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WITH CAMEO APPEARANCES BY SHALOM, MORDECAI AND ARON TENDLER ---THE TENDLER TRINITY OF HUMAN GARBAGE!
Mah Nishtana:
The Four Kashyas of Our Kinderlach, Some of Whom Are No Longer at the Seder
Why is the sexual abuse of children treated differently than all other communal issues?
1) In all other areas of halacha, we enforce the highest level of tznius and morality, but in this area of halacha - we ignore the rape of children.
2) In all other areas of kashrus, we demand the highest level of reliability, certification and supervision, but in the sanctity of children's own bodies - we demand none.
3) On all other matters, we follow the psak of Rav Eliyashiv, but when Rav Eliyashiv gives a psak urging victims of sexual abuse to report their abusers to the police - we ignore him.
4) In all other areas of a child's life, we fight and demand for their rights, (we lobby for bussing, for textbooks, for school lunch programs...) but when it comes to the sexual abuse of children - we lobby to protect our children’s abusers.
Tatty Answers:
You see my child...
The answer to all the four questions is:
Call 911
We can't sit and expect Agudah to solve all the problems.
You see my child....
Our gedolim are too busy for you. They are busy banning concerts, banning books, having photo-ops all over the country, ripping microphones out of singers hands, and defending Bernie Madoff.
You see my child...
Agudah made a convention a few years ago, and declared that all non Moetzes rabbis could not be classified as a "gadol". Therefore Rabbi Yosef Karo who wrote the Shulchan Aruch is irrelevant by these great "scholars". Rav Elyashiv is a moderner in their eyes.
You see my child...
There are so many children who don't have a Seder anymore because of them being sexually abused in yeshivas and elsewhere. So many teens are dead from drug overdoses and alcohol abuse, caused by drowning out the pain. Yet the Agudah could care less about them. Only their supporters and those who toe the line are important.
My dear child...
Follow the law.
Use the police to uphold the law.
Convince others to to the same.
Then...
Shfoch Chamoscha El Agudah Asher Lo Yeda'Ucha. People who distort the Torah like them.
56 comments:
New York - My recent Am Echad Resources essay “Bernie, Sully and Me” has generated substantial criticism from many readers, including people whose opinions I deeply respect. I have come to the conclusion that that there were errors in both the content and tone of the essay, for which I apologize.
My main goal in publishing these essays is to help people understand eternal Jewish truths. Unfortunately, here I chose unsuitable examples for the concepts I sought to impart, failing to accomplish that goal and offending many people in the process.
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I am grateful, as always, for the constructive comments and feedback I received from my readership, whose confidence I hope to retain going forward.
Chag kasher visame'ach,
Rabbi Avi Shafran
Director of Public Affairs
Agudath Israel of America
Avi wrote his dreck article to explain to AG Cuomo why ich bin nisht azoi shlecht.
He botched it so badly, that today I am indicted. Dumb Agudah.
JWB said:
Shafran should retract everything he's ever said.
1) In January 2004, Agudah spokesman Rabbi Avi Shafran sent LILITH a press release complaining that the attention now being focused on spousal abuse among Jews is tantamount to Orthodox-bashing.
"All the Orthodox rabbis I am privileged to know are exquisitely sensitive toward women, as they are towards men," he writes. Those who take seriously those rabbis' advice, Rabbi Shafran says, "would be rendered virtually incapable of abusing his or her spouse."
Tell this to the women in the Miklat shelters.
2)
Agudath Israel on the arrest of one of its former camp counsellors:
"Why would we have comment about the arrest of an individual?" Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, December 8, 2006
3)
On reporting child abuse to the police.
"In cases where there is some degree of doubt, the beit din has a responsibility to counsel against going to authorities until there is proven criminal activity." Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America, January 2006
4)
Quotes from Shafran’s book "JEWTHINK: A manual of Jewish belief (a guide to real Judaism) for the thinking individual" about the reform and conservative movements that was online just a few years ago. It has since been removed.:
“These people are not so much meant to be hated as enemies and wished dead for the sake of ‘revenge’ or to see them dead. The way we hate such people is not like the ‘cat hates the mouse,’ but rather like the ’storekeeper hates the vermin’ which infest his store, not hating the vermin themselves but wanting them gone in order to arrest the damage they are causing. We resent their existence. So, in lieu of the fact that we are not allowed to physically harm these people today, we should still treat them with utter contempt and disrespect, avoiding contact with them as one would with any destructive fiend.”
Shafran writes about Conservative and Reform leaders that there is “a law which orders loyal Jews to kill these types of people if at all possible,” a law which was declared inapplicable today by the Chazon Ish but which “remains valuable for the light it sheds on the way Real Judaism” regards such people.
He states that Conservative and Reform leaders “qualify for the infamous titles of min and apikoros” and “are the followers of Korach;” Shafran states that “these man-made ‘religions’ [Conservative and Reform] are the most destructive forces in the history of the Jewish people and all those who seek to spread their noxious heresies are mesisim, instigators whose aim is to lead astray the masses;”
The Proof from the despicable "JEWTHINK: A manual of Jewish belief (a guide to real Judaism) for the thinking individual" by Avi Shafran (I believe this is a partially cleaned up version of the original):
Introduction/Table of Contents/Preface
http://web.archive.org/web/20011211014629/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/jewthink.htm
Chapter 1
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink01.htm
Chapter 2
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink02.htm
Chapter 3
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink03.htm
Chapter 4
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink04.htm
Chapter 5
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink05.htm
Chapter 6
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink06.htm
Chapter 7
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink07.htm
Chapter 8
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink08.htm
Chapter 9
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink09.htm
Chapter 10
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink10.htm
Chapter 11
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005256/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink11.htm
Chapter 12
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink12.htm
Chapter 13
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink13.htm
Chapter 14
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink14.htm
Chapter 15
http://web.archive.org/web/20040324184232/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink15.htm
Chapter 16
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/ jewthink16.htm
Chapter 17
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink17.htm
Chapter 18
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink18.htm
Chapter 19
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink19.htm
Chapter 20
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink20.htm
Chapter 21
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink21.htm
Chapter 22
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink22.htm
Chapter 23
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink23.htm
Chapter 24
http://web.archive.org/web/20030505005452/http://www.vtc.net/~cdgoldin/r%27avi/jewthink24.htm
ROME (Reuters) – An Italian scientist predicted a major earthquake around L'Aquila weeks before disaster struck the city on Monday, killing more than 100 people, but was reported to authorities for spreading panic.
Learn to do well, seek judgment, strengthen the victim, judge the orphan, plead for the widow. -Yeshaya 1:17
In the first perek of sefer Yeshaya, the navi exhorts the Jewish people to "strengthen the victim" in order to avoid destruction. The term used is "Asheru Chamotz" (Yeshaya 1:17). Asheru is from the root "Yashar", in other words give them a "yasher koach". Chamotz is the opposite of "Chometz" which is another term used for thief (see Tehilim 71:4). The Chamotz is the one who was victimized by the Chometz. The gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin 35a quotes R' Chanina who explains that the navi is telling the people to do justice by strengthening the victim, not the criminal (Asheru Chamotz V'Lo Chometz- rashi there: hanigzal v'lo hagazlan= the robbed not the robber).
In the same perek which we read on the Shabbos before Tisha B'Av, the navi blasts the leadership of the Jewish people at the time. "Your leaders are rebellious and companions of thieves, everyone of them loves gifts and follows rewards (payments), they judge not the orphans, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them."(Yeshaya 1:23)
What contributed to the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash is still a major contributor as to why we are still in exile. Our "leadership", both religious and political, refuses to strengthen the victims. Instead, they give chizuk to the criminals and the perpetrators of the worst crimes imaginable. By refusing to support the Child Victims Act (the Markey Bill), they are going directly against the words of the navi- ASHERU CHAMOTZ V'LO CHOMETZ! The Lopez Bill gives strength to the sexual predators while it leaves the victims hanging. Supporting the Lopez bill over the Markey bill will only cause destruction. Do we have to learn this bitter lesson again? Do we need more Tisha B'Av's? Do we need more victims of child sexual abuse?
The navi Yeshaya was talking to the hamon am, not to the leaders in his rebuke. He spoke of the leaders in third person form (Sarayich). In other words, he was telling the people that your leaders are a lost cause. You need to do what you can on your own. You cannot depend on them for leadership. Do we need any more proof than the idiotic essay by the spokesman for the Agudah? This man has made a career of spitting in the face of victims and strengthening criminals. When asked to respond to the Kolko arrest he arrogantly replied "Why should we comment?" Then came his lengthy diatribe attacking David Framowitz and labelling his accusations as "tawdry tales" and labelling the entire plague of rabbinical sexual molestation as "anecdotal evidence". Then came his unabashed defense of Rubashkin, comparing the sleazy criminal to a poet that hasn't showered, and that his meat should still be considered kosher. Now his latest ode to Bernie Madoff where he fawns all over him with "admiration" while he attacks a true hero, Captain Sully, proves once and for all how smug and insensitive this spinmeister is. His "apology" where he insists that his words are based on "eternal Jewish truths" only adds fuel to the fire. He continues to pervert the Torah to further his and the Agudah's agenda.
It is clear that our "leadership" today which is represented by the Agudath Israel is the same type of leadership we had at the time of Yeshaya. They are clearly "chavrei ganavim"- all you have to do is look at who gets honored at the yeshiva dinners and gets published by Artscroll. They are clearly "Ohev Shochad V'Rodef Shalmonim"- that is why the kashrus industry today is one massive scandal. On top of all that, they refuse to aid the victims of the system which they wrought. These types of "leaders" are not the ones to turn to for action and solutions. We must take up the cause of the victims ourselves by pushing the Child Victims Act into law. ASHERU CHAMOTZ V'LO CHOMETZ! Let's take it upon ourselves this Pesach to not only get rid of the Chametz from our homes, but to remove every Chometz from our midst.
Mah Nishtana: The Four Kashyas of Our Kinderlach, Some of Whom Are No Longer at the Seder
Why is the sexual abuse of children treated differently than all other communal issues?
1) In all other areas of halacha, we enforce the highest level of tznius and morality, but in this area of halacha - we ignore the rape of children.
2) In all other areas of kashrus, we demand the highest level of reliability, certification and supervision, but in the sanctity of children's own bodies - we demand none.
3) On all other matters, we follow the psak of Rav Eliyashiv, but when Rav Eliyashiv gives a psak urging victims of sexual abuse to report their abusers to the police - we ignore him.
4) In all other areas of a child's life, we fight and demand for their rights, (we lobby for bussing, for textbooks, for school lunch programs...) but when it comes to the sexual abuse of children - we lobby to protect our children’s abusers.
You see my child...
The answer to all the four questions is:
Call 911
We can't sit and expect Agudah to solve all the problems.
You see my child....
Our gedolim are too busy for you. They are busy banning concerts, banning books, having photo-ops all over the country, ripping microphones out of singers hands, and defending Bernie Madoff.
You see my child...
Agudah made a convention a few years ago, and declared all non Moetzes rabbis not a gadol. Therefore Rabi Yosef Karo who wrote the Shulchan Aruch is irrelevant by these great scholars. Rav Elyashiv is a moderner in their eyes.
You see my child...
There are so many children who don't have a Seder anymore because of abuse. So many teens are dead from overdoses caused by drowning out the pain. Yet the Agudah could care less about them. Only their supporters and those who toe the line are important.
My dear child...
Follow the law.
Use the police to uphold the law.
Convince others to to the same.
Then...
Shfoch Chamoscha El Agudah Asher Lo Yeda'Ucha. People who distort Torah like them.
Sometimes I wonder: Who is responsible for all the Jews who would lead a life of Torah and Mitzvos but are just so turned off by the 'blackness' and other silly mishugasin?
Op-Ed: Praising Madoff isn’t kosher
By Tzvi Hersh Weinreb · April 6, 2009
NEW YORK (JTA) -- I was simply astonished when I first read Rabbi Avi Shafran's Op-Ed, "Bernie, Sully and Me." I reacted with open-mouthed incredulity to his contention that we are misjudging Bernie Madoff as a villainous knave, and miscasting pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger as a heroic figure. A better example of a tendency called Talmudically "ipcha mistavra," or "ornery contrariness," would be hard to find.
My initial inclination was to give my respected friend and Baltimore landsman the benefit of the doubt. Could he have been writing "tongue in cheek"? And after all, even the best of us is entitled to a bad day. Might we not chalk this one up to the stresses and strains of pre-Pesach preparations?
But soon, in the midst of my own Passover preparations, I found myself "bubbling and boiling," and increasingly aware that what was before me was not only against my own moral judgment, but was an also inconsistent with the Jewish moral tradition. By defining Madoff as a "penitent," and belittling Sully's life-saving heroism as devoid of "moral choice," Shafran is more than just "off the mark." He does not adequately convey the Torah’s moral sensibilities, and thus his essay compels me to issue a public refutation. Mr. Madoff, whatever other names he deserves to be called, cannot be called a "penitent." His expressions of remorse and apology, even if sincere, fall far short of penitence and bring his crimes no absolution.
Teshuvah, repentance, from interpersonal offenses requires redress of the damage done. Whereas, for sins between Man and God heartfelt confession may suffice, the Talmud and rabbinic legal codes require much more when it comes to sins between Man and his Fellow. Return of the stolen object, compensation for the loss, reparation for the anguish and embarrassment caused, appeasing the victim and petitioning him or her for forgiveness are but some of the absolutely necessary steps that the repentant criminal must take to achieve absolution before the earthly and Heavenly courts. Madoff has done none of the above, and is not likely to ever do so. He has certainly not obtained forgiveness from those whose dreams he shattered and lives he ruined. And who can blame them for not granting that forgiveness?
Shafran comes up short theologically as well. In some religions, expressions of faith and heartfelt contrition are the crux of piety and sufficient to obtain Divine Grace. Judaism, on the other hand, concedes that "the Compassionate One requires the heart," but insists that deed and effective action are central and necessary.
Shafran argues that Madoff's initial intentions were good, but that he became "inextricably trapped" in his own machinations. From the Jewish perspective there is no such thing as "inextricably trapped” -- there are always choices -- and he had numerous occasions, indeed daily opportunities, to end the scandal and thereby at least mitigate the losses of his victims.
There is another dimension to Madoff's treachery. As a Jew, and as one who identified himself strongly with Jewish causes, he created a chillul HaShem, a profanation of the name of the Almighty, of historic proportions, reflecting disastrously on the reputation of all Jews, Judaism, and the Jewish God. Shakespeare's Shylock and Dickens' Fagin fade as symbols of supposed Jewish avarice and greed in comparison with Madoff and his misdeeds. Furthermore, reaction to his crimes not only sullies the name of Jews the world over, it endangers them everywhere. It provides confirmation for the most venomous anti-Semitic propaganda. For this, forgiveness is impossible.
Sully, on the other hand, acted efficiently and skillfully, saving the lives of well over a hundred human beings. Whether or not he displayed "sublimity of spirit" or adequately credited the Lord above is immaterial and irrelevant. As our sages stress: "Your actions shall draw you near."
And as for his "moral choice"? Choosing to land his plane the way he did may not have been guided by motives of morality, but they were surely guided by motives of survival, praiseworthy in their own right. Sully's "moral choices" came much earlier in his life than that fateful day on the Hudson River. They came when he chose to become a pilot, when he fervently advocated improved safety procedures, when he decided to pursue specialized training opportunities, when he determined to become the "best damn pilot" that he could, and surely when he refused to leave his plane until he personally made sure that all passengers had disembarked.
Every choice that he made, dozens of times each day, to keep his body fit, his senses keen, and his mind alert, was a "moral choice".
In an age when mediocrity is the norm, the choice to pursue excellence is a "moral choice."
And in an age when tens of thousands choose to use their technical intelligence to devise schemes of death and destruction, Sully's choice to utilize his intelligence to develop life-preserving skills is a "moral choice" indeed.
Better to contrast Sully not with Bernie Madoff, but with those other pilots who not so long ago, and just a few hundred yards from Sully's landing, exercised their piloting skills to murder thousands of innocents. Sully chose to master those same piloting skills to protect life. For that he deserves our gratitude and moral admiration.
Would that we could learn from him that moral choices must often be accompanied by long processes and painstaking efforts, and that only with great commitment can we fulfill the biblical injunction: "Therefore choose life."
The Future of American Orthodoxy
Jonathan D. Sarna
".....Some of its leaders proudly proclaim themselves the winners in the race to save American Judaism, and insist that non-Orthodox Jews, with their high rate of intermarriage, will have no Jewish grandchildren and no Jewish future.
History warns against triumphalistic claims of this sort.
In the post-Civil War era, Reform Jews believed that they would define American Judaism. The architect of American Reform Judaism, Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, called his prayer book Minhag Amerika and, given the number of synagogues that moved into the Reform camp in his day, his vision did not seem farfetched. Many in the mid-1870s believed as he did that Reform would in time become "the custom of American Jews." Of course, with mass East European Jewish immigration that did not happen and within half-a-century Reform Judaism had stagnated.
Conservative Judaism, meanwhile, became the fastest growing movement on the American Jewish scene and it too enjoyed a moment of triumphalism, especially in the immediate post-World War II era. But its success proved no more long lasting. In recent decades, its numbers have declined both absolutely and relatively.
The question now is whether Orthodoxy will follow the same trajectory.
History, of course, does not always repeat itself, but insiders in the Orthodox world know that their movement suffers from many "dilemmas and vulnerabilities."
Indeed a symposium organized by the Orthodox Union in 1998 spoke of "a sense of triumph mixed with trepidation." I want to focus on six reasons for this trepidation.
Without discounting any of American Orthodoxy's obvious strengths, anyone who is seriously interested in the future of American Orthodoxy needs to confront these issues.
First of all, Orthodox Judaism in America has had trouble retaining its members.
Indeed, according to a demographic study by Sergio Della Pergola and Uzi Rebhun, published in the Orthodox flagship publication, Jewish Action, Orthodoxy loses more of its members over time than does any other Jewish religious movement.
Even among the younger and supposedly more committed Orthodox (born 1950-1970), according to the survey, Orthodoxy retained ONLY 42 percent of those born into its fold......."
Steve:
Excellent piece my friend!
Thanks UOJ! Chag Kasher Vesameach to you!
Obama Wants to Control the Banks
There's a reason he refuses to accept repayment of TARP money.
* Article from Wall St.Journal
By STUART VARNEY
I must be naive. I really thought the administration would welcome the return of bank bailout money. Some $340 million in TARP cash flowed back this week from four small banks in Louisiana, New York, Indiana and California. This isn't much when we routinely talk in trillions, but clearly that money has not been wasted or otherwise sunk down Wall Street's black hole. So why no cheering as the cash comes back?
My answer: The government wants to control the banks, just as it now controls GM and Chrysler, and will surely control the health industry in the not-too-distant future. Keeping them TARP-stuffed is the key to control. And for this intensely political president, mere influence is not enough. The White House wants to tell 'em what to do. Control. Direct. Command.
It is not for nothing that rage has been turned on those wicked financiers. The banks are at the core of the administration's thrust: By managing the money, government can steer the whole economy even more firmly down the left fork in the road.
If the banks are forced to keep TARP cash -- which was often forced on them in the first place -- the Obama team can work its will on the financial system to unprecedented degree. That's what's happening right now.
Here's a true story first reported by my Fox News colleague Andrew Napolitano (with the names and some details obscured to prevent retaliation). Under the Bush team a prominent and profitable bank, under threat of a damaging public audit, was forced to accept less than $1 billion of TARP money. The government insisted on buying a new class of preferred stock which gave it a tiny, minority position. The money flowed to the bank. Arguably, back then, the Bush administration was acting for purely economic reasons. It wanted to recapitalize the banks to halt a financial panic.
Fast forward to today, and that same bank is begging to give the money back. The chairman offers to write a check, now, with interest. He's been sitting on the cash for months and has felt the dead hand of government threatening to run his business and dictate pay scales. He sees the writing on the wall and he wants out. But the Obama team says no, since unlike the smaller banks that gave their TARP money back, this bank is far more prominent. The bank has also been threatened with "adverse" consequences if its chairman persists. That's politics talking, not economics.
Think about it: If Rick Wagoner can be fired and compact cars can be mandated, why can't a bank with a vault full of TARP money be told where to lend? And since politics drives this administration, why can't special loans and terms be offered to favored constituents, favored industries, or even favored regions? Our prosperity has never been based on the political allocation of credit -- until now.
Which brings me to the Pay for Performance Act, just passed by the House. This is an outstanding example of class warfare. I'm an Englishman. We invented class warfare, and I know it when I see it. This legislation allows the administration to dictate pay for anyone working in any company that takes a dime of TARP money. This is a whip with which to thrash the unpopular bankers, a tool to advance the Obama administration's goal of controlling the financial system.
After 35 years in America, I never thought I would see this. I still can't quite believe we will sit by as this crisis is used to hand control of our economy over to government. But here we are, on the brink. Clearly, I have been naive.
Some good news for a change.A Chag Kosher vesomeach.
The whole of Yerushalayim was in an uproar!
A well-known man, a Belzer Chasid, and his wife had
just given birth to their first child - a boy - after being childless for twenty-eight years! The sholom
zachor that Friday night was the event of the year. Well over a thousand people came by to wish Mazel
Tov to the proud and exhausted father. The food supply ran out in short order as did the drinks, but no
one seemed to mind. At the height of the celebration, the crowd quieted down as the father indicated that
he would like to say a few words.
"Moreh V'Rabbosai," he began in a loud voice, "thank you all for coming and sharing in the simcha.
Although I have no more food to offer, let me at least tell over a story which I'm sure you'll appreciate."
The ecstatic new father composed himself and continued. "When I was a bochur learning in the Belzer
Yeshiva, there was a cleaning lady who would come by every day to tidy up and scrub the Beis Medrash
and adjoining rooms. She was a fixture in the yeshiva and devoted her life to maintaining the yeshiva
building. She was, however, not a wealthy person by any stretch and as her own family grew, she was at
a loss of options as far as taking care of her children. She decided to bring her kids with her to work, and
as she cleaned and mopped in one area of the building, the young children would run amuck, screaming,
crying and generally causing quite a commotion, in the rest of the yeshiva. At first, we put up with it, we
even thought it was cute for a time. But after a while, the kids really began to 'shter' us in our learning
and davening. Try as we might to control them, they wouldn't listen and continued on in their childish
games and noise. A number of younger bochurim asked me, as one of the oldest in the chaburah, to ask
her not to bring her children anymore to the yeshiva.
"I agreed to talk to her and I brazenly walked up to her and told her that her kids were disturbing
everyone in yeshiva and she should find some sort of alternative method of child-care for them. I'll never
forget how she looked at me with tired eyes and said, 'Bochur, you should never have צער גידול בנום
(the pain and anguish that one goes through when raising children.) The crowd gasped.
"As many of you know," continued the father, "my wife and I have been to countless doctors who've
recommended every sort of treatment. We moved abroad for awhile to be near an 'expert' which proved to
be fruitless. One last, extreme treatment was offered and after trying that, it too, turned out to be just a
fantasy; we felt doomed to a life without the pleasure of raising a yiddishe family.
"After that last attempt, as we walked back into the apartment that we lived in for the past twenty-eight
years, our entire sad situation hit us full force, like a ton of bricks. Together, we broke down crying and
and ask for forgiveness. I spent hours on the phone until I came up with an address, which I ran over to
immediately. She did not recognize me obviously, but when I told her over the story, a spark flickered in
her eyes. I tearfully apologized for my harsh words and she graciously forgave me with her whole heart."
Beaming from ear to ear, the father announced, "Rabbosai, that took place exactly nine months ago!"
Arthur, part of your story is missing in the middle. Please correct it.
Al pi halachah:
A person who caused financial loss to another person, must make restitution. A person who insults someone else, must receive forgiveness from the insulted party.
The pasuk says Va'Yareiu Osanu Hamitzrim. The treachery of the Egyptians was a public relations campaign describing the ingrateful Jews who want to take power in Egypt. The result was a disregard of the human rights of the Jews. By dehumanizing human beings, there are no feelings preventing their extermination.
We are living in dangerous times. The nations of the world are looking for a face to blame for the economic crisis. Bernard Madoff is the face of greed, deceit, and wanton disregard for people's possesions. As a Jew, it solidifies all that the nations think about us. For an Orthodox organization to fan the flames through applauding Madoff's "teshuva" is a Chillul Hashem.
The Chicago Police Department has stepped up patrols throughout the West Rogers Park community. This allows all members of the community to experience an enjoyable Pesach without fear of criminal activity.
All community members should adhere to all stated speed limits and parking regulations. All criminal activity should be reported to the police immediately. If one sees a crime in progress, or suspects one is about to happen they are urged to contact 911 immediately.
The laws of mesirah do not apply to situations of premeditated criminal activities or the intent thereof.
May all of Klal Yisroel enjoy a Chag Kosher V’Someiach, with peace and tranquility!
ESPN.com - Lance Armstrong says in statement he did not try to evade French drug test - 1 hour ago
Not just Rav Elyashev.
Why do they ignore the gadol in America, R' Zelig Epstein, zol er zein gezunt?
Well, I only ignored R' Zelig on chinuch issues for Russians in yeshivos.
By the time me and Avremel Schorr-Habor got around to stabbing Lipa in the back, R' Zelig was no longer longer talking to me that I could have ignored him.
"I am grateful, as always, for the constructive comments and feedback I received from my readership"
Yeah Shafran, is that why you started leveling personal insults against the guy who emailed to question you about Kolko & Margulies?
I wish that guy had left up the exchange on the now unplugged "Avi Shafran Speaks" blog to expose your deceit the whole world.
Anonymous said: Sometimes I wonder: Who is responsible for all the Jews who would lead a life of Torah and Mitzvos but are just so turned off by the 'blackness' and other silly mishugasin?
6:33 PM, April 06, 2009
I'm afraid that you are not going to like the answer. You see it's the other guy. When a door needs to be opened for a lady with a double stroller, it's the other guy. When a child needs to cross the street, it's the other guy. When a minyan needs the 10th, it's the other guy who they are waiting for. When a person needs a pat on the back or a kind word, it's the other guy that has to show up. When the problem is in Flatbush and not in Boro Park, it's the other guy who needs to deal with it. When it comes to lending a hand and grabbing a mop, it's the other guy we wait for.
I suppose that I could sit here all night and come up with examples, but that's really what the other guy should do.
When do these people connect to Yiddishkeit when you and I realize that we have to be the other guy. When we go in front of these distant cousins, comfortable in our practice of Yiddishkeit and ready to answer and guide them. I remember when Rav Aryeh Kaplan and others wrote on how to answer missionaries from all other practices of religion. Maybe you and I need to write on how to deal with the mysoginist practice of religion. I prefer to practice the ideas and ideals, personally. I think that practicing a middle road and non-extreme Yiddishkeit is okay. I've said it here before, people can look down on me because I don't have a white on white table cloth. They can sneer because I say oh instead of oo. They can snicker because I choose to wear a kimono and a beehive do at the Shabbos tisch. But I still believe in Hashem and I trust that he believes in me.
A Chag Kosher ve'Sameach. And if someone not yet observant says have a Happy Passover - say it right back, Happy Passover. Anything else would be black.
Ershten iz Reb Zelig iz nisht fin unzere. He's fun der alte heim. Agudah already established that older generation rabbonim have no bearing on nowadays.
Tzvaitenz iz er iz nisht an Agudah gadol. Er hut loichem mit Reb Elya zt"l so we bounced him out.
Dritten iz there is a kolo d'lo passek az er hut ungenummen gelt for a psak. Der inyan hut mevarer mit menchen that see the financial statements.
Ad kan, ich darf nisht redden mer.
A masmid yeshiva bucher from Sha'ar Hatorah should be off this traif site anyway. Go back to the bais medrash.
At the request of R' Avrohom Schorr shlita, we are dropping the movie's theme song performed by Lipa Schmeltzer.
It will be replaced with heimishe nigunim performed by Monsey-Flatbush alta kacker molester Potyi Lipschitz. Es passt veil er iz fin der chasheevei Frankel's shul vus hut gehat kinder in Torah Temimah.
If I can I be excused for being on a blog noch chatzos halayla, the same "wise guy" who keeps murmuring vague accusations about R' Zelig is barking up the wrong tree. R' Zelig is as straight as they come which is exactly why the kanoyishe nuts are always out to knock him. Just the fact that R' Zelig has spent countless hours into his old age tackling Klal Yisroel's problems without taking a cent from any individual that he devoted dozens of them to is veiter proof.
The nuts have badmouthed R' Zelig for such "avlos" as possessing a Phd in chemistry, encouraging some to get a secular education themselves and even that Cardinal Sin of visiting his modern orthodox son in Hillcrest.
Tuesday Apr 07, 2009
Heart-Earned Wisdom: A hatchet job
Posted by Sherri Mandell
I belong to an "elite" group of mothers of children who were bludgeoned to death by Palestinian terrorists.
Murdered cruelly, intentionally, and in cold blood. Murdered because they were innocent. Murdered because they were Jews. Targeted by cowardly terrorists because they were defenseless kids. My 13-year old-son Koby was beaten to death with stones.
Now the Nativ family from Bat Ayin has joined our group. Their 13-year-old son Shlomo was murdered last Thursday by a Palestinian terrorist wielding an ax. The family has a passport into the never-ending pain of losing a child.
Hamas called the attack a natural response to the "occupation," as reported by The Jerusalem Post last Thursday.
This attack was committed in the framework of the resistance," Ayman Taha, a spokesperson for the group said. "This is a reaction to the continuing occupation and the continued building of settlements."
"This is a natural reaction," he said, "especially against the backdrop of Israeli attacks. We are a people occupied, and it is our right to defend ourselves and to act in every way and with every means at our disposal in order to defend ourselves."
Defense??? Since when is hacking a 13-year-old boy with an ax an act of defense? Palestinians may have gripes about nationhood but to pretend that bludgeoning a child in cold blood is a defense is an abomination.
Natural? If this is what is defined as natural, perhaps we should rethink what being human is all about.
The press would like to pretend that a fence would have prevented the killing, as if it is the settlement's fault for not being better protected. That's like saying they should have had a guard at the Twin Towers.
One step toward preventing the killing is not allowing language and logic to be perverted, not allowing terrorism to be termed defense, and not allowing murder to be called natural.
Hamas may be able to swallow the falsehood that the attack was a "natural defense to the occupation" but the sad truth is that too many otherwise fair-minded people also agree with Hamas's twisted definition of defense. And that, dear reader, is a hatchet job.
Shlomo Nativ deserves better than this kind of twisted logic. Using the occupation to justify intentional murder is obscene. Merely calling the murder a tragedy obfuscates responsibility. A Palestinian man committed an act of calculated terror -- cruel, barbaric, and purposeful. And he is supported and encouraged by his leaders, the same ones the world would like to have us believe, only want peace.
It's shocking how Rubashkin's deli dreck is back in full force at stores all over the place.
The rumor is that Aron's daughter from Florida is producing stuff along with other relatives down in South America, away from the prying eyes of Federal investigators and Yudel Shain. The $12 million worth of 10 year old frozen poopoo in Postville's freezers just doesn't account for the massive volume.
The biggest gedolim baTorah of all haven't been on the Moetzes lately. They are forced to speak the emess which happens to get under the skin of the Agudah's baal habatish secretariat.
R' Shmuel Berenbaum, the rosh halamdonim.
R' Zelik Epstein, the rosh pikeyach.
There are others who are not such glaring examples too.
I gave his private cell phone number this week to someone who Moishe Kizelnik owes a lot of money to.
For anyone else victimized by Kizelnik's thievery, that cell phone # is 732-232-7910.
I posed this question to R' Yudel who didn't really give an adequate answer.
How do we trust the hashgochos of Skverr with all the corruption and criminality in their town?
Is there going to be a cameo appearance by Scheinerman in the Bungalow Putz movie darshaning from the bimah?
The rumor is that R' Elya used to get secretly ferried from Philly to Queens all the time and sneak in to R' Zelig's office to ask him aitzos. It's not clear if the bochurim of Shaar saw it as it was during seder with R' Zelig's office a block or two away from the yeshiva. It may have been R' Elya's baal agoloh, some Philly bochur at the time named Pinny Franken who opened his big mouth about it. And the suspicion does seem to lead in Franken's direction since it was Philly guys alein who were spreading the rumor.
Is it preferable to avoid any school or camp for pre-school age kids if it is being run by men?
I figure if it's run strictly by women, it's very rare that women abuse children and is therefore safer.
Does anyone know if Fartscroll will publish the pirush Haggada that Margo has been writing?
A few sneak previews:
Shebechol dor vador there are those like UOJ sheomdim aleinu lechaloseinu.
Belsky's matzos are the new gold standard in hidur because they actually have fragments of hazmonos baked into them.
It is mutter to money grub and steal to put food on the table for the seder. Margo's claims it's the mesorah from Romania but the cable guy informs me that Margo has a subscription to HBO and probably got the idea from Tony Soprano's father.
By Shefoch chamoscho el hagoyim, Margo is koveya a new minhag to throw the kos shel Eliyahu at a picture of Feivy.
Tatty, is it possible that in Lakewood, it is not good to call 911?
Tatty, I have heard from several people that the police in Lakewood can't be trusted because they are controlled by their rabbinic liason.
Tatty, is it better to call advocacy organizations first, like NJCASA, so that advocates can accompany a victim's family to report the abuse to the police? Then maybe all the evidence in the Lakewood police department won't continue to mysteriously disappear. And with support from advocates, maybe then Lakewood rabbinic attempts at victim intimidation can be prosecuted too.
Tatty, is it possible that it's usually so important to call 911 asap after sexual abuse has been disclosed by a victim? But in cities where the local police department is under the control of rabbis who wield policial clout, like in Lakewood, isn't it critical to first get the support of local advocacy organizations, like a local CASA (Coalition Against Sexual Assault)?
"Agudah already established that older generation rabbonim have no bearing on nowadays."
Therefore the Brooklyn eruv in and about Flatbush and Boro Park is 1000% kosher.
Sorry but you can't pick and choose which psak you going to follow based on your whims. If the older generation is butil, then you have to come up with something other than "Rav Moshe has a teshuvah". Of course, it is clear that you might mean Moshe Rabbeinu and just be referring to him as Rav or Reb Moshe; familiarity breeds contempt.
Chag Sameach to all. Enjoy the Yom-Tov and rest up; we have much work on our agenda after the chag!
Yes, Pinny Franken was R' Elya's driver. Believe it or not, Yankel Pollack of all people wanted to keep him out of Lakewood for that reason. Pollack got big ideas due to one Philly bochur before that who the roshei yeshiva didn't want in BMG that had R' Malkiel kept dodging all of R' Elya's phone calls. The roshei yeshiva needed someone who would feel important telling R' Elya that the bochur would not be accepted, so Pollack was given the task. It was no surprise then when Pollack took it upon himself, as the groysa lamdon that he is, to keep out a driver. It seemed to have worked for at least one zman until R' Elya finally got his boy in. Pollack was also known to have it in for prospective bochurim for completely silly and vicious reasons. He would tell the bochurim or the fathers who called that they didn't do good enough on the farher. Since some of these bochurim knew the masechta inside out mit raid, it wasn't long until his charade was exposed. When Gershon Ribner found out what Pollack was doing he asked: "Vos? Dem vos veist nisht afeelu tzuros oysiyos aleph bais?"
Shmarya has become just as bad and trigger happy with the censor as Eckstein and VIN. I tried today to post a comment via a computer I last used 12 months ago, only briefly. Shmarya recorded that someone had criticized him from that IP and evidently placed a ban which still stands after all this time. I did not know about it last year as he must have made a move after I ceased using that computer.
I am responding today to his defense of poor kashrus at Streit's:
Scotty, it's no surprise that you've been all over this story with several bellyache posts this week but the background here is beyond your scope. The same goes for your reader, the Conservative Rabbi DW who poses as orthodox whenever he wants to score more points in furthering his agenda.
While I agree that there should not have been a last minute ambush on Streits & Soloveitchik, the kashrus in the plant has been a sorry state of affairs for some time now. Here is the story that you will not hear on the record from the various agencies. True, Rabbi Aharon Soloveitchik was a great man but things started to unravel while he was still alive but in a state of failing health. According to my information which is very well placed, the Chof-K did pull out because of kashrus issues despite their denials and things have gotten steadily worse under Rabbi Soloveitchik Jr. This is not the only example where a learned man oversees a shoddy kashrus operation.
The attacks on Rabbi Eisen are to be expected. The fact is however that he has saved many a fresser from consuming non-kosher or questionable items wherever he has worked. The standards at the OU have gone down since he left. And he is not a regular employee of Kehillah. He is an outside consultant who cannot be blamed for bad Kehillah policy decisions.
Unfortunately, Rabbi Eisen does not stop other problematic foods like Rubashkin & Haribo but that is because of the 25 rabbis in the 5 Towns who employ him. They did deem Streits so bad however that they did not stand in his way.
There was a rumor going around for more than a decade that a certain manufacturer of matzoh cake meal was nailed in an outside lab test for selling nothing more than half-baked chometz, that the fact that it was so white aroused enough suspicion to get it tested. According to my well placed sources, Streits was the culprit.
I don't know how qualified Yoel Schoenfeld is as a pulpit rabbi but he is one of the few at the Queens Vaad who actually cares about kashrus standards.
Scotty could have turned this into an attack on the Streits kashrus supervisory agency for doing a poor job just as he did for Agri's supervisors but it is much more enjoyable for him to portray Soloveitchik as a moderate victim of some imaginary mafia of fanatics.
Philly (& Long Beach) have long been way overrated. Many of the bochurim who passed through have been mediocre or even shvach yet the yeshivas get worshipped by the Hungarian idiots in Boro Park-Flatbush who go running to the Fresser convention.
These stupid, materialistic Litvak-wannabes should go back to the Unterland and let the real yeshivish crowd define Yiddishkeit the way it should be. And take Margo with you while you're at it.
R'UOJ, Chag kosher vsamiach, and a freilichen yom tov.
Pollock tried to keep me out of Lakewood because he didn't like one of the yeshivos that I went to for a short time. He tried to misdirect me so that I wouldn't even be able to get a bechina. I shmecked he was up to no good and was able to outsmart him. He didn't like one of my friends even though he went to all the right yeshivos and was mamash top notch in learning, only because he wore chassidish levush. My friend's father made chopped liver out of Pollock when he told him his son isn't good enough in learning. He called him a shakran and got him in hot water with the roshei yeshiva. Pollock won't get fired however since he is a useful idiot as Lenin would say.
Margo also writes in his pirush hahagada that you have to put Hungarian paprika in the charoses. It's a mesora from the Mongols and Kuzarim that the Hungarians & Roumanians shtam from. You use the same force to mix the ingredients as when you slap a little boy across the face who complains that Kolko stuck his hand under his pants.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/galleries/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs.html#ph4
Agents at Newark Airport detected this pesky stowaway in mid-March on a shipment of thyme from Israel. USDA scientists confirmed that it's a species of bug - the Hallodapus - never-before-seen on U.S. soil that has potential to wreak havoc on our trillion dollar agriculture industry.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/galleries/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs.html#ph8
This bushmeat was confiscated in mid-February 2009 at Newark Liberty Airport. The term "bushmeat" refers to meat from animals living in "the bush" or forest - often rats, antelope or monkeys - and is usually intercepted coming from Africa.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/galleries/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs/weirdest_stuff_stopped_at_customs.html#ph13
These diamonds, woth $1.2 million, were seized at JFK in late December 2008 from a U.S. citizen arriving from Tel Aviv - like most busts, this one occurred after the traveler displayed "nervous behavior."
The large yellow stone is a 20.39 carat diamond.
Shmarya is full of it as usual. He claimed about 48 hours before the Seder that he was buying Streit's products only in solidarity with them against organized kashrus.
So let's see. Even in major out of town cities, if you don't buy all your Pesach groceries about 2 weeks before Yomtov, things get sold out. Shmarya is up in G-d forsaken Minnesota and he pretends he is running out to buy groceries for the first time on April 7th.
I don't know about you, but I know a liar when I see one.
It was the bow seen around the world.
Last week, President Obama greeted King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia with what appeared to be a bow, outraging conservatives who say the leader of the free world has no business bending over to foreigners.
But the White House denies that the president bowed.
A video of the greeting shows Obama significantly stooping before the 84-year-old monarch.
The alleged bow left a bitter taste with many conservatives.
"By bending over to show greater respect to Islam, the U.S. president belittled the power and independence of the United States," the Washington Times said in an editorial.
"Such an act is a traditional obeisance befitting a king's subjects, not his peer."
Other presidents have flirted with controversial greetings of foreign leaders. President Clinton apparently semi-bowed to Japan's Emperor Akihito but the White House said it was a slight tilt.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs addressed the issue Thursday when he denied that the president bowed.
"I think he bent over with both hands to shake his hand," Gibbs said before asking why the incident was being raised a week after it happened.
When a reporter said people were still discussing the incident, Gibbs used his signature sarcasm to dismiss the claim.
"I can only imagine it is of great cause and concern for many people struggling with the economy," he said.
nymag.com
God’s Work
Newlyweds Gabi and Rivki Holtzberg heeded the Rebbe’s call to bring the joy of their faith to every part of the world. But the world did not respond in kind.
By Jesse Green
Published Apr 12, 2009 (NEW YORK MAGAZINE)
Why is everyone so surprised by The Bim-Bam's behavior debasing the USA with his actions, words, and Marxist economic agenda. It's tough to wrap your mind around the notion that a US president would actually NOT have the country's best interests at heart.
His kowtowing to the Russians, North Koreans, and Iranians will (hopefully not) perhaps lead to terrorist attacks on US soil.
His birth certificate is sealed by the Courts and many people at the schools he attended never heard of him.
His associates and 'friends' are the "Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, and Saul Alinsky.
It is truly amazing how many radical changes have been made in his first 90 days. This hopeychange man is a sleeper agent.
With recognition to the Author Sinclair Lewis; It can and is happening here, folks.
The Bim-Bam Identity.
CLEVELAND (AP) Family: Immigration agents have arrived to deport alleged Nazi guard John Demjanjuk to Germany.
TRACY, Calif. (AP) Calif mom charged with murdering girl found in luggage; DA says girl also was raped, kidnapped.
Obama just anulled the restrictions on Fidel Castro's Cuba.
When will he replace the Star Spangled Banner with a Muslim crescent or Marxist hammer & sickle?
Plane lands safely after passenger jumps out over Arctic
By Florence Loyie, Canwest News Service
April 16, 2009 8:01 PM
EDMONTON — The flight crew of a charter plane were badly shaken, but still managed to land safely after a distraught passenger opened a door and leaped out while the aircraft was flying over the Arctic.
The man from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, opened the door of the King Air 200 charter flight and jumped out of the aircraft without a parachute late Wednesday afternoon.
The plane had been flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay.
The plane was about 7,000 metres above sea level and 100 nautical miles southwest of Cambridge Bay at the time.
The pilots made "every possible effort" to stop the man from jumping, RCMP said.
Police, who had been alerted by a distress call regarding an unruly passenger, met the plane when it landed.
The plane landed without its door. The two pilots and a female passenger were shaken, but otherwise uninjured, Staff Sgt. Harold Trupish said.
RCMP had been using a Twin Otter aircraft to search the rugged terrain below where the man leaped, but the search had to be delayed due to bad weather.
A spokesman for Aldair Aviation Ltd., which owns the chartered plane, declined to comment Thursday.
A pilot with another airline, who didn't want to be identified, said losing the door at that altitude could have sent the plane down.
"Worst case scenario, there would be catastrophic failure and you would have lost the plane," he said.
The plane would have instantly depressurized with the cabin filling with frigid air and it would have been difficult to breathe without oxygen masks, he said. "It would not be good," the pilot said.
April 17, 2009
Paterson Introduces a Same-Sex Marriage Bill
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Gov. David A. Paterson introduced a bill on Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage, vowing to personally involve himself in the legislative debate at a level that is rare for a chief executive in New York.
Throwing the weight of his office behind legislation that still faces considerable obstacles in Albany, Mr. Paterson said he would leverage the personal relationships he developed over two decades in the State Senate to see the bill voted on — and passed. The vote is expected to turn on the thinnest of margins in the Senate, and some advocates say Mr. Paterson’s direct involvement could prove pivotal.
At a news conference in Manhattan on Thursday, Mr. Paterson, a Democrat, invoked the abolitionist movement of the 1800s, the writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision to argue that New York had neglected civil rights for gays and lesbians for too long. “I’m putting a stop to it,” he said. “We have a duty to make sure equality exists for everyone.”
Obama is aiming to eliminate American nuclear warheads.
Brilliant! Make sure that only Islamic states like Pakistan and terrorists who buy them on the black market can have them and target the US who has no means of defending itself or striking back.
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