Letter from Woodmere: With Friends Like These, Who Needs The Forward And Failed Messiah?

"It seems en vogue these days for news outlets to have some sort of headline about “chareidim,” usually followed by an article that paints the frum community in less than a favorable light. What is more disturbing, though, is that the chareidi media has, with a couple of distinct exceptions, fallen into the same trap…"

Opinion: Stop With the Chillul Hashem Headlines
By Rabbi Yosef Shubert • Matzav.com

It seems en vogue these days for news outlets to have some sort of headline about “chareidim,” usually followed by an article that paints the frum community in less than a favorable light. What is more disturbing, though, is that the chareidi media has, with a couple of distinct exceptions, fallen into the same trap of reporting all sorts of negative stories. The reports often contain self incriminations as well, decrying how our system is broken and how our lifestyle is in shambles.

A recent example was picked up this past summer by the left-leaning Forward, not known for its adoration of frum Jews. Nathaniel Popper, who has authored scathing articles that paint the frum community in a negative light, wrote an article titled, “Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis Begin To Take Responsibility for Arrests and Scandals.” He refers to a “Haredi leader” who was “willing to assign some of the blame for the recent scandal on the Haredi culture,” and then quoted a frum writer who stated that “The fault may partially lie with us and our system of education.”

The experts on the chareidi “system of education” at the time of this past summer’s scandal accused our system of being broken. Those who remain steadfast to the mesorah that has been passed on by the ehrliche Yidden of the previous generation, however, know that the system is not only not broken, but it is as strong as ever. Sure, we have nisyonos and problems, we have issues to rectify and matters to address, but our community has always had its own share of obstacles to deal with and overcome and that hasn’t changed.  

More bothersome, however, is when people blame “haredi culture” for the inequities of a small minority.

We have our own people telling the secular press that our system is self destructing and that we are finally recognizing that Judaism is about more than “getting cheap meat and looking out for ourselves.”

And that is an exact quote.

Those who despise us and the way we live no longer need to point out our alleged inequities, for they have self-proclaimed spokesmen and news representatives from within the chareidi and modern Orthodox communities doing the job for them. And they have Jewish websites doing their job each and every day. They don’t need to report about the Meah Shearim mother in a biased manner, because so-called Jewish news sites do the job for them, by either simply distorting the truth or by just reporting what the left-wing and largely anti-religious Israeli press puts out there. There are tens of examples.

We aren’t perfect, and there are those who make mistakes. We all have aspects of our lives that could use improvement and there are those who reside in our communities who ignore the precepts of the Torah. But there always have been such people and we haven’t abandoned ship because of them. Our leaders, both past and current, have never proclaimed our culture to be the cause of scandals or dishonesty. Because it isn’t.

The frum spokesmen and writers who trip over each other to be the first to condemn our community - as a whole - and to voice their so-called “objectivity” do an injustice to all of us. They try to show that while they themselves are part of the ultra-Orthodox community, they understand and confess that our community system of ethics and education is defective. At the same time, writers on Orthodox blogs and websites race to their keyboards to post blaring headlines about the “latest chillul Hashem” to rock the community.

With friends like these, who needs The Forward and Failed Messiah?

The elementary mistake that these and other people make is that rather than gaining the respect of the secular or non-Jewish communities for owning up to a supposedly faulty system, these very religious people and their articles are quoted by outsiders who say, “See? We’ve always said the chareidim are crooks. We’ve always said that they are ethically corrupt and hypocritical. We’ve always said that their black coats and religious dress belie the corruption and deceit that they personify.”

Those in our camp who regularly criticize our way of life rather than distancing our pure and holy system from those who have distanced themselves from it have, in reality, become the spokesmen for those who are waiting in the wings to lambaste the frum community.

It is time to stop with the chillul Hashem headlines. Stop publicizing and quoting every article and analysis that besmirches the frum community. Stop blowing up every story that is reported in the press involving a religious Jew.

Those who continue to do so show that they are not representative of the frum community, but are rabble-rousers who seek to foment additional hatred toward us. And those who patronize these agitators are, in my opinion, no less guilty.

Start standing up for the frum way of life. Start discussing and highlighting how unique and pure our religion is to those who may not be aware.

Comments

[formally]

sorry Rabbi Yosef Shubert the chillul Hashem is the action of the bad apples and people like you you protect the bad apples and do not want to see there is a problem that needs correcting.

When will people like you condemn the crooks withing our mist and show us and the world we do not tolerate such behavior.

since you do not do that or think that the mother is being persecuted your comments are nonsense and self serving and and precisely proves why we need the Forwd and failed Messiah.

One need to see the problems to fix it. Yes it is your way of life that causes the problem, by diminishing secular and goyim in every day language that create an environment that it is ok to cheat non-frum people and Goyim.

You write your piece and mention cheap meat why do you not condemn Rubahskin for his actions and the community for not being sensitive to the abuse he did to the none Jews and only complaining I have to pay more for food.

You are the proof that what is needed is the Forward and failed Messiah

[sage]

"Stop With the Chillul Hashem Headlines" ?

This very title contravenes two Torah Commandments:

1. "Justice, justice, shall you pursue."

2. "You shall eradicate evil from your midst."

[seymour]

hey at least Failed Messiah got a plug

[sage]

There might be a hidden blessing in this.

More Lubovs and Chareidim might visit FM, on the sly, and get a very rude awakening.

[Rob Wisler]

It's ironic that this clown Shubert has spewed forth this drivel right after Yom Kippur. Did this guy actually understand what his lips "vomited forth" during the long litany of confessions and prayers that he mindlessly recited during the Yom Kippur liturgy?

The nation of Israel has always had those prophets who have proclaimed our sins publicly for our benefit. While I'm certainly not comparing Unorthodox Jew and Failed Messiah etc to "prophets", it has been one of Israel's greatest strengths that we reflect on ourselves and have mouthpieces that force us to look upon our deficiencies as a people, no matter how ugly that view is. Luckily, blogs such as this one and UOJ show me that there's still hope.

[sage]

Hi RW,

I don't believe anyone could improve on your comment.

Many thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PulpitRabbi]

Dear Rabbi Shubert,

I just posted another comment in FailedMessiah, on a different thread, where I was quite critical of the blog owner. You know what, my comment was immediately incorporated into the blog page, and unless I somehow violated a few clearly posted rules - none of which rule out being critical of the FailedMessiah blog - my comment will remain for all to see. And if my arguments win the day, the blog owner may 8or may not) feel like he is left with a little egg on his face, and yet, he won't change the comments policy.

What you argue for, on the other hand, is to ban all self critical investigations. But the reason that failures of individual Chareidim stick onto the face of all Chareidim, yeah, all Orthodox Jews, is that we are often not ready to exhort those whose moral failures are scandalous. So outsiders, with no indication that one should distinguish between law abiding and non law abiding Chareidim, conclude that we are all one homogenous group.

The solution to the problem you rightly spotted is not, as you claim, to stop being self critical, but to make the Forward and FailedMessiah superfluous for the Orthodox Jew. If we police our own, we won't need to read outsiders' blogs (well, we may still do it occasionally, but the need will be less pressing).

Oh, and it would help to (a) maintain an internet site (with kosher filtering ubiquitous these days, you need not worry about promoting exposure to the treifa parts of the net. (b) You should have a more liberal policy in publishing readers' letters to the editor and comments to the web site, so people feel they can be heard. Otherwise, someone else will fill the gap.

[PulpitRabbi]

Little correction: When I used "you" in my open letter to Rabbi Shubert, above, I didn't target him and Matzva.com only, as I write about the need for an internet site, which Matzav.com surely has. Instead, I imprecisely used it to address the leading Chareidi news providers. However, most of the comments apply to Rabbi Shubert in particular, too.

[ah-pee-chorus]

++chareidi media has, with a couple of distinct exceptions, fallen into the same trap of reporting all sorts of negative stories++

notice how he doesn't claim they are false, just negative. they are breaking the time honored haredi tradition of 'ostrichdom'.

++decrying how our system is broken and how our lifestyle is in shambles.++

it is ... and it is

++know that the system is not only not broken, but it is as strong as ever. ++

no, it is more broken than ever. more riots, more attacks on innocent beit shemesh girls, more covering up for molesters and child rapists,more perversion of halacha with insane chumras, continued theft from the government handout programs, more avoidance of the IDF, more discrimination against converts,homosexuals,women etc..

++when people blame “haredi culture” for the inequities of a small minority.++

the word is iniquity. and the culture is directly to blame.

++They don’t need to report about the Meah Shearim mother in a biased manner, because so-called Jewish news sites do the job for them++

you seem to confuse truth which is negative with 'bias'. nice try rabbi. explain to us where the bias comes in. or do you assume your sheep wont ask for this.

++= who needs The Forward and Failed Messiah?++

we all do. if not for sites like these,the haredi sites would be more likely to pretend these events never happenned, and you would be free to continue your dishonest assertions unchallenged.

++Start discussing and highlighting how unique and pure our religion is to those who may not be aware.++

you tried that already many times for many years. sometimes you can't just click your heels together and wish your way back to the good old days when you pretended you and the haredi way of life was a good thing for the jewish people , israel, and the world. even some haredim are waking up. that must scare you.

[harold]

hey at least Failed Messiah got a plug

If that why FM's appraised value went from $17,872.89 to $26,816.18? Or is it because FM is finally bringing in some money by asking for a handout? I don't know if this business model is sustainable.

Maybe it is time for a FM IPO?

[sheiner kleiner]

Dear Rabbbi Shubert:
What you are saying in essence is as follows: let us deal with our problems internally and not go expose them through other outlets. But we tried it your way and where did it get us?
- The child molestation scandals have been going on for decades. What did we do to punish the perpetrators?
- Deceitful business ethics/practices have been plaguing our communities. Did we remove the criminals from our midst or did we accept their dirty money (donations to shuls and yeshivas) and continue giving them aliyos in our shuls?
- Drug and alchahol problems have been on the rise among our yeshiva youths. Did we try to honestly confront the problems or did we hide it under the carpet for fear it will affect our shidduch prospects.
I say this with the utmost respect. We tried dealing with all these problems, and more, and have not been successful. Maybe we need the shocking headlines to wake us up from our apathy

[soso]

It's true that I do not really understand the role of the chareidi newsblogs. On the one hand, they censor comments they do not like, etc. but on the other hand they make information available that others would want to keep quiet.

So sometimes I ask myself if their purpose is not to expose (shortcomings of chareidim), albeit they cannot say so outright, a bit like the press in a coutry with censorship. "It is not true that..."(and then comes the real information)

Take the Japanese Bochrim case: I learned from Vosizneias that they actually smuggled 8kg of extasy each... (Our local chareidi press did really hide the facts)

Or Strulowitz: Lakewood scoop does not publish negative comments, but it's from them that I know he was in jail, that Rav Kotler danced with him at his seudas hodaa, etc.

[steve]

VIN is probably the closest of the charedi news outlets to being honest, although they pick and choose which criminals to protect by only posting their initials. Hamodia, Yated, Matzav and YWN are set up to show that the chareidi world is all wonderful and perfect and that the rest of the world (including RZ,MO) is downright evil. Even when Pinny of the Yated wrote his "courageous" piece about child molestation, he was very careful not to mention all the years of coverups by the rabbinical leaders, or that the victims should go to the police. Instead he stated that it's all a decree from heaven when a child is molested. Whoever uses these outlets as his source for news in the community is doing himself a disservice. Somehow they think that Soviet/KGB style news censorship is supposed to be good for us. Every time a chareidi is arrested in a high profile case (SMR, Spinka, "starving mom"), their headlines scream about anti-semitism, nazism and blood libels. Then come the riots and midtown demonstrations to add more fuel to the chillul hashem fire. And of course these rioters are all doing it l'shem shamayim. The chareidi world would be perceived in a much better light if its leadership and news outlets deal with these crises in an open, honest and forthright manner, rather than with coverups, denials, apologetics and sugarcoating.

[yudel]

i suggest we have some nice not tired from work printer who would pick some good woodmere or whatever truths and print them up from failed messiah and then blanket the business district..
hell when i was in chaim berlin we would come in at five AM and in the Beis medresh would have some crude satmar aka lubavitch written rambam tracted styled pamphlet letting loose on chabad and vice versa chabad on satmar..

only trouble was we did not have recycling..never mind the fact that both rebbes were alive, spoke to each other at least a few times a month and were close friends...

who ever was low bochur on the beis medresh totem pole..whoops did i write that had to clean them up...

remember failed messiah...no good deed goes unpunished...eli wallach..magnificent seven

[Shmarya]

never mind the fact that both rebbes…spoke to each other at least a few times a month and were close friends...

False.

[Robert Wisler]

I was in Chaim Berlin's Beis Medresh in the late '70's early 80's (when that idiotic twit Aaron Schechter took over from Rosh Yeshiva Hutner). I remember that someone always left "sichas" from Schneerson lying around which were always immediately dispatched to the trash can. I do NOT ever remember the rumor that Schneerson and Teitlebaum were friends or even aquaintences. Where did this rumor get started? Did "yudel" just make this up????

[Robert Wisler]

In fact, I remember once using one of Schneerson's unsolicited and unwanted "sichas" as a torch in order to light some illicitly aquired cherry bombs on the roof of the old Chaim Berlin high school building.

After I became a dog owner later in life, I also found the "Schneerson sichas" useful for puppy training. Unfortunately, they're not as absorbant as copies of "Divrei Yoel" or "Al HaGeulah" are.

[Asa]

Shmarya:

What's your email address? I can't access it on the contact section of this site because my laptop isn't configured for Outlook.

[Shmarya]

failed DOT messiah AT comcast DOT net

[Bill]

Umh what's a chilul Hashem (lit. desecration of God's name)?

You molest and starve your own children, then imagine yourself guilty of giving -God- a bad reputation?

I don't know if God reads the Forward or this blog, for that matter, but even if he did, I seriously doubt that he would worry too much about whether he's getting bad publicity from you guys.

And even if he did worry about getting a bum rap online, then I'm sure he has already deleted -permanently- any comments he didn't like.

What a simultaneously petty and grandiose act of transference.

[Asa]

Thanks.