Posts from — January 2008

In the editorial “Fear Factor,” the Forward explains “the mystery of the power of the so-called Jewish lobby.” The Forward writes,

Most surprising, a parade of Jewish politicians and organizational leaders, the elite of what’s called the Jewish lobby, has spoken out aggressively to reject the rumors and defend Obama — but it hasn’t helped much. Early indications are that Jewish voters will spurn Obama in numbers large enough to hurt him. And all the efforts of the vaunted Jewish establishment haven’t convinced them otherwise.

That’s the secret of Jewish lobbying success: It’s not about the professional influence-peddlers and fundraisers. It’s about frightened, angry Jews, thousands of them, determined to stop anyone they suspect is against them. Once they get going, no one can talk them out of it. They feel powerless and vulnerable before enemies great and small, and they have the clout to do something about it. And they don’t always check the details before hitting the barricades.

Isn’t this phenomenon going to get worse as the Orthodox become a greater and greater percentage of of the Jewish community? After all, Orthodox Jews have a more pronounced perception of division between Jew and gentile, and are disproportionately descendants of Holocaust survivors, a heritage not known to allay Jewish paranoia.

I was asked by Amber Sutherland to help her find a Jewish husband. Read all about it in Radar Magazine.

If Jews were being attacked by skinheads or Muslims in Brookyln, you would be hearing a lot more about it. But strangely, when it comes to black on Chassidic violence, the J-blogosphere is suddenly quiet outside of Crown Heights/Chabad community members. No hippies….no Zionists…no hipsters. No…rather, Eli Valley is taking the brave and controversial stand of attacking England for anti-Semitic leanings and double standards, which is a real first in Leftist minority circles, who usually give white hegemony a pass. Thank you, Eli Valley for (finally!) breaking the silence against England’s colonial inconsistencies.

I don’t know about you, but I have lived through much too much tolerance of violence by blacks against Jews in Crown Heights. With all due respect, I don’t really believe that Dov Hikind’s coalition or other forms of appeals to the mutual victimologies of Jews and African-Americans (which have nothing in common with each other, no…no they don’t) is going to do the trick. Rather, things are heating up yet again.

So what will help?

I have a suggestion. It’s a rough draft.

Find out where this violence is coming from. Specifically. If it turns out the people committing these crimes are coming from section eight housing, deregulate that housing and that neighborhood, including all the housing of the participants, whether or not they are the head of the household. Sell it to a real estate company through bidding. They will take care of the crime. Through eviction.

And if the groups are from the projects, get rid of those housing projects producing such elements. Just get rid of them. It’s real simple. We shouldn’t be subsidizing housing that is producing a culture of contempt and hate that translates into violence. We tried to help. It clearly isn’t working. Figure it our on your own dime. Give the innocent tenants some cash for the road…but that’s it.

Just get rid of that which is problematic and supported by the city. And don’t create new problems. Let someone else somewhere else deal with it.

Watch. Over time, things will change.

But whining will get us nowhere. And dialog is pretty limited when you are not trying to change the attitude of a group’s leadership, but rather, the behavior of a community’s thugs. But changing housing and social services policies…this is a great way to change the neighborhood. And a great way to reduce crime.

And that would be good both for the Jews of Crown Heights and for the bottom line of the City of New York, who should be implementing programs and policies that help regular New Yorkers, not just the dregs of the earth.

With all the problems we are facing, Eli Valley has penned a Zionist screed against…England? Of course Jewlicious went gaga over it.

Paid for and approved by George Bush’s PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief)

The first stage of mass circumcision will be “regarded as an order” at least for the armed forces of Rwanda.

This policy of forcing men to be circumcised was apparently approved by the U.S. government, and was done in order to qualify for massive infusion of American funds, as opposed to the stated goal in domestic periodicals of making circumcision “available.â€? In reality, making circumcisions ““availableâ€? include forced mass male circumcisions.

The language given this past November from PEPFAR moved from “available� to “undertake.�

The New Times reported,

The Principal Deputy Coordinator of PEPFAR, Dr Thomas Kenyon, said via a video link from the U.S., that PEPFAR was prepared to provide funds to any country that is willing to undertake mass male circumcision, Dr Kenyon said.

Apparently, Rwanda’s plan, which is being implemented now with mass circumcision as an “order,” was approved beforehand by PEPFAR, since,

Dr Kenyon said that Rwanda has registered great success compared to the other PEPFAR’s 15 focus countries.

He said: “We highly appreciate the government of Rwanda for their effort in fight against HIV/Aids, we will continue working closely with all stakeholders in the fight against this pandemic.”

PEPFAR is basing its pro-circumcision stance on the WHO (World Health Organization). But it is Bush’s PEPFAR that is demanding mass circumcision “undertaking� as a requirement for funding.

In Rwanda, this amounts to 167 million dollars, a significant sum for country whose GDP was under 2 billion in 2005.

Some friends aren’t getting it. Everything needs to be spelled out explicitly for them when we are attacking a haredi kiruv organization. Very well. Let’s replace Jew for goy, and see if we can a handle on why this idea is not valid, not acceptable, and (yet another) proof that Ohr Somayach is a hateful, fundie place.

What if, say, a white Christian group wrote this,

There are those who say that even the influence of western or classical music written by Jews can contain the negative spiritual genes of its composers. However, it is well known that many of the great European army songs bear more than a passing resemblance to Jewish sabbath songs.

Would that be okay with you?

You were probably wondering why Ohr Somayach “prefers” one listen to Jewish music instead of classical music. Weren’t you wondering what exactly the reasoning is? The source for such a preference? What sage advice Dark Light was weighing carefully? On the one hand, you have Beethoven…on the other hand, you have the Miami Boys Choir.

I know, I know, “Do I have to choose only one?”

Music aficionados, before you reach for the Beethoven sonata…please note the following consideration of Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair.

At the other end of the scale, there are those who say that even the influence of classical music can contain the negative spiritual genes of its composers. However, it is well known that many of the great Chassidic nigunim (tunes) bear more than a passing resemblance to Russian and Polish marching songs.

Rabbi Nachman Bulman, zatzal, the great Mashgiach (spiritual counselor) of Ohr Somayach, founder and rabbi of numerous Torah communities and institutions, once told me that in every generation we have had composers who were able to extract the pri, the “fruit” from the klippa, the “shell” of impurity.

So you see, even if this is true…even if there are composers who can extract the “fruit” from the “shell” of their “negative spiritual genes,” and we’re certainly not saying they all can, oh, no, no, no, but even if that is true, please consider this:

EVEN if a composer does succeed in that, well…we still don’t know which ones did, and which ones didn’t, because we, a lesser generation, don’t have great Rebbes like they did in previous generations in Russia or Poland (and Romania!).

And even if you say they do have composers that a certain rabbi or other “borrowed” music from or was known to listen to a specific composer’s work, how do we know that the recording you are listening to is being PERFORMED by musicians who have ALSO extracted the “fruit” from the “shell” from their “”negative spiritual genes?” WE DON”T KNOW THAT! And unless it is fully shomer shabbos orchestra, no one can know that!

So it is preferable to be stringent. It is preferable to listen to haredi music only.

It you had any hopes for Rudy, it’s over. Power has spoken.

Anyway, it’s over. Rudy is finished. You don’t have to worry about me voting for Rudy anymore, Mobius. It won’t come down to a national election, and I can’t vote in the Republican primary.

The Israel Project sent out a press release that,

On Mon. (Jan. 21) the Israeli government announced its support of an ambitious plan to install the world’s first electric car network in Israel by 2011. The initiative is aimed at addressing global dependence on foreign oil from undemocratic regimes and mitigating the health and environmental damages caused by emissions from gas-burning vehicles. Said Israeli President Shimon Peres, “Today is a new age with new dangers and the greatest danger is that of oil. It is the greatest polluter of our age and oil is the greatest financier of terror.â€?

Full press release

I strongly encourage Jews of every political stripe to support alternatives to oil. Like-minded people need to do more on this issue, because stupid Federation owned newspaper won’t do shit. I don’t like to point fingers, but even degenerate hipsters should concentrate more (like, at all) on energy issues. Even hippy sites who only care about social issues should care. Perhaps they can put it in a post-modern context or something. Even Zionists who think that writing biting satires against Hamas and her supporters is the best answer should care about energy. Even the ladies should care. Even Neocons pretending they are hawkish liberals should care. Even republicans who pretend to believe the market can solve everything should care. Even halacha guy should care, and he should admit he is solidly RWMO and not in between RWMO and LWUO. Even anarchists should care, and should support government initiatives and regulation, just this once. Even monotone religious right-wing Zionist guy should care. Even scary, angry right-wing Zionists should care. Even the softest of the frum skeptics should care. Even frummies who really just want everyone to act kindler and gentler should care about getting off oil. Even frummies who believe everyone sucks except frum people and right-wing Christians should care.

We all need to keep oil alternatives on our front burner. This is not a 19th century war between the righteous misnagdim and the depraved, proste chassidim that we can put on the back burner because it’s one haredi gob of foul mush so who cares anymore. This is something we need to settle NOW. Our world, our environment, and the Zionist entity depend on massive change. Not skin deep change…but real change.

Israel is leading the way out of sheer strategy, and desperation no one else is leading the way…they don’t have the economy for this sort of thing, but no one else is doing it. And do not kid yourselves…this is a very ominous situation.

Hat tip: Mom

The BBC reports,

“We will start this campaign with the new born and young men in universities, the army and police.”

While it will be nominally voluntary, correspondents say many in the armed forces will regard it as an order.

Why start with the army in terms of adults? Because once they have to go through it–for the sake of the health of the country of course– they will have less of a problem forcing it on others. That’s my prediction. If it happens, watch the powers that be feign shock.

Earlier: Is the U.N. promoting forced circumcision?

Circumcision is the third most common inpatient procedure in the U.S. And it is rumored to be quite a profitable one. It is absolutely in the hospital industry’s financial interest to find new myths to promote this procedure, and downplay any physiological cost to cutting off healthy parts of an organ.

And in much of Africa, the procedure can be implemented forcibly, and with impunity. And it’s all for saving Africa, of course. Even though it will prove negligible.

And that should cushion prop up falling domestic circ rates, and stave off lawsuits from an era when hospitals didn’t even ask for permission to cut part of a child’s penis off. They just did it. Kind of like how it will be in much of Africa now.

Listen to this Jew explain that only a vaccine will stop AIDS, and proceed to call for circumcision for every male in every country possible. Like him and his son Avi.