The proposal, which comes up for a vote next week at JCPA’s annual four-day plenum, is drawing its critics, who fear that an economic boycott of any country could be used against Israel, itself the target of divestment efforts.”

So who are the realists? This is where it gets interesting.

“Hadassah’s leaders also discussed the issue, despite “a hard and fast policy” of not endorsing any economic boycott, said Ellyn Lyons, chairwoman of the organization’s Israel, Zionist and International Affairs Department. Although all of them clearly believe that Darfur is an “extraordinary situation,” she said, they also believe that any boycott could be a “slippery slope,” with unintended consequences for Israel.

Both Hadassah and the Philadelphia JCRC have been in the forefront of protesting the slaughter in Darfur, meeting with elected officials on the issue and sending large contingents to “Save Darfur” rallies.”

However we understand Darfur, I think we should all agree that there is no sense in promoting a policy which accomplishes nothing AND puts Israel at risk.

Julia Gorin and Ilana Mercer: Two Jewish Women Tell You What You Don’t Want to Hear

2007-02-21T16:03:00.000-08:00

Ilana Mercer and Julia Gorin examine the Jewish community’s relationship with immigration and Holocaustism (Gorin does not use that term) in their respective essays.

I don’t want to give away the topic of Ilana Mercer’s essay “Jews Jeopardized By Muslim Immigration,” except to note that she asks the tough questions as to how a certain liberal Jewish fantasy will manifest itself differently here than in Europe or Canada. Mercer is openly a student of Dr. Stephen Steinlight, and that’s…a good choice!

Ms. Gorin is brilliant, innovative, and relentless. She is a "South Park Conservative." On Front Page Magazine in “Radical Islam’s Dupes,” she uncovers how we were are once again being intentionally duped through Holocaustism, this time into supporting “a narco-Islamo-terrorist gangster state in Europe.” Jews and Jewish organizations and newspapers are specifically being targeted to facilitate this. Because we are suckers, and Gorin demonstrates how those scamming us have bragged about doing just that.

We will lobby for our own destruction just to show “we care.”

JTA OP-ED: Women Sitting in Back of Bus is “Empowerment”

2007-02-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

Shira Leibowitz Schmidt points out that the rule of mandating women to the back of the bus is “empowerment of women.”

Mrs. Schmidt explains,

"Miriam Shear, who objected to sitting in the back of an Israeli bus — not one of the special buses, incidentally — has been compared to Rosa Parks, a black woman who symbolized the U.S. civil rights movement by refusing to sit in the back of a bus.

A better analogy, however, is between Parks, who stood for empowerment of blacks, and religious women who view the right to sit separately, even if it’s in the back of the bus, as empowerment."

Why not just take this nonsense completely off the cliff? Why not claim that the men who beat the crap out of Miriam Shear are the true heirs to Martin Luther King himself?

"Egged wants to make money and doesn’t want to lose haredi customers, so it added a few extra “mehadrin” lines — optional and stringent — to provide separate seating for those who didn’t want men to have to mix with scantily clad women. This entrepreneurship is as American as apple pie.”

Actually, it’s as Middle Eastern as being stoned to death for a theological violation.

“This is multiculturalism and pluralism. “

No – this is fundamentalism. But it’s still an ism of some sort, so perhaps partial credit is warranted?

“Women who chose to ride in the rear of the bus see themselves as partners in, and beneficiaries of, the attempt to encourage family integrity by creating temptation-free comfort zones.”

We are worried about the ones who don’t choose that.

“The Orthodox need to do much introspection to minimize the offense to those who prefer mixed seating.”

No, the “Orthodox” are not monolithic. The Modern-Orthodox are not a part of this. They did some introspection, and decided it's meshugeh. May I remind you, it was a Modern Orthodox woman who was beaten, not a "bare midriffed" secularist. The haredim need to do introspection, and quite frankly, I suspect the thugs are not of the B’nai Torah variety, but the dudes with the curlies, and even then, only from specific sects. There is no way Sloanim or Lubavitch Chassidim were pulling this nonsense. Nor, quite frankly, would it make sense for this to be Satmar (and they do have payos), for whom the state is an anathema, and nothing is expected of Egged, a secular Zionist mass transit system.

But such incidents are being committed by someones. But we don’t know who they are exactly, or where this aggressiveness is coming from. And this is the problem with the haredim. Not that they want a segregated bus system, but that they don’t identify the specific haredim who want to enforce it for everyone.

This ill placed solidarity is rampant in the haredi world. They consistently refuse to point the finger at the perpetrators and identify them and their sect, but only denounce their actions specifically, even while praising the stringency effusively.

And that’s empowering the assailants.

And don't point to Hirhurim. Hirhurim is not haredi.

Ghetto Fabulous on Ice

2007-02-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

Levi Okunov is a fashion designer on the rise.

The man is as talented as he is audacious, and prone to inflecting his custom shmattes with religious and cultural patterns and inflections, such as tallis patterns, fur hats, and earlock emphasized hairstyles. And perhaps the best retro-soundtrack for the catwalk I have ever heard. Zugges mir nachamol, indeed!

Hat tip: Radloh and Mentalblog

The Set America Free Coalition (with Thomas Friedman)

2007-02-18T15:02:00.000-08:00

This is inspiring. Elements of left, right, and center, united to get the U.S. off oil. Note the important description of petro-dollars as "supply chains" to terrorists.

Listen to the music at the end. The situation is that ominous.

Hat Tip: Set America Free

Put Finger in Hole in Dike

2007-02-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

Paul Belien writes in the Washington Times,

The Dutch are pampered by an extensive welfare system. They were the first in Europe to legalize abortion, euthanasia and homosexual "marriage." Today, Islam is filling the void that was left when the Dutch created a religious vacuum in the heart of their culture. There are already 1 million Muslims in the Netherlands out of a total population of 16 million. Their number is rising fast because the Muslims are fecund while the secularist Dutch have hardly any offspring.
The native Dutch are moving out. Since 2004, more indigenous Dutchmen have emigrated each year than immigrants have moved in. People who have lost faith in God do not fight. They run. Since they do not believe in life after death, this life is the only thing they have to lose. One emigrant Dutchman, a homosexual author who lives in Brussels, writes: "I am not a warrior. I do not fight for freedom. I am only good at enjoying it." This mentality has affected the whole of Western Europe. A young German woman recently said that it is "better to let yourself be raped than risk injuries while resisting, better to avoid fighting than risk death." Europe has chosen the path of submission. Islamization is not the cause but the consequence of the collapse of Europe. The very word Islam means "submission." Many Europeans have submitted already. In that sense, they have already become Muslims.

I am not in agreement with Bielen’s solution of a general and comprehensive conservative agenda. But I do agree we could face a similar problem like the one facing our friends in Holland, particularly since we are specifically hated.

But I have a much simpler solution. It’s called Immigration Reform. But hey, I better not say that. That's intolerant. Better to allow for a situation where a small minority of a community will likely cause serious problems (especially for our community) into our country, and when shit goes down, we will have diversity training, quilt making, all sorts of ineffective dialog, when really, it's all because we have foolishly invited enemies of the West into our homes. And when they start burning it down, we can blame root causes, foreign policy, and racism.

Time to close the gates. Jews, wake up. We need to change our immigration policies. This is madness. This is absurd. We are a naïve people, but we can’t be this naïve.

It won’t be as bad as it is in Europe. It will be much, much worse.

Oil and immigration. That’s it. That’s the focus. It has to be.

Or we are in for something ferocious.

Valentine’s Day

2007-02-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

Jewbiquitous is discussing the appropriateness of Jews celebrating Valentine’s Day in light of its Christian history, and therefore it’s Christian content.

But even if it were devoid of that, as a Litvak, I wouldn’t celebrate it. Because it’s "romantic," which is a form of spirituality. Instead of getting all mushy eyed and paying through the nose for a prefixed dinner and watching some drivel with Hugh Grant, everyone should go read a good book, preferably non-fiction. And note the wisdom of my eight-year-old nephew, who gently declined his librarian’s suggestion noting, “I don’t usually read fiction, unless it’s really good.”

Now to be clear, I have no problem with mutual base desires (trust me on this one) and an intellectual connection, and in fact, (at least theoretically) recognize the importance of an emotional connection with a member of the opposite sex (even if I have never felt such a thing myself) provided each party in the relationship is willing to agree to disagree. But seeking romance itself is quite dangerous, and can be intellectually debilitating. Look how it clouds the judgment of many Conservadox men, who because they seek romance, cast aside their own intellectual faculties and reason itself, ascribing to social action and pseudo-feminism, and nod to an exaggerated importance of the 20th century role of Rabbi Abraham Heschel.

We risk losing an entire generation to such nonsense.

Quite frankly, I can think of no holiday as anti-Jewish (outside of the overtly Christian ones) than Valentine’s Day. It is fantasy, anti-intellectual, and worst of all, overpriced. If you must celebrate this holiday, but a bottle of wine at a liquor store (that’s still paying retail – and therefore special enough for an M.O.T.) for a quarter of what it would cost at a restaurant. Make some chicken, light a couple of candles from the discount store, and chill out (together!) in front of a decent documentary (those don’t have to be really good)exposing the destruction of segments of the middle class due to the bankruptcy "reform" law, or how deregulation is all too frequently a front for corruption.

That’s warm and fuzzy enough for a weeknight.

Happy Mitvuch.

Aish/Kiruv.com – No Cost for a Jewish Day School Education

2007-02-13T08:57:00.000-08:00

Big Aish tackles all the possible objections for why you wouldn’t want your little ones to attend Jewish Day School instead of public schools. Ross Hirschmann answers all of them. Well, he tries anyway. Not all of his 'compare and contrast' examples work completely.

“I still remember [my daughter] coming home so excited to tell us how she learned all about Mozart and Beethoven in school -- Jewish Day School. Even I, who played the violin as a kid, didn't learn about Mozart until college.”

Um…as a public school Jew who also played the violin as a kid – but perhaps, unlike Ross, not the air violin, but the actual wooden thing with strings and a bow… well, anyway, I learned about Mozart a long, long time before college. Something isn’t right in his story at all.

But anyway. Ross explains why Jewish Day Schools are so wonderful, and so much better than public schools. But you know what he doesn’t discuss? The price. Nowhere in this love letter to Jewish Day Schools is the price of these schools.

One of the ~~best~~ formidable reasons to avoid becoming a baal teshuvah is the financial burden. In the U.S., the cost of yeshivas or day schools is the worst manifestation of that. I have heard first hand horror stories from parents and students (yes, they suffer this as well if their parents are struggling) about the economic realities of day schools.

As always with Big Aish, the real problems in kiruv are ignored in their entirety, and instead, focus is restricted to the cutesy fantasy straw man.

Update: TM has a point. Jewish private schools are critical to Jewish literacy and continuity. I would like to clarify that I am not anti-day school. My concern is the cost of education needs to be addressed, and should be a priority of the Jewish community. We build Holocaust Museum after Holocaust Museum, and our youth cannot spell their names in Hebrew, and do not know Jewish history prior to 1933. I would personally like to see subsidized Orthodox schools (or at least, Orthodox inflected schools) that service a secular Jewish community. But schools not run by haredim.

It just isn’t Purim preparation without the Holocaust

2007-02-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

Is America as bad as life under the Nazis? Of course not. It’s worse. Just ask Dark Light.

Ohr Somayach’s leader, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, explains in his just-in time-for-the-Purim-party-essay, “Which side of genocide?”

“Which side of genocide does our own generation face? The threat of physical genocide which reared its ugly head in the Holocaust still echoes in the Arab call to Jihad against the Jewish State. But this danger is nowhere near as tangible as that of the spiritual genocide which is decimating our ranks in the form of widespread assimilation and intermarriage.

This is not the spiritual genocide of Hellenist, Crusader or Inquisitors. Nowhere are Jews being forced to choose between the cross and the stake, the crescent and the sword. Our problem is that of the Moabite kind, submission to passion for pleasure exacerbated by the powerful forces of social conformity, the age-old desire to be a nation like all nations. This is a situation of "do-it-yourself genocide" where more than six million are trying to achieve a final solution of vanishing into the family of nations, rather than serve as a model for them.“

More than six million. And at their own hands! Like here -- in the treifa medina itself, the United States of Assimilation. Of course, not everyone in the kiruv world agrees with Dark Light that it’s worse. Like NCSY. They’re real moderates. They don’t say it’s worse. They say it’s just as bad. That’s why they call it a “fourth Reich.” Because it doesn't have to be worse than the third.

But it might be! Bwahaha...

Rabbi Steve Burg in his post “Challenging ~~Your Sense of Basic Decency~~ Young Minds,” explains that,

At Regional 300 Jewish teens were ushered into a fictional “Judaic Park” museum that commemorates the successful destruction of the Jewish people through assimilation through the “fourth” Reich. For an hour and a half, the NCSYers sat mesmerized, shocked, and inspired in a redesigned ballroom at the Costa Mesa Hilton that housed the Judaic Park auditorium.

Get it? Judaic Park instead of Jurassic Park? Pretty cool, huh? Well, that’s our Rabbis Burg and FE. They certainly are cool advisors.

Misappropriating the Holocaust can be fun! And all the kiruvniks are doing it! It’s cool!

Big Aish: Tales of the “Return”

2007-02-10T23:48:00.000-08:00

On their new site to promote kiruv (kiruv.com), Big Aish offers tales of peoples' “return” to haredism. Let us be clear – most of these people descend from families who were never, ever haredi. This is a first.

Additionally, let’s call it like it is. Most of these people come from backgrounds both exceptionally secular and, well…rich.

How else do you explain this?

Sarah Schapiro writes,

Maybe it dates back to when they first found out about the religious emphasis in the educational curriculum -- morning hours, Torah studies; afternoon for secular subjects. But how will she get into a good college?

Apparently, she did not. But why is she dismissive of this question? The italics were her own. I can’t help but suspect that perhaps someone has no need for a good college to survive. I can’t help but suspect that someone has gelt. Isn’t it implied that her child doesn’t need to worry about food and shelter? Well, Ms. Schapiro herself grew up in New Canaan, CT, which we know from yet another story on tales of the “return.” And um…New Canaan isn’t exactly working class central, now, is it?

Rabbi Goldson writes of his own exceptionally secular background, and has written elsewhere about attending an Episcopalian private high school.

Sara Yoheved Rigler does claim to come from a middle class background, but espouses one of the most ubiquitous and despicable lies of the haredi kiruvniks, which to be fair, she may very well believe herself.

“I started studying at Neve Yerushalayim, which was then billed as a "women's yeshiva for baalei-tshuva" -- Jews returning to the religious observance of their great-grandparents.”

But if her great-grandparents came to the U.S. pre-WWII, they were absolutely not haredi, certainly not like these “The World is a Very Narrow Bridge” fundamentalists at Neve are.

The fundamentalism of Neve has little to do with the Judaism of our ancestors. And if Neve and Aish weren’t transplanting a Judaism at least three generations removed, they would not be able to pretend it does.

Oh, and to their own, Aish still offers “proof” of their Bible Codes.

At this point, the scientists told the hundreds of avid listeners in the Catskill resort, they felt that being true to their own scientific method demanded their acknowledging that the Torah could not have had a human author. Not even Moses sitting atop Mt. Sinai with a P.C. could have embedded codes referring to people and events far in the future.

The same lies over and over again. Someone will be hearing them for the first time. In fact, many will. More people than ever before.

Will you stay silent? Will you justify your silence in the face of their lies because “they make people frum?”

Is that what Judaism demands? Is that what God wants?

Love Issue Prelude Video

2007-02-09T07:53:00.001-08:00

Love is in the air at Heeb.

East Village Mamele Reminds Us Why Liberal Judaism Sucks Ass

2007-02-08T08:04:00.000-08:00

In “My Niece Has Two Daddies,” the Forward proves that even the venerable voice of the moderate Jewish Left can’t escape having a writer on staff who thinks like Deborah Nussbaum Cohen.

Anyway, I’m not sure which southeast Asian country the child originates from, but she’s here now, and the welcoming party is on. And since the adopting couple is gay, and the child ~~isn’t Jewish and really we all know that~~ is being converted, clearly we need to invoke every possible flakey liberal multi-culti-Jewey straw in our arsenal.

Obviously, they had a Simchat Bat, had the ceremonial feet washing, declaring, “May you always pour old wine into new flasks — to take the tradition and make it speak to your life by renewing and reinventing the rituals of Judaism that carry so much meaning.” Then there was the mandatory comparison to wild geese, and with Purim right around the corner, clearly it was only appropriate to light the Chanukah menorah. Still, one also must light a separate candle for tikkun olam, specifically in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

You know, at the end of the day, there are damned good reasons not to leave the Orthodox world entirely. I mean, forget about belief. This stuff is just sloppy and silly. This is embarrassing. I hate being an American Jew when I read this. I want to be anything else. Am I a self-hating Jew? Well, I am now! No wonder liberal Jews are leaving the fold. Who can tolerate this cheesiness? This is the pits. These people are secular missionaries for the dominant culture and religion. Because many types of Christianity beat the shit out of this. If this is Judaism – and for many American Jews, it is – our numbers are going to decline dramatically.

There is no need to insist on passing this sort of thing on to anyone.

Michael Lerner is a stupid dirty hippy

2007-02-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

I never could stand this guy, but Jesus Christ...

The Forward reports,

Rabbi Michael Lerner, the longtime activist and editor of Tikkun magazine, has published an essay saying he is open to the possibility that the American government may have been behind the September 11 terrorist attacks. “I would not be surprised to learn that some branch of our government conspired either actively to promote or passively to allow the attack on 9/11,” Lerner wrote in an essay published in the new book, “9/11 and American Empire: Christians, Jews, and Muslims Speak Out.” Lerner added that he would also not be surprised if it turned out that the attacks were not the result of a government conspiracy.

“I am agnostic on the question of what happened on 9/11,” he wrote in his essay for the book, which includes articles by other contributors arguing that a government conspiracy was behind the September 11 attacks[…]I salute the people in this collection of articles who are doing an amazing job of examining what may prove to be one of the most perverse conspiracies in the history of democratic governments,” Lerner wrote.

Asked about this passage, Lerner responded, “It says ‘may.’ This is very tentative. It’s not like what I believe to be.” He added: “This is like a bone thrown to them to say, ‘Well, sure, keep up the good work, go and investigate.’ I don’t feel that this investigation is going to lead any place, but it might, and if it does, I don’t think that it’s going to produce a conspiracy of the president and the vice president…. I would be surprised if that turned out to be true. So maybe I shouldn’t say, as I said before, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised.’ I guess I would be a little surprised.”

Yes, maybe you should have thought about what you were writing before you suggested it was perfectly natural for 9/11 to be an inside job, you shmuck.

This guy has ALWAYS been a joke, but if anyone thought he was harmless, let it be clear, this guy is bad news.

Better off dead?

2007-02-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

UOJ and Failed Messiah are discussing Rabbi Wasserman's infamous letter, and how he -- like so many of the haredim -- advised his followers to stay in Europe and face physical danger (a.k.a. the Nazis) rather than risk the “spiritual danger” of the U.S.

Well, he (and they) had a point. There is little spiritual danger when you are dead.

Instead of deemphasizing the leadership capabilities of those who dictated these horrifically irresponsible emigration policies, they are considered not only “Gedoylim (great leaders),” but even in the issue of the U.S. being a “treifa medina,” (non-kosher nation) the “Gedolylim” are considered by many to have been correct for their time and place, even though so many died on account of their anti-American nonsense. This anti-Americanism still shines through in many haredi communities, even though the domestic haredim no longer explicitly call the U.S. the “treifa medina.”

So let me ask you this: If a group considers rabbinical leaders who preempted emigration from Europe prior to the war heroes, what do you think their position will be in terms of creating poverty and discouraging a quality secular education?

Any misery Haredi ideology incurs should not be a surprise. These people still worship leaders who actively restrained Jews from escaping the death camps of Europe.

Understand that this brand of Judaism -- of intentionally risking destruction as well as poverty -- is simply not the heritage of those descending from pre-War American Jewry. To present it as such is historically inaccurate. Yet it is done all the time.

In order to make their anti-Americanism palatable, haredim often present their anti-Americanism as something new and recent, a reaction to the post-sexual revolution America, something that began in the 60's.

But they have always felt this way.

Aish HaTorah and the Tinok Shenishba

2007-02-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

Tinok shenishba is the term employed by haredim to Jews from non-Orthodox backgrounds. This term is meant to explain why Jews who did not grow up Orthodox should not be hated. But the term itself refers to an infant Jew abducted by kidnappers into gentile society, and this is troubling. This is a terrible thing to say about a person’s caring and loving biological Jewish parents. It also suggests you have license to take extreme measures in order to rescue the person, or should we say, “save” them. As many of you probably know, certain kiruv organizations and professionals have been known to employ dubious methods in order to do just that. One of those organizations is Aish HaTorah.

Unlike Ohr Somayach, Aish HaTorah is careful to avoid the term “tinok shenishba” on Aish.com. I have not been able to find it there.

But I found it now. And it’s meaning and contempt for Jewish families is not in morse code. From no less than the head of Aish HaTorah himself, Rabbi Noah Weinberg, on kiruv.com, a site for the already frum, not for the secular Jew.

This is what he thinks of non-Orthodox Jewish parents. Read what he says, and ask yourself if it is surprising that Aish is deceptive. Ask yourself if it is surprising Aish is on Rick Ross’s blacklist. A category in fact, a most dubious honor.

Rabbi Weinberg writes in “Lessons from the Frontline” (because this is a war for him and for Aish),

At the end of the Second World War, Rabbi Eliezer Silver zt"l received a commission from General Eisenhower to become an officer in the US army, in order to continue his Hatzala work in the displaced persons camps. Amongst the many activities he worked on; getting survivors clothing, shelter, medicine, kosher food, visas for the US...he also compiled lists of the Jews who survived.

As a commissioned officer; he had a jeep at his disposal and GI's guarding him wherever he went.

During his time in Poland, Rav Silver would go to church every Sunday morning. That's right! The Rabbi would enter a Catholic church at high mass, when they were all performing their ritual service, stride right up to the front of the altar, his bodyguards with him, and turn around to face the congregation. Then, at the top of his lungs, he would shout out: "Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echod!"

The worshippers would stop their prayers in astonishment and Rav Silver would quickly search the faces of the children in the crowd, to see which ones recognized those holy words. He knew that there were many Jewish children whose parents had turned them over to Catholic families for safety, and these Jewish neshamos, whose parents had died al kiddush Hashem, were being raised as Catholics.

With his ingenuity and fearlessness, Rav Silver was able to save tens, perhaps hundreds, of innocent Jewish children.

Now what do you say: were these children baalei tshuva, namely Jews who have repented from their deliberate transgressions and taken on a new path in life, or tinokot shenishbu (Rambam Hilchos Mamrim 3:3) ,unschooled captives that were mercifully returned to a Jewish life?

Who among us, with Rav Silver's courage, wouldn't do the same thing? And you can, figuratively, by sharing the wisdom and relevance of our heritage with the secular Jews you meet. Non-observant Jews are captives to their upbringing, prisoners to the powerful and enticing society around them. They are not potential baalei tshuva, for they have never consciously left Torah. No, my friends, they are all tinokot shenishbu, Jewish souls that were stolen at infancy and denied access to their rightful heritage.

These children are in as much danger of being lost as those precious souls shining out amongst the Polish worshippers.

I have to protest. This kind of comparison is absolutely unacceptable. The conversions of young Jews that took place in Poland during that era is not what is going on when secular Jewish parents raise their biological children according to their value system. I hear this horrible, misappropriated term all the time, this term, “tinok shenishba.”

I don’t expect kiruvniks to accept non-Orthodox Judaism or secularism as okay or equally legitimate. But you have no right to look upon biological parents as kidnappers. That is what you are doing. And it shows. It shows in your behavior.

Maskilim vs. Haredim

2007-02-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

If you have ever heard the haredi stories of the maskilim (enlightenment Jews; secularists), they all start and end the same way. The maskil asks a tough question, but the haredi answers him, shutting him up, proving once again the superiority of haredism to secularism.

Avakesh, one of the most interesting frum defenders on the net, says something different. I would have argued that the Haskala won the majority of world Jewry except for the Orthodox, but Avakesh argues that they captured even more than that.

There are many frum Jews who are maskilim, in the sense that the values of Haskala are their values. We must remember that while Chareidi ideology barely survived, the Haskalah won. Haskalah had a right wing, fully Orthodox G-d fearing scholars who would never compromise one iota of religious observance. That is who we are now - right wing maskilim. We speak English, dress in the modern fashion and study secular subjects, at least through high school. The divide between the right wing of Haskala and its Chareidi detractors had never been bridged; it is just that the opponents of Haskala renamed the situations that they were willing to tolerate, so that they may survive. Now they are stronger and are reopening hostilities.

I would note that in fact, there are gradations of left and right in the secular Haskalah as well, and that for those of us who remained Jewish in the U.S. for generations, the rejection of Judaism was never complete.

But just as a connection to Judaism was transmitted by our ancestors, so was a connection to the Haskalah. And as we enter haredi life, the maskil is also educated. Even if the haredim assiduously avoid teaching us important general skills we would most appreciate, they still teach us the nonsense we learn to despise. And in the end, many of us desist being baalei teshuvahs, but become baalei maskilim.

And if the haredi kiruvniks want war with us, which apparently they do, who are we to say no? It’s going to feel like 1897. All over again.

Poster satirizing the Slifkin Ban courtesy of Failed Messiah.

A New Kiruv Website to Galvanize Haredi Missionizing (Part 1)

2007-02-04T20:03:00.000-08:00

Big Aish has released yet another movie (which we need like we need Rocky VI) on kiruv and a corresponding website, kiruv.com, both with inspiration and instruction on how to solicit converts to ultra-Orthodoxy. Of course, Aish insists that people should be accepting of others “no matter what level they are at,” but it is implicitly suggested through the choice and framing of subjects in the trailer, a “higher level” is preferable, and “higher” or “lower” means more or less haredi respectively.

Rabbi Yaakov Salomon, a Big Aish macher, explained that the first “Inspired” was “not a film; Inspired was a revolution.” Perhaps because in haredi circles, the revolution will not be televised, the movie is playing in the frummest of communities, Or perhaps it’s because Modern Orthodox Jews don’t want to hear Big Aish’s propaganda. Regardless, if you happen to be slumming in Boro Park, Monsey, or Passiac when this film is playing, let us know if haredim ~~talked to the guys in the movie as if they can hear them~~ found this film inspiring.

We will have a deconstruction on aspects of “kiruv.com“ over the coming weeks. For now, let’s just say this new Big Aish site is even funnier than Jewlarious.

NCSY’s Seminary Feeder to Touro Set for Expansion

2007-02-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

The Orthodox Union press release declares,

Machon Maayan, the new college in Israel for Jewish and Israel studies and leadership for post-high school girls from North America, opened its doors in Bet Shemesh in September with 37 students, the majority of whom are graduates of NCSY, the OU's famed youth program[…]Touro College agreed to lend its accreditation and with unusual cooperation [editor’s note: no argument on that!] all the parties worked together to launch the program.[…] Yitzchak Fund, President of the OU Israel Center, visualizes the future with gratification. “We are looking at an expanded program for 2007/8; the enthusiasm and interest is contagious. There are also plans to open a boys yeshiva in 2008 and to develop a campus in Bet Shemesh to house the girls school and to serve other programs of the OU in Israel.”

The next sentence from the OU’s press release isn’t directly relevant to my point, but it's so funnny! “The young women are glad they have chosen Machon Maayan for their year in Israel and are grateful for everything they are receiving through the program.”

Drugs More Harmful to Israel than Oil?

2007-01-31T19:47:00.000-08:00

I’m not advocating drugs (on this post), but ck of Jewlicious is absolutely missing the real fuel that funds terrorism in his post, “Eilat Bombing: The Aftermath,” which blames marijuana and houses of ill repute in Israel for funding terrorism. Now if ck were some fundamentalist arguing that it was sin that was creating terrorism, we would simply understand that his friends at Big Aish had got to him, and the poor guy was losing it from too many crazy melave malkes.

But that isn’t what he is saying. Rather, the Zionist One is claiming that,

So next time you and your buddies go off to Tel Aviv for a special massage with a happy ending, or next time you light up your darker variety of North African hashish (now that Lebanese Blond is no longer available), keep in mind that your are supporting an organization that aids and abets terrorists.

Dude. The sponsors of terrorism – like our fine artistic friends curating Holocaust Denial exhibits in Tehran – are being funded by OIL. Not marijuana, not handjobs…oil. Everything else is bubkes compared to that.

Do I disagree with ck’s contention that vices end up funding bad people? Well, no…I mean, I think we’re all against handjobs over here (right, guys?), and that no one should pay for those, but we know the power oil gives Israel’s enemies. And ck spends zero time preaching alternate fuels to oil. Instead, he worries only about the economic role of vice.

So we have to wonder if maybe someone is, in fact, ~~partying~~ melave malkeing it a bit too hard. Because surely ck can’t be oblivious to the role of oil in our tragic global geopolitical reality.

Can he?

Satan Wants Your Children to Go to College

2007-01-31T14:56:00.000-08:00

Like many of you, I worry about what Satan is doing to stop the haredization of our youth. So does Cross-Eyed-Currents, the frummest group blog this side of the Internet ban.

Jonathan Rosenblum reveals Satan’s machinations, and I hope, strengthens us for victory in this crucial battle between good vs. evil (others might call that haredi vs. Modern Orthodox, but it’s the same thing) taking place.

Rosenblum writes,

Such a positive development could not proceed without the Satan fighting back. Not everyone was thrilled with the change of tone in the American Orthodox community. Already 15 years ago, articles started to appear warning parents of the danger of their children returning home “too frum.” [Editor’s note: Clearly there is no such thing!]
The rosh yeshiva of one post-high school yeshiva told me how a father threatened to take out a full-page ad in the New York Times labeling the yeshiva a “cult” if his son insisted on returning to Israel rather than taking his place in the freshman class of the father’s Ivy League alma mater. Never mind that the boy’s older brother, who had gone to the same college, was no longer observant. The Satan had other tricks as well.

Rosenblum is correct. Frankly, Satan can be found pretty much at every college (except Touro, of course). So who is the real “cult?” I would have to say any institution where Satan attends. But don’t look for a full page ad in the NY Times warning about that! No, of course not. The Modern Orthodox don’t worry about such things.

You know how they are.

Hat tip redundancy: Satan himself and Failed Messiah

A Young Woman’s Greatest Pleasure

2007-01-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

I met a young woman at a safe house. She looked and dressed very frum. But of course, she wouldn’t have been there reading The Humanist if that were the case, We began to talk, and she explained that she comes from a near-haredi background, and a haredi school system. She is no longer religious, and is now getting her doctorate, which was difficult for her to secure, as she learned little from her “dual curriculum” bachelors she earned at a seminary in Israel while still frum. But she is brilliant and determined, and that helped a lot.

She told me of how liberated she feels, and noted that what she finds most liberating is not the foods she can now eat, or not having to contend with lockdown for 25 hours a week, or being able to date anybody (she has not yet dated outside the tribe, but expects to eventually) but rather, the ability to think any thought, consider any subject and possibility, without making her way to the usual prescribed answers. I was stunned, as for me, this is sometimes one of the most terrifying, even debilitating, aspects of secularism.

I had always thought that it was Judaism’s greatest strength that our focus was always on the questions, not the answers. But perhaps that is because we aren’t really allowed to question the big answers…only how we get there.

Perhaps our greatest strength is, for some, our greatest weakest. For some. As in, some of our best and brightest. Or should I say, some of the haredi world’s best and brightest.

NCSY and Agudath Israel Partner in Camp for “Unaffiliated” Youth

2007-01-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

The Orthodox Union wrote,

Midwest NCSY was approached by Agudath Israel Midwest and offered the opportunity to expand Camp Gesher to two three-week sessions. In addition, the Agudah-NCSY partnership will allow the camp to move to its own facility: a beautiful site in Marshall, IN near Indianapolis.

In this partnership, Agudath Israel has agreed to provide both the facility and funds for the camp, while NCSY will be given charge of staffing, developing programming and running the camp[…]“Rabbi Greenland is a true visionary and saw immediately the chance that existed for both organizations to create a tremendous opportunity while remaining loyal and true to the values, ideals and programming that has made NCSY the leading force in the Jewish outreach world,” declared Rabbi Michael Rovinsky, founder of Camp Gesher, and now Director of Camp Nageela Midwest.

"The idea that such outstanding, yet diverse, organizations have come together to inspire Jewish growth among primarily unaffiliated youth is a powerful message to the entire Jewish community that we are united in reconnecting as many Jewish youth as possible to their heritage,” concluded Rabbi Rovinsky.

The Agudah is haredi (ultra-Orthodox), and once again, NCSY is partnering with haredim in order to convert secular and liberal Jewish youth to ultra-Orthodoxy. Do you really think the Agudah is going to do all of this for NCSY without demanding any imprint or influence? And who knows what they are really getting in return for their generosity.

Please note in your files yet another example of NCSY working with their ultra-Orthodox partners for the purpose of proselyzation.

NCSY = Haredism

Some Seriously Inverted Yidden

2007-01-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, a few sensitive souls were upset at Amren’s last conference, where it turned out that a party can’t hold Jewish race realists and well, Nazis. The real kind…I don’t mean someone who’s like David Duke – I mean actually David Duke. He was there, he said something, the yids said something back, and they had a big fight…anyway, the thing was, Amren, which is Jared Taylor’s organization, (the man some far-left thugs roughed up and silenced in Halifax) was trying for a long time to bridge Jewish “race realists” and White Nationalists. In the end, the Jewish "race realists" felt Taylor was too tolerant of his Nazi friends’ views (and there were some other disconcerting details, but that was the big final one) and some of them left.

So anyway, what is a yiddishe “race realist” to do? Sigh…the options are limited. But now, there is a new site, The Inverted World, for paleo-conservative Jews who think Neocons are whack, and like to shoot the shizzle about immigration and eugenics, but in a safe, heimeshe environment, without all the Jewish conspiracy theories and Hitler lovin’. The site is clearly influenced by Amren, and has the same sort of article links by date.

Still, exactly how Jewish are these guys? And how proud of being Jewish (as opposed to white) are they? Well, they don’t like it when a cross is taken down in a college’s chapel. They may be dark whites, like Turks and Albanians, but dammit, they’re still white. And they aren’t really impressed with the Ethiopian Jews, who they claim have a mean IQ of merely 65, which is impossible. This is the demarcation line for mentally retarded. Were new immigrants "tested" in Hebrew as soon as they got off the planes? A mean I.Q. of 65 -- is that really your claim? Can we see more details about this supposed "test," please?

Hey, I have my own skepticism about the supposed benefits of “diversity,” as well as a preference for changing our immigration policies in our post-9/11 world. But none of this need be race based. In fact, my objection to the former policy is that it is race based. In the end, there is no explicit word in the Torah for race. Yes, there are such recorded rabbinical opinions, but they have always been controversial and contested.

To use a racial lens as a primary understanding of the world seems antithetical to Judaism, though it is done on the far-Left, and on the smaller far-Right.

But in the end, this means they are reporting and identifying more with White Nationalists than they are with Judaism and Jews. But as we know, White Nationalists are not reliable allies, as Jews are central to what the editor of “Inverted World” himself calls “the theology of Jewish evil.”

What exactly are your goals? Who do you count as your friends?

Who,at your core, are you? Aren't you the inverted mirror image of the social far-Left you despise? Acting as a step-sister sidebar to White Nationalism...hey, it's human nature to want to be a member of a club that won't have us, but isn't this taking things just a wee bit too far?

Update: The editor of The Inverted World is not, in fact, Jewish. I misunderstood this for a variety of reasons, including this man's intense condemnation of the "theology of Jewish hate" emanating from large swaths of the White Nationalist community and his eventual decision to build an alternative camp because of it.

I apologize for my misunderstanding.

Our Benevolent Rulers in Saudi Arabia

2007-01-28T17:34:00.000-08:00

What is the best possible deal we can negotiate for our national heroin? It depends on the mood of our masters in Arabia.

The NY Times writes,

“Saudi Arabia, which benefited immensely from record oil prices last year, has sent signals in the past two weeks that it is committed to keeping oil at around $50 a barrel — down $27 a barrel from the summer peak that shook consumers across the developed world.”

This is the best of times. The bad times will return, with greater and greater force. Our addiction is great, and the addiction ofothers is growing, even as the pushers and the supply are unreliable. Our transportation system is powered predominantly on oil. Hence, those with oil have the power. And like all men of power, they are cryptic, and reluctant to show their hand. We sit and wait on their will and whim.

NCSY: Recruiting in Public Schools Through Deceit

2007-01-21T21:53:00.000-08:00

The Jewish Student Union: Part 1

The Orthodox Union’s NCSY (National Council of Synagogue Youth) is recruiting public school kids to Orthodoxy through an ecumenical front, the Jewish Student Union(JSU). Rabbi Burg, the “dean” of JSU, is also the national director of NCSY. Therefore, the ideal goal is to make high school students from secular and liberal Jewish backgrounds Orthodox.

But NCSY’s Jewish Student Union does not reveal its true identity anymore than it does its true goal.

NCSY/JSU declares that,

The mission of Jewish Student Union is to get more Jewish teens attending public high schools to do something Jewish! That’s it! It’s that simple!!!

In fact, it is not quite that simple; that is most certainly not “it.” JSU strives to do much more than “something” Jewish.

Their website may not be for high school kids primarily, but more to ease potential concerns of parents and school administrators who may have interest in the position of this youth group.

As part of NCSY/JSU's deceptive attempts to suggest they are an ecumenical organization without a specific religious bent, JSU offer links including the Conservative Movement’s youth group, United Synagogue Youth, as well as Hadassah's Young Judea.

This is an intentional red herring. Every one of the “cool advisors” of JSU is Orthodox, such as Rabbi FE, the charismatic west coast director of NCSY. But NCSY attempts to conceal this fact from the casual observer. On their “cool advisors” page, they do this two ways, both quite clever. They have more than half of the “cool advisors” in costume or choosing superhero photos for their picture. But there is a picture of a woman wearing a short sleeve shirt. However, as clicking through her link will reveal, she is not actually a JSU advisor. Only NCSY approved Orthodox Jews are “cool advisors.”

NCSY maintains control over these unions in order to recruit to NCSY proper, and of course, to offer solely Orthodox approved content. But that isn’t the reason they offer for the purpose of the cool ones. Rather, a cool one,

* Spends time working with the President to develop programs and program resources.
* Meets on a regular basis with all of the officers of each club to work on developing leadership skills and help them learn to work together as a leadership team.
* Meets with the faculty sponsor and/or the school administration to keep the lines of communication open.
* Provide after school engagement activities such as Latte ‘n’ Learning discussion groups and other programs.
* The most important thing that the Advisor does is maintain contact via email and phone with all of the JSU teens who come to meetings. A weekly call to a teen to say “Shabbat Shalom” goes a long way in cementing that relationship and reinforcing the Advisor as a positive Jewish role model.
* The number of hours necessary per week, based on 5 clubs, is forty.

Nothing about Orthodox proselytizing.

Rather, JSU claims the expected content of these clubs is:

* A club business meeting
* Speakers from other organizations
* Visitors from Israel
* A discussion or debate on current events
* Holiday celebrations
* Falafel-eating contests
* A rousing game of “Jewpardy”
* In addition, and most important to some teens, is the free pizza or falafel! Teens may come for the food, but they stay for the discussions and sense of community.

Maybe that’s why the kids are there, but those aren’t the reasons NCSY is. NCSY wants to recruit secular and liberal Jews to Orthodoxy. JSU is a gateway into NCSY proper. Rather, JSU is NCSY proper.

This may not be understood by parents or students, because NCSY prefers they do not understand this, and is taking great pains to hide this fact.

Additionally, NCSY has a grim view of the best colleges, and prefers all NCSYers go either to “dual curriculum” schools (such as Touro, a third tier college NCSY is heavily allied with) and to ultra-Orthodox institutions that discourage all full-time secular studies.

The Orthodox Union, the parent organization, is quite proud of NCSY’s success in discouraging Ivy League schools specifically (which NCSY refers to as “poison ivies” in their eponymous essay on the subject in their educational guide) and through their haredi partners, discourage college generally, to even the brightest public school students for after they graduate, and have boasted of this in their house organ, Jewish Action. Note how they declined to name their “clubs” by the official name (Jewish Student Union), even as they boasted how so many of them declined to go to Ivy League Schools because of their influence.

The fact that they brag about this to Orthodox Union members means that they feel comfortable their members will approve of NCSY’s desired results. To be fair, the Jewish Action article did not reveal the deceit employed by NCSY facilitating their entry into the public school system.

Do not expect these policies of NCSY’s JSU to be discussed in your local Jewish weekly if it has any ties to the UJA (United Jewish Communities).

The Jewish Student Union –- though a deceptive Orthodox outreach program seeking public high school converts -- is a beneficiary of many local federations, and these newspapers rarely are critical of Jewish Federation beneficiaries, because they depend on the Federation for funding and their circulation, and are expected in return to promote the Federation’s specific beneficiaries as well as the umbrella organization generally.

According to the Fall 2005 Jewish Action article, NCSY has over one hundred public high school clubs across North America. JSU is a major source of (deceitful) recruitment of Jewish teenagers into their general NCSY programming. Parents may have no knowledge ( never mind interest) that their teenager is facing proselyting efforts to become Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox in his or her public school, by an organization that disapproves of secular college attendance, and advocates and negotiates full-time study at ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and seminaries in Israel after graduation.

But this only happens if they listen.

Update: NCSY is apparently beginning to work with BBYO in Chicago. They are protecting their recruitment clubs through such partnerships. These clubs will continue to recruit to NCSY regular programming -- first latte learning, then shabbatons, and we know where they seek to take kids from there. They are absolutely not content to throw pizza parties for publics school kids, or for them to just do "something" Jewish. They want more, and that's fine. The problem is what they really want, and what they'll really do, if they can have their way with them. "It’s that simple!!!"

RM Revisited?

2007-01-20T22:51:00.000-08:00

There are certain issues where Neocons expose themselves for whom they truly are. Unmitigated Republicans. We know the big current policy issues (How ‘bout them ~~Yankees~~ Shiites!). But there are historical issues as well, beyond foreign policy.

Like, say, Robert Moses.

The NY Sun moves to defend Moses, with Francis Morrone writing,

In 2007, the world regards New York as a major urban success story. Five years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, with construction booming all around the city, and with large-scale development projects such as the Atlantic Yards in the works, a re-evaluation of Moses's legacy seems in order.

This makes no sense. Moses has been out of power for decades. What on earth does this building have to do with him? Nothing.

Moses made the views more awesome when he added the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the picture in 1964. Nowadays a New Yorker can take the R train to Bay Ridge, enjoy a lovely dinner in one of that neighborhood's many good restaurants, then sit dreamily on a Shore Road bench watching the lights of the bridge twinkle in the dusk. That perfect New York evening is ours in part by way of Robert Moses.

In fact, the story of the Verrazano was cut from Caro’s Power Broker, but I really am not concerned primarily with the views of Bay Ridge. I am concerned with the misuse of RM's power (and, to honest, on his attainment of power) and most importantly, the halting of any public transit improvements (and even the preemption of future ones) during his decades of unelected rule.

So glad the view is beautiful. But that R train which you can take – that’s no thanks to Moses. Maybe think about all the trains we could have had in Queens, Long Island, and other parts of Brooklyn. Maybe that's something to think about that while you're admiring the bastard’s handiwork.

New Shmutz on NCSY

2007-01-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

This next investigative article is not going to be pretty. Lies, lies, lies. Blatant ones. And I’m connecting the dots. And it’s all based on NCSY’s own words.

If secular parents read this, there is going to be hell to pay. Not just for NCSY, but for all those facilitating their work. Those other organizations are going to have to answer some tough questions as well. They might think twice about working with NCSY in the future. That would probably be a very good idea.

NCSY, you went too far. And this started a long time ago. And what I have found could and should have been found by the same newspapers that reported on Lanner.

Did it not make sense to do a general audit when the Lanner issue emerged? Well, none was done.

But you know who else missed an opportunity? NCSY itself. NCSY could have used the Lanner situation for an honest and deep cheshbon hanefesh. Instead, NCSY treated it as a PR disaster only. NCSY fixed the symptom, not the underlying disease. And I don’t care if most of the people there now weren’t there when Lanner was there. The culture of ‘ends justifies the means’ kiruv continues. No, you can’t knee boys in the balls or touch the girls inappropriately anymore. Yes, that party was stopped. But that wasn’t the whole problem. That was a symptom, gory and destructive as it may have been. The root problem was why NCSY thought it was better to ignore it in the first place. That was because NCSY felt the bottom line – the only bottom line — was to "make them frum.”

Outside of physical abuse, that is still the bottom line. And bottom lines like that have a cost. And it is time for NCSY to pay up.

A new angle, a new outrage.

Monday (bli neder!).

NCSY, if you have any intention of stopping recruitment of underage public high school students to Touro and haredi institutions against the will and without the knowledge and the understanding of their parents, now might be a good time to speak up. Things are about to get rather awkward. So find me if you have any alternative ideas to me exposing your lies! Remember, this is all about your recruitment practices. This is about you recruiting for the likes of Ohr Somayach and Touro, and discouraging the good schools. The best schools. You want to say, “At least they’ll be frum,” well, their parents have a right to know, and to know what that means.

And they are going to flip.

So get your anonymous blogspots in order. You are going to need them next week.

It’s time to ransom the children the haredi kiruvniks in NCSY are kidnapping. Tinok sh’nishba indeed.

Note to readers: Monday’s (bli neder!) article will be written in away that even secular Jewish parents will understand, and some past articles will be briefly mentioned and linked to, and I apologize in advance for that redundancy. But there will also be new, and I'd like to think, exciting, information.

Anti-Fascists Prove Bigger Fascists than Fascist

2007-01-18T00:59:00.000-08:00

Jared Taylor is a “race realist.” He is, to be clear, not a Nazi, though he certainly has friends who are. Though polite, intellectual, and sophisticated, a cold and brutal outlook on life shines through.

But. He was forcibly removed by masked protesters in Canada the other day in order to cancel his speaking engagement. And because I abhor such measures, I am writing this post. To make it clear that the end does not justify the means, and than if you have to wear a mask to do something, well, it probably shouldn’t be done.

The Halifax Daily News reports,

HALIFAX - A group of protesters took matters into their own hands yesterday evening, preventing a speech from an American journalist on controversial ideas about race.

"Get out of town, you're a racist and a Nazi," were the shouts coming from between 20 and 30 young protesters, some with bandanas over their faces, toward Jared Taylor as he prepared to speak on the topic Racial Diversity: North America's Strength or Weakness at the Lord Nelson Hotel in Halifax yesterday[…]

Eventually, members of the gathering decided to forcibly remove Taylor from the small conference room.

They tore up copies of Taylor's magazine, American Renaissance, which he had brought for distribution, and several protesters formed a human fence, pushing him out of the room while others stacked the chairs.

Once he had been pushed out, the crowd cheered.

But what bothers me most is the Jew in the story, because he’s more of a reflection on me than the dudes wearing masks and kefiyas.

“One man at the protest, who would not give his name but said he was the director of an Atlantic Canada Jewish organization, said the best way to deal with someone such as Taylor was not to listen.

"This guy is a hate monger," he said. "Ignore him."

Now, he was clearly not comfortable with the measures used to remove Mr. Taylor from his hotel. But he declined to say, “This is wrong.” And that’s…disappointing.

For those of you wondering am I really defending a man who is a racist and friends with neo-Nazis, the answer is yes, I am. I do not believe any victory will occur because of the actions of these hoodlums. Today they silence Jared Taylor. Tomorrow that same guy in the red kefiyah or someone like him will silence a "Zionist," because he's --that's right -- a "racist" and a "Nazi."

Because of the way Mr. Taylor was treated and silenced, and because Jews did not speak up sufficiently, I feel obligated to give him the last word.

When asked what he thought about the crowd's reaction, Taylor said he hadn't anticipated such a reception.

"If what I have to say is either wrong or loathsome, it should be very easy to refute."

Update: According to this report, Jon Goldberg of the Atlantic Jewish Congress did try to intervene, and this is corroborated on Jared Taylor's own site, Amren, though readers appear divided about Goldberg because of his "unfortunately" quote. Of course, Amren readers are usually divided in their understanding of The Jews, so this is to be expected.

The Baal Teshuva and the Push to Poverty

2007-01-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

An anonymous contributor on Beyondt BT has written another essay, "Financial Realities II," decrying the cost of living a frum life. “Sam Smith” writes,

We managed to pay partial tuition in years past by going into outrageous credit card debt, which is now an unacceptable and untenable alternative.

In any event, the brutal truth is that, especially now that I have older kids, I am simply overwhelmed by all the expenses, unable to carry all my accumulated debt, and even the partial tuitions I am paying have pushed me to and over the edge of financial ruin. There is no retirement plan in my life, no hidden stocks, no wealthy parents, in-laws or uncles ready to leave me their fortune and rescue me.

After many years and many tuitions I simply didn’t make it financially, at least in contemporary, North American Orthodox-community terms. I didn’t become a doctor or lawyer or businessman. I didn’t marry into wealth.

In my darkest moments, it’s all a great communal hypocrisy. Some people simply can’t pay… even a portion of the partial tuition. Yet some yeshivos, while teaching kids wonderful, beautiful ideals like living austerely for Torah as did the Chofetz Chaim (including large pictures throughout the halls), make their parents feel like shmattas for not earning more than $100-150,000!

This is the brutal irony of the haredi BT world. They discourage all forms of ambition except Talmud study. They despise a quality secular education. But at the end of the day, the cost of living as an Orthodox Jew is exceptionally high, and there is no way out of the bills. Just day school tuition alone...

Haredism has no qualms burning the Havdalah candle at both ends. And you – the BT -- are that candle.

NCSY Shabbaton or Touro Recruitment Sales Job?

2007-01-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

I found this in a search for blog posts on NCSY. Because the writer is underage, I am declining to give a link. She wrote,

"So I went on the trip, to Yarchei Kallah and it was amazing...as I expected it to be[...]By the way...new college to think about...Touro...also a Jewish school, but it's a smaller school then Stern...That might be more my style."

Why is NCSY/Touro so hungry for kids from public school backgrounds? Well, they just opened a new college for women. And this college needs students.

But I can think of another reason. Secular Jews usually have much better English skills than the haredim, don't they?

But how do you convince educated people to come to a third tier school when they can do so much better?

Frumkeit, Rabosai. Frumkeit.

Secular Jewish parents, Touro may not be good enough for the Modern Orthodox, but its good enough for your kids. They don't know any better. And anyway, AT LEAST THEY'LL BE FRUM!

On a related note, as Josh Frankel noted in his comment in an earlier post,

David Luchins is chair of the poli-sci department (and has been for almost 30 years) has been director of admission in the past for Touro, and is now the dean of the new Lander College for Women. He also is a VP of the OU, and has been at times a powerful voice within NCSY.

There are those that try to differentiate between the Orthodox Union and NCSY, suggesting that the latter is more haredi than the parent organization. Maybe it is, but not when it comes to secular Jewish teens. They are one and the same, and have a "don't tell the parents" policy. They just brag about it to their own people. And clearly, the Orthodox Union felt completely comfortable bragging to their constituency about how they convinced secular Jews to turn down Harvard and other top schools in favor of no college at all. They knew they had nothing to fear from their membership by bragging about this. Heck, they probably feel better about their own kid not getting in to Harvard or the other "Poison Ivies."

So secular and liberal Jewry, please help Touro in its expansion. Send your teenagers to NCSY!

NCSY: Building a bigger and better (it's not that hard) Touro, one baal teshuvah at a time.

Civil Rights Heroes According to Jewish Liberals

2007-01-15T08:47:00.000-08:00

#1 Rabbi Heschel – Most important civil rights leader ever! He marched at Selma!

#2 Martin Luther King – Blacks and Jews have a lot in common, because Jews were slaves in Egypt! And Martin Luther King also marched in Selma alongside Rabbi Heschel!

#3 Gandhi – Important civil rights leader in India, even though he did not march at Selma.

#4 Abraham Lincoln – He freed the slaves, but remember, the Civil War was not really about freeing the slaves, it was about slavery, so let’s not overstate his role. Also, not everyone accepts him, because he was a Republican.

#5 Rosie the Riveter – No one quite captures the lifestyle and mores of upper-middle class former gender studies majors quite like Rosie the Riveter. Rosie screams JOFA and Ritualwell like no one else. Remember ladies, ‘We can [pay someone else to] do it!’

The Underappreciated -- Ambedkar – Should be on their list, but isn’t. He was an important Indian leader, the champion of the Untouchables. But that’s not why he should be on the list. He should be on the list because he became a Buddhist. And Jews and Buddhists have a lot in common.

Anyway, to all my readers, Happy Rabbi Heschel Day!

Finally, Denim Skirts are Outlawed

2007-01-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

Failed Messiah notes that denim skirts appear to have been outlawed by B'nai Torah leaders. I, for one, say good riddance. I find denim skirts to be one the most dowdy, mousey, unattractive, tuchus-augmenting (according to what I have heard from others!) garments out there. They look appropriate for communists working in the field. Not for a Daughter of Israel.

If you want to wear denim, gezundte hey! Wear jeans. And a pair of silver boots, perhaps some hoop earrings, and a black laced…anyway, the point is, not denim skirts. They are ghetto, and not shtetl at all.

However, it also appears that B’nai Brak now also has a “Bleach Underground,” and that women wearing jean skirts are getting them sprayed with bleach. This is clearly problematic, as again, that whole retro-eighties bleach on denim really only works on jeans. It just doesn’t work on denim skirts. You just can’t substitute. You are fooling no one.

And even if you think it does work, I don’t want any Lower East Side fashion police vigilantes getting any ideas because of me. So let me be absolutely clear to my fellow Jewish Manhattanites–no bleach throwing!

And remember: You may hate jean skirt wearing, but do not hate the skirt herself.

Bio Willie

2007-01-14T13:43:00.000-08:00

Willie Nelson is an important artist to many Americans who live a strikingly different life than most of us in the J-blogosphere. I’m not a fan of his music, but I certainly am a fan of his compassion for his constituency, whom he sings to and about.

And Willie Nelson is also an activist. And he is trying to do something wonderful – for his farmers, his nation, and his world.

Willie Nelson is trying to get this country to reduce its oil imports, and through his company and friends, Willie Nelson is encouraging people to purchase vehicles that run rely on bio-diesel: vegetable oil based fuel.

Nelson admits that when his wife first explained her decision to purchase such a vehicle, he thought she had “gotten into his stash.” But it turns out that this stuff really works, they do this all over Brazil. And though bio-diesel needs to be mixed with the petroleum stuff, it still cuts drastically down a lot on the amount of petroleum needed for a vehicle to operate efficiently.

Willie Nelson and his people are more concerned with the plight of farmers and the reliance on imports than they are with my own concerns of global destruction and empowerment of fundamentalist regimes. Never the less, as Willie notes, with Bio Willie, “No war is required.”

I am humbled by this man’s vision and greatness. We should all do everything we can to help his cause and his business. He is a prophet of the common man, and the common man has chosen well.

A Call to Arms

Nothing corrosively affected by oil will be solved unless we get off oil. Not global warming, not Iran, not Saudi Arabia, not terrorism, not “anti-Zionism.” We must break the addiction. Nothing will help unless we get off this national heroin. Nothing. Not screaming at Mel Gibson, not holocaust curriculum in public schools, not dialog, not teshuvah, and not even the ordination of Conservative gay rabbis. It will just continue to get worse.

The root and urgent problem today that we can change is oil. Not "the environment" generally. Too broad. Nothing substantial gets done, and you sound like a hippy. And no one listens to hippies. Oil. Oil. Oil. This should be the first and primary focus of all major Jewish political groups.

As we all prepare for the annual month of celebration of Rabbi Heschel’s march in Selma, please remember that as exciting as this is to dwell on every year, we are destroying our world and endangering this country and the Jewish state by not standing up to oil addiction.

We are doing nothing. How can such a smart people be so stupid? This is the one thing we should all agree on. Left and Right, Orthodox and secular.

Is that why we aren’t interested in prioritizing it? Because there isn’t enough factionalism and controversy?

Is that why important political J-blogs like Jspot, Jewcy, Jewlicious, Jewschool, Kesher Talk, Dov Bear, Failed Messiah, Jewbiquitous, Luke Ford, Blogs of Zion, and My Jewish Learning don’t cover this issue sufficiently, or all too often, at all?

Perhaps. Better to only discuss the specific policies and reactions from this debilitating addiction, and never address the underlying cause itself. The underlying cause just isn’t Jewish enough.

Let me ask you this: If we all agree that oil addiction is hurting us – hurting us badly...perhaps really badly -- and if we all agree that because Israel is right in the middle of this (and as we know, so is Jew York City), and this is therefore a Jewish issue – don’t you think if we made a big and sustained stink, it would rise up to the mainstream Jewish media and Jewish organizations?

Are we not tackling this subject because we all agree? Can’t we face that there is a time and place for a united front even if it doesn’t involve Jews for Jesus?

Proof Israel and Neocons Differed Over War

2007-01-11T08:42:00.000-08:00

I have long argued that the Neocons and Israeli leaders should not be conflated, perhaps with the sole exception of Netanyahu to some degree. And I always felt the Israeli protest against the Iraq War early on signaled Israeli concern.

Now we have evidence that Sharon gave a “friendly warning” to Bush, who of course, did what he usually does in such situations, and ignored his friend and adviser.

Yossi Alpher reports in the Forward that,

Yet according to one knowledgeable source, Sharon nevertheless advised Bush not to occupy Iraq. According to another source — Danny Ayalon, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States at the time of the Iraq invasion, and who sat in on the Bush-Sharon meetings — Sharon told Bush that Israel would not “push one way or another” regarding the Iraq scheme.

According to both sources, Sharon warned Bush that if he insisted on occupying Iraq, he should at least abandon his plan to implant democracy in this part of the world. “In terms of culture and tradition, the Arab world is not built for democratization,” Ayalon recalls Sharon advising.

Be sure, Sharon added, not to go into Iraq without a viable exit strategy. And ready a counter-insurgency strategy if you expect to rule Iraq, which will eventually have to be partitioned into its component parts. Finally, Sharon told Bush, please remember that you will conquer, occupy and leave, but we have to remain in this part of the world. Israel, he reminded the American president, does not wish to see its vital interests hurt by regional radicalization and the spillover of violence beyond Iraq’s borders.

Friends have long noted that I have a Diaspora Jew’s understanding of Sharon, and that my adoration of him has little to do with the reality. Well, maybe that’s true, and maybe it isn't, but let me ask you this: Who during his reign in the international scene was a greater leader than Sharon?

More on NCSY's Recruitment for Third Tier Touro

2007-01-10T10:17:00.000-08:00

Lander Application: Be sure to list specific NCSY involvement in the above section.

If you are applying to Lander College [Touro!], they are very interested if NCSY is one of your extracurricular activities in high school. Go check it out. Question 18.

It’s weird. Or rather, suspicious. Why are they so concerned if you were involved in NCSY? Who gets what if you were?

Rabbi Jack? Care to explain?

Happy Fire Burning the Baal Teshuvah: The Deceit of Aish and Ohr Somayach

2007-01-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Guest Post by Radloh!

I worked for a major yeshiva in Jerusalem first as a recruiter then as a teacher. I was privy to the internal goings-on of these two institutions who claim to speak in the name of God and the Torah. Growing up Chabad, I did have a natural inclination to negate Misnagdim as an entity of truth. Teaching in Jerusalem, I got to know hundreds of former secular Jews who were now Orthodox because of Aish and Ohr Somayach. In contrast to that, I also saw the value of other Misnagdic Ba'al Teshuvoh yeshivas, which catered to the true needs of these people in an honest good manner. I came to realize that there are good and bad in all worlds, Misnagdic and Chassidic.

Aish and Ohr Somaiach have an extensive recruiting program, with potential candidates carefully screened for financial reasons. They have an entire computer program, which their main recruiters (the field workers do not even know of this) use for financial background checks of all applicants. They base their recruiting efforts on prestige of the university the recruiter attends or attended, and the economic status of the student and his parents, as well as the chances that Chabad "has him".

Once they have a student, like Neil Goldberg (name changed but this is a true story), studying at Columbia University, whose parents live in Teaneck, with the stats in on the average income of that specific neighborhood in Teaneck, and then a careful report of the Neil Goldberg's parents, and tendency to pay bills (credit report). This is all carefully analyzed and then the New York office takes the poor unbeknown victim to a fancy Kosher Restaurant. He is hooked.

On the internet, Aish has worked hard to usurp the names of other Yeshivas so that students looking for a DIFFERENT yeshiva, will go instead to Aish. Other yeshivas have complained that Aish should not intentionally use others keywords and initiate programs to legitimize those keywords. Aish did not respond and continued this dishonest practice.

Their ugly recruiting efforts paints a vision for the student, that he will one day be holy and correct about everything if he only come to Jerusalem for a few weeks in the summer.

Then begins the indoctrination.

And this is the reason I am writing this article.

I have seen countless, good, normal, sympathetic, heartfelt, family-oriented, young American Jews turn into, for want of a better word, monsters. They become unfeeling zombies, deeply depressed, overly guilty about their past, often cutting off ties with family, and becoming neurotic ugly people.

You cannot speak to them anymore and they do not look you directly in the eye. Many of them blink a lot. I did manage to influence many students to leave Aish and Ohr Somayach to other Yeshivas, and they have all thanked me later, profusely.

I will finish with a story. A student of mine who was a star student at Aish had a brother. Now the brother was not a former film director with a moneyed future. Aish accepted both of them, since the one was even hooked up with David Lynch. After the Film student left Aish they called the unsuccessful brother and told him they have no place for his type of student. The direct words from the Aish Rabbi were, "You do not fit into our profile. We are looking for diamonds".

The Aish philosophy of the Rational Jewish Man as being superior to all creations turns them into people deeply resentful towards their parents and hateful towards all secular Jews, in a very pernicious manner. They become overly halachic without any joy or emotional satisfaction, performing like robots what they are told to do. it is a system which slowly lobotomizes these people, in a sickening way. Something must be done about this for every day more people are getting pulled into this cult. A few former students have begun thinking of establishing a recovery program from these institutions. Details will soon be available on the net.

Radloh is a former recruiter and teacher at Mayanot, a modern-Chabad institute, and the editor of Seven Fat Cow.

The Passion of Rabbi Friedman

2007-01-08T22:45:00.000-08:00

Wow. I knew these guys had a good time at Iran, but damn! These Neturei Karta guys really know how to party!

Haaretz reports,

Friedman does not try to hide his admiration for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who in the past termed the Holocaust a "myth" and has called for the destruction of Israel. "I had more than one meeting with his excellency, President Ahmadinejad," Friedman said. "The president first recognized me at the conference in Tehran and he was especially friendly. There may be only one picture in which we are photographed kissing, but in fact we kissed 20 or 30 times." Friedman also claims that on his earlier trip to Iran, he visited the residential compound of the Iranian president and reached "the bedroom of Khomeini."

Honestly, I know I should be outraged at these guys, and I am, but I really just can't stop watching. And I really hope no one hurts them. I am not comfortable with some of the measures being taken to pressure them into submission. It gives them power, and such nastiness will backfire terribly if taken too far.

If you care about the Zionist Entity, you would be nuts to martyr these guys.

Everyone calm down.

The Immortal Words of Alex Wolfman, GM of Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery

2007-01-07T18:38:00.000-08:00

The Meshuganas

Alex is the General Manager of The Knishery. He has seen a lot, and has tremendous wisdom. And he’s very funny, frequently delivering his insights close to deadpan.

As the knishes are pretty cheap, and the atmosphere heimish and soothing, the clientele includes a fringe. Some less sensitive souls might call a portion of those “crazy.”

I sure as shit would.

But anyway, the meshuganas are awful customers. They have unremitting demands, many of them unreasonable (that is to say, "the answer is still no”) and they almost never tip.

Alex explains this. “All the meshuganas are crazy for themselves.”

In Defense of the Bitter Ex-BT Blogs

2007-01-03T18:16:00.000-08:00

Ron Coleman is a black hat fellow, as he has revealed in comments on this blog as well as elsewhere. Naturally, he is not very happy with what the “bitter ex-BT bloggers” are writing about the haredi BT world.

Coleman writes,

Because ultimately my rather mundane point, of course, is that it is a special bitterness — I cannot say wickedness; we all are tinokos shenishbu (compared to “captured children”) — that makes a talented former BT, man or woman, do this. They do not just walk away from what they think is a car wreck of a spiritual journey but flag everyone else tooling happily along the road and swear that the bridge is out, there are monsters waiting on the next exit and that it was actually much better where they were coming from and you can’t U-turn fast enough to get back there.

And he asks,

“What motivates them?”

Coleman offers that, “My armchair psychology tells me that they would rather believe the journey is an eight-lane disaster than consider whether they themselves forgot to check the oil under their own hoods before setting out.”

Well, Ron is assuming that none of us take any ownership for our actions. In fact, many of us do, and frequently do not forgive ourselves for doing so.

In the haredi BT world, you are frequently discouraged from checking under the hood. All too often, you are sent to the races, and encouraged to drive quite fast and reckless. And sometimes—go figure--you end up in a few fender benders, and get dizzy, and feel like you are going nowhere except in circles. Then when you announce you don’t like this race anymore, people start changing. No one in the racetrack wants to help you, especially the referees on the side wearing the black and white outfits of authority. They all just start screaming at you that you’re messed up for riding off the racetrack. If you’re lucky—very lucky—someone might secretly whisper in your ear that it’s okay if you stop racing like you have been. But almost everyone at the racetrack just tries to get you to race some more. And then things get kinda ugly. Cause you want to reclaim your car, and some people don’t approve of paint jobs and changing brakes, or adding gas. Definitely not adding gas.

So you go outside, and you stay kinda quiet. And you don’t tell people about your racing days. Only a couple of people know. But then you see that they are opening more racetracks, and adding bleachers to the old ones, always recruiting new racers. And you see that the referees were the same ones who were there when you used to race, and are making the tracks even more dangerous in accordance with management’s new rules for still better racing.

And you feel a sense of solidarity for the new racers, especially the young ones. You want to tell them what you know about racing. And make sure they do check the oil, and make sure they don’t drive too fast, that they get enough gas, and quite frankly, not to trust that the referees are on their side. Because they are not. They are simply there first and foremost to make people race as fast as they can make them, in accordance with management’s wishes.

So you announce you have some questions; you have some concerns. But you are told that you have to go to customer service if you have a complaint. But they don’t want to listen; they want you to shut up. They even tell you that they will only listen to your complaint if you ask very, very nicely and politely, and don’t say anything bad about the racetrack. And you see the customer service manager through the window, and it turns out, the manager is the same referee you have a problem with, or at least, related to him.

But one day, outside the racetrack, they invent a bullhorn. And you pick it up, and stand outside the racetrack. And you start protesting the treatment of the racers, and the insanity of the racetrack. And some people hear you, and they start listening. And you find other protesters of the racetrack, other former racetrack racers. Sometimes you stand together, sometimes you stand alone. But because you are saying bad things about the referees and even criticizing the racetrack itself, you are all declared haters of racing. Even though some of you privately still race on your own terms, though not at a racetrack, and yeah, some of you indeed don’t race anymore all that much.

But it isn’t racing itself you are really against. It’s the referees and specific demands they make, as well as concern of what is expected and demanded of the racers, who seem less of a priority than the race itself, and whose individual needs and limits are casually and assiduously brushed aside, even delegitimized.

But my goal—and I believe frequently the goal of other former racers like me--is not really to stop the racers from racing, though admittedly, that isn’t my largest concern. My concern is the racer. Because the owner of the racetrack does not speak directly, and I don’t believe that the managers report to him as directly as they claim. For if they did, the racers would be surely be treated differently, and the race a different experience altogether.

If the referees and managers cannot dispute our charges but neither can they change the house rules of the race, but can only call the protesters “racer haters,” then their racetracks are simply not to be considered appropriate for most new racers, particularly the youngest racers.

There are other racetracks, slower ones with wider lanes and service roads. These must be utilized instead, or built from scratch. I don’t claim to have the perfect balance. I don’t claim to have the answers.

But I do have the questions.

And if the recruits don’t know how to ask them, and their parents don’t understand the real questions either, and the FFBs certainly have no interest in raising them on their behalf, and even the best and seasoned BTs are only willing to hint at the crucial questions lest they draw a yellow flag (it isn't hard to do), then who will ask them if we don’t? Who, Ron?

You?

Secular Education, Haredism, and NCSY

2007-01-03T01:37:00.000-08:00

Secular Jewry: What level of this fundamentalist disengagement and fear of secular education is appropriate for your children?

Haaretz (via Failed Messiah) reports,

A committee of rabbis formulating the education policy in the ultra-Orthodox community has prohibited women's continuing education programs and severely restricted other study courses, thus blocking the advancement and development of haredi women's careers.

This is a devastating economic and professional blow to thousands of women teachers, who are the primary breadwinners in the ultra-Orthodox community. It is also a drastic regression in haredi women's ongoing process of moving ahead in their studies and career and in improving their economic situation.

The repercussions on the teachers and the ultra-Orthodox education system are tantamount to an earthquake, as the haredi newspaper Yated Neeman called it[…]The new directives completely cancel the programs equivalent to B.A. studies, as well as the programs for education consultants and didactic diagnosticians, who trace learning impairments[…]Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv was quoted in Yated Neeman objecting to teachers' enrolling in "all kinds of other education programs without any supervision of rabbis on every detail".

He warned that without close supervision and determining the content, "all manner of heresy can creep into those programs."

Secular Jewish parents, do you wonder why there are problems in NCSY? Let me tell you a secret: NCSY has become increasingly haredi over the years. As the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs reports,

“Even in NCSY, which is a branch of the Orthodox Union, much of the leadership has a strong haredi influence.”

What does that mean for your kids at NCSY? It means facing recruitment attempts to get them to attend fundamentalist yeshivas and seminaries and then (maybe, eventually) attending relatively inferior colleges.

That’s the ideal. Or it was. Now the B’nai Torah leader has spoken, though, so perhaps that might change a bit, for the worse. "Earthquake," indeed.

But what was the ideal for the haredi influenced NCSY? Say, back in ’98. As the then president of the OU, Dr. Ganchrow explained,

We pay lip service to the epidemic of assimilation among college-aged adults and yet, despite the many wonderful programs and services we offer the community, we have no fully developed college program. My own narrow vision is perhaps due to the fact that all my family members and many of my friends attended Yeshiva, Stern or Touro Colleges, places of higher learning where I believe all Orthodox students preferably should spend their college years.

As parents, we take a great gamble when we allow our children to attend secular universities where the university Weltanschauung often is antithetical to a Torah lifestyle. While a great many Orthodox students not only thrive, but also exert a positive religious influence on their peers, it is also sadly true that the road to a secular diploma is strewn with broken commitments to Torah hashkafah and lifestyle. In an ideal world, institutions as wonderful as Yeshiva, Stern and Touro Colleges would have several undergraduate branches throughout the United States.

Touro. Touro college. A third tier school. That’s “ideal." For your kids.

And Lander College’s recruitment is run by Rabbi Nathan. The former director of Long Island NCSY.

Or meet Jack Abramowitz. He used to be the Director of Admissions for Touro College, and he’s pretty frum. He doesn’t like that ol’ evolution THEORY very much. HE likes the Gosse theory better. In contradiction to Rabbi Weinreb of the Orthodox Union, but so what? We can’t let rejection of scientific method get between us. Anyway, now he’s the Director of Programs for NCSY. He is in charge of creating new programs, like Machon Maayan, which seeks young women from “diverse” backgrounds, and was created in partnership with…Touro! Yaaaaaaay, Touro! Hurray!

Anyway, the love is reciprocal. Hence the corporate sponsorship. One hand negel vasser’s the other, right? From 2005.

“Har Sinai NCSY is grateful to Touro College for sponsoring tonight’s banquet. Many of our best advisors are students or graduates of Touro College, including [three names deleted]. We are also fortunate to have Rabbi Moshe Crystal, a member of Touro’s Lander College for Men faculty, on our staff. At Touro College students receive the finest secular and religious education. It is a place where NCSY graduates can continue to nurture the religious seeds planted in NCSY. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership between Har Sinai NCSY and Touro College.”

Yes. An “ideal” partnership. Just what secular Jewry needs.

NCSY: Building a Jewish tomorrow, leck and a shmeck style.

It will have to do.

Where is the Coherent Moderate Jewish Left?

2007-01-02T18:09:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I scour the blog for like-minded people, in hopes of finding allies, or at least, solidarity, or perhaps even just comfort. It’s cheaper than bar hopping.

So I was looking at a recent post on the Israel Forum, without paying attention to which blog it was, and I read this, and started getting all excited:

“For the record, for all practical purposes, I feel I have been put into cherem ever since I returned to Judaism.”

Wow! Tell me more!

"My teshuvah experience has not at all been pleasant, and sometimes I wonder how I have survived at all."

Sheesh! That’s pretty messed up. I'm listening!

“In my early thirties my life fell apart, and still today, at nearly forty-six, I have not been allowed nor enabled to recover in those areas beyond my control. I am surviving basically.”

You mean it gets worse? Oy. I'm not feeding you lines here, but did it involve the haredim?

“I am what I am and that includes being of Jewish, Celtic and Native American American ancestry. There is no one on the face of this planet or in heaven above with the power to take away my Jewish soul just because I won't "get with the program". Nor will I cut off the Celtic or Native American aspects of my neshamah just because some Rabbis want me to...”

Yeah, well, that makes sense. Why should anyone be expected to deny their heritage and history? That’s asking for too much, and it’s just wrong. Am I willing to discard my Litvish heritage just because the Galitzianers brought in all this “spiritual” hassidic gobbledygook? Do I start putting sweet potatoes in cholent? Do I stop listening to Beethoven or Radiohead in favor of Florida's Fahfrumpte Bochur Boys Choir? No, I do not. This is the U.S., not Budapest. THEY can’t make me.

I am so with this writer! Complete solidarity. But then…this:

I will be Jewish my way [damned straight!], in a manner which respects the integrity of my neshamah [you tell ‘em swee pea!], and that includes being a shamanic Jewitch [???!!!!]. I so wish I'd have realized I was a witch much earlier in my life.

Okay. I now see you mean a witch in the classic sense. See…mixing theologies with Judaism is always…tricky, except for the Buddhists, but that’s mostly because most of us are not sure exactly what they are doing that’s treif, even though it must be, but we really don't want to have to learn about their religion, and we don't want to get called out for our ignorance when we protest.

But the witch thing, well, I gotta be honest – asking for that to be accepted…you’re asking a lot. You know, when you were talking about your pride in your Celtic and Native American past, I kinda thought you were going to talk about family, friends, and culture. You know, music, history, stuff like that. But casting spells…that’s a little outside even the Secular-Orthodox paradigm, friend. That’s a tough place. And I don’t think I can help you. Even worse, I don’t think you can help me.

And that’s my hell. Whatever happened to good old fashion criticism of haredi nonsense? You know, don’t spread poverty. Don’t take everything literally. There is no such thing as Gedolim. Basic stuff.

So who am I supposed to ally myself with? I got witches, mohelets, trannies, Indy Minyan Vegetarians, and most bizarre of all, anarchists. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do with that? Open a side show on Coney Island?

Seriously, this is the worst generation ever to be a simple apikorus. I’m really depressed. I’m eating a chicken and cheese sandwich right now (it’s okay! Chicken is pareve!), but for once, it’s no good. And I forgot to take my lactaid pills. And that’s your fault. You drove me to this. Thank you sooooo much.

Teaser for Tomorrow: The Unbridled Passion of NCSY and Touro

2007-01-02T15:35:00.000-08:00

More sordid details about our favorite ~~underage~~ coming of age Orthodox love story. Their parents would never approve of their love. But the insatiable fire of Touro and NCSY cannot be denied.

One youth group. One year deferment (for now!) One application.

One love.

NCSY [hearts] Touro.

Touro [hearts] NCSY.

Now more than ever. On The Kvetcher.

Dark Light Gives Classical Music a B-

2007-01-01T19:36:00.000-08:00

You gotta give Ohr Somayach credit. Even when they try to sound moderate and reasonable, they still display their quiescent fundamentalist position.

In this week's "Ask!" column, Rabbi Ullman tackles the question, "Is Classical Music in Harmony with Judaism?"

His answer? Yes...but

Accordingly, while it would be generally preferable to listen to refined, uplifting Jewish music, listening to most types of classical music is also okay.

In fact, there is precious little "uplifting" Jewish (which for them, means frum anyway) music that actually rivals the best classical music, but there is plenty of crap that comes nowhere near even the better popular music. And don't bring Andy Statman and Peter Himmelman. No one wants to listen to those two guys all day every day.

The point is, if Ohr Somayach is conceding that listening to classical music is allowed by Jewish law, what exactly are they basing their claim that it's "preferable" to listen to "uplifting" Jewish music? What makes it better? What makes it Jewish? I'm talking the notes, not the lyrics.

Why doesn't Ohr Somayach just admit that when it comes to music, frum cultural options are about as satisfying to a BT as a pareve pizza with tofu pepperoni compared to the real thing? But this isn't food -- it's music, and fortunately, there is no reason to refrain from listening to it. For Jews from artistically educated secular backgrounds, the haredi options simply don't cut it, and are frequently unbearable. Seriously, frum music is just the pits compared to the best secular music. They could break terrorists with some of their haredi boy bands. Especially the well-sandaled terrorists from educated backgrounds. No culturally educated person could stand up to a sustained aural punishment of that sort without cracking.

Cross-posted on Kefirah

Arousal for Anti-Circ Camp Coming

2006-12-31T11:30:00.000-08:00

Scientific evidence for circumcision as a prophylactic against Aids in Africa as a substitute for condoms (which are more effective) is typically being misappropriated by the Jewish community for areas where condoms are both readily available and used. That is to say, the west. It is for that reason that routine circumcision is not being advocated in Europe, and is not practiced. Misappropriation by Jewish bloggers is available here, here, and here.

But the general American landscape is not Jewish, and therefore less prone to swallowing our self-deception and cultural bias if they are given the opposing view. And the pro-circ camp is therefore in for a beating.

The Hankyoreh reports in “Circumcision reduces sexual satisfaction: study” that,

A survey of 373 men 30 years or older in South Korea was taken by Seoul National University professor Kim Dae-sik and JoongAng University professor Bang Myeong-geol. They found that men who underwent circumcision felt less sensation during orgasm while engaged in masturbation or sex than when they had been uncircumcised.

The research, which is scheduled to be posted to an academic journal in Britain in February, was conducted with 255 men who underwent circumcision after the age of 20 and 118 who did not.

According to the research, 20 percent answered that their level of satisfaction in sex fell after circumcision, compared with 6 percent who said the level rose. The remaining 74 percent said no change was seen after circumcision.”

While, “Statistically, there was no meaningful difference seen in terms of sexual desire, erectile function, never the less according to Dr. Bang, “We can make the conclusion that circumcision poses a negative impact on [enjoyment of] sex by damaging peripheral nerves."

The report is “to be posted to an academic journal in Britain in February.” I predict it’s going to set off a wave of indignation. And the more we point to Africa, the more people will realize that isn’t the issue for us, and ask, “Why are the Jews insisting this is a health issue for them? And why do they want us to be a part of this?”

To all my readers, Happy Jesus Circumcision Day!

Big Aish Posts a Decent Article!!!!!!!

2006-12-29T00:07:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe it. I simply cannot believe it. I actually read something intelligent on Big Aish. About the composer Steve Reich, about the Hebrew language, and his incorporation of it into his composition, and his contributions to Jewish literacy.

One of his great pieces of that era (1981), is called Tehillim -- not Psalms, but Tehillim. The skills that he gained and his mastery of cantillations and Hebrew grammar are obvious in that musical piece.

Okay, I’m sitting down. I’m breathing deeply. There must be an explanation. There must be a reason. How could someone from Aish HaTorah write this? Nothing about this article screams glitzy, creepy fundamentalism. The author actually went to see a classical music concert, like it is completely normal for an Orthodox rabbi to do so.

Let’s see who this author is...it’s …oh, for crying out loud. It was written by Rabbi Buchwald. He runs NJOP. He’s Modern Orthodox. This guy has nothing to do with Big Aish. They must have paid him decently for the article, or more likely, paid for it as a reprint after being printed somewhere else. It costs less that way.

False alarm. Everyone go back to sleep.

Man, that was disconcerting. Like when someone starts talking while in coma. Okay, what is else is on Big Aish this week?

Okay, let's see...top story is a piece by a real Aish writer, Rabbi Salomon. About celebrity.

Today it might be Brad Pitt; tomorrow it could be Jennifer Hudson. For some it is Tiger Woods, for others it is Cate Blanchett, or whoever the lords of People magazine decide to deify this week. It doesn't really matter. These personalities are but mere instruments in our empyreal attempt to borrow a morsel of associative greatness.

There we go! Keep it smarmy, keep it silly, keep it lowest common denominator.

Big Aish’s ~~brand~~ message is back on track.

Snowed By Big Aish

2006-12-28T10:59:00.000-08:00

There is snow in the Holy Land. What does it mean? Mystically speaking, of course. Let’s go to the powerhouse of Kaballah, Big Aish.

“With a cold Amalekite attitude, the growth that we fought so hard to gain throughout the Jewish holiday period in the Spring and Summer months, can be lost to the deep freeze and the cold winter snow.”

Amalek? Of course – the Israelites were walking through the desert, and there must have been snow everywhere when they were attacked. Amalek is clearly represented by snow (see Exodus 17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19). But wait! There is flip side to it…it can be holy, but is also spiritually dangerous, because, “Snow is not always pure!”

Snow is a symbol of purity and holiness, but paradoxically within it lies the potential for evil. The Yetzer Hara knows how powerful and inspirational snow can be, and therefore has his stake in snow as well, trying to force people to view it only as negative […]So when those white flakes begin to fall, and a blizzard is on the way, let's fight cynicism and win the battle for positive attitudes. Let's stay away from cold, Amalekite snowball fights. And let's become holy "snowmen" instead.

Yes, instead of snowball fights, lie in the snow, and move your arms to create snow angels, just like the Christian kids I grew up with did, but my mother disapproved of me doing so, because of the suspected theological content.

Holy Snowman Trinity! What theology is this?

Full 100% authentic Jewish explanation of the meaning of snow.

The Loony Left Show: The Wedding Boycott Question

2006-12-27T14:33:00.000-08:00

JVoices, the single funniest Jewish site on the internet (but they have no idea how many giggles they create!) takes on the important daring question: Should we boycott our straight friends weddings in order to force the gay marriage issue?

After all, since “all of the arguments against Gay Marriage are Homophobic,” Mike Finesilver is not going to attend straight weddings anymore. Additionally, he is unwilling to “provide a large and usually overcompensating gift.”

Now Mike, with all due respect, let's be honest. The gift aspect is completely unrelated to your homosexuality or your gay activism. It’s because you are a cheap Jew. Please don’t go and confuse identities like that. It gives victimology a bad name!

Now you are probably wondering whether I will join in the straight marriage boycott. Well, quite frankly, if the wedding is outside Manhattan, I’ll use whatever excuse I can come up with to justify staying home.

NCSY Warning to Parents

2006-12-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

If NCSY is going to continue recruiting for haredi (ultra-Orthodox) baal teshuvah (newly Orthodox) yeshivas and seminaries, every secular Jewish parent must receive a warning letter, and it must be posted on all NCSY websites. Something like this:

Dear Secular Jewish Parent,

Fair warning: NCSY actively recruits public high school graduates for ultra-Orthodox institutions and dual curriculum schools in Israel and in the U.S. We are not just about shabbatons and "identity." We want your kids to be Orthodox, and do not believe they will remain that way if they go straight to a regular college. So please understand that at NCSY, your child may be discouraged from attending the better colleges, and instead may be encouraged to attend a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) institution, and enter a haredi lifestyle that if followed properly starting and at a young enough age, offers limited socio-economic opportunity. This is official NCSY policy. You may think that because of the values you instilled in them, your kids are better suited for a quality secular education than born and bred Orthodox Jewish kids. In fact, from where we are standing, and certainly from where our haredi partner institutions in Israel are standing, that makes them even more at risk if they attend these places, and such colleges an even less appropriate option. What is difficult enough for born and bred Orthodox kids is an exceptionally difficult challenge for yours. It is certainly done, obviously, but this is not what we will advise.

We are believers, and we want your kids to be believers. That is to say, fully practicing Orthodox Jews. For us, this is paramount. And between the choice of college and a secular lifestyle or ultra-Orthodoxy and poverty, we would choose the latter for your children. We are not saying it has to be that way, but the fact is, the ultra-Orthodox options for secular Jews from a public school background are more readily available than those advocating a Modern Orthodox outlook, and that does translate into a greater risk of disengagement, underemployment, and even eventual poverty (at least by your standards) if they go to one of our recommended haredi institutions. We have been operating since 1959, and even according to a dated study (baal teshuva yeshiva and seminary growth has been exponential in recent years) historically have influenced more than one out of four public school kids to significantly change their educational and vocational trajectory.

Please review our Educational Guide for general policy and our list of recommended yeshivas and seminaries for a partial list of whom we recruit for. But do not expect us to explain the downside of these places. We want your kids to be Orthodox. That’s it. The rest is your responsibility.

Sincerely,

Signature [Regional NCSY Director]

Snark’s Up at The New Republic

2006-12-26T16:28:00.000-08:00

It’s one thing when the far-Left and far-Right start in about “The Neocons.” But when TNR does it, it’s positively delicious. Because we don’t like them (the Neocons), but when we say “Neocon,” we mean neoconservatives. Not Jews.

Anyway, in “Sucker Punch,” Jonathan Chait zings some tasty one liners at the Neocons, and their relationship with Bush, and how “fewer people seemed to have noticed that the reverse is also true: Bush suckered the neocons.”

Like,

“So [Bush] ended up pursuing Dick Cheney's foreign policy with Bill Clinton's army.”

And in terms of what tax cuts meant.

"It turned out there wasn't any money left over for a big troop increase, an eventuality nobody could have foreseen unless they knew how to add and subtract."

Taking a shot at the Weekly Standard’s explanation on why they were fooled by Bush, Chait “translates,”

“We thought Bush was just lying to the American public, but now we discover he was lying to us also!”

Anyway, I don’t usually get involved with anything Bush, but I love it when the Social-Democrats (yes, they kind of are that) go after the Neocons. And I do accept Chait’s assertion that the Neocons were fooled by Bush.

It’s not that hard to scam a Neocon. You don’t have to be a Chalabi. These guys are an absolute joke in terms of their naiveté. Unfortunately, the joke’s on the U.S. And American Jews generally are all too frequently considered the preferred butt of the joke.

And that’s not very funny at all.

Secular-Orthodoxy on One Foot

2006-12-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

A couple friends asked me to explain what exactly I mean when I say I am Secular-Orthodox. Really,this demands a three part essay, but on one foot:

It means that I am not terribly religious, but still intolerant.

You know -- the best of both worlds.

Checklist for Steve Brizel

2006-12-25T15:48:00.000-08:00

Too bad Steve Brizel didn’t check with me before his investigation of Dark Light. I wasn’t concerned about whether bochurim waited until the second year to wear black hats, or whether there are seforim in the Bais Medresh (That’s right, DK! In your face!), or whether Ohr Somayach sends students from their yeshiva to yet other yeshivas (No way!) or Kollel (Holy Cow! A charedi yeshiva does that? Oh wait, Steve didn't actually mention anything about O.S. *graduating* their students into the Kollel system in his attempt to make Dark Light seem normal. I wonder why... ). And shocking to say, I don’t really give a hoot whether Rabbis Schiller and Weinbach or their talmidim can give an inspiring d’var Torah that can bowl Steve over. Even if the divrei Torah were so good it made him grab a bunch of hats and start dancing in a circle (is there any other kind of dancing?) it isn't relevant.

These are the points I am concerned about, and would have asked him to consider:

1) Is Hebrew Ulpan taught sufficiently? How many levels? When is it taught? As part of the normal schedule, or during the nap break at midday? How many levels are offered? Are the “Bais Midrash” students encouraged to learn Hebrew as well?

2) Since this is a haredi yeshiva, and its curriculum Talmud intensive, is there an Aramaic Ulpan for these baal teshuvahs? If so, same questions as above.

3) How is Modern Orthodoxy presented by the Rabbinical staff?

4) How is Yeshiva University and Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik presented by the rabbinical staff? Is Modern Orthodoxy presented as somehow insufficient and “not really” religious?

5) Is scientific method accepted? What is O.S.’s position on evolution? What is the position on Rabbi Slifkin?

6) What is the position of Ohr Somayach on college studies FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUTES LIKE THE ONES NCSY RECRUITS? Does Ohr Somayach discourage or advocate postponement of college education to its students who have not yet attended or finished college?

7) Is it explained that though most Eastern European Jews descend from “Orthodox” Jews, if their families came over before WWII, they were not haredi, or does Ohr Somayach attempt to convince their students that their ancestry was haredi, for many a blatant revisionist lie, as part of Ohr Somayach's attempt to promote haredism instead of Modern Orthodoxy?

8) Is stringency presented as normative halacha?

9) Is lying to students considered acceptable since it’s “pakuach nefesh” (saving a soul)?

10) Is the western world taught as incomplete in terms of what it offers a traditional Jew, or is it presented as depraved in its entirety and engagement presented as something to be avoided? Does Rabbi Weinbach (the Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Somayach) consider the secular world in its entirety an "environment of sin?"

11) Is poverty common among those recruits who are “successful” when they come from middle class backgrounds?

12) Is Kollel instead of a vocation advocated as preferable to advanced students?

13) Are students taught how to live as Orthodox Jews, or are they taught to despise their upbringing and backgrounds to a debilitating degree?

14) Are students taught to think for themselves, or are they taught they are ill prepared to do so, and must trust only their Rabbis instructions and assessments?

15) Are students taught to place a modern emphasis on the near infallibility of “Great Leaders (Gedolim)” as an ancient Jewish concept?

16) Are students encouraged to disengage from the world to the point of not even reading newspapers?

What checklist points would you have given to Steve Brizel to consider?

And why does Steve care about Ohr Somayach? Why does he seek to minimize their haredism? Steve is Right-Wing Modern Orthodox, not haredi. Why does he care so much about 'proving' Dark Light is A-okay? From one stupid Chanukah party?

Because NCSY is sending teenagers there. Right after high school. That's why. Isn't that why you care about Dark Light, Steve? Isn't that what this is all about? NCSY's recruitment practices?

Christmas time is hard for Jews

2006-12-24T14:16:00.000-08:00

We feel left out. Forlorn. Alone. You know, sober.

So we turn to Ariel Beery, and his pals and (many) gals. For leadership. Chizuk. For a sympathetic ear.

Photo courtesy of CK. Ear courtesy of Jaded Topaz.

Steve Brizel's Letter from the Dark Light

2006-12-24T12:27:00.000-08:00

Our frum friends at Beyondbt have posted a letter from Steve Brizel which included his assessment of Ohr Somayach from a Chanukah party he attended, where they surely celebrated our continued war against the Hellenists, which was never ever written down in a document known as Maccabees I-IV.

I’m thrilled Steve is having such a wonderful time, and look forward hearing some great Gedoylim and mammish mesiras nefesh stories he certainly was fed while at Ohr Somayach’s Chanukah party. However, I feel his generally glowing recommendation of Dark Light doesn’t answer the "factless" allegations I have raised both here, on Beyondbt, and elsewhere.

After dismissing my "factless" allegations against Dark Light as "misinformed," Steve claims,

“Ohr Samaeach has successfully tapped the market of Jewish post [college] graduates from all sorts of backgrounds and created a program that helps realize their potential as Bnei Torah who then progress to yeshivas across the Torah spectrum.”

The issue is not the college graduates, but rather, the high school graduates who go there. While they certainly help these young men subsequently attend other yeshivas, they do not encourage them to go to college, which is the problem. Who sends them to Ohr Somayach when they aren’t college graduates? Well, the largest recruiter outside of Ohr Somayach itself appears to be NCSY. And as Steve appears to be conceding, they are guided to further yeshiva study at Ohr Somayach instead of college. The fact that O.S. also has many of the same seforim as in any other yeshiva (and not just Artscrolls) is irrelevant to this problem, and to the fact that their parents aren't informed of what type of indoctrination their kids are facing, even if they aren't encouraged to don black hats their first year (of more than one year) there.

If Steve agrees with me that this is the situation, then he should also agree that NCSY should not continue to keep recruiting for Ohr Somayach, but should instead only recruit public high school graduates for yeshivas that do not encourage their students to restrict themselves to yeshiva studies, but also promote their students attending college to aid them in success or what we in the treifa medina call “parnassah” (livelihood).

The idea that Ohr Somayach is only servicing a post-college population (which Steve suggestively references numerous times in this post) is not the main issue or the reality, or NCSY would not be recruiting for them, would they?

Glad we agree.

NCSY, stop recruiting public high school kids for Dark Light, or secular parents will stop sending their kids to your programs. You think they aren’t going to find out? They are going to find out. Education about what and whom you are recruiting for is your worst enemy, and it is happening. In order to maintain your numbers, you will need secular (half) Jews so far removed from the affiliated Jewish community you won’t know where to start. Instead of dealing with questions of trick or treating on Halloween, prepare for more frequent questions about having Chanukah Bushes. How are you going to mix them with your FFB kids?

Keep up the bullshit. Keep promoting fundamentalist places that promote poverty and discourage college like Dark Light does. But you are going to pay the price. You don’t get to keep kneeing kids in the groin forever without it coming back to haunt you. From a socio-economic standpoint, of course. Not that you would literally ever allow such a thing under your watch. You’re the good guys, right? Right?

NCSY: National Collaborator of Sinister Yeshivas

Abe Wonders Too Much

2006-12-20T22:27:00.000-08:00

I really can't stand hypersensitivity to antisemitism. Maybe it’s because I’m self-hating, maybe it’s because I’m not a Conservative rabbi, or maybe it’s because I’m not a fundraising whore like Abe Foxman. I really can’t be sure.

The ADL writes,

Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

One can only wonder what motivated Judith Regan to make a Jewish issue out of her dispute with the News Corporation's HarperCollins.

Yes, one could wonder. One could scratch one’s head in sorrow and sadness that bigotry continues to raise its ugly head even in the most prestigious and intellectual of industries, and see exactly why the ADL is so very important to the Jewish community and why this canard is proof that we need to redouble our efforts to teach tolerance in the hopes that one day such horrible incidents will finally cease to exist on such a frequent and troubling level. In the meantime, one can wonder. OR one can pause for a moment and note that the reason Ms. Regan pointed out the “Jewish issue” of her opponents was because the most powerful ones are, in fact, apparently Jews. That, juxtaposed with the fact that Regan is a nightmare bitch of the first order who would make her opponents red socks an issue (if that’s what she determined was at her disposal for hurling insults and abuse) might possibly make one wonder just a bit less.

Let us be clear. Regan is a bitch. Not an antisemite. And quite frankly, there should be a lot more defense agencies in the world against scary bitches like Regan. But this is simply not the mandate of the ADL as it is not an issue of antisemitism.

As Alana Newhouse wrote in the Forward,

The problem with this storyline is that, among the many charges that have been leveled against Regan — including but not limited to being a manipulator, a tormentor of employees and a legendary narcissist — antisemitism is the least supportable. Indeed, if observers and former employees are to be believed, it might be one of the few transgressions of which she is not guilty…If a brief scan of Regan’s greatest hits is any indication, her repertoire of verbal insults brims with stereotyping of all kinds, with nearly every group caught in the crosshairs of her equal-opportunity offending at one time or another. When viewed in the broader context of her personality, it seems obvious that these comments are driven not by authentic prejudice but by a need to provoke and offend.

Regan may be a witch. But her alleged comments are not grounds for a witch hunt.

Step Away From the Synagogue

2006-12-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

I don’t usually attack Chabad. I leave that stuff to this dude. But they are making a push for a certain historic Left-Wing Modern Orthodox (LWMO) synagogue, as they have for other historic LWMO synagogues.

There are only a few LWMO synagogues in existence, and they are precious. These are sanctuaries of traditional Judaism, not platforms for aggressive kiruv. All have been targeted by Chabad in one way or another. Let me be clear – with all due respect – your advances are not appreciated.

These shuls are special, and desperately needed. They are the remnant of traditional Judaism, before the haredim came, before the Conservative Movement wreaked havoc on Eastern European Jewry, and before the Modern Orthodox began their long march right. Some of them (the LWMO synagogues, not the right-wing Modern Orthodox who do little for anyone outside of the Zionist Entity, and of course, kiruv, like all frummies) do wonderful work, such as hosting the only kosher soup kitchen in Manhattan at the Chelsea Shul. Who else is going to do that? The right-wing Modern Orthodox? The “post-denominational” minayanim? Please – many at these institutions have no personal concern or even a concept of poverty in the Jewish community.

These LWMO shuls must be respected. These should not be treated as soft targets for takeover. These are fine synagogues. Good synagogues. The best. They don’t need any frumming up.

They don’t need any straightening out.

Office Party

2006-12-14T22:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I get sick of the usual "let's go out for drinks!" to celebate this or that achievement or accomplishment. Especially with work friends. I don't want a company party. I would rather celebrate while at work. Like those dudes in Turkey did. They closed the deal, they offered a camel as a sacrifice, and then they ate the meat. While at work! And I call that...a corporate sponsored lunch.

Now doesn't that knock off the socks of having to spend an extra hour and a half with Larry from operations when 6pm finally arrives?

Dark Light Leader Lies About Chanukah

2006-12-13T00:08:00.000-08:00

Rabbi Nota Schiller, a Rosh Yeshiva at Ohr Somayach, turns a lie into a moral lesson. In “Greeks vs. Torah,” Rabbi Schiller notes,

Historically, at Chanukah, the Jews warred with the Greeks, yet there is no megillah, no written work chronicling that battle. Why? Because it is a story that must be transmitted orally, for at the center of this battle was the Greeks' attempt to destroy the Oral Torah.

In fact, there is a “written work chronicling that battle,” but it wasn’t included in our canon.

But it survived. In the Greek. It’s called Macabees I and II. And Rabbi Schiller is pretending he doesn’t even know about it.

Update: Failed Messiah weighs in with feigned shock and genuine outrage.

Taking Quiescent Jewish Fundamentalism to the Extreme

2006-12-12T21:32:00.000-08:00

This is where it ends. This is its logical conclusion. Kissing your master before he blows your people to smithereens. Applauding him as he assures you your coreligionists will soon be destroyed in a new genocide. Because they are no longer your coreligionists. You truly no longer see them as Jews like you. You believe your insanity, that they are dibbuks and monsters. Part of a foreign element, a "great multitude," or however you explain it.

Judaism's fundamentalists are not just similar in some theoretical way to Islam's fundamentalists. They are publicly making out. They can't keep their hands off each other.

There is such a thing as too frum.

Unless it means something else. Something far more thought out and perhaps more chilling.

For those of us who are listening to Holocaust deniers carefully, and not just as an excuse to build yet another museum, we know that Holocaust denial is frequently not really a call for clearer documentation of the Holocaust, but rather, a call for another Holocaust. This is clearly Ahmadinejad’s message, as he seeks nuclear arms.

But he appears to be intentionally bundling his threat to the Jewish state today with an offer of peaceful dismantlement.

Iran Daily reports,

“We recommend the western countries to prepare the grounds for dismantling the Zionist regime as they themselves have established it,” he [Ahmadinejad] said.

Noting that the dismantling of the Zionist regime by the West will be beneficial for international peace, he expressed hope that supporters of the Zionist regime will eventually give a positive response to his proposal. Ahmadinejad pointed out that international problems can be resolved in a friendly and rational manner and in a tranquil manner. “We should help bring about real peace by adopting humanistic methods,“ he said.

Neturei Karta has long been rumored to have ties to the general, non-Zionist haredi community, and has been known to intercede on their behalf. Perhaps they are also seeking to strengthen ties to this regime because they see the writing on the wall, and hope when the time comes, they will be able to act as brokers, and preempt a nuclear destruction of the Jewish state with a peaceful dismantling of it, when Iran’s in a position to make such an ultimatum either directly or indirectly. Perhaps they don’t believe they will succeed, but at least want to attempt to do so, allowing more time to save lives through emigration by facilitating an Iranian attempt at a diplomatic solution before nuking the Jewish state.

I am trying to understand Neturei Karta’s thinking, and would like to believe they see this as something more than simply hatred in their unjustifiable collaboration with the enemy.

Photograph courtesy of Failed Messiah.

NCSY Summer Trips

2006-12-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Secular Jewish Parents,

We know you people are probably just getting your Chanukah Bush all set up, but we just wanted to remind you of our great, fun filled summer trips for teens like yours! Like Kollel. Because nothing says “Modern” Orthodoxy and a quality secular education quite like "Kollel" does. And you don’t have to come from a yeshiva background to be part of our Kollel program. Jews at a beginner level and from a public school background are absolutely welcome to join Kollel, and we assure you they will get a lot of Hashkafa while there. Haskafa means ~~haredi indoctrination~~ outlook. You know, Jewish philosophy. Fun, educational stuff! And lots of sports, too (for now).

For those secular Jewish parents who may not have any idea what “Kollel” implies, don’t worry. It’s like, Hebrew for a community of scholars. Scholarship is good, right? So what could be wrong?

NCSY: Putting the 'fun' back into fundamentalism.

Jewlicious Wunderkind Calls Out Big Aish

2006-12-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

In “Lenny Bruce is spinning in his grave,” Michael of Jewlicious pens a scathing and brilliant essay (for a change) on why Big Aish (an OU/NCSY partner in “outreach”) is fundamentalist, deceptive, and tricky, and why their much promoted humor site Jewlarious is the lamest attempt at comedy since “Weekend at Bernie’s II.”

Jewlarious, nebach, just isn’t funny. The only funny thing they wrote on Jewlarious was their essay on why Cohen’s “Borat” wasn’t great satire because it wasn’t as effective as the single greatest satirical film of the 20th century. Now that was funny. That was really funny. Unfortunately, much like their Kabbalah 101 section, it wasn’t meant to be, so it doesn’t count.

Michael explains why Aish can’t be funny.

The best Jewish humor stands up and boldly laughs in the face of tragedy, oppression, blood and God himself. Naturally, however, this proud tradition of gallows humor does not provide the best medium for scouring out the brains of young, spiritually-seeking Jews. It’s hard to offer up curdlingly cynical Yiddish gems like, “If God lived on Earth, people would break his windows” when your organization is investing its energy in promoting the fiction that before the Jews arrived in the trayfeh medina, everybody lived a blissful existence of Charedi piety and child-raising in the Old Country (which is of course what God wants from us all).

Michael is all of twenty-one. He writes for Jewlicious, and also has a personal blog with a non-Jewish friend as well. Many of us in the J-blogosphere are watching this wunderkind in amazement, wondering what he will do with his life, how high he will go, and hoping he will still make time for us when he gets there.

NCSY’s Policy on College Education

2006-12-10T17:40:00.000-08:00

Pressuring Teens to "Just Say No" to Secular Colleges

In his essay “Poison Ivy,” Paul S. Glasser, the former National Executive Director of NCSY outlined a policy justifying and advocating NCSY taking a hard stance against full-time attendance at all colleges outside of those few Orthodox Jewish colleges with a dual curriculum even after a year of study at a yeshiva and seminary, and condemned students planning to attenda regular universities as placing themselves “at risk” because of “the totality of a secular environment, or even an Ivy League school.”

The pragmatic difference between NCSY and left-wing ultra-Orthodox institutions is therefore quite narrow, with few additional choices compared to those full-fledged American yeshivas which do allow part-time college studies for the sole purpose of “parnassa,” or livelihood. In fact, the only additional options allowed by this Right-Wing Modern Orthodox policy are full time attendance at Yeshiva/Stern College or Touro College.

Perhaps more disturbing is Glasser’s specific rejection of the educational values famously treasured by Jewish parents. Glasser appeals to NCSY teenagers to reject the “pressures” of their parents, which he acknowledges they worked so hard to instill, and to insist on declining the opportunity afforded by the best schools in the nation, even those who have made every effort to make their Orthodox Jewish students comfortable. He suggests that it is against halacha (Jewish law) for them to go, even though Modern Orthodox Jews are well represented at many of these schools, explaining,

Finally a note on perhaps the most difficult decision of all. If you are extremely bright and have parents who have waited to see you enter an Ivy League school, you are put under the most intense pressure. I fully realize the academic and career potential in an Ivy League University experience. I am also well aware of the many ways which these schools make Orthodox students feel comfortable. However it is critical to realize that the dormitory environment, pressure to “fit in” still create tremendous conflicts for the Torah observant young adult. Non-observant or even non-Jewish roommates may be the order of the day, not to mention late-night study groups in the dorm where it is hard to maintain distances from the pressures of social challenges contrary to halacha which initially seem harmless but can possibly blossom into problematic relationships.

Now, this essay was written a few years ago, by a man no longer the national executive director of NCSY. Additionally, it is dubious that most NCSY teenagers read, never mind heed, this essay. So why is it so important?

“Poison Ivy” is important because it outlines NCSY policy. NCSY teenagers may not read or heed this essay, but NCSY directors and advisors certainly do.
This essay is a selection in NCSY’s “Education Guide,” which outlines which yeshivas NCSY Directors and Advisor should guide their teenagers for study in Israel (50% of NCSY members study in an Israeli yeshiva immediately following high school), and where NCSY alumni attendance should be discouraged upon their return, which is to say, almost every college in America outside of those offering a dual curriculum. It is because of NCSY pressure that more than one out of four (28%) NCSY alumni from public school backgrounds attend religious colleges instead of regular schools.

This NCSY policy is corroborated as well by “Faithful Youth,” a study on the effects of NCSY on its alumni, a study from which the organization touts select findings. One study finding you won’t find touted by NCSY is that

“A number of alumi/ae noted that NCSY staff did try to influence them to attend these (Stern, Yeshiva, or Touro) Jewish colleges.”

While we can't conclude if NCSY's preference for alumni attending Touro College instead of Harvard or other "Poison Ivy's" is responsible for this problem, the study does note that,

“NCSY men tend to have higher education levels than their fathers, this is not the case with respect to occupation. Rather, the occupations of their fathers tend to either outrank or parallel those of their alumni sons.”

Secular Jewish parents need to understand that although NCSY successfully promotes endogamy, religious commitment and Jewish identity, the organization is not content to prevent “at risk” behavior as many secular Jewish parents may see it. NCSY is not just advocating Jewish teens to “just say no” to drugs, or to restrict dating patterns to other Jews. It is NCSY policy to encourage secular Jewish teens to “just say no” to the best schools and the opportunity they afford. There are good reasons why Orthodox Jews, even some Modern Orthodox Jews, will be concerned about the deleterious risks and effects secular campus life have on the observance level of an Orthodox Jewish college student. But there also good reasons why secular Jewish parents may want their children to never the less go to such places instead of ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and seminaries (for secular Jews, not for their own) and the dual curriculum schools NCSY is promoting as the preferable options.

Secular Jewish parents should at least be aware of this NCSY policy, and decide if a greater than one out of four risk is acceptable or not for their teenager.

The Vuch (Week) in Review

2006-12-10T13:51:00.000-08:00

Well, it was quite a week, and overall, a pretty darned interesting one, even if I haven’t even picked out my pole for Festivus yet. But there was a lot of love, a lot of sharing, and no shortage of prayer haters.

We found out that a blogger can beat the Agudah.

We cheered as Andrew Krucoff, formerly a Big Aish poster boy, rebuffed the advances of Big Aish Passaic, and that he thinks I make "some good points” in my criticism of Big Aish, and he even wants to have shabbos dinner with me to talk about it. I would really like that, and will direct him to some great Orthodox Jewish institutions that offer traditional Judaism without the creepy fundamentalism of Big Aish.

We found out that that when you delink someone because of his feigned respect for Jews for Jesus, feelings are hurt.

I now have another Orthodox Anarchist in my circle. I am not seeking a third.

We found out that Dark Light is deceptively using Holocaustism and Hillel as partners for recruitment.

We found out that NCSY doesn’t love me.

We found out that the JTS knows how to punt.

We found out that black nail polish is okay for men, provided it is l'cavod shabbos kodesh, and it's a chick's idea.

Tomorrow, we will understand that a specific NCSY policy for secular Jewry is pragmatically all too similar to haredi policy. Since they don't want to mislead anyone, least of all secular Jewish parents, they won't mind at all that I explain this policy.

Update: No less than Rabbi Gil Student credits UOJ for his role with Kolko. See comments section opposing The Canonist's unfortunate evaluation of UOJ's role.

The Dark Light Invasion of College Campuses Begins

2006-12-09T15:04:00.000-08:00

Ohr Somayach, a fundamentalist international organization that seeks to bring secular Jews into unmitigated haredism, is beginning to implement an aggressive recruitment strategy of college students on their campuses, and has already begun successfully doing so in Chicago. Shockingly, some chapters of Hillel in Chicago appear to be helping them. It's organization, "JET," does not acknowledge its relationship with Ohr Somayach in any way on its website except to note that Rabbi Kahn studied there, but manipulatively uses a Holocaust project, "60 Days for 6 million," as a way to appear mainstream, and secure endorsements from secular leaders and Federation media who are suckers for this type of bait.

In their newsletter, Ohr Somayach boasts,

Rabbi Kahn consulted with Rav Mendel Weinbach, the Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Somayach in Eretz Yisrael.Rav Weinbach encouraged Rabbi Kahn to set up his own organization – he even helped him come up with a name – and so JET, the Jewish Education Team, was started. Initially funding came from the Maimonides Leaders’ Fellowship Foundation. Now on his own, Rabbi Kahn received seed money from the Wolfson family, and did some private fund-raising.
Chicago is different from most other cities with colleges in that there are many campuses all over the city, with varying sizes of Jewish populations, and each with a different student culture. Rabbi Kahn has been able to establish a good working relationship with many of the Hillel branches. They actually offer him space for the class to meet, as well as advertise the program in their e-mails to students.

They actually should not be offering them a damned thing! They should be on Hillel's missionary list! Where the hell is NJOP? NJOP!!!!! Get your ass over to Chicago!

The program is open to any student, not just the students of the campus it is based on [ed. note: Oh aren't you soooo inclusive.]. JET runs programs at Loyola, Northwestern University, DePaul University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. In addition, students from 10 other schools, including the Illinois Institute of Technology, Columbia College and Truman College attend programs.

If any of you readers are out there, please inform Hillel leaders in Chicago and elsewhere that “JET” is not an merely “Orthodox,” it is Ohr Somayach, the Dark Light itself, and fundamentalist to the core. Please keep in eye out for “JET,” and let everyone know who Ohr Somayach is, and the fundamentalism they preach once in their full-time institutions. There is no way in hell these guys should be allowed on campus.

The goal of this is to recruit to Ohr Somayach’s full-time furnace of misery in Jerusalem. As Ohr Somayach notes at the beginning of their newsletter, Rabbi Kahn, the leader of “JET” is going "to bring a nice sized group to Ohr Somayach for the upcoming JLE."

JLE is a winter and summer program that "introduces" students to "Judaic studies" through discounted rates where they get to enjoy "tours," but are also encouraged to eventually ~~drop out of college~~ take a summer and then a year (or seven) off and learn full-time and discover the joys of poverty and nepotism rampant in fundamentalist B'nai Torah enclaves.

Tell Hillel not to facilitate student recruitment to Ohr Somayach. Don't learn from NCSY! Dark Light is so notoriously bad that even Left-Wing ultra-Orthodox Aish HaTorah defenders desperate to find some way Aish is redeemable will invoke Dark Light for comparison, noting, "Well, at least Aish isn't as extreme as Ohr Somyach!"

Great. And O.S. isn't as bad as the Taliban! Shkoyach! Way to set the bar high. Now get them the hell off campus! Tell Michelle Maer that we don't need to help such people. With her background, Ms. Maer should know this organization is highly problematic, both in its extremist outlook, and and its deceptive practices, like at Chicago's Hillels. She may not be aware of what is going on, or who these guys are. Please tell her this is unacceptable, and that Ohr Somayach is bragging that many of the Hillels in Chicago are "actually" helping them recruit students to fundamentalism under the guise of "Orthodox."

Teaser for Monday Bombshell on NCSY (Bli Neder!)

2006-12-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

I have uncovered some revealing (and quite damaging) information about NCSY's policy on an important matter. Some might even say devastating information. Honestly, I can't believe what I found. It's that exciting. And incontrovertible. The truth is still much worse than what it will prove, but it still proves a lot. It proves enough.

Perhaps it is time for NCSY to restrict their focus to the already Orthodox. They moved too far away from secular Jewry decades ago to be able service them properly or appropriately. In crucial ways, they are not respectful. Perhaps they never really were. I have no idea.

If anyone wants to pick up this story before I blog it, better give me a holler fast.

I think this is my first teaser ever, and I don't mean to do it, it's not just because I'm copying Jewbiquitous, but I want to put this post together nicely, so people feel comfortable emailing the information to others, so that secular Jewish parents across the country who have no background to this story will be able to understand enough of the presented evidence to raise their suspicions, and perhaps dig deeper. I had a long (but wonderful) night with other tortured and broken Jewish souls, and am not up to it right now, but still wanted to share this. I do hope you understand.

More Haredi Bashing

2006-12-07T13:22:00.000-08:00

Dov Bear, a notoriously anti-haredi blogger, is spreading lies (for a change!) along with Failed Messiah that a religious woman was beaten by a haredi man as most of the other haredim watched and did nothing to intervene on his behalf.

The full letter is reprinted here, and I while I have no idea as to the veracity of this claim and do not seek to cast doubt on that but concede that indeed, it is possible that this woman was beaten, I still reject the idea that she was religious, and would like to explain why it was her fault for making the haredi man reluctantly spit in her face and punch her in her breasts, and why she forced the four other haredi men to help save him and punch, hit, slap, and kick her to the floor. I will prove this using the information she herself provides in this letter.

Before she was beaten up, she was simply asked to get up from her seat and move to the back of the bus, where you women belong. True, the bus she was on was not a “Mehadrin bus” but rather, a regular Egged one, but still -- she was riding from Har Nof, a haredi enclave, to the Kotel. If she were riding within Tel Aviv from one anti-religious nudist beach to another, then if she didn’t want to move to the back of the bus when requested by a haredi man also going from one nudist beach to another, we would understand that. Because those aren’t his enclaves, he is just on his weekly visit. But bad as things are, Har Nof is still not an anti-religious nudist beach. So she absolutely should have moved to the back of a bus like any Bas Torah would do even without being asked.

Additionally, she complains that her snood was knocked off during the beating. Clearly, to the men on the bus as well as to us, if she wearing a snood, she isn’t really religious, but is a “Modern.” You know, a secular minded whore. This was further demonstrated by the fact that she used foul language just because she was being physically attacked by a few men gently chastising her to be more modest, and in her own letter, she even confesses to erotically touching the man’s genitals. With her foot. And another woman on the bus (one of the good ones), also agreed with the men, and told her she was “crazy.”

Unfortunately, most of the other haredim on the bus did not help the men give this wayward woman a lesson in the laws of tzinus, probably because of a combination of wanting to continue learning (please check with your local ultra-Orthodox rabbi if spitting on and beating a disrespectful woman is bittul zman) as well as fear of how the virulently anti-religious secular government of Israel would persecute them if they found out they were expressing themselves religiously.

The spiritual enemies of Klal Yisroel are now even brazenly attempting to snare us from within, in our own neighborhoods, in our own communities, feigning religiosity in order to bring in their anti-Jewish ways from other cultures and religions.

It just gets worse and worse.

NCSY Defenders: Lying With Statistics

2006-12-06T19:44:00.000-08:00

It’s easy to do if you use both sides of your mouth!

NCSY is hitting back anonymously, on a blog, The Photographic Essay, where they juxtapose a 1998 study on NCSY with the 1990 National Jewish Population Study as proof of their comparable socio-economic success to counter my accusations of what the haredi institutions they recruit for do to secular Jews from public school backgrounds.

In their post, “The Kvetcher: Unfounded Claims,” NCSY denies that NCSY members “will end up with a remedial college education at a dual curriculum religious college such as Touro or Lander’s,” or that they have any such intentions. They use statistics to demonstrate this is a ridiculous accusation, and doesn’t happen very often at all. Of course elsewhere, NCSY brags about how this very same study demonstrates that their alumni attend Touro College. No I am not kidding. NCSY boasts, using the very same study that,

40% continued their Jewish education past high school by attending a college which incorporates Judaic Studies as a mandatory element of its curriculum (e.g. Yeshiva University or Touro College).

But let’s leave NCSY’s conflicted love for the grand academy of the northeast which is Touro College alone for a moment.

Before we delve into it, it is important to note that NCSY is comparing their alumni in their entirety to the general Jewish population. This is absolutely dishonest, because NCSY has a lot of students from Modern Orthodox backgrounds already grounded in that culture and that paradigm, and those kids are not targeted for these haredi institutions that preach fundamentalist downward mobility, including (but by no means limited to) Neve Yerushalyim, Aish HaTorah (an official OU/NCSY partner!), and Ohr Somayach.

Additionally, we need to exclude students from public school backgrounds who do not attend these pits of misery despite NCSY's guidance, just the ones who do. But instead, NCSY is pretending my criticism is on the effects of NCSY generally, and avoiding my specific concerns about the public school students who are sent to haredi baal teshuva institutions through NCSY.

Those numbers would be much harder to fudge. How about an independent study on the effects of Ohr Somayach/Neve and Aish on public school kids by the Sociology Department at Barnard University, NCSY?

Even so, the inappropriate comparison of aggregate numbers is still far less convincing than they selectively (except when it comes to the population in question) claim.

First of all, the population study closest to this 1998 NCSY study is not the 1990 Jewish population study they are comparing their numbers to, but the 2000-2001 study. They are using the older study for a reason, because NCSY does better against the older study.

Part of this is because Jews have become more educated. And the national Jewish population study includes all Jews. Including, say, 85 year olds, who less frequently attended graduate school back in the 40’s. and 50’s, especially women. NCSY simply has no alumni that old. They weren’t around at all until 1959. In the 2000-2001 study, 19% of the general Jewish population 65 or over. This helps NCSY tremendously in terms of comparing education levels achieved, as the Jews are not restricted to their same age range.

Internally, NCSY notes from this study that, "...we found that the overwhelming majority of NCSY alumni/ae who attended the public schools did not go to a religious college -- in fact, almost three out of four (72) percent) did not."

But we are just interested in the twenty-eight percent who did. That is over one in four, and a significant part of the secular Jewish population which makes up a portion of NCSY. I am interested in only them, and how they fared. Not the public school kids who didn’t listen to your haredi recruitment offers negotiated by "Rabbi Dave," and not the Modern Orthodox kids who are not facing the same NSCY risk of fundamentalist recruitment.

How do the public school kids who go to Aish HaTorah, Neve Yerushalayim, and Ohr Somayach and other haredi BT institutions after high school fare? How did they do compared to Jews of their own age and generation? How did they do compare to other NCSYers? And what is your policy in terms of recruitment for them? Stop avoiding the real questions by answering ones I am not asking.

NCSY appears to be claiming that only 28% of them listen. But 28% is a lot of NCSY public school kids.

And it may be more than 28%.

As NCSY boasted elsewhere (just not in this post to specifically disprove me), this same study proved that of their alumni generally, “50% attended a yeshiva program in Israel.”

What percentage is it for the public school kids? Is it 28%? It’s not clear that this is the same thing as the 28%. Are the yeshivas and seminaries categorized as “colleges” or not? It appears that they are not. If not, the problem is larger than 28%, because attending Pace University and Community College (instead of better schools) after returning from yeshiva are not being included, since they have no dual curriculum. What is the number of public school kids who go to haredi institutions, NCSY?

These numbers say little specifically about the secular Jewish kids being shipped off to haredi institutions by NCSY, or what that does to their socio-economic future.

NCSY should desist in their role of recruiter to these haredi places, because it which contradicts the will of secular Jewry, and they are getting away with it because secular Jews don’t understand what these haredi places preach, and how it's different than what NCSY counselors and advisors present Orthodoxy. NCSY is twisting and turning selective numbers and offering hysterical slogans in order to claim that the haredi instituions are not a problem, or even if they are, that the alternatives are worse. You will read a lot testimonies of those who claim they love NCSY and had a great experience, but if they are Modern Orthodox Jews from Modern Orthodox backgrounds, they have nothing to do with what we are talking about. They are on a completely different trajectory, different than the remedial, fundamentalist ones offered to secular Jews from public school backgrounds. Do not trust the already Modern Orthodox to tell you the problems with places like Aish HaTorah, Ohr Somayach, and Neve Yerushalayim. They either don't know, or if they are like NCSY's Director of Alumni, they simply don't care.

On some level, they are implicitly willling to punish your child for not coming from a religious background. Understand that the common term used for newly Orthodox Jews is "baal teshuvah" which means "master of repentance." You only repent for something you did wrong. Like, say, grow up in a secular household. Do you not hear the contempt? And if you don't understand how it works, and neither does your kid, it's still your fault. They have no responsiblity to tell you. Your ignorance is your fault. Your ancestors should have kept shabbos! Now they have to clean up the pieces, and they are certainly not going to take any chances this time. That's the great thing about the haredi institutions. Maybe this time around, it will stick. Let's press HARD.

Many of us who went to these places insist they are a problem, and not necessary. These haredi institutions seek to destroy ambition and opportunity, and emphasize stringency. Talk to us, and talk to those Jews (from secular backgrounds only!) who insist their haredi experience after high school was positive. But not the ones they send you to talk to you about them. Ask around. And then come back to us. Evaluate what makes more sense to you, and then decide which value system is more appropriate for your child, and if NCSY, who is allied with these haredi recruiters, is appropriate for your kid, or at least 72% appropriate (if that's even the number, which it probably isn't).

Despite what NCSY is (now) saying, the numbers are not attractive. And neither are the realities outside of their numbers game. Consider the realities your kids are risking at these fundamentalist institutions, and the Orthodox youth group which wants to send them there, before you send your child to either.

"Numbers game" photo courtesy of NCSY's official haredi partner, Aish.com. Aish is very good at human numbers games, but they are also very good at crossword puzzles.

Dr Jack Wertheimer, it is time for you to join and lead us

2006-12-06T16:13:00.000-08:00

Dear Dr. Wertheimer,

As we all know, the Conservative Movement has tossed the remnant of their tallis to the gay bathhouses to be used as a towel at their discretion.

And for a long time, many of us with ties to the Left-wing Modern Orthodox world have looked to you with admiration, and confusion that you associated theologically with the Conservative Movement. Which isn’t to say we questioned your decision to associate with the academic wing of the JTS. We are not Agudahniks over here, and respect the academic wing of the JTS. That’s no problem. Academics are academics.

But it is time, sir. It is time for you to come home, to the Left-wing Modern Orthodox Jewish community. Now I know you will be tempted to go to the UTJ instead. But please don’t. It is more of the same focus, obsession with “social revolution,” just like at K.O.E. (yawn). They only cared about what new gender-bending innovation Rabbi Halivni would sanction. Haven’t you had enough of that? The LWMO community is interested in other aspects of Judaism and Jewish history, not just “gender issues.”

Bring your scholarship to our camp. You can reinvigorate the Left-wing Modern Orthodox community, in a strategic way Rabbi Berman could not. Get Orthodox smicha, repudiate the official JTS policies you had to nominally comply with, become our grand rabbi, and don’t get too close to JOFA. It’s killing the LWMO. It’s like trying to watch the ballgame while a woman brandishing a rolling pin is screaming at you. It’s hard to convince your friends to come over and hang out with you on your sofa.

But please – don’t go to the UTJ. It’s a dead end. And worse, they are boring. Come to the Left-Wing Modern Orthodox community. We deserve you, and have always admired you. We would appreciate you, and therefore, you would be able to help us more than you can those in the Conservative Movement, who have less respect for scholars than we do. You could really make a difference if you joined us.

Think about it.

CAIR, NOI, and Citizens for a White America All Endorse NCSY Big as Harvard’s Director of Admissions

2006-12-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

In a bizarre twist that has Jewish defense groups scratching their heads, three separate organizations known for their conflicts with the mainstream Jewish community have all joined in calling for NCSY’s Director of Alumni, “Rabbi Dave” Felsenthal, to head the college admissions department at Harvard University.

“Something’s wrong. I mean, if Farrakhan’s involved, there’s definitely a trick here somewhere,” said the ADL's Abe Foxman, who never the less also endorsed Rabbi Felsenthal’s nomination.

C.W.A. was coy as to why they were endorsing an Orthodox Jew to be gatekeeper of the most prestigious college in the nation, though Harold Icky did note that, “It’s better for dominating Jewish power to be out in the open. At least with the Orthodox, they don’t feign liberalism or multiculturalism, but admit to being the Zionists they all are.”

Rabbi Felsenthal assured The Kvetcher that he would not favor Jewish students, explaining, “I think we can all appreciate that the place for many Jews may not be in the Ivy League colleges, but many may find a better fit at Touro, Community College, or even no college at all. It all depends on the Jewish candidate, and how far we can drag him down the socio-economic ladder. I mean, according to what his or her personal and spiritual needs are. Like they say at NCSY, it’s all about choices.”

Rabbi Burg, executive director of NCSY, assured The Kvetcher that, “He did a great job as Director of College Services, and I’m sure all communities will be surprised at his commitment to diversity at Harvard. You know, less Jews.”

Prior to joining NCSY, Rabbi Felsenthal was a wolf whom Rubashkin hired to protect his competitors’ chicken coups. He met Rabbi Burg at an OU/Jewlarious/Ohr Somayach conference.

West Coast NCSY Director Invokes Jews for Jesus

2006-12-05T10:45:00.000-08:00

Rabbi FE, the west coast regional director of NCSY writes, and this is the first paragraph in its entirety,

“One of the techniques that I have learnt from Jews for Judaism is that be [sic] careful when your challenger approaches you with one sentence from the Old Testament. Why? The reason is because it is usually taken out of context and it is necessary to see the whole chapter.”

Now, now, let’s not nail each other to a cross prematurely, Rabbi FE.

Quite frankly, I think Rabbi FE may simply not have significant debating experience with opponents over seventeen. Still, his provocative parallel is egregious.

And not to call the hat black, Rabbi FE, but who is the one missionizing and attempting to change teenagers’ religious levels and identification? You or me? And keep in mind, I don’t mind if you promote Modern Orthodoxy. I think that’s fine. In fact, I think it's great. That is closest to the ancient paradigm of traditional Judaism of most American Jews of Eastern European descent who came here pre-WWII. So once again, in case you didn’t get the gist of the first ten posts here or and on Jewschool, where we diverge is when you preach and facilitate quiescent Jewish fundamentalism by recruiting them to Aish HaTorah, Ohr Somayach, and Neve Yerushalayim and other haredi institutions whether at your “Yeshiva fair” or everywhere else, which you don’t deny, and you don’t defend, but merely seek to downplay.

Rabbi FE explains,

“In LA and many other locations we have a Yeshiva Fair where Israeli Yeshivas and colleges both have an opportunity to meet potential students.”

How wonderful! Since you have nothing to hide, how about in the name of transparency, you provide us with a full list of both the yeshivas and the colleges at this yeshiva fair. Let’s see which colleges are at this Yeshiva fair, and let’s see which yeshivas! Give us the list from last year’s fair, NCSY. But don't count on it, folks. While past performance is no guarantee of future performance, NCSY's culture when facing criticism is historically to deny and submerge, and justify misdeeds in the name of "making people frum." It would be naive to expect transparency from NCSY.

Rabbi FE again insists,

We will never put a student in a position where we know that can be hurt or their future will be damaged.

Rabbi FE dismisses cases where students attending yeshivas and seminaries NCSY directed them and who proceeded to follow the advice of their rabbis and teachers and abandoned plans to attend the better colleges or even college altogether as “isolated incidents.” This is absolutely false. They do not just send kids to yeshivas and seminaries that encourage students to abandon college, they brag about it when their teenagers do abandon the better colleges and even college altogether. They just don’t brag about it on the NCSY website, where secular Jewish parents might visit. Instead, they brag about it in the Jewish Action (the parent organization's, the Orthodox Union's, offical magazine), which they thought only Orthodox Union members read.

Well, they probably won’t make that mistake anymore. But that absolutely doesn’t mean they won’t keep sending secular Jewish teens to such yeshivas and seminaries that overtly discourage college and socio-economic success.

If you send your kids to NCSY, please understand that they are not trustworthy for guidance in terms of educational options after graduation. They will insist they are responsible, but they are not consistently so. They justify their irresponsibility based on intense fear and antipathy of the "scary world out there," and do not restrict themselves to promoting religious moderation or synthesis. It doesn’t have to be like this in Orthodox Judaism, and it certainly isn’t always, but that’s how it is for many leaders of NCSY, and this attitude goes all the way to the top. NCSY is officially partnered with Aish HaTorah, and unofficially partnered with even more monolithically fundamentalist institutions who not only despise the secular world, but even hate Modern Orthodoxy. Rabbi FE attempts to dismiss this as a problem because NCSY is accepting of NCSYers who don’t go to these institutions, and NCSY does also offer other less radical institutions for full-time Jewish studies, but these other options have less capacity for secular Jews than the hardcore haredi institutions.

NCSY has a strong anti-drug policy on all its websites, to demonstrate they are wholesome, but this is not unlike a pig sticking out its hooves pretending to be kosher. There are other dangers in this world besides drugs to be considered before declaring an environment safe, just as there are other factors besides hooves before declaring an animal kosher. Just because drugs are not a danger your child will face at NCSY doesn’t mean there aren’t other dangers that can be much more damaging--even devastating--to their future than a puff of marijuana. Please teach your kids to “just say no” to this youth group with strong attitudes and ties to fundamentalist institutions, and to "just say no" to the high opportunity cost a severely black hat outlook incurs from young Jews from a secular and liberal Jewish background who adopt it.

Rabbi Burg, the head of NCSY, notes that, “NCSY is in a market with NO international competition.” NCSY is presenting parents with the choice between secularism/ uninspiring liberal Judaism and a youth group which has deep and disturbing fundamentalist sympathies and alliances.

There has to be a better way.

West Coast NCSY Director Defends Recruitment of Teens to Fundamentalist Institutions

2006-12-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

Because incubation from the secular world (maybe temporarily, maybe not) is the best prophylactic care against the cancer of assimilation!

Rabbi “FE,” (do all these NCSY machers have cutesy names?) the west coast regional director of NCSY chose his very first post, “Is NCSY close minded? Beginning with Trouble...” to defend NCSY against my accusations.

Rabbi “FE” writes,

There is someone in the blogger world by the name as "the kvetcher" and I have read some of his works. He is very interesting and what I find most humorous about his works is that he knocks NCSY. In his blogs he pretty much calls us closed minded and feels we don’t do an accurate job when teaching or moving our secular students on. We feel that it is better to send a kid to Ohr Sameach than perhaps a different and more left wing institution. I want you readers to know that I can understand what he is saying, but humbly disagree. There is some truth to what he is saying if you can't think beyond your own ego.

In fact, I don’t think I did focus on NCSY being “closed minded,” although to be fair, I understand why he would think of it in those terms because of my preference for a left-wing Modern Orthodoxy, an option NCSY is not interested in providing to their campers. But what I focused on is NCSY’s recruitment of secular Jews to fundamentalist institutions, sometimes at the abandonment of college education, which the Orthodox Union (NCSY’s parent organization) itself has absolutely repeatedly boasted about, and NCSY itself promoted “Rabbi Dave” to Director of Alumni because of his success at convincing middle class secular Jews to decline their opportunity to attend the best colleges in the northeast in favor of attending fundamentalist institutions. Despite his initial misrepresentation of the nature of my complaints, Rabbi FE does deal with my actual complaint itself, but his explanation (after an anecdote which you can read for yourself) of why this is not a problem if you can “think beyond your ego” is not a satisfactory explanation or defense of the specific problems and risks at the institutions in question.

Rabbi FE explains that sending kids to Charedi (ultra-Orthodox) institutions such as Ohr Somayach, Neve Yerushalayim, and Aish HaTorah is acceptable because,

NCSY/OU, Aish Hatorah, and many other great institutions offer an education that prevent and counter attack intermarriage. We already live in the secular world and we are constantly being educated by "society" and its morally ambiguous ways. If there is no balance of "religious education" then how can you find the beauty within religion, and what would continue the passion of Judaism and marrying Jewish. NCSY's outlook isn't to shy anyone away from college or become a professional. We are just encouraging people to strengthen their connection to G-d and learn about their heritage before being bombarded by the secular world.

In other words, NCSY won’t tell your teen to never attend a full-time college. They will just direct your teen to go to an institution where he or she will be bombarded with this message by others. Which is absolutely what is advocated at Neve Yerushalayim and Ohr Somayach. So you see, it’s not really NCSY at all. It’s the guys over there (where they are sending your teen) who do that – NCSY has nothing to do with it. That’s not why they send them there, so therefore, that’s not their problem. If you give a chicken to a shochet who has a habit of cutting the heads off of them (but does not succeed with every chicken! A few escape!) it doesn’t mean you wanted the chicken to die. You just wanted the chicken to visit the butcher shop.

And anyway, since NCSY is stopping intermarriage, who really cares? Do you want your teen to intermarry? Do you to want to see your teenage son,

“kneeling at the alter wearing a kippah on his head with the priest marrying him to a non-Jewish woman. Did I mention that a sculpted image of Jesus is in background hanging on the wall?”

Gosh, no, Rabbi FE. Now that you put it that way, send all our teens wherever you want. By all means, consider this a blank check. Oh, you already do! You're right, clearly no parameters need to be set, and no institution is too frum. At least, none that you send our kids too. Because it’s all to stop intermarriage, and even if our teens end up really, really fahfrumpt (fundamentalist), facing poverty or even on the Israeli welfare system (they call it “kollel”) with no careers and lots of bills, you are clearly still the good guys. Because you weren’t recruiting them into fundamentalism, you were just trying to stop intermarriage. You had NO IDEA that this might happen!

Of course, there are other ways and appproaches in the Orthodox world that successfully encourage endogamy without demanding fundamentalism, but so what? As long as you liberal Jewish parents don’t understand the differences, why should they bother explaining it to you? The fundamentalist way is safer and much less work for everyone. And your anti-intermarriage insurance provider doesn’t pay for that level of care. And if you don’t understand the difference, then you have no preference (at least, not yet). And if you don’t care, why should they? It isn’t their kid.

Please send your teen to NCSY. Because nothing is too frum for your teen. And it isn’t their responsibility if the rabbis OVER THERE turn your kid into a dysfunctional fundamentalist. They’re just the recruiters. They just send them there.

Then it’s your problem.

The Forward Declares the Social Far-Left Gornisht

2006-12-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

In the off chance any of my readers also get just a teensy weensy bit tired and aggravated with the far-Left’s unremitting babbling about the supreme value of racial diversity over say, stopping the world from melting due to global warming, or think the Bankruptcy Law was horrific, don’t want to lose the next election over gay marriage, or think maybe we shouldn’t award transit strikers who march out of the negotiating table for their "courage" even as the parent union refuses to sanction their lust for civilian pain, I would like to gleefully refer you to two paragraphs in the Forward’s editorial this week. Sometimes it can seem for a moment that the Forward has warmed to the social far-left, and I worry just a little…but then they give ‘em the old bitch slap, just like they always do in the end.

The Democrats, out of power and leaderless for years, return to power chastened and convinced they need to do things differently. Just how differently, no one knows, but the buzzword on everyone’s lips is economic populism. Since the 1970s, they have allowed themselves to be defined as the party of the outsider, the downtrodden, the oppressed and vulnerable minorities. That has allowed the Republicans to present themselves as the voice of the majority, which is a good way to win elections.

The Democrats seem to be aiming now to push their minority-rights agenda toward the background and emphasize their old New Deal-labor platform of economic egalitarianism, promising a better deal for society’s have-nots.

Do you hear that Far-Left? Economics. Health care. Support of public transportation, not just subway strikes. OIL. It’s time to stop the victimology game. It isn’t moral, it isn’t smart, and it isn’t the way to win elections. You are entitled to have your opinions, but I think from now on we will do things my way instead.

Go play color war at your own party. Move on.

Big Aish Shmears Some Palms

2006-12-02T16:49:00.000-08:00

I am not going to name names. These people are my friends, and I have no right to hold their acceptance of Big Aish advertising against them, and I don’t. I am disappointed, but I am pleading my case, not making demands.

Big Aish has started an ad campaign on some important sites clearly servicing a young, secular Jewish readership. But Big Aish is not “big tent” like they pretend to be.

I would like to clarify that I am not saying everyone (or even most people) who work at Aish HaTorah are bad people with malicious intentions. Certainly some of them are very nice people, and some of them have mostly good intentions. I have known such people who work for Big Aish, albeit at the lower levels. And I do not deny that some of the programs and services they offer-–particularly at their part-time institutions-—may be helpful and comforting to some people.

Nor is Aish further from traditional Judaism than a lot of the nonsense being sold as Judaism by those in the liberal Jewish world outside of Orthodoxy. Obviously, on core issue, a.k.a. Mitzvot, they are clearly closer. Much closer.

But. Most of the important Big Aish people are pretty hardcore as you head towards the top. And beyond just their deceptive methods (deceptive even by dismal Charedi recruitment standards) and the Orwellian doublethink (yes, Virginia, the far-Right does that too!) this organization’s true designs for their recruits–-and they do have such goals for their recruits, particularly those at their full-time programs--are simply unacceptable. The skills acquired at these full-time institutions are unimpressive even from a religious perspective, never mind a secular one. The vocational options opened are largely restricted to the pyramid scheme of the organized “kiruv” movements. This is not an Orthodox recruitment organization that seeks to offer a diverse approach to traditional Judaism from seventy different-but-all-acceptable paths. This is an ultra-Orthodox recruitment organization that seeks a commitment to B’nai Torah maximum halachic compliance. Far too often, in many ways, the only question in terms of the individuals needs is how quickly or how doable is the path to maximum halachic compliance for each recruit. Not following maximum compliance itself is conflated with a heter. And the people they are seeking to draw into their ever-expanding slick sticky webs do not understand the difference between the two, and the former outlook will be preempted by Big Aish with their sensitive, warm and fuzzy trashing of the Modern Orthodox, as opposed to Ohr Somayach and Neve Yerushalyim who don’t couch their vitriolic to their students.

Particularly to my center-right friends whose relationship appears broader and deeper than mere banner ads, I would caution that Big Aish is not your friend. They may not seek to Charedisize you or your V.I.P. buddies, but they seek to Charedisize others through you. They call it “kiruv.” And no pain no gain. They are successfully manipulating Zionism as an entry point to gain acceptance and support from the State of Israel and the Diaspora Jewish community, just as they use meals and hospitality as an entry point into Charedism for the kids they pick off the Kotel after asking them what time it is. And the entry point is not to Torah Judaism generally. This is not their goal, despite obvious denominators.

The leaders of Big Aish do not respect your left-wing Modern Orthodoxy. For crying out loud, they don’t even bother to teach their students Hebrew properly. And don’t tell me you didn’t know that. You know that. Don’t you think that’s kind of weird? Don’t you see that something’s wrong? Maybe they don’t all almost hate you like the Ohr Somayach and Neve people do, but your ways are at best considered b’dieved. At best.

And though you may think I can’t understand how you see it, maybe I do. I do understand your temptation. The spike in anti-Zionism is ominous, exponential in breadth and severity. And our far-Left and its “gender” fanatics are a serious problem, and they gain ground every year in “Liberal Judaism.” At least there is some traditionalism somewhere beneath the fabrentene, glitzy fundamentalism of Aish HaTorah. But it’s sold only at a very high price. A needlessly high price. Do you deny that?

There have to be other ways. There are other ways. You can find them, and hold hands with those organizations. You don’t need these guys. And though Aish may in some ways be the left wing of the B’nai Torah fundamentalist world, they are still—at their core--fundamentalists. That there are also good people involved does not change this. And the insanity of the Left is not a heter to work with this organization. The far-Left does not justify the far-Right. Not for us. We aren’t like that.

You should have concern for the welfare of secular Jews beyond just “spiritual” concerns. You are not NCSY. Though you have profound disagreements with secular Jews and liberal Judaism, you do not have contempt for secular and liberal Jews like certain NCSY directors do. You have principals that are not scuttled in the name of spiritual "pakuach nefeseh," and you do not believe deception is okay, or that the ends justifies the means, or that fundamentalism and poverty is an appropriate lifestyle "choice" to offer secular or traditional Jews, while you live full, functional, and interesting lives.

Don’t be *useful* to Big Aish. You have no right to hold hands with the far-right. Do your nuanced friends on the moderate Left ignore you when you call them out for partnering with a group that turns out to be more far-Left than they realized? Even just with some small group of people across the pond? Or do they move away forever when informed? Shouldn’t you reciprocate? Especially when it is a very large group who is quite aggressive and growing rapidly? Don’t you owe it to yourselves, your readers, and the Jewish community? Don’t you know that NCSY and the OU will use Aish’s banner ads on your sites and your minor partnerships to justify their alliance with Aish and their general ongoing active recruitment of public high school students to all sorts of Charedi pits of misery at the expense of college and future vocational satisfaction and even just a career of any sort? And do you doubt that Aish will offer your friendship—which you have offered in the past -- as proof to others that they aren’t Charedi but are pluralistic somehow? Ads in Time Out don’t give them that cover. You are giving them that. Do you really believe that the insanity of the far-Left justifies a partnership with this predatory organization? Does the fact that they aren’t always predatory really excuse when and how to whom they are predatory?

You are the center-right. The center-right is not supposed to hold hands with fundamentalists. Even quiescent fundamentalists. This is a very big past nisht.

I understand why you said yes. And that is your right. But understand generally, you have no right to underestimate your power in this world, nor in the Jewish community. And the greater your partnership with Aish, the more you are putting young people at risk, far beyond the readership of your blog.

Please consider the assertions of those like myself and others who are not far-Left, at least not generally radicals, and who are not even anti-Orthodox, but who know first hand the debilitating, paralyzing risks of quiescent Jewish fundamentalism, and the misery the institutional Charedi Baal Teshuva slog all too frequently incurs.

Choosing Communal Reaction to Childlessness

2006-11-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

Harley at Jewbiquitous is annoyed at the pronatalist policies in the U.S. generally and the Jewish world specifically. Harley’s observations of the effects of a pronatalist society on women generally appear both astute and correct. I found Harley’s mapping of pronatalist assumptions useful and helpful, and it did make me rethink my position.

After thinking about what Harley wrote in “Making Jewish Babies” I would now agree with Harley that indeed the current pronatalist positions of both the U.S. and the Jewish community are flawed, and would even argue that they need to be changed. Where we might disagree is in which direction.

The U.S. should strengthen its pronatalist position in the professional world, and in the Jewish world, it should be dramatically increased, and aggressively demote the status of childless Jewish women.

But let’s back up, and first understand where Harley is correct, and why.

Harley wrote,

This process of un-gendering women based on their procreation choices has two effects: (1) you must have children to be considered a “real woman” in this society and (2) to become successful professionally, women must become non-gendered. Either you are a successful woman, meaning you have children or you are successful professionally, meaning you are not a mother and therefore not a woman. (Disclaimer: I am not saying this argument holds true to this extreme, but that the original article logically leads to this conclusion.)

I do not seek to deny that women bare the burden of our society's pronatalist position. I would only ask you to consider that:

1) Men also bare a burden for this, and always have, just not as heavily, of course.

2) The cost to a society for abandoning a pronatalist position is high. Over a long-term abandonment of a firmly pronatalist position, you risk losing your culture, and perhaps eventually, to some degree, even your country, to those groups, including immigrant and indegenous groups, who retain a pronatalist position. We can talk about the joys of multi-culturalism til we've knitted the largest quilt ever, but most of us don't really want that. And even if you think it's great, most Jews in Israel don't want that.

It is, therefore, not in any civilization's interest in the long-term to completely abandon a pronatalist position unless everyone abandons a pronatalist position, and Jews are not the exception. At least not to the extent that they will end up being overrun by a different civilization, which does seem to be a possibility in certain countries, at least to some degree, but rather, as in the case of Sweden, accommodates women's other needs, and make the cost of pronatalism as low as possible.

But to ask a civilization -- particularly a painfully small one like the Jews -- to abandon or even just further weaken a pronatalist position seems like you are advocating a policy of self-destruction. Fine for a far-Left site like JVoices, but an untenable position for a moderate Left site like Jewbiquitous.

I will concede that Harley's points serve to suggest that the Jewish community needs to always strive to accommodate women's professional needs better once there, even if not to encourage this -- but like in Sweden, this is only in order to more effectively promote a pronatalist position. This was Harley's second point.

But what I learned from the first point, that "you must have children to be considered a ‘real woman’ in this society" -- well, I would say perhaps this isn’t overt enough. It seems it would benefit the Jewish community to employ harsher and more effective ways to stigmatize Jewish women who stay single or choose not to have children.

Harley continues,

Nancy Rome’s piece in The Washington Post inspired me to reflect on women who were childless by choice (or not) in the Jewish world. For a psychological perspective on the effects of not choosing children in a pronatalist society, I read Larissa Remennick study on childless Jewish Israeli women, who also have the double-pressure of a country that privileges progeny and a religion that promotes procreation as a primary mitzvah. Remennick’s research echoed Rome’s article (and confirmed some of my fears): Infertility became a "master status" for these women, undermining any other merits and achievements they might have.

Harley is not happy with this, because she wants the individual’s needs to be placed higher than the communal needs. But is the Jewish community in a position to value anything else more than continuity? Isn’t that our single greatest concern? Are we lacking lawyers, writers, or even Nobel Prize laureates? Israel needs more Jews, and Israel needs more water. There may be a few women who can help with the second problem. Many more can help with the first. It is not in Israel’s interest to alleviate any stigma that remains, but rather, to increase the stigma of childlessness earlier in their lives.

Not that such a path is moral, and not that barren women (or barren because of their sterile husbands) wouldn't end up being stigmatized as well, but from a communal position, it is clearly too acceptable for female Jewish communal members to remain childless.

So theologically, I would have to say that the most responsible thing the non-Orthodox Jewish community could do through halachic “evolution” and “process” they are willing to employ is to create rituals that reward mothers and penalize women who aren't mothers, as we did with men when they were considered the ones who needed the communal pressure.

Perhaps all new rituals seeking to give women a greater or equal role in the synagogue should be restricted to those who are mothers. And women who aren’t mothers would not be considered full communal female members, like men in the Orthodox world prior to marriage.

In the organizational Jewish world, childless women could be excluded from the top positions as bad examples to young people, and quietly declared unfit for leadership.

The fact that a non-radical like Harley has personal antipathy towards motherhood is absolutely understandable. What Dr. Wertheimer and others might call “the cult of individualism” is a quite understandable and reasonable way to view the world and one’s place in it. But what’s good for an individual can be devastating on a communal level. There is good reason for the Jewish community to take a contemptous position against these women who decide to remain childless, just as it does against intermarriage, even though most of us aren't really sure we see anything wrong with that either.

They may be producing. But not in the way we most need them to.

Flannel Pajamas

2006-11-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

It has been almost thirty years since Woody Allen’s masterpiece “Annie Hall” was released, in which Alvy Singer further liberates Annie from the suburban Christian world she comes from, but then loses her to the cultural synthesis she completes for herself. But in “Annie Hall,” overt hostility and resentment towards Alvy’s Jewishness is restricted to Annie’s mother, and his own hostility is towards everything outside of Manhattan’s intellectual world, including other Jews in Manhattan. Now, almost thirty years later, a new film focuses on the challenges of an interfaith relationship in a poignant and tragic love story.

Based on his own “most important relationship” in his own life, Jeff Lipsky’s new film, “Flannel Pajamas,” a Dramatic Competition selection at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival which opened on November 15th, focuses on an interfaith romance between Stuart (Justin Kirk) and Nicole (Julianne Nicholson). Stuart is Jewish, and from Long Island. Nicole is Catholic, from a small town in Montana. Though the love and attraction is intense, neither lover truly respects the culture of the other. They love each other despite where they come from. Both Stuart and Nicole seek supremacy of their respective values and lifestyles in different ways. Though this is, according to Lipsky’s own description of the film to Indiewire about “two people who fall desperately in love with each other, but at two completely different times,” this is also a very different portrayal of an interfaith relationship than is usually depicted on the big screen or on television, where challenges such as a family Christmas Tree or a bris may be presented and examined as it was in “thirtysomething,” but a general undercurrent of resentment, if there is any, is often relegated to the older generation: to the parents, as on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” or even, as in the comedy “American Wedding,” just with the grandparents. After the showing at the Angelika theater in downtown New York Saturday night when asked about the role their different faiths played in contributing to their relationship failing, Lipsky answered, “A high percentage, actually.”

In “Flannel Pajamas,” it becomes increasingly clear that Nicole is not comfortable with her quintessentially Jewish New Yorker lover, and that the qualms of her family weigh on Nicole herself, even before her mother, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, informs Stuart that she has consistently expressed her disapproval of Stuart and Nicole’s union from the start, that she is against intermarriages generally, that “Jews are too sensitive,” and assures him that she believes “all the stereotypes about Jews.”

But though ardently secular (a family burial includes an open casket viewing, and Stuart does not recognize the name “Ilan” as an Israeli name), Stuart is not just a victim of prejudice, but an active partner in mutual contempt. He is a shyster, making a successful living scamming exactly the sort of people Nicole comes from, convincing them to purchase bulk ticket sales to whichever specific Broadway show he is working to promote, by weaving an imaginary backdrop to the play, parallel and appealing to the specific interests of the prospective tourist community he is selling it to.

But while Stuart may have a discerning and empathetic eye to those different than himself, it isn’t a sympathetic or respectful one. Stuart quickly detects past physical abuse in the family, and uses this as justification for his desire to “protect” Nicole from her family and friends, and the culture of her family and friends. The past is misappropriated to extend to the present, even though no such specific danger exists any longer. Stuart will give Nicole whatever she needs physically, he will pay off her student loans, and he will finance her endeavors to create a career as a caterer, but he will not accept her values, and he will not accept her network into his own life, and her goals and ambitions will not become his.

Generally, secular and liberal Jewish resistance to intermarriage is publicly justified by noting our historical persecution and our communal fear of extinction, or at least, a continued reduction of our already small numbers. What makes “Flannel Pajamas” such a powerful and honest film is that Lipsky assiduously avoids validating these concerns in this specific relationship, but instead examines the deeper and more interesting dynamics that include those that are less comfortable or one sided. The less flaunted reasons for secular Jewish resistance to intermarriage is mirrored and magnified by the Catholic partner’s best friend and family, and perhaps most startling, even through Stuart’s reactions to their anti-Semitism and Catholic sensibilities, as Justin Kirk’s portrayal of Stuart, slick and confident even when desperate, only listens to his critics when he wants something, and even then, he is no victim. Even when he is lobbying for help while receiving abuse and condemnation of his secular Jewish morals, he will counterattack with his own charges of their moral failings and hypocrisy, but not just to call out hypocrisy, but to underscore that he never witnessed such behavior in his family or in the Long Island Jewish world he grew up in. Absent from Stuart is any appeal to universalism one would expect a Jew in his circumstances would make. Because at his core, he doesn’t believe they are both equally acceptable approaches to life either. He isn’t any happier that they are in Nicole’s life than they are that he is in hers.

Our resentment towards interfaith relationships can be for us, just as it is for them, and just as it is for Stuart, perhaps less about victimology, and more about a resentment and feeling of superiority about our culture and our way of life, and a contempt towards those worshipping a God different than our own, even if we ourselves do not even follow our own religion even nominally. Still, we consider our religion and way of life superior, and theirs more fundamentally flawed, and this perception subsists even in the most secular (but still culturally affiliated) of Jewish circles.

Though the movie has its flaws and at times can drag just little, the acting is superb, and “Flannel Pajamas” is a uniquely honest and important movie about the challenges of interfaith relationships.

NCSY: Helping your high school student turn down Harvard

2006-11-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

And actually bragging about it!

Gosh, some of the best NCSY success stories just don’t make it to their website! You have to find them in the periodicals just for other Orthodox Jews.

Like the story found from last year, another inspiring story about how the best and brightest middle class kids (oh yes, there is more than one in this story) are taught to ~~ruin their lives~~ defer college (til when? Who cares!) in order to attend wonderful Charedi institutions. Take NCSY’s high school "club's" success at Stuyvesant, the prestigious public high school in NYC.

The Orthodox Union's magazine Jewish Action wrote,

Many club members ended up turning down the finest universities in the nation, including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, Brandeis, New York University and other esteemed institutions of higher learning in order to engage in some genuine “higher learning.” Some of us went to study at Ohr Somayach or Kol Yaakov in Monsey, New York. One member deferred Harvard for a few years, ultimately becoming one of the metzuyanim of the Mir Yeshiva kollel in Yerushalayim (and undoubtedly left someone in the admissions office in Cambridge scratching his head). Two club members went to Neve Yerushalayim College in Jerusalem […]In truth, deciding to defer college in order to further our Jewish education was the proper application of the Stuyvesant school motto, “Pro scientia atque sapientia”(For knowledge and wisdom).

Of course it was. And good news, parents!

"NCSY has over one hundred public high school clubs across North America. To support this effort, please call Rabbi David Felsenthal".

Actually, Rabbi Felsenthal is no longer running these clubs, because NCSY promoted him to Director of Alumni, so “Rabbi Dave” can give many, many more kids can get the chance to pass up their college education and attend Charedi institutions instead, which is what he is so talented at. But remember, it was their choice! So don’t blame NCSY! They were just giving the kids "options." And isn’t the Jewish Action article so inspiring?

For help on how to get your secular child to chuck his or her professional future into the trash can where it belongs, please contact the Orthodox Union and NCSY. They can help, because they're connected.

It's all in the relationship!