Greenspan

The empties did not yet reach the ground, but ink was already drooling by the barrel from Göbbels' disciples pens onto the pages of the New York Times and various news agencies and websites.

Virtually every article about the shooting in Tucson focused on the Tea Party movement. Oh no, they didn't lie, never would do such a thing. See, not one of them outright accused the The Party of the shooting. They simply stated the facts in a few lines, then raved and ranted five or six paragraphs about the horrible Tea Party, Talk Radio and how we must immediately enact tough "gun control" laws. No, nobody wants to take away your guns, only a few regulations here and there, just like Messrs. Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot and Mugabe did in their respective countries. I mean, any reasonable person understands that since a gun can kill, a civilian must not own guns, because only good policemen – who are totally loyal to their government – should have guns. Of course, the journalists – strictly abiding to strict journalist ethics - forgot a few details; such as the murderer's anger at the Congresswoman because she wasn't leftist enough for his taste. And he smoked pot. And LSD. And read Mein Kampf, The Communist Manifesto and Dov Bear (commenting as Cousin Oliver). And loved left-wing cookery such as the abolishment of currency, free drugs etc. And said the USA was racist.

Of course, the journalists themselves, cooking up and inventing the stories are not screaming fire in a crowded, theater, no, they'd never do such a thing. I mean, do you really believe that the Stürmer and Völkischer Beobachter caused any kind of incitement against Jews? Of course not! It was plain and simple spontaneous anger against that evil Greenspan who murdered von Rath because of the lack of gun control! This is exactly the same type of spontaneous anger that we here at the New York Times and Yahoo! News are trying to create against the Tea Party, Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh. Hey, didn't we put Obama in office in the same way?!

After all, we all know that gun control works. Take Japan for example. In Japan, you can't have a handgun, period. You can have a hunting rifle or a historical sword, and these must be registered by the police. You can also own a business, be a politician or bureaucrat, and a large chunk of your income will go to the Yakuza, and if you resist, well, you may end up a little broken up, or maybe buried. But you won't enter Japan's crime statistics, as corruption, extortion, and police involvement with the mafia/Yakuza officially don't exist. You can also live in a wonderful country like South Africa, where racism was abolished, but murder, mayhem and brutality are commonplace – thankfully, guns are banned. And look across mean, nasty, xenophobic and "racistical*" USA: murder and violence everywhere. Dare mentioning that violent crime is negatively correlated to gun ownership and positively correlated with certain ethnic groups, and you're a cook, racist, Teabagger and public danger for life. Thus is truth, left-wing media style.

Just one more word to my good gun control freak friends (among them Binyomin Rose of Mishpacha Magazine and Chuck Schumer, who owns two shotguns worth more than my yearly salary and semi-auto rifles of the kind he wants to ban):

I recently discovered a shocking statistic. Shocking, not so much in itself, but because of the strikingly similar rates worldwide – I mean the same percentage in every country, district, locality, continent – you wouldn't believe it: everywhere in the entire world, between 98.3% and 99.6% of all rapes is committed with the very same "weapon"… Shocking, really! And yet even the most fanatical gun banners (Obama, Bloomberg, Mugabe, Soros etc.) do not suggest banning that weapon, or at least mandate a permit to carry concealed…

_____________________
* I heard this term from a leftist girl. She said it with a straight face and meant it seriously. She claimed the NRA and anti-immigration groups are "so racistical", I kid you not. Oh, and she studied at NYU. All hail literacy!!!


© Joseph Izrael 2010

You Don’t Have To Be Old To Be Wise

Sometimes one can see a silver lining to a very dark cloud.
It is heartwarming to see how organizations that are at odds with one another – and quite often at each other’s throats (preferably about petty quibbles and power plays) unite in times of dire to help the clal.
So you can imagine how warm my blackened heart felt when I saw the posters of the Parnassa intitative in shul, outlining their different ways to help in difficult times.

Isn’t it great that our leaders take the time and effort to help with employment and business initiatives? And even able to put aside their ideological wars for a while to mend our scars?

Unfortunately, it only happens after the fact. How long have I been screaming about leaders ignoring the impending fiscal dangers? Why was everyone silent about abusing the system, hiring illegal aliens and living an irresponsible lifestyle of drunken sailors?
Not one poster, not one word, not one warning, and of course, chas vesholem, no union of JWF (Jewish Warring Factions) to asser –or at least warn- about the housing scam. No. The venerable rabbis sat idle as they got fat on donations from real-estate scammers. No one cared that the house of cards was bound to collapse. Not one suggested that Jewish businesses employ Jewish people to do the menial jobs – no Parnossah fund was established to fill the gap between what American workers ask and what employers pay to illegal immigrants.

But thankfully the satellite circus just rolled into town. The Council Of The Sages Of Chelm have united to help you: free gmachs to start a business – the way to help us out of the hailed “economic crisis”! That’s right raboisai, now that the water’s overhead, the free loan fund will bail out the freeloaders, and the business loan initiative will give 5 grand to those who have enough dishonest friends to co-sign the loan.
I just keep wondering, how these clairvoyants invariably fail to see what’s coming, and refuse to act before it’s too late? Are our wise rabbis in lockstep with the lowliest of politicians, or is it vice versa? So here you have it, the frum version of Obama’s Stalinist payback-ransack bill. And the same old usurpation of Jews’ love of hessed to benefit ganefs who will be the only ones to benefit from the Parnossah initiative.

If the “עיני העדה” are themselves blind, why do they have to be followed?
___________________________________________________________________________________
Since I don’t want to be only negative, I have a few real suggestions to ease the burden & the hurt of the economic crisis:

Entice real estate owners to let people live in their houses for very cheap. There are hundreds upon hundreds of houses standing empty for over two years, yet the prices are not going down. Why? Because the owners know that their politicians will prevent the properties from being confiscated. The real estate gangs stick together to keep prices inflated. The rabbis know, but they need to make a living, too. Tell them to sell the houses at low prices instead of taxpayers having to bail them out.

Second: publish a kol korei signed by the biggest rabbis unequivocally prohibiting the hiring of illegal immigrants. Let frum people pack orders at Kosher supermarkets, and establish a fund to make up the difference between what the employer pays and what they (reasonably) expect.

Third: make all school/yeshiva operators open their books. Parents are choking, teachers are not being paid, and rosh Yeshivas are parading in brand new SUVs and go on vacations in Florida. I want to know where the money comes from. They have an obligation to pay employees before taking profits. The amount of blood, sweat and tears they invested in the yeshiva is no excuse. If you’re a ganef, you can’t be a rosh yeshiva. (ooops, all Yeshivas would have to close…)

Fourth: unconditionally and unequivocally asser to give tzedakah to unknown individuals, or without solid proof that they are entitled to collect tzedakah. I had enough of snot-nosed hassidsh kids shaking their hands in my face asking for “hacnossas kallah” – meaning their own chassunah, coming up in four years. Yes, they do it and it is totally accepted in hassidish circles. Stupid jews fund the hassidim’s shtreimels and Escalades, thinking they do a mitzvah.

Fifth: relax your insane contraceptive rules. David Twerski, the führer of new square, prohibits any and all contraception in any and all case – yes, even if it is known the couple is genetically incompatible.

Sixth: prevent multiple small businesses to compete over one small clientele instead of uniting and opening a larger one. This is mostly due to typical Jewish factioneering.

Lastly, stop the insane price gouging in frum stores. Stop the punitive rent from frum real estate moguls, and tell shopkeepers you’ll discourage your parishioners from patronize them if they don’t sell for a fair price. I’m willing to pay pay 2%-6% more for clothing in a frum store instead of the mall. But not 10%-40%, that’s insane.

Finally – can someone tell me why all the sponsors on the bottom of the posters were from the food industry? 5 brownie points for the right answer.


© Joseph Izrael 2008

Let Them Eat Cake!

“I’ll explain it to you,” said Alissa the Fox, sitting down on her tail and licking her chops, “In the Land Of Fools there’s a magic field called the Field Of Marvels. You just dig a hole in the field, say “Kreckety, freckety, peckety” three times, put the gold in the hole, cover it up with earth, sprinkle a little salt on it, give it a good watering, then go to sleep. And the next morning a little tree with gold instead of leaves will grow out of the hole. See?”
Burattino hopped up and down -
“You’re lying!”
“Come on Basilio,” said the Fox, turning up her nose huffily. “He doesn’t believe us, and more fool him.”
“No, no,” cried Burattino. “I do believe you! Let’s go to the Land Of Fools as fast as we can!”

[-Excerpt from Alexei Tlostoi's "The Little Golden Key (Or, The Advantures of Burattino, the little wooden puppet)"]

No further comment necessary, now is it?

© Joseph Izrael 2008

Helter Smelter

King Oil is rising in western Sibieria, according to a recent National Geographic article. Formerly pockets of isolation and desolation, dilapidated slum-villages are now turning into thriving suburban areas. Nightclubs, museums, fancy schools, sports centers sprout in the towns. With better housing and job opportunities, they attract newcomers, and in sharp contrast with the rest of the country –the rest of Europe, in fact- there is positive population growth. The article barely pays lip service to the ecological and environmental impact of more than 70 billion barrels of crudie being exploited, often forcing out local nomadic tribes. One town even boasts a statue of an oil drop – I don’t think anyone in the Western World would get a free pass on that one. And even the fact that they are harsh on immigrants (mostly Muslims from FSU, lured by the low wages –but wages nonetheless- at the oil fields) doesn’t seem to bother the Geographic.

Of course, we here in the mighty US of A aren’t doormats either – two weeks ago ICE agents raided Agriprocessors, a kosher meatpacker in Iowa, and apprehended some 400 illegal immigrant workers. The action was carried out almost as brutally as the apprehension of 400 dangerous children from the “LSD” church, because they were severely abused by their Mormonic polygamist parents. (Side note: an American veteran sent an angry letter to the NG editor saying he worked menial jobs all his life, contrary to their claim in their article “Mexico’s Other Border”, that illegal immigrants are an absolute necessity for the survival of the USA, and that Mexico treats its illegal immigrants from the south so nicely that they’re dying of overfeeding and excessive leisure. In fact, most find this decadence so repugnant that they prefer continuing to the US, where economic hardship forces people to face a harsher –but sane- reality). So why aren’t the other 20 million illegal immigrants raided as well? Ah, you don’t understand – we just don’t want to raise their suspicion. It has absolutely nothing to do with denunciations from far-left hatemongers. A few words criticizing Agri’s slave-oppression and eco-unfriendly methods couldn’t have aroused the ire of ICE.

ICE, of course, has nothing to do with Iceland’s new aluminum smelter, amply lambasted in the Geographic’s March edition. True, the smelter and the power supply necessary to operate it have far larger ecological impact than oil drills, and Western man has already triggered an ecological disaster or two. (Mentioning that nearly all such disasters have been foisted by the USSR and its satellites is beside the point.) However, the smelter was built with all the ecomaniacs’ rules, regulations and restrictions, far, far away from any civilization. But the Geographic and its green goblins still want the smelter stopped and prevent future plants. Instead, they suggest Iceland fire up its economy by selling postcards, opening museums displaying ancient Nordic art, and promote tourism. These are all wonderful ideas, but I don’t think it could stabilize a country’s economy like aluminum production & export.

Let me please jam you with one more gem: Scientists, (genius genius emeritus, a supra-species of humans who have the undisputable right to determine what’s good for the rest of humanity – with that humanity’s money.) are hard at work in the LHC – Large Hadron Collider, a 17 mile long tunnel, some 60ft in diameter, located on the French-Swiss border. The tunnel is equipped with mega-magnets and other mammoth gizmos and computers. It is a particle collider, which scientists hope will help discover the Higgs Particle – a component of protons and neutrons whose existence is still a mystery. And what will they do once they find it? Jack. Scream eureka. Know it exists. But more seriously, the prospective discovery has no immediate goal. It would be one of the many important scientific discoveries that weren’t all that important, yet led to technological improvements- iPods, blue-ray disc etc. The article gloats about the USA finally losing its 1st place in physics, due to the LHC, yet forgets to mention any safety concerns.
The scientific community has an affinity to see the world as a mass of matter only, definable by a set of equations, completely excluding the spiritual. But G-d has an affinity to remind man that he has crossed the line in a rather tragic way. The Challenger and the Discovery space shuttles are but few examples of disastrous negligence prompted by conceit, often occurring when man forgets he’s still not big enough to “touch G-d’s face”.
And unless the mega-magnet cause an implosion of such mega-magnitude that would swallow the LHC with the twenty villages about it, you’ll never hear of its dangerous effects.
Forget all the doomsday scenarios; the mere fact of mega-magnets, unprecedented speeds and temperatures coupled with radiation and all those electro-magnetic fields are reason enough for concern. Yet the roughly 23 mi2 populated area of the LHC seems to be of no concern to anyone. But the ecomaniacs, in cahoots with the scientific establishment fight nuclear energy, and additional exploitation of natural reserves tooth and nail. Shut Indian Point, don’t drill in ANWR, don’t build new refineries.

When senator Harry Can’t Reid (but O’Bama Can Wright!) was asked to consider stopping the use of corn for biofuels (as we sleazy right-wing gun nuts been telling you, [look at end of last para], using corn for fuel drives up the price of corn – in turn, farmers grow corn instead of other basic foods, creating a shortage, obviously resulting in higher prices – and the avalanche goes on) he said he couldn’t believe there was any truth to those claims – but that he’d consider it nonetheless.

And guess who are the only ones not affected by the inflated prices? You’ve got it right – the leeches who live off welfare, foodstamps, section 8 and other government grants. They’re concerned with neither food nor oil prices. And they will invariably vote in the hand that feeds them.

The obvious conclusion is that both politicians and scientists see human beings as lab roaches. Your life means nothing to them. They’ll be kept in power by an illiterate populace that enjoys living for free, while the rest of us can drop dead as far as they are concerned. More and more rules and regulations will keep the undesirables who stand in their way weakened and vulnerable. Of course, we could rediscover local farming and start living a little more responsively. But the immediate reaction can only be tshuva and a lot of prayers. And stock up on ammo.

A lot.



© Joseph Izrael 2008

The Ghost Of Cain

“Because ideas have consequences” – Hillsdale College motto.

What constitutes a red line, not to be crossed at any cost? According to “anti-establishment” luminaries of free speech, such as Dov Bear, Shmarya Rosenberg, UOJ and Harry Maryles, it’s anything that anyone disagreeing with them says – especially Michael Savage, anyone who dares wear a hat and a jacket, and of course yours truly.

But a תלמיד מובהק (faithful disciple) of theirs, a graduate of Dov Bear’s brown shirt academy, has crossed a line I believe all of us must stand up against. Not that the aforementioned openly endorsed or encouraged what he said – they’re smarter than that. But their endless spewing of hate, sneer and denigration of great people has bore its bitter fruit.

So Mr. Secular Jew, as I mentioned, frequent commenter and darling at Shmarya and Dov Bear’s sites, a mere two days after Rav Shmuel Berenbaum’s passing compares him to a Nazi! That’s right: he said it plainly, overtly, proudly, - unlike his mentors’ cunning weasel words.

But first, let us deconstruct Mr. Secular “Jew” the fallacity of his disgustingly vicious claim:

Rav Berenbaum’s “ban” did not factually ban anything. Any living man on planet earth, regardless of race, creed, color or religious affiliation, could, at any moment, walk into any bookstore carrying the book and buy it. Now it is true that many “ultra orthodox” stores refused to carry the book, but the store next door did! Following his argument, we should indeed join MK Yair Tzaban (MAPA”M) in his statement – which he made publicly, from the Knesset’s podium, no less- that the Torah is comparable to Mein Kampf. (Actually, I’m pretty sure that Dov Bear and Secular Jew agree with Tzaban).

Interesting to note that Mr. S. Jew didn’t feel compelled to compare the Israeli government to the Nazis; the Israeli government that banned, from all bookstores, Ben Hecht’s book perfidy, which documents in great detail how the Mapai party and Jewish Agency betrayed the Jews of Romania and Hungary and not only refused to help in rescuing them, but boycotted and sabotaged any efforts of others in the salvation efforts.

Barry Chamish’s book “Who killed Yitzchak Rabin” was also taken off the shelves by the Israeli government. Mister Secular didn’t have an urge to compare them to Nazis for that.

When Jews were being dragged out of their homes by Israeli soldiers –who were all, without exception, given the option not to do so- at a time when Arab terrorist were (and still are) shooting mortar shells into Israel and Ukrainian Nazi gangs were roaming the streets of Haifa and Tel-Aviv and the media turned a blind eye to them, Secular Jew hasn’t found enough outrage in him to compare the actions of his secular government to the actions of the secular Nazis.

Perhaps Mr. Secular is really appalled by the fact that Charedi rabbis don’t want their students exposed to the Theory of Evolution, a sacred secular cow of the secular academic establishment. Maybe Mr. “Jew” is not aware of the fact that the very same academic establishment –and very probably not independently of their infatuation with Evolution- promotes moral relativism, a school of thought that equates the Nazis with their victims, the Israelis with Apartheid and Nazism, decry religion of in all forms (except Islamic Jihad) but condones, and in several instances even fiscally aided terrorist organizations, and covered up, aided and abetted terrorists in their midst.

But I think that the real reason for Secular “Jew”’s odious words is entirely different. I believe that Mr. Secular is trying to outscream his conscience. He is trying to outscream a conscience that reminds him, every time he sees, hears or reads about and observant Jew, that he is doing the wrong thing. The mere existence of the orthodox Jew, who lives his life as a Jew, is a reproach to someone who bases his ‘Jewishness’ on mere genetics. In other words – racism. For if not the Torah, what gives Mr. Secular the right to call himself a Jew, to abstain from marrying Gentiles and to live in the land of Hittites, Canaanites, Jebusites, Philistines and Palestinans?

Since Mr. Secular found an inspiration in the form of hateful blogs, he only took it a step further and said what others only dared to hint at.

So thank you Dov Bear.
Thank you Smarya.
Thank you UOJ.
Thank you rabbi Maryles.
Congatulations on the great faithful disciple you’ve produced!

© Joseph Izrael 2008

Corrosion Of Conformity

Please forgive me for sounding like a hoarse parrot – but I just can’t keep quiet. Wherever I turn I see dishonesty, cunning, and an absolute disregard for truth and honesty. Yes, of course, I know that “ שערי תרוצים לא ננעלו – the gates of excuses were never locked”, but come on…

The heilige “Hamodia” endorses Hillary… Yes, yes, of course, I know all the teirutzim on the book… it’s only for the Democratic nomination blah blah blah… so why no endorsement for a Republican candidate? Because Orthodox Jews are never Republicans? Humm, I thought Dov Bear paskened that we’re all “GOP Juden”… I guess even He can be wrong once in a while…

And let’s face it: besides her Presidential Majesty, Hillary Innocent Clinton, who would give a damn about New York’s hook-nosed cloak-clad population? Barack Non-Terrorist, Non-Hussein O’Bama? Mitt Romney who wants to throw our dear Mexican builders out of the country, and then all our dropouts will have to start working in supermarkets? Hucklabeery Finn the evangelist? John McCocaine?

Obviously, only Her Eminence Queen Clinton –wink wink- will remember –wink wink- how we put her in office, -wink wink-. And how our innocently jailed non-criminals were pardoned –wink, wink- by her “husband”. Oh, her husband’s closest friends are murderers, rapists, shakedown experts, con artists, world-class terrorists and pornographers? So what? Why not lighten the picture by throwing in a few rabbis? Hey, for money, isn’t everything kosher veyosher?

I just can’t understand it. When Mordechai the Jew banned Seudas Achashverosh, all the Persian bloggers made fun of him, said he’s a fanatic, and invents new chumras everyday. Then, when he refused to bow down to Hamany Clinton, they all screamed that he endangers all Jews. But now those who claim to be Mordechai’s representatives shamelessly bow down to the worst possible people. How come these heilige hassidim don’t back up from a promoter of homosexual marriage?

And it gets even better: the “Hamodia” is endorsing her! There are also a bunch of paid ads and letters from America’s best and brightest swindlers, shakedown experts and con artists with shterimels supporting her!

Just a little note of warning: being a bit too close to the Clinton Clan can be somewhat dangerous! But I guess one has to have a good teacher to become a pro criminal!

And I thought people falling for Hucksterberry Finn, who stays in the race for the sole purpose of stealing Romney’s votes is bad… I thought falling for serial liar, amnestizer, tax-raiser, and spinmeister (helped block 150 seats of good Supreme Court District judges and now boasts about having helped Alito and Roberts… cockroach!) leftist bum who runs on his lie “I’m a Reagan Conservative” was bad… I guess I was wrong!

I guess holy men are at the White House's most ethical president's side.


© Joseph Izrael 2008

Danger Money

I just heard from a medicaid recipient, that when her child was born, she got a $15 gift card for Toys R Us. Now, in honor of her child's 1st birthday, she got another $45. Is my chanukah gelt tax deductible? Or forced charities are not deductible? Think about it: you have a co-pay. Your employer may not give you the best insurance. But every time an illegal immigrant, a hassid or slum resident poops a baby, you get to give it free nationalized healthcare, gift cards and free transportation to the doctor. All they need to do in return is cast that vote for the Dems.

Exposing the "Flying Imams":

On November 20, 2006, airline officials in Minneapolis removed six imams from U.S. Airways flight 300 to Phoenix after their behavior raised the suspicion of fellow travelers.[1] The imams decried the incident as racist and evidence of discrimination. On March 12, 2007, they filed suit against the airline, airport, and fellow passengers. Some of the imams' claims are exaggerated; many are false. In reality, the incident was a tactical move to support the imams' claim to leadership over the American Muslim community. Indeed, the "flying imams" case, Ahmed Shqeirat et al. vs. U.S. Airways,[2] appears to mark just the latest front in the war between Islamists and mainstream, pluralistic American Muslims. Read More

Phoenix AZ no more sanctuary for illegals.

CAIR leader concocts death threats and, like DB, refuses to condemn terrorists.

Stupid ignorant GOP-Juden invent stories to defame innocent terrorists.

Another right-wing lie. Saudis really fight terror tooth and nail. Such articles are pure inventions.

Save the planet: by taxing kids!

DB’s ideological twin, Rabbi George Soros, destroying yet another country. Oppsss… another right-wing nuttery-rhime… just ignore it.

Woman jailed for mohammed teddybear speaks of her treatment in jail for the first time. (according to some tedDy Bears, it never happened...)

DovBear personals (why he loves mass-murderers so much).

Mexican truckers allowed to roam the US freely.

A real estate company built a five-story building. Once it was completed, they discovered that somehow the builders forgot to install all toilets and plumbing. The board had an emergency meeting to discuss their options. It was decided that the building would be left as it is, and rented out for tenants who wouldn’t need bathrooms.
The first floor would be a nursery – they use diapers.
The second floor would be a kindergarten – they go on the potty.
The third floor would be a Catholic Church - their ....’s in Rome.
The fourth floor would be a Synagogue – the Jews make money from every….
The fifth floor would be the permanent home of the DNC - Democrats always smear all the ... on each other!

I bet you won't see this on DB TV - after all, if it's not a haredi or Republican who stole money, it's no news. Why would the "liberal bloggers who always objectively tell the truth" ever let you know about it?

D"I never said that!"B would give his/her life for this terrorist sympathizer who uses US freedoms to exonerate Terrorists.



© Joseph Izrael 2007

Gutter Ballet

An open letter to Rabbi Avi Shafran and some of his critics

Dear Rabbi Shafran,

After reading your article about sexual abuse in our community, I was left hurt, insulted and betrayed.

The traditional reading on Yom Kippur’s Mincha is parshas arayes. That parsha details some of the most horrendous and repulsive behaviors any human can possibly commit. Why does the holy Torah command us to read that specific segment on the holiest of our days? The Mishna Brurah, has a simple answer: since a man’s self desires sexual sins, and one may have transgressed these prohibitions, he should repent. The Shulchan Oruch doesn’t exempt anyone from hearing this reading. It doesn’t exempt Talmidei Chachomim, nor people with frocks or shtreimels or white beards.

I fully understand that exposing such criminals may shed our community in a bad light. But covering them up shed us in an even worse light. As a result of your article, Rabbi Shafran, wherever and whenever I go with my hat and jacket, I feel like I proclaim “I protect child molesters! I deny that there are problems within my community!” This chilul hashem is by far greater than that of exposing criminals. Most people today understand that there are sick deviants in any society. Most people are able to understand that one who transgresses the Torah by the most odious acts is not a shomer Torah umitsvos. But when the systematic cover-up of such incidents is exposed –and it is exposed, believe you me- that’s when our community as a whole is being demeaned, shamed and ridiculed.

I am fully aware of the abysmal injustices that the Orthodox –and especially the charedi- communities in Israel have suffered at the hand of the Bolshevik Zionists – in some cases even murder. I am fully aware that secular Zionism propagates hatred of true Jews and has a lot to answer for. But it is no excuse for us to behave like them. Since we know what it means to be betrayed, we should be all the more careful not to betray the wretched victims of sexual abuse. Since we decry secular Zionism’s denial of its crimes, we must not deny our crimes either. But all of this is besides the point. In the final analysis there are no excuses; we must do what is right for the simple reason that it is right.

Rabbi Shafran, I understand that there are hachic problems in dealing with this topic. But I also understand that the Torah has specifically empowered our sages with daas Torah in such cases. Daas Torah can rule that a criminal is to be turned over to the authorities even without two kosher witnesses. I would also remind you, that in Jewish Law, a criminal tried for capital punishment but found not guilty, isn’t free to roam à-la O.J. Simpson or Teddy Kennedy. In the time of the Temple, such criminals were left to die in solitary confinement.

I would like to address now some of Shafran’s critics;
not only are you no better than him, you are far worse. You have exploited the victims of sexual abuse for political gain, for your fame and for the pleasure of putting down your opponent. Rosenberg has an exposé on how haredi culture (which he either doesn’t know, as is obvious from his articles, or he willfully distorts the facts) breeds more abuse and cover-ups. Unfortunately there is some truth to his words. But he conveniently omits a few disturbing facts; he writes: “Look at it this way. If you could stop a murderer from killing by calling police, but choose not to do so because breaking omerts would result in less desirable shidduchim [matches] for your children, would your inaction be correct? Is your child's "better" shidduch more important than the victim's life, a life you do not have the power to restore? If this question is in any way difficult for you, you're in the wrong species. Check your lineage for apes.” Well, sweetheart, you full and well know that murder was actually covered up. Unfortunately for you, that didn’t happen in haredi communities. It happened among your darling Reform brothers. That’s right – there are at least three incidents I am aware of, when Reform “Rabbis” were committing adultery with their congregants wives. In two instances the cuckolded husbands opted to have their wives assassinated, while in the other, a Rabbi himself ordered the murder of his wife, in order to marry a woman he recently “converted” to Judaism. You’d imagine that according to Mr. Rosenberg’s analysis there’d be a tremendous outcry in those communities, harshly condemning the tragic events. Not so. Not only the community tried its best to hush the events and refused to talk to the media, but when one of their own tried to document the case, she was beaten, her nose was broken, she received death threats and was ostracized. So much for the great secular civilization many of you so much adore.

Then you have the bleeding heart ultra-righteous blogger who abhors sex abuse so much, that any comment containing the names of sexual predators is deleted from his blog’s comments section. Well, as long as they belong to his party. In other words, Ze’ev Kpolevitch, who was convicted of no less than 19 counts of rape and statutory rape, but after serving a nominal 3½ years sentence, was brought back to the yeshiva, doesn’t make it to the blog world. That’s right, the pervert is brought back to yeshiva after conviction, he is still there, and you remain silent. The Israeli media accused Rabbis Chaim Druckman and Avraham Shapiro of covering up the case and urging witnesses to remain silent. That somehow wasn’t detected by your radar, Mr. Righteous. Why? Since you don’t care about this, why are you so adamant other predators are brought to justice? And don’t you think your over-defensiveness just gives credence to other allegations? If you bar as much as mention of the name George Finkelstein, don’t you think it raises suspicion that the allegations against him, as well as allegations of cover-up against Norman Lamm may be true?
You criticize others for the very same thing you’re guilty of. At least Shafran doesn’t run around accusing others of cover-up. You have exploited sexual assault victims’ plight for your own sick games, for political gain and idiotic partisan politics.

© Joseph Izrael 2007

A Stranger In Us All

A few days ago I came across an interesting post on Ben Chorin’s website. In short, the post quotes an article about Israeli football fans who booed during the moment of silence in honor of Rabin’s memory. In his analysis, he claims they did so to protest against their humiliation, i.e. the moment of silence is really meant force them to “…affirm the virtuousness of the secular Ashkenazi left and the barbarism of everyone else, first and foremost, people like themselves. Their reaction was a sign of healthy self-esteem combined with a certain, um, lack of inhibition.” An angry commenter there remarked -in typical leftist conceit- that those barbarians are indeed incapable of such deep analysis, and were just acting as, well, barbarians.

In the last few years I have been working around non-intellectuals, to say the least. They come from many backgrounds: WASPs, Jamaican Blacks, Hispanics, American Blacks, Africans – what not. I can affirm you with the greatest certainty that even primitve and uneducated people are not necessarily stupid, and they most certainly aren’t oblivious to their feelings. The Ego is an extremely powerful part of us, and is extremely sensitive. He loves himself more than anything and anyone else, and woe to the one who’d dare insult him.
Such people are probably not conscious or analytic of the world exactly in the way we are – perhaps their brains analyze reality differently. Those Beitar fans probably didn’t analyze reality in the same way Ben Chorin did. But they certainly felt it, to the deepest of their souls. This beside the prevalent Sepharadic complex of inferiority and resentment of the elitist Polish intelligentsia of Israel.

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner is one of the greatest masterpieces of English poetry. The epic poem tells the story of a mariner who kills an Albatross –a bird of good omen- for no apparent reason. The rest of the crew are angry at him, but later justify him. Then a terrible curse, a thirst and draught begins as vengeance. In the end all the crew dies except the Mariner, who is doomed to live and tell his horrible tale wherever he goes.
Literary critics have written entire libraries of analyses about the poem. A point many ponder about - what exactly the morale of the story is? One lesson I believe we can learn from here is that idle bystanders who know a wrong has been done may be guiltier than the actual criminal. For we cannot know what posessed him in the momoent he carried out his act – but the others understand it is evil, yet later they justify the criminal. (Or just don’t denounce him.)

Yesterday I saw something that literally made me sick. Someone made the most odious, repulsive, puke-inducing and repugnant comments about our saints of saints, Yaakov Avinu and Leah Imeinu. I can’t even repeat what the putrid coward hiding behind the blog D.B. said. Go see for yourself if your stomach is strong enough.

Quite often we witness people outraged at their Rabbis being denigrated, or even not addressed with proper respect. Sometimes numerous articles are written against this or that journalist or blogger if they “mistakenly” ommit a rabbi's due title, or if one chas veshalom dares questioning this or that decision of one’s Gadol. A flurry of angry comments flood the site after such a snafu, and the war of words rages for days on end. The fierce defenders of Torah stand up with fire in their eyes to protest the disrespect showed to their Leader by that nasty individual, who must immediately apologize… or hang.

Yet… yet here… total silence. Not one protest. Not one condemnation, not an iota of outrage showed. I know, I know. There are a million excuses. He wants the attention, it’s better to ignore him, etc.

Are we really that shallow? What are we standing up for when we protest a Rav’s humiliation? Are we really standing up for Torah or that rabbi or gadol? Or are we standing up for our own little narcissitic ego? How come a little carelessness about a contemporary rabbi generates such emotions, yet when Yaakov Avinu is dragged through the mud, called a swindler, when Leah Imenu is compared to a Playboy bunny no one has anything to say? How can we not go crazy when we hear such utter defamation taken directly from ageless, classic anti-semitic propaganda? How can everyone keep quiet when one who proclaims to be an observant Jew quotes from Third Reich textbooks and pub-mob?

I think this is precisely our problem. Our idiotic sectarianism isn’t about truths anymore. It’s not about principles. It’s about me and myself and I and my. When a rav is insulted, it is not the insult of Torah or righteousness we protest. It’s our own insult we stand up against. That’s how low we got. Yaakov Avinu doesn’t matter anymore. Apparently, he’s not a treasured figure in our History. Apparently, he’s not a fundamental part of Yiddishkeit.

Well, he wasn’t in our club.


© Joseph Izrael 2007

Gangland

“Dead men - tell no tales
Gangland – where jailbirds die”
“Gangland”, Iron Maiden, (The Number Of The Beast, 1982)

Michael Savage was just speculating that the hasty execution after the lengthy trial was to prevent the butcher from spilling the beans on several high-profile political figures in the EU and the USA. Who knows what was going on there between the oligarchs.
So far all we know is that amnesty is underway for some twenty million illegal invaders, who in turn will import their extended families and cause us to lose what little is left of our sovereignty, borders, language and culture.

© Joseph Izrael 2007

Homicidal Suicidal

The big winners of the Iraq debacle are of course Iran and Syria. As the mirage of a free, democratic and stable Middle East fades as fast as the support for the war, the Syrian Communists and the Iranian Shiite Zealots have already sharpened their forks and knives, drooling on their bibs with the thought of the Iraq spoils.

Similarly, the big winner after the 84th Agudah convention and Rav Herschel Schachter’s lecture in Teaneck is none other than our beloved UOJ. Unfortunately his claims that the only way to raise awareness about child molestation and the cover-up thereof in the Orthodox community is by insulting, cursing, swearing and heaping lies upon truths, has been vindicated both by Rav Schachter and the Agudah convention.

The Agudah convention focused on reducing all Orthodox blogs to the Orthodox Un-Jew, and asserting that all those who are deemed Gdolei HaDor by the Gdolei HaDor are indeed Gdolei HaDor and as per consequence are beyond even the slightest soupçon of criticism. Rav Schachter’s deniably confrontational battle hymn seemed to confirm that indeed, all those mad black-hatters are accomplices and enablers of child molesters and rapists who want to prevent you from calling the police on criminals.

I wish I could ask Rav Schachter why hasn’t he thrust to the hilt, say, a year ago. Or two. Or three. I’m sure Rav Schachter knew that Orthodox children were molested even before Mr. UOJ revealed it to us all. I’d also like to ask him whether he really believes that calling the police on a suspect is in fact a strong enough deterrent for would-be molesters, and finally, I’d like to ask him whether he truly believes that his address in Teaneck could indeed change the mindset of an entire community – a community that rejects him.

The Rabbonim of the Agudah unfortunately behaved exactly as their good old friend Orthodox Un-Jew was constantly accusing them – complete denial of the facts, accusing all dissidents of being disrespectful of “Da’as Torah” and further hiding their heads in the sand to the fact that there is growing dissatisfaction – in their own communities – about the lack of leadership and their refusal to deal with a myriad of problems, child molestation being just one of many more.

Why Rav Scachter had to dig out the half-buried hatchet I know not, yet his speech a mere week after the Agudah convention is no coincidence. But if Rav Schachter is really so concerned about Clal Yisroel’s well-being, I wonder when is the last time he tried to reconcile various factions of Orthodoxy. Or to insure the security of Jews – did he ever contact any congressmen or senators about Homeland/Border security to prevent events such as the LAX Airport or the Seattle Jewish Federation shootouts? Did Rav Schachter do or say anything about the Mordechai Tendler scandal?

The sad reality is that calling the police is only possible after a child has already been abused. Child molesters, in whichever community they may happen to be, are not in the least deterred by the knowledge of the police being possibly called on them. Convictions are very unlikely, because such things are difficult to prove, and due to the fact that most judges in liberal states are either card-carrying NAMBLA members or simply more often than not tend to sympathize with the criminal rather than with the victims. The fact of the matter is that the only solution to this problem can be a complete change of mindset, wherein perpetrators would have to fear, if not corporal, at least social reprisal and ostracism rather than the victim. But this will not happen easily, certainly not with a lecture in Teaneck.

As long as an entire community is preoccupied with $400 baby outfits, how they are being seen by their neighbors, which prestigious shidduch they would be able to make (the future happiness of the newlyweds is not a factor in this equation, just in case you wondered) and how far to the East they are seated in their Grand Synagogue, being molested will be a greater hindrance than being a molester.

This issue, as well many other pressing issues, such as protecting us from the influx of Moslem fanaticism into the USA, the media’s anti-Israel and anti-Jewish onslaught, among others, were addressed neither by the Agudah nor by Rav Schachter. I’m yet to hear one word of denunciation of pro-gay, pro-terrorist political figures and candidates from our leaders, be they MO or other-wise, as well as one word of support for those who wish to secure the country and its borders.

But since we’re anyway going to be obliterated sooner or later, why not have some fun fighting with each other in the meantime?

©right Joseph Izrael 2006

Stiff Kin

I am very little acquainted with the whole Rabbi Nosson (or Nathan) Slifkin affair – in fact I haven’t read even one word of his books, and only recently heard about the ban and controversy.
I did however read Gil Student’s article in the Jewish Press (8/18/’06), which left me with more questions than answers.

Mr. Student starts by saying that the Slifkin controversy signifies the lack of centralized rabbinic authority in our globalized world. That there is a lack of such centralization is a clear fact, and unfortunately the source of many problems and lots of pain in the last 80 years or so. It has very little to do with world globalization and even less with the Slifkin controversy, except maybe that with the existence of such a centralized rabbinical body Slifkin would have written his books slightly differently.

Gil, throughout the entire article, takes the approach of calling all rabbis 'rabbis', without ever specifying whether they are MO rabbis or yeshivish rabbis. Although in a utopian world this should absolutely be the case, Student himself refers later in the article to communities as "yeshivish", "hareidi" and "MO". One would expect a little more consistency: if you relate to the world as it should be, then there are Jews, period and rabbis, period. If you look at the world as it sadly is, then you refer to yeshivish Rabbis and Modern Orthodox Rabbis, and the yeshivish community and MO community. I sincerely don't understand why he tried to blur the distinguishment between these factions as if it were an issue of individual rabbis disagreeing on a certain subject.

It is interesting to note that Mr. Student, who quite obviously is familiar with the world of science, isn't aware of the fact that the scientific community has absolutely zero tolerance for any kind of thought out of the party line: renowned scientists such as Fred Hoyle, Stephen Hawking, James Lovelock took serious flak - the kind that makes the Slifkin ban like a benign joke - for advancing theories which aren't accepted among the mainstream scientists, not to mention what poor Bill Dembski had to endure for the mere suggestion that the idea of a creator might be considered as a scientific option.

Of course, the fact that the scientific community is stubborn, obnoxious and completely averse to any thought that doesn’t fit its strict ideology is no justification for our rabbis to behave in the same way. Yet it should be at least as much as a warning for Modern Orthodoxy from being so infatuated with modern science. Whether many MO leaders’ obsession with reconciling Torah and science (which, by the way, is not to be confused with technology) emanates only from their desire to look ‘nice’ and ‘enlightened’ in the eyes of Gentiles and frei Jews, or is their excuse to adapt halocha to their lives and modify it at the same pace as scientists modify the theory of evolution, I don’t know. But I do know that after some rudimentary study of evolution (yes, from real scientific books, written by real goyim who really don’t believe in G-d), I came to the conclusion that regardless of one's beliefs, wishful thinking and ideology-driven agendas have turned science into a religion. And since scientific philosophy and the scientific method are both defined by the scientific community itself, they are formulated in a way that precludes any and all honest review and criticism. Thus, leading scientists can deride any and all dissent from within their impermeable “temple” as pseudoscience.

It is beyond the limits of my space and time constrains (60+ hours physical –yes, it still exists- workweek) to discuss this issue even in relatively short terms(Rav Avigdor Miller's books on the subject are a good start), yet an example must be brought: one of the criteria for a theory to be considered scientific, it must stand the test of falsifiability, i.e. that it is possible, in theory to disprove it thus rendering all their theories “true until proven false”. Only thing is, the disproof must be accepted by the scientists, and they are the only ones who can decide if a disproof is valid or not. Yet when a theory with which they aren’t comfortable arises -such as Jim Lovelock’s Gaia theory- the mainstream scientists immediately dismiss it as black magic.

Unfortunately, as Mr. Student points out, there is a similar situation in our midst as well. However, science is hardly the best framework to take example from. As I have mentioned before, I am hardly acquainted with the controversy, the ban and Slifkin’s books, so I really can’t take sides here. But even taking the article at face value, there might be justification in the Yeshivish rabbis’ actions; Slifkin, after all, is neither Rabbi Avrohom son of the Rambam, nor the Maharam Schick. These people were first and foremost immersed in intensive Torah study and piety, and investigated science only subsequently. I’m not sure this is the case with Nosson Slifkin. As for the Student’s question what exactly is wrong with the books –to which the rabbis gave no answer to this day- I think there might be some insight: although no one will be banned or excommunicated if, for example, he listens to rock’n’roll privately. But if he writes books about rock’n’roll being compatible with Judaism or that the Leviim in the Bais Mikdosh played Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, I don’t think he should be surprised if a cherem is thrown at him. Even if factually there isn’t anything heretic in the books, these things maybe shouldn’t be shouted from the rooftops. Maybe we still need some barriers between the secular world and us. I’m not trying to imply that this was the rabbis’ intent, yet it might be possible. It is also possible that they were manipulated by powerful behind-the-scenes decision makers, such as the Hebrew Yated Lo Neeman’s Nathan Zochowsky, or other powerful scoundrels.

Yet what puzzles me most is that this article, relating to a three years old event, not only made it to the Jewish Press, but merited an editorial. Mr. Student and the JP decision-makers apparently couldn’t find anything more important and relevant to contemporary Jewish life. Apparently six women shot, one killed, in Seattle by and Arab terrorist is no news for the Jewish press. The entire nation is ablaze about the border situation – the JP is silent. Forget that Zapata (TX) county sheriff and his men reported numerous incidents of Muslims paying up to $50,000 to cross the border into the States. Forget that they had Arabic propaganda and patches with planes flying towards buildings. Forget that drugs, gangs, illness, prostitution and violence are flooding in from Mexico. Forget that Jews and Jewish institutions are terrorist’s primary targets. That is not important. After all, publishing such articles might prompt some Jews to ask their Rabbis what they have done in order to protect them. Maybe if too many Yidden demand that their security be improved, the Orthodox organizations would have to bargain with politicians for sane borders, instead of cash. Maybe if Jews would decide to get prepared to defend themselves, they’d have less money to donate to the rabbinates. Maybe.

One thing is sure: even the tiniest and most “primitive” living creatures, such as the amoebae and algae have an instinct for survival - Jews don’t. Evolution disproved.