Category — Blogger

Not that you haven’t been supportive, you so have. But if you got a little more to give…send a message to Hillel to move a way from Dark Light.

Vote here.

My competition is so hustling for votes. His was a news story about a blast in Damascus. It’s long over. Anyway, thanks to his top post on his own site, I got the link for voting in this category of News Post in the JIB Awards:

My post, “The Dark Light Invasion of College Campuses Begins,â€? broke the story on how Ohr Somayach is using a front–”JET”–to recruit college students in Chicago to winter trips to the “JLE,â€? which brings students to Ohr Somayach/Neve in Israel. Horrifically, Hillel is “actually” (see the post for that reference) helping them, as JET’s Rabbi Kahn successfully manipulated Holocaustism as an entry point, which many find hard to say no to.

I chose to push for this post because it is doing relatively well, and I suspect that while some in the traditional camp are unsure about some aspects of kiruv, it seems more do at least agree on the blatantly fundie Ohr Somayach/Neve being…problematic.

My goal here is not winning for winnings sake – I have been fortunate to have been paid for my writings occasionally, even if not as much as I would like, and consider that a much greater compensation than a democratically contested blog award.

However, I do seek to be a thorn in the bubble of the fundamentalists’ search for ever more recruits from secular and liberal Jewry into the black hole of unmitigated haredism, an idealism something even many of my detractors would agree I have, even if they would depict it with a different word choice to “idealism.”

Winning this category would further my goal of preempting a greater alliance with Hillels as Ohr Somayach seeks a greater expansion of this partnership on a national level. The most critical weapon at our disposal here is awareness. A win in this category might help that. Not much, but a little.

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…â€?

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 “spiritualâ€? 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.