The Current Alleged Abuse At Camp Dora Golding Is Not The First Incident Of Alleged Child Abuse !

 

 

 LAWSUIT PDF:

camp dora golding 2014 https://failedmessiah.typepad.com/files/civil-suit-against-camp-dora-golding-filed-2-19-2014.pdf

Higher Criticism—Higher Anti-Semitism --- Solomon Schechter saw "Today" in 1903!

Higher Criticism—Higher Anti-Semitism

[Below is the full text of Solomon Schechter’s address, “Higher Criticism—Higher Anti-Semitism”, delivered at the Judaean Banquet, given in honor of Dr. Kaufman Kohler, March 26, 1903. The text is from Seminary Address and Other Papers (Cincinnati: Ark Publishing, 1915), 35-39.]

My acquaintance with Dr. Kohler dates from the year 1901, when he did me the honor of paying me a visit at Cambridge, England. There is no scarcity in that ancient seat of learning, “full of sages and scribes,” of learned conversation. But the day with Dr. Kohler was one of the most delightful I have ever experienced in that place. The day was spent in roaming over the contents of the Genizah and in conversation. Our thoughts were turned to Judaism and the subjects which occupied our minds were all of a theological or historical nature. We probably differed in a good many points, and please God we shall differ in many more—but this did not prevent our short acquaintance from ripening at once into what might approach friendship. I felt that I was in the presence of a scholar and a seeker after truth. His is an intellect devoted entirely to what he considers the truth, and his is a heart deeply affected by every spiritual sensation which is in the air. He also delights to engage in what he considers the “Battles oo the Lord,” and Judaism has need for men of valor.

To speak more clearly: Since the so-called emancipation, the Jews of the civilized world have been lulled into a fancied security which events have not justified. It is true that through the revelation in the Dreyfus case, anti-Semitism of the vulgar sort has become odious, and no lady or gentleman dares now to use the old weapons of the times of Drumont and Stoecker. 

 But the arch-enemy has entered upon a new phase, which Boerne might have called “the philosophic ‘Hep-Hep.’ ” And this is the more dangerous phase because it is of a spiritual kind, and thus means the “excision of the soul,” leaving us no hope for immortality. I remember when I used to come home from the Cheder, bleeding and crying from the wounds inflicted upon me by the Christian boys, my father used to say, “My child, we are in Galuth (exile), and we must submit to God’s will.” And he made me understand that this is only a passing stage in history, as we Jews belong to eternity, when God will comfort His people. Thus the pain was only physical, but my real suffering began later in life, when I emigrated from Roumania to so-called civilized countries and found there what I might call the Higher anti-Semitism, which burns the soul though it leaves the body unhurt. The genesis of this Higher anti-Semitism is partly, though not entirely—for a man like Kuenen belongs to an entirely different class—contemporaneous with the genesis of the so-called Higher criticism of the Bible. Wellhausen’s Prolegomena and History are teeming with aperçes full of venom against Judaism, and you cannot wonder that he was rewarded by one of the highest orders which the Prussian Government had to bestow. Afterwards Harnack entered the arena with his “Wesen des Christenthums,” in which he showed not so much his hatred as his ignorance of Judaism. But this Higher anti-Semitism has now reached its climax when every discovery of recent years is called to bear witness against us and to accuse us of spiritual larceny.

Some time ago I saw in one of the numerous sheets of this country a reference to the Hammurabi Code, concluding with the words, “this means a blow to Orthodoxy.” I hold no brief for Orthodoxy in this country or elsewhere. But, may I ask: Is there any wing in Judaism which is prepared to confirm the reproach of Carlyle, who, in one of his anti-Semitic fits, exclaimed, “The Jews are always dealing in old clothes; spiritual or material.” We are here between ourselves, so we may frankly make the confession that we did not invent the art of printing; we did not discover America, in spite of Kayserling; we did not inaugurate the French Revolution, in spite of some one else; we were not the first to utilize the power of steam or electricity, in spite of any future Kayserling. Our great claim to the gratitude of mankind is that we gave to the world the word of God, the Bible. We have stormed heaven to snatch down this heavenly gift, as the Paitanic expression is; we threw ourselves into the breach and covered it with our bodies against every attack; we allowed ourselves to be slain by hundreds and thousands rather than become unfaithful to it; and we bore witness to its truth and watched over its purity in the face of a hostile world. The Bible is our sole raison d’être, and it is just this which the Higher anti-Semitism is seeking to destroy, denying all our claims for the past, and leaving us without hope for the future.

Can any section among us afford to concede to this professorial and imperial anti-Semitism and confess “for a truth we and our ancestors have sinned'” we have lived on false pretenses and were the worst shams in the world? Forget not that we live in an historical age in which everybody must show his credentials from the past. The Bible is our patent of nobility granted to us by the Almighty God, and if we disown the Bible, leaving it to the tender mercies of a Wellhausen, Stade and Duhm, and other beautiful souls working away at diminishing the “nimbus of the Chosen Peope,” the world will disown us. There is no room in it for spiritual parvenus. But this intellectual persecution can only be fought by intellectual weapons and unless we make an effort to recover our Bible and to think out our theology for ourselves, we are irrevocably lost from both worlds. A mere protest in the pulpit or a vigorous editorial in a paper, or an amateur essay in a monthly, or even a special monograph will not help us. We have to create a really living, great literature, and do the same for the subjects of theology and the Bible that Europe has done for Jewish history and philology. It is in view of this fact that I hail Dr. Kohler’s election to the Presidency of the Hebrew Union College as a happy event in the annals of American Jewry; for under his guidance I am sure Cincinnati will, in good time, contribute its share to this great “battle of duty.” Some amiable persons predict jealousy and strife between the two colleges, and are already preparing to enjoy the fight as disinterested spectators. I am certain that they will prove false prophets, for the old dictum that the students of the Torah increase peace in the world, holds good also in our day. But let me say to you that this yearning after peace, on my part, is not to be taken as a sign of my entertaining any doubt as to the soundness of my theological position, or fear of a strenuous life. I am, as a rule, not given to mental squinting, nor have I ever shunned a fight. But I honor and admire Dr. Kohler too much to take up the position of an antagonist. Besides, you have probably heard the story of that Methodist parson who rebuked one of his parishioners who occasionally indulged in wife-beating, with the words: “How can you spend your time in fighting your wife, when you both should be fighting the devil?” In fact, I feel that we are standing now before a crisis which would stigmatize the indulgence in such a fight as treason to the cause of Judaism; we must gather our forces and fight the enemy; and Dr. Kohler, by his wide learning, contagious enthusiasm and noble character, is the right man in the right place to marshal a part of these forces, which may, by the blessing of God, help us to victory.

Schechter’s “philosophic Hep-Hep” refers to the Hep-Hep Riots of 1819 beginning in Würzburg and spreading to other areas. It was the most widespread Western European pogrom in modern times until the Holocaust, and was instigated by those opposing emancipation (i.e., an equality of civil rights) for the Jews.

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Corruption At The Top - Like Israel Can't Conduct 2 Probes Simultaneously!

 

Attorney general freezes criminal probe into Meron disaster

 

Avichai Mandeblit says priority will be given to the state commission of inquiry to investigate the deadly crush that killed 45 people in April

Israeli rescue forces and police at the scene of the fatal crush during Lag B'Omer celebrations on Mt. Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021.

 

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ordered a halt of the ongoing criminal investigation into April’s deadly stampede at Mount Meron in order to allow for the state commission of inquiry to take the lead.

Forty-five people were trampled to death at Mount Meron during Lag B’Omer festivities on April 30. In one of its first acts, Israel’s new government formed a state commission of inquiry to probe the disaster, which has been blamed on improperly installed ramparts and walkways.

Mandelblit said the state commission should get priority over other investigations because it has a “wide mandate.” (BS b'LAAZ)

Therefore, he said, the investigations by the Israel Police and the Police Internal Investigations Department into the event “will be suspended.”

The state commission of inquiry can subpoena witnesses, but the report and testimony it gathers cannot be used as evidence in criminal proceedings, according to the Israel Democracy Institute think tank.

Mandelblit made the announcement at a meeting Sunday with the commission — headed by former Supreme Court Chief justice Miriam Naor, alongside former Bnei Brak mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karelitz and former IDF planning chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Shlomo Yanai — to discuss the ongoing investigation of the tragedy.

“At the meeting, the attorney general repeated the importance he places on the work of the committee and its ability to investigate the truth and to formulate recommendations that will prevent such tragic events, like the disaster at Mount Meron on Lag B’Omer, from happening again,” said the attorney general’s office.

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman is also currently conducting an investigation into the tragedy, which will apparently continue.

Victims of the April 30, 2021, Mount Meron disaster: Top row (L-R): Chen Doron, Haim Rock, Ariel Tzadik, Yossi Kohn, Yisrael Anakvah, Yishai Mualem, Yosef Mastorov, Elkana Shiloh and Moshe Levy; 2nd row (L-R): Shlomo Zalman Leibowitz, Shmuel Zvi Klagsbald, Mordechai Fakata, Dubi Steinmetz, Abraham Daniel Ambon, Eliezer Gafner, Yosef Greenbaum, Yehuda Leib Rubin and Yaakov Elchanan Starkovsky; 3rd row (L-R): Haim Seler, Yehoshua Englard, Moshe Natan Neta Englard, Yedidia Hayut, Moshe Ben Shalom, David Krauss, Eliezer Tzvi Joseph, Yosef Yehuda Levy and Yosef Amram Tauber; 4th row (L-R): Menachem Knoblowitz, Elazar Yitzchok Koltai, Yosef David Elhadad, Shraga Gestetner, Yonatan Hebroni, Shimon Matalon, Elazar Mordechai Goldberg, Moshe Bergman and Daniel Morris; 5th row (L-R): Ariel Achdut, Moshe Mordechai Elhadad, Hanoch Slod, Yedidya Fogel, Menahem Zakbah, Simcha Diskind, Moshe Tzarfati, Nahman Kirshbaum and Eliyahu Cohen.

The tragedy occurred as thousands of people visiting Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s gravesite streamed through a narrow walkway. The passage was covered with metal flooring, which may have been wet, causing some people to fall underfoot during the rush for the exit. Some apparently fell on the walkway and down a flight of stairs at its end, toppling onto those below and precipitating a fatal crushing domino effect.

The attorney general stressed that civilian enforcement of illegal and life-threatening buildings at the Mount Meron site would be implemented in the immediate future.

The state commission of inquiry began work earlier this month, and issued an order to the attorney general to hand over documents related to the planning of the event. The attorney general will also supply the three-member committee with internal government reports that attempted to address whether it could have been averted.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/attorney-general-freezes-criminal-probe-into-meron-disaster/?utm_source=The+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=daily-edition-2021-07-12&utm_medium=email

Ignore The Clowns - Give Your Children A Chance To Know Reality - Educate Your Children So They Don't Become Clowns!

 

Haredi org. calls for funding for schools that teach core curriculum!

The large majority of elementary school aged ultra-Orthodox boys study almost no core curriculum subjects, such as math, English, science or computer studies.

An organization representing modern ultra-Orthodox families has called on the government to include significant funds for the network of schools known as the State Ultra-Orthodox system in order to boost its viability and increase the number of ultra-Orthodox boys studying the core curriculum. 

 

The New Haredim organization which is now lobbying for these funds says that several tens of millions of shekels are needed for state ultra-Orthodox schools in order to make them financially viable and make them a real option for haredi parents who want to give their sons a general education, and allow them in the future to obtain higher education qualifications.  

 

“The Israeli government and philanthropic groups have invested billions into getting haredim into academia and the workforce but the educational gap for those who have not learned general education subjects at school is too large to overcome,” said Pnina Pfeuffer, head of New Haredim.

 

She said that it was critical to get the funds allocated for such schools as part of the core state budget since when the budget is passed by the Knesset, it creates a legal obligation on the state to disburse such funds. 

 

“It is a national issue for everyone that haredi boys have an education,” she said, noting that every year thousands of ultra-Orthodox boys fail to acquire a basic education which would prepare them for the workforce, while the community continues to grow rapidly.  

 

Pfeuffer argues that it is preferable to provide a framework where haredi parents who are interested in such schools can freely chose them, as opposed to a confrontational strategy of cutting funds to existing ultra-Orthodox schools which would create conflict with the community’s political and rabbinic leadership.

 

The large majority of elementary school aged ultra-Orthodox boys study almost no core curriculum subjects, such as math, English, science or computer studies, along with the overwhelming majority of ultra-Orthodox male high-school pupils. 

 

This creates severe difficulties for ultra-Orthodox men who seek to obtain higher education qualifications and ultimately enter the workforce, especially in obtaining higher paying jobs. 

 

Although there has been a significant increase in the number of ultra-Orthodox men and women beginning higher education qualifications in universities and colleges, almost one in every two ultra-Orthodox men who start such courses complete them, a state comptroller’s report found in 2019. 

 

The same report determined that one of the primary reasons for the high drop out rate was due to the lack of basic education ultra-Orthodox boys receive when they are of school age. 

 

But a growing number of so-called “modern ultra-Orthodox” families have sought to ensure their boys receive education in core curriculum subjects to prepare them for employment in the future. 

 

During the 2013 - 2015 government, then education minister Shai Piron of Yesh Atid established the State Haredi School network, as a system of schools for ultra-Orthodox boys which alongside religious studies would also teach the core curriculum. 

 

But the new network was never established through legislation or even administrative orders from the Education Ministry, creating significant difficulties in establishing and funding such schools, says Pnina Pfeuffer, head of the New Haredim organization. 

 

In addition, local municipal authorities must give their authorization for such schools to be opened due to their lack of national and legislative standing. 

 

This has meant that such schools have not been opened in ultra-Orthodox stronghold cities such as Bnei Brak because the rabbinic and political leadership of the community is opposed to such schools. 

This is in part on ideological grounds, in which the rabbinic leadership believes that teaching non-religious studies 

 

Because state haredi schools are not grounded in legislation, it means that a group of families interested in such a school have to request one be establishment and cannot rely on the education ministry to set one up for them. 

 

Sometimes, if there are only a small number of requesting families it means that creating such a school is not financially viable, another problem which would be rectified by legislation, says Pfeuffer. 

 

 

MOETZES ISRAEL

 

And because of the rabbinic opposition to such schools, there is also often social pressure against parents seeking to establish them.

 

For these reasons, the network has not been able to flourish and state haredi schools comprise just 4% of all ultra-Orthodox schools. 

 

Legislation establishing the network in law would give it greater resources and greater ability to expand, Pfeuffer said.

 

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/haredi-org-calls-for-funding-for-schools-that-teach-core-curriculum-673519?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Pfizer%2C+Israel+agree%3A+New+COVID+vaccines+coming+August+1&utm_campaign=July+11%2C+2021+Night&vgo_ee=Jn367jKILnpErXAAhCpdDovy7T5YEJ8ohjC9vauJg30%3D

THE DISGRACE here is that Yitzhak Yosef essentially is promoting haredi dependence on government handouts and charitable donations instead of advancing self-reliance and community dignity through basic education.

 

Yitzhak Yosef has no business being chief rabbi of Israel 

 

Change system and criteria for choosing next chief rabbis long before the next vote in 2023

 

 

Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef is on a rampage. Time and time again he erupts with loutish tirades, attacking Israel, secular Israelis and Russian immigrant would-be converts. He savages religious-Zionist Israelis, too, even though he heads an institution that is an expression of religious Zionism par excellence in the reborn Jewish state.

 

Rabbi Yosef’s latest diatribe was directed at that heart of mainstream Israel, which is far too materialistic and profane for his tastes. In fact, “Herzliya” is so bad that believing Jews should not live there. “The spiritual harm done by living in that secular environment is worse than dying,” he said.

 

As a result, Yosef paskened (issued a religious law ruling) that observant Jews in the Diaspora should not move to Israel if it means living in such non-haredi areas. In other words, it is better to live in galut (the Diaspora) than among secular Israelis.

 

Yosef made these outrageous comments during his weekly Saturday night sermon, with the visiting chief rabbi of the Tunisian island of Djerba, Rabbi Haim Bitan, sitting next to him.

 

“When I visited the Tunisian Jewish community, I was asked to rule whether or not Djerba’s Jews should immigrate to Israel,” said Yosef. “I told them it depends on where they would live. If they are going to live in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood or next to Kisse Rahamim [a Bnei Brak yeshiva founded in Tunisia], then they should immigrate to Israel. But if they are to live in a place like Herzliya or another one of the secular locations... they should stay where they are.”

 

Chief Rabbi Yosef’s so-called “halachic guidance” is not only an affront to the office he holds and to millions of Israelis who fight for this country, pay taxes and hold authentic Jewish identities, it also contradicts core Jewish teachings.

 

The Talmud and Code of Jewish Law rule that a person should always strive to live in the Land of Israel, even in a city where most people are not Jews at all! Yosef’s remarks also run counter to biblical prophecies and to the raison d’etre of the State of Israel regarding the ingathering of all Jewish exiles.

 

So much for being a rishon le-Zion (leader of Zion), which is another formal title for the Sephardi chief rabbi of Israel.

 

Ten days ago, Rabbi Yosef went on a rant against general education, arguing that science and math are “nonsense,” and therefore youths should study only in yeshivas that teach Torah subjects exclusively.

“There is nothing like the holy Torah. The Torah is above everything,” said Yosef in a synagogue address. “If a student is asked: ‘Where do you want to go, a yeshiva high school [where religious studies are taught together with the core “secular” curriculum] or a holy yeshiva? [where only Talmud and Jewish law are taught], there is no doubt! Study at a holy yeshiva. There, they learn Torah without secular subjects, without the core curriculum, without all this nonsense. They sit and learn Torah.”

Yosef arrogantly boasted, “Myself, did I learn the core curriculum? Did I finish school? Even today I don’t have a graduation certificate – not a high school diploma and not a graduation certificate. Have I missed anything? No. And look at the position I have risen to! So [secular studies are] nonsense. The most important thing is our holy Torah.”

 

The irony here is that everybody knows that Yitzhak Yosef became chief rabbi of Israel not primarily because of his Judaic or general knowledge, but thanks to his family lineage. He is the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former “Rishon le-Zion” and indeed one of the greatest halachic scholars of the past century. Unfortunately, Ovadia Yosef’s sons all think they hold a patrimony over the Sephardi chief rabbi position and other key rabbinical posts.

 

THE DISGRACE here is that Yitzhak Yosef essentially is promoting haredi dependence on government handouts and charitable donations instead of advancing self-reliance and community dignity through basic education. The failure to give boys in the ultra-Orthodox sector core skills in English, math, science and good citizenship, combined with the high population growth of that community, means that Israel’s 21st-century, hi-tech-oriented economy, and its Western democratic values, are in peril.

 

Aside from all that, Yosef’s position is contra-Jewish. Haredi dependency on the dole is sacrilegious. It runs up against dozens of Talmudic and authoritative Jewish legal sources that insist the only way to be a good person is by making an honest wage.

 

“A father is obligated to circumcise his son, to redeem the firstborn, to teach him Torah, to marry him off, and to teach him a profession,” instructs the Talmud (Kiddushin 29a), in order that he “should not become a burden on the public.”

 

“It is preferable that man eke out a livelihood as bitter as an olive through work, and trust in God, than to accept honey-sweet support from another man,” teaches the Talmud again (Eruvin 18b). “A craftsman who studies Torah but simultaneously supports himself merits all the honor and good in this world and in the world to come,” asserts Maimonides (Laws of Talmud Torah 3:10).

 

Maimonides sternly warns that “One who studies Torah professionally and fails to work, counting on charity for a livelihood – desecrates God’s name, shames the Torah, extinguishes the flame of religion, harms himself, and abdicates his place in the world to come.... Torah that is not accompanied by work has no staying power and inevitably draws one into sin,” he continues. “As Rabbi Yehuda taught in the Talmud (ibid.), the man who fails to learn a profession or to work will ultimately come to steal from others.”

 

Yitzhak Yosef’s worldview is extremely short-sighted in many other ways too. In January 2020, and many times since, he has vehemently attacked non-Jewish Russian immigrants to Israel and those Orthodox rabbis who seek welcoming ways to convert some of them.

 

Rabbi Yosef regularly disgorges foul invective in this regard, such as calling Israeli olim from Russia “goyim who go to church every Sunday”; or disparaging Jewish Agency officials who facilitate such aliyah as “religion haters who seek to diminish the power of haredi parties in Israeli politics”; or savaging religious-Zionist rabbis like Shlomo Riskin, David Stav and David Bas as “Reform Jews” who conduct phony “conveyor belt” conversions.

 

Were Yitzhak Yosef to express himself in terms a bit more refined and less defamatory, one might be able to relate to his criticism seriously. He might usefully have sparked debate about the problems of bringing so many Russian non-Jews to Israel and about parliamentary reconsideration of the “grandchild clause” in the Law of Return (which is a central part of the problem).

 

Were Yitzhak Yosef to express himself in language befitting a Torah-true religious Jew, never mind a “chief” rabbinical figure, and offer constructive solutions of his own instead of just vituperation, it might be possible to give him credit for seeking to defuse the enormous demographic and societal time bomb posed by the current situation. But no. Given his jaundiced view of Israeli society, Rabbi Yosef has no strategy other than snarling at everybody outside his orbit.

 

In contrast, Yosef’s counterpart, current Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau, is a man of dialogue and pleasantness. Rabbi Lau also is no rabbinical revolutionary and no great force for halachic moderation, but still conducts himself with nobility and self-restraint.

 

In sum, Yosef’s constant jeremiads make it clear that he has no business being chief rabbi of Israel. With all due respect to his scholarship in Jewish jurisprudence, and with all appropriate reverence to his rabbinical seniority, the inescapable conclusion is that he should be replaced forthwith.

 

Most of all, the system for choosing Israel’s next chief rabbis, and the criteria for becoming a chief rabbi, must be changed dramatically, long before the next vote in 2023. Religious-Zionist commitment, a Torah worldview that embraces broad education, the dignity of difference and a fruitful problem-solving approach should be mandatory benchmarks. Let Israel elect cosmopolitan and reasonable chief rabbis.

 

The author is vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, jiss.org.il.

 

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/yitzhak-yosef-has-no-business-being-chief-rabbi-of-israel-opinion-673300?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Has+Israel+done+enough+to+halt+a+Delta+variant+outbreak%3F&utm_campaign=Frontlines+July+9%2C+2021&vgo_ee=Jn367jKILnpErXAAhCpdDovy7T5YEJ8ohjC9vauJg30%3D

In the name of “woke” social policy, will some states soon, say, outlaw circumcision (child abuse); ban ritual animal slaughter (animal cruelty); force Orthodox schools to hire openly transgender staff (gender discrimination); mandate that Orthodox physicians participate in euthanasia for terminally ill patients (right to die); or compel yeshivas to excise “discriminatory” biblical passages from their curricula (hate speech)?

Can Orthodoxy Save American Jews—or even itself in the USA?

 

American Jews seem well on their way to withering into a white-dwarf star of a community.  One with far less status than before.

During the 20th century, Jews made up as much as 3.7 percent of the U.S. population.

The prestige of the American Jewish community manifested itself in manifold ways: Clergyman of all faiths spoke of “Judeo-Christian” values; Yiddish words entered the English lexicon; cantors sang chazzanut on national television, and ballplayers like Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax received honor for not playing in major games on Yom Kippur.

Jews also became prominent, if not nearly pre-eminent, in diverse fields like entertainment, law, academia, science and medicine. Support for Israel among politicians was bipartisan.

Fast forward: Today, the percentage of Jews in America is just 1.8 and continues to plummet. The shrinkage is most evident among non-Orthodox Jews, who comprise around 90 percent of the Jewish population, many of them not halakhically Jewish.

Moreover, while Jews, for the moment, are still over-represented in entertainment and the professions, support for Israel is no longer bipartisan. The most activist elements within the Democratic party are overtly hostile to the Jewish state.

Jewish ballplayers seemingly do not skip games on Yom Kippur anymore.

All in all, American Jews seem well on their way to withering into a white-dwarf star of a community. One with far less status than before.

But what about Orthodox Jews, who adhere to the mesora, to the traditional tenets of Judaism? While comprising only 10 percent of American Jewry, Orthodox Jews bear at least twice as many children as other Jews.

Indeed, a Pew survey recently found that “a variety of demographic measures… suggest that Orthodox Jews probably are growing, both in absolute number and as a percentage of the U.S. Jewish community.”

Will the increased number of Orthodox Jews reverse the decline of Jewish relative population and status in the United States?

Do Orthodox Jews have a brighter future than their non-religious brethren in America?

Perhaps not.

First, any natural increase in the Orthodox community will be offset by disaffiliation. The drop-out rate may approach 20 percent.

Second, the number of Orthodox Jews, at least in the near future, will remain far too small, as a percentage of the general population, to preserve the standing that Jews have heretofore enjoyed.

Third, over 60 percent of US Orthodoxy is comprised of Haredim. Many fervently Orthodox Jews eschew secular culture. Therefore, they will likely not exert the same level of societal influence as did previous generations of American Jews, although they are politically and economically savvy and involved..

Finally, Orthodox Jews, because of their fealty to halakha (Jewish law), may be the Jews most vulnerable to the effects of changing societal norms.

Previously dominant “Judeo-Christian” values have collapsed. For instance, out-of-wedlock births have increased, from well under 10 percent of all births in 1964, to 40 percent in 2014. Same sex-marriage, previously unthinkable, is now the law of the land.

Mere public opposition to the new morality may render one a social outcast. Business owners who refuse to openly accede to the new thinking may find their businesses boycotted.

This moral upheaval, in and of itself, does not necessarily threaten the continued viability of the Orthodox community. After all, Jews are used to social isolation in galut (the diaspora).

However, American politicians and judges of late have been compelling traditionally religious people to not only live beside the new rules, but to adopt them. So far, the victims have been mainly Evangelical Christians. But can frum Jews be far behind?

For example, Colorado tried to effectively shut down Masterpiece Cakeshop, Inc., a bakery owned by a devout Christian baker. The baker refused to bake a same-sex wedding cake. The state deemed his refusal a violation of its civil rights laws.

A divided United States Supreme Court reversed Colorado’s sanctions on the baker. The justices, though, ruled only on procedural grounds. The majority found that Colorado failed to give the baker a fair hearing.

Ominously, the high court did not rule that Colorado could not compel the baker, or any other religious person, to violate his sincerely held religious belief against participating in a same-sex marriage.

Similarly, the Court did not rule that the baker’s right of free expression was curtailed by the state compelling him to design a cake that contained a message which he vehemently opposed.

Indeed, just last week, the justices refused to disturb a ruling of the Washington State Supreme Court that effectively shut down the floral business of a Christian woman in her mid-70s who refused to set up a flower arrangement at a same-sex wedding.

The implications of the Washington and Colorado cases for Orthodox Jews are staggering.

If the high court will not uphold the First Amendment in cases like these, Orthodox Jews may reasonably wonder what other restrictions on their religious freedom legislators may henceforth enact.

In the name of “woke” social policy, will some states soon, say, outlaw circumcision (child abuse); ban ritual animal slaughter (animal cruelty); force Orthodox schools to hire openly transgender staff (gender discrimination); mandate that Orthodox physicians participate in euthanasia for terminally ill patients (right to die); or compel yeshivas to excise “discriminatory” biblical passages from their curricula (hate speech)?

Some may dismiss this parade of horribles as alarmist. But the reality is that governments, both in the U.S. and in Europe, have already attempted to implement, or have actually implemented, many such policies.

If future legislation becomes hostile to Orthodox Jewish practice, would observant Jews defy the authorities and risk civil penalties, or even criminal prosecution?

Most probably, if the persecution became unbearable, the bulk of American Orthodox Jews would emigrate to Israel.

From a Zionist perspective, such an aliya might be a good thing. Only who would have thought, even 10 years ago, that the demise of American Jewry in the “Goldeneh Medina” might happen so soon?

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309347