XGH Lashes Out at Rabbi Gil Student
Prior to the announcement that Hirhurim has joinied forces with Tzemach Atlas, Luke Ford, and others in a new group blog, reshimu, Rabbi Student took a strange last dig at an old nemesis on Hirhuirm. He banned eXtreme Godol Hador, the most popular of the current frum skeptics blogs. He seems to be quite upset about it, and I just want to let him know that surprising as this may seem, not all of us are in tow with Rabbi Student. In fact, XGH once commented on this here blog, and I let it pass without even a threat. Anyway, according to XGH, Rabbi Student defended this decision to ban him with the following words of praise,
“Like it or not, you are a nihilist. You believe in nothing, stand for nothing, and only get pleasure by trying to tear things apart with your oh-so-clever attempts at logical pigeon-holing. And then you protest in your innocence that you are only searching for truth. No one believes you except your self-affirming skeptical friends. Please take your cynicism and hit the road.’â€?
I know for a fact that Rabbi Gil Student has utilized non-Orthodox sites for kiruv “conversation” purposes, and find his sudden inappropriate public assertion of XGH’s supposedly purely nefarious motives a cheap way to silence legitimate questions. Considering where he is going now, this is even more difficult to understand.
Hirhurim was about to announce his intention to close his blog in order to bolster Reshimu when he banned XGH from Hirhurim. Perhaps he is sending his new partners a message. It seems more likely to me that a person like Rabbi student did think this out, as he is a bright and calculating person (I don’t say that in a negative way…this is true of any leader worth his weight).
Still, XGH has not taken this lightly, and has attacked Rabbi Gil Student in numerous posts, and has also attacked the intolerance of RWMO (right-wing Modern-Orthodox) and LWUO (left-wing ultra-Orthodox) leaders. Best of all, there are a lot of Rosh HaShana/Teshuvah tie-ins. And since he has been banned from having his opinions heard, I feel obligated to amplify his defense and counter-attacks.
XGH asserts that Rabbi Student will allow heresy if money is involved.
XGH asks, if I am so wrong, what are you afraid of?
The proof of this is that the skeptics NEVER censor anything. Why? They don’t need to, because they are not afraid of rational discourse. However the believers ALWAYS are censoring things. Why? Because they are AFRAID of rational discourse, because they always lose. I lost all respect for Gil when he started censoring comments. Of course he can censor trolls or pritzus, but he cuts off any discussion when the skeptics start winning. He wants to post his DH apologetics, but then he doesn’t want to debate whether the DH is true. What a fraud.
XGH notes that his buddy Dov Bear finds Hirhurim annoying also.
I hesitate to write this post because I’m genuinely scared of the possible consequences, but what the heck. One of the things that has always annoyed me and DovBear is Hirhurim’s holier than thou attitude, refusal to link to our blogs, and general demeanor that DB and I are just ‘blogscum’, and he is too pious to link to us.
OK, we didn’t like it, but it’s true that Hirhurim was always an extremely respectful blog, while me and DB tend to rant and rave sometimes, so we let it slide. He was a little hypocritical back then too, feeding me and DB the juicy stories and inside information that he couldn’t post himself, but OK, that’s fairly normal in the media world. Different outlets have different standards and all that.
XGH calls on Skeptics to do Teshuvah. Of sorts. Step one is Blame.
XGH also offers Teshuvah for Believers, including:
I am sorry for committing the sin of arrogantly asserting that my sub sect of my religion is the one true sub sect.
I am sorry for committing the sin of arrogantly asserting that my religion is the one true religion.
I am sorry for committing the sin of falsely accusing skeptics of being arrogant and only running after their taavos [desires].
I am sorry for committing the sin of intellectual dishonesty.
I am sorry for committing the sin of pushing skeptics further away from Judaism by falsely accusing them of nihilism.
I am sorry for committing the sin of pretending to have answers when really I have doubts.
I am sorry for committing the sin of hypocritically bashing the right wingers for calling me a kofer [heretic], but then turning round and bashing those to the left of me with the exact same accusation.
Anyway, XGH, you shouldn’t let the RWMO hardliners get you down any more than you should let the RWUO hardliners get you down. Do you lose sleep when a Chassidic rebbe says something off the wall? No. Ain huchie numi (So too, here also).
Update: Rabbi Student responds in comment three.
8 comments
I think Rabbi Student is a good writer!
anyway, DK, this is not your fight. AND it looks like some bloggers can’t take a bit of critisism.
“I think Rabbi Student is a good writer!”
So do I.
“AND it looks like some bloggers can’t take a bit of critisism.”
Banning is not criticism. Banning is censorship.
1. I have banned XGH a number of times over the past year or two and he keeps coming back. Most recently, I banned him at the end of July.
2. As a general rule with some exceptions, I do not allow heresy on my blog or in the comments sections to my post. Note that I do allow exceptions. Reshimu does not yet have a set policy on this in general but I have been given permission to maintain my current policies on my section of Reshimu. I answered XGH about this on Hirhurim repeatedly. I only lashed out at him for a very specific reason and after numerous attempts to stop the discussion.
3. I have no interest in frum skeptics and while I wish them well as people, I do not want the types of discussions they carry out on my blog. Those discussions detract from the experience of the vast majority of my readers.
4. As to my using unorthodox (and un-Orthodox) venues, I have never indicated any opposition to doing so and I am surprised that it is even an issue worthy of discussion. Although, of course every case has to be evaluated on its own merits.
Rabbi Student,
Thank you for your comments, and Shana Tova.
“anyway, DK, this is not your fight. ”
Are you kidding? Did you stop and think about how Gil is associated with NCSY [Steve Brizel - a longtime advocate of NCSY posts comments on his blog] and he NEEDS to be exposed for what he is. If I recall correctly, Gil himself once mentioned something he had studied in the Sefer Or Somayach which admittedly is not the same as studying in Yeshivah Or Someach but hey, it’s not that much of a stretch either.
This is very much DK’s fight.
“If I recall correctly, Gil himself once mentioned something he had studied in the Sefer Or Somayach which admittedly is not the same as studying in Yeshivah Or Someach but hey, it’s not that much of a stretch either.”
Um…okay, now you’re just being silly.
It’s true. In late 1990, I believe, I went to a single NCSY oneg shabbos (that’s single as in one, not an event for singles) and a few months later in 1991 I went to a Shabbaton. That’s two NCSY events in a 17-year period. Anyone see a trend?
Not only have I learned the sefer Or Somayach, but I had a roommate in YU the 1991-2 year who had left yeshiva Or Somayach.
I’m practically plugged into the kiruv organizations!
But seriously, I am a fan from afar of NCSY. Whatever flaws it may have, it also has many positive attributes. I’ve heard R. Hershel Schachter refer to involvement in NCSY — which he generally supports — as an “aveirah li-shmah”.
Rabbi Student,
While NCSY’s deception is a major, major problem, this would not be my fight if they ceased and desisted their alliance and recruitment efforts to haredi institutions from their public school population.
If they will listen to you — and I suspect they would, please ask them to reconsider these relationships and recruitment efforts on their behalf, and on behalf of third tier Touro.
Leave a Comment