Posts from — October 2007

Unbeknownst to me at the time, Ariel Beery and Shabot had a bit of fun at my expense last spring in Los Angeles, when I went to the beach in jeans because I have no clue I was cold.

Anyway, even if may have been a little bit disoriented by the foreign environment, I should say that I had a really great time that weekend.

The Confession

The deceptive ones are working overtime, covering their blatant lies and replacing them with half truths.

The new mission in the About Us section reads,

“The mission of Jewish Student Union is to awaken Jewish teens attending public high schools to a deeper appreciation of their rich Jewish heritage and inspire them to a life enhanced by the fullest measure of Jewish commitment!�

This is what it said there just a couple of days ago:

“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!�

And guess who they finally name? Guess who they finally concede they have a relationship with? Now all of the sudden (at the very bottom of the about section, course), it’s written that,

“JSU is an allied agency of, and receives in-kind donations and other support from, NCSY.�

Bam! Listen to that little kiruv pitbull finally whimper its own name. Don’t you like the sound of your own name, NCSY?

I have been saying for almost a year that NCSY is in our schools. Because NCSY is in our schools. Please help me get them out of our schools, and put responsible people in charge of these Jewish Student Unions.

See the question following “the conversion rate� to “make [secular and liberal Jews] frum� through the three steps to NCSY proper from the “cultural� public school clubs, the JSUs. Rabbi Burg, the national director of NCSY and “dean� of the Jewish Student Union, declines to answer a request to clarify the relationship of NCSY to the JSU. R. Burg concedes this is of interest to many NCSY staff. He tells them this will be explained later, off camera.

Update: Frum readers insist this point is unimportant, and that this may be one of the rare exceptions where Rabbi Burg actually did not lie about the JSU because he didn’t feel he was in front of either parents, students, or Federations. I am paraphrasing their objections. But I do withdraw my specific complaint on this point.

Additionally, see the last couple minutes of the video. Rabbi Burg explains that much, much more needs to be done to get secular and liberal teens on NCSY’s kiruv trips. He believes this because his trusted advisers told him this. Who are they?

Aish HaTorah and Ohr Somayach. They are the ones who are telling him to put more emphasis on the kiruv trips. And R. Burg is not one to dismiss directives from his partners whom he recruits for and takes orders from. And he notes, the trips accomplish something quite important.

“The kid you get back is going to be a very different kid.�

Okay, this is like the fourth time in like, a year, where we have had reports about haredi men beating up a Modern Orthodox woman for not doing what they want. Now…I’ve dated a few Modern Orthodox girls in my time, and they have also been known to defy my will, and do things their own way. Frequently, I might add. So…can I blame it on my friends? Because you can’t expect me to single handedly beat up an MO girl, that’s why it’s usually like four or five haredi men against one MO woman, because you know…they’re kinda tough.

So what I want to know from my haredi readers…and you can tell me truth: does the fact that I don’t beat them into submission (remember — mitigating factor — my friends are lazy) make me a sissy?

Another day, another Modern Orthodox woman brutalized. This time by five haredi men.

Time for the American Haredim to feign shock at yet another one of these “isolated incidents,� and call for more understanding from both sides. Because both sides are wrong, you know.

After all, if the Modern Orthodox women would just accept each and every insane new stringency the Gedolim come up with, then the Haredim wouldn’t need to beat them.

Hat Tip: Failed Messiah

You made listing on Cult News!

They go to the Latte and Learning program…and somehow…not sure exactly how, but…they just kind of…wind up in a yeshiva. Isn’t that exciting?

“Some of the teens who attend Latte and Learning were already involved with NCSY and its public high school counterpart, Jewish Student Union (JSU); many get involved with these programs after attending, while others will only attend Latte and Learning. “It is really exciting when teens from non-observant backgrounds wind up going to yeshiva,� declared Rabbi Lerner of NCSY New Jersey. “One girl felt intimidated by Orthodox Judaism and now she attends Shabbat dinner at my house every week.�

Full deceptive Orthodox Union press release from October 16th, 2007. Deceptive because as we know from Rabbi Burg himself, they DO NOT usually get involved with JSU from Latte and Learning. They get involved with Latte and Learning from the JSU, and from there, to NCSY.

Let’s review the “conversion rate” and not rely on anecdotes:

Step One: JSU
Step Two: Latte and Learning
Step Three: NCSY Regional Shabbaton

Confirmed. The video I discussed yesterday has apparently been removed by NCSY in order to hide the information I uncovered!!

Update: The video is back up. You may access it through my blog, or on google video.

More violence against women riding with Haredim on Israel’s nationalized bus system. Dov Bear reports.

On the more Modern side of fundamentalism, Steve Brizel is given a rebuke, b’farhesia, by the Godol Hador.

Make no mistake about it, the Jewish Student Union is about getting teens into NCSY proper, despite unremitting blatant lies to the contrary.

Straight from the “dean’s� mouth, Rabbi Steve Burg talks about the “conversion rate� (no I am not kidding).

“This is how we make them frum.”

Step One: JSU
Step Two: Latte and Learning
Step Three: NCSY Regional Shabbaton

Go to minute twenty-four in this video: