"Chassid"ism" is not Judaism"
THE UOJ ARCHIVES - FEBRUARY 2007:
Chassidic movements today, regardless of the value it may or may not
have had at the time of the Besht, are for the most part today,
meaningless to Jews of intellect. The Rebbe today is a fraud
capitalizing on the very essence of human weakness. Look around, save
some good chesed organizations, the rest of it is like rotten stinking
meat. The smartest of the chassidic kids are leaving physically, and
much of the rest are trapped, and have left emotionally. But the
chassidim are Jews, certainly not ones that we should be proud of.
I want to thank Rabbi Eidensohn once again for taking the time to attempt to correct my views on the meaning of Torah-true Judaism.
I do assume dear Rabbi, that the reason I have not heard from you in the past two years since I began my career as a Blogger, is because you do agree with everything else I have written since March 2005. That's quite flattering.
Now that we got that out of the way, I will proceed in a serious manner. For the sake of some of my detractors, I want to be able to demonstrate that I am capable of respecting rabbinic figures in positions of authority, when indeed those rabbis have earned my respect.
Dear Rabbi,
It would be foolhardy of me to attempt to match my Torah knowledge with someone of your stature, although I'm confident I am capable of holding my own. I can , however, match Gedolim stories with you, and perhaps tell you a few that you are not aware of. Perhaps.
I have a very diverse audience. There are clergy-people of every faith, a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Superior Court judges, yeshiva-leit, attorneys, bankers, doctors, journalists, an adviser to President Bush, college professors, roshei yeshiva...not to forget leitzonim (clowns), and everyone else, that I am expected to entertain at no charge. They do not come to UOJ for Gedolim stories, they come here for an unorthodox presentation of the ugly, in your face, rude & crude truth! So here goes! (With respect!)
The crux of my post on "Chassid"ism" is not Judaism", is entirely different than your well-intended interpretation of those words. I did not certainly mean to imply, as you seem to infer, that Chassidim are not Jews. I certainly did not say that Kabbalists are not Jews. As, I would never say or even think for a second, that a Reform Jew is not a Jew, or that our totally secular brothers and sisters are not Jews. Our Halacha clearly states that "anyone born to a Jewish mother is a Jew". That includes "Jews For Jesus", members of the "Kabbalah Center", and even members of the "Moon" sect, that were born to a Jewish mother.
But the facts actually speak for themselves. The "Zohar" was not an evolutionary work that began with Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai as the "Ari" claimed it was. Of course there are references in the Talmud to kaballah, spirituality, mystical happenings, and aggadata, or stories that were passed down through the ages, I have not said otherwise.
But I am looking for Mesorah, actual references to "Kaballah /Zohar" as a body of work that was incorporated into Judaism at the time of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and there are none.
What we call today Chassidim, are by definition followers of the Besht or Baal Shem Tov. His teachings, perhaps, had purpose at the time. It was able to bring into his sphere of influence a simplified, watered-down Judaism, for "simple" Jews, that were incapable of grasping the learnings of the Talmud. That, I'm certain, was a good thing, supposing that it did not conflict with true Torah values. Serving God by singing was in fact something new to Judaism at that time. I do not have a problem with that form of prayer, provided it also included the traditional prayers of the Jews that were formulated after the destruction of our Bais Hamikdash, by Chazal.
I have no doubt that the great Rav Ahron Kotler embraced many Chassidic Rebbes. Are you therefore implying that because of an embrace out of ahavas Yisroel, his love for a fellow Jew, that implied he endorsed their philosophies? How would you respond to a photo of Rav Ahron Kotler embracing the great gaon Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik? Would you therefore claim he endorsed his great thoughts, philosophies and writings?
After giving a shiur in Tanya, the writings of the Lubavitch Rebbe referred to as the Baal Hatanya, the saintly Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, the founder of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Torah Umesorah, was asked by a student; "Rebbe, are you a Lubavitch Chasid?" (a follower of the Lubavitch movement), his answer was clear and precise , "I am a chasid of the Ribono Shel Olam". (a follower of Hashem)
We need to remember that once we start including additional works of rabbis into our Canon, or the original Torah that was given to us at Sinai, where and when does it end? Would you then claim the works and the writings of the Rambam as significant as the Prophets? How then would you explain that many of the Rambam's writings were burned, and he was excommunicated by many contemporary rabbis for being a heretic?
Would you also then claim dear Rabbi, that the works of the great gaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein to be as significant in terms of being able to dispute them, as the Shulchan Aruch? ( The body of law written by R' Yosef Caro accepted by Orthodox Jews as the embodiment of the Torah law)
So there is a huge difference in what is "authentic, original Sinai Judaism" and the add-ons that came later for whatever certain rabbis may have deemed worthwhile at the time.
That leads me to another favorite saying of mine. "There are happenings, doings/actions, successes by people that are timely, and than there are the ones that are timeless!
What the great Rabbi Kotler did for Judaism after the war was "timely", what the saintly Rabbi Mendlowitz did for American Judaism was "timeless".
The era of recruiting every single male into a lifetime of Torah study is over. It was perhaps desperately needed post-war for twenty years or so, perhaps, but certainly that is an idea that is now devastating Jews. Time to bury it quickly before the damage becomes irreparable! Entire families are being destroyed!
The original intent of kollel was for the select precious few that were able to carry forth the Torah to our next generation with the utmost integrity. Kollel is for our select few mitzuyonim or excellent students. Excellence in mind, in middos, and character, with purity of heart and soul. Those people only deserve our communal support, not the other 95% with average, at best, abilities, or for most, just a place to hang out after the wedding.
What Rabbi Mendlowitz did for American Judaism is "timeless"! A day school in every major American city was his dream that was fullfilled under the leadership of one very great man, the college educated, Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky. When Elya Svei and Shea Fishman took over, Torah Umesorah died for all intents and purposes! In its present form, he would have shut it down.
The great visionary Rabbi Mendlowitz strongly felt that Judaism in America can not survive without ample parnassah; was as "timeless" when he lived , as it is today, and will be until the end of time. Make no mistake about it, had he lived longer, there would have been a full-fledged state chartered yeshiva college and a trade school under the auspices of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath. Prior to his untimely death, Rav Hutner, at his behest, had handled the application and approval process. This is not story, this is verifiable fact.
DON'T BELIEVE ANYONE THAT SAYS OTHERWISE!
http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2014/02/american-hebrew-theological-university.html
Each child would have been educated and put on a learning path for their individual needs and abilities. There would not have been mass herding of children into educational programs that were unsuited for them. He worked for God, his business was owned by God, and every breathing second of his short life was dedicated to benefit Klal Yisroel and Hashem. He did NOT leave Torah Vodaath to his progeny; there were more qualified people to lead the yeshiva. THIS WAS HASHEM'S YESHIVA, and he was only God's clerk!
What is very telling is what you chose not to disagree with. The Christian concepts of the Rebbe as an intermediary between Jews and God; and Gedolim infallibilty as an integral part of our Mesorah, is something I would want to hear your opinion on.
The evidence however is clear. The Rebbes and "infallible" Rabbis are comitting crimes under the guise of Mesorah. According to them, "one must never question their behavior or decisions, period, leave your brains at the door"! That is something that must never be tolerated under any circumstances. We do not live under the Czars, the Romans, and other hostile governing powers that we must be concerned that ALL of our affairs, whether we know what we're doing or not, must be totally controlled by rabbis. This is what killed hundreds of thousands of Jews, perhaps millions, since we became a People, and came really close to destroying all of Judaism.
I clearly, unequivocally, and respectfully disagree with Rav Hershel Schachter's opinion that "where" a criminal perpertrator is incarcerated, is a consideration that must be addressed before one goes to the police. A crime such as child molestation, that destroys our childrens' well-being, physical as well as emotional, must be reported to the police promptly without any other consideration, certainly without asking a rabbi that probably has an inherent conflict of interest.
The huge philosophical problem that I'm having is the inverse relationship that is taking place in the Torah world. What one must expect and demand; that the more Torah in our society, the more piety and Torah values should be increasing as well. The exact opposite is what's happening! The more Torah being learned, the more Torah centers going up, the more crime in one form or another, is transpiring in these very centers. The Torah is NOT being internalized, it became a subject to study, the very antithesis of what R' Ahron and R' Shraga Feivel had in mind!
Dear Rabbi Eidensohn, you are a very brave man for coming here. The Agudah really thought that I expected them to invite me to speak at their Convention. They are afraid of their own shadows. Yes, I asked for an invitation, challenging them to do the very thing that they did. They devoted the theme of their Convention to this dangerous phenomena called blogging/Internet. Not the avlas/crimes going on with their tacit approval, but a "maaseh Satan" who uncovered them for the criminals/incompetents/ impotent fools that they are. Then, of course, comes the coverup and tortuous twisting of the English language.
So we have a difference of opinion on this and that, Rabbi. You value certain channels of information, stories, that I gave up on a long time ago, when they consistently did not hold up under scrutiny. You use the Internet to communicate your thoughts, kol-hakovod. I would much rather focus on what we do agree on.
The Jewish people are a great People, but we are floundering and destroying ourselves with criminal and frivolous behavior. The "Kabballah Movement" is a fraud, the works of the Zohar are not the learnings of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and have perhaps as much value to Jews as the Tanya, the Mesilas Yeshorim and the Michtav M'Eliyahu. They are works that tantalize the mind, and challenge, if studied correctly, the intelligent minds. Mesorah? I don't think so.
Chassidic movements today, regardless of the value it may or may not have had at the time of the Besht, are for the most part today, meaningless to Jews of intellect. The Rebbe today is a fraud capitalizing on the very essence of human weakness. Look around, save some good chesed organizations, the rest of it is like rotten stinking meat. The smartest of the chassidic kids are leaving physically, and much of the rest are trapped, and have left emotionally. But the chassidim are Jews, certainly not ones that we should be proud of.
If this is what the Besht had in mind for his followers, he should be considered as very much the danger that Shabbtai Tzvi was in his reign of ignorance and confusion. I could care less about certain groups that find comfort in ancient myths created by charismatic storytellers. As long as they do not violate the basic tenets of Judaism perhaps there is a value ; I frankly am concerned about people spending their precious time on frivolous acts in the name of Torah.
I do not really have much to add about the behavior of the present-day Rebbes and their chassidim. I have mocked the movement to the point of painting them as ignorant, vile, obscene cartoon characters, except that Mickey Mouse did not claim to be an intermediary to God for his Mouseketeers. That's when people start killing /maiming other people in the name of God and Halacha. Certainly not part of my Mesorah!
Hopefully, other concerned and honest rabbis like yourself, will join together and give us hope that there is a future for Jews that crave for honest rabbis and authentic, Torah-true Judaism.
May you be blessed with kol-tuv; the strength and wisdom of our previous Torah giants, and the desire to continue where they left off . We want to be delivered back to the time when we were surrounded by ehrliche rabbonim and true yirei Hashem that deserve our respect.
Your successes would then be "timeless".
EVERY SIGNATURE MATTERS - THIS BILL MUST PASS!
CLICK - GOAL - 100,000 NEW SIGNATURES! 75,000 SIGNATURES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SUBMITTED TO GOVERNOR CUOMO!
EFF Urges Court to Block Dragnet Subpoenas Targeting Online Commenters
CLICK! For the full motion to quash: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/hersh_v_cohen/UOJ-motiontoquashmemo.pdf
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Chaim Weissman, of Brooklyn, was charged with sex abuse, sexual contact with an individual less than 11 years old, and other child abuse charges for the Sept. 14 incident on 18th Ave.
Cops nab suspected Brooklyn perv, charge him with sex abuse of 9-year-old Hasidic boy
Leiby Kletzky's 2011 abduction and murder — just five blocks away from this latest incident — led to a $1 million campaign to install 100 security cameras in Borough Park.
(Bebeto Matthews/AP)Chaim Weissman, of Brooklyn, was charged with sex abuse, sexual contact with an individual less than 11 years old, and other child abuse charges for the Sept. 14 incident on 18th Ave. in Borough Park — just five blocks away from where 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky was abducted and murdered in 2011, officials said.
Weissman gave the boy $100 after he masturbated, cops said.
NYPD hunt for perv who masturbated after luring boy into his car
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/cops-nab-suspect-accused-sexually-abusing-9-year-old-boy-article-1.2803971
Friday, September 23, 2016
Jews Gone Crazy!
Rabbi warns Jewish women not to wear red and yellow or 'sinful' skirts that reveal their knees
The letter was sent to 5,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish homes in North London
The letter, seen by The Independent, warns women to adhere to a list of “cardinal points” in how they dress. The rules include covering one's knees, wearing fabric loose enough to cover the outline of one’s hips and forbids wearing bright colours.
The letter is signed by a senior rabbi and was sent to 5,000 homes in the Stamford Hill area of North London.
The letter states: “The length of a skirt must extend until at least 4” (10 cm) below the end of the knee. This is required because only with this additional length is one assured that the knees will remain covered even when running, sitting down, climbing stairs etc.
“The width of the blouse or other top garment should be so that the shape of [the] upper body is not apparent. The width of the skirt must be such that the hips and thighs are hidden and camouflaged by skirt.
“The clothes should not have an unusual style as they would be eye-catching. The clothes should not have any unusual style as they would be eye-catching. Similarly the clothes must not be red, a bright yellow or fluorescent colour which are very eye-catching. Instead calm colours should be worn.”
Dina Brawer from the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, told The Independent: “Modesty is indeed a very important Jewish value which applies equally to both women and men. It is about a mindset that values dignity and discretion.
"Tasteful clothing is only one manifestation of this value. Obsessing over women’s hemlines paradoxically undermines this value and smacks of male control.”
In September last year, it was revealed a state school in the community told mothers they had to adhere to a strict dress code while their children were enrolled as pupils. A parent claimed Yesodey Hatorah stipulated that mothers must "refrain from following trends which contradict the spirit of modesty... the wearing of flashy or very brightly coloured clothing is forbidden... dresses and skirts may not be shorter than 4 inches below the knees... a slit in a skirt or a dress is absolutely forbidden even if it is completely below the knees." The school confirmed the dress code but said there was no expectation that children would be expelled if their mothers did not adhere to it.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews estimates there are around 30,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews living in the UK, amounting to 10 per cent of the total British Jewish population.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ultra-orthodox-rabbi-issues-letter-warning-to-women-it-is-a-sin-to-wear-skirts-revealing-their-knees-a7322726.html
Thursday, September 22, 2016
Hypocritically, this statement is signed by many of the very same rabbis who cover-up Orthodox child molesters, ignore victims’ reports of abuse, harass victims and their families who speak out or demand that they remain silent about their abuse and abuser....
Child Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Community
- Written by JV Staff
Dear Editor:
Recently, 300 rabbis signed a statement
(300 rabbis’ pledges) condemning Orthodox child sexual abuse and calling
on rabbis to make Orthodox institutions safe for children. It appears
that most of the signers are affiliated with either the Orthodox Union,
the National Council of Young Israel, are graduates or employees of
Yeshiva University or are members of the Rabbinical Council of America
(RCA).
Although this statement isn’t officially
from the RCA, almost everything contained in it has been copied nearly
verbatim from four previous RCA child protection resolutions that date
back 23 years. None of them have been implemented or enforced. What’s
significant about this latest statement is that the RCA has over 1,000
rabbis who are members, yet only 300 were willing to sign it.
It is difficult to view this statement
as anything more than the 5th attempt over several decades by the RCA
and Orthodox rabbis to appear concerned about the rampant sexual abuse
of Orthodox children, while doing little or nothing to actually stop it.
Like the previously ignored RCA child protection resolutions, this one
imposes no sanction on any rabbi or Orthodox institution who fails to
act to protect our children from sexual abuse.
The statement condemns the covering-up
of Orthodox child molesters; the ignoring, shaming or punishing of
victims who cry out for help; and the rabbinic demands that victims not
report their abuser to the police. It calls for Orthodox institutions to
implement child safety procedures; allow victims to pursue justice and
demands that members of Orthodox communities be informed when a child
sex predator moves in.
Hypocritically, this statement is signed
by many of the very same rabbis who cover-up Orthodox child molesters,
ignore victims’ reports of abuse, harass victims and their families who
speak out or demand that they remain silent about their abuse and
abuser.
Moreover, many of these signers are the
same rabbis who for decades have failed to implement the RCA’s own child
protection rules or who deny justice to students who were sexually
abused at Yeshiva University and other Orthodox institutions. They
refuse to establish a public database of Orthodox child sex predators or
warn community members about molesters in their synagogues, schools,
yeshivas or neighborhoods.
Some of the rabbis have even gone so far
as to write pre-sentencing letters to judges in support of convicted
Orthodox child sex offenders, without expressing any concern, sympathy
or support for the offender’s victims.
It should be clear to anyone paying
attention that if we – parents and grandparents, survivors and concerned
community members – don’t demand that our rabbis protect our children
from sexual abuse, they will do nothing.
The holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom
Kippur will arrive shortly. This is a time when our synagogues, schools,
yeshivas, rabbis, presidents or board members will ask us – repeatedly –
for our money.
This is an excellent time to explain to
all of them that we will only donate to Jewish institutions that have
implemented the public pledges enumerated in the child safety statement
that our rabbis have signed, or should have signed, but refuse to. If
our rabbis and Orthodox institutions want our money, they must earn it
by adhering to their Torah obligation to do everything in their power to
make our children safe. If they refuse to protect our kids, we will
refuse to donate to them.
Sincerely
Eric Aiken
(owner of http://www.protectjewishkids.com and an advocate for Orthodox victims of child sexual abuse)
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
"We cannot separate the men from their art when they used their status from that art both to commit and conceal their violent behaviour. To continue to share their art is to continue to share one of the weapons they used to commit their crimes."
Carlebach, Cosby, and Separating Art from Its Artist
A few weeks ago, my shul (synagogue) held its annual Carlebach Shabbos. Benzion Miller, the Aron Miller Memorial Choir, and roughly 1,500 people showed up to sing, and dance, and celebrate the life, music, and legacy of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. There’s no question that Shlomo Carlebach touched the lives of tens of thousands with his music, his passion, and his apparent utter devotion to God and the Jewish people, and returned souls to Judaism at a time when religion seemed on the decline. But there was a darker side to the legend, a side that forces the uncomfortable question: Can we separate the man from the legacy—the art from the artist?
So there I was, sitting in my pew, 1,500 people around me, all singing Carlebach. I couldn’t help myself. It’s impossible not to sing along. The melodies are beautiful in their simplicity, saturated with soul, and electrifying in crowds. It’s impossible not to be swept up in the frenzy. My fingers drumming along to the melody, my feet tapping, a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth despite my best efforts to the contrary, I sang along with everyone else. How could I deny it? In a room filled with people from the far-right to the far-left to the non-observant, all singing the same music, all united in a way they have never been before, and will likely never be again, how could I not be swept up by the crowd? Men in shtreimels (circular fur hats worn by Hasidic men) with long, untrimmed beards, dancing with their fellow Jews, some wearing knit kippot (skull caps), some with ponytails, some in suits, some in jeans and a t-shirt; has anything, in the history of the Jewish people, ever united people so different, than the music of Shlomo Carlebach?
Following the service was a Carlebach dinner held at a local catering hall, with our scholar-in-residence, Rabbi Sammy Intrator, Carlebach’s long time right hand man. He started the night off with a song, and once the crowd was warmed up, he began to talk about Reb Shlomo. He told us story after story about Reb Shlomo’s compassion, his love for his fellow Jew, how deeply his desire to foster peace and love in this world ran, and how in-tune his soul was with God and the world. In true Carlebach style, he told us some of the stories that Carlebach used to tell, singing them exactly as Carlebach used to, bringing them to life with as much of the emotion and heart as he could. Carlebach’s stories always make me cry. As hard as I try not to, they always manage to get me.
Carlebach had an amazing gift for touching the souls of people with his stories of Chassidus (a more spiritual and mystical approach to Orthodox Judaism), and how the simplest Jew could have the greatest impact; his stories keep alive the memories of fallen communities and dynasties that perished with time and in the Holocaust, and the memories of the great men and women that would otherwise be forgotten. You would have to be lacking a soul not to tear up at the story of Chatzkele Lekavod Shabbos. And as I sat there listening to Sammy Intrator reincarnate Carlebach so beautifully for his very captive audience, I felt a little dirty. My holy brothers and sisters, I remember—I REMEMBEEEEEEEEEER—the Shlomo Carlebach that I grew up hearing so much about, the great man who reunited Judaism in the Diaspora, but I also remember the Shlomo Carlebach who fondled women who came to him for guidance, who masturbated on women who worshipped him, and who covered it all up by telling them that they were holy, and special. I remember the stories I’ve heard firsthand from people who experienced the darker side of Carlebach. And as I sat there laughing and crying as Sammy Intrator spoke, I felt myself tearing apart.
A battle was raging in my head: How can you sit there and listen to this when you know what he really was, and what he did to those women? But, but, look at the holiness he brought to this world, the people he united, the masses he returned to Judaism, the power of his music, and the strength of his enduring legacy! Yeah, but his legacy was built on the backs of an endless string of victims! But, but look! Look at all these people, singing, and crying, and laughing, and loving, and opening their hearts to one another! Surely that must count for something! Maybe, but who will remember the victims, and how is it right to sit there and tacitly support a man who caused so much damage?
I don’t know.
Honestly, Carlebach is a difficult subject for me. My inner conflict was punctuated by the recent resurgence of rape allegations against Bill Cosby. I loved Cosby. I loved his show, I loved his comedy, I loved his smile, I loved what he represented. Just like I loved Carlebach. It’s always this way. It’s always the people you love the most who hurt you the worst. Of all the people who had to be sexual abusers, of course, it had to be Shlomo Carlebach, and Bill Cosby. Right in the childhood. Right in the heart. Cosby is easier for me to throw under the bus, because while I’ve enjoyed his work, it’s never touched my soul. Carlebach is special to me. Carlebach represents a Judaism I’d love to see in this world. I mean, I suppose he would, if not for the small matter that he was a sexual abuser. Why does it have to be so difficult.
Both Cosby and Carlebach got away with what they did for so long because of how loved and cherished both they and their work were. But can their work stand alone? Is it possible to separate the art from the artist? It’s an ongoing question for me. On the one hand, I see the beauty that Carlebach brought into the world, and I don’t want the world to suffer the loss of what Carlebach gave it because of his sins. Perhaps the beauty, and holiness he facilitated was there already, waiting only to be discovered and brought to light, and he was only a conduit. Perhaps we would have had it through someone else, someone less flawed. Perhaps we should therefore allow what he revealed to stand while we leave him to rot.
On the other hand, as blogger Elan Morgan pointed out on a friend’s Facebook page:
IMPORTANT: We cannot separate the men from their art when they used their status from that art both to commit and conceal their violent behaviour. To continue to share their art is to continue to share one of the weapons they used to commit their crimes.Perhaps we do more harm than good by perpetuating the tools of these people’s abuse. Perhaps we are contributing to the pain felt by Carlebach and Cosby’s victims, who for so long were denied justice, by touting the instruments of their abuse as something worthy of praise and enjoyment. Perhaps we make those men that much more acceptable by refusing to give up what they created simply because our lives are enriched by the fruits of those poisonous trees.
Or maybe there’s a baby to be saved somewhere in the putrid bathwater. Maybe there’s a message, some truth, a little good that can be salvaged from these men’s abominable lives. Might the message not be valid regardless of its source? Can we not keep the moral values Cosby preached while damning the damaged he caused to 17 (and counting) women, or the love and acceptance exhorted by Carlebach while distancing ourselves from the man himself and his actions.
There are a million answers to these questions, and frankly I haven’t found mine yet. It’s something I struggle with every time I hear one of Carlebach’s songs, or see the popularity people like Eitan Katz, or Yehuda Green have because of their similarities in musical style to Carlebach. I still feel dirty and conflicted when I sit in shul and hear one of Carlebach’s tunes used for lecha dodi (Song to greet the Sabbath sung by Friday night prayers), finding myself at once moved and repulsed. To be honest, I still use those tunes myself when I lead the prayers, because I know the congregation likes them and will sing along. I don’t know what the balance should be, or if there even is one to be had. Maybe you people can help me out; what do you all think?
https://hareiani.com/2014/12/07/carlebach-cosby-and-separating-art-from-its-artist/
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
A prominent settler leader faced calls for his resignation Sunday after media reports revealed he agreed to pay compensation to a woman in return for her dropping complaints of sexual assault against him.
Davidi Perl, head of Etzion Bloc Council, says large amount of hush money he paid to his accuser is not admission of guilt
Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl
A prominent settler leader faced
calls for his resignation Sunday after media reports revealed he agreed
to pay compensation to a woman in return for her dropping complaints of
sexual assault against him.
Davidi
Perl, head of the Etzion Regional Council, has protested his innocence
and said he paid the woman hush money solely to protect his family and
prevent the accusations from being made public.
Channel 10 television reported last week that
Perl agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of shekels to a 20-year-old
Jerusalem woman who made a complaint against him with the Takana Forum,
which specializes in dealing discreetly with sexual abuse cases within
the Modern Orthodox community. In return, the woman withdrew her
complaint and Perl agreed to not run for council in any future
elections.
Takana, which includes prominent Modern
Orthodox rabbis and officials, tried unsuccessfully for months to
persuade Perl to attend a hearing. Finally, one of the rabbis hired an
attorney to represent the woman and two months ago managed to secure
Perl’s consent for a negotiated settlement. In return for the payment —
reported by the Modern Orthodox Srugim website to be NIS 200,000
($53,000) — the accuser would retract her complaint and Perl would not
run in future elections.
Perl, who had previously declined to comment
on the matter, on Friday sent a letter to other members of the council
in which he insisted that the money he paid was not an admission of
guilt.
“The things that have been published in
various articles have no basis other than that I paid money to prevent
publication of slander, which was made clear to me would be published if
I didn’t pay,” he wrote.
“Don’t see my willingness to pay as a form of
assent,” Perl continued. “Sometimes a person gives up the fight even if
he is right, and so I did it out of a desire to protect my family.”
Details of the letter were first published by
the national-religious aligned Kippa website and then picked up by other
Hebrew media outlets.
Kulanu parliament member Rachel Azaria
MK Rachel Azaria, an Orthodox member of the
centrist Kulanu party, urged the national religious movement and the
Yesha umbrella council of settlers to force Perl out of office
immediately.
In a Facebook post Sunday, Azaria wrote: “This
is the time to demand that Davidi Perl resign. I ask, where is the
Yesha Council? Where is the Torah-orientated [Orthodox] leadership? Why
are your voices not heard? What are we teaching our daughters and sons?”
Yuval Cherlow, a leading moderate Religious
Zionist rabbi, and one of the initial founders of Takana, told Israel
Radio that if the reports that Perl paid his accuser to keep quiet are
true, then he cannot continue to lead the council. Cherlow stressed that
he is not personally familiar with the details of the case, but noted
that he would approach other members of the forum and urge them to give
the woman full support.
According to Channel 10, the case began a year
ago when the woman lodged a complaint with the Takana Forum. The forum
questioned the woman in detail and reached the conclusion that her
accusations were valid. Takana consulted with Attorney General Avichai
Mandelblit, who advised the forum to deal with the matter as best it
could given that the alleged victim refused to file a police complaint
out of fear of making her identity public.
The media exposure has put the Etzion Bloc
community in a quandary, Channel 10 said, because so far the Takana
Forum has maintained a policy of strict silence on any cases it deals
with, refusing to even confirm if there is a case against Perl.
Monday, September 19, 2016
NO PITY FOR THE PITIFUL!
pitiful >
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Friday, September 16, 2016
Court Upholds Sentence Given to Rabbi in Voyeurism Case
 |
| Rabbi Barry Freundel leaves the D.C. Superior Court House in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015. |
A three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals upheld Rabbi Bernard Freundel's sentence in a unanimous 21-page ruling.
Freundel's lawyer, Jeffrey Harris, had said during oral arguments in
June that his client's sentence should have been limited to one year in
prison. As part of a plea deal, Freundel had pleaded guilty to 52 counts
of voyeurism, a charge that carries up to a year in jail. A judge
sentenced him to 45 days on each count, running the sentences one after
another. Freundel's attorney had argued that the sentences should have
run concurrently, meaning Freundel would have served 45 days.
But, in an opinion for himself and two colleagues, Judge Roy W. McLeese
wrote that District of Columbia law "unambiguously permits separate
punishment for each of Mr. Freundel's fifty-two victims in this case."
"We conclude that Mr. Freundel's sentences are lawful," McLeese wrote.
Freundel's lawyer did not immediately respond Thursday to telephone and e-mail messages from The Associated Press.
Freundel was arrested in 2014 after one of his recording devices was
discovered at the National Capital Mikvah in Washington. Prosecutors
found that he had filmed some 150 women at the Jewish ritual bath using
recording devices hidden in a clock radio, a fan and a tissue box
holder. A statute of limitations would have barred prosecutors from
charging Freundel for every recording, however, and he pleaded guilty to
52 counts of voyeurism. As part of his guilty plea he acknowledged that
he made the secret recordings from 2009 to 2014.
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Would Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l - The Legendary Founder of Torah Umesorah, Have Approved Of This Transaction & Affiliation With A Convicted Felon?
 |
| Presidential Candidate Rand Paul At Torah Umesorah Headquarters |
Why Did a Jewish Schools Charity Loan $2.3M to Failing Hedge Fund?
A Jewish education charity made a $2.3 million loan to a failing
hedge fund this May, two months before the hedge fund’s collapse.
Torah Umesorah, also known as the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, handed the money to a fund controlled by Platinum Partners at a time when the fund had access to just $63,000 cash.
Both of Platinum’s main funds are now being liquidated. It seems unlikely that the donor-supported not-for-profit will recover its loan any time soon, if ever.
Torah Umesorah’s national director, Rabbi David Nojowitz, did not respond to a request for comment.
The loan was first reported Monday by the New York Post. It was described in documents filed in Cayman Islands court in late August.
The originator and leading personality of this new idea was the Hungarian-born Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (who insisted on being addressed as "Mr. Mendlowitz") who was then serving as the head of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn.The first full-time Director, Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky, was selected in 1946, and was given the mandate to fulfill the vision of the founder.
At the founding of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, there were very few Jewish day schools, let alone authentic yeshivas or Beis Yaakov schools in North America.
Whereas by the end of the twentieth century, there were over 600 yeshivas and day schools in the United States and Canada with over 170,000 Jewish students.[citation needed] The organization's motto is "the children are the future" or in Hebrew, יש עתיד.
MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah_Umesorah_%E2%80%93_National_Society_for_Hebrew_Day_Schools#History
Torah Umesorah is a Brooklyn-based not-for-profit that provides
programing, training, and other services to hundreds of Orthodox
yeshivas. Founded in 1944, it had an annual budget of $39 million in
2008, the last year for which it made its tax documents public.
Its relationship to Platinum is unclear. Platinum has managed money for some charities, though there’s no indication that Torah Umesorah itself was one of those investors.
Torah Umesorah’s May 27 loan to Platinum came more than a month after an April 14 Wall Street Journal report tying the hedge fund to a federal investigation involving Jona Rechnitz, an Orthodox businessman embroiled in a police corruption scandal, and Norman Seabrook, boss of the corrections officers union.
The Wall Street Journal story turned out to be prescient. Just weeks after Platinum accepted the charity’s loan, a close associate of the firm, Murray Huberfeld, was arrested and charged with bribing Seabrook to invest union pension funds with Platinum. Rechnitz reportedly cooperated with prosecutors in the case. Huberfeld has pleaded not guilty.
Huberfeld is a leading Orthodox philanthropist, a major donor to Chabad-Lubavitch synagogues and to yeshivas in Brooklyn’s Boro Park, and, until his arrest, a member of the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a California-based group that opposes anti-Semitism. His foundation has sponsored a named program at the rabbinical school at Yeshiva University.
Huberfeld was convicted of fraud in 1993 for having someone else take a broker license exam in his name. An earlier company he founded, Broad Capital, specialized in selling penny stocks to Jewish charities.
Platinum announced in July that it would close its two main funds. It faces reported investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. Federal agents raided the firm’s offices in June.
In filings in Cayman Islands court, the Platinum Partners fund to which Torah Umesorah made its loan admitted that it “is unable to pay its debts.” A Cayman Islands judge appointed liquidation specialists to work with a New York liquidator hired by the firm to sell off its assets.
http://forward.com/news/349859/why-did-a-jewish-schools-charity-loan-23m-to-failing-hedge-fund/
Torah Umesorah, also known as the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, handed the money to a fund controlled by Platinum Partners at a time when the fund had access to just $63,000 cash.
Both of Platinum’s main funds are now being liquidated. It seems unlikely that the donor-supported not-for-profit will recover its loan any time soon, if ever.
Torah Umesorah’s national director, Rabbi David Nojowitz, did not respond to a request for comment.
The loan was first reported Monday by the New York Post. It was described in documents filed in Cayman Islands court in late August.
History: Torah Umesorah
The first national Jewish organization that pioneered Jewish day schools in the US in 1944 at a time when the United States was at war with the Axis Powers and Europe's Jews were facing the genocide of the Holocaust by the Nazis. Yet it was precisely at that time that the call went out, challenging the prevailing mood of the times, to establish a totally new network of Jewish day schools across North America. Torah Umesorah was founded by Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz.The originator and leading personality of this new idea was the Hungarian-born Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (who insisted on being addressed as "Mr. Mendlowitz") who was then serving as the head of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in Brooklyn.The first full-time Director, Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky, was selected in 1946, and was given the mandate to fulfill the vision of the founder.
At the founding of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools, there were very few Jewish day schools, let alone authentic yeshivas or Beis Yaakov schools in North America.
Whereas by the end of the twentieth century, there were over 600 yeshivas and day schools in the United States and Canada with over 170,000 Jewish students.[citation needed] The organization's motto is "the children are the future" or in Hebrew, יש עתיד.
MORE:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah_Umesorah_%E2%80%93_National_Society_for_Hebrew_Day_Schools#History
 |
| US ATTORNEY PREET BHARARA |
 |
| HUBERFELD PONZI SCHEME |
Its relationship to Platinum is unclear. Platinum has managed money for some charities, though there’s no indication that Torah Umesorah itself was one of those investors.
Torah Umesorah’s May 27 loan to Platinum came more than a month after an April 14 Wall Street Journal report tying the hedge fund to a federal investigation involving Jona Rechnitz, an Orthodox businessman embroiled in a police corruption scandal, and Norman Seabrook, boss of the corrections officers union.
The Wall Street Journal story turned out to be prescient. Just weeks after Platinum accepted the charity’s loan, a close associate of the firm, Murray Huberfeld, was arrested and charged with bribing Seabrook to invest union pension funds with Platinum. Rechnitz reportedly cooperated with prosecutors in the case. Huberfeld has pleaded not guilty.
Huberfeld is a leading Orthodox philanthropist, a major donor to Chabad-Lubavitch synagogues and to yeshivas in Brooklyn’s Boro Park, and, until his arrest, a member of the board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a California-based group that opposes anti-Semitism. His foundation has sponsored a named program at the rabbinical school at Yeshiva University.
Huberfeld was convicted of fraud in 1993 for having someone else take a broker license exam in his name. An earlier company he founded, Broad Capital, specialized in selling penny stocks to Jewish charities.
Platinum announced in July that it would close its two main funds. It faces reported investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice. Federal agents raided the firm’s offices in June.
In filings in Cayman Islands court, the Platinum Partners fund to which Torah Umesorah made its loan admitted that it “is unable to pay its debts.” A Cayman Islands judge appointed liquidation specialists to work with a New York liquidator hired by the firm to sell off its assets.
http://forward.com/news/349859/why-did-a-jewish-schools-charity-loan-23m-to-failing-hedge-fund/
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
My Message To The Groom - "You Got Lucky"!
'If the groom has a smart phone, cancel the wedding'
Paper publishes ruling by Rabbi Kanievsky, advising bride-to-be to cancel wedding with young man over non-kosher cell phone.
Rabbi Haim Kanievsky
A
statement attributed to Rabbi Haim Kanievsky, one of the leading
rabbinic figures in the haredi world, was recently published, calling
upon a bride-to-be to cancel her planned marriage after it was learned
her fiancé owned a non-kosher cellular device.
According to a report Tuesday morning in the Kikar HaShabbat website, Rabbi Kanievsky explained his decision, saying that a person within the haredi community who ignored the directives not to possess such a device would not raise children devoted to the faith.
Such a person, the rabbi warned “would not have generations of kosher descendants.”
Rabbi Kanievsky has been at the forefront of efforts within the haredi community to ban cellular devices with internet and text message capability, as well as unfiltered internet connections. Phones without those capabilities and which can be used for calls only are known as "kosher phones."
Last week it was announced that visitors carrying non-kosher cellular phones were barred from entering the rabbi’s home, with a sign warning visitors not to bring such devices onto the premises.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/217728
According to a report Tuesday morning in the Kikar HaShabbat website, Rabbi Kanievsky explained his decision, saying that a person within the haredi community who ignored the directives not to possess such a device would not raise children devoted to the faith.
Such a person, the rabbi warned “would not have generations of kosher descendants.”
Rabbi Kanievsky has been at the forefront of efforts within the haredi community to ban cellular devices with internet and text message capability, as well as unfiltered internet connections. Phones without those capabilities and which can be used for calls only are known as "kosher phones."
Last week it was announced that visitors carrying non-kosher cellular phones were barred from entering the rabbi’s home, with a sign warning visitors not to bring such devices onto the premises.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/217728
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Abba Eban 1958 --- Reliable Rumor --- Obama Will Recognize "Arab Palestine" Before He Leaves Office!
MIKE WALLACE - NO MATCH FOR THE BRILLIANT ABBA EBAN... NONE OF THE ISSUES CHANGED IN ALMOST 60 YEARS - EXCEPT IN 1958 THE ARABS HAD THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM - AND THAT WAS NOT ENOUGH!
Monday, September 12, 2016
70 MILLION! Thank You To All My Tens of Millions of Loyal Readers!
God Chit-Chats With Rabbi - Again!
Top rabbi blames garage collapse, rocket explosion on divine anger (Rabbi's God Kills Innocent People To Make A Point & Tells Mazuz What That Point Is)
Rabbi Meir Mazuz, head of Tunisian Jewry in Israel, says God’s unhappiness over desecration of Shabbat is cause of recent disasters
September 11, 2016, 12:35 pm
13
Rabbi
Meir Mazuz attends a press conference of the Yachad political party in
Bnei Brak, December 25, 2014. (Photo by Yaakov Naumi/Flash90)
A leading Israeli rabbi
attributed the collapse of a Tel Aviv parking garage that killed six
people and an explosion that destroyed the Amos-6 satellite to Sabbath
desecration, during a Saturday night class in Bnei Brak.
Rabbi
Meir Mazuz, the head of the Tunisian Jewish community in Israel and
spiritual leader of far-right political party Yachad, said the two
disasters “happened because [people] are belittling the Shabbat.”
Last Monday morning, a parking garage that was
being built in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood of northeastern Tel Aviv
collapsed suddenly, killing six people and injuring more than 20. The
rescue efforts, which began almost immediately after the collapse,
continued until Saturday afternoon when the last body was extricated.
“What happened this week has never happened
before. A building, with engineers, with inspectors. Dozens of people
trapped under the earth. It’s all because [people] are belittling the
Shabbat,” Mazuz said during his weekly class.
Israeli
medics and emergency units work at a construction site
where an underground car park collapsed on September 5, 2016
in the Ramat Hahayal neighbourhood of Tel Aviv.
where an underground car park collapsed on September 5, 2016
in the Ramat Hahayal neighbourhood of Tel Aviv.
Mazuz, who leads the Kiseh Rahamim yeshiva in
Bnei Brak,
was referring, in part, to a recent controversy in Israel
over rail work being done on the Sabbath, which has riled
the ultra-Orthodox political parties and their constituents.
was referring, in part, to a recent controversy in Israel
over rail work being done on the Sabbath, which has riled
the ultra-Orthodox political parties and their constituents.
In addition to the garage collapse, Mazuz said the Amos-6 satellite, which was destroyed on board a SpaceX rocket that exploded earlier this month in Cape Canaveral, Florida, was also caused by desecration of the Sabbath.
The
Amos-6, Israel’s largest ever satellite, and the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
on which it was perched go up in flames after the rocket exploded on
the launch pad during a static fire test at a launch facility at Cape
Canaveral in Florida on September 1, 2016. (YouTube screen capture)
“They [political leaders] don’t know that in the end the Sabbath will exact justice for this insult,” Mazuz said.
On a different note, the senior Sephardi rabbi
also warned the students in his class against enrolling their children
in secular schools.
“Anyone who sends their child for a secular education needs to know that their grandchild may become a non-Jew,” he said.
In a Facebook post, Rabbi Amnon Bazak, of the modern Orthodox Har Etzion Yeshiva, denounced Mazuz’s remarks.
“Why obscure the simple reason for the garage
collapse — serious negligence, for which some of the people involved
have already been arrested,” he said.
“Unfortunately, different disasters happen as
part of the world: negligence, crime, terror attacks, natural disasters
and more. They don’t differentiate between populations — religious,
secular, ultra-Orthodox, right-wing, left-wing, settlers and Tel
Avivians,” Bazak wrote on a Facebook post.
“No one has the ability to determine that a
disaster occurred because of some event, especially for the generation
after the Holocaust,” he said, referring to the questions raised about
God’s intervention, or lack thereof, during the Holocaust.
Eitam
Henkin and Naama Henkin of Neria, who were murdered in a drive-by
terror attack near Nablus on Thursday, October 1, 2015. (screen capture:
Channel 2)
Mazuz sparked controversy in November 2015
when he claimed gay pride parades and other forms of “sinful behavior”
were the reason terrorists murdered Eitam and Naama Henkin on October 1,
2015.
Mazuz told a memorial event for the Henkins
that their shooting death at the hands of Palestinian terrorists had
been a form of divine retribution.
“We must avoid acts of Sodom and Gomorrah that
have multiplied over the past year,” he said, referring to the biblical
cities destroyed by God for impenitent sin. “Gay pride parade? Pride in
what? What this pride is there in opposing nature? What pride is there
is opposing God? For this comes punishment.”
The Henkin couple were shot to death as they
were traveling in their car near the West Bank settlement of Itamar on
October 1. Their four small children – the oldest was 9 years old – were
in the backseat and witnessed their murder but were uninjured.
Mazuz is known as the spiritual mentor of the
Yachad political party which unsuccessfully ran in the March 2015
elections. Mazuz backed party leader Eli Yishai when he left the
hegemonic Sephardi religious party Shas following a vicious leadership
battle with Aryeh Deri.
Yachad
party leader Eli Yishai kisses the hand of Rabbi Meir Mazuz
during a press conference in Bnei Brak, December 25, 2014.
during a press conference in Bnei Brak, December 25, 2014.
Despite strong polling throughout the election
campaign,
Yachad failed to win the necessary votes to pass the electoral threshold
and earn seats in the Knesset. Bummer!
Yachad failed to win the necessary votes to pass the electoral threshold
and earn seats in the Knesset. Bummer!
Sunday, September 11, 2016
Let's Remember The Individual "Falling Man" - Everywhere! SILENT NO MORE!
WARNING: THE ABOVE VIDEO LINK IS GRAPHIC!
THE SOUND OF SILENCE - IN HONOR OF ALL THAT ARE VOICELESS - NO LONGER:
Lyrics:
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains within the sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed
By the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs
That voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools, " said I, "you do not know
Silence, like a cancer, grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
And the words that it was forming
And the sign said,
"The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls."
And whispered in the sound of silence
***
The most widely seen images from 9/11 are of planes and towers, not people. Falling Man is different.
The photo, taken by Richard Drew in the moments after the September 11, 2001, attacks, is one man’s distinct escape from the collapsing buildings, a symbol of individuality against the backdrop of faceless skyscrapers. On a day of mass tragedy, Falling Man is one of the only widely seen pictures that shows someone dying.
The photo was published in newspapers around the U.S. in the days after the attacks, but backlash from readers forced it into temporary obscurity. It can be a difficult image to process, the man perfectly bisecting the iconic towers as he darts toward the earth like an arrow.
Falling Man’s identity is still unknown, but he is believed to have been an employee at the Windows on the World restaurant, which sat atop the north tower. The true power of Falling Man, however, is less about who its subject was and more about what he became: a makeshift Unknown Soldier in an often unknown and uncertain war, suspended forever in history.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a48031/the-falling-man-tom-junod/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)