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| Yated Editor, Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz |
Quite the
contrary. As I have pointed out many times in the past, the fact that Al Gore’s
chances of winning his presidential bid in 2000 became realistic only after he chose an
observant Jew (Joseph Lieberman) as his running mate clearly demonstrates how Judaism – especially observant Judaism - is respected in this country. What surprised
me is that in a survey, Judaism came out on top, ahead of the dominant
religion, Christianity,
That said, I
realize that anti Semitism still exist in some circles. But only in the fringes
of society. I think I can plainly say that there has never been a time or a
country where the Jewish people were so accepted and even admired than they are
now in America… not even the during golden era of Spain.
Which is one
of the reasons I get so upset when a Jew does something wrong. And the more religious that Jew appears to
be, the more upset I get. Their behavior brings shame upon the Jewish people. There
have been so many of late, it amazes me that we are so admired.
But John McCain’s response
to a question about Jack Abramoff is instructive. (Abramoff was an observant Jew who in an Indian lobbying scandal pleaded guilty to 3 felony counts: conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion.) McCain was asked if the American people would now judge the
Jewish people negatively because of Abramoff. His answer was that the American
people can tell the difference between one bad individual who happened to be Jewish
and the entirety of the Jewish people.
Which brings
me to a recent editorial by Yated editor Rabbi Pinchos Lipshutz (republished at
YWN). He was responding to a disgusting headline
by the New York Post about the murder of Satmar Chasid and businessman, Menachem
Stark. I was among the first to condemn the Post for its sensationalist headline
which read, ‘Who Didin’t Want Him Dead?’ While that headline was disgusting, it
was not an accusation made in a vacuum. As I indicated in that post, he must
have made a lot of people angry to have been murdered execution style in what
may have been a mob hit.
But Rabbi
Lipshutz does not stop with simply criticizing the Post, he goes completely off
the reservation by making this about the inherent anti Semitism of the non
Jewish world. One would think that we are about to embark of another Holocaust.
The headline in the Post was clearly about one man. That man had the appearance of a
religious Jew and was considered a hero in his community. That’s why that
community is so upset. Understandably so. His family had no clue about his
business practices.
What that
headline was not about was the Jewish people. But Rabbi Lipshutz does not want
to be confused by that very clear fact. He goes on into a tirade in his
editorial. ‘Who doesn’t want “US” dead?’,
he asks! As if to say that the New York Post is the ultimate expression of
Esav. The Esav that eternally hates Yaakov. Translation: The Goyim hate us and
given the chance they would just as soon kill us as look at us!
He brings
up every negative stereotype any anti
Semite ever made about us as as if this is what Americans really thinks of us.
Americans as represented by the Post are simply the latest incarntion of ‘Titus,.
Ferdinand, Isabella, Mussolini, and Hitler’!
Here is how he thinks Americans see us:
Why, they ask, are the Jews titans of industry and commerce? Real estate, stocks and bonds? Why do they have influence? Why aren’t they dead? They are all cheaters. They are all liars. Underworld cut-throats.
They poisoned the wells, They killed our babies, For matzos. They froze us in the winter, Boiled us in the summer. The Jews. It’s all their fault. The rotten, Smelly, Jews. Till today they wonder How to get rid of us.
They cover their hate with smiles, Feigned ignorance, and legal shenanigans. “We love the Jews,” they say. Sure, just as Paroh did. All types of charges, Allegations, Fraud. The Jews, they say, don’t care about laws, Violations, Fidelity, Children, Abuse victims.
They kill their baby boys, To satisfy an ancient rite. They rob, cheat and steal. They can’t be trusted, Disloyal citizens. They control the banks, The press, But not the Post.
We thought it was different here. America is not Russia, Or Germany, France or Rome. It’s not, But the hatred is here as well. The quiet murmurs, Suspicions, And tricks.
This is
breathtaking in scope. How Rabbi Lipshutz can believe that the respect and
admiration that the American people is anything but genuine is mind boggling.
To make these kinds of accusations about a people that are so clearly false is
not only patently ridiculous, but an insult to the good people of this country.
Rabbi
Lipshutz is not stupid. He must know that his paper is available to all people,
not only to those ultra Orthodox Jews who may be like minded. It takes someone indoctrinated
to always think the worst of non Jews no matter how much evidence there is to
the contrary - to say what he said - and believe he has served the Jewish people
well by saying it.
Why do I care
what the Yated says? A paper that even many Charedim think is a piece of
garbage?! The answer is that he has made his feelings public. Feelings that
demonstrate a near state of delusion about the American people... all based on a headline in a sensationalist
newspaper.
Rabbi
Lipshutz has now given the American people another reason to hate and fear us
by his paranoid attack against fellow Americans. He needs to be called out publicly for doing
it. I wish I could just ignore him. But as long as his words appear online, my
words about him will too - in strong protest against them. His views are a complete distortion
of the truth. And truth is something I champion around here.
