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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Enemy Within-Part Three-Chassidism Is Not Judaism


The Enemy Within-Part Three-Chassidism Is Not Judaism - From The UOJ Classics
Originally Posted January 30, 2007

Make no mistake, Chassidism is not part of authentic Judaism. In matter of fact it is closer to Christianity than to Judaism. Orthodox Jews believe that ALL of the principles of Judaism were given to Moshe at Sinai. The written Torah and the oral Torah were dictated to Moshe by Hashem for the forty days he was at Sinai. The roots of the Chassidic movement did not begin until the thirteenth century, when Moses De-Leon started the writings of the Zohar. About three hundred years later, Isaac Luria (ARI) started preaching this mystic garble. The Ari as he was known, was an enigma. He purported to preach the thoughts of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, who lived fifteen hundred years earlier. The problem is that there was no known link of mesorah or chain of events, going back to that time, from RSBY to him or to De-Leon.

Orthodox Jews believe that the Torah m'Sinai was transmitted from father to son, generation after generation, traceable back to Moshe. The fact that there was no link from the Ari or De-Leon to RSBY, and therefore no link back to Sinai, would eliminate the Zohar or Kabballah from effectively being part of Judaism. The most we can rationally say about the Zohar, that it was a" theory" of a few people, and no more. Chassidim, have their entire canon (or myths) based entirely on the writings of the Zohar, and the rantings of an unlearned bal agalah or horse and buggy driver, known as the Baal Shem Tov or the Besht. The Besht, being the very first Forest Ranger, hanging out with the animals in the forest and talking to the trees, set a precedent for todays rebbes who hang out in their ghettos with their animals . Tales of the Besht are just that, buba - maases, or in English, fairy tales . (In Brooklyn we call it unadulterated BS).

The Vilna Gaon called the Besht a heretic and a lunatic, and considered that movement outside of Judaism. Rabbi Aron Kotler refused to let chassidim into Lakewood. When he ultimately relented under great pressure, he forbade them to wear their shtreimels in the bais medrash. It is difficult enough for any Jew to really comprehend Torah m'Sinai, but that is emunah; who in their right mind can possibly believe the stupidity of the chassidic nonsense which emanates from an ignoramus? Imagine if you will, Art Scroll gedolim stories, turning into another branch of Judaism in a few hundred years. The entire concept of the kabbalistic ten sfiros, the sum total of the sfiros representing Hashem; how far away is that from Christianity, where the Trinity is the sum total of their Divinity? How far away is the tzaddik or rebbe, who through his holiness, is capable of representing the chassid to Hashem; to "Yushka", who through him only can you reach the Kingdom Of God? The" coming ressurection" of the Lubavitcher Rebbe demonstrates how far afield of Judaism ALL the chassidic groups have gone.

The Gerrer Rebbe is now assurring his flock, that Moshiach will arrive in the next year or so. He is a sick, delusional idiot who deserves a good flogging. Hey, putz, if Moshiach is coming in the next year or so, he surely did not tell an ignoramus like you. You behaima, stop taking whatever drugs you are on. When he doesn't come, then what? You make me sick, feh!

The entire concept of a Jew needing an intemediary to get heard by Hashem was and is a fraud. One should have to dump their entire head down the toilet in shame, if they believe in this apikorsus. This dveykus garbage, where one should cleave to their rebbe, is the BIGGGEST mentally dysfunctional illness of Chassidism. Who the hell is this rebbe that he should be cleaved to? I will tell you who, gangsters. The Mafia godfathers, also had their underlings cleave to them. The same type of fear, one physical, one emotional. How in the world does anyone buy into this? How ill does one have to be to cleave to a putz without a job? His ONLY job is screwing you out of your money and independence. What in the world do you need this parasite for? Have these scam artists so emotionally paralyzed you, that if you let go of them , you fear Divine retribution? We have watched in horror the goings on among the chassidim. They have bastardized our faith with their hocus pocus. Their rebbes are the greatest con artists of the group, bleeding their sheep for whatever, and having them go to jail for their thefts. Buddhists, Hindus and Scientologists have more credibilty than these groups of peasants. The original post war rebbes of Satmar and Klausenberg were well intentioned and learned people. They gave their lives to the klal, and had an honest agenda. One can differ with their world view which I do with vehemence, especially Satmar, but one has to respect their drive to reestablish and rebuild the lives of the remnants of their respective communities.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel, was a brilliant and charismatic figure, who had his own agenda of note. Unfortunately his movement went awry with sheer insanity, especially the Moshiach movement, which catapaulted his religion into something other than Judaism. He could have stopped it, either he went crazy in his old age, or worse, he believed it. Nevertheless, he left an unmatched legacy of chessed and kiruv, that has way surpassed any other chassidic groups. These three rebbes were legitimate heirs of their respective chassidus, they were talmidei chachomim and sincere people. They believed in their own brands of Judaism, although it was based on voodoo theories. The only reason I can somehow tolerate them, is because as human beings they had integrity. The money they raised, was for their version of what was good for Yiddishkeit. They were self-sacrificing, and I believe well intentioned, although absolutely wrong in their distinct approaches . They filled a need at the time, which was to restore sanity to their followers after the war. They should have discontinued this demented ideology, and embrace Torah true Judaism. But something weird happens to people when scores of people put them on a pedestal. Their sense of self gets distorted, and if they become the ultimate authority without anyone to answer to, megalomania sets in. "Absolute power corrupts, absolutely". The chassidus of today is organized crime, no more. They, the Mafia, also had big hats, and stole whatever they could. Every single chassidus today, is corrupt from head to toe. Their rebbes lead and mislead their idiot followers to a life of frivolity.
Meaningless gatherings, to waiting up all night to get a bracha from the top honcho, is just another con game. There is no meaning in dancing and swaying with the rebbe. There is no sense in partaking from his leftover food. There is no benefit in getting a feel good bracha from these guys. It is ONE BIG HOAX, and the joke is on you, you demented behaimas.

The present Satmar is composed of a bunch of hoodlums with their rebbe at the helm, and is a shameful example of what went wrong with all these chassidic movements. Satmar gave birth to the Neturai Karta, the behaimas that met with Arafat, may he drop dead again. The first Rebbe, unfortunately, was off the wall with his hate of what he called the Medinas Yisroel. He was the prime mover and shaker, pitting Jew against Jew. I am sure, that his soul is paying the price for this form of terrorism. For whatever his thoughts on the secular Jews, his hate mongering was the sign of a man who was irrational and worse. He approved and condoned the open displays of hate from his followers. The present rebbe, a former stockbroker and a shady one to boot, inherited the job because R' Yoel had no sons. On the merits of his right to this job, other than being a Teitelbaum, he had none.

There was another Joel Teitelbaum, who was a cousin of the rebbe. He came over after the war, and called himself the Satmar Rebbe. He raised money, until his cousin and other people from Satmar came, and put an end to his fraud. He changed his name to the Kirhauser Rebbe. He was uncovered to be a KAPO, or a Nazi collaborator, during the war. In other words, he beat the hell out of fellow Jews and worse. When one of his kids were doing a shidduch, and the prospective machatunim met, the machatainester fainted on the spot because she recognized him as the kapo that beat her almost to death. No, this shidduch did not take place. He established a shul, and became a "mover and shaker" in the nursing home business. He" moved" dead bodies from freezer to freezer, collecting their social security checks in the meanwhile. The ones that were still alive, he" shaked" whatever money they had out of them, by stealing their mail and bank accounts. He defrauded the government and every single investor that trusted him. After all, he was a rebbe! He should rot in hell! The Spinka Rebbe was whisked away one Shabbos during davening by the police, he screamed Shabbos, Shabbos!! The people he abused in his nursing homes had nobody to scream to when he abused them, stole their social security checks, and gave them rotten food. When the old people died, this great tzaddik, may he rot in hell, froze their bodies, to be able to keep collecting the government stipends. He was part of the notorious Bergman family, or the "Nursing Home Mafia" as described by the New York Times. It's in their blood, they are sick! Damn these animals; the mitzvah of burying the dead within twenty four hours of death, goes in the garbage when there is money to be stolen. The mitzvah of "escorting the dead" to him meant, escort, "after" all the money was sucked out of the family and the social security number. His two behaimeshe gangster mamzeirim run Spinka today. Monkeys in black garb.

Hertz Frankel, aka the" Satmar Gonniff" stole tens of millions of dollars throughout his thirty years at Satmar. The government finally caught up with him, he plea bargained, and stayed out of jail. Do not tell me that the Rebbe did not know where all these millions came from.

Leib Pinter, the notorious Bnai Torah fraudster, stole millions of dollars for non existent government lunch programs. EVERY SINGLE CHASSIDIC MOSAD PARTICIPATED WILLFULLY AND KNOWINGLY WITH PINTER. Munkascz, Vishnitz, Ger, Belz, Satmar, Skver, Bobov, and all the other midgets with fur hats and long filthy black bathrobes, had a direct hand in this and all other government frauds through Pinter and his cohorts. Pinter went to jail. Pinter has been indicted again for mortgage fraud. He is the "energizer" goniff, he keeps stealing & stealing & stealing.....When they got caught, these nice guys, rebbes, threw the front men to the dogs.

There was drug money laundering, and drug selling through Bobov. Maher Reiss went to jail. The Munkaczer's brother, the Dinover Rebbe, brother in-law of the Vyepoler Rebbe (Frankel's shul in Flatbush), was caught drug smuggling. But they have pretty shuls and fancy homes. Every single time records had to be produced, all of a sudden the files somehow got destroyed by fire. WOW! Hashem certainly created this "nes "so these thieves can keep their businesses going. "Viheney boar b'aish v'hasneh ukol!", these guys certainly deserved Divine intervention, as Moshe did! This time somehow, Hashem decided that the fire SHOULD destroy the phony records.

Skver, Bobov, Munkascz, Satmar, Gur....all had fire sales. YOU CRIMINALS ALTER THE TORAH TO SUIT YOUR DEMENTIA. YOU ALL BELONG IN MENTAL HOSPITALS WHEN YOU GET OUT OF JAIL. YOU GUYS SICKEN ME! THERE IS NOT AN HONEST PERSON AMONG YOU! I HAVE MORE RESPECT FOR AL CAPONE THAN I HAVE FOR YOU. HE DID NOT HIDE HIS FRAUD AND THEFT BEHIND GOD!

Shlomo Halberstam, the first misfit of Bobov, landed in New York after the war. He had his butt fired at the first shul that hired him, because he could not learn a blatt G'mora. This holy genius moved to Crown Heights and ran a kindergarten. His job was to give the kids candies. I swear this is true, I spoke to one of those" kids. "A few lunatic admirers of this Don Juan, decided to move him to Boro Park. So what that he had no clue about learning. He made them feel good, what else matters? He was a master at his game. So what that his father advised his kehilla in Poland not to worry about the Nazis, and assurred them that no harm would come to them. He was a" holy" man, surely his bracha had G-D's seal of approval. Well, you know the end of that story.

The "holy" men from Gur and Belz gave the same advice to their followers. The Belzer Rebbe snuck out of Poland in middle of the night to Israel, as he kept advising his followers to stay put. They would do and say anything to hold on to their little kingdoms. Can you not see that these guys are meaningless people, who without the soap box you put them on would be wagon drivers? The fight going on at Bobov now for the "malchus," is about money and power, it has NOTHING TO DO WITH G-D. One guy is a bigger retard than the other. Take away the real estate and money, they both would be driving cabs.

Years ago, Stoliner chassidim crowned a nine year old kid as their rebbe. You tell me that these guys are normal.

The Chabad telethon sums up the present day status of that group. The Rebbe's picture is their avoda zara. You have Christians, Asians, shvartzes, and drug addicts doing the hora around the Rebbe. Cunin and his family have managed to accumulate one hundred fifty million dollars in real estate, and have ruined people's lives by having the secular courts confiscate any property that housed a "Chabad shul", even though they, the Cunin's, had nothing to do with it. In other words, they became the franchisers for the Chabad name. The Kentucky Fried Chicken of chassidus, with Cunin as Colonel Sanders.

When a bais din ruled AGAINST Cunin, this shyster, who has free access to first rate attorneys, took it to secular court, AGAINST THE RULING OF THE "CHABAD" BAIS DIN. This" holy" guy, has a direct line to the Rebbe, and I am sure that is what the Rebbe advised him to do. Cunin hangs out every month at the kever, midst a whole community of Lubavitchers who are waiting for him to dust himself off and reveal himself. Cunin has got to know something we don't .A historical note of interest. None of the direct descendants of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe, R' Shneur Zalman, are frum. In matter of fact one of his sons converted to Catholicism. The sad part about all of this, because the world today is in such upheavel, people look to other people to make them feel good. The chances of this mental illness called chassidus to go away any time soon, is not promising. People are spending billions of dollars on anti-depressants and other types of feel good drugs. The guys in the black coats are their Opium. If you will continue to rely on people for all that is wrong in your life, why not put true ehrliche Yiden at the helm. Why settle for ignoramuses and thieves? Do away with these purveyors of idiotic dogma and rituals. Do not wait for the Moshiach, you be your own liberator. There are no "seventy two virgins"waiting for you, or whatever your version of that BS is.

GOOD LUCK!

104 comments:

Anonymous said...

Based on this alone you have lost ANY sense of credibility in my eyes.

What you write here is complete idiocy.

Anonymous said...

"Orthodox Jews believe that ALL of the principles of Judaism were given to Moshe at Sinai."

Not according to Gil Student. http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2007/01/remarkable-blending-of-old-and-new.html

That's only for extremists like Rabbis Landau,[1] Banett,[2] Eiger[3] and Sofer but not for the more sophisticated rabbinic scholars Malbim,[13] Meklenburg,[14] and Zevi Hirsch Chajes.

Anonymous said...

That's the same Leib Pinter who launched the horrific campaign against Rabbi Slifkin's sefarim.

Anonymous said...

whomever doesn't get what UOJ is saying will never get it.... you'll just never ever get it.
whoemever doesn't agree with what UOJ is saying is lacking the psychological knowledge necessary.
Whoever gets angry with OUJ from what he is writing is acting defensive to something which was included or directed towards him in his literiture.

Anonymous said...

Um, I'm speechless.

I would not lump the Bobover and Satmar Rebbes in the same boat as the current lunatic situation.

Our family KNEW the Bobover Rebbe BEFORE he took over Boro Park. Did you? Or are you going on one anectodal story?

Anonymous said...

Chazal say befayrush that everything was given at Sinai. I think you would have to look at the seforim that Gil Student quotes inevainik. My first impression is that Gil is giving over a simplistic rendering of what he saw that may be incorrect.

There is one problem here and possibly another. First, Gil's rov in Flatbush has very controversial views. Torah from Sinai is the cornerstone of his offbeat hashkofos. I asked a posek about Gil's rov and was told that I may describe him as being unconventional & even arrogant. The guy, from what I'm told was chased out of Ponivitch for his views. He gives off an aura of ANOCHI and thinks he is worthy of disagreeing with gedolim going back hundreds of years. Besides Gil, he doesn't have much of a following. The minyan only exists because his father pays to rent Obermeister's basement. I thought he was a bocher but I noticed a post somewhere that he recently got married.

The possible problem is that Gil may not have had a rebbe. I read on a blog that he is a baal teshuva. It has happened before that well-meaning baalei teshuva have formed terribly distorted views because without a rebbe and a mesorah they miss the boat no matter how bright they are. Gil may be right about Slifkin, but I'm not sure he gets everything else right.

Anonymous said...

The possible problem is that Gil may not have had a rebbe.
--------------

What about his Rebbeim from YU (e.g. Rabbi H. Shechter)?

Anonymous said...

Chazal do not say bafayrush that everything was given at Sinai and he's posted a few times about droshos and he's absolutely correct on how he reads the Malbim and Maharatz Chayos. I don't know about the Ksav Vekaboloh.
Here are two of his posts http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2004/06/approaches-to-midrash-halakhah.html http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/2004/11/midrash-halakhah.html

From what I've heard he's a BT but from when he was a teenager and then became one of the top guys in YU but became an actuary instead of continuing learning.

Anonymous said...

If you think UOJ is wrong, argue on the issues!

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

Why don't you post my comment (baby with the bathwater)? Are you afraid that my logical argument might be accepted by others?

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

In the off-chance that you didn't get my comments the first time (yeah, right), I'll post them again.

Your argument is flawed from the very beginning. You write "The problem is that there was no known link of mesorah or chain of events, going back to that time, from RSBY to him or to De-Leon." That doesn't mean there is no link!! Additionally, because there are some "rotten" chassidim and/or rebbes that means they're all rotten? I'm sure there are a few rotten litvaks as well. Perhaps we should discard all litvaks also? Don't you think you're guilty of "throwing out the baby with the bath water??!!

Anonymous said...

WOW, that was one hilarious rant. Hey UOJ, can you do a video with one of these rants for youtube?

Anonymous said...

keep ranting OUJ- you are a big part of alot of peoples support system! We need you and your staff to keep hunting those SOB criminals!!!

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ,

While the focus of your blog has been primarily the issue of pedophile rebbes in the yeshiva, it's important to put up posts like this to remind us that much is not well in the frum velt.

One of the problems seems to be that roshei yeshiva are taking on many of the trappings of Chassidic rebbes. So talmidim consult them about every facet of their lives, seek brochas, and look to the rosh yeshiva slavishly for guidance rather than using the brains God gave them.

I once asked R. Meir Kahane if he had a rav he consulted. His answer has relevance to us all. He said that when he received smicha "it didn't come with the phone number of a gadol". While he consulted with R. Ovadiah Yoseph when he felt he needed guidance, his point was that we aren't sheep. God gave us a brain, the ability to learn, and the day to day responsibility of applying the knowledge gained to the situation at hand. It isn't the rav of the community who sets the kashrut standards, it's the housewives in their kitchens.

Okay, so maybe I'm too much of a Litvak. I learned the phrase "va'ad haganavim" from my bubbie and zayde, and they were hardly apikorsim. They were shomer shabbas Jews from the Suvolk area that were among the founders of the shul of R. Leizer Levin, the last living talmid of the Chafetz Chaim.

I can relate to what UOJ posts because much of chassidus is alien to me. Stolin has a connection with Detroit. One of their rebbe's died while visiting here and is buried in a cemetery on the far northeast side of town. The Stoliners come here every year to commemorate his yahrtzeit. Three years ago was apparently a significant anniversary of his death (50th perhaps) so about 400 Stoliners came to town and took over the Bais Yakov for a weekend.

To broaden my Jewish experiences I went over for Seudat Shlishit and I was flummoxed. There were 400 chassidim in the room, all focusing their attention on one guy, and I was trying to find something in my Jewish experience to relate to it, but I couldn't. Rather than something Jewish, it reminded me more of a rock concert, with everyone concentrating on the object of their adoration.

One facet of this problem is that the frum velt engages in hagiography that turns every "orthodox" Jew in history as a complete tzadik, so real machlakot are swept under the rug and people are not permitted to criticize earlier frum Jews even though they were seriously criticized in their own days. R. Yaakov Emden was probably correct in his suspicions of Yonason Eybeschutz' Sabbatean beliefs, yet I'm sure that if I say that R. Emden was right, someone here will say what a gadol Eybeschutz was and cite all the seforim that include his writings - and call me a chutzpan for daring to criticize a "gadol".

Likewise the macholoket of the 18th century, the Gaon's unswerving opposition to chassidic nonsense, is never discussed openly in the frum community. That way guys like Shafran, when they go to Albany or Washington, can claim to represent a larger 'constituency'. The black hatters ignore non-Jewish beliefs of the chassidim, while preferring to take pot shots at YU or bemoan the shortcomings of the MO.

But then we're dealing with a community that sincerely believes that students with IQs lower than 100 can, by shear dint of hard work, turn themselves into talmidei chachamim, geniuses of the first rank (while simultaneously choosing to throw out the truly creative students who have earned the sobriquet "bum" for daring to ask hard questions).

Anonymous said...

"What about his Rebbeim from YU (e.g. Rabbi H. Shechter)?"

Like the other guy raising questions, I'm not aware if Gil was zoche to have Rav Hershel's tutelage but if he did that's a start.

I can tell you that there is a YU rabbi out there who runs around beating his chest that he's a talmid of Rav Soloveitchik and constantly "quotes" him. The guy is the most grubba am haaretz you've ever met and he even sounds like an apikoress sometimes. Even other YU rabbis are upset about the nonsense that comes from this guy. There is no way that Rav Soloveitchik said those things. The guy is the son of a conservative rabbi and never had any real rebbes until he went to YU.

If what Gil had to say in Queens about hilchos molestation is any indication, I don't place much trust in his lamdus.

Anonymous said...

Hey anonymous (1st post)
UOJ was ok when attacking the Rosh Hayeshivos, but when he attacks your rebbe he loses credibility. Talk about lacking credibility, EFYU.

Anonymous said...

Aw shucks. Here we go again. Ronnie has to offer his two cents everywhere and remind us endlessly about his favorite big words like "hagiography".

If he's not such a "froomie" himself, I don't know why he thinks he's a qualified "expert". You gotta love these outsiders like Samuel Heilman & his self-styled sidekick Ronnie who think they can tell us how it is when looking in from the outside.

And maybe the sleepy Detroit folk fall for the Agudah hush ups on the vikucha rabbah bain chosid lemisnaged, but if he ever attended a yeshiva he would know that the discussion is alive and well.

Anonymous said...

Next in our Artscroll biographies of gedolim:

Maran Harav Hagaon, R' Leib Pinter the rosh yeshiva of Bnai Torah and tarfus then of Beis Mortgage Fraud.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

Why are you changing focus from the molestation issue to general dissatisfaction with our Judaism?

You have everyone's ear for the moestation, but your critics point to this side of you and say taht you have bad motives and are using the molestation issue as a tool to support your general dissatisfaction.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Anon 6:36,

Please tell me EXACTLY what part of this post is factually wrong. The way I express myself is for entertainment purposes and to make this bitter pill able to swallow.

I'll gladly correct any factual error!

Paul Mendlowitz said...

BTW, I firmly believe that the illness of molestation in our yeshivas is laid right at the feet of the gedolim myth. We need to be able to know right from wrong without approval from some idiot in a hat and bekishe/kapote.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

Litvak said...

Aw shucks. Here we go again. Ronnie has to offer his two cents everywhere and remind us endlessly about his favorite big words like "hagiography".


Here's another big word that you might understand: condescending.

These are a little shorter than "hagiography": arrogant schmuck.


If he's not such a "froomie" himself, I don't know why he thinks he's a qualified "expert". You gotta love these outsiders like Samuel Heilman & his self-styled sidekick Ronnie who think they can tell us how it is when looking in from the outside.


You gotta love these froomies who refer to their fellow Jews as "outsiders". Plenty of ahavas Yisrael there, yep. For what it's worth, I think Heilman is a one trick pony who has made a living doing stuff that most of us can do, shmooze about Jews. I'm nobody's sidekick, self-styled or otherwise. Prefer to march to the beat of a different drummer (Ginger Baker comes to mind).

And maybe the sleepy Detroit folk fall for the Agudah hush ups on the vikucha rabbah bain chosid lemisnaged, but if he ever attended a yeshiva he would know that the discussion is alive and well.

The discussion may be alive and well but it's all done sub rosa. The subject won't be discussed publicly.

More ahavas Yisrael, with your obligatory slam at people who aren't in your club. When you, Buckwheat and Farina, er rather Buchwald and Farfel, get together in your clubhouse ("No girls, er rather, BTs allowed") for your little circle jerks, those of us with brains that work will be gladly somewhere else.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

I think you speak too much truth. This world doesn't have much tolerance for the truth. The masses are asses and are not appreciative of your efforts. Dont waste your time arguing with idiots.

Keep on exposing the molesters of Judaism. Am Yisrael Chai!!!

AmEchad

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Good one Ronnie.

For the record; from the day I began posting in March 2005, I said my beef is with the way we select our leaders, NOT with Judaism. Please read the brief bio at the top of the blog, that did not change.

You can not point at ONE post where I am factually incorrect!

Yes, it sounds ugly...BECAUSE IT IS UGLY!

Anonymous said...

What about Rabbeini Gershon di ganav Tannenbaum, the crook at the Iggud ? He writes a column every week of Chassidishe propaganda in the Jewish Press.

Would Rabbi Sholem Klass have allowed this when he was alive ?

Anonymous said...

You don't seem to get it Ronnie. We are tired of interjections by people who don't have a handle on the situation. Maybe if you wouldn't stick your nose into every issue you know nothing about, you wouldn't feel you're the target of sinas Yisroel. I can't even count how many times you've brought up the dispute between Rabbis Emden and Eybschutz. Talk about a one trick pony. But from what you've written so far you don't seem to have a clue about the inner workings of Chasidim and Misnagdim.

Your current title is rather appropriate by the way. CBS Nightly News is presently running a series on the washed up Detroit Auto industry called "Running on Empty." Quit while you're ahead pal.

Anonymous said...

Could it be that the Zohar has the same status as other genizos like the Meiri? We are tofess the Meiri as kodosh, it's just a machlokes Chofetz Chaim & Chazon Ish if you can use it to posken lehalocho.

Anonymous said...

UOJ, we understand where you are coming from. It is very depressing to watch all these corrupt Chassidishe rebbes operate like organized crime figures. But I think you should not paint them all with the same stroke. I'm sure that at least some of recently deceased rebbes (and probably a couple of rebbes that are still living) were kedoshei elyon, untainted by the filth you refer to. This list is not exclusive but what about the old rebbes of Klausenberg, Skolya, etc?

And going back in time, some rebbes like R' Yechezkel Shinover were very medakdek in Shulchan Aruch.

Anonymous said...

UOJ, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum may have been over the top but he could have been bitten by the same bug you were. He was absolutely incensed about corruption - corrupt Nazi-collaborating Tzionim that played with people's lives like a pyro plays with a bundle of newspapers.

If you lived in that era I bet you would take down Rudolf Kasztner & his ilk with a vengeance.

Anonymous said...

You gotta love these outsiders like Samuel Heilman & his self-styled sidekick Ronnie who think they can tell us how it is when looking in from the outside.

Reb Litvak,

Often, the most accurate assessment is completed "from the outside." Staying apart from a situation or environment can allow the observer to remain objective (to a point) without getting caught up in the emotions.

Great post Ronnie. Eloquent as usual; I wish I had your insight.

Anonymous said...

Isn't the Kirhauser Ruv the father of that bigshot lady Hessie Neiman and shver of that mustachioed Hungarian lawyer Moishe Neiman? The granddaughters married semi-modern guys who learned in Lakewood.

Where can one look up information to confirm the Kirhauser was a Kapo? Why wasn't he arrested by the federal OSI (Office of Special Investigations)? They've arrested other kapos. Who dropped the shidduch with him?

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

Don't you think the Bobover at least deserves credit as a devoted askan? You can't expect everyone to be R' Boruch Ber in learning but you knock him as if he has no integrity.

Anonymous said...

Regarding Gil Student & Haksav Vehakabala, it's pretty ironic. Gil's "rov" a fellow named Hirsch, was practically tarred & feathered in Ponivitch for his bold interpretation of that passage. I don't know what Gil's other rabbi friend in the neighborhood has to say about it. He seems to be better versed in Hollywood movies like "A few good men" then he is in seforim.

Anonymous said...

UOJ, it's not fair to blame these rebbes for Holocaust era advice. Even the Brisker dayan said it's a tzeit of hester ponim and it's not shayach to know what to posken, to run or to stay put. At least these rebbes gave chizuk to the people instead of encouraging them to panic.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ,

People get the leaders they deserve. No regime can exist without at least enough supporters willing to serve in their army.

It's not just corrupt or self serving leaders, it's also the masses who tolerate and condone poor leadership.

The Yiddish saying that a fish rots from the head may be true, but it doesn't mean that the rest of the carp smells great.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ,

Their comments are like water off a ducks back, but I'm wondering why my posts get the froomies' noses so bent out of shape. I mean, I'm no genius, I'm not very well grounded in traditional Jewish study, and have so many issues that I have a lifetime subscription, so why would they care what I have to say?

Why not just ignore the crazy man muttering to himself?

Perhaps they feel threatened by a properly spelled coherent thought.

BTW, Commentary magazine has started to put short stories it has published over the years on its website. The authors represent the first rank of Jewish novelists, including Bellow, Malamud, Singer and others. I read Cynthia Ozick's "Envy; Or, Yiddish In America" motzei Shabbas and it was delightfully brilliant.

Ozick is one of the finest wordsmiths working today.

Simon Wiesenthal, in The Sunflower, tells how he was summoned to the bed of a dying Nazi who wanted forgiveness from a Jew for his crimes. Wiesenthal remained silent but did brush a fly from the man's face. When the book was reissued, comments from Jewish writers and thinkers of note were solicited. Ozick's response? “Let the SS man die unshriven. Let him go to hell. Sooner the fly to God than he.” It reminds me of those who would have us be compassionate to the predators and those who protect them, rather than to their victims.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

The Vilna Gaon (aka the GRA) wrote many seforim (published & unpublished) on KABALLAH & specifically on the Arizal. This is very well known among those who study KABALLAH. The Vilna Gaon was also the Foremost MISNAGID.

So obviously, whatever issues the GRA had with Chassidism has absolutely nothing to do with Kabbalah. The same goes for R' Aaron Kotler & other Misnaged Rabbonim. No Litvishe Rav is against kabbalah because The Gra and his talmid R' Chaim Voloshin were Mekublim. Any disagreements with Chassidism has nothing to do with the AUthenticity of the ARIZAL or the ZOHAR.

Anonymous said...

I don't know about Hirsch in Israel but I do know that he came to Lakewood when he was around 22. I can't imagine an American that young could say a chabura or create any kind of a stir in Ponavitch. More likely your just having fun at the expense of a young rov whose crime is letting a blogger daven in his shul.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

Your current title is rather appropriate by the way. CBS Nightly News is presently running a series on the washed up Detroit Auto industry called "Running on Empty." Quit while you're ahead pal.

Your glee at Detroit's misfortune, mirrors how you enjoy the troubles of other Jews.

You say that when I'm talking inside baseball about the frum community, as an outsider I have no clue. Fine.

K'shitatcha

While you get your automotive news from the CBS Evening News, I get mine from guys like Bob Lutz and Roger Penske. You might read in your paper or online how Jaguar has lost money for Ford, but a couple weeks ago I interviewed Ian Callum, Jaguar's design chief (and his brother Morey, who holds a similar position at Mazda).

While I might not know much Gemara, and though I am loathe to use the argument from authority, the fact is that I'm a credentialed auto journalist. I just got done covering the Detroit show and if all goes well this time next week I'll be on my way to Chicago. I'm pretty sure that I've spent more time talking with auto designers, engineers and executives (from both domestic and foreign firms) than you have. I have a particular interest in the developing markets of India and China, so I'm well aware of the challenges facing the US domestic auto mfgs.

Like much of what passes for "news" on CBS, it's just liberal conventional wisdom. The libs who run CBS News don't like GM and Ford because they are American companies, and have deluded themselves into thinking that Toyota and Honda are somehow not huge multinationals who make substantial profits. My Toyota Prius is more moral than your Chevy Impala. As if.

The fact is the the Detroit area is more the center of the global auto industry than ever. While their North American operations are struggling, GM is doing great everyplace else. They are well positioned in China, India and Latin America, the three fastest growing markets in the world and Opel is profitable in Europe. Most analysts and investors think they are turning the corner in NA as well. If the battery companies come thru in time, GM will leapfrog Toyota and sell a plug in electric by 2012 at the latest. Ford is on thinner ice, with a weaker product line, but Mullaly (sp?), their new CEO, turned around Boeing and seems to have his shit together. Chrysler also has recognized the need to restructure and are formulating their plans now.

The fact is that just about every car company in the world is capable of making world class products and most do, including Ford, GM and Chrysler. The fact also is that it's an incredibly competitive market and the Detroit companies aren't the only ones facing serious challenges. Mitsubishi is struggling and VW just fired their CEO, just to mention two.

Just as you don't care what happens to other Jews, you don't care what happens to other Americans.

Besides, most New Yorkers are completely clueless about cars. Hell, only 25% of people in Manhattan even drive. In Brooklyn, particularly in BP or Flatbush, most of the people who drive don't know how to.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

gross said...

Great post Ronnie. Eloquent as usual; I wish I had your insight.


I wish I had your money.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

No Litvishe Rav is against kabbalah because The Gra and his talmid R' Chaim Voloshin were Mekublim.

It's been a while since I read it (and it was pretty impenetrable so I didn't get much out of it), but Levinas wrote on the subject of R. Chaim Volozhin. It was his opinion that in Nefesh HaChaim, R. Chaim was using kabbalistic terminology but did not necessarily embrace kabbalistic thought, and was using the terminology in a redefined manner.

But since you brought up the Volozhiner, in Nefesh HaChaim he brings up a point that is relevant to dealing with flaws in our community. He says that only the tahor, i.e. the Jews, can impact the higher olamot, that evil people like Titus and Nebuchadnezer could only accomplish what they did because the Jews did not do what we should have done.

Evil people like Margo and their enablers in "leadership" positions can only do harm because the Jewish masses allow it to happen.

Anonymous said...

"I wish I had your money."

Refer to the opening line in The Monkey's Paw (W.W. Jacobs).

;)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Wow! Wow!
When you attack, you go all the way. I admire that.
You clearly do not live out of their hands, so you are an insider but independent, out of their control. This is great. I guess they read your blog religiously (despite the ban - that's for the peasants, not for the nobility) and climbing the walls in a rage.

Lubavitch always gave me bad karms (I know it is not really a frummie term, it's from previous life.) Only after they became a messianic (I specifically do not use Meshichist - I meant messianic) cult I could reflect back and understand why.

As for the comment "One facet of this problem is that the frum velt engages in hagiography that turns every "orthodox" Jew in history as a complete tzadik" by Auto Report. Ironically, the source for this trend of hagiography is not from the Chassidic side. It is streight from the teaching of two people that most of us tend to view as true Gedoylim. The Chafetz Chayim Zt"l - a Litvak, dug the foundation for that trend with his obsession for Issur Loshon Ha-Ra that took the said Issur out of context and out of obscurity and made it to the fourteenth Ikkar of Emunah, next to the older thirteen Ikkarim that the Rambam had coined. But the real genius that made the hagiography into what it is now was a yekk. This was Rav Shimon Schwab Zt"l who, in is article about writing Jewish History http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/essays/ravschwab.html , not only forbade writing the truth, but actually recommended writing hagiography. His book with that article in it was published, you've guessed correctly, by C.I.S from lakewood - the best example of hagiography publisher in the Jewish arena.
ZA

Anonymous said...

"Opel is profitable in Europe."

GM's German division called Adam Opel worked Jews to death under Nazi supervision like Mercedes Benz & the rest of them.

CBS might have leftist bias but they have it right that Detroit hasn't built decent cars in years. They deserve to go bankrupt. Ask any mechanic and he'll tell you that GM models are doomed to break down and cost you a bundle on malfuctioning windows alone.

Anonymous said...

"I don't know about Hirsch in Israel but I do know that he came to Lakewood when he was around 22. I can't imagine an American that young could say a chabura or create any kind of a stir in Ponavitch."

If you knew anything about Hirsch you would know otherwise. He would go around yeshiva and stick his weird shitos in your face. When he did it in Lakewood the Briskers thought it was some funny novelty and listened in like they would any meshugena. The reaction in Ponivich was quite different. He had to run out pretty quick which is why he came to lakewood at 22. After a year or 2 in lakewood you never saw him around anymore. SOmeone called him the CIA agent because when you asked where were you, he says what do you mean I was here thw whole time. No one knows if he was in new york or atlantic city but he wasn't in lakewood that's for sure. I hope Gil Student is happy with his mora dasra. He never shtelled tzu to the seder halimud and seemed to be more interested in Moses Mendelson than the sugya.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

There is an alleged molester at YOB. I don't know all the facts in this case and I don't know if there is a kol like in the Kolko & Tendler cases.

I understand you were instrumental in having him removed as a rebbe. You may be interested in knowing that the Expose Molesters blog is reporting this week in the comments section that although the rebbe was removed from his position, he is still reporting to work as a tutor being payed off the books.

That blog is also reporting that the rebbe is also in charge of locking up a shul in Boro Park. I believe the name was "Nachalas M'Rom" on 47th St btwn 18 & 19.

Perhaps the scariest scenario that no one has highlighted is his shaatnez checking business. Young children often show up alone at his basement to drop off clothes or wait while he inspects them. If you call his home line, he often allows a visit during off hours. He is under the auspicies I think of the Williamsburg shaatnez lab who could easily remove him from affiliation. Two other shaatnez labs in Lakewood & Flatbush carry a lot of weight in their recommendations about other shaatnez checkers. If presented with a legit case against him, they would surely blacklist him and advise the public to stay away.

Anonymous said...

London Jewish Chronicle

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:gTJD3UkrqdsJ:https://www.jchron.co.uk/Home.aspx%3FParentId%3Dm11s19s116%26AId%3D47824%26ATypeId%3D1%26secid%3D16%26prev%3Dtrue+applegrad+brooklyn&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=71

Much of the background in the case was revealed on the Un-Orthodox Jew blog, a discussion forum about the charedi world.

Rabbi Kolko, who has 18 grandchildren, was released on $5,000 bail.

Anonymous said...

Vanguard is the best known Nazi website.

The YTT story was posted there by a NJ Nazi who focuses on Lakewood corruption.

http://www.newjerseyunfiltered.com

In his entry on the Lkwd Cheder fraud he shows that the Cheder is part of Torah Umesorah.

Here's the Vanguard entry:

http://www.vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=43465

Partial Biography of Rabbi Yehuda Kolko & Rabbi Lipa Margulies

BANNISHEDWARRIOR
Junior Member

Nice!! Jews molesting Jews. I wish it happend on more often. Maybe they would commit suicide from the shame.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Anon 4:12,

Shlomo Mandel of YOB is playing with fire. His day in the UOJ crosshairs is not far off.

SHLOMO MANDEL: REMOVE NUSSBAUM OFF THE YOB PREMISES. I WILL EXPOSE YOU AND YOUR PAST. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!

REMOVE NUSSBAUM OR PAY DEARLY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE WITH THE WORLD KNOWING EXACTLY HOW YOU SPENT YOUR YEARS AT TELZ YESHIVA.

Anonymous said...

I knew something was with him. He used to get up there in all his glory to give 'Shabbos Shuva' drashos. carrying on how woman are wearing perfume and he can smell it a mile away- well we can sure smell YOU now-
he must think everyone hasto do teshuva -besides for him

Anonymous said...

$86,000 swindle admitted by rabbi

5-year sentence likely after plea
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 01/31/07
BY JAMES A. QUIRK
STAFF WRITER


MARLBORO — A $5,000 ring for his mistress. Private school tuition payments for his children. Vacations in Israel.

From July 2004 to July 2006, Peter Light, former chief rabbi of Congregation Ohev Shalom, the Marlboro Jewish Center, pilfered $86,000 from his congregation's coffers to pay for these and other personal expenses.

Now, under an agreement following his guilty plea Monday, Light is expected to be sentenced to five years in prison, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Appearing Monday before Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman, Light admitted stealing the money from the temple's discretionary fund. The fund, made up largely of donations, is used when a congregant in an unexpected crisis approaches the rabbi for help.

The fund is loosely monitored and set up specifically so a member can work one-on-one with the rabbi and keep personal problems from becoming common knowledge, temple members have said.

"By stealing from a charitable account established by the Marlboro Jewish Center, Light placed his selfish personal interests above the expectations and needs of the congregations he led," said Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin in a prepared statement. "This deliberate criminal conduct impeded the congregation's ability to serve those who required assistance."

Light was hired in Marlboro in 2004. He had been primary rabbi of Beth Shalom Synagogue in Memphis, Tenn., from 1990 to 2004.

Light abruptly resigned from the Jewish Center, at Wyncrest Road and School Road West, on June 30. He was not asked or made to resign, according to Jeff Sacks, president of the temple's board of trustees.

But just before his resignation, rumors began to swirl about misuse of the rabbi's discretionary fund, including gifts for a mistress. This prompted an internal investigation by temple officials and concerned members of the congregation.

Just weeks after Light resigned, in an extraordinary presentation, the center's board of trustees convened a special meeting and, before more than 500 members of the temple, detailed its review of Light's use of the fund.

According to temple members at the meeting, who spoke to the Asbury Park Press last year on condition of anonymity, the board explained that it believed Light worked to have his mistress and her family move from Tennessee to Mississippi. Once the woman relocated, Light told the board that he had been contacted by a family affected by Hurricane Katrina that wanted to get a new start in Marlboro.

Under this ruse, Light paid the mistress' family's expenses as well as his own family's.

Those findings were included in a report given to local law enforcement authorities. Valentin has since praised temple officials for their swift action and cooperation.

Light is scheduled to be sentenced by Kreizman May 4.

Anonymous said...

Someone once told me that a lot of people when they came to new shores they threw their tfillins and tallisim in the water and moved on in their life.

I am not surprised , UOJ you might be right but you are not better than people you write against.

You doing nothing of value but dicontrust , you offer nothing positive.

you are nothing but soapbox bully . So you have exposed people and what is next ?

Did you make life of your people better . We are still in exile lead by bunch of morons .

to be quiet frank i am as baal teshuvah would rather live in cave and or hangout with bnei Noach outside than be part of community where lavel of hatred toward each other is so great that whatever exists outside pales in comparison.

You people should be ashamed of yourself , you are nothing but bunch of corrupted self riotous pigs . Because of you our people still suffering.

I am ashamed be part of you , may G-d , if you still remember that THIS IS WHO YOUR LOYALTY SHOULD BE TO and not some pulpit rav, have mercy on you if you deserve it.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Pesah,

First we need to acknowledge that our system is broken before we can fix it.

I have been shouting from the rooftops from day one that we need to put rabbis in leadership positions because they deserve our trust. That they would have demonstrated to the klal that they are truly yirei Hashem, and did NOT fall into the position because of their name or as part of a yerusha.

I am one guy; as long as the klal does NOT remove the bums, there's nothing more one blogger can do other than shout and yell and shame!

If we were able to get the issue of abuse out to some degree, it's a step in the right direction, however I am not that optimistic that the Jews are any different now than they were during the 1930's. People avoid reality and truth. Ultimately, there's a price to be paid. We are suffering from a spiritual malaise because we have not as of yet rid ourselves from the scam-artists, rebbes and gedolim.

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

As BT what am I supposed to do ,

who should I listen to is there anything good that is left there ?

I mean why not wait for someone to save us. I mean G-d sent Moshe to generation that was as bad as this one.

By our nature alone we cannot apparently. One have to be complete moron as not to understand that if something is not done.

Not only state of Israel will disappear but WE AS PEOPLE WILL.

Anonymous said...

To raise concerns about a shaatnez tester who perhaps should not be alone in his basement with children, here are some Shaatnez lab contacts:

I'm not sure which is the main Williamsburg lab, there are two listed:

Williamsburg
Fishel Zeigerman
(718) 388-4221

Williamsburg
Menachem Herzog (Office)
(718) 782-6961

These 3 labs in Flatbush & Lakewood have a lot of clout:

Lakewood
Yoel Schocket
(732) 905-2628

Lakewood
Yossef Sayagh
(732) 364-7056

Flatbush
Aharon Dreebin
(718) 382-5689

Also, Rabbi Yudel Shain of the Yudelstake blog and the only blogger on Shaatnez issues can be reached at kashrusy@aol.com

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Dear Pesah,

Please do not refer to yourself as BT, you are a prominent member of Klal Israel as any other Jew! Perhaps even more prominent because you chose the frum way of life rather than being born into it.

I always wonder to myself and to anyone that cares to listen, If I was not born into an Orthodox Jewish home, if I would have been able to embrace Orthodox Judaism in it's present state, knowing what I know.

We must keep speaking out to everyone in any forum, form your own support groups and use your God-given gift of thought and speech to express yourself wherever and whenever you can.

Please stay in touch!

Anonymous said...

“There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being.

The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I’m frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me … that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are?”

Such stirring words, spoken with such moral conviction, must surely come from an outraged liberal exasperated with the conservative climate of America today, and one can be forgiven for thinking that in a review of The God Delusion these are the words of Richard Dawkins himself, who is well known for not suffering religious fools gladly. But no. They were entered into the Congressional Record on 16 September 1981, by none other than Senator Barry Goldwater, the fountain-head of the modern conservative movement, the man whose failed 1964 run for the presidency was said to have been fulfilled in 1980 by Ronald Reagan, and the candidate whose campaign slogan was “In Your Heart You Know He’s Right.”

If Goldwater had been president for the past six years, I doubt that Dawkins would have penned such a powerful polemic against the infusion of religion into nearly every nook and cranny of public life. But here we are, and like Goldwater, Dawkins is sick and tired of being told that atheists are immoral, second-class, back-of-the-bus citizens. The God Delusion is his way of, like the Howard Beale character in the 1976 film Network, sticking his head out the window and shouting, “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore.”

But The God Delusion is so much more than a polemic. It is an exercise to “raise consciousness to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid one. You can be an atheist who is happy, balanced, moral, and intellectually fulfilled.” Dawkins wants atheists to quit apologizing for their religious skepticism. “On the contrary, it is something to be proud of, standing tall to face the far horizon, for atheism nearly always indicates a healthy independence of mind and, indeed, a healthy mind.”

Dawkins also wants to raise consciousness about the power of Darwin’s dangerous idea of natural selection. He believes that most people — even many scientists — do not fully understand just how powerful an idea it is. He attributes that failure to the need to be steeped and immersed in natural selection before you can truly recognize its power. In this context, natural selection “shatters the illusion of design within the domain of biology, and teaches us to be suspicious of any kind of design hypothesis in physics and cosmology as well.”

Out of obligation, of course, Dawkins reviews and offers rebuttals to all the standard arguments for God’s existence. He concentrates on dissecting the anthropic principle and dismantling intelligent design creationism. (As part of the latter efforts, he redirects the creationists’ argument from complexity to show that God must have been designed by a superintelligent designer.) He then builds a case for “why there almost certainly is no God.” The remainder of the book outlines possible evolutionary origins of morality and religious belief, a justification for being hard on religion, childhood religious indoctrination as child abuse, and an elegant commentary on the progressively changing moral zeitgeist. Dawkins closes with a tribute to the power and beauty of science, which no living writer does better.

When I received the bound galleys for The God Delusion, I cringed at the title, wishing it were more neutral (why not, say, The God Question?). As I read the book, I found myself wincing at Dawkins’s references to religious people as “faith-heads,” as being less intelligent, poor at reasoning, or even deluded, and to religious moderates as enablers of terrorism. I shudder because I have religious friends and colleagues who do not fit these descriptors, and I empathize at the pain such pejorative appellations cause them. In addition, I am not convinced by Dawkins’s argument that without religion there would be “no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Indian partition, no Israeli/Palestinian wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no persecution of Jews as ‘Christ-killers,’ no Northern Ireland ‘troubles’…” In my opinion, many of these events — and others often attributed solely to religion by atheists — were less religiously motivated than politically driven, or at the very least involved religion in the service of political hegemony.

I also never imagined a book with this title would ever land on bestseller lists in the United States. But I was wrong. The data have spoken. The God Delusion is a runaway bestseller, a market testimony to the hunger many people — far more, I now think, than polls reveal — have for someone in a position of prestige and power to speak for them in such an eloquent voice. Dawkins’s latest book deserves multiple readings, not just as an important work of science, but as a great work of literature.

This review recently appeared in Science magazine (vol. 315, January 2007)

Anonymous said...

King David told us eons ago not to rely on mortals but to only place our trust in G-d. Whatever is written in the Tehillim has applications for all future generations including ours. Even though we are so far from Sinai, you can still find rabbis that do not have the terrible human shortcomings mentioned here. Just be advised that until the moshiach comes they are currently few in number.

All the best my friend. Just daven, read the Tehillim and do not give up hope. UOJ may have very extreme tactics, but he managed to save children from the monsters posing as leaders of the community. This is why much of the rank & file of the yeshiva world supports him, wether they admit it or not.

Anonymous said...

The text of The God Delusion itself constitutes Dawkins’s answer, and it is thoroughly adequate. Far more damning to Orr is the obliviousness that leads him to ask exactly the wrong question.

The right one is “Why should theologians think that they have anything significant to say about good and evil, time and eternity, or who “rules” the universe, given that their fundamental ontological premise is worse than vacuous?” It is these theology guys, after all — priests, preachers, rabbis, imams, pandits, lamas, the whole damn lot — who not only construe a cosmology and a teleology out of their own fancies, but who then go on to tell us, often in the most minatory tone, how we have to behave, what we must and must not do, and who, among men, we are obliged to obey.

Distilling it down, then, the real question becomes,

“JUST WHO THE HELL DO THESE BOZOS THINK THEY ARE?”

Orr is far too timorous to ask this question, which renders his criticism of Dawkins futile and anemic. Dawkins, by contrast, never lets it go, insisting that we continually ask it in the face of all the social conventions devoted to repressing it.

Anonymous said...

Is Hirsch the same guy that was rosh yeshiva of Scheinerman's yeshiva, before it collapsed? What a joke.

Anonymous said...

Rabbi Yisroel Plutchok of Derech Chaim tells people to go to the Boro Park tester because, as he puts it, he is a talmid chochom and more versed in the technical issues than the average tester out there. Other rabbonim are probably making the same recommendation. Someone should speak to the rabbonim about this. It might not be fair to completely put the guy out of business. Maybe they should force on him to only operate during certain hours with someone present. Or he could do what he does in the summer months. He checks in the middle of beis medrash at Lakewood Minyan where all kids of people are around. They just can't let him lock up himself.

Anonymous said...

Reb Yudel Shain is a good guy, a little wild at times but a good guy. He published the letter from Reb Shraga Feivel on rabbonishe corruption and got criticized by the pro-Kolko & pro-Agudah idiots as being in UOJ's back pocket.

He also caught Moish Finkel with treif eight years ago at the Atrium. He screamed about it to rabbonim but he got ignored because the establishment views him as a troublemaker for speaking the truth too often.

Anonymous said...

sheinerman holds himself the big flag bearer of ponivizh. so who does he hire? the guy who was reportedly called an apikoyrus when he was in ponivizh. after sheinermans fell apart because no one came anymore, hirsch put an ad in the jewish press that he was starting his own yeshiva but i don't think it ever got off the ground. but wait. maybe gil student was the only talmid

Anonymous said...

Taking a liberty on behalf of Rav Boog:

SCHEINERMAN!! YOU SHTINK !!!

Anonymous said...

I am a survivor.
Pedophilia and any abusive behavior is a sickness. DO YOU HEAR ME?
IT'S A SICKNESS!! ...and thank you OUJ for screaming it on rooftops-
keep fighting.

Anonymous said...

I thought the oylam would find this interesting. I received an email today that's been going around. There is a corrupt toain, Gershon Spiegel, who among other things is involved a huge financial scandal on the Lower East Side and who has been supporting Mordechai Tendler. He's been invloved in a complex set of lawsuits that are tricky to sort out but one of them is a real hoot. Mechon Lehoraah was started as an alternative to all the corrupt beis dins and are the only ones who tell him to shut the hell up when he starts his slimy presentations. Spiegel has apparently sued the beis din.

Anonymous said...

I will try to hang in there...

Anonymous said...

"maybe gil student was the only talmid"

That about sums up Hirsch's shul. Does anyone actually daven there besides Gil and Hirsch's relatives? Hirsch even resorted to putting flyers up on utility poles to attract people.

When Hirsch doesn't have a minyan he refuses to go anywhere else. Even when he had only two mispalelim besides himself, he demanded that 7 people from another shul come to him. The guy who used the Anochi description is on the money. Anochi Hirsch Rabosecha. Maybe it says that in HaKesav VeHaKabbala too.

Anonymous said...

If this minimizes the chilul Hashem, the Peter Light dude in Marlboro NJ was not posing as an orthodox rabbi. He is conservative.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if the allegations against YU / MTA's Rabbi George Finkelstein are true but Jewish Survivors blog is reporting that he has been appointed executive director of the Great Synagogue / Beis Haknesses hagadol of Yerushalayim. Many Americans daven there when staying across the street at the Jerusalem Sheraton Plaza.

Anonymous said...

That's right about Hirsch sticking his shitos in your face. We got at least one really good laugh every day at lunch. One of the Brisker chevra gave eidus (punkt when Hirsch wasn't hanging around our table) on what he saw in the parking lot. Anyone who's been to Lkwd knows about the carpools to NY where too many passengers get squished into the car. There was a chassidish guy trying to get his wife in the front seat but Hirsch was arguing with him that it's no problem halocho lemayse if she sits like a sardine in the back with her husband and a bunch of fremde bucherim.

Anonymous said...

http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20554/Rebbetzin's_Viewpoint.html

Rebbetzin's Viewpoint

By: Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis Wednesday, January 31, 2007

A Blight On All Of Us
Dearest Rebbetzin:

I have long enjoyed reading your weekly column and would like to express my gratitude to you for being the role model we so need in these times. In your column, you cite words of Torah, words of chizuk and give exceptionally insightful responses to painful and perplexing situations.

I have picked up my pen so many times to write you about a particularly painful event that I experienced some years ago, but could never muster up the courage to follow through. But I am happy to be following through now, as I see that I am not healing and I would so much like your input.

I am 25 years old now, and can still cry uncontrollably when I am reminded of how I finished off high school. I attended an Orthodox all-girls academy where I worked hard, loved my friends and looked forward to yearbook, graduation, and ultimately attending seminary with my good friends in Eretz Yisrael.

But in the middle of my junior year, things began to unravel. My parents’ increasingly volatile relationship, coupled with their financial difficulties, made for a pretty unhappy home life. One of the significant contributing factors was the difference in their commitment to religious observance.

Early on in their marriage, my mother decided to take some extensive steps in her observance of the mitzvot, and my father was not interested in doing the same. There was always some level of friction, though some times were better than others. A major point of contention was that my father’s salary as a public school teacher was way overextended in trying to cover the expenses that an orthodox lifestyle entails.

The yeshiva tuitions and summer camp costs for my four siblings and me put a substantial strain on him physically and financially. He would always voice his discontent along with his relatives who were forced to help out once in a while (though not rich themselves). He urged my mother to give up living a lifestyle we could not afford and to send us to public school. We lived in a very good suburb with a top-notch school system and my father was always so frustrated that we could have been taking advantage of a school system that was already paid for.

During my junior year, my parents were falling very behind in tuition. My father’s relatives felt that the expense was ridiculous and no longer wanted to help out. My father left home and went to live in his parents’ large and comfortable home, which was not an unusual occurrence in our house. But this time it seemed he wasn’t coming back.

My school began sending letters so strongly worded and so threatening that it still makes my stomach churn. I cried every time I happened to see one of those letters. Eventually, the bus driver was given orders not to pick me up any more, as I learned when I waited for several days for the bus to pick me up.

My mother was frantic. She tried to take money advances from her credit cards to catch up a little. My school was not sympathetic, but when they received some payment, they let me continue taking the bus to school. You cannot imagine my humiliation when stepping onto that bus. My face was always crimson over not being sure what my friends did or didn’t know.

Things only got worse, when one day, my math teacher handed all my classmates back their exams except mine. She told me uncomfortably that she would have to speak to me about that after class. My friends looked at me questioningly. I figured that I did so badly on the exam that it required a special meeting. I was mortified. I was sitting there for 45 minutes with nothing to do while my whole class was preoccupied with going over the answers. I was so ashamed.

Finally, the bell rang. I had butterflies in my stomach while following my teacher to the copier room where she quietly closed the door and informed me that all the teachers had been given an order not to grade any of my papers until my parents resolved their financial issues with the school. I had never understood what wanting the ground to open up and swallow you felt like until that moment. She apologized and I was numb. I was always aware that my high school was pretty intolerant when it came to money issues, but I never dreamt that they could be capable of this. I was so hurt and so miserable. I tried hard in school, I cheered the loudest for my friends during their basketball tournaments, I was on the debate team and I had never gotten into trouble.

Around the month of May of 11th grade, when my mother had exhausted all financial possibilities, the bus stopped coming to pick me up. My mother drove me to school for several days, when we received a letter that instructed my mother to stop “sneaking me into school.” My mother drove to my school one last time with me sitting in the car. She hoped to work things out with them and have me go to my classes. The principal sent a staff member to my mother saying she had no time to see her and asking her to please leave. My mother cried, and was told that if she didn’t leave the premises, the police would be called.

High school was over for me. While my friends and classmates talked quietly about my situation – I lay in the fetal position sobbing for weeks. My mother contacted influential members of the community associated with my school. But that went nowhere. My good friends’ parents, people with whom I had spent countless Shabbosim, and in whose homes I slept constantly, looked on sympathetically, but no one wanted to get involved. That summer I took my High School Equivalency Exam and I got no credit for any of my three years of high school.

Most of the people I have encountered pertaining to this, view my experience as not surprising at all, due to the business-minded mentality of our yeshivot and schools today. I was told that halachically the school’s hands are clean. Can this be?

I sincerely look forward to your response, and hope to reach a certain closure through this.

Scarred for Life

Anonymous said...

Someone here please name a rov that isn't an idiot or a rosha.

Anonymous said...

The problem of being smart like Hirsch is that idiots like you guys don't get it at all. When you know shas bal peh like him then you can make jokes.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Novominsker had a change of heart. He's inserting himself into a non-Boro Park issue. And maybe R' Shmuel should look into children with special needs who were molested by Kolko and frasked by Margo.

Here's the report from Gershon the shvindler Tennenbaum:

http://www.jewishpress.com/page.do/20558/My_Machberes.html

One Day At A Time, a support and advocacy group for families of Children with Special Needs, will host it’s annual evening of chizuk and inspiration for fathers of children with special needs. Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky, Rosh Yeshiva Philadelphia, will be the featured speaker, followed by a roundtable discussion. The Rosh Yeshiva is intimately involved in many areas of special children, in Lakewood and beyond. The event will take place this Sunday evening, February 4, at 7:30 p.m., at the home of Rabbi and Mrs. Shlomo Schmell, 1420 Cedar Row, Lakewood. A buffet dinner will be served.


Leading rabbis who have previously addressed One Day at A Time include: Rabbi Elimelech Bluth; Rabbi Mordechai Fine; Rabbi Reuven Feinstein; Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser; Rabbi Yaacov Perlow, Novominsker Rebbe; Rabbi Baruch Rabinowitz; Rabbi Yaakov Reisman; Rabbi Ezreil Tauber; and Rabbi Matisyohu Salomon.

For further information, to R.S.V.P., or to request tapes of previous lectures, please call 732-370-0366. If there is a particular issue or question that you want discussed and prefer to send it in advance, please fax it to 732- 363-2779.

Anonymous said...

Rabbi Shmuel Kaminetzky is directly responsible for the molestation cover ups that abound today. He sat on a bais din that was to accept testimony and failed to inforce basic halachic standards that would of saved countless of future victims and brought closure to those seeking it. For more google "open letter to rabbi solomon" and go to that blog and read thru the whole issue. U will see that Shmuel Kaminetsky never followed thru on his famous flatbush speach of years ago. Toothless tigers at best - brainless or ruthless at worst.

Anonymous said...

Maybe that's at the root of Hirsch's problem. He seems to have convinced himself that he's the greatest posek in 10 generations just because he knows Shas (and probably not even baal peh).

The neighborhood was laughing when the announcements went up that Hirsch was giving a shiur on the Flatbush eruv. Just for kicks, I'm curious if anyone here was there & can report on what he said.

Like Ronnie Hersh hilariously summed up (no relation), "who is this bochur anyway?"

Anonymous said...

Someone should fax a request to the above fax # asking rabbi Shmuel K for a response to the alegations made against him at the openlettertomatisyahusolomon blog of recent fame.

Anonymous said...

What are these rabbonim doing with Ezriel Tauber?

Didn't people lose their pants in an investment scheme with him and then he refused to show up to beis din?

Rabbonim & roshei yeshiva have been saying for years to stay away from Tauber. Why is he all of a sudden being catapulted to prominence by the Agudah?

Anonymous said...

Rabbi who is not an idiot or rasha:

R' Yosef Viner.

Anonymous said...

Gil, is that you? There are smart talmidei chochomim out there who know Shas baal pe that no one makes fun of. Gee, I wonder what the difference is.

Anonymous said...

There was a list written on the Rav Salomon blog that I'm sure is not exclusive. It included R' Zelig Epstein who the Agudah ignores sometimes even though they always ask him aitzah. It also included the rabbonim, some no longer living who fought Margo to get rid of Kolko.

Anonymous said...

Yankel Reisman also refused to show up to a din Torah. maybe this is the new criteria to be nominated to Agudah leadership roles. (Especially if Chaim Berlin has anything to say about it). Yudel Shain also accuses Reisman of being involved in kashrus scandals and cover ups that are mixed up with Moish Finkel in some cases. That has to be investigated though. Shain is often correct but he gets too carried away sometimes.

Anonymous said...

"He seems to have convinced himself that he's the greatest posek in 10 generations"

it's been said that some family members are feeding into Hirsch's delusions of gadlus and spent years grooming him as such

Anonymous said...

To Anon 4:14

I would second that.
He is a Genuine, Sincere, Mentch
No BS about him. What you see is what you get.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

Shmuel Kaminetsky knowing that Moshe Eismann is very ill, shipped him off to Ner Israel.

Don't be fooled by the smile, he knew about Kolko for 30 years at the very least!

Anonymous said...

Avi Shafran is having a bad day today and has to leave the office a little early. A list of rabbonim at an Agudah event is posted on the Jewish Press website and UOJ & friends deconstruct it within minutes as being full of charlatans & questionable individuals.

Anonymous said...

R' Shmuel is sitting right now on the Agudah beis din that's meyuchad for molesting mechanchim. The Agudah purposely leaked in the hallways at the convention that the beis din is currently dealing with 70 cases. This was an attempt to defuse UOJ's claims that they're doing nothing.

So shkoyech, they have 70 cases. How many rebbeim have been removed from the shiur room?

Anonymous said...

It's a shame that he's too old now to clean up this mess. The establishment is somewhat afraid of him because he is above politics and wouldn't play Sherer's games. Some establishment pinheads sometimes try to smear him as being pro-college. It's a somewhat false assertion because he holds that a degree is only a backup. That you should stay in learning if you can but if you need parnossa, the degree is there so you can support your family. These klayne mentchen usually leave the Moetzes alone because even though the Novominsker etc went to college, they don't allow it for others. One pinhead dumped all over R' Zelig to me when he saw I hold of him. I later found out that this pinhead's father, also a rov, was arrested for tax evasion.

Paul Mendlowitz said...

The Agudah is composed of a bunch of full of it liars, including Kaminetzky and the Putz-Nothing Rebbe.

This is spin and none of these guys should be trusted! Especially Kaminetzky who smiles out of both sides of his mouth.

Anonymous said...

They also put out the word (purposely not in the speeches) about the letter from Rav Mendlowitz on shyster rabbis. They vaguely commented that if R' Shraga Feivel was talking about the manhigei hador, as opposed to a couple of obscure rabbis, then UOJ (they didn't actually mention UOJ), may have forged it because "that sounds like apikorses". Why apikorses? They answered that there is a havtocho that manhigei hador cannot get that screwed up. Hence, the speeches that even if they "make a mistake" you still have to listen to them instead of UOJ. Ergo, take our word for it that UOJ is selling you snake oil. A friend of mine got into a friendly argument with one of these Agudah rabbi hacks dropping the trial balloons. The hack suggested that my friend take his questions to Shafran (as if that will help). Needless to say, my friend passed on the offer.

Anonymous said...

There's a dope in Lakewood who is upset that the yeshiva changed course one day & started granted degrees to those interested in MBAs or JDs. Even though he himself doesn't learn, he works as a lowly clerk, he thinks he knows better than the roshei yeshiva. He huffed about R' Zelig when he was trying to figure out who was behind this groyse travesty.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if UOJ is getting hate mail and threats now that he dropped the ball on chassidus. I'm sure he at least got the standard silly name calling, like "oh you dry litvishe piece of vood vat you are."

Anonymous said...

UOJ,

How do you explain R' Shmuel K going easy on Margo when the Tatte R' Yankev zl knew first hand what that animal is capable of?

Paul Mendlowitz said...

UOJ,

How do you explain R' Shmuel K going easy on Margo when the Tatte R' Yankev zl knew first hand what that animal is capable of?

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Nothing surprises me anymore, Not about him or anyone else!

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ opined:

I always wonder to myself and to anyone that cares to listen, If I was not born into an Orthodox Jewish home, if I would have been able to embrace Orthodox Judaism in it's present state, knowing what I know.

I think you would have embraced Torah, if not the current version of orthodoxy. Emes is Emes.

A friend of mine once said that he decided to become a BT because he wanted Olam HaBa.

I'm not so mystical. I'm a bit more focused on the here and now and I gravitate to things that I'd like to believe make sense. As a kid in day school, Judaism just seemed to make sense. No intermediaries, no man-gods, hardly any hocus-pocus, and biblical/historical personages who acted like people, not like saints or angels.

I've met enough geirei tzedek and B'nai Noach to recognize that regardless of one's background, if one is attracted to the truth they will seek it.

Ronnie Schreiber said...

UOJ, sorry for the long rant but this is a subject that is close to me. I may not know much Gemara but I'm pretty much baki b'cars. If people are going to say that I'm talking out of my tuchas when discussing the Yeshiva and Chassidic communities, I reserve the same right when they are talking about something within my expertise.

"Opel is profitable in Europe."

GM's German division called Adam Opel worked Jews to death under Nazi supervision like Mercedes Benz & the rest of them.


The blinking cursor when you compose a comment was invented by IBM. The numbers the Nazis tattooed on the arms of Jews in them camps were Hollerith numbers used for tabulation and IBM supplied tabulating machines to the Third Reich. I guess if you can boycott GM because of Adam Opel you should stop typing right now.

Virtually every company in the world that had German subsidiaries "collaborated" with the Nazis.

However, if you want to avoid American cars because their mfgs had German subsidiaries under the Nazis, you're going to run into ethical issues at many other dealers. GM and Ford may have had subsidiaries who supplied the Third Reich, but Japanese companies directly made weapons that killed Americans in Japan's military alliance with Germany. Toyota produced military trucks for the Imperial Japanese army. The famed Zero airplane, which was used in the attack on Pearl Harbor, was produced by Mitsubishi.

But, hey, as long as your Camry starts and stops, what do you care?

CBS might have leftist bias but they have it right that Detroit hasn't built decent cars in years.

I'm guessing that you haven't driven a car from an American mfg in years. If you have, please tell me just which models and why they aren't "decent cars". People's perception of quality is based on 5 and 10 year old cars. Quality has gone up markedly by all manufacturers. It's funny that you say Detroit hasn't built a decent car in years because the cars built today are so much better in terms of quality, reliability and fit & finish compared to those built 15 years ago.

I'm not a booster for the American companies. I've always liked small, sporty cars, and the car I plan on restoring is a 1966 Lotus Elan, not a 69 Camaro.

But the US companies indeed make good product and I'm not going to stand by while you slander my neighbors. Everyone makes good product, even the Koreans. But good product is not enough these days. The companies have to deal with perceptions and biases and get a handle on consumer wants and needs.

There's no question that the Toyota Camry and Corolla are the quality standard for mass market sedans. Toyota is an outstanding engineering company and they are exceptionally thorough. Okay, so they don't make anything emotionally exciting, but they make a fine vehicular Maytag.

I also happen to be a long time admirer of Honda. They may build the best gasoline engines in the world - I've never heard of someone blowing up a Honda motor.

But do you think the engineers who designed the new Toyota Tundra full size pickup aren't Americans? That vehicle was designed in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Toyota has a large engineering and design facility. Almost all of the car companies, even some who don't sell cars in North America, have design studios in California.

The car biz is a bit incestuous. J. Mays, head of Ford design, used to work for Audi. Fritz Von Hausen, who is one of the heads of design for Mazda, was the designer of Pontiac's Solstice. Jerry Hirshberg, the previous head of Nissan Design before Shiro Nakamura (a very nice and aidel man, btw) took the position, worked at GM first (and yes, he's a MOT). Executives move around as well. Most of Toyota of North America's executives got their start at one of the Big 3. Jim Press worked at Ford before he went to Toyota.

They deserve to go bankrupt. Ask any mechanic and he'll tell you that GM models are doomed to break down and cost you a bundle on malfuctioning windows alone.

To begin with, for the most part, cars today don't "break down", and frankly I'm more concerned with an engine that can last 200K miles than a window switch that fails.

The auto business is global. Toyota sources components from the same vendors as GM. GM might have a window motor made by Denso and Delphi might supply them to Toyota.

I know mechanics. I also know designers and engineers that work for American, Japanese, British, Korean and German companies, both OEM and suppliers. None of them disagree when I make the statement "everyone makes good product these days". They don't disagree because that's a truism. Like one auto exec said at the '07 NAIAS, just to get in the game, let alone have a hit car, you need good design, engineering, features, quality and after sales service.

Hey, but while you put down GM for having owned Opel during the war, be sure to enjoy the Braun coffeemaker your vibe insisted on having.

If someone were to ask me what kind of cars to look at, assuming they were shopping for a sedan, these are models I'd suggest you check out:

Toyota Camry and Corolla
Hyundai Sonata
Honda Accord and Civic
Pontiac G6
Ford Fusion
Nissan Altima and Sentra
Chrysler 300/Dodge Magnum
Saturn Aura (a very nice car that many say is superior to the Camry - it won the North American Car of the Year Award last month, an award that went to Toyotas and Hondas the last few years).
I'd put the Chrysler Sebring / Dodge Avenger on the list but the new models were just introduced so they don't have a track record yet. I'm pretty sure that with a name like Todd Rabinowitz, the Sebring's designer may be Jewish.

There are other good cars in the segment but these come to mind.


"General Motors and Ford are taking bold steps to recover, and there are signs good things starting to happen." - Jim Press, Pres. & CEO, Toyota Motors North America.

Anonymous said...

"He also caught Moish Finkel with treif eight years ago at the Atrium. He screamed about it to rabbonim but he got ignored because the establishment views him as a troublemaker for speaking the truth too often."
---------------------------
Could you elaborate please?

Anonymous said...

Yes this is Gil Student and I will defend Hirsch to the death because he is the only one who will tolerate me. Its an ontological battle. And if you think Viner is any better then you've got some serious screws loose.

Anonymous said...

Viner? You've got to be kidding. But who cares because it looks like he couldn't make it in Brooklyn and is running away to Monsey.

Anonymous said...

[OUJ, I hope you don't mind my plug. The various comments, especially the letter has moved me into this direction. If you have any advice I'll take it. Thanks]

Re: Jungeries letter.

If that's true, then the administration is a bunch of arrogant bastards. The purpose of the scholarships are to help people like this. However there are always 2 sides to a story, I don't know what excuses the administration has.

I'm considering starting a tuition blog to air this stuff out. I've set it up, but I'm deciding on format and mission statement. Email yeshivatuitions@gmail.com, I'm listening for ideas.

Anonymous said...

Which hotel is R Viner going to this Pesach? I heard it's one of the California ones.

Anonymous said...

Whether the tuition story is 100% accurate or not, is irrelevant. The incredible increases in Yeshiva tuition over the past decade is astounding. The aftershocks are even worse. Parents who are totally unfit to teach are now homeschooling their kids. Every year of tuition saved for a family with three, four or more school aged children is a (not so) small fortune. Families in any environment to the left of Charedim are limiting the size of their families. The Charedim may not care, their tuitions are lower (no secular education) and many receive public assistance (or private assistance) anyway. It's a lot easier when you use "yenem's gelt".

All of this is occurring while millions of dollars of the limited financial pool available for Torah education is being funnelled towards kollelim, etc., rather than towards Tinokot Shel Bait Rabban. Screwed up priorities if I ever saw any!! All the while Yeshiva administrators (at least some of them) live fairly high on the hog.

This ought to be on our agenda, right next to the molestation issue. It's very harmful to Judaism if our parent body is being screwed, albeit financially.

Unknown said...

Groundless hatred is given as one of the reasons for the current exile, the Chofetz Chaim says that the sins that got us into the exile must still be going on to keep us in it. Your article was disgusting to read for all of it's Loshon hara, blatantly shown in such a public manner.