Emes Ve-Emunah

It is said that R' Shach would cry upon hearing of the death of any IDF soldier

I love the Charedi world. I really do. Even though I am not Charedi and do not always agree with them, I admire and respect the devotion they have in serving God. They are, in my view, role models for that. Very few Jews – even Orthodox Jews - can live up to a standard where how one lives and virtually everything one does - is all about serving God.

For the most part those virtues which in part consist of dedication, commitment, and compassion serve them well as husbands, wives, mothers and fathers. Family values are a part of their very being. Kindness, charitable giving, and Torah study is part of their collective soul.

This is not to say that they are saints. Who among us is? But they are probably less sinners that most of the rest of us. This applies to both the Yeshiva world and the Chasidic world. (Yes, I know there are exceptions.)

This might sound strange coming from someone that has been so critical of Charedim on so many issues. But that’s only because I care. I want to see them flourish. Not flounder. I want to see extremism destroyed, not tolerated. Unfortunatley there are far too many that follow a philosophy of extremism (a minority to be sure) - and some of those act on it without enough protest from their leadership.

Some people have accused me of trying to make Charedim over in my image as a Centrist. Much as I would love to see every Jew follow the same Hashkafa I do, that is not my goal. My goal is for each community to represent their own Torah Hashkafa in a positive light. All in the spirit of Elu V’Elu.

While it is legitimate to criticize them when we feel it is warranted - we must at the same time recognize and admire their many strengths and positive attributes. Live and let live within the parameters of the Torah through Halacha and Mesorah. That is my belief. Citicizing them L’Shem Shomayim only when it is warranted.

Obviously criticism is subjective and based on the individual critic’s personal perspective or bias. There can be clear differences of opinion about what is and isn’t legitimate criticism. But that’s just called being human. As long as it is L’Shem Shomayim – we should all agree that it is legitimate to criticize.

I mention this to be clear about my intent as I criticize yet another disgusting event in the Charedi world. It happened last night on Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. An event that is in stark contrast to another event in the Charedi world that was very inspiring. (More about that later.)

Last night I was directed to a video recording of a protest held at the epicenter of the extremist Charedi world, Kikar Shabbat. This is the intersection in Jerusalem where the Geula meets the Meah Shearim. It was held at the exact same moment when sirens were sounding indicating a moment of silence for fallen soldiers. They ignored it. Instead of being silent, they continued loudly protesting.

They of course have every right protest in a democracy. But it is the height of insensitivity to do that during the very moment where a national moment of silence is being observed. Regardless of how they feel about this method of memorializing the dead. They consider it a non Jewish way of doing that. But that doesn’t really matter. They should have done what most Charedim in Israel do that agree with them about it being Jewishly inappropriate and nevertheless stand in silence so as not to hurt the families that have lost loved ones in battle.

The callousness of these extremists is appalling. People died serving the very country that allows them to protest it. These were young soldiers who fought Israel’s enemies valiantly and gave up their lives. And yet these miscreants could not care less. There is not an ounce of compassion for the families that mourn the loss of their sons and daughters; brothers and sisters; and in some cases husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. They see what they believe to be an evil government and all they can feel is hate.

What is almost as sad as the demonstrators themselves is the bystanders looking on. Where was the outrage?!

I realize that these are so many of these kinds of protests that a lot of mainstream Charedim just have ‘battle fatigue’. They are probably just tired of all this and look on with dismay – hoping it passes quickly.

But still, to see this display of callousness without a single person there saying a word (at least none that was recorded) was depressing and makes me angry. I can only surmise that this ‘fatigue’ combined with decades of anti Zionist indoctrination has led them to tolerate this Chilul HaShem.

That video should however be contrasted to another one. One that is entirely the opposite. It is a different kind of a Charedi response to fallen soldiers. One that is a Kiddush haShem. It is a recording of the magnificent Rabbi Menachem Bombach teaching a classroom (or assembly) filled with Chasidic students. He is teaching them what it means to lose a loved one in battle serving their country.

This is what I mean by Charedi compassion. It’s there. But because of all the anti Zionist indoctrination -these young children have somehow become immune to the tragedy of a fallen soldier. This video is truly inspiring and gives me hope that the innate compassion that is part and parcel of the soul of the Jewish people becomes unlocked from the prison created by a rhetoric of hate.

I hope that this kind of truth will catch on. True, Rabbi Bombach’s school is unique and counter culture to his Chasidic anti secular studies heritage. But the compassion he teaches is certainly not counter culture. Hopefully this approach will somehow spread to other Chasidic schools, regardless of how they feel about Zionism or about teaching secular subjects.

God bless Rabbi Bombach. He is truly one of my heroes. Unlike those extremists, he is the real deal. We need a lot more like him and a lot less extremists who participate in protests like the one at Kikar Shabbat.

ZAKA founder and head, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav (YWN)

Tomorrow (April 20^th) is the 5^th of Iyar. That is the day in 5708 (May 14, 1948) when Israel formally declared its independence – Yom Ha’atzmaut. (For reasons beyond the scope of this post, Israel’s Rabbinate has moved up its observance to today). But tomorrow is the actual date.

This is the day every year that my Rebbe, Rav Ahron Soloveichik said Hallel. And it is the day that the Ponevezhe Rav, Yosef Kahaneman did not say Tachanun (a daily prayer of supplication that is to be omitted on days where there is a religious holiday or celebration). Both of these Gedolim from yesteryear recognized the significance of this day. It was the first time since the destruction of Bayis Sheni (the 2^nd Temple) that the land of Israel was back in Jewish hands.

They were not alone. Many of the Gedolei HaDor of that time understood the that significance as well. It was a time of rare unity in Klal Yisroel. All of the religious factions in Israel united under one banner: The United Religious Front. A political party that consisted of Agudat Yisroel, Mizrachi, Poalei Agudat Yisroel, and HaPoel HaMizrachi.

I was recently sent a list of some of the distinguished Gedolim that signed a document* that contained that party’s platform. Which read:

We thank Hashem that through his mercy we have been privileged to see the sparks of the beginning of the redemption with the creation of the Jewish state.

Among others were the following signatories:

R Yechezkel Sarna - Rosh Yeshiva of Hebron

R Yaakov Sanktvitz - Rosh Yeshiva of Sfas Emes

R Zalman Sotozkin - Head of the Vaad HaYeshivot

R Yechiel Tuchashinsky - Rav of Etz Chaim

R Eliyahu Ram - Rebbe in Yeshivat Meah Shearim

R Yechiel Shlesinger - Rebbe in Kol Torah

R Yaakov Landau - Rav of Bnei Brak

I believe it was Chazaon Ish changed all that. His philosophy is that which Charedi leaders follow today. In fact the anti Israel rhetoric has today become so vile in some cases, that even the Chzaon Ish would be appalled. If one would listen to some of it - they would think that Yom Ha’atzmaut was not only NOT to be celebrated, but is to be seen as a tragedy! The anti Israel rhetoric is alive and well in most of those circles. Some of it so bad, if one didn’t know better, they would think it were Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran talking.

Even those whose rhetoric is not so acerbic, are still of the opinion that the State of Israel has no religious significance whatsoever. And use very opportunity to make that clear. They consider Israel’s founders Reshaim – evil people out to destroy Torah. Although there are some that do recognize what the State of Israel does for them (most famously the late R’ Chaim Shmulevitz and the late R’ Nosson Tzvi Finkel), there are others that see the State mostly as a cash cow. Which is the primary reason that there are Charedi political parties in Israel today. They serve in the Keneset mainly to protect their own interests. None of them would dare skip Tachanun on Yom Ha’atzmaut, let alone say Halllel.

When confronted with the very real benefits bestowed upon them by the modern civilized state Israel has built, they chalk it up to selfishness… using a passage in the Gemarah as a parallel. The Romans didn’t build their roads for the jews. They built them for themselves!

This attitude permeates much of Charedi thinking. Reactions to any event related to the state is usually negative. Charedi leaders tell their people not to participate in them. Often explaining that the Zionist method of observance is not the Jewish way. So for example when a moment of silence for fallen soldiers was established on Israel’s memorial day, Charedim ignore it. Those with smoe compassion in their hearts for bereaved will stand silently in public when the siren blows. But not in private. And some don’t even do it in public to show just how much disdain they have for the State. Yom Ha’atzmaut means less than nothing to them. They would probably be just as happy (maybe even happier) if the British mandate was still in place. Surely Satmar and Neturei Karta would be.

That said, things are beginning to change. There are Charedim in Israel that are beginning to recognize the value of a Jewish State. Even a Zionist one. There are now Charedi schools that impart a more positive attitude toward the State. There are now Charedim serving in the military. And there are even former hardcore members of Neturei Karta that have come around. All anyone need do is open their eyes and then their minds. By doing that they will realize that all the anti-Israel rhetoric they have been indoctrinated to believe is either grossly exaggerated or entirely untrue.

Sure, some of their complaints might be legitimate. But the fact is that without the Zionist founders, there would probably not be much Torah learning there. I don’t think that is even arguable.

I recall a story told about Rabbi Oscar Z. Fasman, founding president of my alma mater, HTC (back in the 20s). In seeking support for the Chicago Yeshiva, he traveled to Europe to meet with as many Gedolim as he could - seeking their advice. One of them was Rav Yosef Rozen, better known as the Rogatchover Gaon.

After their meeting as Rabbi Fasman was about to leave, the Rogatchover asked him where he was going next. Rabbi Fasman said Eretz Yisroel. With a wave of his hand the Rogatchover said, Eretz Yisroel? They don’t know how to learn there! Today Israel is the largest Makom Torah in the world. Today one might say the reverse of what the Rogatchover said: America? They don’t know how to learn there (compared to Israel).

One of the primary reasons Torah study is flourishing there is because of a country that was made habitable for people used to the amenities of a civilized world. Not to mention all of the subsidies provided by the government. Including protection from a military that they are exempted from.

No one says it better than ZAKA founder and head, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav in a letter to his uncle - published at YWN. His uncle is Neturei Karta founder, Amram Blau. Meshi-Zahav was raised on the knees of his uncle, bought hook line and sinker into his anti Israel rhetoric, and became a soldier for Neturei Karta’s war against Zionism. His message: His uncle was wrong! He explains why in great detail. His missive should be read n full. Here is a small excerpt:

Who would have believed that 73 years after the terrible Holocaust, when the people of Israel were almost extinct, and there was hardly any trace of Torah and Chasidism, we would have a Jewish state of our own. The State of Israel. A state in which the world of Torah will reach prosperity unparalleled in the history of the Jewish people.

It is time. Its time for the entire Charedi world to let go. Its time to discard all the old rhetoric about how Israel’s founders tried to destroy the Torah and whose political heirs – today’s leaders - still have that mission.

It is time to instead have Hakoras HaTov – gratitude for all the State has done for them, and for the entire Jewish people. It is time to recognize the significance of a strong Jewish State where Torah now flourishes. It’s time to reignite the Ahavas Yisroel of their spiritual forbears and reject the Sinas Chinam of today.

They don’t have to say Hallel. Nor do they even have to skip Tachanun. All they need to do is recognize the reality that Yehua Meshi-Zahav does. If they do that, who knows…? Maybe next year we can all celebrate in Jerusalem.

*There is apparently some controversy about validity of this document.

Former FBI Director, James Comey - A higher loyalty? Or self loyalty.

It’s a slow news day in the Jewish world. Not much to comment on. At least not that I care about. So I thought I would reflect a bit on current events with respect to the President.

I have very little sympathy for James Comey. He is currently on a book tour with a mission to sell a lot of books and glorify himself in the process. After watching some of the interviews he gave this week, I saw a man who was mostly self absorbed - and cannot get over the shock of being fired as Director of the FBI.

I saw nothing that he said about Trump as damning. Certainly nothing about collusion with the Russians to subvert the election. Or even obstruction of justice. A lot of that was Comey’s own interpretation about what Trump said to him in his initial meetings as President or President-elect.

True, Trump’s request asking him for loyalty; or his request to cut some slack to his (at the time) recently fired National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn - might sound suspiciously like obstruction of justice. But that is a long way from proving intent. He did not exactly order him to do it. He asked him if he could see his way clear to doing it. It’s all in how you interpret his words. Comey obviously wants it to be seen as obstruction. That is how he has presented it.

The fact is, Trump’s communication skills are sorely lacking. Which leaves a lot of what he says open to interpretation. Which can go either way depending on which side of the political aisle you are on. (And tweets don’t really count. It’s almost as if he had an alternate personality - tweeting as an observer rather than as President.)

Bias is easy to see in Trump’s detractors when they are interviewed. What galls me the most, though, is their projection of righteousness of their views. As though it is - oh - so obvious how guilty he is of either collusion or obstruction. As if this is the way any normal person would see it.

And it doesn’t really help Trump’s image when practically the entire mainstream media so obviously plays right into that narrative about Trump – without actually saying so and pretending to be objective.

Comey has been received as a near hero by the media and Trump’s enemies for ‘exposing’ to the world just what a lying, immoral, and unethical individual Trump is. (…as if we don’t already know that.) But Comey’s bias is made obvious by the pettiness of his comments about Trump’s appearance. Those personal attacks clearly make his entire narrative suspect.

How ironic that this is the same man who is characterized as a hero - was seen as the devil by the same people: Clinton supporters who accused him of sabotaging her campaign. If this doesn’t show political bias, I don’t know what does.

I wouldn’t put any stock on Comey having any impact on Mueller’s investigation either. There is probably nothing in Comey’s book that Mueller doesn’t already know.

There has also been a lot of speculation that Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen will ‘spill the beans’ on Trump when confronted with evidence that he violated laws that might end up in a long prison sentence - unless he cooperates.

That should be put to rest by Mueller’s own comments. He has said that Trump is not the object of Michael Cohen’s investigation.

I realize that some people reading this will say that I have gone over to the ‘dark side’. That I am now a closet Trump supporter. That could not be further from the truth. I have not changed my views about his character. They have only been reinforced. Time and again.

I stand by my view that, unlike President Obama, Trump is morally and ethically unfit to be President - much the same view Comey has. But at the same time unlike Obama - his foreign policy has been more favorable with respect to the UN, North Korea, Syria, and Israel. And his domestic policy with respect to the economy has been mostly favorable too. So far.

I try to be objective and see things as they really are – and not how the media necessarily presents them.

I could be wrong, but I think Trump is here to stay for at least the duration of his first term. And perhaps even a second term. I know that Mueller is not done yet. I also know that he has not publicly commented about whether his committee will find Trump to be guilty of either collusion or obstruction. But I just don’t think he will. And we should just get used to it.

Natalie Portman (Wikipedia)

I shouldn’t have been so surprised at all the attention Natalie Portman has been getting for her decision boycott a Genesis Prize ceremony in Israel. Portman was the latest recipient of this prize:

The Genesis Prize honors individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel.

Her initial comments indicated that the reason for her refusal to attend was because of ‘recent events’. Which was a reference to the way Israel was handling weekly protests by Palestinians in Gaza amassing on its border. They are protesting their horrid living conditions. Conditions that are due primarily to Israel’s blockade of Gaza.

On the surface one might agree that Israel’s use of live ammunition against unarmed Gaza civilians protesting the hard life for which they blame Israel - as immoral. This is the way the mainstream media reports it. And obviously how Portman sees it.

The reaction to Portman’s decisions by many supporters of Israel has been to condemn her – and paint her as a BDS supporter. She was quick to deny that, claiming that the reason she refused to attend was because Prime Minister Netanyahu would be addressing the ceremony and she did no want to be seen supporting him by her attendance.

I find all of this attention curious. Why does anyone care that a celebrity like Portman (who is being honored for her very celebrity via her acting ability) is boycotting a ceremony in Israel? Her views are either uninformed or are more likely based on her own political perspective rather than on any objective consideration. It is a perspective shared by some of the more vocal critics of the Democratic Party, who see things the same way Portman does. None of the other Democrats in congres have (to the best of my knowledge) defended Israel against those critics.

Their hate for Netanyahu was made abundantly clear when he addressed congress during the Obama administration - urging the US to reject the nuclear deal with Iran. Some Democrats actually boycotted Netanyahu's address. But even those that attended were highly critical of him and the Speaker of the House who invited him.

Portman was born in Israel. I suppose that is part of the reason people pay any attention at all to her views on Israel. But being born in Israel does not make her views any more valid that Mahmoud Abbas’s views are. Abbas was born in Haifa.

Portman is Jewish. Perhaps that is also why she is given attention. It is true that she is Jewish. She was born of a Jewish mother. End of story. But her lifestyle hardly reflects that fact. Someone whose Judaism consists of marrying a non Jew (who later ‘converted’) and putting up a Christmas tree in her home, hardly makes her values consistent with Judaism.

Portman is known for her social activism. While some of her activities along those lines may be in in concert with Jewish values, they are hardly exclusively Jewish. True she was born a Jew and that makes her Jewish. Being born Jewish lends no more credence to her sense of Judaism than it did to Louis ‘Lepke’ Buchalter. He too was born a Jew too. He founded Murder, Inc.

I am not comparing Portman to Buchalter. Just noting that one’s lifestyle is indicative of their values. Neither Portman nor Buchalter’s lifestyle is indicative Jewish values.

I will take Portman’s word for it and grant that she does not support BDS. But that does not make her decision any wiser. As I said, it is likely informed by her brand of politics. A view that ignores the Israel’s right as a sovereign nation to decide how to best defend itself.

Portman’s views are shallow. She sees what’s on the surface: An oppressed population in Gaza being controlled by a mighty military oppressor using lethal weapons against unarmed civilians.

There is no attempt to understand why Israel, a country that has done so much kindness in the world, found it necessary to protect itself that way.

Israelis are the original ‘Doctors without Borders’. Where ever there has been a catastrophe in the world, Israel is practically the first one there to help. They do not look at the race or religion of the people suffering. Even when Israel’s enemies are involved. They saw a need by Syrians injured in their civil war and filled it. They treated them in field hospitals and in even their own hospitals in Israel as needed. Does it make any sense that this kind of people would use more force than they believed necessary to protect themselves?

If Israel uses live ammunition, it isn’t because they want to kill Gaza protesters indiscriminately. Even under warlike conditions Israeli soldiers try to minimize casualties to the innocent among their enemies at increased risk to themselves. It was not beneath Hamas leaders to make sure Israel kills innocent children by using them as human shields!

The same thing is happening now. They are forcing Israel into a corner and then crying foul. These protesters are not peaceful. True they don’t have guns. But they do have deadly weapons such as Molotov Cocktails. Israel is not going to respond with their own Molotov cocktails. They are going to shoot at someone throwing it at them. The mainstream media reports this as Israelis shooting at unarmed civilians protesting conditions forced upon them by the Israeli government. A truly disgusting distortion of the truth.

I cannot stress enough the fact that none of this would be happening if Gaza’s Hamas leaders had taken Israels gift of Gaza and tried to build a country instead of spending every dollar they got building terror tunnels and arming themselves with all kinds of weapons. Including rockets supplied by Iran - hidden among the very goods that are vital to Gaza. But blockaded to prevent those things being smuggled in and used to kill innocent Israelis They care more about destroying Israel than they do about their own people. And in the process they get to blame their sorry predicament on Israel’s blockade.

The protests are about lifting the blockade. And a sympathetic world agrees - completely ignoring Israel’s security needs.

There is not a question in my mind that Israel would not boycott Gaza if it didn’t see it as an existential exercise. If Gaza’s Hamas leaders would have taken Gaza graciously and asked Israel to help them build their country, Israel would have jumped at the chance. Israel is not interested in maintaining the conflict. But Gaza’s Hamas leaders see only one goal. And it isn’t about giving their people a better life. It is about destroying Jewish Israel and taking the land for Islam.

If Natalie Portman had any real sense of compassion, and really wanted to help the down trodden Palestinians in Gaza, she should understand that Gaza’s real oppressors are its Hamas leadership. Her celebrity would be put to far better use had she not boycotted the Genesis ceremony. And instead used it as an opportunity to assert the truth about what is really going on there instead of her knee-jerk reaction to boycott it.

Had she done that she would have done more for the cause of Gaza to alleviate its suffering than a hundred boycotts. What she has accomplished instead is giving a boost the Palestinian narrative and has encouraged Gaza’s Hamas leadership to continue their terrorist ways.

Hesder Boys

YCT trained Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz who self identifies as Open Orthodox - is a man with a sense of high ethics and morality. He has in fact dedicated his life to those ideals. And founded many organizations along those lines.

I am told by one Orthodox rabbi who was one of Shmuly’s mentors when he was a student here in Chicago that he has always been like that. He had a good heart and sought to fulfill the Torah’s mandate of ‘Justice, Justice you shall pursue!’

He has in fact been doing that ever since. That being said, I have some profound differences with him how he has carried out that mission. He is in fact guilty of the same type of thing he accuses Religious Zionists of in a recent article. He characterizes much of Religious Zionism to be an ‘ultra-nationalistic, land-idolatry’. I actually agree with him about this in certain Religious Zionist circles. But has he not done exactly the same thing worshiping social justice as an idolatry of sorts?

He has practically made a religion out of it. In that vein he has managed to trample just about any aspect of Judaism he believes gets in the way of that. No matter how traditional that aspect may be. Even when there is universal Orthodox rejection of his interpretation and implementation of social justice. Tradition doesn’t matter to him. It is to be abandoned to the greater good of social justice.

In a recent Arutz Sheva oped - this is what troubles him about Religious Zionism. He says it is...

‘fundamentally flawed, directionless, and even broken in many ways’ (and) ‘no longer the model for social justice and lacks a culture of tolerance, diversity’:

This is what he says alienates liberal non-Orthodox diaspora Jews:

Lamentably, we are rapidly losing young American Jews to the allure of anti-Zionist movements on college campuses.

This is true. But not for the reasons he attributes it too, a Religious Zionist attitude that says:

“Good riddance to those liberals in the Diaspora. What does it matter what they think?”

That is not the reason. It is because of a complete lack of knowledge by today's Jewish youth about Jewish history and their Jewish heritage. It has nothing to do with the attitude of Religious Zionists about them. They don’t care about a right wing Religious Zionism they believe subjects indigenous Arabs to an ‘oppressive occupying military force’. They have been influenced by Left leaning Academics that have made heroes and martyrs of Palestinians suffering under Israeli rule. They are fed this garbage day and day out on university campuses all over the US by Palestinian academics and their Left Wing sympathizing colleagues.

He says that ‘The progressive philosophy that built modern Israel is rapidly being forgotten’. I say good riddance to that. Ever since Israel loosened the reins of their socialist ideology and allowed a little more freedom to their people, Israel has prospered.

I agree that social justice, should be a feature of any ideology that is based on Judaism. Religious Zionism included. But that cannot alone be its definition anymore than land is. We should not allow that to become the new ‘Avodah Zara’ that replaces the old ‘Avodah Zara’ of land worship. While both the land of Israel and social justice are integral to Judaism, they are only a part of it. Neither should alone be considered the sum and substance of it.

That being said, Shumly was way off base in his analysis of Religious Zionism anyway. There was an excellent rebuttal to his views written by Rochel Sylvetsky, a woman whose son is in a Hesder Yeshiva. Hesder is a Religious Zionist program which allows soldiers to alternate Torah study with military service. It is well known that Hesder boys are among the bravest soldiers serving in the army – often taking on the most dangerous assignments in groups. Is it not the ultimate Tikun Olam to protect your own citizens – citizens of all persuasions including those living in Meah Shearim and even Israeli Arabs?

She refutes his charge that Religious Zionism has lost its moral way by listing the many Religious Zionist organizations in Israel that do exactly what Shmuly says is missing

While I do not agree with her entirely, she clearly makes the case that Shmuly is way off base. It is well worth reading her rebuttal in its entirely.

Bottom line is that Shmuly has a good heart. But his zeal in applying his principles has blinded him to the fact that the idealism he believes has been lost in the Religious Zionist world is still very much alive and well.

Typical look of a Kollel. Is this sustainable for everyone? (VIN)

I have been saying for many years that the system is unsustainable. Any system that relies on charity as the primary source of income is doomed to failure. It doesn’t matter where that charity comes from. Whether it is from parents, in-laws, the government, Gemachs (free loan societies) philanthropic donations, or maxing out credit cards.

Where women in the Torah world were once discouraged from joining the workforce and instead encouraged to stay home and raise their children, they are now encouraged to take advantage of the feminist achievement of bettering the lot of women in the workplace. That has allowed Charedi women to support their non income producing husbands in Kollel. (Although they are as a rule still underpaid compared to men in identical jobs). These Charedim owe a huge debt of gratitude to Betty and Gloria.

Charedi women now have double duty. They not only take on the traditional roles as wives and mothers - they have now taken on the role of breadwinner too. In most cases willingly since they are indoctrinated to seek ‘learning men’ as the ideal mate - and taught to support them.

This has degenerated into a financial crisis for the typical family of the Lithuanian style Yeshiva world. It is based on the Yeshiva ethic of full time Torah study for all men. An ethic that has been promoted ever since the mid 20^thcentury. (The Chasidic world has its own problems along these lines but they are beyond the scope of this post.)

Even with an underpaid – over burdened woman working full time to support her family - there is often not enough income to meet the financial obligations expected of them in their world. A world with impossible financial burdens. Burdens that can only be met with the above-mentioned financial aids.

Some of those aids will eventually disappear. For example parents or in-laws who had decent livelihoods and were able to contribute to their children’s living expenses will not be paid forward by their children to their grandchildren. A problem that increases exponentially with each generation as their own many children each have many children of their own. Unless a family is very wealthy, the money will eventually dry up. Even in those cases where parents are willing to sell their future by refinancing their homes, cashing in life insurance polices, or continuing to work well past retirement age. There will just not be enough money.

This is true in both Israel and the US. In the US, Charedi parents will often commit to a stipend for a few years for each child that gets married. The needs of the Kollel family does end after the term of commitment. Caring parents then feel obligated to keep helping them.That can end up with a parent working himself to the bone until the day he dies - instead of enjoying the golden years with his wife after retirement!

In Israel there is an even greater problem. I do not understand how they do it. But they somehow do. The custom is to buy a child a Dira – a house or condo when they get married. There are many ways to do this. Such as the 2 sets of parents sharing the expense, or as has been typically the case, the bride’s father footing most of the bill.

Diras are expensive in prime Yeshiva locations like Jerusalem or Bnei Brak. New areas that have popped up (Like Modi’in Ilit) have seen an increase in price too in recent years - with law of supply and demand governing prices. The demand by the exponential growth of the Charedi world far outpaces the supply of Diras. A small 2 bedroom Dira can run into the millions of Shekels. It is not uncommon to pay over a million Shekels for a small 2 bedroom Dira!

Imagine if you have a typically large family of 6, 7 or more children.

This brings me to an article in Rafi’s blog, Life in Israel. He published 3 letters to the editor from a recent edition Mishpacha Magazine (in Hebrew) that deals with this problem. Their solution is for young people to take on their own mortgages, with parents only making the down payment. This has indeed been the practice in some cases. But I guess it hasn’t fully caught on yet. My view is that it is not anywhere near enough to solve this problem

Those the letters make it clear that the system is unsustainable in its current incarnation no matter who is asked to pay for those Diras. In short – it’s a zero sum game. Someone needs to pay and in each case and no one has enough money to do so. The financial burden is so great that even sharing those expenses will not help. Family life is being disrupted. Good families with loving relationships are being put under unimaginable stress. Here is an excerpt from one of those letters that demonstrates this. It was written by a woman who is a devoted part of that system:

We are paying 4 mortgages, plus rent. We start each month about 20,000nis in overdraft.I work at 3 jobs. If the students I teach in the morning would know that in the evening I am working a shift at a far away nursing home, they would faint.

My husband is broken. He learns privately with students from morning to night. He has no satisfaction. He is embittered and grumpy. He feels no self-worth and also feels that he cannot support his children as others supported him. Our marriage has gotten very shaky.

This is not a dysfunctional family. Nor is it one that refuses to support itself. That should be obvious. But so too is the stress. I imagine that this family is not alone. Their experience not unique.

There are those who will still defend the system and say ‘Af Al Pi Kein’ (even so) the system has worked this way; continues to work this way, and will always work this way. They are successful because they believe that this is what God wants from them. They will add that the naysayers have been saying the system is unsustainable for years, and yet it is larger and stronger than ever.

Well that may be so. But I can’t imagine the stress expressed by that letter writer will get any better.

I don’t know what the solution to the problem is. But one thing I do know is that it was not always like this – even in the Charedi world. Of necessity most Charedim worked. And lived the modest lives that could be supported by that work. Only the most elite students would be recruited into Yeshivos. And only the most elite of those became Gedolim, Poskim, Roshei Yeshiva, Rebbeim and Rabbonim. Everybody else got jobs in order to support their families. They were also Koveiah Itim – established fixed times for Torah study in order to fulfill their obligation to study Torah.

Today, that is no longer the case. Now everyone is encouraged to do what was once the sole province of the elite Torah scholars. When confronted with the the fact that this was not always the case, they will say ‘explain’ that it was not possible to do in those impoverished days. But now it is. We live in more prosperous times. The money is there. That’s why it’s happening and will continue to happen.

We’ll see about that.

I don’t know. Maybe they’re right. Maybe the ‘ship is not sinking’ as Rafi’s title suggests it is. Maybe the system will somehow find a way to sustain its current paradigm. They have so far. Where there is a will there is a way, I suppose. The only question is the cost. Not only the financial cost but the cost on the mental health of the community. If those letters are any indication, I am not encouraged that there will be necessarily a positive outcome.

Meir Ettinger, believed to be the leader of the 'Hilltop Youth'

In a largely unfair and biased attack against Religious Zionism by Open Orthodox Rabbi Shumly Yanklowitz he made reference to something he called ‘Land Idolatry’. Even though I disagreed with his distorted views about today’s Religious Zionism, that particular phrase struck a chord with me.

First let me be clear. The vast majority of Religious Zionists (Mizrachi) are idealistic religious Jews that focus on the Mitzvah of settling and living in Israel. Most, though not all, see the near miraculous return of Israel into Jewish hands after 2000 years of exile to be a sign of the first flowering of God’s promised redemption. In that vein they concentrate mightily of trying to convince all Jews in the Diaspora to make Aliyah – immigrate to Israel.

They have in fact been pretty successful in that goal. Chicago was once a completely Mizrachi town. Now it barely has a Mizrachi presence. While there are a number of significant reasons for this, one of them is that the most active members of Mizrachi have actually left Chicago and made Aliyah.

After the 6 Day War in 67, when Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) was recaptured, there was an ambitious government campaign to settle it. Today there are several very successful settlements - most of them just the other side of the pre 67 borders. Religious Zionists - many of them expatriate Americans (among others) live there. They are all law abiding citizens that contribute mightily to their country in a variety of ways.

Even though I might disagree with them on certain issues (for example in their opposition to ‘land for peace’ although for practical purposes I currently agree with them) I have nothing but the greatest respect and even admiration for them. Religious Zionists are for the most part the idealistic cream of Israeli society.

But they too have their extremists. Loving Eretz Yisroel has turned into an idolatry for those extremists. They have taken an ideal and distorted it beyond all recognition. To the point of turning these horribly misguided young Jews into criminal gangs that have depraved indifference to human life.

They see Arabs as the enemy deserving of indiscriminate death and/or destruction of property. They call it ‘Price Tag’ attacks. Implying that any atrocities that Palestinian terrorists commit against our innocents are ‘paid back’ to their innocents.

Their attacks are not limited to Palestinians. They attack government property too when they see policies that are hostile to the settler movement.

These people go deep into the West Bank and set up trailer parks in the middle of Palestinian areas, usually on a hill and call it a Jewish settlement. (Hence the name ‘Hilltop Youth’)

Israel’s Shin Bet (an internal intelligence service comparable to the FBI) reports that there has been a sharp rise in settler youth ‘price tag’ attacks – 13 so far this year. From in the Times of Israel:

Earlier this month, vandals torched a mosque in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba in an apparent hate crime attack. Messages of “death,” “revenge” and “price tag” were found graffitied on the walls of the Sa’ada Mosque in the small Palestinian town of several hundred residents.

Arson?! Innocent people die horrible deaths in arson fires. I recall what one of Chicago’s greatest mayors, Richard J. Daly, said about it when he was mayor. He ordered the police to ‘shoot to kill’ arsonists! Sounds like a plan to me.

More from the Times of Israel:

The week before several cars were vandalized in the northern West Bank village of Fara’ata, near Nablus, in another apparent price tag attack.

Photos of cars with smashed windshields and punctured tires were posted on Palestinian media. This was in addition to various graffiti slogans that were sprayed across walls in the area. Messages including “Stop administrative detentions” and “Administrative price tag” were scrawled on vehicles and buildings.

I cannot condemn these extremists enough. It makes the extremists of Meah Shearim look tame by comparison.

It is a major Chilul HaShem when religious Jews with long Peyos (that some of the of those extremists have) go around terrorizing innocent people for revenge. As though those innocent people had anything to do with what they are being attacked for – other than just being Palestinian. This kind of thinking is so warped, it defies logic.

Now I can’t say for a certainty that they are all Religious Zionist Jews. But clearly a young man assumed to be their leader, Meir Ettinger with his long Peyos and large Kipa Seruga is. The Kipa Seruga is the emblematic identifier of Religious Zionist Jews. That is the kind of Kipa warn by most settlers, including these disgusting ‘Hilltop’ animals pretending to be human.

The source for this can be traced to the Religious Zionist Ideal of resettling all of Eretz Yisroel taken to an extreme. Their ideals have morphed into ‘Land Idolatry’. While most Religious Zionists are as disgusted as I am with these miserable excuses for human beings, it cannot be denied that at the core it is a distorted by-product of their settlement activity.

Thankfully that government is taking this seriously:

Last month, the Lod District Court handed down a five-year prison sentence to a settler teen convicted of membership in a terror organization, for carrying out a string of so-called “price-tag” attacks against Palestinians and their property.

I’m glad to hear that and would add ‘Kein Yirbu’. May these arrests and prison sentences increase until those extremists eradicated from Klal Yisroel. And that cannot happen soon enough for me!

The view from behind the Mechitza (OJADAR)

If one wants to know what NOT to do when interacting with secular Jews, one need not look further than a post on Facebook (originally in Hebrew but translated rather awkwardly there). It was about the experience a secular Jewish woman had in the Orthodox Shul where her youngest cousin was celebrating his Bar Mitzvah. The short version is that she felt very uncomfortable and unwelcome. From the post (in translation):

At the entrance to the synagogue stood several men in prayer shawls: "Men straight, women right and up."

No peace, no good morning.

Mom and I began to move forward and then the guy raised the voice: "Women right!"

I explained to him that I was not deaf and continued on my way (I went to the right...), while I was silencing the cell phone. "And without a cell phone!" He continued to shout after me in a scolding tone…

We went to the women's aid and met the other women in the family. My shoes rattled the stairs so the second we went in, they were greeted with sour pickles. "Shhhhhh ..." We sat down…

Needless to say I did not see anything because not only is the help located on the floor above the prayer hall, it is also separated by a high wooden lattice. You have to stand and see, and there are many women so I'm not sure you'll be able to make your way to the front row…

When we tried to get close to the grate they made faces, but who cares. We threw taffy on the men and were excited when the youngest child in the family read his story perfectly. Even then they scolded us for the candies (not before the scooper had collected a handful into his pocket).

At some point I rummaged through my bag and checked the cell phone (which is well hidden in the bag) [looking for what she believed was an important text - HM]

The lady next to me saw and barked that cell phones were forbidden, and that I should be ashamed. Then she added: "Just go away, you have no interest here, it's not yours."

One might defend the reaction somewhat by saying that she came in with a chip on her shoulder. Or because some of the things she did were clearly offensive to Orthodox Jews. Such as checking her ‘well hidden’ cellphone. True, it is disturbing to see that in a Shul on Shabbos during Davening. But that does not excuse the reaction these Jews had to this woman.

If she was there only to stir up controversy and ‘show the world’ how intolerant Orthodox Jews were to secular Jews, the reaction might be a bit more understandable. But even then, that kind of reaction is inappropriate. It would feed right into an anti Orthodox agenda which would be reported to the world. In this instance - you fight fire with kindness. Not fire.

But it is highly unlikely that this woman came in with an agenda in any case. She said that she ‘came from a good place’ and simply wanted to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah with her family. That she was secular – which was made obvious by the cellphone part of her story - should have generated an opposite reaction. You do not win any friends by telling an obviously secular Jew to ‘Go away’ and that she doesn’t belong. The truth is that she does belong. She is every bit as Jewish as the Orthodox congregants there.

The fact that she contrasted this experience with what she recalls being a marvelous experience she had in a non Orthodox Shul makes it even more likely that she will – not only never see Orthodox Jews in a positive light again, but that she will run away as far them as she can form them. And then tell the world why in a Facebook post – thus turning off any other secular Jew reading it.

That is indeed what she did.

I realize that a having a positive experience in that Shul would very likely not by itself have encouraged her to seek a more observant life. But we will never know that for sure. What we do know is that it is more unlikely now than ever because of this experience.

The right thing to do was to treat her with the dignity any human being should get. Especially a fellow member of God’s chosen people. She is not evil. There was no malicious intent in her attendance in that Shul. She just wanted to participate in her cousin’s Simcha. That should be the assumption made by all of us about secular Jews that enter a Shul. And not to treat them like they were our enemies.

Can anyone imagine what she might have written had she had a positive experience? Had she been greeted with a friendly face and told nicely where women are seated - and was there anything she needed… not ‘shushed’ about the noise her shoes made climbing the stairs... not scolded her about the candies she threw... and had the woman next to her looked the other way when she checked her cellphone... Had she not been told to get out and the she doesn’t belong....

Had she instead been treated in a welcoming fashion her experience would have likely rendered a glowing review on Facebook instead of the travesty she described. She was very likely in the category of a Tinok SheNishba - a woman ‘captured as a child’ having been raised with no real knowledge about what it means to be an Orthodox Jew and live life in accordance to Halacha.

Instead of trying to make her feel comfortable and welcome she was made to feel the opposite of that.

I don’t get the righteous indignation of Orthodox Jews that react this way to secular Jews. Do they not realize that they chase people away from an observant lifestyle with such behavior? What do they gain by having had this reaction? Who do they serve by throwing an obstacle to observance in front of a fellow Jew?

Does it make them feel better? Did it make them holier in the eyes of God? Do they think God doesn’t care about a Tinok SheNishba? That He is willing to write them off just because they were not born into religious families? ...or somehow became observant via others? Have they not an obligation to show their own people the beauty of Judaism and to make sure that they have a willing listener instead of chasing them away because their behavior did not fit with the religious decorum of the Shul?!

I am appalled at the way this woman was treated. Even if she had an agenda, that behavior only fed into it… corroborating an anti Orthodox view. It is not hard to imagine that treating even such a woman with kindness and trying our best to make her feel comfortable – the difficult time she would have spinning that experience negatively.

Where do they get the idea that secular Jews are to be mistreated that way? Have they been indoctrinated to see all secular Jews as the enemy? If so, they too need Kiruv. Because this behavior is about as un-Jewish as it can get.

Bill Cosby's TV family - the Huxtables

‘I brought you into this world, I can take you out!’ With those words Bill Cosby became an icon, ‘America’s dad’, if you will. That is the nickname he achieved with his ground breaking situation comedy, The Cosby Show. That comment was made in the pilot episode.

The Cosby Show was one of the most watched comedy series in television history. And for good reason. It broke the negative stereotype many people had of black people. Although the Civil Rights Era had begun the process in the 60s, black families had nonetheless continued to be portrayed mostly as impoverished uneducated slum dwellers, with their men being jobless; or drug dealers; women as single mothers unable to impart wholesome middle class values to their children; and black adolescents were often portrayed as vicious gang members... and not much else.

Unfortunately the 1964 Civil Rights Act did not undo that stereotype. It took Bill Cosby to do that. His show portrayed an upper middle class black family where the father, Heathcliff Huxtable, was a successful doctor (an Ob/Gyn) and the mother was a successful high-powered attorney. The family was a loving one that lived in an upscale neighborhood; had wholesome middle class family values; and placed a high value on education. All of which they instilled in their children.

Not only that, but the family established itself as the standard for good parenting. The opening line of this post was in response to his son Theo’s laziness about school. When confronted by his father about it Theo said something to the effect of ‘Can’t you just love me for who I am? Instead of the expected response of ‘Of course I do’, Cosby retorted sternly about the importance of a good education emphasizing his stern approach with the above quote. His ‘no nonsense’ attitude about education and the many seasons portraying a black family with wholesome family values forever changed to negative stereotype to a positive one.

Cosby’s private life seemed to be no different. He was a staunch advocate for a good education, self sacrifice, and a strong work ethic… and criticized many black civil rights leaders for not emphasizing those things enough - instead looking to the government for more help.

I will never forget the interaction Cosby had with Arie Crown Hebrew Day School. Just before his meteoric rise to super-stardom his comedy series gave him, he had a career slump. Arie Crown’s board of directors (of which I was a member at the time) had contacted him to perform at one of our fundraiser. He agreed to do so for a relatively inexpensive fee but conditioned it on a possible Las Vegas deal that would supersede his commitment to us - since that would pay him considerably more money. That is what happened. But he promised to show up next year for the same fee. And he did.

We asked him to keep his routine clean and he did. It was one of the funniest performances by a comedian I have ever heard. Shortly after that his comedy series debuted. And the rest as they say is history. Almost.

Bill Cosby’s contribution to his community is second only to Dr. Martin Luther King’s contribution.

I mention all of this to underscore the significance of what happened yesterday. Bill Cosby was convicted of drugging Andrea Constand in 2004 at his mansion and then sexually molesting her. She was one of multiple women that accused him of doing exactly that over a period of 50 years!

Frankly 30 years of taking advantage of his celebrity and sexually abusing - even raping so many women causing so much pain to those innocent survivors does not even seem like enough. Nor does all of his efforts on behalf of his people see all that significant in light of it.

On the other hand it must be said that I don’t see his conviction changing all the good he did.

I was shocked when I originally heard those accusations back in October of 2014. But nothing made it as final as yesterday’s verdict. I was shocked all over again when I heard the word ‘guilty’ as the jury’s verdict. Cosby may spend the next 30 years in prison. Which for this 80 year old probably means the rest of his life.

How the mighty have fallen. So many prominent people, highly respected and highly honored like Cosby have bitten the dust. It seems to never end. Just today one of the most respected broadcast journalists, Tom Brokaw, was accused of sexual misconduct by a former female colleague. (He denies it!) Their true character has been revealed. Cosby is a Jekyll and Hyde. He is a great humanitarian and a human piece of garbage – all rolled into one.

This is a teachable moment. What we can learn from this is that people are complicated. I truly believe that Cosby was completely dedicated to bettering the lives of black people. Which he succeeded at – probably beyond his own wildest dreams. That was his ‘day’ job’. His ‘night job’ was as a serial rapist - ruining the lives of dozens of women over a 50 year period of time. And he almost got away with it!

The lesson we must take from this is that great people… people that seem beyond reproach… people that are worshipped as icons... people that contribute greatly to society can still do really bad things. So bad that all their good works almost pale by comparison.

Cosby had so much respect; had done so much for his community and for the world, for so long - that accusations of sexual abuse could not be possibly be true. Not Possible! But they were true. In spades. Thankfully the system worked. To quote one of the survivor’s attorneys - in this case, ‘Justice delayed was not justice denied’.

Which makes me wonder about what we would do if something like this happened in our world. If a religious icon in Orthodox Judaism were accused of sexual abuse, how would we react? Would we say. ‘Impossible’ and accuse the victim of lying? Or would we investigate the charges? And how would we implement an investigation?

This is where the lesson of Cosby’s conviction comes in. It takes a great deal of impartiality to get at the truth. A man with the achievements of a ‘Cosby’ might be treated differently than the average Jew. Especially if he has a life long history of tremendous service to the Jewish people and was beloved by them. The belief by his colleagues in the improbability of doing something so terrible can easily result in giving the accused the benefit of the doubt. And by default discrediting the victim, thereby traumatizing them again!

If anything can be learned from this event, it is that no individual, no matter how accomplished, no matter how many or how great their contributions should be treated like anyone else accused. Which means the kind impartially that can only come about from the outside. Because the obvious bias that an icon like that generates, the investigation must be conducted from without. No one that knows him, or even heard of him ought to be involved. Impartiality is key to the truth. Which is why those rabbis who insist on vetting all accusation through them are so wrong. If anything makes that clear it is this.

A Chasidic man in an Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhood (NY Daily News)

Chilul HaShem should be one of the most important things any Jew thinks about when in public. No matter what the circumstance. It a biblical level law that is in this week’s Parsha of Emor (Vayikra – 22:32): And you shall not desecrate My Holy name; and I shall be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel.

This Halacha is so important, that one is supposed to give up their lives before violating it.

I try to think of that and to my own great dismay and regret after the fact, I sometimes I fail. I wonder though how many of us don’t think about it at all. And how much damage is done because of that.

I want to be clear. I don’t think people go out of their way to make a Chilul HaShem. That would be pure evil. But I do think that being self-centered is most often the primary cause. When an identifiably religious Jew thinks only of himself in the public arena, it will often inevitably lead to a Chilul HaShem. Our behavior in public is not ignored – whether that behavior is good or bad.

When it is good, then the opposite is true. It ends up as a Kiddush HaShem –sanctifying God. There have been many stories like that. Some of them reported here. Unfortunately I think there are more of the former than the latter. No where is this better illustrated than in an article in the New York Daily News written by Eli Reiter, a Chasdic Jew. He talks about the prejudice he encounters every day in New York City. Here is an excerpt:

It’s not surprising. As a member of that community who has ventured to places around New York that we don’t often occupy, I am often forced to answer for my people with biased allegations. I’m a guest in their environment, a minority visitor, and people seem to believe they have the license to approach me with abhorrent claims. To them, I can always return to Williamsburg or wherever they think I come from.

Once, I was standing in a West Village bar and a friend’s husband cornered me, handing me a beer he bought me.

“Let me ask you this. A year ago, a Hasidic man in a van side-swiped me and drove off. What do you think about that?”

To me, the most obvious visual parts of my identity are of least import; to him, they seemed to be all that mattered.

These were ostensibly liberal New Yorkers who were — at least in theory — sensitive to vulnerable populations, citizens who have it far worse than me. They see my straggly beard and messy white shirt as an invitation to approach with complaints about my people, as I’m viewed as someone without agency, free will, or any sense of individualism…

At another bar, recently, I had a similar run in with a tale of a hit-and-run. A middle-aged couple asked me to defend a Hasidic driver’s rudeness after a fender bender on a late Friday afternoon close to sundown. I apologized and downed half a Guinness in disgust, dropping a huge tip for my beer to counter the stereotype that we’re bad tippers.

While some of the other incidents he described were various different forms of prejudice, it is clear that at least in the two cases involving automobile accidents, that it was the actual bad behavior they experienced from obviously observant Jews that generated their comments. It shoud not be too surprising that we are all painted with the same broad brush when a personal experience corroborates a stereotype associated with us.

And it is the religious Jew that is at fault. Not the secular Jew who looks no different than the non Jew. There would have been no reason to assume that a hit and run driver was necessarily Jewish unless he had some identifying characteristic. Like wearing a Kipa, or having a long beard and Peyos. When bad behavior is done by an obviously religious Jew, that makes it a Chilul HaShem.

It is not that I am excusing antisemitic behavior or even negative stereotyping. I am only suggesting that when we misbehave in public, it fuels the negative stereotype and reinforces the pre-existing prejudice. Which is why I believe that Eli couldn't properly respond in those instances.

As bad as it is when we reinforce negative stereotypes about us to prejudiced non Jews, it is even worse is when secular Jews are the ones experiencing it. Instead of inspiring them, we make ‘Jewish antisemites’ out of them. They will end up repeating all the negative stereotypes - only they apply them to religious Jews instead of all Jews. That’s why in a post last Thursday the behavior I described (of the observant Jews in their Shul towards a woman that was not observant) was so bad. Not only was a self centered Chilul HaShem, it was a lost opportunity to turn things around.

I know too many people that are like this. They could not care less about the world outside of their own. Their attitude is they are going to hate us no matter what we do, so why should we care how they see us?! Might as well ignore them. They believe that what these others think about them is irrelevant and instead they believe in focusing completely on elevating their own spirituality. They are oblivious to the fact that they might be causing a Chilul HaShem which does the opposite of elevating their spirituality.

That attitude contributes mightily to how people see us. Making it far more difficult to defend against the negative stereotype illustrated and experienced by Eli. It’s almost impossible to counter it by saying ‘We aren’t all like that!’ Or by saying ‘There are people in all segments of society that behave this way, Orthodox Jews are not immune form it.’

While that is certainly true, that isn’t going to change the hearts and minds of people that had those excerpted experiences. The only way to even hope to counter a negative stereotype is to make sure that our public behavior is exactly the opposite of what happened there. If you get into an accident, stop. Don’t flee. And if you do stop, don’t come out of your car angry - blaming the other guy. Get out of your car and ask if anyone is hurt. And if it IS your fault, ADMIT IT! That will go a long way towards changing how we are seen by others, whether they are secular Jews or non Jews. That is what making a Kiddush HaShem is all about.

Alex Fleksher (Times of Israel)

I always enjoy Alex Fleksher’s columns. Even when I don't agree with her. Which is rare. Last week’s column in Mishpacha Magazine is yet another one I agree with.

Alex took an insightful look into what Tznius actually means via an article in the Wall Street Journal (...behind a paywall. You must subscribe to read it). In that article it was noted that there is a culture among Orthodox Jews that mimics the famous cliché – ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’. I call it ‘Keeping up with the Katz’s and Cohens’.

She is not the first one to point out the current state of affairs among Jews living in 21^st century America. We now enjoy an unprecedented level of acceptance. But this blessing is really a double edged sword. On the one hand it has given us unprecedented freedom to practice Judaisms in any way we wish. And it has allowed Jews to access all manner of universities, professions, jobs, and clubs. With the full benefit of the great bounty this country is blessed with.

On the other hand for far too many of us - it has also hastened our assimilation out of Judaism. We are so accepted that not only may Jews marry non Jews, Jewish men are considered a prize catch! Jews and Judaism are celebrated in this country. So accepted are we, that we can now marry into the American version of royalty to the virtual adoration by the American mainstream. As was the case when Chelsea Clinton married Marc Mezvinsky in a ceremony filled with Jewish symbolism.

Another thing all this freedom has generated for the Jewish people is unprecedented wealth.We are now more attached to material goods than our ancestors ever were. In part because there is so much more ‘material’ available to consumers now. And now more than ever we now have the means to buy it.

Even Jews of relatively modest means live by a much higher material standard than their ancestors did as a whole. Even if only because of modern technology. A negative offshoot of that is the above mentioned ‘Keeping up with the Katz’s and Cohens’. Too many of us are caught up in trying to keep up with our wealthier neighbors even if we can’t afford it. Whereas out grandparents and great grandparents in Europe were happy to just put food on the table and a roof over their heads – today we are bombarded with all manner advertisements for material goods that wealthier Jews e can easily afford but most of Orthodox Jewry can’t. Too many of us still try - which for them ends up living in constant debt to their credit cards.

The phenomenon of ‘Keeping up with the Katz’s and Cohens’is manna from heaven to companies competing for Orthodox dollars. In some cases enticing Orthodox Jews into spending money on luxury items they can’t afford. It has created a climate of unprecedented consumerism among even the most religious Jews. And now we have a new phenomenon called ‘Modesty Blogging’ where ‘some Orthodox women have recently taken to the seemingly “kosher” outlet of fashion blogging’. But they are far from actually being modest. Not to mention the’ immodest’ cost of some of the consumer goods these blogs comment on. Here are some excerpts from Alex's column:

(The WSJ) argues that “although the [Orthodox] bloggers ostensibly try to advance principles of modesty, it isn’t always clear whether their material is consistent with the spirit of Jewish law,” and that “the entire emphasis seems to be on the exterior without considering what else modesty means.” It continues:

From a traditional Jewish perspective, the notion of modesty extends to both sexes, and far beyond the technicalities of skin exposure. Micah the prophet established the principle that G-d requires of mankind to hatznea lechet, or walk humbly before the L-rd. Moses is lauded in biblical texts as the humblest man on earth.

Rabbi Goldberg explains that there is a difference between being attracting and attractive, and that it is problematic to follow the letter of the law in clothing lengths without adhering to the spirit of the law regarding modesty in dress. Essential, Torah-true concepts that have now seen the light of day on the pages of a secular newspaper. So rather than criticizing our laws, the Wall Street Journal perhaps gives us an opportunity to ponder how we follow our laws, whether our meticulous observance is having the intended spiritual effects.

The WSJ concludes with the following:

Halakha, Hebrew for Jewish law, directly translates as “walking.” The name serves as a reminder that Judaism isn’t merely a legal code but an all-encompassing lifestyle. While Judaism doesn’t mandate austerity or self-abnegation, its focus — at least according to the rabbis — ultimately is on the depth of the soul. If Halakha is to be met, modesty blogging might require more soul-searching and fewer brand names.

Should it take a secular newspaper to give us Musser about what Modesty really means? I really think we need a little self examination about what motivates our consumerism these days. The prophet Micah tells us (6:8):Tzne Halaches - Walk modestly with God. This applies to everyone. Rich and poor alike. Where to draw the line and who should draw it where - is the question. A little introspection about what our values are, and what they should be might very well be in order for us all.

That said, there is another side to this issue. One that argues against the corrupt interpretation of Tzne Haleches is that is found in the very magazine that Alex now writes for. And others like it.

It is in their refusal to publish pictures of women. I’m sure they would disagree with me and say the opposite. That it is not corrupt. And that their policy is just a stricter interpretation of that principle with respect to seeing pictures of women.

All of the columnists in Mishpacha have their picture published at the top of their column . Except for Alex. No picture on her to be found anywhere.

Now one might say that knowing what Alex looks like is not important. That might be true. But then why is it important to know what Moshe Grylak, Jonathan Rosenblum, Eitan Kobre, Aryeh Zev Ginsberg, and every other male columnist in Mishpacha looks like? Obviously the magazine’s editors and publishers feel there is a value to publishing the picture of the columnist on the pages of their column.

The argument that they just want to be sensitive to those who claim pictures of women are immodest might be true. But claiming that there is any real Halachic issue with that is at best a stretch and more likely a gross misrepresentation of Tzne Halaches. Implying that this is how more religious Jews observe Tzne Haleches - is belied by many published pictures of some of the most Charedi women in all of Orthodoxy. Which can be found on a website called, Frum Women Have Faces.

I will end with one of the more pertinent quotes on the subject there by Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz,, senior lecturer at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem who said it better than I ever could:

"In the vidui of Rabbeinu Nissim, the penitent begs forgiveness for a variety of transgressions, among them is, "What You declared pure I deemed unclean... what You have declared permitted I deemed forbidden." Erasing women from photographs or blurring their faces even if they are modestly dressed has not been the practice in klal yisrael, and to take on a stringency over and beyond anything required by gedolai yisraelis not only arrogant and pretentious but profoundly offensive and demeaning to women as a whole. A chumra beyond normative halacha ceases to be legitimate at the point that it violates basic kavod habriyot. Moreover, the very highlighting of women as the "other " who must be eliminated is in itself counter to the norms of tzniyut and can itself trigger the evils it was supposedly designed to alleviate."

Once again, I find myself taking issue with Frieda Vizel. Raised in the traditions of Satmar, Mrs. Vizel has since left their confines but remains a strong supporter of her former community. In a recent article in Tablet she defended her old community against charges that they are the poorest segment of American society and argued that they are not on a trajectory of increased poverty. She cited several factors that mitigate against that. Concluding that the lack of a secular studies program for boys is not the tragedy that some people paint it as.

I took issue with her then. And I take issue with her again now. In a new Tablet article she conceded that her old community could use an ‘upgrade’ in the way it prepares its young for the future. But she adds that trying to force them into it is counterproductive. People that suffer from a ‘persecution complex’ (her words) will push back mightily when they feel they are being forced into something.

She argues that left alone there will eventually be a gradual grass roots effort to change the old ‘no secular studies’ paradigm into one that offers it at least as an option. Change can and does take place she says - at a grass roots level in that community. She cites a couple of examples of it. The most significant of which is Dor Yeshorim.

Dor Yeshorim is an organization that tests people to see if they are carriers of genetic disorders. It was founded by a Rabbi Josef Ekstein, Chasdic Rabbi who had lost four children to Tay-Sachs.

Tay-Sachs is a devastating child disorder aftecting mostly Jews of Ashkenazic descent. It results in the destruction of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Which is followed by seizures, hearing loss, the inability to move and eventually death in early childhood.

Tay-Sachs can only come about genetically. Both parents must carry the gene. If they do there is a 1 in 4 chance that their child will get the disease. Dor Yeshorim tests young people to see if they are carriers. They record the data and assign a number to each individual taking the test. When a couple is ready to get married they submit their assigned number to Dor Yeshorim to see if they are both carriers. If they are, they are told. If only one is a carrier they are told whether one of them is a carrier. they are just given the green light to marry Thus preventing the possibility of a child getting the disease.

There is some controversy about their decision to not reveal the results to those taking the test. They explain that they don’t want to stigmatize a carrier. Even though they are otherwise perfectly healthy and can marry anyone they choose - without the slightest fear of transmitting the disease to a child if they marry a non carrier... they believe knowing you are a carrier might be devastating anyway. Why, they argue, tell them? All they need to know is whether they can or cannot get married to the partner of their choice - when the time comes. If they cannot then they will automatically know that they and are carriers but they will avoid having a Tay-Sachs baby with this knowledge.

I have always argued that people have a right to know. Let them get educated about it and then decide how to handle the information. But I get why they have that fear. In a world that cares what kind of tablecloth your parents cover the Shabbos table with – certainly the knowledge that they carry a potentially deadly gene that can be passed on to a child will be a matter of great concern, and unnecessary worry. But I digress.

Mrs. Vizel’s point was that a community that is so resistant to outside influences, can accept that change at a grass roots level as they eventually they see a clear benefit to it. A religious world view that saw genetic testing as a form of family planning; and that had an attitude of ‘If God wants me to have a Tay-Sachs baby, I’ll have a Tay-Sachs baby has given way to common sense. Genetic testing is now widely accepted.

She adds that this attitude change did not take place overnight. Nor was testing forced upon them. Had it been forced it may never have taken off. But without external pressure it did take off gradually at a grass roots level. Her conclusion is that if left alone then just like change came about with genetic testing so too will her old community eventually see the wisdom of having a secular studies curriculum.

This is where I part company with her. Tay-Sachs testing can happen at a grass roots level. All you need is a testing facility. A determined individual provided it. People can then decide whether to take the test. It’s a one time thing. Creating and implementing secular studies program is a horse of an entirely different color. You can’s just decide on a curriculum for your child that doesn’t exist.

There is no direct tragedy that will generate a new school. No one individual will be able to set up a school that his religious leaders oppose on principle. A school is not a clinic. A secular curriculum is more than a one time shot. It’s an ongoing enterprise that in high school involves daily courses in secular subjects for 4 years. Add to that the argument Mrs. Vizel made about business and career options being a successful resource for them without the benefit if a secular education... and it makes creating a school with a secular curriculum highly unlikely. Even at a grassroots level.

I don’t like forcing people to do something - even if I think it’s good for them. But it isn’t only about them. It is about us. Continued ignorance guarantees continued - and even increased reliance on government financial aid as their population continues to grow. Which even under the best of conditions lends itself to fraud, whether intentional or not. And with Mrs. Vizel’s acknowledgement that many people in her old community under report their income it can easily become intentional. That is a crime; violates Dina D’Machusa, and clearly translates to a Chilul HaShem which affects all of us.

I see no other way to get it done other than the enforcement existing laws. Which in my view is a better alternative than letting things slide.They will be far better off - without suffering any negative consequences to their religious lives. And so too will the rest of us. That they will resist it with all their might does not free us from trying to effect positive change.

David Duke (Politico)

I think we have to come to terms with the neo Nazis. People like David Duke have a huge following. We need to make peace with them, despite their despicable behavior. No matter what kind of lies those antisemites spew about us. None of that should matter. He says he wants to make peace (albeit on his terms) and we should do whatever it takes to make it happen.

The following is an illustration of how an antisemite thinks about the Holocaust, Jews, and Israel . From VIN:

Jews caused the Holocaust with their “social behavior,” such as money lending. (He) indicated that Adolf Hitler facilitated the immigration of Jews to Israel. He claimed that the German leader cut a deal with the Anglo-Palestine Bank, known today as Israel’s Bank Leumi, allowing Jews who moved to the British Mandate of Palestine to transfer all their assets there through the bank.

(He) said, however, that most of Europe’s Jews thought their money was more important than their lives because they stayed put.

(He) has already faced accusations of Holocaust denial based on his 1982 doctoral dissertation titled “The Other Side: The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism.” The dissertation said the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust is a grossly inflated figure…

Jews do not have a historical connection to the land. “Israel is a colonial project that has nothing to do with the Jews,”

One may ask, how can we make peace with Holocaust deniers like Duke?! Well... isn’t it true that ‘You make peace with your enemies. Not your friends’? Besides, his people are unfairly targeted and suffer needlessly because of how our countrymen see them.

By now some of you might have guessed that I wasn’t really talking about David Duke. I was talking about the ‘moderate’ Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas. The above excerpts published at VIN were comments Abbas made in the the West Bank city of Rammalah to the Palestinian National Council

…which makes decisions on all Palestinian issues — in Israel, the West Bank and around the world.

Mahmoud Abbas (Al Jazeera)

This is the man Israel want to hand over the West Bank to? A man who clearly believes we don’t belong in any part of Israel? A man who says we brought the Holocaust upon ourselves?!

This makes about as much sense as making peace with David Duke. Or maybe even Hitler himself – if he were still alive and trying to eradicate us!

Abbas’s antisemitic attitude is not news. It s an old story. He was - and still is a Holocaust denier no different than many other neo Nazis. Including David Duke.

What is new is that he had no problem saying it again in a public forum that had Jewish mainstream media attention. Which means that more people are seeing it now. In the past it was more or less written off as old news - irrelevant to the peace process and the 2 state solution to which Abbas was committed.

I am a firm believer in making peace with our enemies. Even at the hefty price of land concessions... and even giving up some parts of Jerusalem! For me, saving Jewish lives is more important than retaining any of the land captured during the 6 day war. That’s why I supported the Oslo peace accords. And it is the same reason I firmly oppose any concessions now. It is all about saving Jewish lives in the way that works best.

I have always said it is because our ‘peace partner’ Mahmoud Abbas is not really in charge. The Jihadist Hamas is. And they will accept no compromise – insisting that they will not rest until they get all of Palestine back… and get rid of the Zionists. They have been trying to make good on that promise ever since they were founded. A lot of innocent Jewish blood (and even Muslim blood) has been spilled by them in that attempt.

But the truth is that even if Abbas were in charge, I wouldn’t do it. He is every bit the antisemite he always has been. There is little doubt in my mind that making peace with an antisemite is a bad idea. Because antisemites like Abbas cannot be trusted anymore than antisemites like David Duke can.

That said, I know that there are Palestinians – perhaps even most of them – that would be willing to make actual peace with Israel, despite their denial of our legitimate claims to the land. They might think we don’t belong there. But they are not the uncompromising ideologues that their leaders are. The problem is that they are not in charge. And the way things stand now, I doubt they ever will be.

Screenshot from ‘Yom Ha’atzmaut in Song’

Every once in awhile, I am reminded why I am such a strong supporter of Israel. And why I abhor those Jews that wish to undermine it, or even destroy it if they could. Which is why I get enraged when I see demonstrations by certain groups calling Israel’s leaders Nazis. Or attacking the soldiers - even (and perhaps especially) Charedi ones. Or using terms about Rav Kook reserved for people that wanted to commit genocide against us. Yes, I get enraged!

It boggles my mind that there can be such antipathy for a country that was deeded to us by God Himself. A country responsible for more Torah study than any other. A country that opened its doors to survivors of the Holocaust – languishing in European detentions camps. A country where Judaism lives – even among the secular. A country where Jews had risen from the ashes to help ‘make the desert bloom’. A country whose medical discoveries and scientific achievements have given so much to the world. ...and so much more.

If one wants to understand why I feel this way, watch the video (below) I was directed to called ‘Yom Ha’atzmaut in Song’.

I actually got pretty emotional while watching it. What it said to me was “Am Yisroel Chai!’ – the people of Israel live! Nowhere in the world is this more evident that in the State of Israel. Not even in the great and wonderful country I live in, the US.

Even with all of the political fighting among factions that goes on in Israel there is somehow a unity among the majority of Jews there (except with extremist factions whose agendas mean more to them than unity) that is absent here. While watching all of those Israeli Jews singing that prayerful and powerful song, I saw looks of both pride and hope in their faces – asking God to protect what they have, what they’ve built, and what they will build.

The 12,000 people that participated in this are proud to be Jewish and proud to be living in Israel. Most of them are probably not observant. At least not by Orthodox standards. And yet, there was a sense of brotherhood among all of those Jews even though they did not know each other. All singing together in a land in which they live and call home. The joy in their voices and on their faces was plain to see. It was a moment of unity that - for a change - was not due to a tragedy. But to a recognition that we are all one people united and grateful to God from Whom we pray to continue protecting the Jewish people in the land we love.

I also thought about secular Jews in America… and how different their sense of Judaism is. It is a Judaism that is fast disappearing. The percentage of Jews that marry non Jews is at an all time high (60% - up from 17% in 1970!). Assimilation has caused the majority of American Jews to abandon Judaism who in their ignorance see little value to it. That has also generated apathy and in some cases antipathy toward Israel - seeing little to no value in a Jewish state because they see no value to Judaism.

Now it’s true that a lot of secular Jews in this country do value being Jewish. But I doubt that most of them even know what that even means beyond cultural symbols that have nothing to do with the essence of Judaism. (…like eating out in a Chinese Restaurant on Christmas eve. A very Jewish thing to do these days.) But even for those that are cultural Jews, I wonder whether their children will care even about that. How many secular Jews in America today can honestly say about their own children that they care at all about being Jewish or what that even means to them?

My guess is that as each generation passes, the assimilation rate will continue to increase until eventually only observant Jews will be left. Which is why heterodoxy is trying to get a foothold in Israel. They are beginning to realize that the American Jewry over which they have presided has no future. But they also realize that this is not the case in Israel, where virtually everyone does care – and proudly identifies as a Jew. And where Jewish culture is at least based on actual Judaism instead of what we do when our gentile neighbors are celebrating Christmas.

This is not to say that Judaism will disappear in America in a few generations. The fact is that one segment – Orthodoxy – that is bucking the assimilationist trend out of Judaism. They are doing the opposite - increasing their numbers exponentially with each generation.

But the real action is in Israel. That is where a Jew indentifes fully as a Jew and is proud of it. Although it does exist minimally there is hardly any assimilation out of Judaism in Israel.

Even though I am not likely to make Aliyah (for reasons beyond the scope of this post) I nevertheless feel that I too belong in that brotherhood of Jews in Israel. Both secular and religious. I get what they feel. I feel it too, even sitting here comfortably in my home 7000 miles away. Am Yisroel Chai! That’s a feeling that will never leave me.

Collecting wood for a bonfire - typical sight in Israel on Lag B'Omer (Ynet)

I don’t understand the obsession that some Jews have with fire. But every year on Lag B’Omer bonfires get built in many communities. This custom has been increasing over the year where it is now very common. Especially in Israel. If one ventures out in the evening one will come upon many such fires burning in a variety of places – from Shul courtyards sponsored by the Shul, to individual bonfires in private front yards.

Lag Bomer is the 33^rdday of counting Omer in the period called Sefira. We are required to count each of 49 days until the 50^th day. Which is Shavuos when we celebrate receiving the Torah at Sinai. That was full the extent of the Torah's obligation. But something happened later in history that added additional obligations during part of this period.

Back in the days of the Mishna thousands of Rebbe Akiva’s students died via a plague because - as the Gemarah tells us - they did not properly honor each other. We are now required to observe a period of mourning during that time. There is some dispute about which portion of Sefira those students died. But all agree that on the 33^rdday - Lag B’Omer - they stopped dying.

As a result we treat it as a minor holiday. Which for me always meant not saying Tachanun, being able to listen to live music again, attend weddings, and being able to take a haircut. No reason at all to light bonfires.

Growing up I never saw anyone or any organization do that. Not in my elementary day school, Yeshivath Beth Yehuda in Detroit; not in high school in either Telshe or Skokie (HTC). Nor in any Shul I ever attended. Now it happens everywhere.

So where does that now very popular Minhag come from? Well…something else happened on Lag B’Omer. The great Tanna, Rebbe Shmon Bar Yochoi died on that day. He has been attributed as the author of the Kabalistic work known as the Zohar. It is said that in the day he does he revealed the secrets of Kabalah. To signify that - a huge bonfire is lit to great fanfare and huge attendance at his gravesite in Israel in the city of Meron.

How a bonfire has become a symbol for that is somewhat of a mystery to me. Although I read somewhere that that it is supposed to signify the great spiritual light he gave to the world through the Zohar. This event in Meron has mostly always been a Chasidic and Sephardi event. Chasidic Rebbes of note are honored by handing them a torch to start the bonfire. This event attracts huge crowds from across the spectrum of Orthodoxy and beyond.

I am not opposed to Minhag. As long as they are harmless. But when it develops into something harmful - I become fully opposed to it. That is the case here. There is absolutely no Mitzvah to light fires on Lag B’Omer. But that hasn’t stopped them from becoming a growing phenomenon.

This is a Minhag that some people do at the expense of others. I recall one case in Israel where a Religious Zionist fellow just had to have a bonfire for his children on that day. He built and lit a bonfire in his front yard right next his first floor condo. Smoke from that bonfire traveled up into the second floor and into the bedroom of a condo where children were sleeping. When confronted by the father he said he had a right to do anything he wanted on his own property and told him t get into the spirit of Lag B’Omer. He has continued doing it every year. Pretty selfish.

But that’s nothing compared to how many fires go out of control in Israel each year by individuals who build fires in unsafe areas.I have been told that Lag B’Omer is the fire department’s busiest day. But nothing I have ever heard about these fires compares to what happened in London’s Charedi neighborhood, of Stamford Hills. From the YNet:

Some 30 Jews were wounded Wednesday night in the northeastern London neighborhood of Stamford Hill after an explosion occurred during a Lag B'Omer bonfire celebration. Ten people wounded in the blast were taken to a local hospital.

The bonfire was lit by the local congregation's rabbi in front of the local Beth Hamedrash Biala synagogue, and when a lit torch touched its base, a large fireball erupted and appeared to engulf those standing in close proximity.

While it was initially reported the fire was created by a smart phone exploding, the Jewish news site Yeshiva World News reported that the explosion was caused by fuel combusting, even though "multiple smart phones (were) placed inside the pile to be burned."

According to eyewitnesses who spoke with the Jewish site, the community's rabbi spoke about the dangerous and corrupting effects of smart phones on the (religion), and said he would burn one, echoing his Lag B'Omer speech from last year.

If that this event wasn’t sobering, I don’t know what will be. I believe that religious leaders of all stripes ought to be taking a 2^nd look at this popular practice. It is one thing to build a small bonfire. It is an entirely different thing to build a huge one that is doused with kerosene or other highly flammable liquids in the middle of a huge crowd. That ought to stop.

But… if I had to predict the future, this custom will not only continue – but it will increase. Both in number and in size. The bigger the better. Spectacular fires are a sight to behold! I suppose that this is the Charedi version of entertainment. There is little else that Charedi children in Israel are allowed to do in their off time. Even healthy physical activity like participating is sports is forbidden in the Charedi world.

Things like movies, TV, secular books and music are out! No internet. No computers, No smartphones. And of late, even religious concerts are frowned upon because of Taruvos (Young teenage boys and girls attending those concerts have in some cases led to socialization between the sexes.) When there is a dearth of things young people can do in their spare time and event like this comes along - there are going to be crowds. Mixing huge bonfires with large crowds is not a good idea.

It is ironic that an admonition about the evils of smartphones prefaced this explosion. And that the community rabbi addressing this crowd put a cellphone into a bonfire with accelerents poured over it. I don’t know if there were other cellphones there. But it is not unreasonable to assume that the explosion was not caused by the accelerants alone. Batteries have been known to explode all by themselves when they over heat. If there were a lot of smartphones in that pile, it is reasonable to say that they were at least in part responsible for the explosion.

If there is another takeaway here besides re-thinking the entire enterprise of lighting huge bonfires all over the place, it is to stop obsessing about how evil smartphones are. True, they have a bad side. A really bad side! But that is known not only by the extremists of the Charedi world. The entire world knows how detrimental smartphones can be when misused. I am not going to go into details – which are beyond the scope of this post. But suffice it to say that the reason for Charedi opposition to them pales in comparison to the real problems.

The truth is missing form their narrative. There is an obvious good side to smartphones. Their refusal to recognize the benefits is in essence lying to their people. Instead of stupidities like throwing smartphones into a fire, it would serve them a lot better to teach them responsible use of that technology. And stop treating smartphones as the direct path to an eternity in hell.

Bais Sura (VIN)

There have been so many stories about sex abuse in the Orthodox community, I’ve virtually given up trying to comment on it. If I did, that’s all I’d be doing. But one of the more recent reports has led me to comment once again.

First let me be absolutely clear. Sex abuse happens in all segments of society – secular and religious. And in all corners of the world. There is no one community or place where it is more likely to happen than another. There are ample examples of abuse to be found everywhere.

What got my attention here is yet another case where protecting a school was more important to its leader then protecting its students. I thought that we at least past that. But not in Boro Park, it appears. Rabbi Nuchem Klein, owner and principal of Bais Sura - an all girls Chasidic school (Grades kindergarten through 12) - has been doing exactly that.

Although he did not say so, that is the only possible explanation as to why Rabbi Nuchem Klein failed to act after being repeatedly told that one of his employees - who goes by the nickname Spikey - tried to kiss one of the students in his school.

Repeated reports to Rabbi Klein about Spikey’s behavior which included groping in some cases fell on deaf ears. This was not just a few incidents that happened recently. This had been going on for years and ignored by Rabbi Klein! Even after the latest incident was made public by a parent on AhatsApp, Rabbi Klein sent out a letter denying it - saying that it was a lie by a disgruntled former parent. According to that parent, that was a lie. From the Forward:

The scandal started the morning of April 27, a Friday, when a Hasidic woman released a recording on WhatsApp stating that an employee at the school had tried to kiss a friend of her niece. The woman said the school acknowledged the behavior but refused to fire the employee because he “knew too much.”

It is only after getting over 100 phone calls from parents that Rabbi Klien fired the accused. That happened after New York state Assemblyman, Dov Hikind made his outrage public after he was contacted and told that Rabbi Klein ignored the complaints. (see video below)

What makes this particularly egregious is the emphasis this school has on Tznius. Bais Sura has a reputation for a strong emphasis on Tznius. Which in Chasidic circles seems to only mean covering up as much of the female body as possible. Why? To avoid attracting attention from men that might act upon seeing a woman in less than the absolute modesty of their standards.

And yet when his school’s very Tzanua students were violated, he not only ignored it, he tried to cover it up! Only after the backlash did Rabbi Klein finally act.

To put it the way Dov Hikind did:

“The fact that this school is considered to be one of the finest, where tznius is at the highest standard, is a little laughable as far as I’m concerned.”

Bais Sura is a school that has 900 female students, They also run a summer camp. It is housed in what looks like a large beautiful building. This is not some 2 bit rogue operation that broke off from a mainstream school. It is a mainstream Chasidic school that - according to the Forward serves Satmar and Belz Chasidim.

I never cease to be amazed by people that set themselves up as the most religious Jews among us act in ways that are anything but religious. Protecting their reputations instead of the people they are supposed to serve. The claim often heard about the institution itself being more important than the individual goes against one the very foundations of Judaism: Justice. There is no greater good than that.

Sacrificing the welfare of individual students on the alter of an institution’s reputation is anything but justice. A school that does that ought to be shut down. Or at the very least change its leadership. Unfortunately, that option is unlikely since Rabbi Klein owns the place and answers to no one.

I would urge parents that care about the welfare of their children to insist on it anyway with a threat to pull their daughters out of the school. That is what I would do if my daughter were in that school. They should ignore any assurances Rabbi Klein might make that this would never happen again. Anyone that lies to protect their reputation at the expense of their students cannot be trusted.

Rabbi Klein has proven what his priorities are, and it is not the welfare of students, Let the school close. I know it’s a big ask. But if the leadership doesn’t change – it’s the right call. Judaism will survive very nicely without it. Perhaps even better than it ever did with it.

Last week's cover of Mishpacha Magazine

The internet has nearly killed most of the print media. Powerhouse news media like the New York Times are struggling to survive. Newsweek Magazine, once a serious rival to Time Magazine has long ago stopped publishing in print and is now available only online. Not that Time is ding all that well.

This is a sad but understandable consequence of our time.Just about any article in just about any publication one wishes to read can be accessed instantly with the click of a mouse. Long story short – print media is going the way of the Dodo bird.

This is no, however, true about the Orthodox Jewish publications. With some exceptions, they are thriving. Especially 2 of the more popular Charedi ones. One of which is Mishpacha Magazine.

They thrive for one very important reason: Shabbos. Shabbos is a day where 2 things happen that are conducive to their success. One is that those of us that are Orthodox do not access the internet on Shabbos. Doing so would is violation of Halacha. The other is that our means of relaxing on Shabbos is very limited. Which means that many of us often spend a good part of the day reading printed material.

Mishpacha saw an opportunity and went for it. They (and other Charedi publications) have pretty much cornered the market. A market that consists primarily of Orthodox Jews. These magazines contain a variety of well written news stores, columns, editorials, op-eds, and feature stories – accompanied by pictures and graphics that rival the best of the publishing world. All geared to the religious (mostly Charedi) market place where their success lies.

While Mishpacha tries to appeal the the broader Orthodox market, it has only had marginal success. The typical reader is Charedi. And the magazine’s religious standards are geared towards that demographic. Which is why it can get away with not publishing any pictures of women, not matter how modestly they are dressed.

Their reason for doing this are based on the view by those on the extreme right of Orthodoxy that believes publishing any picture of a woman is a violation of religious modesty standards (Tznius).

The truth however is that the vast majority of Orthodox Jews – including most non Chasidic Charedim (and even some Chasidic ones) is that there is nothing wrong with publishing a picture of a modestly dressed woman. This is proven by the fact that ArtScroll, the most succesfull publishing house in all of Orthodxy is Charedi. They publish pictures of women in their books. So does the standard bearer of the Charedi world, Agudah. The vast majority of Mishpacha’s readership comes from that world.

Mishpacha has been severely criticized for refusing to publish any pictures of women - no matter how modestly they are dressed. One of the most egregious examples of that was when they pixilated a woman’s face in a Holocaust era picture. They apologized for that error and said it was inadvertent. I believe them.

The truth is that Mishpacha is struggling with this issue. They are apparently beginning to realize that by satisfying the extremist right, they alienate – not only the more modern segment, but even some in the Charedi world. In fact some of their own staff is troubled by this policy. Including their managing editor, Shoshana Friedman (as reported in the Forward). The omission of women can sometimes be glaring. As recently as last week I noted that an article by Mishpachacolumnist Alex Fleksher was not accompanied by her picture as it was with all the male columnists.

None of this is new. What is new is that there has been a subtle change in that policy. From the Forward:

The Orthodox magazine Mishpacha appears to have reversed its previous policy against publishing images of women — at least on its social media channels.

In an email to subscribers last week, the magazine announced that it had begun to ramp up its social media presence. Breaking with precedent, the email included a picture of three prominent Orthodox women, including New York City judge Ruchie Freier.

Unfortunately this does not apply to their print magazine. But it is a step in the right direction – small though it may be.

I am not going to rehash all the arguments about why the refusal to publish pictures is so wrong in my view. Been there and done that. Many times. If one wants to see a variety of articles on that subject one can find them at Frum Women Have Faces.

It appears that Mishpacha has finally listened to their critics in this regard and has done something about it. It may cost them some criticism from the right. But I’m sure they are aware of that. But they have decided to do it anyway and stand up to their critics to the right. Which they have done before.

One may recall that during the last Presidential election Mishpacha published a distorted picture of Hillary Clinton on its cover. Mishpacha’s Poskim approved of it because a distorted picture of a woman does not breach their modesty standards. (Saying it was distorted is being kind. It was grotesque! But I digress.)

That brought about an critical editorial by a rival publication, Hamodia. They claimed that it violated accepted Charedi modesty standards. Mishapcha subsequently defended their actions and withstood the criticism. But it must have stung since their is in large part the same as Hamodia’s.

There was in fact some discussion by Charedi publications about what hey would do if Hillary Clinton was elected. They must have thanked their lucky stars that she wasn’t elected. And didn’t have to deal with the possibility of insulting the President of the United States by never publishing her picture when doing stories about her.

The question remains, ‘How far will they go with this?’ Will this be the end of the story? Will they stop short of including a picture of a modestly dressed women in their magazine while allowing it online? I find that to be inconsistent.

I sincerely hope they ‘go the distance’. I hope they abandon a policy that has never been adopted by the vast majority of the Charedi mainstream - and still isn’t. While it might be true that a lot of moderate Charedim would in theory object to their refusal to publish pictures of women, they don’t care enough about it to stop buying the magazine in protest. Most either shrug it off or don’t think about it.

But there are plenty of us that do care. We see it as unfair and even harmful. The subtle erasure of women from the public square can have serious consequences for children (both girls and boys) growing up seeing women treated as though they don’t exist. The reason these young women will be given? They are to be considered sex objects under all circumstances.

Which is utter nonsense. I think the editors at Mishpacha know that.

This issue underscores the need for a good Orthodox magazine that appeals to all of its segments. From Charedi to Modern Orthodox. Mishpacha has some good columnists with at least one that has an ivy league education. Jonathan Rosenblum was educated in both the University of Chicago and Yale. Even if one does not always agree with him, his education, intellect, and insight is there for all to see in just about every one of his columns.

It would be a huge step in the right direction if they added a few distinguished columnists from the Orthodox center to broaden their perspective from being exclusively Charedi. People like Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Meir Soloveichik, and Gil Student come to mind. They would add an Orthodox perspective that is entirely missing from their almost completely Charedi one. I believe it would increase their readership.

All this being said, I’m pretty sure it won’t happen. Mishpacha will likley remain a magazine with a Charedi perspective – (albeit a more or less moderate one - as a recent editorial by their editor in chief Rabbi Moshe Grylak demonstrated in strongly disputing the extremist and false narrative about ‘Gzerias HaShmad’ of drafting Charedim into the army.) But that doesn't mean I can’t try to appeal to their editorial board. There are plenty of Charedi publications out there right now. Most of them are to the right of Mishpacha. With a little bit of tweaking along the lines I suggest, it may actually live up to its name: Mishpacha. Because as observant Jews we are really all just one big Mishpacha.

The face of evil - Iran's foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif

The deal was flawed. That is now the emerging consensus about the Iran Nuclear Deal made a couple of years ago between Iran - and America and our allies. It lifted the severe sanctions that crippled Iran’s economy in exchange for delaying their pursuit of nuclear weapons. The President will probably announce later today that he will either leave the deal or renegotiate it.

The deal was opposed by Israel at the time. Opposition in this country broke down along left/right political lines. Democrats supported it. Republicans opposed it. (The same left/right dichotomy was true in Israel.)

Those that supported it said that – although it was not perfect, it was the best deal they could get. Iran stopped all activities involved in seeking nuclear weapons and allowed a tough but limited random inspections regime to insure that they were keeping their part of the deal.

What it did not do is prevent them from pursuing it in the future. It did the opposite. All it did was delay the inevitable development of a nuclear weapon.

It also did not deal with Iran’s pursuit of missile development designed to carry nuclear weapons that could be used against Israel – an enemy they have sworn to wipe off the map; and even against the US by developing long range missiles. That is ongoing.

They were also free to keep spreading terrorism. Something they are guilty of. They are the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world. This deal does not address that at all.

When Netanyahu was invited to address congress by Speaker of the House, John Boehner to explain why that deal was so bad, Republicans praised his speech and wholeheartedly agreed with him. Democrats thought he was the worst thing to hit America since John Dillinger. Some of them even boycotted Netanyahu – calling it a Chutzpah to come here and lobby against the policy of a sitting President.

Those who worked on the deal actually acknowledged it was flawed but argued that it was the best deal they could get and invited anyone that had a better idea to put it forward.

It is interesting to note that during the entire time of concern about Iran’s nuclear program, they claimed that they were only pursuing it for peaceful purposes; and that they would never seek nuclear weapons since it was against their religious beliefs.

This was recently disproved. That claim turned out to be a big lie by virtue of a daring raid into Iran by Israeli intelligence forces. They spirited away tons of documents showing that Iran once had a robust nuclear weapons program. The fact that Iran had meticulously organized and stored those documents in a hidden archives shows that they intended to one day restart a nuclear weapons program.

They want a bomb and they are going to get one. Eventually. Unless they are stopped.

Back to the deal itself. President Trump has said that he will announce today whether the US will scarp the deal as he promised he would during the campaign. He has been advised and lobbied against that by our allies whose leaders came here in person to do.

Those leaders were egged on by former Secretary of State, John Kerry. Sad that a private citizen lobbied foreign governments against current US policy. Sounds a bit like treason to me. But what do I know. In any case, I digress.

It is however interesting to note that even though they opposed leaving the deal, both France and England conceded that the deal should be renegotiated. That is a long way off from their original position that the deal must be honored as is. - because that is the one they all agreed to.

Obama’s Secretary of Energy, Ernest Moniz was one of the key players that worked hard on that deal. He recently reiterated his support for the deal saying that Israel’s discovery made it more imperative than ever to maintain the deal because of its vigorous and random inspections regime.

The problem with those inspections is that Iran is given notice when it is to be inspected. That gives them time to find ways to cover it up. Just as they did those nuclear bomb plans. Also, if I understand correctly military bases are off limits to those inspectors. I don’t understand how anyone can claim with absolute certainty that Iran is honoring the deal – even with a ‘vigorous inspections regime’.

That hasn’t stopped all the purveyors of doom and gloom from predicting the worst if the US unilaterally pulls out of the deal. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, has promised severe consequences if we did that. Kind of the way North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un did. That was actually disputed by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani who said that if the rest of Eurpoe continues to honor the deal, he would stay in it.

I actually agree with Zarif. There will be severe consequences. For Iran - if those crippling sanctions are fully reinstated and increased. Which I hope happens. That’s what brought them to the table in the first place. And it will bring them to the table again. Despite their promises to restart their nuclear program.

Netanyahu was right when he urged the US not to sign any nuclear deal. His suggestion was instead to increase the sanctions. That would have eventually gotten the world a better deal, in my view

What to do now.

Those sanctions should be reinstated and increased. Threats to re-start their nuclear weapon program not withstanding. You can’t eat nuclear weapons. Their economy was in shambles before those sanctions were lifted. My understanding is that things are not that much better even now 2 years after they were lifted.

Iran may end up with a bomb, but they might just have a revolution before they get a chance to use it. The Iranian people are fed up with their government. Past attempts to overturn it prove that. Those attempts were brutally crushed by the regime. But if their country is hit hard enough by reinstating and increasing those sanctions, a popular uprising and coup might succeed this time.

What worked with North Korea, will work here. A President that is unpredictable; has the ability to wipe Iran off the map with the push of a button at a moment’s notice; promises to use force if lines are crossed and has proven that he will; and as Commander in Chief, has the full power of the US military and our full arsenal of weapons at his disposal... might just sober up those saber rattlers in Iran - the same way it sobered up Kim Jong-Un.

I think it’s time we showed some muscle. Because this time we have a President that doesn’t bluff.

Just my 2 cents.

Update
The President has announced US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran.

Former MK, Dov Lipman (Times of Israel)

I was sorry to hear the news. It appears that Dov Lipman will no longer have the opportunity to serve in the Knessset. He is no longer a member of Yair Lapid’s political party, Yesh Atid.

He was number 17 on their list. Which means that if their party received enough votes to capture 17 seats in the Knesset, he would be an MK - a member of that legislative body. That’s what happened the first time Yesh Atid ran. But two years later when new elections were called, they only won 11 seats. So Dov – as number 17 - was out.

Yesh Atid’s popularity has however increased since then. According to the last poll I saw, it is now even greater that it was the first time they ran – thus all but guaranteeing Dov a seat in the next Knesset. And with the Prime Minister currently embroiled in a corruption investigation, the possibility of early elections is more than possible. But, alas, for Dov, that doesn’t matter anymore.

I have no clue why he is out. He said he resigned for personal reasons. But that is contradicted by an official of Yesh Atid who said they dropped him and that the decision was not mutual. That is a troubling contradiction. I don’t know what to think here… but I am not going to speculate.

Dov’s voice of moderation in the Charedi world is a needed one that will now have a smaller platform. His values are those of the moderate American Charedi. Which was reflected in the kinds of things he supported. Which among other things included: emphasizing the importance of a decent secular education; limiting the number of exemptions Charedim get from army or national service; showing respect for those that serve; showing honor to fallen soldiers; and having gratitude to the government for the help they provide to their Yeshivos and their families.

Unfortunately this has earned him condemnation from the Charedi leadership. They have virtually stripped away his Charedi credentials with a ‘No true Scotsman’ argument. They consider his association with Yair Lapid tantamount to consorting with the devil – and the above mentioned positions to which they are opposed be the fruit of that association. They must be thrilled with this development. One less thorn in their side ‘masquerading’ as a Charedi.

Its impossible to know whether Dov had any impact on how the Charedi world is currently evolving. But they are - in exactly the direction Dov has advocated for. In a Times of Israel article, Dov provides a number of examples. All of which are welcome. They include a Chasidic Yeshiva in Beitar (one of the most Charedi cities in Israel) that offers a decent secular studies program while maintaining a high level of Torah study; a memorial day service honoring fallen soldiers; More Charedim than ever are joining the IDF, There is even a new Charedi Hesder yeshiva – a joint program where boys can study Torah while fulfilling their military service obligation. Once can see videos of these phenomena in the article.

Here is how Dov put it:

Something is happening throughout Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community: an awakening desire among the younger generation to balance the holy value of being fervently religious and studying Torah on the highest of levels, while at the same time integrating into Israeli society and being able to support their families with dignity.

He calls this the ‘Haredi Spring’. It is indeed a quiet revolution of sorts. Which he says will take a generation or 2 to fully take hold as a mainstream option. What may eventually happen in Israel is what is already happening in the Charedi world in America. And in some ways perhaps even surpass it:

Thanks to the Ultra-Orthodox Spring, we are only a generation or two away from seeing an Israel filled with Haredi doctors, lawyers, accountants, hi-tech entrepreneurs — and even army generals. The impact of this quiet revolution will be felt economically across Israeli society, helping the country’s significant and fastest-growing population move from living below the poverty line to supporting itself, instead of relying on state funds for its survival.

I hope he’s right. I hope that more schools like this open and attract a lot more Charedim. That will produce the kind of Moderate Charedi that cannot only continue thrive as a Charedi but thrive as a productive citizen of Israel as well. That will dramatically change how Charedim are perceived and can only have a positive impact on Israel’s secular citizens as they become more integrated into Israeli society.

I just hope that this phenomenon is not fought by the Charedi leadership. My gut feeling is that they will let it happen. At least those leaders that are not part of the extremist camp. Then Charedim can have it all. A society where the Charedi value of full time Torah study can be pursued where there will be an option to pursue a dual study program which will enable many of them to be better prepared for the workplace. And military service will be seen in a positive light rather than a negative one. It appears that the Charedi world is going in that direction.

They only question is will resistance arise from the more extreme Charedi leadership; how strong will it be; and will it impede progress. Time will tell.

Typical Charedi Yeshiva students taking Torah study seriously

I am not Charedi. I am very proud of who and what I am. I believe strongly in the values of Centrism. But that does not mean that only my values are righteous while everyone else’s are not.

There is an unfortunate stereotype about the Charedi world that is simply not true. But as in all stereotyping there is an element of truth to it.

One of my dear friends is known here as DSF. Even though we might disagree on a few things, he is as honorable as they come. DSF recently made the following comment in a debate about what defines ‘Charedism’. It is typical of an unfair bias that exists among far too many of us:

Chareidism is a social phenomenon. What separates it from other forms of Orthodoxy is its outward, public shows of piety. To the extent its values, culture, etc., are personal or intrinsic, they are immaterial as they are not part of the show.

DSF is only half right. Image is a big deal to Charedim. But that is not what really defines them. At least not the ones that I know. While it might be true that some segments are extreme about their interpretation of God’s will, they are by far NOT the mainstream.

The mainstream Charedi that I know is devout in his piety. Great care is taken in his Mitzvah observance. He is ‘Chareid L’Dvar HaShem. (Hence the name Charedi). This means they are constantly aware of God’s awesome presence. Thereby desiring to fulfill His will as meticulously as possible. Not only in ritual matters but equally in interpersonal matters. Bein Adam L’Makom and Bein Adam L’Chavero. I see it all the time.

Charedi values include the primacy of Torah study. Talmud Torah K’Neged Kulom loosely translated means Torah study is greater than all other (Mitzvos). But Torah study is not the only Mitzvah in the Torah and no one is more acutely aware of that than the Charedi.

For example, they are the most charitable group of people I know - donating far more of their income to charity that most other groups of people, even if they don’t have large incomes. They take Ma’aser Kesafim (tithing) seriously and try to give ten percent of their net income to charity. How many of the rest of us can honestly say that we do that too?!

One Charedi individual in Israel that I know well - told me that he does not put his money into a bank. He and his family live modestly and there are occasionally some leftover funds from the dual income he and his wife make. He told me that the interest rates banks pay is almost negligible these days. He therefore prefers to deposit it a GeMach – a free loan society which they can then loan out to those that need it. If he ever needs any of that money he can take it out at will. How many of us would do that? He told me he is not the only one.

The Charedim I know are kind to a fault and would give you the shirt off of their backs if they thought you needed it - without being asked!

They visit the sick (Bikur Cholim) , they welcome out of town guests into their homes (Hachnossas Orchim).

They abhor government fraud as much as I do. They despise sex abusers, same as me. They condemn Chilul HaShem. They try to be a light unto the nations with exemplary behavior in public. They are kind and compassionate to all, Jew and Gentile alike.

Most of them value a secular education and have received one themselves. They provide for their families and raise their children well.

Their views about the State of Israel may not be the same as mine. But they understand that Israel allows the Torah world to thrive as never before and even subsidizes it to some extent. And agree that gratitude should be expressed.

So yes, it is true that their ‘black hat uniform’ is important to them - and that is how they are identified by others. But that is not what defines them. They are not all show. They are mostly about substance - trying to understand and do God’s will to the best of their ability even when it involves sacrifice.

Occasionally a story about a Charedi Jew that makes a huge Kiddush Hashem is published. It makes the news for the same reason a Charedi making a Chilul HaShem does. It is unusual. It makes the news - not because most Charedim wouldn’t do it. But because newsworthy opportunities of Kiddush HaShem do not arise that often.

Let me illustrate. I recall the story of a Charedi fellow that bought a used desk from a non Jew and found a substantial amount of money hidden in one of its drawers. Without hesitation he went back to the seller and returned all of the money. He could have kept it and no one would have been the wiser. He surely could have used that windfall. But he chose to be better than that and made a Kiddush HaShem. That kind of opportunity does not arise that often. But when it does, I believe that all the Charedim I know would do exactly the same thing.

I am not a fan of uniforms. For me what is on the inside is far more important than what is on the outside.

Charedim feel a bit differently about that. They choose to be identifiable by the clothing they wear. I’m not exactly sure why, but my guess is that they want to separate themselves from a culture they see as morally corrupt which they see as the antithesis to Judaism. We can have debate about the extent of that. We can disagree about the value of secular culture… or how much we must separate ourselves from it. But one thing is clear. They are absolutely NOT about ‘the show’. Yes, it is important to them, but secondary. They are about the substance of how to serve God best.

When a story is published about a Charedi having defrauded the government; or being accused of sex abuse, or doing any kind of ‘perp walk’, remember they are by far the exception. Not the rule. It is wrong to characterize all Charedim by the actions of the very few. Who unfortunately get all the press.

Unfortunately a lot of people that are not directly involved with Charedim fall victim to that negative media stereotype. Which causes them to judge all Charedim by the deeds of the few.

I have often been very critical of those Charedim that have been involved in behavior unbecoming to God’s chosen people. But one has to see things as they are, and not generalize. The only way to do that is to get to know them by being more involved with them. Without the personal relationships, all one would know about Charedim is what is reported about the very few criminals among them.

So next time anyone wants to paint an entire group by the action of the few, they should step back and realize: that type of thinking is biased, inaccurate, unfair, and just plain wrong!

Two Charedi Videos

It’s Time

Collusion, Obstruction, and James Comey

Natalie Portman’s Shallow Perspective

Way Off Base

Is the Ship Really Sinking?

The Price Tag of Land Idolatry

Chasing Jews Away from Judaism

Guilty! - A Teachable Moment

Stereotyping Jews – How Much of it is Our Own Fault?

What Modesty is, and What it Isn't

Can They Change?

Making Peace with Holocaust Deniers

Secular Jews, Orthodox Jews, and Israel

Bonfires, Cellphones, and Lag B'Omer

When Selfishness Outweighs Justice

A Baby Step in the Right Direction

Random Thoughts about the Iran Nuclear Deal

Dov Lipman - His Resignation and His Observations

An Uninformed Narrative about Charedim