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| Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz |
What he and others have said or implied is that the things said by non Charedim about Charedim should be considered anti-Semitic. Just substitute the word Jew for the word Charedi in many of those columns and the world would be screaming anti Semite at whoever uttered them.
His editorial is filled with the usual crop of hyperbole, lies, and innuendos. Here is one of the more egregious lies:
People can disagree, but to call 50,000 frum, peaceful people murderers because they gathered to daven is abhorrent...
This falsehood has been repeated numerous times by various Charedi media. It is based on Yori Yanover’s ‘cry from the heart’ about Charedim avoiding being subjected to a military draft which can entail dying for one’s country - while everyone else is subjected to that possibility. To say that this is calling them murderers is not only a flagrant distortion of the truth, it is designed to whip up the anger and animosity of his crowd. And just like any big lie, the more it is repeated, the more it is believed. That is what makes this type of yellow journalism so disgusting. They are losing the battle for the hearts and minds of masses of observant Jews so they resort to hyperbole, exaggeration, distortion, and outright lies.
The rest of his article is filled with derision, invective, and ridicule about religious Jews. He doesn’t even acknowledge that someone like Rabbi Dov Lipman is observant, calling him a Kipa wearing Jew as though it was some sort of disguise and not an indication of his being observant!
Here is a particularly disturbing comment:
Those who stoke fires, create diversions, and fuel division in the pursuit of any goal expose themselves as guilty of hypocrisy and a refusal to examine the real facts the way they are. Throughout the ages, we have been victimized by blood libels. It is shameful that religious people are now utilizing the methods of Eisov and tactics of Haman to further their agendas.
I agree with the first sentence: Those who stoke fires, create diversions, and fuel division in the pursuit of any goal expose themselves as guilty of hypocrisy and a refusal to examine the real facts the way they are.
But it is the pot calling the kettle black. It is Rabbi Lipshutz and his fellow travelers that stoke those fires, create diversions, and fuel division. And he has the nerve to say that religious Jews are using the methods of Eisav and the tactics of Haman? We are not the ones lying about things. He is!
Here is yet another lie:
The people who give those speeches, write those articles, and post and publish them are using their words to further their battle against the much despised lomdei Torah.
Does he really believe that people like me despise Lomdei Torah? And that our mission is to battle them? Whether he believes it or not, it is a lie. And frankly I think it is a deliberate lie. Any sane person who reads any of my posts on this subject knows that it’s a lie!
Here is a ridiculous question he asks:
Might it be that the secular camp and their Orthodox enablers are the inciters? Might it be that those who so vehemently decry the chareidi leadership are guilty of far worse?
Vehemently decry? Who among us has said anything vehement about Charedi leadership? I certainly haven’t. That I and others like me strongly disagree with some of what they say is not done with any kind of vehemence. Certainly not anywhere near the vehemence expressed by Rabbi Lipshutz in this editorial. Is Rabbi Lipshutz ready to call Rabbi Berel Wein a Kippa wearing Jew? …an Orthodox enabler of secular Torah haters?
Rabbi Lipshutz also takes umbrage at another comment made by Yori Yanover:
The post-Holocaust Haredi world is all about fear. Fear of new things. Fear of books. Fear of voices. And above all, fear that the education a young man receives during his 20 years in a Haredi yeshiva is worthless, because as soon as he encounters the outside world, those 20 years would vanish, melt away like cholov Yisroel butter on a skillet.”
While I agree that this was worded indelicately, how false is it, really? This too probably stoked the fires of hatred… which is Rabbi Lipshutz goal in repeating it. He wants those fires to be stoked – against detractors!
But is it not fair to say that there is a fear of books that do not exactly parrot the Charedi version of history; books that turn human beings into heavenly angels; free of sin; born that way from the womb, and staying that way till the tomb?
Is it not true that they reject for their students in Israel any secular education – if not out of fear, then out of the belief that it is Bitul Torah – wasteful of the time one should instead be studying Torah? Is it not true they fear the kind of challenges one might face on the outside world (e.g. the internet)? ...that it would shake their beliefs and that 20 years (of the Charedi version of Jewish education) might vanish, melt away?
Rabbi Lipshutz says nothing to dispel these notions. He just says: ‘There you have it’. As if to imply that these challenges are so absurd they do not justify a response.
Really, Rabbi Lipshutz? I think they do. Because without any explanation, these values are exactly what Charedim constantly espouse. How many times have I heard the argument that history is only as important as the inspiration it can provide. So that any bio that does not make its subject larger than life and ignores truths about a Gadol that makes them uncomfortable, is worthless… and perhaps even detrimental. They do in fact fear facing the truths of history.
Rabbi Lipshutz uses this paragraph to ‘prove’ that a war is being waged against Charedim. And fuels the outrage with the claim that food is being taken out of the mouths of Charedi babies because entitlements have been cut.
That is total distortion of the facts. Why every single able bodied Charedi who chooses not to work should be entitled to welfare that is basically designed to help those who cannot help themselves - is beyond me. This is not taking food out of the mouths of babies.
As I’ve said a million times, we do need to support the elite Torah students among us. They should be given a fully divinity exemption and be paid a living wage. But to do that for every single able bodied Charedi just because he wants to - is unfair and wrong. And reducing (not eliminating) welfare to them is not taking food out of the mouths of babies.
I doubt that Rabbi Lipshutz will respond to anything I wrote here. Probably because he can’t. But even if he does ‘respond’ it will not be with any rational arguments or proofs. It will be with more lies; more innuendos; and more distortions. He will not prove his position at all, just as he did not do so now. He will instead attack, attack, attack and continue to promote the ‘big lie’ until he’s satisfied that everyone believes it.