Category — Far-right

I don’t usually share these types of stories about me, but…

When I was a younger person, a much younger person, I was miserable. I was on my way to becoming ultra-Orthodox, and too out of touch with my own feelings to know how awful I felt about it.

I visited some friends of mine while visiting my grandparents, a couple of my “camp friends” while there. I had attended music camp as a teenager, and met some wonderful people. Very different than the small town folks I grew up with. It was a music camp. No, not “band camp.” Music camp, And yes, there is a difference. There was a strong artistic bent to these teens, and the creative energy among my friends was inspiring in a way that I will always be grateful for having.

But that was before. Now, I was back in the U.S. after a year in Israel, and about to go back. I met with a couple of friends, one of whom (a really good guy) was experimenting to some degree with an alternative lifestyle.

And that night, hanging out with these two friends, (one, might I add, a young woman I absolutely adored), I said some very awful things. I said some things that have haunted me for many years.

While this wasn’t the only thing I regret from that period (by any means), it was the single worst incident. That incident replayed again and again in my mind… I’d just get wracked up with shame and self-loathing over it.

I found him online, recently, and sent him an apology. He signaled forgiveness, and I am very, very grateful.

Now…I feel very relieved. These networking sites offer us tremendous opportunities.

I feared I would go to the grave with this one.

Our frum friend Ron Coleman wrote a piece on Beyond BT (the baal teshuvah blog) called “Considerations When Taking on New Chumras,” about whether one “should or should not consider personal pleasure and desire when making those choices.” As an emblematic example (not meant for specific discussion) Ron mentioned the stringency of only consuming cholov yisroel products, dairy products produced from a cow that was milked under Jewish supervision (some very pious Jews do not trust a gentile to milk a cow, and apparently, this makes them holier yidden).

Of course, some flamers came out for this one.

EPA18 wrote,

A friend of yours in your community was once in the apartment of the late Rabbi Shimon Schwab, ztl. When Rov Schwab heard that the individual did not keep cholov yisroel he became quite agitated, and asked “How could you not keep cholov yisroel!!!” Surely, Rov Schwab knew all about Reb Moshe’s position on the issue. But times had changed, and the easy availability of cholov yisroel products in the New York area no doubt caused Rov Schwab to believe that Reb Moshe might have held differently nowadays, at least for those in the NY/NJ area.

Wait. There’s more. Ready?

Surely the individual involved enjoyed his haagen-dazs at the time, but he did change and ever since has been keeping cholov yisroel. We all made sacrifices on our way to becoming frum. But how often do you stop and think (at this point), “Boy, what I would do right now for a good lobster bisque?” It’s probably the same with taking on something like cholov yisroel. With the passage of time, the desire for non-cholov yisroel products wanes, especially when you - Ron - have a wonderful kosher supermarket in your town, which carries numerous cholov yisroel products, the quality of which, over the years, has definitely improved.

So at that point, as I am sure you can imagine, I was all ready to throw away all my mezuzas own “cholov stam” products -– and fuck it, my TV too, and I don’t even have cable — when Ron, who brought this whole issue up in the first place, and “cholov yisroel” as a neutral – no judgments, “what do you think?” example, wrote,

My personal experience, frankly, is that CY products are really overpriced and the milk goes sour as soon as I open it. I felt that I was being exploited during a certain period when I endeavored to buy CY where it was available even though I was not strict about the matter. I decided to stop being exploited.

So I guess Ron’s point – since he brought it up, and since he brought up CY as the emblematic example of stringencies as well…is that chumras are stupid and exploitive.

The Extreme Godol Hador slams Rabbi Shafran’s disgraceful article on Albert Einstein. XGH notes,

Sounds like Shafran has been taking courses at the Reb Elchonon school of circular logic and general kiruv clownery.

See Daas Kefirah’s full response to Shafran’s “Baby Einstein.”

And in other news, Dr. Mahamud M. Yahye slams Hirsi Ali as, “a supercilious person with a childish attitude.”

Maybe there is a basis for Muslim-Jewish dialog after all! Great minds think alike.

There are many silly allegorical stories in the Talmud about VERY BIG rabbis who could raise the dead.

Fortunately, when it comes to casting aspersions on a fellow Jew’s status, they still can!

Project Inspire, an Aish HaTorah program, has a full-line of frummer than thou “kiruv professionals” lined up to promote Big Aish’s glitzy brand of left-wing ultra-Orthodoxy. Just look at these hats:

We have Rabbi Yosef Viener, author of the must-read MO classic, “An Overview on the Role of Da’as Torah.” We have Rabbi Eliyahu Bergstein, who got his start the way any Big Aish “kiruv professional” should…selling the Torah Codes! And we have Rabbi Yaakov “The Genius” Salomon.

And they have backing. From the most intensely anti-Modern leaders of the haredi world. Read the “haskama” (certificate of kashrut) they are touting. Signed by the leaders of Israel’s right-wing ultra-Orthodox movement, Rabbis Elyashiv and Shteinman, Big Aish/Kiruv.com boasts that their mission is to stop the “devastating spiritual holocaust.” and lashes out at the “Inciters from both within and without.” They want to “save” (this is their language, sound familiar?) secular and liberal Jews.

No surprise, these “kiruv professionals” will be gracing Ohr Sameach, Monsey. Guess where else they will be instructing the faithful to stop the “spiritual holocaust” and stand up to the “inciters”?

The Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills.

The Young Israels were traditionally Modern Orthodox, albeit right-wing Modern Orthodox. My brother, in fact, was president of his local Young Israel. Having a Big Kiruv conference there—especially considering who is backing them–is absolutely egregious. This Young Israel is holding hands not only with the left-wing ultra-Orthodox, but the right-wing ultra-Orthodox. These are the people who denounce secular studies and the work ethic in their entirety.

This is whom the Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills is collaborating with. This is whom they take directives from. Absolute, no holds barred, haredim.

Perhaps our friends at Beyond BT are promoting this series? They have posted information on it, and they themselves live in Kew Garden Hills. Perhaps they can explain why right-wing ultra-Orthodox recruiters are being invited to their own local Young Israel?

The National Council of Young Israel, who is so concerned that nothing of left-wing Modern Orthodoxy invade their synagogue spaces, apparently has no such parallel border when it comes to a policy against the radically fahfrumpt.

Maybe before allying to convert those “wandering in darkness,” the NCYI should take a long look in the mirror.

Just another stab in the back of secular and liberal Jewry by the right-wing Modern Orthodox.

This post was edited to better flesh the men behind the “hats.”

Further Update: It seems important, on occasion, to contrast the lies and fanaticism of Big Kiruv to that of the Modern Orthodox, (or close to it), even if it isn’t nearly as widespread. I feel they (Rabbis Student and Steve Brizel) want this known, so I’m going to help them out, and end on a positive note for the beginning of the week. I personally don’t really believe the following, but I don’t not believe it. And I do respect it as a legitimate approach to offer the secular and liberal Jewish community. Not like the Torah Codes/Gedoylim worship/Sloppy and Sleazy Salesmanship of Big Aish and Co.

Hirhurim writes,

Each Jew has an opportunity to be a part of something bigger, to transcend his own personal abilities and join a group spanning the world and the centuries, to not only follow in their footsteps but to add to their accomplishments — to add a unique letter to their Torah scroll. Perhaps you can do that with other religions but as someone born Jewish, you have a unique opportunity to join the famous Jewish story and add your own chapter to it. If you have to ask why, then this argument is not for you. However, I believe that in this modern world that is full of alienation, this is a powerful and attractive argument.

I have long wondered how stable Pakistan’s secular regime truly is. I have always been told that the military is secular, and so there is nothing to fear. Ali Eteraz, a truly edifying voice among Jewcy’s arsenal of writers, says something different.

In his review of “Crossed Swords, ” Eteraz notes,

There are important lessons and warnings to be found in the text. For example, the immense number of generals appointed by former Islamist dictator Zia ul Haq — who seized the presidency from Benazir Bhutto’s father in a coup — have not yet taken hold of power. When they do, after the current group of leading generals resign in perhaps five to ten years, Pakistan’s famously secular military may be disposed to take an Islamist turn.

This is the man whom the U.S. chose to funnel–at his discretion–all of our aid to the mujahideen. To the exclusion, to a large degree, of the great Massoud, in stark contrast to the claim of “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Massoud, of course, was killed by Al-Qaeda…two days before 9/11.

I would be interested in hearing what Ali Eteraz has to say about Massoud.

David Duke is, of course, the former leader of the Klu Klux Klan. He is not a nice guy, and certainly no friend to the Jewish community. Many were shocked that the JTA would post his letter to Obama, outlining a lot of white nationalist anger against the Jewish community. I was shocked as well. Shocked at how much of what he said has merit.

Let’s take a look at some of the Krazy Klansman’s issues against segments of the Jewish community before we dismiss his complaints—as so many reflexively dismiss the complaints of white Christians—as racist, and therefore immaterial.

Better-qualified White students, employees, working men and women face intensive racial discrimination that you and the other major candidates deceptively call “affirmative action.”

Check! It is so bad, this gang-banging of whitey, that even the East Asians have joined in, with no outrage from anywhere to the left of race realist circles. East Asians should not be beneficiaries of quotas or affirmative action on anything.

Many White people can no longer use the public school system that their own taxes pay for because “people who aren’t like them” have made their schools awash in violence, educational mediocrity, drugs, sexual degeneracy and gangsta rap.

I don’t know how much gangsta rap really affects the white student population, but in the inner city schools, this is often all too true. I have heard far too many rich Jews condemn working class racism towards minorities in their schools even as they send or eventually will send their own children only to private schools.

Millions of White people who have paid exorbitant taxes all their lives can’t afford medical insurance and decent medical care in no small part because “people who aren’t like them,” such as illegal immigrants and able-bodied, welfare parasites, people who have paid no taxes at all, have overloaded the system.

Here, Duke is only partially correct. He doesn’t want to advocate socialism, so instead he blames it on the tax burden. But it is absurd that so many working class people are paying for others to receive socialized medicine while they receive no coverage. This is cruel and disgusting.

They are bitter because unelected economic czars such as Greenspan and Bernanke, Wolfowitz and a whole coterie of Jewish “people who aren’t like them” have ripped them off and have let so-called “free trade” destroy the American economy.

The Jewish role in promoting privatization and globalization is large and unfortunate. It is a communal embarrassment.

They are bitter because other Jewish Neocon “people who are not like them,” have led us into a catastrophic war for Israel in Iraq, a war that will cost the American people trillions of dollars and that has killed or ruined tens of thousands of American lives (While Jewish dead or wounded are spectacularly underrepresented in those terrible casualties).

The Neocons sold the war, they did not lead the country to war…but Duke’s language is close enough to the truth to hurt, isn’t it?

Christian Americans are also sick of the fact that the Christian meanings of Christmas are being driven from public life, with crosses and nativity scenes banned from public land in our nation’s capital while at Chanukah a huge Jewish Menorah, symbol of Jewish ethnocentrism and Jewish resistance to assimilation, is put across from the White House and dedicated by the Jewish extremists of Habad Lubavitch.

Duke is partially right. Chabad should be driven from both the white house and the public square, and he is correct that their demands for public parity are meshugah.

Does Duke exaggerate a bit? Sure. He is a conspiracy theorist? Absolutely. But he hits far too closely to the reality far too frequently for any of us to be comfortable with where we are as a community, or for where we have helped push this great country in recent years.

Hat tip: EV

The tendency in our community to set alliances and policies solely according to whom we deem are friends with or are a threat to Israel. This leads to tragic and immoral stances or just silence, as is the case with Jewish communal silence on China.

CUFI (Christians United for Israel) is a fundamentalist Christian organization with a far-right vision of how Israel should operate. It should be rejected politely but firmly. Rabbi Yoffie is now doing both.

In a URJ press release, it was noted that,

Rabbi Eric Yoffie , who over the past two years made headlines when he spoke at the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University and at the convention of the Islamic Society of North America, drew a sharp distinction between dialogue and political alliances which he said “demand of us a higher standard and which require both common values and common interests.”

This is an important distinction that many have pretended and will continue to pretend they don’t understand.

Hagee founded CUFI two years ago and has, since then, run “Night to Honor for Israel” events across the country, where he has been warmly received by Federation audiences. In his address tonight, Yoffie focused on the problems with Hagee’s form of Christian Zionism and why the Jewish community needs to reject it.

This is really to assert that the reason for attacking Hagee is not because of McCain specifically, but rather, due to the mainstream Jewish communal toleration of CUFI.

Rabbi Yoffie explains,

“What [Hagee and his allies] mean by support of Israel and what we mean by support of Israel are two very different things,” Yoffie said. Their vision of Israel rejects a two-state solution, rejects the possibility of a democratic Israel, and supports the permanent occupation of all Arab lands now controlled by Israel,” he continued. “If implemented, in fact, these views would mean disaster for Israel, and would lead to diplomatic isolation, increased violence, and the loss of Israel’s Jewish majority.”

Rabbi Yoffie noted that some of his rabbinic colleagues claim that relationships with CUFI are necessary in a time where Israel needs all the friends she can gather. “The concerns expressed here are reasonable,” said Yoffie, “but I would draw precisely the opposite conclusion.”

Still, you may wonder, isn’t Rabbi Yoffie attacking Republicans and all our Christian-right friends? No, not according to the URJ.

Throughout the history of Israel, the central principle of pro-Israel advocacy in America is that it must be moderate and bi-partisan, he said. Additionally Yoffie noted that the majority of the American Evangelical community is beginning to move away from the likes of Pastor Hagee’s politics and theology. “All the evidence that we have indicates that Evangelicals are tired of stridence and desire more pluralism and moderation…they see their future far more with Rick Warren than they do with John Hagee,” he said.

“On Israeli-Palestinian politics, John Hagee and the CUFI are extremists,” Rabbi Yoffie argued. “They do not represent most Evangelicals, do not represent most Republicans, and do not represent the American heartland. In expressing contempt for other religions and rejecting territorial compromise under any and all circumstances, their views run against the American grain. Those who advocate embracing them now are misreading in a monumental way the American political and religious landscape.”

Rabbi Yoffie outlines his political concerns of Jewish communal alliance with Hagee and CUFI further.

““I have listened to my colleagues who have chosen to do otherwise and have tried to understand. But my view is that most of the time, these evenings will not increase our political clout. They will reduce our political clout and drive away our allies. And I cannot accept the argument from Jewish leaders that they can endorse CUFI events, appear as speakers at these events, accept CUFI money, and still distance themselves from the positions that CUFI embraces.”

On a cursory read of his most recent essay, “Every Jew Counts,” (awwwwwww) one could believe — if you don’t know anything about Dark Light – that its leader, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, is a real populist.

The stringent one (for others, that is)writes,

“One of the most disturbing features of life in Israel is the tremendous gap between rich and poor. This expresses itself not only in the differences in housing, automobiles and other elements of a material standard of living but also in the quality of education and medical care[…]

While we cannot realistically expect a totally egalitarian society today we should learn two important lessons from this Torah chapter — that every single Jew counts, and that we should strive for greater equality to make the Jewish state a fairer Israel forever.”

So…is Rabbi Weinbach a haredi Bernie Sanders?

Not quite.

Rabbi Weinbach’s position is that of the right-wing ultra-Orthodox haredi leaders (whom he reports to directly) who do not allow higher education for women, and do not allow secular studies at all for their yeshiva students. Absolute socio-economic devastation is preferred and mandated, and achieved for all too many in Israel’s B’nai Torah world.

Rabbi Weinbach is one of the most prominent proselytizers of this path to misery for Anglo-Jews. It is his conviction that anything else besides yeshiva is an “environment of sin.”

So what is he saying here? Why is he suddenly a socialist?

Because it isn’t about rich and poor, or those who work versus those who own. It is about those who are haredi and don’t work, versus those who aren’t haredi and do work.

Rabbi Weinbach is demanding that the secular government give still more money to the haredim to do nothing…so that even more of them can languish away for longer in accordance with the “Bnai Torah” leaders wishes.

And if his people are unhappy…and they are unhappy…it is the state’s fault…for not being more generous. Not the fault of the “Gedoylim”for insistng they do this in the first places…oh no, no, no…it’s the SECULAR government’s fault – they are greedy and do not share all the wealth.

Weinbach’s evil manipulation is quite common for Israeli haredi leaders. When there is discontent of your own making, blame it on the secular government and/or on secular Jews even when they are doing all they can to accommodate your insanity…which is in and of itself, a tragedy. They (the secular and Modern Orthodox Jews) Jews should fight the haredim for the sake of the Jewish people. Including the Jews Rabbi Weinbach tricks, traps, and hobbles.

And don’t forget….Rabbi Weinbach and Rabbi Nota Schiller and their families make a nice living off teaching other people to become poor.

Beyond BT published a letter from a reader asking,

I have a question that I was wondering if you could post. I am not looking for a debate, only some answers. I, and probably a lot of other BTs, grew up in a staunchly democratic home. I do not think I even knew any republicans. What is up with frum Jews voting republican”

The kicker was at the end of the letter.

“Honestly, I do it because people I respect tell me to. What is the real reason?”

There’s…well…there’s nothing I can say to top that…so let’s just keep going.

Anyway, much discussion ensues, including a few of the expected frummie explanations of why the right-wing Republicans are closer to a Torah point of view, which I find just as convincing as when I read about how the Left-wing Democrats are closer to Judaism because of “Tikkun Olam” and of course, social justice.

Anyway, it was worth reading. One, because we get to laugh at the baal teshuvahs who don’t even know why they are voting according to “daas Torah,” and two, because Steve Brizel brings down a brilliant approach from Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik (RYBS).

Brizel writes,

Like it or not, I think that it is too easy to say that the Torah demands that one vote for either party. RYBS once commented that the capitalism ( and i.e. conservatism) set forth in Bava Kamma, Bava Metziah and Bava Basrah is more than offset by the seemingly socialist ( and liberal) ideals set forth in the halachos Shemitah and Yovel.