FailedMessiah.com

"Religion is the opiate of the masses… In low doses it is tonic. In overdoses, it is toxic."

Most quotable comment ever left on this blog:

"Religion is the opiate of the masses (including me). In low doses it is tonic. In overdoses, it is toxic."
                             Yochanan Lavie

I would make it read like this:

"Religion truly is the opiate of the masses. While in extremely low, controlled doses it may be tonic, in anything more than that it usually is toxic."

Morality May Be Genetic, Not "God-Based"

The NYTimes reports:

… Marc D. Hauser, a Harvard biologist, has built on this idea to propose that people are born with a moral grammar wired into their neural circuits by evolution. In a new book, “Moral Minds” (HarperCollins 2006), he argues that the grammar generates instant moral judgments which, in part because of the quick decisions that must be made in life-or-death situations, are inaccessible to the conscious mind.

People are generally unaware of this process because the mind is adept at coming up with plausible rationalizations for why it arrived at a decision generated subconsciously.

Dr. Hauser presents his argument as a hypothesis to be proved, not as an established fact. But it is an idea that he roots in solid ground, including his own and others’ work with primates and in empirical results derived by moral philosophers.

The proposal, if true, would have far-reaching consequences. It implies that parents and teachers are not teaching children the rules of correct behavior from scratch but are, at best, giving shape to an innate behavior. And it suggests that religions are not the source of moral codes but, rather, social enforcers of instinctive moral behavior.…

And this makes perfect sense. So, here's the question: What will "Yiddishkeit" do when its foolish arguments, like those proposed by Rabbi Avi Shafran, are rendered not simply foolish, but moot? The Brooklyn-Mea Shearim cabal continue to paint Judaism into a smaller and smaller corner. But, perhaps this is a good thing – the more irrelevant these people make themselves, the better.

[Hat tip: Sheyna Rofeh-Filosof.]

Is Rabbi Avi Shafran Sane? I'm Not So Sure …

Agudah-hack Rabbi Avi Shafran writes:

It is a point as straightforward as it is unarguable. If we are mere products of random evolution, than any repugnance we feel at, for examples, incest, child-molestation, stealing or murder is meaningless (no, not less meaningful but meaningless). Just as we don’t think to judge non-human animals through a moral lens, no true atheist has any justification to judge fellow humans through one (any one).

What is this, Shafran? Your defense against all the haredi child molestation charges? The rampant theft and welfare fraud? The real estate scams?

Haredim – especially hacks like you – have no business lecturing anyone else, atheist or not. Clean your filthy house first.

You think there is no morality without God? I think there is an equally strong argument to make – there is no morality with Him. Why? Because of the behavior of rabbinic creeps like you.

The Lies of the Rebbe, cont.

In his infamous 1983 letter to me responding to my pleas to help Ethiopian Jews, the late Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote:

Equally, your claims regarding scholarships and other projects you mention in your letter are not logical and they do not fit in with the activities and duties of Chabad-Lubavitch institutions or representatives.

Of course, this was complete bullshit. Chabad had long been involved in using these same methods to save Iranian Jews. (So, to be clear, had Satmar.) But Chabad's operation had come to a halt early in 1982. And it was no state secret. Iranian Jews saved this way were very evident in Crown Heights and LA, and they didn't hide how they were saved. Many had moved from the US to Israel, as well.

Many of you questioned me on this point, claiming Chabad had not used student visas to save Iraninan Jews. Well, just to keep the record clear, here is why you were so very wrong:

One late afternoon in October 1978, Hertzel Illulian, a Chabad student from Brooklyn, was silently praying mincha outside the Intercontinental Hotel in Tehran. He took three steps back after reciting the Amidah, the service's central prayer, and found himself surrounded by a wall of men, secret police dressed in street clothes.

They threatened to cart him off to jail, eventually dismissing him and taking a local Iranian Jew instead.

This was a period of massive unrest in Iran, as pro-Ayatollah Khomeini supporters engaged in often violent street demonstrations against the shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who had imposed martial law and whose tanks and troops patrolled the streets. But Illulian, then 19, didn't feel scared.

"I was courageous," he said. "I had the purpose to save Jewish children."

He was an official Chabad student shaliach, or emissary, working on behalf of [Chabad's] Brooklyn-based National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, and armed with the coveted blessing of Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneersohn. This was the beginning of his now-legendary mission to help transport about 3,000 young Jewish Persians, most ranging in age from 12 to 19, using I-20 student visas, from an increasingly dangerous Iran to safety in the United States.…

Illulian, who was raised in Milan, Italy, by parents born in Tehran, has a bona fide track record in this area. It was his idea to bring almost 3,000 young people out of Iran, working tirelessly from 1978 to about 1982 to accomplish it.

Sholem Hecht, rabbi of the Sephardic Jewish Congregation and Center in Queens, N.Y., who accompanied Illulian on his first trip to Tehran and assisted in the rescue, said, "There's no question he played a very special role in the history of Iranian Jews in America."

The Rebbe lied. Ethiopian Jews died. Period. End of story.

How Frum Is The Reform Movement? More Than Most of You Think

Sue Fishkoff writes for JTA:

… According to two recent studies, more Reform Jews are putting their mouths where their values are. In a 2000 survey that was never published, 344 congregations — about half the movement’s affiliates — showed a surprising adherence to kosher laws.

Ten percent reported that their synagogues have kosher kitchens, 80 percent ban pork or shellfish and nearly half won’t serve milk and meat on the same plate or platter.

“The majority of our congregations keep some elements of kashrut, and that’s very interesting,” Wasserman says. “It represents a change over time.”

Wasserman wasn’t surprised at the ban on pork or shellfish. That’s “deeply culturally” ingrained in many Jews, she says, who may eat nonkosher food in restaurants and even bring it into their homes, but expect higher dietary standards in Jewish communal settings.

But separating milk and meat, she says, is “going to another level that I didn’t expect to see 46 percent of our congregations going to.”

Another survey conducted last November at the movement’s biennial revealed that individual Reform Jews are becoming more kosher-friendly.

More than 500 conference participants, about one-quarter of the total, answered online questions about their dietary practice. At home, 62 percent say they ban pork, 46 percent ban shellfish and 35 percent don’t mix meat and milk. In restaurants, however, just 51 percent avoid pork, 34 percent won’t order shellfish and 29 percent stay away from dishes that mix milk and meat, such as cheeseburgers.

Some 38 percent said they eat vegetarian in restaurants, compared to 28 percent who do so at home, reflecting a significant number of Reform Jews who presumably are avoiding kosher questions entirely by eschewing meat when eating out.

The survey, which has not yet been published, asked about dietary practice rather than kashrut. It included actions such as eating matzah at Passover — nearly 71 percent said yes — and saying motzi, the blessing over bread — 48 percent do it on Shabbat — that Wasserman explains are expressions of Jewish identity that would be lost in a survey only on kashrut.

“The connection of the table to something holy and sacred, the notion that what we eat is connected to an expression of being Jewish that is appropriate in a Reform Jewish context, is bubbling up within the movement,” she says.…

At the same time, Fishkoff notes that a group of Reform rabbis are planning on developing their own kosher supervision. The OU's Menachem Genack is, no suprise here, opposed:

Setting up your own standards “is too amorphous,” Genack says. “It’s very subjective — people can agree or disagree philosophically.”

What will those standards be? Rabbi Richard Levy explains:

Rabbi Richard Levy, director of the School of Rabbinic Studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, promotes the idea of Reform kosher certification. He says it actually would be more stringent than traditional kosher laws because ethical considerations would be added to existing dietary prohibitions.

“I would like to see it as an extension of halachah,” or Jewish law, he says. “It would expand what dietary practice means in a Jewish setting to include a concern for the people who harvest our food, bring it to market and sell it, a concern with the pain of living creatures, which has led people not to eat veal or foie gras, to look for free-range poultry and beef, or more humane methods of slaughter.”

Levy thinks such a system could emerge in the next decade.

“It’s not a pipe dream,” he insists.

It is not a pipe dream. It is in large part a reaction to Orthodoxy's handling of the Rubashkin animal abuse scandal. And Orthodoxy is going to get what it most deserves – real competition that will cut the margins of their own kashrut supervisions. Why? Because most people keep kosher for non-Orthodox reasons, and soon they'll have people to rely on who don't torture live animals for a living. This cannot happen soon enough, or to a more deserving bunch of rabbinic criminals.

Kiruv

Leap of Faith
©Shmarya Rosenberg

A child
would not  cross empty streets
without looking

or talk to strangers,
no matter how inviting.

He grew up.

He opened his gates
just a little

and they entered,
these men in black,
priests of ba'al in the clothing
of Maimonides,

and he walked with them
slowly at first, then faster and
faster still,

deceived by their charms and
the talismans of their lies,

until he stood with them at the edge,
too far to cross.

"We will fly as our forefathers
to the other side," they said.
"Come!"

And as they watched, so he did,
jumping into unknown air,

alone,

arms flailing,
deep in the void,
dashed on the rocks,

grasping for the promises of men
looking down
who themselves
would never
have taken

this
same

leap

of

faith.

Rabbi Shafran and the Atheists

Agudah hack Rabbi Avi Shafran, troubled by attacks against a column he wrote attacking atheism, attempts to rebut his detractors with the following logic:

As to the essence of my argument, though, there was no credible counter-argument whatsoever, no claim that right and wrong can somehow have inherent meaning without recourse to Something Higher than ourselves. That, too, was telling -- of the truth that atheism, in the end, cannot assign any more meaning to right and wrong than to right and left.

This is an absurd argument to make. First of all, a society can set norms for acceptable and unacceptable behavior and rank those anyway it sees fit, using its best logic. For example, one may be confronted with a life threatening emergency that requires your immediate attention to help a victim on one hand or the opportunity to buy the last remaining tickets for the Super Bowl on the other. One can do one of these acts but not the other. Societies can and do legislate in areas like this. Not helping in the life threatening emergency is a crime in many jurisdictions. Conversely, if a frum Jew is confronted with the same situation, except the victims are non-Jews and the Super Bowl is replaced with a one-time kiruv opportunity, many very religious people commenting on this blog have seen nothing wrong with ignoring the suffering of non-Jews (or even safek Jews!) to do once-in-a-lifetime kiruv with one lone Jew. The first set of choices and penalties are non-religious but just and fair. The second are religious and profoundly immoral.

Which leads us to the other flaw in Rabbi Shafran's argument. Religious societies often do great evil in the name of God. One easy example of this is modern day Islam, which has done unbelievable horrors in the name of Allah. But history is not short of these examples. The point is, these societies believe they are doing the will of God, and that their actions, no matter how heinous, are moral.

And, yes, there are Jewish examples of this as well, although they are fewer, largely due to fewer opportunities. Until 60 years ago, we did not have a state apparatus or demographic dominance and were largely living at the whim of others. Even so, one can find early pogroms against Christians and other sectarians, along with scattered incidents of violence directed at the Other. More prevalent is the common Orthodox Jewish refusal to help non-Jews in times of need.

Atheism is not provable. Neither is its opposite. Believing laws are given by God sometimes ensures great morality. Other times it causes the exact opposite.

Shafran represents a religious group that has covered for some of the greatest abuses in the haredi world, including the molestation of children. Some of that molestation is alleged to have occurred at Agudah's own summer camp. This coverup (one that Rabbi Shafran denies even as he perpetrates it) is done for a decidedly religious reason – to protect God's name, to prevent hillul hashem.

In our day, it is not the morality of atheists alone that needs questioning – it is the morality of the mullahs of Afghanistan, a Church that allowed rampant pedophilia, and a haredi world that does the same.

Exclusive Interview With Condaleeza Rice on Israel

Cal Thomas sent JewishWorldReview.com's editor Binyamin Jolkovsky an excerpt from an exclusive interview Thomas did late last week with Secretary of State Condaleeza Rice. The focus? Rice's position on Israel and peace. The full interview will be published in Thomas' column this week. The Israel excerpt can be read now, here.

(Lost In) The Flood

DovBear has his usual incisive posts on Noah's flood. In short, it never happened. All evidence from geology and many other hard sciences as well as softer sciences and history show this clearly. And, guess what? Saying the Flood never happened does not make you a heretic or non-Orthodox – it just makes you alert and honest.

As Springsteen wrote:

Have you thrown your senses to the war, or did you lose them in the flood?

Brazil's Crypto-Jews Seek To Return

Ynet has an interesting article on Brazil's Crypto-Jews, descendants of Marranos who in some cases have always married within their extended family. Some of these hidden Jews are now seeking to return to full Jewish practice.  And interesting point to make about this is to compare Ethiopian Jews to these Crypto-Jews. Both communities would have the status of sofek Jews, according to many poskim. But the Ethiopians have a stronger mesorah halakhicly, which is why Ovadia Yosef was able to rule Ethiopian Jews are in fact Jewish without need for a conversion. Yet I think most haredim and Modern Orthodox would be quicker to welcome Crypto-Jews back into the fold than Ethiopians. And this was evident long before DNA testing. The only reason I see for that is skin color. And that is sad.

[WARNING! Explicit Content!] Borat Makes Teshuva

Borat Makes Teshuva
By Shmarya Rosenberg
Special to the Jewish Chronicle

London – Kazakh news presenter Borat Sagdiyev, under fire from Jewish groups including the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for his outspoken antisemitism, racism and misogyny, has Jewish roots, the Chronicle has learned. Borat’s maternal grandmother, variously identified as Svetalna or Svet (“because she dripped much,” Borat has said) is the daughter of a scion of an illustrious rabbinic family exiled to Kazakhstan during the reign of Josef Stalin, the brutal Soviet dictator Borat admires and has referred to as “strong, powerful with big khram,” or testicles.

When confronted by the Chronicle in early July with evidence of Jewish descent, Borat at first denied any connection with Jews. Indeed, over tea at the Chronicle offices, Borat impulsively snatched a small paper Israeli flag off a reporter’s birthday cake and lit it on fire while singing the Kazakh national anthem with great fervor.

But, as time wore on Borat warmed to the idea and accompanied this reporter on a low-key trip to Israel. Impressed with what he saw, Borat has decided to live an openly Jewish life. On our return to London, Borat was interviewed by the Chronicle’s senior correspondent, Jenny Frazier.

JF: First of all, I’d like to welcome you to the Jewish people. We’re pleased to have you with us.

Borat: You welcome very nice, but in my country relative get hug and squeeze melons. Maybe you lean forward?

JF: I don’t think so. Judaism has a concept of modesty. Many men and women never touch until they marry.

Borat: Yes. I hear this. Very hard.

JF: Yes it is.

Borat: You have one, too? [Staring intently at Frazier’s chest] They look real!

JF: So what is it that attracted you to Judaism?

Borat: Haredim.

JF: How’s that?

Borat: They are very much like Kazakhs. Family important. It everything. And, they don’t work, just like us. And they treat their women as cows. Oh, and they steal from government just like us.

JF: Surely you found other less repressive things to like about Israel?

Borat: Sure. Borat like big weapons. Many soldiers. Certain little children. And one sheep.

JF: If I’m understanding you correctly, it is the power of Israel that attracts you, the machismo, so to speak?

Borat: Yup. It’s a country with big – what is word? – ah, yes, Borat remember, beitzim. We call them khram. I show you. [He begins to stand up.]

JF: I don’t think so.

Borat: Very big.

JF: I’m sure.

Borat: [He sits down] For country with such khram, you have leader who is khram-less…

JF: Well, the situation is quite complex …

Borat: … except for his nose. He have one khram, from which he breathe, unless he have cold and it stuffed. President on other hand have many powerful khram. He is Stalin of Israel, like iron god. Many in my village now worship him.

JF: So, did you see Tel Aviv, the first modern Jewish city? How did you like that?

Borat: Much. Many beautiful women of which I licked.

JF: You liked them?

Borat: I lick them. Like this. [Borat grabs Frazier’s arm and licks it, starting at the wrist and ending at the outer biceps, just below the shoulder.] It is Kazakh greeting … you taste like apple.

JF: Thank you.

Borat: Israeli girl taste like grandmother – sweat. They drip much due to heat.

JF: So you liked Israeli women?

Borat: Yes. Good taste and not much money to buy. I had sexy wet time often.

JF: Do you plan on returning there?

Borat: Yes. I make TV show for Kazakhstan. Show how Jews really are.  Salty women. Good taste. I also go back to study Holy books.

JF: So you have plans?

Borat: I go to Aish HaTorah for mind control.

JF: Then what?

Borat: I marry haredi girl. They promise me 12 year old. I ask for 8, but they say I can’t touch her until she 12. Not even licking. Then I get on kollel roster. My wife have many babies. I use kollel money for prostitute, because wife grow fat from babies. But after prostitute I go to mikva.

JF: Why? To clean yourself from sin?

Borat: No. To rub with little boys, just like rabbi from New York. Life is good.

A Lesson In Kindness

Many years ago, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, the founder and rosh yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, sought advice on kiruv. He wanted to know how to attract and retain potential ba'alei teshuva (BTs). So, on a visit to the States he made a pilgramige of sorts to a small house on a Flatbush side street near Avenue R and Kings Highway. He went to meet Rabbi Meir Michel Abehsera, a Moroccan-born, France-raised, BT. Meir, a relative of the Baba Sali, the famous Moroccan tzadik and miracle worker, had become a Lubavitcher hasid. He and his wife Claude had attracted hundreds of Jews to Orthodoxy, and had done so without money and without any institutional backing. Weinberg wanted to know how.

He sits down with Abehsera and asks him this question: How do you get these kids? How do you convince them? How do you hold them?

Abehsera's response was immediate. He slapped Weinberg across the face*. "Stupid!" Abehsera shouted, "I don't "get" these people. These people are my friends!" Abehsera was absolutely serious. These people, every one of them, was his friend.

Abehsera then explained to a shocked Weinberg what should be obvious to anyone but is not. Manipulation is immoral. It only works in the short term. And God does not manipulate. Neither should we.

The lesson was lost on Weinberg and his fellow kiruv professionals. It was lost on much of Chabad, as well.

Abehsera and his wife run an open house. People drop by at all hours of the day and often of the night as well. Somehow, there is always soup on the stove, always another bowl, another piece of bread. More importantly, there's always a seat at the table. Abehsera has friends who went from being atheists 30 years ago to being Orthodox rabbis today. He also has friends who are still atheists. And everything in between.

Table talk will more likely be about music – when the Abehsera's moved to  Jerusalem in 1994, his fixation was the Counting Crows, who he first heard while driving in Brooklyn and almost had an accident because the music so transported him he couldn't concentrate on the road. One of the first things he said to me when I stopped by to say hello after the move was to ask if I had heard them – I had not – and then gush about the music. He was, as always in these matters, spot on.

On any given day one might meet yeshiva students and rabbis, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and Sefardic kabbalists of note, along with old family friends, neighborhood characters and just plain Jews, all hanging out, talking about just about anything.

Abehsera's model is what Judaism should be. An open salon where Jews meet as friends, no matter their level of observance or complete lack thereof. Where ideas can be discussed or not, as the case may be. Where music, art and film have a place at the table.

As Abehsera has noted many times, God made this world by creating space for it, for us. We, too, must create space, to give people room to be themselves and to deal with their Judaism at their own pace and in their own way.

*[Did Abehsera actually slap Weinberg? I heard the story several times, including once from Abehsera himself and another from an Aish insider. The slap is in all versions. Knowing Abehsera as well as I do, I think he did (gently) slap Weinberg to shock him. If this is too difficult to believe, consider it an early version of a "bitch slap" or a "pimp slap," a figure of speech meant to convey a heightened level of irritation.]

Is Israel A Jewish State?

The fight for civil marriage cuts to the core of the key societal issue facing the State of Israel – is Israel a Jewish state or a state made up primarily of Jews? Orthodoxy holds the former, either as the official doctrine of Rav Kook's followers and most of modern Orthodoxy or as the unofficial policy of all haredim. The rest of Israel primarily adopts the latter view, although the stridency of this adoption varies widely throughout society.

In a perfect world, Israel would have been a benevolent Jewish state, with a constitution based on halakha at its most lenient, with great effort made to deal kindly and thoughtfully with those whose status as non-Jews, safek Jews or as kohanim puts them at odds with a cursory reading of halakha. But the world is not ideal. And the state's handling of these issues of personal status has been and continues to be atrocious, and this is due in no small part to the malfeasance of the rabbis who implement much of it.

Hillel Kook, known more commonly by his adopted name Peter Bergson, the great rescuer of European Jewry during the Holocaust, made this point long ago in near-prophetic terms. Speaking with the insight of a man who came from a distinguished rabbinic family – his uncle was chief rabbi Avraham HaKohen Kook – and who had much experience dealing with Orthodox rabbis in organizational and administrative settings, Kook argued that Synagogue and State mist be separated. If not, he warned, Israeli society  would be crippled and fragmented, and the people would be driven away from, not to, religion. Kook was ostracized and hounded for his remarks. He withdrew from politics as a result.

But Kook was right. Orthodoxy has had almost 60 years to both make its case to non-Orthodox Jews, and to show the rest of Israel they can honestly, fairly and compassionately deal with issues of personal status, Shabbat observance, kashrut and the like. And Orthodoxy has failed miserably and completely in each case. Rather than being the kindly faces of God they have instead become his corrupt and fanatic messengers, ripping Jews away from Judaism and Israelis away from the state.

It is too late now to go back and do it all over again. You had 60 years. You wasted them on Sammarian hilltops and on Mea Shearim riots, on nepotism, cronyism and corruption. You had chances. Plenty of them. You blew it.

Israel will soon dismantle the corrupt Rabbinute and fire the even more corrupt chief rabbis. It will close down the state apparatus for religious affairs.  And it will separate Synagogue and State.

Rabbis will blame secular Jews, half-Jews, quarter-Jews and American Jews for this. They will blame the Other. But the truth lies much closer to home – bad rabbis and rabbinic corruption have destroyed Israel as a Jewish State. Will the lesson be learned?

Shas MK to Reform: Keep Walking On Water

…The minister in charge of the Religious Affairs, MK Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) said in response to the petition: "Conversions of reform and conservative organizations are virtual conversions, and they deserve to immerse in a virtual immersion. This is a vexing petition. The only immersion the reform are aware of is Baptism. So they can continue to walk on water and leave the people of Israel alone."…

A very funny line, to be sure, but one totally inappropriate for a Minister of Knesset, especially one in charge of Religious Affairs. In a normal country, this goon would be looking for another job. In Israel, he just sits and grows richer.

[Hat tip: Ben Max.]

The Foolishness Of Rabbi Dov Lior

Rabbi Dov Lior has ruled that it is forbidden to enter a reform synagogue to pray or to join in life-cycle events. For some reason, Ynet thinks this is groundbreaking, when in truth, this is the baseline most Orthodox rabbis hold to. The only real groundbreaking point is the proscription against entering a reform synagogue even to greet a newly married bride and groom after the ceremony, or the like. Most poskim experienced in these issues – and Dov Lior is certainly not one of them – allow this type of entry in order to allow families to remain close, for sholom bayit, so to speak. That Lior is foolish enough to ignore this – or, more likely, arrogant enough to have issued a ruling without doing due diligence – is the true hidush here. Except that wouldn't be a hidush, now would it?

[Hat tip: Sheyna Rofeh-Filosof.]

Haredim Attack Women In Jerusalem

Haredim are attacking women in the haredi area of Geula/Mea Shearim in Jerusalem, spraying bleach on clothing these fanatics determine to be "immodest." The victims are largely haredi themselves. Ynet reports …

Is This Theft?

A Chabad shaliach asks a grieving widow for a donation in memory of her freshly-buried husband – $18,000 to pay for a new ark for the shul. She agrees and pays the money. In the end, the ark turns out to be  a plywood and veneer armoir-like box  worth in the neighborhood of $2000. The widow is outraged and sues. The Chabad rabbi says he has done nothing wrong. Whatever is left after buying the ark is used to pay for his living expenses and the programs he runs. I know this attitude is common among shluchim. I think this is a clear case of theft even under halakha. If you disagree, please tell us why.

[Hat tip: JWB.]

Calling All Poets and Short Story Writers

I've decided to publish occasional poems and short stories as guest posts. If you want to submit your writing, email me. The link is on the right sidebar. Poems should be short, usually no more than 20 lines. Short stories should be 2500 words or less. No erotica.

A Friend Opts Out

I had an extended email conversation tonight with a non-Orthodox friend. The focus? For the most part, abuses in the haredi community. My friend is absolutely revolted by the scams, fraud, sexual abuse, lies and cover ups. So revolted that Judaism itself has become disgusting. My friend did not learn about these things from this website – quite the contrary. My friend learned about them first hand, through contacts at work. What does my friend long for? To to return to a self-described very non-Jewish existence that preceded contact with haredim.

This is not about observance or lack there of or where on the spectrum of Jews my friend fits. My friend was not and had no intention of becoming Orthodox in any fashion. It's about being anywhere on that spectrum at all, about what it means to be a Jew – and about what haredi malfeasance does to that.

Maybe last year I would have had answer. But I don't today. All I have is a gaping void and sadness.

But this is all a numbers game, right? Lose a few sensitive, caring, smart people but retain or trap others. As long as the retention and inflow is greater than the outflow, we're ahead, right? Isn't that the calculus? It's not about the individual, it never has been – it's about the community, just like with Stalin, right? That's what the abuse coverups are all about.

Maybe the Novominsker can help me. After all, under such a big shtriemel must be a big, moral, honest  brain, nu?

David Klinghoffer Responds

David Klinghoffer responds to the post immediately below this, What I Believe:

[E]ven your paired down, minimalist God needs defending from forces in
society that are far more powerful than any of the rabbis you write about.
Richard Dawkins, for example, is not the smartest atheist/secularist around
but he gets the most publicity and has the most influence. Even as you're
railing at a few rabbis who did wrong, and others who didn't (like Rabbi
Lapin), these secular influences seek to destroy even the faith you think
Jews are called on to preach. It's like someone, in the midst of the
Holocaust, ignoring what's going on in Europe and directing all his
righteous wrath at the local country club that excludes Jews. It's cute to
quote Joan Osborne as a spiritual authority, but where's your argument
against the culturally dominant secularism that would put you in the very
same category as the "kiruv clowns" and that broadcasts this message with
far more effectiveness than anything anyone is managing in the Jewish world?

BTW, since you place more weight on the pronouncements of entertainers than
rabbis, David Mamet's new book may interest you. I think it speaks
eloquently to some of the issues you raise.

Here is my brief response:

The Times just gave Dawkins a weak review. The rabbis represent God, like it or not – it's the way it works. The God Dawkins and others argue against is the minimalist, parochial version spouted by the wise men of Boro Park and Mea Shearim. They and their Muslim and Christian counterparts are what drives Dawkins to distraction. And I don't see culturally dominant secularism. What I see is a large group of people willing to be moral and to do good, who search for meaning and hope to find it. Many of them are far more religious in nature and practice than our rabbis.

What I Believe

I received an email from a man I greatly admire, although I often disagree with him. David Klinghoffer wrote with a suggestion, which I'll paraphrase: "Why not write a post on what you actually believe rather than simply bitching about every rabbi in the world?" Fair enough. This post will explain my "theology," so to speak. But there will be plenty of bitching involved, because what I complain about has so shaped my worldview that I cannot make my case without mentioning it.

I'm evolving. If you'd asked me three years ago, I would have spouted rhetoric largely indistinguishable from Avi Shafran, but with some carping about nepotism, cronyism and the missed opportunities generated by same added in. But that was then. I've seen enough since then to realize that my initial revulsion at the business of the haredi world, suppressed so long ago, was well justified. And I've seen that non-haredi Orthodoxy is no better.

I've also learned that many if not the vast majority of "facts" presented by the likes of Aish HaTorah, Agudah and Chabad are false, nothing more than slick, often cult-like PR.

Jewish belief is based on a mesora, on tradition handed down from father to son, teacher to pupil, from Mount Sinai until today. But a mesora is based on trust, on the honesty and credibility of the fathers and teachers who pass it down.

The lies of the kiruv movement and the lies and misbehavior of the so-called gedolim, the deification of a false Brooklyn prophet, and all those criminal convictions, indictments, investigations, abuse coverups and the like have real impact – they destroy the mesora, break the links in the chain, so to speak, that once bound us. If today's rabbis lie to us, why not Rashi? Why Not Moses?

And, indeed, if the findings of archeology, genetics, astronomy, and so many other scientific disciplines are to be believed – and they should be, in part because they independently confirm each other's work – our forbearers did quite a lot of lying. Either that, or they spoke in the language and style of their day, using myths to teach spiritual truths, never intending those myths to be taken as literal truth, And this, David, is what I believe. Those myths contain some of humankind's earliest memories, often in fragmentary form, of what came before civilization after the great ice age ended and humans discovered agriculture, built the first cities and began to live for the first time in groups larger than an extended family or band. They tried to make sense of their world and to communicate in a non-literate society important information to their children and grandchildren in ways it would be remembered without writing – through myth.

Our unique contribution to these early myths was to emphasize the power of God over the powers of the demigods, stars and other natural forces. It was to bring God into this world. Most cultures viewed the Creator or Sky God as being too remote, unknowable and unreachable to be dealt with – hence the pantheons of the ancients. Jews returned God to this world where we are commanded to make a home for him, both in our hearts and in our actions. We are also commanded to carry this message to the nations of the world.

But we do neither, instead obsessing over ridiculous minutia in halakha and defining ourselves down in the process. Worse yet are the lies and corruption, the stealing and fraud, the Abramoffs and the Lanners, the Balkanys and the Kolkos, rabbis Lau, Amar and Metzger, Elyashiv and the seemingly endless list of other black hatted and black garbed fools we call leaders.

So there you have it. I no longer believe in the mesora as preached in Orthodoxy. I follow halakha for the most part due to simple inertia. I find little religious inspiration in Judaism. Yet I still believe in God the Creator who many billions of years ago made room for specks of dust like us and started the process that brought us – and brings us – into being.

Think of the words of the marvelous Eric Bazilian song made famous by Joan Osborne:

What if God was one of us / just a slob like one of us / just a stranger on the bus / trying to make his way home…

God is in exile because we put Him there. He's with those poor children as their rabbi fondles their penises and as other rabbis lie to cover it up. He sits in the fraudulent beit dins and in the special assemblies called to fake non-existent lunch programs. He was there with Abramoff as he stole from poor Indians and gave to rich Jews and He was there when rabbis looked the other way. We, all of us, those who stole and those who lied, those who abused and those who covered up, and those who just closed their eyes and would not see – have turned God into a lonely old man riding a bus, a liar, irrelevant, lost.

I can't bring God home, but I can stop covering for and associating with those who abuse Him.

That is what I believe.

Man "Reincarnated" As A Dove Saved By Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

That's right folks. Another lost soul has ended up reincarnated as an animal. Miriam Shaviv over in London kindly reports …

Vanquishing Israel's Corrupt Rabbinic Hegemony – Former Chief Rabbi Lau Takes Illegal Payments

For years, Israelis have rightly complained about the corruption of Israel's haredi-controlled Rabbinute, and about corruption associated with haredim in general. But what irks most Israelis more than the simple corruption and arrogance is the unwanted rabbinic intrusion in their lives.

Israelis are forced to marry in religious ceremonies. Jews must marry through the Rabbinute, non-Jews through various church and mosque organizations. This gives rabbis draconian power over Jews, which rabbis have used brutally. There are hundreds of cases of Jews, people whose parents converted in Orthodox conversions or who themselves have done so, who have been denied marriage permits and had their Jewish status "revoked" by rabbinic clerks too ignorant to recognize the errors they routinely make and too unfeeling to care about their effects. Jews are abused, humiliated and driven away by ignoramuses with shabby beards and dirty hats. And there is more. Much more.

Avigdor Lieberman, the right wing but secular politician whose party, Yisrael Beteinu just joined the coalition, aims to do something about this. He joined Olmert's coalition only after being promised what Israelis have longed for – a secular alternative to the Rabbinute.  Israelis will now be able to choose between a religious marriage or a secular ceremony, like a justice of the peace in the US. If Lieberman gets what he was promised, Jews will finally be able to deal the rabbis out.

The Rabbinute, recognizing that its ship is sinking, is trying an end around – secular marriage for anyone not affiliated with a religion or registered as a Jew. This will help many non-Jewish Russians, but it will do nothing for the rest of us. If Lieberman sticks to his guns, and if the Labor Party can somehow manage to cooperate on a bill they endorse, the Rabbinute's ploy will fail, and Jews will finally be free of these criminals.

How corrupt is the Rabbinute? Very. Israel's former chief rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, took payments for weddings (and speeches, and more) when he was chief rabbi. These payments were illegal. He was warned and agreed – after being outed in Ha'aretz – to stop taking these illegal payments. But Lau lied, and continued to take money, and does so even now as he serves as chief rabbi of Tel Aviv. Even though Lau's henchmen claim most, the "lion's share" of the money went to charity, the payments are illegal and Lau knows it. Further, the charities supported are primarily Lau's own, and employ his henchmen and cronies. Lau is a leading candidate for president, backed by Mr. Corruption himself, Ehud Olmert.

This is only one of many such cases of corruption in Israel's haredi-dominated religious Establishment. One could say that absolute rabbinic power corrupts absolutely, and that is true. But it is also true that the system itself is corrupt. Its leaders, its employees, its rank and file are all laced with corruption and cronyism. They're criminals, and they need to be defrocked and stripped of all power immediately. Let's hope Lieberman succeeds. If he does, he'll be the next prime minister.

What Would You Give Up For Love? – A Personal Dilemma

You're a BT. You've been frum for awhile – a very loooooooooong while. You've done shidduchim. But you haven't met a compatible person. Then, you have a chance meeting with someone who is perfect in every way except one – perhaps she's not frum or perhaps he's not Jewish. What would you do?

More importantly, if you decided to marry this otherwise perfect person, what would you compromise on? What would you give up for love? Part of me says I'd give up everything. The other part says nothing. The first part of me is much bigger than the second. I'd say it's 90-10 I'd chuck it all, if necessary. I'm not in this position now, but could easily be one day.

What do you think? What should I do? What would you do?

Temple Grandin on MPR

The noted animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin is being interviewed now on MPR's Midmorning. Here's a link to listen. The show should be archived, as well.

Let's Talk Commitment

Aish.com has a piece by a woman, not BT, who dated her husband for a looooooooooooong time before marriage. She broke up with him at least twice, in a process that took 3 1/2 years. Now she's married almost ten years, very happy, lots of children, loves her husband and he loves her, etc. – in other words, a typical Aish piece. I post this because a friend insists this "fear of commitment crisis" is way overblown. I'm not so sure, having seen it first hand, from both sides. This is part of a larger discussion in which my friend is, as usual, strongly prevailing. Readers, is there a raging "commitment crisis"? Or is this whole commitment thing overblown?

For Her Daughter

I thought it might be nice to post an occasional poem not written by me. Here is a wonderful piece written by Shirley Kaufman, an award-winning Jewish feminist poet from Seattle who has lived in Israel since the early 1970s. This is from her recent book, Threshold:

Putin on Katsav: Powerful! Raped 10 Women! We All Envy Him!

Vladimir Putin, the neo-Stalinist thug who runs Russia, has this to say about Israel's embattled president, Moshe Katsav:

President Vladimir Putin made joking references to the sexual assault accusations against Israeli President Moshe Katsav during a meeting with the visiting Israeli prime minister in remarks that shocked longtime Kremlin-watchers.

A Kremlin spokesman said Friday that Putin's meaning had been lost in translation from Russian to English.
As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with the Russian leader in an ornate reception room in the Kremlin on Wednesday, reporters overheard Putin tell him: "Say hello to your president. He really surprised us."

The microphones were then cut off, but a member of the Israeli delegation told The Associated Press that Putin went on to say of Katsav: "I met him. He didn't look like a guy who could be with 10 women."

The Israeli ambassador quipped, "It seems like he's envious of him," and Olmert told his host: "I wouldn't envy him," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak with the press.

Russia's Kommersant daily conveyed a more graphic version of the conversation, quoting Putin as saying: "He turns out to be a really powerful guy! He raped 10 women!" It also quoted Putin himself as saying "We all envy him."

Earlier this week, Israeli police recommended that Katsav be charged with rape, aggravated sexual assault and misconduct after women who once worked for him filed complaints. The 60-year-old has denied any wrongdoing but the scandal has rocked Israel and sparked calls for his resignation from the largely ceremonial post…

Haredim: We Failed in Lebanon Because of Gays and Lesbians

Ynet reports:

…Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, the head of the Eda Haredit rabbinic court, said during the rally, “We did not succeed in Lebanon due to the obscenity and promiscuity in the Holy Land.”

The rabbi quoted Rabbi [Elchanan] Wasserman [whose advice killed hundreds of his students and followers], who said during the Holocaust that “Zionism has destroyed the Land of Israel’s sanctity; this is how the troubles of the Shoah began, and this is why we must act to wend the promiscuity.

“There is no greater disturbance than the disgraceful parade,” Rabbi Sternbuch said.

Despite the fact that Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski called out against holding the parade in the city, many in the haredi community hold him directly responsible.

“The municipality did not protest against the holding of the terrible abomination parade,” Rabbi Sternbuch said.

The haredim also presented other “divine signs” against the Jerusalem gay parade: The parsha for the Sabbath following the parade is Vayera from the book of Genesis, which tells of the total destruction of Sodom by G-d.

The parade falls on the day after the 16th anniversary of the murder of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and his followers, who are expected visit his grave on the Mount of Olives on the day the parade is scheduled to take place, said they would ‘take advantage of the memorial ceremony for Kahane to fight the gay parade.’ …

Meanwhile, Kahanist Baruch Marzel declared a "holy war" against the parade.

I think it's time we declared a holy war against haredim and extremist settler types. No guns, bombs or knives. Just cut off their money and, in the case of haredim, make them serve in the army.

Ethiopian Jews Complain of Missionary Activity by Falash Mura

Ethiopian Jewish leaders have told me for years that many missionaries were coming to Israel with the Falash Mura and were now actively trying to convert Ethiopian Jews in Israel. The story has finally made the papers in Israel:

Spiritual leaders of the nation's poor, culture-shocked and embattled Ethiopian community opened another front of divisiveness Wednesday, calling to excommunicate members of their community who engage in Christian missionary activity.

The Jewish Ethiopian community plans to compose a blacklist of known missionaries who will be ostracized.

"We know who they are," said Itzhak Zagai, Chief Rabbi of Rehovot's Ethiopian community. "The worst punishment imaginable for an Ethiopian is excommunication, because we are all so interdependent."

Ethiopians who appear on the list will be unable to marry inside the community.…

But what more should be done? Should we deny entry to all Falash Mura because of a few missionaries? Ethiopian Jewish leaders often say we should do just that. The Rabbinute says the opposite, based on a series of halakhic rulings. And the state? The state would just as soon left all Ethiopian Jews in Ethiopia. Without outside pressure and some strong intervention from President Regan, that is exactly what would have happened.

Here's where I come down on this: Bring in all the Falash Mura now. At the same time, begin intensive anti-missionary campaigns in the Ethiopian community. Helping Ethiopian Jews fit in, find work and become Israeli is extremely important. Missionaries feed on poverty and alienation, the two things Israel's failed absorption policy ensures. Chabad's shameful treatment of Ethiopian Jews, along with haredi racism, doesn't help things, either.

Another Nail in the Coffin of David, Solomon and the United Monarchy?

Remember the tons of earth carted away from the Temple Mount by the Moslem Waqf during their illegal renovations? Well, the earth has finally been sifted. Here's what archeologists found:

The project of sifting layers of Temple Mount dirt has yielded thousands of new artifacts dating from the First Temple period to today. The dirt was removed in 1999 by the Islamic Religious Trust (Waqf) from the Solomon's Stables area to the Kidron Stream Valley. The sifting itself is taking place at Tzurim Valley National Park, at the foot of Mount Scopus, and being funded by the Ir David Foundation. Dr. Gabriel Barkai and Tzachi Zweig, the archaeologists directing the sifting project with the help of hundreds of volunteers, are publishing photographs and information about the new discoveries in the upcoming issue of Ariel, which comes out in a few days. …

Most of the finds predate the Middle Ages. The finds include 10,000-year-old flint tools; numerous potsherds; some 1,000 ancient coins; lots of jewelry (pendants, rings, bracelets, earrings and beads in a variety of colors and materials); clothing accessories and decorative pieces; talismans; dice and game pieces made of bone and ivory; ivory and mother of pearl inlay for furniture; figurines and statuettes; stone and metal weights; arrowheads and rifle bullets; stone and glass shards; remains of stone mosaic and glass wall mosaics; decorated tiles and parts of structures; stamps, seals and a host of other items.

The sifting project is precedent-setting: This is the first time dirt from any antiquities site is being sifted in full. Among the many volunteers are soldiers, tourists, high-school students and yeshiva boys. Visitors over the past few months have included ultra-Orthodox MKs and rabbis, who usually steer clear of archaeological digs.…

The oldest artifacts found are remnants of tools like a blade and scraper dating back 10,000 years. Some potsherds and shards of alabaster tools date from the Bronze Age - the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C.E. (the Canaanite and Jebusite eras). Only a handful of potsherds were found from the 10th century B.C.E. (the reigns of King David and King Solomon), but numerous artifacts date from the reigns of the later Judean kings (the 8th and 7th centuries B.C.E.), such as stone weights for weighing silver.

The article goes on to detail the many artifacts found from the Second Temple period and later.

One thing is abundantly clear: The paucity of artifacts from the Davidic period is another strong piece of evidence against the existence of David and Solomon and their "united" kingdom. To be clearer, it appears that Israel Finklestein is correct.

Please feel free to refute below.

Kahane Chai Ruled A Terrorist Org By US Govt

My old buddies at Kahane Chai have lost their appeal. A US Court of Appeals has ruled that the group can and should be classified as a foreign terrorist organization:

"The record need provide only a sufficient basis for a reasonable person to conclude that Kahane Chai was likely behind such a threat [to assassinate then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon]," said the opinion by Appeals Court Judge Douglas Ginsburg. Appeals judges David Sentelle and Stephen Williams joined in the decision.

Kind of hard to argue with that. The Kahane Chai people viewed Sharon as a threat to Israel and the Jewish people and expressed the desire to do something about it. Call them what you will, but no reasonable interpretation of law would shield them from censure.

Putin Takes Another Step To Crush Democracy

Russia's Czar President Vladimir Putin has taken another draconian step to crush democracy. The law mentioned in this report was mentioned here last year during the tumult over the expulsion of Moscow's chief rabbi, a Putin (and Chabad) enemy. Now, the law has been passed. The New Yok Times reports:

…The new law, strongly backed by President Vladimir V. Putin, created extensive new filing requirements, which in some cases the [non-governmental] organizations, [primarily charities, educational and human rights orgs and schools] said had been so tedious and lengthy as to be almost impossible to fulfill. The groups have also expressed apprehension over the rules’ vagueness, which could allow any group to be audited, and perhaps closed, on a pretext.

They and their supporters have said that how the law is enforced will be a test of whether Russia will allow foreign organizations that it dislikes to continue to work in the country. The first deadline, and its effects on Thursday, were accompanied by a strong sense of concern, even fear.

“My fear is that their intention is to shut us down,” Josh Rubenstein, a director at Amnesty International, said by telephone. Amnesty International has had an office in Russia since the days of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, he said.

The Justice Ministry posted a list of 73 organizations that were not yet approved, and thus were suspended. At least 38 of those were listed by the ministry as American or had a clear American affiliation, including the American Bar Association, the American-Russian Business Council, the American Trade Chamber and Johns Hopkins University.

The suspended Western organizations also included the Danish Refugee Council and the French and Belgian offices of Doctors Without Borders.…

Sex and the Single BT – A Personal View

In the last few weeks I have had conversations, both in person and online, with non-Orthodox friends trying to understand what sexual life is like for a single ba'al teshuva. Some knew the sexual restrictions of Orthodoxy; for those who did not, I explained them. What got to me was the idea, expressed by every one of them, that rules were fine, up to a point. But the idea that anyone would remain celibate for a significant length of time while trying to get married simply shocks them. And they are correct – it is shocking and totally different than today's societal norms. But that was not always the case.

Society has become more liberal sexually in part because we have better medicine than we did 75 years ago. First came penicillin to treat various communicable diseases, then many reliable forms of contraception, and a slew of other medicines like antibiotics. Abortion is also readily available. These medical and scientific advances allow men and women (for the most part) to safely act on their sexuality, something women 75 years ago certainly could only dream of.

Society has also changed because the transmission of information has become much easier, and anyone can sit in the privacy of their own home and get extremely detailed sexual advice, information and, of course, porn. This is reflected in the current acceptance of porn and may best be understood by what an Orthodox rabbi who deals with teenagers on the edge told me recently. "When you hear sexual activity is down among these kids, don't believe it", he said. "They're being asked the wrong questions. Are the having intercourse? Not as much as they were a few years ago. What are they doing? Lots of anal sex, sex toys and oral sex." [This is a paraphrase. The actual quote is too detailed and too long to post.] And these behaviors carry over into "regular" society. [I'm not writing to condemn this, just to note current reality.]

Religion has little hold over people's lives today. This also dramatically impacts sexuality, because most of the basis  for restricting one's sexuality  is religious in nature. The fewer people bound by any type of monotheistic religious law, the fewer automatically bound to restrict sexuality.

Of course, the reasons for today's liberal sexuality are more complex and detailed than I have the space to mention or the background to deal with. But the point is, what is sexually normal today was decidedly abnormal not so long ago. I think if not for AIDS and some remaining puritanism, casual sex would be much more casual and frequent, and other forms of sexuality once frowned on would be even more popular than they are now.

I'm not at all sure today's sexuality is a bad thing. Despite what can appear to be strong conservative arguments for restraint, there are equally valid opposing arguments, and only time will tell who is correct.

All this cuts to the heart of my friends' arguments. As one put it, "Why didn't you just hook up with someone? Okay, so not every day, but once or twice a month?"  In today's world, hooking up (i.e., casual sex) is very normal – so normal that many people don't remember how lucky (or cursed, depending on your worldview) we are. For some BTs, hooking up, especially with other BTs, is an option. We all know it goes on. But, like the kids described above by my rabbi correspondent, penetration may be dispensed with and other avenues of satisfaction highlighted in its place.

Still, I know dozens of BTs who did not take this route. What they did instead is suffer, because they believed their commitment to halakha and to God demanded that. This often led to other problems (at least from the perspective of Orthodoxy), from nocturnal emmissions to, as halakha puts it, "willful spilling of seed." And, in case you missed it, there is a strong strain of thought in Orthodoxy that equates that with murder – a prettty tough Catch-22 to be in. You're born with a sex drive that you cannot use without "destroying" your soul. (This is exactly the dilemma gays face, with one major difference. – we can get married and have a "kosher" outlet. Gays only can do that if they are able to direct their desires in that way, something that rarely is possible.)

There was a time when Judaism recognized concubinage and other relationships that circumvented these problems. Rabbis removed these from Jewish life. The reasons why are beyond the scope of this post. But in modern times, their removal has certainly damaged many lives and caused much defection from Judaism.

So what about me?

For the most part, I suffered then and have continued to do so now, even as the Orthodoxy I adopted has become less and less relevant to my life. Why? Largely because I still strongly equate sex with commitment.

The idea of "hooking up," while it appeals to me, is still so foreign that I just don't find myself thinking about it when moments of opportunity arise (although I certainly do think about this at other times). My first reaction is always, "Would I ever marry this girl?" rather than, "Let's take a walk – I live around the corner."

I'm sure this will change over time, and there are many objective reasons why this will be good. Still, I prefer a stable, long-term relationship over multiple casual encounters. (But not because haredism says so. Haredism's version of a stable, long-term relationship often lacks romance and passion. It can be more of a business arrangement – with some interesting perks – rather than love.)

I prefer a stable relationship because I find it more meaningful and more romantic than hooking up. It is an ideal I strive for. As strange as this may seem, in this world suffused with erotica, for me romance still wins out, at this point almost, if not every, time.

Cross-Currents Co-Founder Snared In Abramoff Scandal

Cross-Currents co-founder Jeff Ballabon has been snared in the ever-widening Jack Abramoff scandal:

…The report said Jeffrey Ballabon, then executive vp of public affairs for Channel One, wrote in January 1999 to Abramoff and to another lobbyist at the firm Preston Gates, where Abramoff worked, asking for support for arguments that Channel One saves tax dollars. Ballabon suggested favorable treatment by Abramoff associate and well-known conservative Grover Norquist, and by month’s end The Washington Times had published a favorable op-ed under Norquist’s byline, the report said.

Days later Abramoff in an e-mail to Ballabon suggested payment to Norquist’s organization, Americans for Tax Reform, according to the Senate report. In April, Abramoff suggested a $3,000 payment to Americans for Tax Reform as the price for a policy brief the group wrote portraying Channel One as a tax-saving service, according to the Senate report.

In May 1999, Abramoff wrote to Ballabon suggesting “5 pieces for $10K,” referring to payment for favorable op-ed and think-tank treatments of Channel One. According to the Senate report, Ballabon responded: “yup—I have not forgotten (was it $10?—I wrote it down—whatever it was, she’ll get it.”)

In a later e-mail exchange, the two discussed payment of $49,000 “to support public programs,” according to the Senate report.

Ballabon left Primedia in 2004, the company said.…

I noticed Ballabon is no longer listed on the CC masthead. When did he leave CC? Why? And why the deafening silence from Rabbi Yakov Menken and the CC bloggers?

More importantly, will Ballabon go down with Abramoff and Lapin? And, is there any way we could link Toby Katz to this? Please?

Iraqi Christians Face Increasing Persecution Because Of Pope's Remarks

The New York Times reports:

The blackened shells of five cars still sit in front of the Church of the Virgin Mary here, stark reminders of a bomb blast that killed two people after a recent Sunday Mass.

In the northern city of Mosul, a priest from the Syriac Orthodox Church was kidnapped last week. His church complied with his captors’ demands and put up posters denouncing recent comments made by the pope about Islam, but he was killed anyway. The police found his beheaded body on Wednesday.…

Many Christians have relocated, changing neighborhoods or even cities. About a thousand Christian families, from Mosul, Baghdad, Basra and elsewhere, have taken refuge in Ain Kawa, a small town outside the Kurdish city of Erbil, which has become an oasis for Christians, said the Rev. Yusuf Sabri, a priest at St. Joseph’s Chaldean Catholic Church there.…

Asaad Aziz, a 42-year-old Chaldean Catholic, is one of those trying to leave the country. After the ouster of Mr. Hussein, he bought a liquor store in a mostly Shiite neighborhood. Nine days after he opened, the store was bombed. Mr. Aziz was hospitalized for a month.

The employees rebuilt the store. But several months later, a note slipped under the door gave Mr. Aziz 48 hours to close.

“Otherwise, you will blame yourself,” it said.

Mr. Aziz closed. But after an unsuccessful stint at a friend’s printing company, he returned to the business he knew best, opening a liquor store in a mostly Christian neighborhood. Last month, a gunman riddled the new storefront with bullets as Mr. Aziz cowered in a back room.

He told another story: the teenage daughter of another Christian family he knows was kidnapped recently. The captors initially demanded a ransom, but later sarcastically said the pope was the only one who could release her. She was eventually killed.

“When the pope gave his statement, it destroyed any last hope that we had here,” said Mr. Aziz, who has forbidden his daughters, one in high school and the other in college, to return to school.…

“We cannot practice our rituals and we cannot bring food home to our families,” he said. “That’s why I want to leave the country.”…

How bad is it in Iraq? Note the attribution at the bottom of the piece:

Wisam H. Habeeb and Khalid al-Ansary contributed reporting from Baghdad, and an Iraqi employee of The New York Times from Mosul.

It seems the New York Times cannot identify it's "employee" in Mosul, most likely because that identification would lead to the death of the employee. Way to go, Donald Rumsfeld.

And now, a thought, impractical as it is. Should Israel offer asylum to Iraqi Christians? One must wonder why the US has not. I would assume the answer has to do with security, surely the same answer Israel would give. Still, these people need refuge. Readers, any solutions?

Ethiopian Jews And Orthodox Jewish Racism

I recently exchanged emails with a friend in Jerusalem. He is adamant. Ethiopian Jews are not Jewish. To bolster his point, he cites DNA evidence, evidence that, at most, can indicate that Ethiopian Jews not descended from the southern tribes of Israel, primarily Judah and Levi. He also cites Hebrew University's Steven Kaplan, who believes Ethiopian Jews adopted Judaism in the early Middle Ages as part of a wave of Judaization sweeping Ethiopia. (Kaplan himself fully supports EJ aliya and absorption, and is very clear on those points.) There is also evidence of this noted by another academic who specializes in Ethiopian song.

The point of this post is not to refute this belief, but I will make one simple point regarding it: Nothing these academics believe and nothing in that DNA evidence precludes conversion to Judaism. In other words, at best this evidence proves not that Ethiopian Jews are goyyim, but that Ethiopian Jews may be converts. And, when you factor in what academics of equal stature say in opposition, or what many others say – based on solid evidence – about the lineage of Ashkenazi Jews, for example, or the 'unity' of the Tribes of Israel, one quickly realizes that all of this evidence is a two-edged sword; what cuts the black Jews you so dislike cuts you, deeply, as well.

The point of this post is to ask a hypothetical question: What if Ethiopian Jews are not Jewish? What if they never converted and are not descended from Jews? What if they are simply well-meaning non-Jews who adopted as many Jewish practices as they could and identified as Jews, doing so for hundreds of years, often under great persecution? How should we then properly relate to them?

Let me quote from my friend's emails because they are representative of many other emails and comments I've received over the last twenty-five years:

"[Ethiopian Jews are] just African black guys with feathers and bells singing their ol' folk tunes   but they sure got rhythm … I see dozens of Ethiopians a day and 95% look like deep African tribal blacks and the other 5 % look more refined  but none of them look Jewish to me… SHVARZAH NIC YIDDEN … they ain't Jews except to the non-religious politicians who want cannon fodder  they are employed as security guards and janitors and vote for the liberal parties  the lefties love it   canned votes and someone to sweep the floors … you marry a sevarzah and i will marry a Jewish girl  your kids will have rhythm and mine will get a Noble prize (at least statistically)…"

Is this any way to treat people who have suffered as Jews for hundreds of years?

One would think that even those holding the minimalist position, those who reject all evidence in support of Ethiopian Jews' Jewish descent, would have respect for people who suffered so much because everybody who persecuted them did so to persecute Jews.

Indeed, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein mentions this in his letter, and writes: "One should also know that even if in practical application of the law they are not Jews, nevertheless since they think they are Jews and sacrifice their lives for their Judaism, we are obligated to save them." And, as Rabbi Feinstein, Rabbi Ahron Soleveitchik and others have made clear many times, one may not discriminate against a person, Jewish or not, because of skin color.

But it should not take a pesak halakha to teach Jews that. I would think that if a people had suffered so much and risked so much for Judaism and Israel, we would, at the very least, be civil toward them. We certainly would want to help them out of danger and distress, and do whatever is necessary to help them succeed.

Yet, in the Ashkenazi Orthodox world (especially in the American part of it) the opposite is often the case. Here is a quote from an email sent to me by a leading member of the RCA: "[A leading Orthodox professor with close ties to Chabad] once said that the poskim who affirmed the certain Jewishness of the Ethiopian Jews were those who did not read a European language." This is a racist slap at the dozens of Sefardic poskim who hold, just like Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, that Ethiopian Jews are 100% Jewish. Needless to say, this Orthodox professor is not known as a friend to Ethiopian Jews in any way, not even following Rabbi Feinstein's minimalist position quoted above – a position, by the way, endorsed by Rabbi J.B. Soleveitchik and dozens of others, as well.

I think this all points to  a larger malaise in Orthodoxy, a malaise that has turned morality into "what can we get away with" rather than "what is the ideal we should strive for."

The mesorah tells us that the Messiah won't check lineage. Traditionally, questions of lineage have been dealt by rabbis in the most lenient ways possible. Yet, put black skin on people and somehow leniency gets tossed to the wind, and strictness becomes the norm.

This is racism, pure and simple – bigotry based on skin color. Rabbis who allow this, either by commission or by silence, are many. You can find them at your local Chabad House, at your Modern Orthodox shul, on staff at Yeshiva University, and on the streets and study halls of Mea Shearim and Geulah. They work for Aish HaTorah and Ohr Somayach, study in the Mir, stroll 13th Avenue in Brooklyn. They are plentiful.

It seems to me they are killing Judaism.

[Perhaps the only reason I remained a BT after failing (or so I thought) to get a clear response from the Rebbe on Ethiopian Jews was the reaction of Rabbi Moshe Feller, the Rebbe's shaliach to the Upper Midwest, to a letter written by Ethiopian Jewish leaders and smuggled out of Ethiopia. The letter detailed the suffering of the people, including several rapes of young girls. As he read the letter, Rabbi Feller began to softly cry. His is the only positive reaction I can cite in all these years, outside of Rabbi Feinstein's message to me and the endorsement of other rabbis to the public parts of it. In dozens of interactions over many years, I would say well over 98% were wholly negative.]

Contest

Watch the video. List every lie or misstatement this clown makes. Post them in the comments section. First one to list all the errors wins a prize yet to be determined.

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Hey Gedolim, How Was Your Simchat Torah?

So, did the Novominsker make a nice tisch? The Gerer? Did Malkiel Kotler tance mit a sefer? Yisroel Belsky?

It's all for God, nu, isn't it, this dancing, this show? The shreimels and stupid hats and beards to your pupiks. You're holy men, no doubt. But what God wants is emmes, not your pro forma holiness.

Rabbis, your silence kills Jewish children. You certainly know this. Are these children less dear to God than your tisches and bekeshers?

Why Religious Zionism Failed

What 39 years of Religious Zionist focusing on the Land of Israel rather than the People of Israel can do. The Jerusalem Post reports:

After being awarded the Prime Minister's Prize for poetry, Jerusalem poet Eliaz Cohen began a tour of Israel's schools.

At first, he is reluctant to tell his story. He finally agrees, but still refuses to say where the incident happened, saying only that it was a "very 'Zionist,' and elite high school, with a very good, well-educated and dedicated teacher, who was as sad and horrified as I was." Cohen was lecturing on his poetry, which he describes as " Jewish in its perspective and connotations." He alludes to a test of sorts, which he presented to the unknowing high-school students. He read them some of his latest poems…

He then asked the students what they understood from the text. Not one of them understood the metaphors or the cultural-social motives and context.

"I felt awful," he recalls. "These were good kids, well-educated, with high marks, from good 'Israeli' and 'Zionist' families, and not one of them understood. I was very close to some kind of despair - issues like those mentioned in the poem didn't mean anything to those kids. Nothing. No memories, no recall from the past - let alone from the present. As if anything Jewish had been wiped out from their brains."…

This is the failure of Gush Emunim, Rabbi Kahana-Shapira, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook and so many more.

The land brought no security. It brought no peace. It did not bring the messiah. But preoccupation with it brought you millions of young Israeli Jews ignorant of their history and estranged from their heritage.

Rabbis, look what you have done to your people.

Should President Katsav Resign?

Even though police now recommend his indictment, I say no, he should not step down. Let him be tried in a court of law. If found guilty, he should be impeached. The Knesset can remove him earlier, if need be.

Is Rabbi Daniel Lapin Going Down?

Looks like he should. The Seattle Times reports:

A Mercer Island-based religious foundation was one of five conservative nonprofits groups that appear to "have perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers as they rallied to the aid of now-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a report released Thursday by the Democratic staff of the Senate Finance Committee.

Toward Tradition, which describes itself as dedicated to advancing "traditional Judeo-Christian values," is headed by Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Lapin is also a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host.

The report includes e-mails and other documents that offer new insights into the relationship between Lapin and Abramoff, once a high-profile Washington lobbyist and board member of Toward Tradition. Abramoff was convicted on felony corruption charges.

"E-mails show that Mr. Abramoff could turn to Rabbi Lapin for a friendly newspaper column that put a client in a positive light. Indeed, the e-mail communication indicates that Mr. Abramoff planned how best to use Rabbi Lapin as a source," the report said.

Tax-exempt groups are barred from paid lobbying or public-relations work.…

The report, released Thursday, details a 1999 effort by Abramoff to have Lapin write a column on behalf of one of its clients, Channel One.

Lapin wrote a lengthy defense of the broadcast company, which was under fire for offering a controversial mix of newscasts and advertising to students in the classroom.

According to e-mail records, the draft was e-mailed to Abramoff, who then sent it to Jeff Ballabon of Channel One for review. In meetings with Channel One, Abramoff also suggested that Toward Tradition give awards to Channel One.

In response to the report, Lapin said that "I do not believe that Toward Tradition ever gave any award to Channel One," and that the article on Channel One "never saw the light of day."

The committee's Republican chairman, Sen, Charles Grassley, could have blocked the report's release, but did not do so. Here is what Sen. Grassley said:

Grassley said Thursday he would consider the report but said it should have looked at more nonprofit groups. "The problems are widespread and won't be resolved just with Mr. Abramoff going to jail," Grassley said.

True. Perhaps Rabbi Lapin should join his protégé behind bars.

This Simhat Torah, Don't Forget The Children

I received an email from a kind person involved in a Agudath Israel program. One of the things this program sets out to do is to make sure that children of single parents have someone to take them to shul on Simhat Torah. He wanted me to publicize the program.  I wanted to publicize it but how could I? Agudah leadership stonewalls the rabbinic abuse issue. Rabbi Yehudah Kolko is alleged to have abused at Camp Agudah itself. And Agudah's spokesperson – perhaps the most dishonest person I have ever dealt with – consistently downplays the abuse issue and slyly attacks victims and advocates. How can I ask people to turn their children over to an organization that employs such a man and whose leadership itself is so insensitive to the plight of these children?

And so I sent the man an email apologizing for not being able to promote his program. And I told him why. And when I was done it hit me like a ton of bricks. I cannot turn fatherless children over to rabbis! Can you imagine? And I cried.

Someone please print this and show it to the Novominsker and to anyone else on the Moetzet you can reach. This is what it has come down to. This is what their silence brings. Rabbis, when your time comes,  I guarantee you, G-d won't congratulate you on your learning or your piety or on how well you run a tish. He's going to sit at the head of the beis din shel mylah and He's going to ask you one question: "When little Mendel and Sheindel and Dovi and Ruchi were molested, where were you? Do I care about your blatt gemara and your chidushim? No! I care about the lives of those little children!"

Right now, rabbis, you have no good answer to that question. Don't you think you should have?

These Hard Streets

After reading the response to this post and hearing from former and current BTs who are suffering, I wanted to do something. Instead, I took those stories and distilled them into this brief poem based on Sotah 2a:

These Hard Streets
©Shmarya Rosenberg

It is an icy wind

a tree just now barren
serves as a display rack
for a man selling
someone's life

I walk these hard streets
and I am empty

in heaven before I was born
it was said
a declaration
but He is very busy
and shit happens
so my notice got lost in the files
stuck between some pages

or maybe I missed it in a blare of horns
on 85th off Broadway
that night after the steakhouse

or maybe it's just late
damn late

So I ask Him
He doesn't answer
and in that silence
what?

and that's it, isn't it?

this is the answer
these hard streets
so empty and cold
like my bed
like my life
like my dreams.

Haredism in a Nutshell

Everything important in life I learned about in yeshiva – not:

… As soon as the light changed, the car cut me off from the right.  I looked over as it passed and saw a distinctive large beard and black hat, front brim turned down.  Apparently, this frum yid, less than two weeks after apologizing for all wrongs committed during the previous year, felt it was okay to behave in a way that was rude and potentially dangerous. 

But he wasn't done.  Up ahead, the road widened to two lanes.  The other car pulled into the right lane and I stayed in the left, preparing to turn at the intersection.  But my black-hatted friend suddenly decided that he needed to be in the left lane.  How suddenly? Well, there was no time to signal- heck, there wasn't even time to make sure there wasn't another car (mine) in the space he wanted.  Yes, he nearly forced me into oncoming traffic and completely ignored me laying on the horn.  Probably a tsnius issue.  And after all that, did he even turn at the light?  Nope.  He kept going straight-- while straddling the white dotted line, taking up both lanes.

I suspect he thought I was just some shiksa who he'd never see again.  But I know what kind of hat he wears.  I know what kind of car he drives.  I know people in his community.  It shouldn't be too hard to find him next year.  And then I can remind him, while he's busy offering up vague apologies in order to secure his place in Haolam Habaah, of the Jewish mother and wife he could have caused serious harm to, not even two weeks after the previous Yom Kippur.

Now, of course I don't believe that this kind of behavior is reflective of all who wear black hats. But I do believe that when one chooses to publicly identify themselves as a member of a group that is grounded in Torah, they must behave in a way that shows that they take Torah seriously.…

Amazing what our rabbinic brothers don't teach in their yeshivot. Of course, God forbid you eat the wrong cheese or tie your shoes out of order …

The Silence Must End Now

ABC aired its Nightline segment on Rabbi Avraham Mondrowitz, a pedophile who preyed on Jewish and Italian kids in Boro Park and then escaped to Israel, where he has lived openly without censure for about 20 years.

The Brooklyn DA has been faulted for not strongly pursuing extradition. This may in part be because until very recently, his Jewish victims refused to cooperate. Why? Rabbinic and communal pressure.  Rabbinic actions encourage cover up, not disclosure. And children are tortured as a result.

But the sad fact is, short of a Federal investigation, only one thing will help protect haredi children from their molesters – attribution. Victims must stand up and say "My name is ________ and I was raped by Rabbi __________." That attribution will allow the government and media to do what haredi rabbis will not do – root out and deal with the abusers among them.

Do you want to spare others the pain and horror you have suffered? If you do, come forward now. Go to your local District Attorney or the police. Call the New York Times or ABC. Act now. The rabbis who allowed Kolko to molest for thirty years and Mondrowitz to live safely in Israel are the same rabbis who will allow the next rabbinic abuser to escape justice, while his victims suffer horrors only you truly understand.

Now is your chance. Stand up for these kids. Save their lives. If you remain silent, rabbis will enable their rape, just like they enabled yours.

What if someone had stood up to Rabbi Kolko 30 years ago? Or Mondrowitz? Imagine the pain you would have been spared, how different your life would be! You can do that now for an entire generation of children. You can give them a gift larger than any other – life. May God help you, guide you and protect you as you do. The chain of silence and fear must be broken immediately. 

Leaving For Secularism

My friend David Kelsey writes:

…There was a time, long after the fundamentals began to shift beneath my feet, when secularism was already mitigating even a “traditional” lifestyle that I began to suspect that I was not in just for a fall, but rather, a sustained, slow motion swan dive. It was at this time that I promised myself that I would always continue to keep Yom Kippur, and fast accordingly, and refrain from melacha at least on that day. At the time, I thought it would be to say that I was sorry it had worked out like that, but recently, I have instead internally defended this commitment as demonstrating to myself space for allowing for some meaning and aspects of truth even if I rejected the bulk of the mesorah itself.

What do you do when you have never regretted any move away from observance? But only regret you had not made the change earlier?

What do you do when you find every brake you press for the sake of observance has an annoying and debilitating effect on your life, replete with resentments and little or no payoff?

What if you prefer a secular lifestyle, and know that will never change, as long as you are single?

What if you are probably still single at least in part because you don’t want to have to make profound and even terrible choices about how to raise your kids in terms of Jewish education and ritual?

I am not yet at this most minimal expression of Torah Judaism.

But I’m getting there.

It seems to me most "successful" BTs come in as couples, often with young children. To be single and frum is difficult. To be a single BT, and to be one for years is next to impossible, demanding sacrifices greater than most of us can give. Perhaps my biggest regret is that I made that sacrifice. No one can give me back those years. No one.

[First noticed on Luke Ford's blog. And a big Hat Tip to WD as well.]

Chabad Song Parody

Sent in by FriarYid:

[To the tune of Under the Sea, from Disney's Little Mermaid]

…Up in Crown Heights,
Up in Crown Heights,
Nothing’s as nice,
As Jews with some spice,
And really nice tights!
Yes, while Bobov’s full of despair,
Chabad prays to an empty chair,
If they had a leader,
He’d stand tall as a cedar,
And they’d reunite!
All the wives’ schmattes,
Bring their husbands such naches,
Up in Crown Heights
Things work with such ease,
When the rebbe’s deceased,
Don’t confuse them with Skver,
Or they’ll cut off your hair,
Yeah I’m telling you,
It don’t pay to screw,
With those guys in Crown Heights!

ABC Nightline Expose On Mondrowitz Delayed Again

It was supposed to air tonight but, according to Jsafe it has been pushed back to Wednesday. JWB adds there may be further delays.