Posts from — November 2006

Sometimes I get exhausted (for like, five minutes) bitching about fundamentalist places like Big Aish and Dark Light. I need some hope; a sign that we aren’t being pulled and pushed to the polar extremes in the Jewish world.

That’s why I check out JVoices, the Jblog voice of moderation. (Belch)

So at first, there I was, thinking I was reading an old post condemning Satmar for being anti-gay, which is really a good use of one’s time. Because they’re really concerned about appearing reactionary. Satmar is listening; the dialog continues.

But as I read the post, it became clear this was not about Satmar. This was the most vicious slap to the Zionist Entity’s face on a supposedly Jewish group blog I’ve ever seen.

“Ariel� (presumably not Ariel Beery) writes, without any capital letters, because they are oppressive to lower-case letters, “how do you deal with israel knowing that it is committing genocide and that it is an apartheid state? i am curious about this.�

Well, Ariel, as a matter of fact, I don’t agree with the misappropriation of the term “apartheid,â€? because it is…hey, wait a minute…wtf? “Committing genocide?!?â€? Are you out of your mind? What “genocide?â€? Hey Jeannette Friedman, didn’t I tell you all that Holocaust education accomplishes very little and even backfires?

Who needs whatreallyhappened.com when we have JVoices? Cole Kravitz may be the most irresponsible editor of a “Jewish” group blog on the net. I personally think it is unfortunate that he is tolerated and included in the communal conversation by more responsible, reasonable, and nuanced voices on the Jewish Left.

Jewbiquitous wrote an interesting post on gender. The record a conversation they went as follows:

J: He’s generally a good guy, he just doesn’t treat women well.
Me: WHAT? If he doesn’t treat women well, he isn’t generally a good guy; women are half of the population. He could be half a good guy.
J: I guess that that makes sense. I hadn’t really thought about it.

Well, part of the problem could be that a certain woman travels in moderate-Right circles when she herself is moderate-Left, and that situation is ripe for regular annoyance on this and other issues. I used to travel in Modern Orthodox circles, and it was constant Kulturkampf. If I ever attend another Shabbat dinner where I have to listen to yet another Homer Simpson imitation or why Bush is, “The best president for Israel, ever!� we are going to be one serugi short on the UWS.

But let’s focus outside of the strictly MO world, because this is not the world at large, and it is questionable if their attitudes are emblematic in any meaningful way. Take pants. I know some women bloggers who take a lot of abuse from MO boys for wearing pants. But in the secular world, there is shockingly rarely an assumption of flawed character towards a woman who wears pants. So let’s discuss the secular Jewish world, not the MO world.

Can we agree that even if there is a concept of patriarchy, and sexism within the Jewish community, that treating people nicely or not nicely may be a separate thing, even if sometimes related?

I think we have all met women who are quite nasty, and specifically treat men with contempt. That may often be separate issue from vocational discrimination.

But is it your contention that the discrepancies of men versus women are solely or mostly due to discrimination? Is it possible that this whole motherhood and taking “time out� from one’s career to raise them (which is their choice) can stunt one’s career growth? And that even those mothers who do not take significant time out still often choose careers with more flexible and less demanding schedules and responsibilities?

If so, and if many women do just that, doesn’t that change the playing field in terms of qualified applicants?

If so, isn’t a demand of equality in terms of numbers (that is to say, a guarantee of results, not of equal opportunity)–to some degree—a case of demanding cake and eating it too?

Now I realize you are not demanding 50/50.

But what are you demanding exactly? And do you have the numbers to back what you want to see? Because the qualified candidates for the top positions are not comprised equally from each “half of the population.”

Jack’s Shack writes, in “Why The Baal Teshuva World Irritates Me”

I am not BT [baal teshuvah, newly Orthodox Jew] and not real likely to go that route. I have watched many friends go down that path and haven’t had the most pleasant reaction to what I have seen[…]Time after time I have witnessed terrible fighting with their relatives and the complete severance of decade long friendships.

I understand and appreciate that they have found a spiritual calling. I can respect that. I don’t have any problem with people choosing to find the derech. But I cannot condone the bridge burning that many of their supporters encourage them to do.

Jack’s Shack is absolutely correct. Very few of us outside Charedi circles support what “many of their supporters encourage them to do,� and yet somehow it appears critical to Charedi recruitment that this occur.

Why do BT places encourage you do break with your friends, and to view them with open contempt? Why is a BT’s social network and even his family considered such a threat by the Charedi recruiters that scorn needs to be instilled to weaken their relationships?

First of all, Fresh Direct is offering Yonah Schimmel’s knishes again. This is good news, even though The Knishery seeks a franchise in Long Island, and deemphasized their wholesale years ago, already. This was a difficult change of direction for me at the time. But back in the day, even as my wholesaling efforts were dwindling off, I took an afternoon off to secure this account, mostly for the business, but also to send a message to a competitor that even if they ruled most of Queens, they didn’t rule the Lower East Side, and The Knishery would move in wherever we felt like.

But anyway, a funny thing happened last week. I was waiting for my date on Rivington Street and Ludlow, and two dudes walked by.

First Dude: And they have website, knishery dot com!
Second Dude: (Laughing) Kinshery dot com!
First Dude: Yeah!

What was so weird about that was back in the day, I fought tooth and nail for that web address, as opposed to the one already selected, yonahschimmels.com. Since knish.com was already taken, I thought knishery would better signal just how hardcore and “the real thing� we were. And judging by the hipsters on Rivington Street, it wasn’t a bad choice.

So motzei shabbos, I will be manning the knishery, since Alex, the General Manager, and his whole family, will be celebrating a family function, and need a fill in. Anyway, if you are around, feel free to drop on by, and try something that’s baked, not fried.

But please understand: no discounts! Nothing personal, they simply aren’t mine to give, and anyway, the knishes are really cheap. $2.50 for the regular ones. I should be there until 11.

Yonah Schimmel’s Knishes is a dairy establishment, and is under the kashrut supervision of Rabbi Harry Cohen, an Orthodox rabbi. However, The Knishery–though closed and sold for Passover–is open shabbos.

Yonah Schimmel’s has been at their current location since 1910.

Well, I guess you have to give Klinghoffer credit. Even as he rejected science in favor of the far-right Christian preference for “Intelligent Design,� he found a way to get the word “fundamental� in there somehow. Which suggests that he at least as a sense of humor.

It would be nice if the Charedim and the gays could find common ground, and work out their differences.

Perhaps there is such a place already. A safehouse of sorts. A mikveh that also serves as a bath house. Like at the gay Mikveh in Jerusalem.

Children and pedophiles are welcome.

Ohr Somayach has a content link on the OU’s Torah portion of the week. Click here, then click Ohr Somayach, and then you arrive here. Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, the head of Ohr Somayach, writes the following important D’var Torah.

“The destruction of Sodom and Amorah was also intended as a lesson for the nation of Israel which would eventually inherit the land to be careful lest it deserve a similar fate.

The major sin of these cities was a total indifference to the need to share its wealth with its needy neighbors and visitors. It is hoped that the lesson of Sodom and Amorah will be taken seriously by a government which is more concerned with economic growth than it is with the needs of its large families…�

You know who should be concerned with “the needs of large families?� The same man writing this warning. The same man who vehemently discourages full-time college education. The same man who considers it paramount to “remove a bachur from an environment of sin.� The same man who encourages his students to “sit and learn,� no matter who they are, or where they come from. The same man who has pushed decades of alumni into poverty, and whose institutions continue to replicate and expand. The same man who views the Israeli Kollel welfare system as appropriate for Jews from a secular middle-class background.

This man, this leader of perhaps the most virulent form of the B’nai Torah brand of Jewish fundamentalism for secular Jewry, has no right to accusingly point to the State of Israel and blame her materialism for the affliction affecting them. He should point accusingly to the man in the mirror, and demand that he repudiate his profound contempt for the human condition, and desist presenting his disastrous policies and interpretation of halachic stringency as the only proper way to live, which ruins the lives of so many.

Who is more like an agent of Sodom and Amorah? The State of Israel which seeks economic growth? Or he who prefers and advocates wretched socio-economic destruction and misery? For others, of course. Not for himself.

Big Aish, like all Charedi organizations, is a promoter of taking a “time-out� in your life before reengaging. In fact, the “time-out� they recommend to their full-time students is ideally usually for a couple of years. This is actually moderate compared to Ohr Somayach, which prefers a “time-out� with no definitive end, and in fact, prefers disengagement from life itself as long as possible.

Take “Hillary,� a 31 year old woman most in the Jewish world would encourage to resume dating rather quickly, as she expressed desire to get married, for obvious biological reasons. But Big Aish suggests a “time-out.� For how long? A weekend? A week?

“This ‘time-out’ doesn’t have to last for long, maybe just a few months.â€?

Maybe just a few months. Or maybe not just for a few months. Check with your spiritual guide! But ladies in your thirties refocusing on how you are dating, and what kind of Jewish lifestyle you want to lead, clearly at least a few months of introspection without dating is obviously necessary. And perhaps longer. I personally think all Jews—especially women in their thirties–who grew up secular (nebach) should take a “time-out” from dating as well when rethinking where they want to live, or if considering a possible career change, or even a change in fashion preferences. It need only be at least just a few months of “time-outâ€? for each consideration, and clearly such decisions and introspection cannot be accomplished while dating, and a couple of weeks simply won’t do. And there is no rush! Fertility drugs have made tremendous progress in the last few years.

But this lovely essay also contains an example of Big Aish machers advocating one extreme thing to the public, but eliminating even the mitigating factor in their full-time institutions.

“This time out should involve more than just introspection. Tap into your creative side. Do something fun or enriching that you’ve not made time for in the past. Begin a regular exercise program that you’ll enjoy (a dance class, swimming, handball, biking) and that will help you feel more energetic as it does wonders for your body and your mood.â€?

Exercise for BTs is critical. Haredi places like Big Aish encourage their recruits to desist all romantic activity during their “time-out,� where they are intentionally removed from their social network and tinok shenishba (Jews considered essentially gentiles) family members influence, and of course, making sure the young men understand than masturbating is defiling the Covenant and can incur death by the hands of heaven. One would think, in these circumstances, that a regular exercise program would be a very, very good idea during their “time-out.�

But is it encouraged? Are BT’s encouraged to exercise? Are there sufficient facilities on campus to do so during the winter? Do at least the younger rabbis publicly exercise to demonstrate it is a good idea?

No. None of the above. They will not tell you not to exercise. If you ask, they will tell you it’s okay. Some of them may even tell you it’s a good idea IF you ask them. But they will not carve out time designated for it, and they will not bring it up themselves. It depends on the student. It’s not for everyone in “time-out.� Like no dating, no sex, and no masturbating. THAT’s for everyone. But exercise during this period…well, that depends on the student. There is no clear policy. Everyone’s needs are different!

Not that you asked, but you may be wondering how I feel about our nation’s new socialist senator, Bernie Sanders. Well, I feel pretty good. I think it is a good idea to have a socialist senator. He will be an important voice on many critical fiscal issues. And I’m grateful Chuck Schumer backed him early on. This made his candidacy viable.

But to be clear, he isn’t one of mine. I am not a socialist. I have some ties to the social democrats, but that’s these guys, not these guys. The latter are too far-left for The Kvetcher. And Mr. Sanders himself is too far left on certain social issues for my taste. But he will take on the corporate interests, who have had a free three martini lunch the last six years. Well, not exactly free. It never is. It was paid for by the public. And that makes even me see red. And Sanders will fight for the environment and public transportation, and alternative energies. Which is absolutely great news. Which, unfortunately, is news. As Sanders himself said, he will demand that the Democrats “begin to stand up to the powerful corporate interests and the moneyed interests in Washington.”

As some of you might know, my favorite senatorial candidate lost. But I expect this will not be the last we hear of her. Too bad she wasn’t running in Vermont!

So I’ll take Mr. Sanders. Even if he is a little meshugah.

Only Gentile Groups Can Be Deceptive!
When the Jews for Jesus place fundamentalist Christians–most not even remotely Jewish–throughout our subways system, we applaud the Spiritual Deception Prevention Project’s efforts to counter their menace. How we trust them. For standing up to those who prey upon the Jewish community.

There is only one problem. Most of the liberal Jewish community–at least those who descend from two Jewish parents–are not really in danger of becoming fundamentalist Christians, or Christians of any sort. Is there not a much greater chance they will enter dialogue and face successful recruitment from fundamentalist Jewish groups? Are they not targeted just as specifically by Charedi missionaries, and much more successfully, than by Jews for Jesus?

So which Jewish fundamentalist organizations, you might ask, are listed as “missionaries� by the JCRC’s Deception Prevention Project?

Aish? Since they masquerade as a general educational organization instead of the deceptive and Charedi fundamentalists they are? Nope. They are not considered missionaries by the Project. They are not on the list.

How about Ohr Somayach, whose founding head rabbi, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, openly preaches that a Jew from a liberal Jewish background is to be considered a “tinok shenishba,� which is to say, his parents are considered essentially gentiles in terms of their culture, and quietly (but strongly, unremittingly, in fact) advocates that they (liberal Jewish kids) must be “removed from an environment of sin,� which is to say, from their parents, their social network, and of course, their university? No further secular schooling, no nothing. Just Talmud study and eventually, ideally, Israeli welfare and poverty. And like Aish, they recruit through deception and lies, and bait and switch.

So, no. They are not on the Project’s list of organizations to be wary of.

Well, how about at least Chabad’s Messianic wing? The ones who deny the Rebbe actually died? And who want the whole Jewish world to recognize him as Moshiach?

No. They are also not considered missionaries. Nothing there that is a problem. Not for the Project.

So I asked Karen Sackville, a Charedi woman who is also the Executive Associate and Project Director of the Task Force if there is any Charedi organization or sect that is, according to them, a “missionary.�

“None that I know of,” she said.

There is not even one. Not a single Charedi sect or organization is listed as a missionary, or considered deceptive. No matter how extreme, no matter how off the wall, and no matter what their recruiting tactics, no Charedi group apparently is a threat in any way to the Jewish community. Only gentile groups can be “deceptive.�

And this Project is (supposedly) within the general Jewish community’s infrastructure.